1st trip out with the new GPS

[+The Three Harrell's]

Hello all, thought I would post my first day out with the new GPS. I had a good day finding two of the three that we looked for. The only reason I missed one of them was I run out of time. Not sure what to think of the Magellan Explorist GC, maybe I like it??

 

Pro's: I like that it is compatible with the site, I have had no issues there. It is small and compact. The price was good for a paperless GPS...I think. Very easy format or system to use. Good battery life (advertised) and waterproof (advertised).

 

 

Cons: Getting a satellite signal at first takes what seems like forever, once you have it it stays strong. I dropped the unit today by accident, seemed like a very light drop and it cut the unit off, maybe that is a safety feature. I dont like that I cannot search for cache's in an area like I can on my phone. Sometimes it lags quite a bit. Hate the joystick as it is very hard to navigate without hitting the wrong command/letter.

 

 

I am brand new to Geocaching, not even a week so I will give this unit a chance. I am a Garmin person all the way so this Magellan is not what I would normaly buy. I will see how I like the hobby and if I stick with it I will go buy myself a Garmin and sell this one or keep it as a back up.

Is there any way to log my earlier finds into the unit? Today it said i found my first one but in reality it is my fourth or so...I just didnt have this unit when I found the others at the beggining of the week.

Gonna head out again tomorrow, this time by myself. It is my last day of vacation but the rest of my family has to return to thier normal life tomorrow.

I also had trouble understanding the GPS, I know that is terrible but I am just being honest. When I enlisted in the Marines in 1992 I went through a ton of training during and after hell...I mean Parris Island. During our navigaiton training I really struggled. The running joke was to just give me more ammunition and send me to the front, oh well I was happy up front so it worked out. Fast forward 20 years and I still suck at navigation, I am gonna try to teach myself about the headings and the numbers. Today I walked around like a blind idiot, the only thing I used was the text at the bottom of the screen that said 16ft 14ft 8ft 30ft go the other way 26ft 20ft turn around, you get the picture. If I had of payed attention to exactly what the unit was telling me I would have found both of them a lot sooner. Anyway, just thought I would post my thoughts, thanks for reading.

Scott

[+fishgeek]

I've had a GC for over a year. It's not too bad, especially for the price. A couple of pointers:

 

1) Turn off the "Smart Arrow" on the map screen. It's been so long that I forgot exactly how to do it.

 

2) Walking, when you get about 100' from the cache, slow down. If you're driving, slow down about a tenth of a mile or so from the cache. The GC will sling shot you past the cache, and then pull you back. I got into a lot of briars that I didn't need to before I discovered that.

 

3) On the Map Screen, use "Map + Compass" when you get close to the cache. There is a sun icon around the dial. Aline that with the real sun to know which way that you have to go. If you can't see the sun, you can use a magnetic compass to orient the dial.

 

4) If you're stopped and the map screen is spinning (from lack of orientation), push the toggle to move the position square towards the cache. That stops the spinning and lets you get oriented.

[+mpilchfamily]

Cons: Getting a satellite signal at first takes what seems like forever, once you have it it stays strong. I dropped the unit today by accident, seemed like a very light drop and it cut the unit off, maybe that is a safety feature. I dont like that I cannot search for cache's in an area like I can on my phone. Sometimes it lags quite a bit. Hate the joystick as it is very hard to navigate without hitting the wrong command/letter.

 

Obtaining the initial sat signal after purchasing a unit, traveling a long distance or having had the unit off four a long period of time will take a while. GPS sats are constantly moving. So if the unit hasn't been been on for a while or traveled a long way then some of the sats if not all the sats it thinks are above it may not be there so it needs to obtain a new sat listing and lock onto the new sats. This goes for every GPSr. Unlike your phone a hand held unit doesn't have access to the internet so caches need to be uploaded to the unit before you head out.

 

When your within about 20 feet of the cache stop looking at the unit and start looking fro the cache. Its very rare that any consumer grade GPSr will lad you right on top of the cache.

[+The Three Harrell's]

Thanks guys for the responses. I went out again with the unit yesterday and had a much better day, I love it! Looked for 10 and found 7 of them, the unit put me right there. Is there a way to lay the compass over the map? I cant figure that out and I will try the turn off the arrow thing. Thanks.

Scott