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Has this ever happened with your Magellan 315?


mikedx

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I had this theory about my Magellan 315 (version 3.15) and wanted to know if anyone else had the same thing happen to them. Let me caveat this by saying that I've only hit 13 caches.

 

When I leave the GPS on for the whole trip and go to the "landmarks", the cache is always 20-60 feet back towards the path I came. However, if I get near the cache and turn off the GPS and back on, it leads me right to it. Cover isn't a problem, as I've yet to be able to lick it's reception in the WV woods. Now it's possible that the fact that I stand there long enough to turn it off and back on, would settle it out, but I'm wondering if anyone else has noticed there might be an averaging problem, or if was just a coincidence.

 

Right now, I'll just turn it off and on whenever I get close.

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Exactly! My Mag 315 v. 3.15 does the same thing. I believe it is tied to the way that it "averages". I have found that when I get to the area that I believe is correct, I turn OFF the GPS. I then turn it back on and I typically get a much more accurate reading of where it is (I strongly suspect that turning it off and on clears out the AVERAGING that it was doing as I was traveling to the cache area.)

 

After restarting the GPS, it usually points about 100 feet in some different place, and that is almost always DEAD ON. Once I get there, I then switch to the position screen, and make all the numbers match the GIVEN coordinates of the cache.

 

I am then standing (supposedly) within about 10 feet of where the owner stood when he took his reading. I then do a thorough search. After having adopted this method (given to me by a MUCH WISER and MUCH MORE EXPERIENCED geocacher,) I very rarely log a no-find. I also typically find the cache without using a clue and within 10 minutes! (Location --- is EVERYTHING in this game!)

 

Trust me. As soon as you get to the "supposed" cache area, turn your GPS off and back on, wait a minute or two, then reshoot the cache GOTO!

 

You will be very pleased with the results (as I have been.)

 

P.S. My Mag 315 is within 6 feet with this method about 90% of the time: -- extremely excellent! icon_smile.gif

 

--majicman

 

(Always trade UP in both quantity and quality and Geocaches will be both self-sustaining and self-improving!)

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Exactly! My Mag 315 v. 3.15 does the same thing. I believe it is tied to the way that it "averages". I have found that when I get to the area that I believe is correct, I turn OFF the GPS. I then turn it back on and I typically get a much more accurate reading of where it is (I strongly suspect that turning it off and on clears out the AVERAGING that it was doing as I was traveling to the cache area.)

 

After restarting the GPS, it usually points about 100 feet in some different place, and that is almost always DEAD ON. Once I get there, I then switch to the position screen, and make all the numbers match the GIVEN coordinates of the cache.

 

I am then standing (supposedly) within about 10 feet of where the owner stood when he took his reading. I then do a thorough search. After having adopted this method (given to me by a MUCH WISER and MUCH MORE EXPERIENCED geocacher,) I very rarely log a no-find. I also typically find the cache without using a clue and within 10 minutes! (Location --- is EVERYTHING in this game!)

 

Trust me. As soon as you get to the "supposed" cache area, turn your GPS off and back on, wait a minute or two, then reshoot the cache GOTO!

 

You will be very pleased with the results (as I have been.)

 

P.S. My Mag 315 is within 6 feet with this method about 90% of the time: -- extremely excellent! icon_smile.gif

 

--majicman

 

(Always trade UP in both quantity and quality and Geocaches will be both self-sustaining and self-improving!)

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I mentioned an identical phenomenon in another thread about my Meridian Gold. I've found that once I get to the cache area--if I shut down my GPS, it sends me to a different location and this second location has always been much closer to the actual cache location.

 

Jamie

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I just upgraded to 3.15 last night. I cleared ALL the memory and initialized it. I went out and marked manhole covers as waypoints on different blocks. (Wouldn't wanna do that in daylight, would we)? icon_eek.gif

 

Then I went a distance away and entered a GOTO for each manhole cover. The first two I marked were way, way off (like 1/2 mile!). The third was right on, within 8 feet. I went back to the first two and turned my unit off, then back on. Too no avail. The actual saved coordinates were that far off from my position screen reading. Why? -- I don't know. icon_confused.gif

 

I marked them again, and this time they agreed with my position. I walked down the block and used the GOTO to return. One said I was 32 feet away when I was right there. I turned the unit off, then back on to see what it did. I used GOTO again, and it said it was 14 feet away, and pointed right to it (I was off to one side).

 

The point being, yes, turning your unit off for a few seconds, then back on will often give you a new lease on accuracy. I have used this in finding a cache site several times.

 

I think I'll like the new upgrade. Can't wait to go check out the coordinates on one of my own caches, to compare the accuracy with the older 3.05 version.

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I just upgraded to 3.15 last night. I cleared ALL the memory and initialized it. I went out and marked manhole covers as waypoints on different blocks. (Wouldn't wanna do that in daylight, would we)? icon_eek.gif

 

Then I went a distance away and entered a GOTO for each manhole cover. The first two I marked were way, way off (like 1/2 mile!). The third was right on, within 8 feet. I went back to the first two and turned my unit off, then back on. Too no avail. The actual saved coordinates were that far off from my position screen reading. Why? -- I don't know. icon_confused.gif

 

I marked them again, and this time they agreed with my position. I walked down the block and used the GOTO to return. One said I was 32 feet away when I was right there. I turned the unit off, then back on to see what it did. I used GOTO again, and it said it was 14 feet away, and pointed right to it (I was off to one side).

 

The point being, yes, turning your unit off for a few seconds, then back on will often give you a new lease on accuracy. I have used this in finding a cache site several times.

 

I think I'll like the new upgrade. Can't wait to go check out the coordinates on one of my own caches, to compare the accuracy with the older 3.05 version.

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This a known "problem" with the Mag 315. If your're moving slower than about 3mph it goes into auto-averaging, which means that it's averaging the last points it's measured. If you're moving slowly, this means that the indicated position is actually about 100 ft. behind you, which can be VERY frustrating.

 

Swinging the unit around in a wide arc at arms length is one way to force it out of the averaging mode. In the old forums this was known as the Magellen Hula. I thought that the latest firmware revision was supposed to fix this, but since i don't own a maggy, I can't say for sure.

 

-- Mitch

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I too have experienced a problem after getting within 100ft of the cache. The gps seems to get confused, pointing first one way then back the direction I came from. I then started useing a Compass and ignoring the arrow on the gps. How do you tell what software the gps is using? I just got it last Christmas. How do I tell if its current. Other than that, its been working great.

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quote:
Originally posted by trees:

I too have experienced a problem after getting within 100ft of the cache. The gps seems to get confused, pointing first one way then back the direction I came from. I then started useing a Compass and ignoring the arrow on the gps. How do you tell what software the gps is using? I just got it last Christmas. How do I tell if its current. Other than that, its been working great.


 

When you first turn the unit on, look real fast at the top of the startup screens. It will flash which version of software your unit is using. If it isn't 3.15, let me know and I can steer you on how easy it is to upgrade.

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