GPS coverters?

[+Bychowiec]

Hi all!

 

The rules says that I actually have to go out there and find the exact coordinates for my geocache. But these days there are GPS-converters on the internet. Isn´t that good enought or even better? You just put a mark on a map and the exact coordinates will turn up. 

For example: https://www.gps-coordinates.net/gps-coordinates-converter

 

/Bychowiec

Edited November 20 by Bychowiec

[+CAVinoGal]

15 minutes ago, Bychowiec said:

there are GPS-converters on the internet. Isn´t that good enought or even better? You just put a mark on a map and the exact coordinates will turn up. 

 

The maps can be "off", satellite view may not give you enough of the picture to get accurate coordinates.  Besides, you need to place the cache, so you will be at the location to get coordinates anyway.

 

I grab coordinates with at least 2 devices, at the location, and sometimes even on different days, just to verify.  I use Google maps to check that my coordinates are at least close to the intended location, but I don't rely on Google coordinates; for that I use my GPSr or my phone's GPS app.

Edited November 20 by CAVinoGal

[+Bychowiec]

14 minutes ago, CAVinoGal said:

 

The maps can be "off", satellite view may not give you enough of the picture to get accurate coordinates.  Besides, you need to place the cache, so you will be at the location to get coordinates anyway.

 

I grab coordinates with at least 2 devices, at the location, and sometimes even on different days, just to verify.  I use Google maps to check that my coordinates are at least close to the intended location, but I don't rely on Google coordinates; for that I use my GPSr or my phone's GPS app.

 

What GPS app do you recomend? I have actually never seen any coordinates in google maps, google earth or anything like that. Would be nice to have an app there the coordinates are seen directly no matter where I am. 

/Bychowiec

[+MNTA]

This is an area where GS could really help improve their app with the hiding process. This would be easy for them to fix.

 

I usually open up a nearby cache and go to Waypoints its at the bottom of the cache page on the app right below Trackables.

Click +    Upper right corner 

Let your phone gps settle a bit and then press the Current Location,

 

This adds a waypoint for where your phone thinks you are at. If there is a lot of trees or other obstructions for the satellite do a couple and maybe average the differences.

 

When you submit the cache page look at the location you have entered on the map make sure you are not in the middle of the street or the wrong side of a river as an example. Adjust if needed.

 

 

Good luck and have fun hiding.

 

[+barefootjeff]

15 minutes ago, MNTA said:

When you submit the cache page look at the location you have entered on the map make sure you are not in the middle of the street or the wrong side of a river as an example. Adjust if needed.

 

If there's a significant discrepency between the coordinates you took and where it appears on the map, I'd strongly suggest going back to GZ to reckeck the coordinates on your device. The error might be in the map, and yes, it does happen. A few years back I was setting up an AL with a waypoint at a cliff-top lookout. I took the initial coordinates on my Garmin but when I looked at them on Google Earth, it showed it some ten metres out off the edge of the cliff. I adjusted the coordinates in my AL draft to agree with Google Earth then, with the AL in test mode, went out with my phone to check it in the app. It was ten metres out the other way, so I changed it back to my original coordinates which the app showed as pretty much spot on. Subsequently, looking back through Google Earth's image history, that location is all over the shop with errors of ten metres or more in various directions.

 

Use the map as a sanity check, not the final arbiter.

 

 

[+Bychowiec]

2 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

 

If there's a significant discrepency between the coordinates you took and where it appears on the map, I'd strongly suggest going back to GZ to reckeck the coordinates on your device. The error might be in the map, and yes, it does happen.

 

 

 

30 minutes ago, MNTA said:

This is an area where GS could really help improve their app with the hiding process. This would be easy for them to fix.

 

 

 

What is GS, GZ,  AL and all the other shortenings? 

/Bychowiec

[+CAVinoGal]

37 minutes ago, Bychowiec said:

 

What GPS app do you recomend? I have actually never seen any coordinates in google maps, google earth or anything like that. Would be nice to have an app there the coordinates are seen directly no matter where I am. 

 

I use the official geocaching app.  As MNTA stated, open a nearby cache on the app and add a waypoint and hit the arrow to navigate and open the compass - it will show you your current coordinates in the same format you need to enter for your cache coordinates.  I also have a GPS device (Etrex 30x) that shows me the coordinates I am at, in the format I need.

 

Google maps DOES give you the coordinates where you have dropped your pin, but you need to convert to the format geocaching uses.  I find it simpler to grab coordinates with the app/GPSr, then plug those into Google maps on the computer at home and see if it's close.

[+SW00P]

GZ ground zero

GS Groundspeak

AL adventure lab

[+MNTA]

1 hour ago, Bychowiec said:

 

What is GS, GZ,  AL and all the other shortenings? 

/Bychowiec

GS is the company that run the geocaching web site Geoundspeak or GS in the forums

 

GZ - Ground Zero - The cache location