Really basic questions

[+CacheCreatures]

Hiya all. My wife and I are planning our first Geocaching event for tomorrow. We are both really excited, but have a couple of questions:

 

1) We understand the waypoint idea. Find one (from this website) where we want to look, download it to ExpertGPS and then to our SporTrack Pro. But we dont really get route/track features. How do we use "track" and or "route"? For example, lets say we want to hit a total of three caches. How do we create a route/track between them? Or rather do we just activate the current goal and go where the arrow points us?

 

2) Sort of a variation of question 1. It looks like you can use MapQuest to locate the cache nicely, complete with directions from our front door. Is this cheating? It kind of feels like we ought to be hopping into the car or on the bike or on foot and following the GPS exclusively, not using a map tool to get us close. Is this just a personal preference or are we missing something here?

 

3) What is the best screen to use on your GPS? Is it the map, or compass or other? Intuitively, it seems the compass screen (with the arrow) is probably the best. Again, are we missing something?

 

4) Again kinda like question 1. How do you use a route/track to find your way back out? Lets say a particular cache is a few miles from our car. Can we record on the GPS our route and then retrace our steps? What screen shows us how to get back? Just follow the lines on the map screen?

 

Thanks in advance for your time! I'm sure all will be much clearer tomorrow after we've actually gone out and found a few caches! Hopefully the answers here will help as well.

 

J&J

 

To be or not to be... who the hell cares as long as you be GeoCaching!

[+Kealia]

Welcome. I'll shed some light where I can.

 

Most people (including myself) have done the following before searching for your first cache.

Mark your house as a waypoint. Drive/walk 1/4 mile away and then activate the waypoint or "GOTO". Follow the GPS back to your house (yes, I know you know the way ). This will give you a little idea of how it works and then you can activate the "backtrack" feature to go back to the 1/4 spot. This will also give you an idea of your accuracy as it will most likely not 'zero out' at exactly the same spot that you marked. Keep this is mind when searching for the cache!

 

TO answer your questions:

1) You ca nactivate either a "GOTO" which goes to 1 waypoint, or a route to activate a series of "GOTO"s or steps.

2) This is a personal preference. Some do use the map some don't. If you want to make it harder or more of an adventure, don't use it. If you're venturing to unknown places, or want to focus on the hike/search by all means use it.

3) This is going to be a personal preference. That's why they make so many screens Try them all and see what you like. (They are also customizable so you can put whatever you like on the screen you like)

4) ALWAYS MARK YOUR CAR AS A WAYPOINT BEFORE LEAVING IT! Was that loud enough? Sorry, but it's crucial. You may think you can find your way out, it's not that far, etc. but do it as a matter of habit and you'll be glad you did. Hope you never have to use it.

 

Have fun and come back and share how your first (or first few) hunt(s) went.

Good luck.

[BogSlogger]

From speaking with some other geocachers in my area, I believe that most use the GOTO function more than any other way to actually get to the cache.

 

There may be instances where you might want to have a route to follow, but I think most of the time the majority of people use just the GOTO function to get to the cache.

 

Once you're within a few hundred feet (~300 feet) you might want to have a good compass to visually sight in a bearing. I've found it most useful to verify areas of where I was looking for a cache.

 

If your navigation screens are customizable, I would have at easy visual reference the DISTANCE to the goal, the BEARING in compass degrees, and in some occassions the GPS ACCURACY. Sometimes you may want other information.

 

If you have to hike away from your vehicle into unknown territory I would definitely echo the previous post about marking your vehicle position. Maybe even begin a track when you begin to hunt. Could save a lot of time, or maybe even a life. You never know. Safety first!

[ChiefPig]

Yup, clear your tracklog and waypoint the car even before opening the car door. That's a good habit you want to get early in the game.

[+CacheCreatures]

Hi all. Thanks so much for your responses. We did complete our first cache today! No doubt about it.. we're hooked.

 

Let me clarify our question #4. It seems our GPS leaves a trail of breadcrumbs, indicated where we've been. How do we use these crumbs to follow the same path back out? We really might be over thinking this, but it would seem you almost want to hit a button and then have that trail become the waypoints. Almost like the GPS would tell you to turn left here, right here, left... in real time. The path becomes the goal and eventually you end up back to where you started.

 

Does that make sense? I doubt it. Ah well, any help or you may be able to offer with this concept is more than welcome. =)

 

CacheCreatures are spreading... They can hide, but they can't run!

[+Cachetrotters]

Yep. If you clear your tracklog before starting the walk from the car or other reference point, the 'breadcrumbs'--your track-- can be backtracked. Your receiver has the ability to create a backtrack, probably from the ROUTE menu. This will guide you back the way you came, provided your GPSr was on all the time.

 

PS: Now that you have some first-hand experience, it's a good time to re-read the manual. Many things will crystalize for you now.

 

don

[Wetrackride]

That is a good idea. I borrow a gps from work for my caching but should read the owner manual.

[+Chipper3]

1. Arm yourself with every "tool" available. That is part of good orienting. In addition to that Mapquest map,which gets you by car to some starting spot, start using a topo/arial map as well. A good one is lostinthewoods. With expereince, you will start dropping off tools but they really help you "put it all together." Its like in school, you need the answers to the algebra problems to understand if you are making the right calculations.

 

2. After all is said and done , you need a GPS that allows you to enter a WP and a compass. "Tell" the GPS to GO TO and pull up a what I call the rosette screen. Most GPS units have this. This screen is like looking at a compass with you in the center and the direction you are travelling will be UP and the direction you need to GO will be indicated.

 

3. Get very familiar with TRACK and BEARING. Track is the compass heading that you are "walking" and BEARING is the compass heading that you "need to walk."

 

4. You will notice that the GPS gives you great info when you are in the car moving or biking or walking briskly but when you stop, it doesn't know your TRACK anymore but still knows your BEARING. Thats why you need that compass. When I get close to the cache, DISTANCE less than .05 - 250 feet, I start to stop a lot. Get your BEARING from the GPS and use your compass to give you that BEARING and walk in that direction. This is also great for triangulating to locate a cache when the GPS starts to jumparound because of tree cover.

 

4. When you are at DISTANCE 0 or at the intersection of triangulation lines, then your compass and GPS are useless. Do not get sucked in to thinking that just becasue your GPS sez you are there that you are there. You will have error in your unit and the unit used to place the cache will have error and this can throw you off a good bit. So, at this point, you will have put your technology in the bag and start doing the GEO-Dance and using a lot of common sense and intuition.

 

5. As for "flying" with the GPS alone. This can be fun but you need to practice going to known locations. I usually use the 90 degree rule. I drive until target is 90 degree to the road I am on and then turn appropriately. If you want to "stay pure" you really do need a map as you may be trucking down a road that deadends into a lake and then you have to back track a zillion miles. It is one thing to use a map INSTEAD of the GPS and another to use a map WITH a GPS. INSTEAD of means that the target location is marked on the map. WITH means that the target is not marked on the map. If you are FLYING without the target marked on the map, then your navigator can use the map to pick the next logical road. I like to FLY to caches sometimes. So, 1.) start somewhere and get a bearing and draw a line on the map from where you are along a bearing indicated by the GPS after you GO TO. 2.) Pick a road that advances your game and get going. 3.) Adjust when appropriate.

 

Of course, it's also fun to project the line and also use the DISTANCE to mark the target. Do this from a different starting point and you are bascially traingulating to the target.

 

The fun of learning to orienteer is using many diverse techniques to get to the objective. But you will be frustrated at the beginning if you make it too hard for yourself. Only by using a few simple tools and some maps and knowlege of the answer will you gain the expereince and knowlege to master your craft.

 

Good luck!