Brand new to this. A few tips required.

[+Echo-1]

I was given a "Garmin Colorado 300" a few days ago and with it have just discovered Geocaching. My family aren't really outdoor people but we've decided to give it a go. I have registered the GPSr and have activated my 30 day trial, also downloaded a bunch of local (in walking distance) caches, so we're ready in that respect.

 

What should we take with us? I guess a pen and some paper would help? When I sign the log should I use my user name (Echo-1)? And what do I do once (and if) I find a cache; do I need to jot anything down?

 

Sorry for the dumb questions but I am dumb.

Edited August 28, 2011 by Echo-1

[+CnJnA]

I was given a "Garmin Colorado 300" a few days ago and with it have just discovered Geocaching. My family aren't really outdoor people but we've decided to give it a go. I have registered the GPSr and have activated my 30 day trial, also downloaded a bunch of local (in walking distance) caches, so we're ready in that respect.

 

What should we take with us? I guess a pen and some paper would help? When I sign the log should I use my user name (Echo-1)? And what do I do once (and if) I find a cach; do I need to jot anything down?

 

Sorry for the dumb questions but I am dumb.

 

You are not dumb! Just new. Start with the caches in places you know well, take a pen, and possibly some items to swap, altho as you get better at finding the caches you will get an idea of what other people put in. Always put something in if you take something out, unless its a travel bug or a trackable coin, you don't need to swap for them.

If you do find a trackable then you need to type the number into the first page on here and log it. It belongs to someone who might have set a task for it, read about it and help it on its way if you can.

And finally- enjoy it!

Edited August 28, 2011 by CnJnA

[+Echo-1]

Cheers for the help. I'm in the UK (Midlands area). We have around four caches to find tomorrow, though that maybe a bit much on our first day.

[+Brooklyn51]

You should know that your GPSr will only get you "in the vicinity" of the cache. The best accuracy of any unit is about 10-15 feet and there are a lot of factors that can increase that even more. The point is, your GPSr will probably not put right on top of the cache but when the distance indicator shows you are close, put the unit away and start looking around for places that might hide a cache; a knot in the tree, a pile of sticks, something that might look out of place and so on. You'll soon learn to look for such signs. Also the cache might be as big as a breadbox or as small as a pencil eraser. Be sure to look at the cache page on line before setting out. It might be best to stick with difficulties of 1 or 2 to start out. Above all, have fun!

[+The Blorenges]

Welcome

 

When the rain starts once again and you're stuck back indoors have a look at the links on this page: Getting started with geocaching.

 

Also, as you're in UK, if you have any UK-specific questions you might like to ask them over in the regional forum for UK and Ireland.

 

MrsB

[+Echo-1]

We tried looking for our two nearest caches but failed to find either one. We are going to try again this weekend. We did have a lovely walk though,

[+The Blorenges]

... What should we take with us? I guess a pen and some paper would help? When I sign the log should I use my user name (Echo-1)? And what do I do once (and if) I find a cache; do I need to jot anything down?

 

 

A pen to sign the log book is very important - There should be one in the cache container but they often go missing. Usually cachers date and sign the log with their geocaching account name. It's nice to add a short comment if there's room (not if it's a nano cache strip!). Many cachers make their on-line Found log a bit longer with a few extra details - Most cache owners enjoy reading the logs that they receive from finders.

 

You can swap an item in the cache, if you want to ... "Trade up or even".

 

If you find a trackable item (that's a geocoin or a travel bug) and remove it from the cache it's a good idea to make a note of the tracking number somewhere ASAP. You won't be able to log any movements without having that tracking number and if you make any mistakes then they can always be corrected as long as you've made a note of it.

 

Don't be discouraged at not finding your first caches yet, if you want to give us the GC numbers of the ones you looked for then we might be able to give further hints or suggestions.

 

Also, check that your GPS is correctly set to the right datum, because if they're wrong you could be searching 200ft off target!

 

Coordinates and map datums

 

MrsB

[PerquisitionPirate]

I, too, am new to this wonderful world of geocaching and am in need of tips! I live in the Toronto area and decided to give Kliggins Treehouse of Horror a try...unsuccessfully I might add. I went with a friend and we each entered the same co-ordinates into our iPhones and ended up being on point in two totally seperate locations. She was directed to the most south eastern corner of the park and I was supposedly dead centre about 100+ft west! We ended up searching for a couple of hours but were not able to find it! Are iPhones not suitable for this? Or is there an app that would provide better GPS tracking?

 

Any other tips would also be appreciated as well!

[+Team Batpony]

I, too, am new to this wonderful world of geocaching and am in need of tips! I live in the Toronto area and decided to give Kliggins Treehouse of Horror a try...unsuccessfully I might add. I went with a friend and we each entered the same co-ordinates into our iPhones and ended up being on point in two totally seperate locations. She was directed to the most south eastern corner of the park and I was supposedly dead centre about 100+ft west! We ended up searching for a couple of hours but were not able to find it! Are iPhones not suitable for this? Or is there an app that would provide better GPS tracking?

 

Any other tips would also be appreciated as well!

 

When on an iphone, keep in mind that it may be very inaccurate. Also, I use the Official Groundspeak Geocaching app when I'm on an iPhone.

[+EdrickV]

I, too, am new to this wonderful world of geocaching and am in need of tips! I live in the Toronto area and decided to give Kliggins Treehouse of Horror a try...unsuccessfully I might add. I went with a friend and we each entered the same co-ordinates into our iPhones and ended up being on point in two totally seperate locations. She was directed to the most south eastern corner of the park and I was supposedly dead centre about 100+ft west! We ended up searching for a couple of hours but were not able to find it! Are iPhones not suitable for this? Or is there an app that would provide better GPS tracking?

 

Any other tips would also be appreciated as well!

 

Starting with a difficulty 2, terrain 4 cache might not have been the best way to start. (I have a vague guess on how it might have been hidden that would explain the terrain/difficulty.) You might try some 1/1 caches to start off with to get an idea what it is like.

 

Also, it is a good idea when you don't find a cache to log a Did Not Find (DNF) log mentioning your experience looking for the cache.

 

As far as the iPhone, I've heard that some iPhones are not that good. The newer the iPhone the better I would think. Also, make sure you give it time to settle and contact as many satellites as it can. If you have an original iPhone, which I don't think has assisted-GPS, then it might be a good idea to have the GPS on for 13 minutes before actually trying to find a cache. According to Wikipedia, to download the GPS Almanac and Ephemeris data from the satellites takes 12.5 minutes. Devices with aGPS will download those two items through the cellular network whenever possible.

 

A stationary GPS can actually increase it's accuracy over time, hopefully the same is true with the iPhones you have. (Not sure if the original iPhone actually has a GPS chipset.) The iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 are probably the best iPhones to use as they apparently have both aGPS and a digital compass. On a Garmin unit I've used in walking mode it shows a circle around you, and something that shows up as right in the center on the screen could actually be anywhere within that circle. If I stood around and waited, the circle would usually get smaller over time.

 

For two people to be 100+ feet apart makes it sound like maybe at least one of the devices was using Cell ID (cellular triangluation) rather then GPS. Maybe it didn't have a good GPS lock yet or doesn't have an actual GPS chip?

 

Edit: Confirmed my hunch on other sites, the original iPhone does not have an actual GPS chip in it. The 3G/3GS/4 do.

Edited August 30, 2011 by EdrickV

[PerquisitionPirate]

I, too, am new to this wonderful world of geocaching and am in need of tips! I live in the Toronto area and decided to give Kliggins Treehouse of Horror a try...unsuccessfully I might add. I went with a friend and we each entered the same co-ordinates into our iPhones and ended up being on point in two totally seperate locations. She was directed to the most south eastern corner of the park and I was supposedly dead centre about 100+ft west! We ended up searching for a couple of hours but were not able to find it! Are iPhones not suitable for this? Or is there an app that would provide better GPS tracking?

 

Any other tips would also be appreciated as well!

 

When on an iphone, keep in mind that it may be very inaccurate. Also, I use the Official Groundspeak Geocaching app when I'm on an iPhone.

 

I, too, am new to this wonderful world of geocaching and am in need of tips! I live in the Toronto area and decided to give Kliggins Treehouse of Horror a try...unsuccessfully I might add. I went with a friend and we each entered the same co-ordinates into our iPhones and ended up being on point in two totally seperate locations. She was directed to the most south eastern corner of the park and I was supposedly dead centre about 100+ft west! We ended up searching for a couple of hours but were not able to find it! Are iPhones not suitable for this? Or is there an app that would provide better GPS tracking?

 

Any other tips would also be appreciated as well!

 

Starting with a difficulty 2, terrain 4 cache might not have been the best way to start. (I have a vague guess on how it might have been hidden that would explain the terrain/difficulty.) You might try some 1/1 caches to start off with to get an idea what it is like.

 

Also, it is a good idea when you don't find a cache to log a Did Not Find (DNF) log mentioning your experience looking for the cache.

 

As far as the iPhone, I've heard that some iPhones are not that good. The newer the iPhone the better I would think. Also, make sure you give it time to settle and contact as many satellites as it can. If you have an original iPhone, which I don't think has assisted-GPS, then it might be a good idea to have the GPS on for 13 minutes before actually trying to find a cache. According to Wikipedia, to download the GPS Almanac and Ephemeris data from the satellites takes 12.5 minutes. Devices with aGPS will download those two items through the cellular network whenever possible.

 

A stationary GPS can actually increase it's accuracy over time, hopefully the same is true with the iPhones you have. (Not sure if the original iPhone actually has a GPS chipset.) The iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 are probably the best iPhones to use as they apparently have both aGPS and a digital compass. On a Garmin unit I've used in walking mode it shows a circle around you, and something that shows up as right in the center on the screen could actually be anywhere within that circle. If I stood around and waited, the circle would usually get smaller over time.

 

For two people to be 100+ feet apart makes it sound like maybe at least one of the devices was using Cell ID (cellular triangluation) rather then GPS. Maybe it didn't have a good GPS lock yet or doesn't have an actual GPS chip?

 

Edit: Confirmed my hunch on other sites, the original iPhone does not have an actual GPS chip in it. The 3G/3GS/4 do.

 

Thanks for the tips!

 

And EdrickV I really appreciate the detail!

 

I do have an iPhone 4, so I will download the geocache app, try again and be prepared for a pretty wide error margin! And successful or not, a log will be made!

 

Thanks!!

[+EdrickV]

The iPhone 4 shouldn't be too bad. You might want to see if your friend has an original iPhone, 'cause comparing your comments to Google Maps, it does look like she was off quite a bit. Keep the hint in mind if you do that particular cache again, and if it's hidden the way I think it may be, you might well require two people to get it.

 

If you become a Premium Member, you will likely want to get the pay version of the app. As is, the free version will probably work fine. (Don't have an iPhone myself, so this advice is based on what I've seen other people saying.)

 

Edit: Little note that in some areas (say out in the woods, or in a city with lots of tall buildings) any GPS can have accuracy issues. On one particular cache I did with a Garmin Nuvi (car type GPS) the accuracy of the GPS in the woods was like 53ft. If the CO's accuracy was similar, that would mean the coordinates could potentially have me 106ft off. In that case you use Geosenses instead. (aka "Where would I hide a container of size x here?") As that one was a regular size (ammo can) I did manage to find it. Had it been a nano, I'd have given up. (Nanos can be the size of the eraser on a pencil.)

Edited August 31, 2011 by EdrickV