GPS confused

[halo826]

I am new to geocaching but I am really enjoying it. Except that I am so confused about the GPS situation. We started out using an app on my Droid. We have pretty good success with it but it seemed that we were not getting very close to the caches. So we purchased a Magellan Explorist GC thinking we would get closer to ground zero. We took it out today and re-visited a couple of the ones we had not been able to find only to find that the phone app gets us as close as the Explorist. I am wondering if the Explorist will prove to be more helpful as we use it more or if we are just as good to use the phone. We have found the Explorist tedious to upload caches to and unreliable with the connection. I am not impressed with it to this point. Does anybody have suggestions or thoughts to share to help us along as we learn more about this hobby? Thanks so much!

Denise and Jonathan

[+Mineral2]

Generally speaking, the GPS antennas are equally sensitive between phones and hand-held gps receivers these days. Accuracy will be similar. But, a dedicated GPS has some advantages over a phone, so don't go returning your unit quite yet. Your Explorist GC will run longer in the field than your phone (battery life is better), and you can just swap out the batteries when they get too low. Generally, you can zoom the map in much closer than you can with phones that run on Google Maps. Your Magellan is waterproof and shock resistant... more durable. And, they're much easier to deal with when you're out of service.

 

Generally, people with handheld GPS units take advantage of pocket queries to batch install caches from a certain area, which is much less tedious than loading your caches one at a time. Unfortunately, pocket queries are a premium member feature.

 

If you're having technical issues with your Magellan, then you might consider trading it in for a different GPS. But let's cross that bridge after you get used to using a GPS instead of your phone.

[+Chief301]

Since you're new to the whole GPS thing, I have to ask one rather obvious question....just what do you consider "not getting very close"? I only ask because some newer folks really get hung up on expecting the device to lead them dead-on to the cache. Generally speaking, a margin of error of 10-20 feet is considered acceptable.

 

Remember, even if your device is accurate to within 5 feet, if the hider's device was also only accurate to within 5 feet, there's a potential 10 foot error there. Add the fact that caches sometimes "migrate" from their original hiding spot, and that atmospheric considiton, tree cover, tall buildings nearby, etc. all can interfere with your signal, and a 10-20 foot margin or error doesn't seem too unreasonable.

 

Once you get in the general area, don't wander around in little circles trying to get the device to read "0". Once you get that close the device has done all it's going to do for you. Put the thing away and start looking for likely hiding spots.

[halo826]

I am still very new and unsure of how close is close. I understand the concept of within 10-20 feet and that at that point, I have to start looking with my own eyes. I guess I did not have 100% confidence in the phone app and was afraid it was not getting me within 50 or 100 feet, so I got the Magellan thinking it would be more accurate, thus giving me more confidence that I was in the right location to start looking. So I guess my question was really about the phone app, if it was as accurate as a handheld GPS and if there was any benefit to the GPS over the phone. As mineral2 pointed out, there are advantages to the GPS over the phone, but they don't seem to be in the department of accuracy. We have had some very good success with my phone but there are a few that we CANNOT find and I was losing faith that my phone had gotten me close enough to GZ. I think what is coming into play here has more to do with my inexperience than with my equipment, but I just wanted to make sure that was the case. I would hate to be relying on inferior equipment and blaming myself for my unfound caches, when in reality I wasn't even close. I want to know my equipment is doing the job its supposed to do and then I can be more diligent in my searches. We will look and look and if we cant find the cache, I have been assuming my phone is not getting me close enough and giving up. Now that I know my phone is as accurate as the GPS and that GPS I bought is not a piece of crap, I will rely more on myself to keep looking. I apologize for that rambling explanation, but I am just thinking while typing.

 

On a side note, what should we do if CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT find the cache? For instance, we have looked for one on two different occasions. The last time it was found was two days before our first attempt, so I am fairly certain it is still there. It is in a rural area at a business and the GPS and phone both take us to the area of the huge sign out front. We have looked everywhere on the sign, under the sign, under the landscaping bricks, I have touched every screw and looked under every lip and moved every moving part on it. When we venture away from the sign, the compass says we are moving away from GZ. There is nothing else in the location of the sign. We are very frustrated about it and I go right back to blaming my phone and now the GPS for not being accurate. I am sure it's my inexperience but I am getting frustrated. LOL. Any suggestions?

 

I think I will hang on to the GPS for a little while longer and if a premium membership will enable us to download caches easier, that would certainly be a saving point for the GPS because as is, I am having a hard time justifying the expense of the GPS when my phone is doing just as good, minus the points mineral2 gave. Thank you both for your replies and helping me on my way!

[alandb]

Log it as a DNF, then ask the cache owner if you could have an additional hint. Many cache owners are willing to send you a private email message with an additional hint or two.

Edited August 11, 2013 by alandb

[+Mineral2]

Some caches are just difficult to find, and they were placed that way on purpose. If you're new to caching, pocket queries are a great way to filter out the difficult ones until you have some experience finding containers and knowing what to look for. I have a love-hate relationship with micro caches which I often have to drag my wife out with me because a second pair of eyes and a second perspective in searching strategies is helpful. On the other hand, the more difficult finds tend to be very creative and unique.

[halo826]

Log it as a DNF, then ask the cache owner if you could have an additional hint. Many cache owners are willing to send you a private email message with an additional hint or two.

 

Good to know! I will give this a try! Thanks so much.

[halo826]

Some caches are just difficult to find, and they were placed that way on purpose. If you're new to caching, pocket queries are a great way to filter out the difficult ones until you have some experience finding containers and knowing what to look for. I have a love-hate relationship with micro caches which I often have to drag my wife out with me because a second pair of eyes and a second perspective in searching strategies is helpful. On the other hand, the more difficult finds tend to be very creative and unique.

 

I am familiar with the love-hate relationship. I have one with many different things and this is beginning to be the case with geocaching. I want to be challenged but I am an instant gratification type, so when I dont have immediate success, I tend to get very agitated. My husband and I have both been out to this site twice and even together we cannot find it and its not even a micro or nano. It's small so I cannot believe we cannot find it. We have found several micro and one nano. ARGH! Thanks so much for the replies!

[+AFNurse]

One thing I have found is that one persons small is another persons regular or micro....There isn't even a category for Nano (except for Micro and they tell you in the description that it is a Nano... the differences between small and micro seem to be the largest in 'opinion'...while there are suggestions, they do not always run true. Found a 35mm film bottle today listed as a small....found another 35mm film bottle at another site by another cache owner listed as micro. Good luck!! ;-)

[halo826]

One thing I have found is that one persons small is another persons regular or micro....There isn't even a category for Nano (except for Micro and they tell you in the description that it is a Nano... the differences between small and micro seem to be the largest in 'opinion'...while there are suggestions, they do not always run true. Found a 35mm film bottle today listed as a small....found another 35mm film bottle at another site by another cache owner listed as micro. Good luck!! ;-)

 

Another good thing to keep in mind. I havent asked for another hint yet. I dont want to give up. I am going back out as soon as I can and we are going to try it again. I will try to broaden my vision for whatever size it may actually be.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

On a side note, what should we do if CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT find the cache?

This question comes up with regularity and it deserves only one answer: Nothing says that you must find 'em all.

 

If you're havin' such a hard time with it... leave it and garner some other experience. To keep working and working at it can only provide frustration. It will probably click in your head one day, and then you'll probably walk right to it.

[halo826]

On a side note, what should we do if CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT find the cache?

This question comes up with regularity and it deserves only one answer: Nothing says that you must find 'em all.

 

If you're havin' such a hard time with it... leave it and garner some other experience. To keep working and working at it can only provide frustration. It will probably click in your head one day, and then you'll probably walk right to it.

 

Agreed. I was planning to go back over there this afternoon, but have since decided to move on, leave this one for later, and come back to it down the road. If something is causing anguish, it ceases to be much fun. It is very close to home, so I can re-visit it easily in the future when it feels less like a job and more like fun.

[+coachstahly]

I can't tell you how many DNFs I've come back to a few months later (or year in a couple cases) and made a find on. Sometimes it's a new perspective and sometimes it's just experience. I DNF at about a 10% rate so I have lots to come back to! LOL

[+Mineral2]

When I come across a particularly difficult DNF, I'll come back and follow it, waiting to see if anyone else is able to find it. If someone comes along and finds it, I know it's still there. On the other hand, when the CO performs maintenance, I'll also hear about it and can go back when the cache is in working order.

[+bumandworker]

my 1 cent worth

 

some good comments here.

 

I would try and not let a DNF worry you. with over 2 million caches out there, no one will find them all.

Every one plays this game with different goals (and skills) ....for us, a DNF is not a biggie....oh, we have plenty. For us personally, we enjoy going to the location as much as the find....but then, we are not urban cachers!

 

On the accuracy front....you should also remember, the coordinates will also depend on how precise the cache owner was when he/she took the mark....there can be variance there.

There is also some variance between model of GPS used, although that gap is closing.

 

Don't let stuff bug you...it is a past-time...to enjoy.

 

Cheers

Pete