Getting A Coordinate Fix

[+Shop99er]

Hello,

 

I am using a Magellan Sport Trak Map.

 

I'm haveing some difficulties when I take coords for my caches.

 

Is there a minimum amount of time I should let the think percolate?

 

Should I re-initialize it every time I want to take coords for a new cache? If so, should I do that for every waypoint on a multi?

 

Or should I just paint a big red X on the hiding spot, and call it good?

 

Thanks,

[+New England n00b]

I've heard of people waiting 10 minutes, walking a good distance away, and coming back. Repeat several time and get the average.

 

I've heard some people take the first numbers they get.

 

Your mileage may vary.

[+SBPhishy]

What seems to matter more is how good a fix you have. You really don't have to wait a certain time at all. It you are getting a good signal, take your numbers, use 'em, and they should be just fine.

[+briansnat]

I let the GPS sit still for about a minute, then mark it and I'm done. The coordinates are spot on the vast majority of the time. This is with a Garmin. Magellans work differently with their auto averaging so I can't say this will work for you.

Edited April 15, 2004 by briansnat

[+cache chasers]

I usually wait about 5 minutes take a reading...walk about 100 yards away from the cache and walk in from a different direction...take another reading...I do this three times and then average my readings.....seems to work I've never had a complaint with the caches I have hidden.

[+Melrose Plant]

I always come at the cache from a few different directions, wait a few seconds on each approach (certainly no more than a minute), then mark. When I've taken three readings, I hit "List closest waypoints." If they're all within 15' while I'm standing over the cache, I quit and call that good.

 

Only once (out of nine hides) have I had trouble. On that particular day, I could not seem to get a consistent reading. I had some that were 70 feet off. I averaged the best I could, submitted the cache, but explained in the description my problem. I had three people email me with their readings, and those were all fairly close to each other (and slightly different from mine), so I averaged these, and that seemed to do the trick. I don't know what was up that day. Must have been the way the satellites were aligned, because the revised coordinates worked fine on my own GPS when I revisited a couple times to check on it.

 

So, to summarize, it seems like when you've got a good lock, you know it, and when you haven't got one, your readings are obviously all over the place.

 

On edit: I forgot to mention that I've got a Garmin Geko 101. I don't know how this affects that Magellan auto-averaging thing. I just know that I've got the manual transmission model.

Edited April 15, 2004 by Balboagirl

[+Wrong Way Ron]

I took several readings with my Vista 9 to be exact. I could only get within 28 feet gpsr kept jumping around. I posted

the nearest waypoint and submitted it. I also noted that if anybody could come up with better coordiantes let me know.

So far know one has complained and there thanking me for setting up a nice cache.

[+Shop99er]

Thanks to all who have answered so far for the info.

 

Bein's how my Magellan gizmo auto-averages, how can I use that to my best advantage? Will wondering off, and taking a reading from another direction help?

 

And, if the readings are different, how does one "manually" average them? Or is there any real need for that?

 

Thanks again.

[+Mooseballs]

Bad coords were maddening when I first started. I guess I got used to it. But it's always cool to get some right on. (Like when you look down, you're standing on an ammo can marked "Geocache.") As Cache Chasers posted, waiting a bit and doing 3 readings yields really good results.

[+Night Stalker]

I also use a SporTrak. It has auto-averaging, so all you need to do is set it down and leave the proximity for about 5 to 10 minutes. The problem is that you will not always have good satellite coverage. Before I set it down I recheck to see how many satellites it is seeing. Sometimes just moving it a couple of feet before you let it average will do wonders. I had one cache recently that showed EPE of 37 feet at the cache. When moved a couple of feet from the rocks the EPE improved to 16 feet. Even though you are a couple of feet off it will be a lot closer then it you had left it on top of the cache where it had poor reception.