Smart Phone Hiders

[+BAMBOOZLE]

What is the estimated percentage of geocache hiders that use smart phones for placing caches ?

[+Sottiwotti]

Probably pretty high

[+Viajero Perdido]

How could anybody know, given the likelihood most people use the website for creating the listings?  They would get those coordinates from ... unknown, unspecified.

 

We can only guess, and that's probably all Groundspeak can do too ... unless they did a survey.

 

Edited April 17 by Viajero Perdido

[+arisoft]

I use a smartphone when hiding caches, but the phone is connected to the Garmin GLO receiver.
 
It could be better to ask the estimated percentage of players who use only a smartphone GPS receiver. That number is constantly rising.

Edited April 17 by arisoft

[+BooBooBee]

I used to use GPSr for hiding and seeking, but gradually changed over to the smartphone. The problem I'm finding with placing caches with it is that the measurements are pretty far off. Trying to be .1-mile away from any other cache but not TOO FAR OVER that number is a touchy thing on the smartphone. Today, for instance, I ran the GC.com app alongside GAIA. Both showed my caches were far enough apart, but upon submitting them the reviewer noted they were, on his map calculating system, too close together. Which numbers are we to believe?

[+Viajero Perdido]

Distance between two sets of coords (existing cache, your new cache) is a fixed number.  Either it's too close, or it isn't.

 

Some smartphone apps, such as Locus Map which I use 100% for caching, can draw 161m radius circles around existing caches.  As you're wandering around looking for a hiding spot, make sure you're outside the nearest circle (zooming in if needed), start the phone recording a good solid average while you prepare the hide, then zoom in on the recorded waypoint, the one you'll put on the cache listing.  That for sure must be outside the existing cache's circle, and if you zoom in, it should be obvious whether it's truly outside.

 

We've done this recently with some hides that were very close, and they passed muster.

[+MNTA]

2 hours ago, Viajero Perdido said:

Distance between two sets of coords (existing cache, your new cache) is a fixed number.  Either it's too close, or it isn't.

 

Some smartphone apps, such as Locus Map which I use 100% for caching, can draw 161m radius circles around existing caches.  As you're wandering around looking for a hiding spot, make sure you're outside the nearest circle (zooming in if needed), start the phone recording a good solid average while you prepare the hide, then zoom in on the recorded waypoint, the one you'll put on the cache listing.  That for sure must be outside the existing cache's circle, and if you zoom in, it should be obvious whether it's truly outside.

 

We've done this recently with some hides that were very close, and they passed muster.

 

I've said this many times. GS needs to improve the hiding process using their app. This is geometry not rocket science and a little bit of coding. 

 

[+BAMBOOZLE]

There was a time when GS did not want you to hide with a phone it was so bad......lately I'm finding caches which I am pretty sure were hidden with phones are dead on with my quad and patch. I'm thinking high end and newer phones have come a long way but I still don't care to use them when hunting....there is something about driving and walking with my GPS thats more smooth and less jerky.

Anyway glad the phones have come around....the app is great and we can cache wherever we are with no planning and read logs that go way back, etc.