+calligal Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Hi, new here so forgive me if this is in the wrong place. We went out today for lunch in Brighton so thought we'd try our very first geo caching to this wild life trail at Brighton. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cdpf.aspx?guid=f70849c9-9091-4f31-84da-2bdcc71fc8f4&lc=5 I plugged in the co-ordinates N 44° 06.014 W 077° into my TomTom auto GPS, but it placed it at Belleville which I knew was wrong, so we used the driving directions printout. I`m new to this co-ordinate thingy, I don`t have a clue as to why it would do that. We did find the location using the printout but couldn`t get the car down the road to any parking area, I guess it`s the time of year, we may try again taking hubby`s 4 x 4 truck. Quote Link to comment
+Chief301 Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Car GPS units aren't really designed to navigate to off road locations. What most of them will do is direct you to the nearest street address to the coordinates, not to the actual coordinates. This may be the problem you're experiencing. Some auto units may have a setting for off road, check your manual. Otherwise you may have to purchase a handheld unit. Or perhaps if you own a smart phone you can use it instead. Quote Link to comment
+sword fern Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Hi, new here so forgive me if this is in the wrong place. We went out today for lunch in Brighton so thought we'd try our very first geo caching to this wild life trail at Brighton. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cdpf.aspx?guid=f70849c9-9091-4f31-84da-2bdcc71fc8f4&lc=5 I plugged in the co-ordinates N 44° 06.014 W 077° into my TomTom auto GPS, but it placed it at Belleville which I knew was wrong, so we used the driving directions printout. I`m new to this co-ordinate thingy, I don`t have a clue as to why it would do that. We did find the location using the printout but couldn`t get the car down the road to any parking area, I guess it`s the time of year, we may try again taking hubby`s 4 x 4 truck. Driving-dedicated GPS's don't really help much. When you punch in the coords, it points you to the nearest facility/road, which in some cases can be half a mile off. I suggest using your smartphone if it has a GPS(almost all of them do) and use that. That is how most cachers get into geocaching. BTW, how did you get that link, it is a pretty old version of GC.com, Im not sure how you got that. Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 BTW, how did you get that link, it is a pretty old version of GC.com, Im not sure how you got that. It's the link to the "print this page" for the cache GC266GH Brighton Wildlife Area Walk #2 calligal, I know there have been people who use TomToms to find caches that have posted here on the forums. Maybe a search of the forums for "automotive gps" or something like that will come up with some helpful results. hehehe...I saw "Brighton" and assumed you meant in England. D'oh. Quote Link to comment
+mpilchfamily Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I assume yo put the full cords in (N 44° 06.014 W 077° 41.652) not the partial you put in your post. Make sure your GPSr is set to the right cord format (DD MM.MMM). As i understand it the Tom Toms will snap you to the closest road and you can't turn that feature off on some units. Making it vary difficult to get to GZ if it too far off the roads. Quote Link to comment
+sword fern Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 BTW, how did you get that link, it is a pretty old version of GC.com, Im not sure how you got that. It's the link to the "print this page" for the cache GC266GH Brighton Wildlife Area Walk #2 Oh. silly me Quote Link to comment
+Chief301 Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I checked those coords on Google Maps and it looks like an address on Coltman Road, Trenton, ON, Canada. Using the "cache@" hack I get a location about 150' W of that spot. Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I assume yo put the full cords in (N 44° 06.014 W 077° 41.652) not the partial you put in your post. Make sure your GPSr is set to the right cord format (DD MM.MMM). Good catch. I didn't clue in that partial coords were mentioned in the opening post. Hopefully, that was just a typo. Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I checked those coords on Google Maps and it looks like an address on Coltman Road, Trenton, ON, Canada. Using the "cache@" hack I get a location about 150' W of that spot. If you go to the cache page I linked to in post #4, you will find the coordinates for the parking and for the cache. Quote Link to comment
+dfx Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Tomtoms allow you to enter the coordinates in a variety of formats in the same box, but it's important to know what you're doing. You gotta use the degrees symbol (°), the minutes/seconds symbol (') and the decimal point (.) appropriately. Entering N 44° 06.014 is not the same as entering N 44.06014 and also not the same as N 44.6014 and also not the same as N 44° 06'014. All those are different coordinates. Quote Link to comment
+calligal Posted May 13, 2011 Author Share Posted May 13, 2011 Wow and thanks for all the info. Sorry I didn't specify Brighton, Canada - I don't think there is anyway to plug in additional co-ordinates into the auto Tom Tom but will check the menus again. The other Garmin Rino is my husbands with way points etc. but even though he's had it for about 5 years he doesn't know how to punch in co-ordinates, it's not user friendly at all. I guess I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to co-ordinates, it is confusing for me. Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 The other Garmin Rino is my husbands with way points etc. but even though he's had it for about 5 years he doesn't know how to punch in co-ordinates, it's not user friendly at all. I guess I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to co-ordinates, it is confusing for me. What model # is the Rino? Doing a google search for "Garmin Rino" brings up lots of possiblities, but they pretty much all follow the same method for inputting coords. Another google search: clickez ici: input coordinates Garmin Rino Look for the appropriate owner manual here: https://buy.garmin.com/support/manuals/searchManuals.htm Quote Link to comment
+calligal Posted May 13, 2011 Author Share Posted May 13, 2011 Garmin Rino 120 we do have the manual but find no reference to entering co-ordinates, only way points - same thing I guess. This is darned confusing, I'm not sure how much geo caching I'll get to do, at least until the price of gas comes down, so am reluctant to buy a more user friendly one right now. I am thinking about the Magellan Explorer ( I think saw it talked about on here). Quote Link to comment
+dfx Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I don't think there is anyway to plug in additional co-ordinates into the auto Tom Tom but will check the menus again. Not all Tomtoms let you do that unfortunately. There's two different menu structures between the various models, the old style menu (where you get right into the main menu with 5 options plus a "next page" as 6th item when you tap the screen), and the "easymenu" system, where the main menu consists of only two items plus some smaller options at the bottom. Models with the "easymenu" systems generally don't let you put in coordinates, while models with the regular menu structure generally do. Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Garmin Rino 120 we do have the manual but find no reference to entering co-ordinates, only way points - same thing I guess. This is darned confusing, I'm not sure how much geo caching I'll get to do, at least until the price of gas comes down, so am reluctant to buy a more user friendly one right now. I am thinking about the Magellan Explorer ( I think saw it talked about on here). Yes, you're looking for the instructions about "waypoints". Check out the quick start guide: https://buy.garmin.com/support/manuals/searchManuals.htm Maybe for now, it would be a good idea to find some traditional caches closer to your home. It would be good to get used to the Rino to find "regular" or "large" caches, that aren't multi-stage. Stick with Difficulty/Terrain ratings of 1/1 until you feel comfortable using the gps. Quote Link to comment
+calligal Posted May 13, 2011 Author Share Posted May 13, 2011 Many thanks, will mess with it for a bit.. just wondering if this is paperless there are two at Costco... http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10342867&search=gps&Mo=15&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search〈=en-CA&Nr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Sp=S&N=0&whse=BCCA&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BCCA&Ne=4000000&D=gps&Ntt=gps&No=5&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1#BVRRWidgetID Quote Link to comment
+dfx Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Many thanks, will mess with it for a bit.. just wondering if this is paperless there are two at Costco... http://www.costco.ca...=1#BVRRWidgetID Nope, and judging from a quick search for "garmin", they don't have any that are. Your best bet is probably online stores such as www.gpscity.ca - the most popular paperless units are the Oregons, Dakotas and the 62 series. Quote Link to comment
+calligal Posted May 13, 2011 Author Share Posted May 13, 2011 (edited) Well, I decided to get the Magellan Explorer and am fiddling with it now, will activate the premium membership and download some stuff. So far it looks easy to use, but I haven't found where I can enter co-ordinates manually, so for those who have this, do all caches have to be downloaded or can I input them manually. I'm up north a bit during the summer with no computer... Edited to add - I found my first cache at the end of my street LOL I found the keyboard too tiny to see or type on so did it on line. Wanted to warn people about poison ivy. Now I have to figure out how to upload... Edited May 13, 2011 by calligal Quote Link to comment
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