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Etrex 20 use


Jayeffel

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Maybe I am doing things wrong maybe not. I have a Garmin  Etrex 20 that I use sometimes. I say sometimes because in spite of what some cachers, mostly those who started caching long before I did, say my I iPhone does a better job.

 

Unless in a area where the phone is not picking up a signal of anytime, it seems to work better. The Etrex for me is rather cumbersome to use, not carry. Once I have a cache downloaded to the Etrex when I go to use it I need to walk any direction a while until a track starts to develop on the screen. Then I need to move one way or the other to see where I am in relation to the track and the cache itself. Very seldom does the signal settler to one spot for a long time.

 

For instance, a recent cache I looked for is a multi. Once the first stage is found information for the actual coordinates needs to figured out. I did not have my Etrex Wirth that time, may not have made a difference. Since I do not know how to use coordinates I on the iPhone other than using the app, I waited until I got home to enter them into the Etrex. If I had gone along with two other cachers who were at the first stage with me maybe I would have done better. Anyway,  I went back down to get other caches in the area and decided to go for this one second stage. BUT I left the Etrex  at home! 

I tried to go where the map plotted on geocaching.com indicated but it looked a bit to overgrown. I did look around though. Since there were other new caches in the area I went back down,ghit them, and with the Etrex in hand tried again. 

 

It showed GZ so many feet away but of course I had to start in one arbitrary direction just to get an idea what direction the cache may be. After a few minutes of walking and turning it shows the cache in a direction, there was nothing in the area that a cache would hide. Evententually, maybe 30. minutes (could have been a lot less but seem that long) it pointed to a tree about 2 feet from me. Since the clue  for the cache said Beech Tree, I fingered it may be here. It may have been!

 

I managed to see a corner of wt\hat seemed to be a baggie, and felt it but could not get a hold of it to retrieve it to see if it was the Cache. 

 

My problem is using the Etrex to find the spot indicated by coordinates. I enter some caches by directly downloading from the geocaching.com website, some by downloading to iCache then  uploading from there to the Etrex), and using waypoints to find a spot acts the same way. I used the Cache method before I learned the Direct download to GPS method. 

 

That is why I use my iPhone 95% + of the time. At least it tells me when I am about 30 feet away from the recorded coordinates.

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25 minutes ago, Jayeffel said:

Once I have a cache downloaded to the Etrex when I go to use it I need to walk any direction a while until a track starts to develop on the screen. Then I need to move one way or the other to see where I am in relation to the track and the cache itself.

 

25 minutes ago, Jayeffel said:

It showed GZ so many feet away but of course I had to start in one arbitrary direction just to get an idea what direction the cache may be.

 

I don't have an Etrex 20 but every Garmin I have used has had a compass to tell which direction to start walking.  Doesn't the Etrex 20 have a compass?

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Edited by NanCycle
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IIRC, whenever we noticed friends with issues and etrex 20, it was because they had  to keep moving for the  differential compass to work.   :)

Seems odd, as even my long-discontinued model has an electronic compass.   

"Bounce" happens with even the high-end GPSrs.

Once were directed to around 20 feet or so, the gizmos (whether GPSr or phone..) are put away.   ;)

I don't think it's fair to compare this model with a modern phone...

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12 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

IIRC, whenever we noticed friends with issues and etrex 20, it was because they had  to keep moving for the  differential compass to work.   :)

Seems odd, as even my long-discontinued model has an electronic compass.   

"Bounce" happens with even the high-end GPSrs.

Once were directed to around 20 feet or so, the gizmos (whether GPSr or phone..) are put away.   ;)

I don't think it's fair to compare this model with a modern phone...

Yes, that is the problem. I cannot alway tell which direction to start, but sometime geosense helps. The Etrex does have a separate function for a compass, how to use that with the geocaching function I do not know. I guess if I knew the direction to go I could use that. 

Edited by Jayeffel
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I have an Etrex 20.  When I first used it I was frustrated by the slow (nearly non-existent) response of the pointer.  But that screen with the pointer (compass) does give a distance and bearing, so I use a regular compass to take a bearing to point myself in the right direction.  

 

I usually only use the Etrex when I am very close to the cache.  I plan ahead with a map and/or Googelearth view to get me close (using trails or other land features).  Then when I'm close (and "close" can be anywhere from 10 yards to 100 yards), I start using the Etrex plus the compass, if needed.

 

I hope that helps.

 

 

Joe

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I've been using an Etrex 20 for about 7 years. I prefer it to my Motorola G4 phone. I usually navigate using the compass. Yes, you need to keep moving for it to operate but it's no big deal. Sometimes if I suddenly change direction the compass pointer can sometimes be out by 180 degrees i.e. pointing in the opposite direction to GZ. Due to this I always watch the distance to ensure it's counting down until the compass corrects itself. When compared to my G4 phone (and others I've tried) the distance countdown of the Etrex seems much more precise. I've never really felt handicapped by not having  a magnetic compass. Also, as many have said, when about 10 metres away from indicated GZ I've already started searching.

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I played around and may need to try this, on the iPhone geocaching app once cache is selected there is a little icon t on the top that shows acompass arrow, once that is selected it does show a compass with n direction arrow, and the distance in the center. It also shows location coordinates and destination coordinates at the bottom of that same screen.

 

For instance, I am at home in Chambersburg, Pa., and selected the cache I mentioned near Hancock, Md. The screen on the iPhone referred to shows a direction roughly  230° with a arrow pointing the way, and 28.8 miles +/- 16 ft. At the bottom it shows my home lat and  long. and the lat and long of the second stage of there multi. That was probably what need to help me. 

 

What I normally do for caching is look at the geocaching.com screen under Direction, look where it is on a map to get an idea. Sometimes that is enough to find a cache -- LPC, GR etc. When I get to the area i use the iPhone app to point the way. Once with in 30 feet or so the iPhone alerts me. Then I start looking harder. Sometime the phone wanders too.

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On 10/4/2020 at 9:47 PM, Jayeffel said:

Need to play around some, the manual is not much help in this regard, at least what I found. Thanks for the help all.

I use a Garmin eTrex 20.  I start off selecting a cache from the Geocache section (or sometimes from the Waypoint Manager, click go- that takes you to a very basic map, then push the Back button to take you back to the menu screen, click on Compass and away you go.  I never use maps. I hope this helps!

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9 hours ago, Ewe&Me said:

I use a Garmin eTrex 20.  I start off selecting a cache from the Geocache section (or sometimes from the Waypoint Manager, click go- that takes you to a very basic map, then push the Back button to take you back to the menu screen, click on Compass and away you go.  I never use maps. I hope this helps!

looks like that is what I needed, thanks. Fairly simple it=if I can remember it!

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