How accurate should I expect it to be?

[+fgraffeo]

My young son and I got started this weekend. I'm using an Android phone to navigate. We were stumped at first, but finally figured out how generally to find caches. But my big question is, just how close should we expect the device to get us to the cache? For example, when I am actually standing on the spot where the cache is, my device usually says it's 3, 5, maybe 7 meters away, and the "Accuracy" might say 9 meters. So, should we ever expect that it will ever say 0 meters away and 1 meter accuracy? Do I need to buy a standalone unit for this kind of accuracy? Or does that level of accuracy even exist? Thanks for any light you can shed! We are enjoying this. But Father's Day is coming and I don't want to spend the $ on a new unit if my phone is as accurate as it gets. Know what I mean?

[+Cornell Finch]

You shouldn't ever *expect* it to say zero metres. That is, unfotunately, fantasy land, even with a dedicated device.

 

5 - 7 metres is about the norm (15 - 30 feet or so). Using your eyes, the hint and developing a "geosense" will mean that eventually you are not so worried about the accuracy of the device.

 

To be honest, for the moment, the phone will be fine. If you are only hunting and not hiding caches (but that's a separate can of worms).

 

When you get more into the game then consider a decent dedicated GPS.

 

Welcome by the way!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Expect 7 - 8 meters as a norm. Unseen/unsensed variables can affect it.

Also, don't pay too much attention to what you call "Accuracy" it says. That is not accuracy, it is an estimate of positional error, in other words, it is guessing......... what more can I say about that? If you are busy worrying about how poor/good the 'accuracy' of your unit is, you are missing the point of geocaching as a whole.

 

Only one thing gets you better at finding the cache.... practice, practice and more practice. Experience is the best teacher.

Edited June 5, 2012 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+Cardinal Red]

I don't use a smart phone, but I have seen newer ones in the field every bit as good as my "standalone" unit. Both are commercial grade accurate, which is close but by no means precise. If you consistently get inside of 15 to 20 feet you are in the zone. Often you get a little closer. Sometimes you are twice as far away. Even if you had a $50,000 professional unit, figure the cache was sill hidden by someone using a consumer grade unit. What good is it to be precisely at the GZ coords, and still be off by the error of the hiders unit. If your unit/device is getting you close enough that you can look around and see the hiding spot nearby, that's gold. Then develop your senses to spot potential hiding spots.

 

Learn how to use your unit / device properly.

Don't look at the screen all the time. Look around.

If the hider included hints, that can be a very big help.

[+Chief301]

Even if you do get the phone to read "zero", that really doesn't mean anything other than you're very close. Don't expect to be right on top of it, necessarily. Remember, your unit (phone or GPS) is not homing in on the container, it's homing in on a set of coordinates near which a container is reported to be.

 

As others have stated, no matter how accurate your unit is, the hider may not have taken care to get accurate coordinates....some hiders are very meticulous about getting multiple readings and take pride in the accuracy of their coordinates, and other just hit the "Mark Waypoint" button and call it good.

 

Also, caches sometimes "migrate" over time. If there are numerous places to hide it sometimes they don't get put back in exactly the same spot, or if it falls from its hiding spot the next finder may place it back where they "think"it should go. There are even some cachers who think its their business to "hide it better" or "easier" than they found it, so it gets moved a little bit from its original spot. It's surprising sometimes how far they get moved over a period of time.

[+FLYBYU]

I have my Iphone and an older Garmin GPS, Honestly the phone is better, plus it is paperless which my GPS is not. The only problem with the phone is that finding caches just destroys the battery, lucky if it last 3 hours. The GPS is good for days on a set of batteries. I do think my phone is more accurate however. Plus if muggles happen apon you, you can always pretend to be talking on the phone and deep in thought.

[+Night Stalker]

I actually had my gps read zero when it was at zero on the first cache I ever found. I thought, boy this is going to be easy. That was the first and last time this happened. There are to many variables. You don't know how accurate the gps the hider was using for one thing. The cacher hider could have input one of the numbers of the coordinates incorrectly. I found one cache that was 1/2 mile off and in a different valley. The only reason I found it was because a previous finder listed corrected coordinates in his response. There are many times when the cache is over 40 feet from where ground zero is supposed to be. I believe time of day can effect accuracy also. If the hider records coordinates from his GPS in the morning and you are looking in the evening I think satellite position etc can be different. As previous responders have stated. Your eyes are your best tool.

[+fgraffeo]

Thank you! And I appreciate your welcome. Looking forward to getting better and better at this!

[+whh0]

I agree with FLYBYU, we started off using our phones but we like to do circuits or 5 to 6 miles and the phone batteries weren't up to it, though phone is generally more accurate we use GPS (Garmin Etrex 10) and just use the phone if we have difficulty locating the cache. However, it has taken quite a while to get used to the GPS and get the most out of it.