Cell phone or eTrex?

[jayhocash]

Hi,

I'm new with geocaching and actually, i'm using my cell phone to find cache, but the gps precision is not very good. I'm thinking to buy the Garmin eTrex 22x, but is it worth it? Do I get a better precision than a cell phone?

 

Thanks.

Jay

[+CAVinoGal]

I use both; I started geocaching with the app on my cell phone, and have found most of my caches that way.  But I wanted to learn how to use a GPS device, and found a great deal on a basic eTrex30x and use that along with my phone.  Both seem to have the same accuracy which normally gets you to within 10 feet or so.  Much depends on the terrain, power lines, tree cover, etc, as well as the accuracy of the device used to place the cache and get the coordinates that you are trying to pinpoint.

 

Keep in mind that using a GPS device means you need to do more prep work before heading out - downloading the caches you want to seek by creating a list or a pocket query.  As you are a basic member, you might have to transfer the caches one at a time which can get tedious.

 

I use the GPS when I am hiking and caching in areas with low to no cell phone reception, and preload all the caches in the area.  It has come in handy a time or two!  And I like learning to play with new gadgets.  It also gives us (hubby and me) a third set of coordinates when are placing a cache to average out.

 

2 hours ago, jayhocash said:

is it worth it? Do I get a better precision than a cell phone?

The precision is probably going to be about the same.  Generally, get close to GZ (about 20-30 feet) and then start using your eyes and "geosense" (which takes some time and practice to develop!).  Is it worth it to you to have an alternate device?  I use my phone probably 80% or more of the time and it works quite well.

[+ScribblyBear]

I use both. My phone is old and the GPS has become unreliable. It does the job when in an urban environment because of the grid format of cities. Once I get out into the countryside, I'll switch over to the my Garmin etrex touch 25.

[+cerberus1]

6 hours ago, jayhocash said:

 i'm using my cell phone to find cache, but the gps precision is not very good.

I'm thinking to buy the Garmin eTrex 22x, but is it worth it? Do I get a better precision than a cell phone?

 

What is the "precision" you're experiencing ?   Thanks.      Civilian GPS is still only "accurate" to around ten feet.    

 - That's ten feet both for you and the CO, so you could easily by 24 feet "off", and it'd still be consider normal. 

After a while you get a feel where it might be hidden. 

As long as you have cell service, I'd say use the phone the way you're doing now.  If a modern phone, there's little difference.

Later, if you're going to do more than a couple every once in a while, and little or no cell service, go for that 22x.   

[+Jayeffel]

I use both, but 90% iPhone; there are places where the iPhone has no carrier signal; and the Etrex 30 does. Bear in mind as other point out, both get you close to the general area but you need to look. My Etrex seems to show the compass 180 degrees off often.

 

What I do is after downloading a cache and going for it, turn on the Etrex 30, go the the Geocaching option and select the appropriate geocache you want. Once I select it and select navigate I then press the car button (top right side) and select the compass crane, It will then show the bearing and distance to the cache.

 

On the iPhone I learned after a long time is when after selecting navigate and seeing the direct line path and distance, go to the top of the screen and press the compass icon, the middle one ( between the car symbol and the three dots) and it will give a compass direction and distance display. You  can then toggle between the compass and geocache displays as you wish.

 

Keep in mind any GPS  unit , phone or dedicated unit, will get you in general area. I would plan on that even if many times the coordinates provided take you to the exact spot. Remember that there is a roughly 30 foot radius error built in. That is where geosense kicks in. That comes with practice -- where have I found caches in similar situations? Where would I hide one? What is in the description that may help? Is there a hint provided? What do other logs say? 

 

Saying that, I know of a cache that the CO (cache owner) says is easy, she told me basically where is in general terms and what to look for, and after maybe eight trips to it I still cannot find it, when others do!

 

You will see cache descriptions that do not seemingly help you and hints that seem obtuse. Then you will see hints by the CO that tell you exactly where it is and what to look for. And you will see hints by usually newcomers that will tell you where it is. 

 

If you look for a cache and cannot find it,  look at previous logs. What is entered may spark in idea where to look. 

 

In our area there are many caches hidden in very familiar places. You can get an idea by looking at abreviations used in cache names, in the description, in hints, and in the logs by finders.  You will see abbreviations such as GRC and LPC. 

[+GeoElmo6000]

Remember that you can use a cell phone as a GPS unit without a cell signal if you pre-load the geocaches.  When I was out of the country I downloaded both every cache in the area I was visiting and also Google Maps for the area I was visiting, put my phone on airplane mode, and didn't need cell service my entire trip.  GPS works in airplane mode just fine.

[Darwin473]

On 9/21/2021 at 12:05 PM, cerberus1 said:

Later, if you're going to do more than a couple every once in a while, and little or no cell service, go for that 22x.

 

Seconding this. I have a gps but only because I also use it for other things. When I'm out caching, I'll use my phone 90-98% of the time.

 

Another point to remember is that even if you had a perfect 1-inch accurate gps, and the CO placed the cache with a 1-inch accurate gps you might get to GZ and still be anywhere from 3 to 30 feet away from the container location due to people not putting caches back exactly where they got it from. Less likely in urban caches where there may be a specific place like a fence post, but easy to do on caches in / under trees and bushes. As far as I know, the best way is still to use the phone / gps to get to GZ, then use eyes and experience to search. 

[jayhocash]

Thanks for all your advice!

I read your comments, and this is exactly what is happening to me; supposed to be easy to find etc.. I have done 4 caches so far, I found 2 out of 4, because the containers were quite big, but for the other two, since they are small and micro, I could not find anything. I'm going to need more practice to develop my observation skills Lol.

 

I finally bought the eTrex 22x. I didn’t find the accuracy to be better than my cell.

 

I'm in learning mode, I'm having a little trouble operating it. The compas is not moving when I turn etc. I will have to search for some good learning videos

 

Thx!

Edited September 22, 2021 by jayhocash

[+colleda]

I use an Etrex 20x 90% of the time. My phone is quite accurate (Motorola G4 plus) but phone coverage is not all that good or non existant in many places. As a COI mainly use the phone for maintenance so that I can instantly disable/enable caches as required.

Living where I am (a lot of bushland and scrub), a feature I find useful with the Etrex is the Backtrack if I am navigating in trackless areas where one could easily become disoriented. Also found it usefull on a couple of occasions when I have lost my glasses in scrub then found them by backtracking. Then there's battery life and screen in definition in bright sunlight.

In the end try both and go with what works best for you.