Accurate coordinates, what position format do you use on gps?

[+booksncomics]

I submitted last night and had an email this morning saying the coordinates weren't right, with a link to how to take coordinates. But, it wasn't until I searched this forum that I saw a discussion about format and NYPaddleCacher linked to a conversion calculator. However, when I put my coords into the calculator, it came up with the same numbers I put in for degrees minutes. So I must be doing something wrong. Explain to me as if I were a 6 year old whose eyes had already glazed over with the discussion about the difference between DDM, dmm, hdm, and xyz, and just tell me which one of these formats I need to set on the gps, #1, #2, or #3. I don't find one that doesn't have an hddd something. My fried brain thanks you.

 

 

Edited April 24 by booksncomics
photo messed up sentences

[+kunarion]

7 minutes ago, booksncomics said:

I submitted last night and had an email this morning saying the coordinates weren't right, with a link to how to take coordinates. But, it wasn't until I searched this forum that I saw a discussion about format and NYPaddleCacher linked to a conversion calculator. However, when I put my coords into the calculator, it came up with the same numbers I put in for degrees minutes. So I must be doing something wrong. Explain to me as if I were a 6 year old whose eyes had already glazed over with the discussion about the difference between DDM, dmm, hdm, and xyz, and just tell me which one of these formats I need to set on the gps, #1, #2, or #3. I don't find one that doesn't have an hddd something. My fried brain thanks you.

 

 

 

#2.

[+booksncomics]

18 minutes ago, kunarion said:

 

#2.

Thank you!

[+Max and 99]

Is your geocache going to be inside a library?

[+kunarion]

https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=128&pgid=811

 

On your screen, " hddd°  mm.mmm'" is the Geocaching Cache Page format.  

hddd° for degrees such as "N 47°", and

mm.mmm for minutes/decimal minutes such as "38.938"

... for coordinates N 47° 38.938  W 122° 20.887 as an example.

 

You could type the same numbers into any other format and the location could be very different, because the meaning of the numbers changes.  The format is the key.

 

But you shouldn't need to "convert" coordinates to hide a cache.  Save waypoints on a handheld GPS (or write down coords from the phone App) while you are standing at the location where you'll place your cache.  The format exactly like "N 47° 38.938  W 122° 20.887" is what you enter into your cache page.  And you can confirm that the icon on the map is in the right place.

 

There are a lot more things to know when placing a cache.  It's suggested that you find a lot of caches before hiding one, because of this issue (and many others).  Once you become familiar with puzzles and waypoints, and working with coordinate formats, you'll know when it looks right.  Also, you must allow a handheld GPS to "settle down" for a while, otherwise it may not have figured out its own location yet.
 

 

Edited April 24 by kunarion

[+booksncomics]

2 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

Is your geocache going to be inside a library?

LOL, no. Those shelves are beside my desk.

[+booksncomics]

3 minutes ago, kunarion said:

It's suggested that you find a lot of caches before hiding one, because of this issue (and many others). 

And yet, every time I log a find, the app prompts me to hide a cache.

[+kunarion]

9 minutes ago, booksncomics said:

And yet, every time I log a find, the app prompts me to hide a cache.

 

I'm not saying don't hide a cache, I'm saying to learn all there is to know about hiding a cache. 

 

If you're using The Official App, your current location is constantly updated and displayed onscreen on the Compass screen, in the proper format.  Stand on the cache spot, make a note of those coordinates, that's what you type into the cache page.

 

My phone is a leetle too sloppy with GPS locations for my taste, so I always use my Garmin for saving cache candidate waypoints.  You can compare them to the phone and the web site and other tools, to ensure it's looking good.  But another reason to ignore an App telling you to hurry up and hide a cache is:  By hunting a lot of caches first, you get familiar with what the Garmin or phone is telling you... you can practically know when it's showing "loose" coords.  And you can more easily tell when it's right on target.

 

Edited April 24 by kunarion

[Keystone]

I read your reviewer's note - it is getting more at "the location is wrong" than it is saying "you used the wrong coordinate format."

 

Your coordinates place the cache in the middle of the road, towards the side of the road that has no trees, etc.  This location did not match what you described to the Reviewer.

[+booksncomics]

Thanks Keystone. I noticed that on his/her map too.