+arklatexgeo Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 (edited) Greetings all! New guy here from Shreveport, LA looking to get into this as a hobby for my kids. I have a lot of experience with high end GPS units...will be using my Trimble Juno 3B and ProXH set-up this weekend in Hot Springs, AR for a family outing on Lake Hamilton courtesy of my in-laws. The wife is an avid outdoorswoman (lived in Alaska for a long time) and will probably enjoy taking up a hobby such as this. Soooooo...any suggestions for caches to find over the weekend would be great. I have already downloaded about 60 cache locations and converted them to ESRI shapefiles for upload to the Juno. I'll convert them to WPTs using TerraSync so we can navigate to them. We are staying right on Lake Hamilton although I have no idea exactly where our lodging is located. I know I am a noob here so I'll say that a lot of you may think that my set-up is overkill, but I use this system for field data collection and GIS data logging. I figured that it could be used for a little fun too. BTW...I am a GIS analyst and I make LOTS of maps. Converting these GPS points to shapefiles is simple to do. If anyone out there would like up-to-date maps of your cache finds or your cache locations for use in the field, let me know. We can map these things out on top of aerials or USGS topos. Depending on your GPS unit, we can probably export the map images to your GPS as well. Edited May 30, 2012 by arklatexgeo Quote Link to comment
+Chief301 Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 We vacationed in Hot Springs around this time last summer and I got a few caches. GC2QDRC, "How Did I Get Here? Is good for a laugh, and GC2QDT5, "Jessieville TB Hotel" has a pretty cool container. We were staying in Hot Springs Village on Lake DeSoto. Quote Link to comment
+arklatexgeo Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 GC2QDRC I have noticed this sort of coding on the caches. Is this some sort of shortened coordinate system or alternative geo-coding system? Quote Link to comment
+Chief301 Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 GC2QDRC I have noticed this sort of coding on the caches. Is this some sort of shortened coordinate system or alternative geo-coding system? No, that's just the code number of the cache for identification on Geocaching.com. When a new cache hide is submitted the system assigns it a code like this (they all start with the letters "GC" then some random digits). It's sort of like a serial number so the cache can be positively identified....many caches have similar names, or there may be a series of caches with the same name in the same general area (followed by #1, #2, etc.), so there has to be a way of making sure you are referring to the correct cache. If you know the GC number of a particular cache (like the two above that I was referring to), then under "Hide and Seek a Cache" HERE you can just enter the code and pull up the cache page for the exact cache you are looking for. Just to make it a little easier for you (since you're new ), here are the cache pages for the two caches I referred you to... How Did I Get Here? Jessieville TB Hotel Quote Link to comment
+arklatexgeo Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Got it. Thanks Chief (that brings back memories from my days in the US Navy...) I uploaded the WPTs to the Juno yesterday so my kids and I can go find some of the caches this weekend. This should be a pretty good test of just exactly how accurate the Trimble set up really is. Quote Link to comment
+Chief301 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 (edited) Got it. Thanks Chief (that brings back memories from my days in the US Navy...) I uploaded the WPTs to the Juno yesterday so my kids and I can go find some of the caches this weekend. This should be a pretty good test of just exactly how accurate the Trimble set up really is. To avoid one of the more common newbie mistakes, don't get too hung up on how accurate your Trimble is, no matter how high-end it may be. Some folks just starting out have a bad habit of believing the GPS and ignoring their brain and their senses. You might have a GPS that is accurate to inches, but how accurate was the GPS of the hider? And did they put some effort into getting a good set of averaged coordinates or just hit "mark waypoint" and call it good? In short, once you get within about 20 feet or so, put away the unit and start looking for likely hiding spots. If your super-accurate GPS receiver is zeroing out on a flat, grassy spot in a park but there's a big oak tree 20' away, start checking the tree first Read the cache descriptions carefully, too, before you go out or bring the printed cache pages with you. This game is about more than just coordinates....the cache will be carefully hidden so you need to have some idea what you're looking for. Whether it's a Micro or a Regular sized cache will have a big effect on the possible spots it could be hidden. Also pay attention to Difficulty and Terrain ratings....a high Difficulty rating means that it may be fiendishly hidden or incredibly well camouflaged...select caches with lower Difficulty ratings and larger than Micro size when you're first starting out. Edited June 1, 2012 by Chief301 Quote Link to comment
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