Something wrong with my GPS? (Montana 650T)

[DasNiche]

After spending 2 hours of completely fruitless caching, I'm pretty frustrated and beginning to wonder if something is not wrong with my device. We stopped at about 6 different locations, and from the recent logs they should have all still been at their posted coordinates. However, the areas my Montana 650 took us to didn't seem to have a cache in sight. Tons of comments on the logs such as "Easy find" or "Quick grab" had my blood pressure rising. The device never really seemed to zero in on a location at any of the destinations, it would say we were 0ft away, and next thing I knew it was 7ft left or 10ft right moments later. The red arrow indicating the direction to walk seemed slow to react and sometimes spins back and forth having us very uncertain of where we should actually be looking. We are both beginners and have been able to find 3 caches with this thing early on, but now I'm really starting to wonder if my device is broken or if caching just isn't for me. Any insight? Is there some sort of calibration or troubleshooting I should do with my unit?

 

Also, is there a certain way I need to hold things device while zeroing in on a cache? Switching from vertical to horizontal really changed the readings. Another odd thing is when this is mounted in my vehicle using the mount kit, when I come to a complete stop, the map seems to spin and think that I'm facing almost 90-180 degrees to the right. The back of the unit is directly facing the street when this happens. Does this seem right?

Edited June 17, 2012 by DasNiche

[7rxc]

After spending 2 hours of completely fruitless caching, I'm pretty frustrated and beginning to wonder if something is not wrong with my device. We stopped at about 6 different locations, and from the recent logs they should have all still been at their posted coordinates. However, the areas my Montana 650 took us to didn't seem to have a cache in sight. Tons of comments on the logs such as "Easy find" or "Quick grab" had my blood pressure rising. The device never really seemed to zero in on a location at any of the destinations, it would say we were 0ft away, and next thing I knew it was 7ft left or 10ft right moments later. The red arrow indicating the direction to walk seemed slow to react and sometimes spins back and forth having us very uncertain of where we should actually be looking. We are both beginners and have been able to find 3 caches with this thing early on, but now I'm really starting to wonder if my device is broken or if caching just isn't for me. Any insight? Is there some sort of calibration or troubleshooting I should do with my unit?

 

Also, is there a certain way I need to hold things device while zeroing in on a cache? Switching from vertical to horizontal really changed the readings. Another odd thing is when this is mounted in my vehicle using the mount kit, when I come to a complete stop, the map seems to spin and think that I'm facing almost 90-180 degrees to the right. The back of the unit is directly facing the street when this happens. Does this seem right?

 

One thing that comes immediately to mind, is that NO GPS is capable of putting you exactly at the location it displays. Satellites move and thus the movement you see each time it recalculates. Up to 30 feet is common but most newer GPS will be about a 10 foot radius in average conditions. When the device hops around a bit it is a good sign that it has got you to the target area, time to start searching and mostly ignore the GPS.

 

Another thing is that some caches are well cammoed and often a lot smaller than many newbies expect. Micros can range down to almost invisible. How about listing some of the GC #s for ones you tried and failed to find. Then we might be able to comment on what was happening, once we see the D / T and size as well as the cache type. Mystery or unknown (?) type caches (including puzzles) most of the time will have 'false' coordinates posted to get you in the general area then you have to deal with the mystery or whatever to get the real ones.

 

It's all part of the game, and some of us like that type of agrevation, a little bit anyway.

 

Doug 7rxc

[+Walts Hunting]

I see you are new to the hobby and haven't found one yet. I suspect they are close to where your gps took you but well concealed. Don't give up. Try Filtering for regular sized caches which are easier to find. If you were hunting micros (which can be as small as a pea) I can tell you that they can be very frustrating. What is an easy find for an experienced cacher with geoeyes or geosense can be very frustrating for a noob. Hold it horizontal and if you think it is off walk away for twice the distance of the EPE and come back again.

[team tisri]

One thought, the fact someone says "nice easy find" in their log doesn't necessarily mean it was a nice easy find.

 

If you spend an hour hunting for something before finding it there's nothing to stop you writing "nice easy find". Some people do it because they don't want to admit it took them a long time (much like some people don't write DNFs as they presumably see it as some kind of public admission of failure).

 

If you're new to caching remember that a cache might say "Geocache" on the side of it but it's going to be hidden in some way, maybe under strips of bark, leaves, fake leaves, a fallen tree or similar. The GPS will get you to within about 30 feet (you'll have about 10-15 feet of inaccuracy in your coordinates and the cache setter will have about the same) and from there you just have to look for something hidden.

 

I see from your profile you haven't found any caches yet. Since you are completely new to caching your best bet is to choose a cache to look for that's a traditional (green box), with a low difficulty rating (and probably a low terrain rating would be good too) that's a Regular or Large size cache, and use the clue to help you find it.

 

Some caches are very small and when you're looking for something the size of a 35mm film pot somewhere within about 30 feet of where you are when there are trees all around there are so many places it could be it's just not funny, especially if the clue says "tree" or some such. If you're looking for an ammo can and the clue is "under fallen tree" there can only be so many fallen trees and so many places to hide something that size.

[+choochoo1996]

Dont know if your Montana is like my Colorado but every time I change the batteries I have to re-calibrate my compass. Sometimes when I get to the cache my GPS does what yours does, so I find a clear area and re-calibrate my compass again.....pain in the butt, but it works for me....hope that helps...also the terrain your in might do funny things to your gps also, rock cliffs are notorious for that as are overhead high power tower lines....like the previous posters said walk away and return might work....

[+Cacheoholic]

The Montana has a 3 axis, self calibrating electronic compass while the Colorado only has a 2 axis electronic compass. I’ve had my Montana for almost a year and have not had to recalibrate the electronic compass. I hardly ever used the electronic compass on the Colorado because it continuously had to be recalibrated (along with having to be held absolutely level).

[7rxc]

where we should actually be looking. We are both beginners and have been able to find 3 caches with this thing early on, but now I'm really starting to wonder if my device is broken or if caching just isn't for me. Any insight?

 

This says they found 3 caches, but have not logged any last I looked.

 

As for the GPS orientation. First read the manual for recommendations or ask. GPS units have different antennas for the satellite receiver. Some units work best vertically (like my Map 60cx)as it has that little stub antenna. Others like the smooth surface devices have patch antennas and like to be held horizontally for most efficient reception. I suspect the Montana is one of those. This is not for compass work though. As stated elsewhere the triaxial compasses don't care much.

 

Doug 7rxc

[Pup Patrol]

You might want to read this thread in the "Getting Started" forum, particularly niraD's excellent post (#5):

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=296915

 

 

B.

[+zeus661]

After spending 2 hours of completely fruitless caching, I'm pretty frustrated and beginning to wonder if something is not wrong with my device. We stopped at about 6 different locations, and from the recent logs they should have all still been at their posted coordinates. However, the areas my Montana 650 took us to didn't seem to have a cache in sight. Tons of comments on the logs such as "Easy find" or "Quick grab" had my blood pressure rising. The device never really seemed to zero in on a location at any of the destinations, it would say we were 0ft away, and next thing I knew it was 7ft left or 10ft right moments later. The red arrow indicating the direction to walk seemed slow to react and sometimes spins back and forth having us very uncertain of where we should actually be looking. We are both beginners and have been able to find 3 caches with this thing early on, but now I'm really starting to wonder if my device is broken or if caching just isn't for me. Any insight? Is there some sort of calibration or troubleshooting I should do with my unit?

 

Also, is there a certain way I need to hold things device while zeroing in on a cache? Switching from vertical to horizontal really changed the readings. Another odd thing is when this is mounted in my vehicle using the mount kit, when I come to a complete stop, the map seems to spin and think that I'm facing almost 90-180 degrees to the right. The back of the unit is directly facing the street when this happens. Does this seem right?

 

I had a similar probelm and realized I had a setting wrong in my Montana.

 

Go into "Setup", select "Routing". In Activity make sure it is set to "Direct Routing" and Lock On Road is set to "No".

 

Please let me know what your settings were.

 

Thanks

[+LadyBee4T]

The Montana has a 3 axis, self calibrating electronic compass while the Colorado only has a 2 axis electronic compass. I’ve had my Montana for almost a year and have not had to recalibrate the electronic compass. I hardly ever used the electronic compass on the Colorado because it continuously had to be recalibrated (along with having to be held absolutely level).

 

I have had my montana for about 2 months now and I have had to recalibrate the compass as the arrow seemed to be jumping. Recalibration fixed that. It happened once after changing the batteries to aa and once or twice otherwise. It was one of the first things that came to mind when I read the OP. The other thing I thought of was the settings that have already been mentioned.

[Suscrofa]

Why can't people accept that it is their brain that is not functioning properly ? Why always blame the equipment ?

[+splashy]

Many people nowadays suffer from Intolerance of imperfection.

They don't even know the basics of geocaching and think it's about driving to a spot, walk 100 yards where the gps will bring them ON THE SPOT.

Then register the geocache and up to the next one.

 

Omg, do I have to search for that thing???

[team tisri]

Many people nowadays suffer from Intolerance of imperfection.

They don't even know the basics of geocaching and think it's about driving to a spot, walk 100 yards where the gps will bring them ON THE SPOT.

Then register the geocache and up to the next one.

 

Omg, do I have to search for that thing???

 

Walk?

 

You mean I have to actually GET OUT of my car? I thought this was supposed to be fun.

[sviking]

Buy/borrow another type of GPS unit and/or go caching with someone else. Preferably somebody much better at it than the OP.

[DasNiche]

zeus661, my device was set as "Yes" to Lock On Road, so I have changed that to "No". I will also try a compass calibration. The 3 caches I had found were all from the... less favorable geocaching website, so that's why they're not logged here. Thank you for the positive feedback. I'm so inexperienced that I'm sure I was just letting my doubts get to me, but I'll give it some more goes with these comments in mind. To the people with negative comments, I understand that it must be frustrating to see such a newbie questioning his new device.

[team tisri]

To the people with negative comments, I understand that it must be frustrating to see such a newbie questioning his new device.

 

It quite often appears that new people are quick to blame their device and assume it is faulty, or ask questions in a way that suggests they don't consider there to be any problem with the way they are using the device.

 

As a new cacher it may be you've got a faulty device but it's more likely that you're just having some difficulty finding your first caches. Every once in a while people pick a difficult nano cache as the first cache they hunt and seem to think their GPS is faulty when the arrow doesn't point directly at the cache.

 

If you give some indication as to your geographical location you may find someone willing to go out with you to help you find the first few and get you introduced to the sport. I've got a friend who caches with me every once in a while (usually when our wives are shopping) and to him geocaching is still something of a dark art. When I see a strip of bark leaning against a fallen tree when the GPS says 40 feet to go there might as well be a big neon sign saying "Cache this way", but he doesn't register such things as being noteworthy... yet.

[+splashy]

Don't take my comments like this too serious, but the OP says;

 

"After spending 2 hours of completely fruitless caching

The device never really seemed to zero in on a location at any of the destinations,

Also, is there a certain way I need to hold things device while zeroing in on a cache"

 

I wanted him and other beginners to know, that you must work for it.

 

Anyway he found that some settings might have been wrong, next time he will be successful.

[+LadyBee4T]

Many people nowadays suffer from Intolerance of imperfection.They don't even know the basics of geocaching and think it's about driving to a spot, walk 100 yards where the gps will bring them ON THE SPOT.Then register the geocache and up to the next one.Omg, do I have to search for that thing???

 

Don't take my comments like this too serious, but the OP says;"After spending 2 hours of completely fruitless caching The device never really seemed to zero in on a location at any of the destinations,Also, is there a certain way I need to hold things device while zeroing in on a cache"I wanted him and other beginners to know, that you must work for it.Anyway he found that some settings might have been wrong, next time he will be successful.

There would have been a nicer way to say the exact same thing especially to a newbie and someone posting for the first time. It is comments like these that scare people off from the forums and asking questions here. Many people would not bothered to come back here. I hope that the OP will when he/she has more questions about his new unit and about caching in general

 

It sounds like there were both a settings problem and unreal expectations from the OP.

[+splashy]

Another problem nowadays is that you ALWAYS have to think about whatever your answer is, because there is always somebody intimidated.

And it should be told loudly that gs doesn't mean whatever the newbie thinks it means, therefore I say there is an intolerance of imperfection.

If we or the cache marketing are not saying 'you actually have to walk and search for a cache' many more people will not like the hobby and will complain about this not being gs.

 

I'm scaring nobody, but if I scare them by saying this. they're not old enough to go caching without their parents.

[sviking]

I'm scaring nobody, but if I scare them by saying this. they're not old enough to go caching without their parents.

 

Exactly. If people are so mentally weak as to "allow" themselves to be offended, then that's THEIR problem.

Edited June 18, 2012 by sviking

[+LadyBee4T]

zeus661, my device was set as "Yes" to Lock On Road, so I have changed that to "No". I will also try a compass calibration. The 3 caches I had found were all from the... less favorable geocaching website, so that's why they're not logged here. Thank you for the positive feedback. I'm so inexperienced that I'm sure I was just letting my doubts get to me, but I'll give it some more goes with these comments in mind. To the people with negative comments, I understand that it must be frustrating to see such a newbie questioning his new device.

 

I think that some people have forgotten what it is like to be a newbie at this caching thing and also the learning curve needed when using a new piece of technology-in this case your montana. I've only had my montana 2 months and I still have tons of things to learn about it and its capabilities. When you have more questions come back and ask since the only stupid question is one that isn't asked.....

[+splashy]

If we don't give clear answers, people don't understand and will think 'oh well' and tomorrow will probably make the same mistake.

It is mainly because the market makes everything looks easy and everybody can do anything, this is not the case, a learning curve for a Montana is steep as for many other Gps'es, the question is will people learn by reading AND asking, or will the Gps end in a drawer or as a paperweight?

So my opinion is if a question is based on an illusion I wake them up and they will remember.

If they really like to learn about their hobby and want to find some caches in the future, they won't be scared about my 4 words phrase and most certainly come back to this free pool of gps/cache info.

 

BTW Did you read your 1st phrase

[+zeus661]

zeus661, my device was set as "Yes" to Lock On Road, so I have changed that to "No". I will also try a compass calibration. The 3 caches I had found were all from the... less favorable geocaching website, so that's why they're not logged here. Thank you for the positive feedback. I'm so inexperienced that I'm sure I was just letting my doubts get to me, but I'll give it some more goes with these comments in mind. To the people with negative comments, I understand that it must be frustrating to see such a newbie questioning his new device.

 

Also make sure "Activity" is set to "Direct Routing".

[team tisri]

There would have been a nicer way to say the exact same thing especially to a newbie and someone posting for the first time. It is comments like these that scare people off from the forums and asking questions here. Many people would not bothered to come back here. I hope that the OP will when he/she has more questions about his new unit and about caching in general

 

It sounds like there were both a settings problem and unreal expectations from the OP.

 

I have to agree with splashy on this one. I grow weary of this constant idea that new posters to a forum get "scared" by people who don't fawn over them and who might tell them to look at themselves as well as looking to blame everything around them for not working properly.

 

From the perspective of the new poster they have a problem that may be the GPS, may be their expectations, may be the way they use the GPS or whatever. From the perspective of the community we see a person complaining that it's all too difficult and apparently assuming they must be doing everything just right.

 

Honestly, if someone is "scared off" by people answering their question in ways that don't involve reassuring them that they are doing everything just right and it must be Something Else at fault they really need to grow a pair and come back when they have done so.

 

Unfortunately when trying to answer a question there's no way of knowing whether someone has a desire to be told the truth as-is with warts and all or a desire to be wrapped in cotton wool and reassured that everything will be OK. Throw in the way a discussion forum loses something like 93% of the nuances of face-to-face verbal communication and someone prone to be easily offended will soon find something to offend them. Since most people (myself included) can't be bothered to tread uber-gently just in case a poster is feeling especially delicate we end up falling back on a situation where you ask a question and take the answers you can get.

 

Or, as someone put it on a photography critiquing web site I used some years back, if you want honest opinion upload it and ask but if you want glowing praise regardless show it to your mother.

[+LadyBee4T]

There would have been a nicer way to say the exact same thing especially to a newbie and someone posting for the first time. It is comments like these that scare people off from the forums and asking questions here. Many people would not bothered to come back here. I hope that the OP will when he/she has more questions about his new unit and about caching in general

 

It sounds like there were both a settings problem and unreal expectations from the OP.

 

I have to agree with splashy on this one. I grow weary of this constant idea that new posters to a forum get "scared" by people who don't fawn over them and who might tell them to look at themselves as well as looking to blame everything around them for not working properly.

 

From the perspective of the new poster they have a problem that may be the GPS, may be their expectations, may be the way they use the GPS or whatever. From the perspective of the community we see a person complaining that it's all too difficult and apparently assuming they must be doing everything just right.

 

Honestly, if someone is "scared off" by people answering their question in ways that don't involve reassuring them that they are doing everything just right and it must be Something Else at fault they really need to grow a pair and come back when they have done so.

 

Unfortunately when trying to answer a question there's no way of knowing whether someone has a desire to be told the truth as-is with warts and all or a desire to be wrapped in cotton wool and reassured that everything will be OK. Throw in the way a discussion forum loses something like 93% of the nuances of face-to-face verbal communication and someone prone to be easily offended will soon find something to offend them. Since most people (myself included) can't be bothered to tread uber-gently just in case a poster is feeling especially delicate we end up falling back on a situation where you ask a question and take the answers you can get.

 

Or, as someone put it on a photography critiquing web site I used some years back, if you want honest opinion upload it and ask but if you want glowing praise regardless show it to your mother.

 

The OP stated he had found 3 caches and then the next time he found that the unit was acting differently and the compass needle was jumping all around. I have had that happen and became frustrated too. He asked reasonable questions and got very good advice initially. The snarky comments started on post #11.

 

My point is that you can say the very same thing in a straightforward way or in a sarcastic, snarky way. There is no need to fawn over anybody just answer the questions. No need to be unber - gentle. Just give the answer in a straightforward manner. Heaven forbid that you ever have a question that needs to be answered that others might consider to be pretty stupid or the answer is very obvious and wonder why you just don't see it. I suppose that some of you that answer in that manner never had any problems when you were a newbie.

 

I understand about not knowing whether someone wants to be told the truth or just be wrapped in cotton wool as you said. I got really flamed when a person opened a thread to ask opinions about the coin they just designed and I told them what I thought straight up.

 

I have talked to many people in the local organization who won't come to these forums because of the flaming and unhelpful comments. None of them need to "grow a pair" as you call it or have their hand held or the like.

[Suscrofa]

If the title had been a humble statement like : "Help me understand what I am doing wrong" instead of "Something wrong with my GPS? (Montana 650T)" which implies a knowledgeable person who after careful testing came to this conclusion, which obviously was not the case, there would be no snarky comment !

 

If you don't know, you ask, nothing wrong but if you try to be smart when you are not, take the beating and don't whine. If you whine expect more beating. This is the way things used to be before this crap called PC, excessive tolerance, obsession not to offend people !

[+LadyBee4T]

If the title had been a humble statement like : "Help me understand what I am doing wrong" instead of "Something wrong with my GPS? (Montana 650T)" which implies a knowledgeable person who after careful testing came to this conclusion, which obviously was not the case, there would be no snarky comment !

 

If you don't know, you ask, nothing wrong but if you try to be smart when you are not, take the beating and don't whine. If you whine expect more beating. This is the way things used to be before this crap called PC, excessive tolerance, obsession not to offend people !

 

After having a unit that acting exactly as he described and having to return it for replacement I think the title was reasonable especially when posed as a question as he did.

[Suscrofa]

 

After having a unit that acting exactly as he described and having to return it for replacement I think the title was reasonable especially when posed as a question as he did.

 

Lot of equipment is returned and many calls to service department for no other reason than the inability of the users to use, configure, understand. Some people can even make good money out of it.

[team tisri]

If the title had been a humble statement like : "Help me understand what I am doing wrong" instead of "Something wrong with my GPS? (Montana 650T)" which implies a knowledgeable person who after careful testing came to this conclusion, which obviously was not the case, there would be no snarky comment !

 

If you don't know, you ask, nothing wrong but if you try to be smart when you are not, take the beating and don't whine. If you whine expect more beating. This is the way things used to be before this crap called PC, excessive tolerance, obsession not to offend people !

 

Pretty much what I was thinking. A question can be answered more or less usefully, and can also be asked more or less usefully.

 

"Am I doing something wrong or is my device playing up?" seems a better question than "what's wrong with this device?". Not least because it directly acknowledges that the problem might be user error.

[+LadyBee4T]

 

After having a unit that acting exactly as he described and having to return it for replacement I think the title was reasonable especially when posed as a question as he did.

 

Lot of equipment is returned and many calls to service department for no other reason than the inability of the users to use, configure, understand. Some people can even make good money out of it.

 

Yep no doubt. Good manuals are a must but you have to actually read them first. LOL I wish I knew more about the good money though. I sure could use some.

[DasNiche]

Well now that you guys have hurt my feelings, I've returned my GPS device and have taken up flying kites instead. I hope you all know that they are much more hospitable on the KiteThrillSeeker forums...

 

I kid, I kid. I think you're all reading a little too into what I said. Much of my wording came out of frustration and I never imagined my post would be dissected and evaluated to this extent. I will do more research before posting next time. Thanks everyone for the replies.

[sviking]

Good manuals are a must but you have to actually read them first.

 

You realize we're talking about Garmin, right? Their manuals..."good"?

[+LadyBee4T]

Good manuals are a must but you have to actually read them first.

 

You realize we're talking about Garmin, right? Their manuals..."good"?

 

Haven't read a "good" manual in years. Mine all have red comments in the margins and frustration written on over them

 

I think that the "missing manual" series have been on to something for years....

[sviking]

 

I think that the "missing manual" series have been on to something for years....

 

The manuals, crappy as they are, aren't "missing". They're just in electronic format, either on the device itself or you can find them on-line at Garmin and download in .pdf format.

[+LadyBee4T]

 

I think that the "missing manual" series have been on to something for years....

 

The manuals, crappy as they are, aren't "missing". They're just in electronic format, either on the device itself or you can find them on-line at Garmin and download in .pdf format.

 

You didn't get my reference. There is a series of books called the Missing Manual. I just bought one for Excel 2010 and have one for Windows 7 among others. They explain a lot that are left out of the official manuals hence the name.

[sviking]

You didn't get my reference. There is a series of books called the Missing Manual.

 

Guess not. Never heard of that series.

[sviking]

double tap.

Edited June 19, 2012 by sviking

[7rxc]

Well now that you guys have hurt my feelings, I've returned my GPS device and have taken up flying kites instead. I hope you all know that they are much more hospitable on the KiteThrillSeeker forums...

 

I kid, I kid. I think you're all reading a little too into what I said. Much of my wording came out of frustration and I never imagined my post would be dissected and evaluated to this extent. I will do more research before posting next time. Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

While the tone of the conversation took a downturn, I don't remember anyone suggesting that you GO FLY A KITE!

 

Anyways... to me the only dumb question is one that never gets asked! But the asker has to carefully read the answers and suggestions, even the 'snarky' ones. I guarantee that somewhere, sometime, the 'snarky' commenters have had a similar question to ask. Most advice will be good, but some is worth the paper it's printed on. But remember how much paper is involved in digital communications (not counting printout copies of course... just the originals).

 

Glad to see you stuck around... but the kite flying does sound theraputic. Just don't listen to Ben Franklin.

 

Doug 7rxc

[+MinnBrewer]

Buy/borrow another type of GPS unit and/or go caching with someone else. Preferably somebody much better at it than the OP.

 

I only have 26 under my belt [6 today], and I can say that after my first find, the several misses in one day were a bit discouraging. After finding a few different types of caches, especially micros, you quickly learn where these types of things are hidden when walking around anywhere you are. A "geosense". No worries; keep trying and you will succeed.

 

I have learned one tip that is the most useful for me. Get to the the location and put away the GPS. Only use it if you drift away and need to get back (difficult terrain). I have a LOT to learn yet, but making some cool finds is very encouraging. I found an evil micro experiment recently that I found extremely gratifying. You will learn from each find how to find a future hide. Also, if you get too frustrated at one location, try again later. Maybe put a watch on the cache to see if it is found by others. I find that more often than not, it somebody has found the cache after me and I have to go back now.

 

I am three weeks in since starting from an accidental find on June 1st, so you can take all this with a grain of salt. Still using my Droid RAZR until I decide what to use next week. Montana is looking mighty good :-). Don't give up...I said the same thing about being a poor geocacher...but I am getting better and now my Wife is too.

[+Atlas Cached]

I only have 26 under my belt [6 today], and I can say that after my first find, the several misses in one day were a bit discouraging. After finding a few different types of caches, especially micros, you quickly learn where these types of things are hidden when walking around anywhere you are. A "geosense". No worries; keep trying and you will succeed.

 

I am three weeks in since starting from an accidental find on June 1st, so you can take all this with a grain of salt. Still using my Droid RAZR until I decide what to use next week. Montana is looking mighty good :-). Don't give up...I said the same thing about being a poor geocacher...but I am getting better and now my Wife is too.

 

With more than 600 finds under my belt, I am still finding some very clever hides that stump me on my first visit. And second visit.

 

The first few finds while getting started can be much more difficult than they should be, but do not let that discourage you! When you do find them, it will be very gratifying!

[sviking]

Still using my Droid RAZR until I decide what to use next week. Montana is looking mighty good :-).

 

Oh, the Montana is good...VERY good...