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Am I just slow?


Guest bart

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I love to hike and my kids are obsessed with finding "treasure" so I thought geocaching was the sport for us. I ran right out and got a 315. The same day it arrived we headed out in search of our first cache. Needless to say, we didn't find it. I spent some time "playing" with the GPS and reading the manual and tried again. I couldn't for the life of me find that cache. The responses to the cacher indicate it was a pretty easy cache to find. Can anyone who uses or is familiar with a 315 give me some helpful hints for beginers and general guidance to get me started in the right direction.

 

To add insult to injury, I'm a cartogragher by profession!

 

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Guest jeremy

It may not have actually been there. Or you may have had your GPS set with the wrong datum (we use WGS84). Or it was very, very well hidden. Lots of reasons why a cache hunt may have come up empty.

 

Best thing to do is if you have problems about a particular cache, log into geocaching.com and go to the cache page. There is a link (if you have signed in) at the top for the cache owner's email address. They can probably help you further.

 

I've personally found around 12 caches so far, and on more than one occasion I was searching for over 45 minutes looking for a cache. So it isn't unusual!

 

Jeremy

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Guest cache_ninja

howdy,

i have the 315, feel free to e-mail me w/questions at

cache_ninja@hotmail.com

map datum might indeed be your problem, my 315 once, in som every cold weather, mysteriously switched to the grb36 datum, which made me way off from the actual cache location etc.

 

on a related note, people have posted they couldnt find my caches, and it turns out they only looked for 10min. Indeed, some are very easy, but some require some effort and thinking once you get there, I've spent as much as 2hrs looking before finding a cache.

 

c/n

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Guest Ron Streeter

Bart...

 

I have a Magellan 315 also and once you are tuned in to it, it will work well for you.

 

Try this. After initializing, stand in your front yard and mark it as "home". Be sure to save the landmark.

 

Then walk about a mile or so to an object like a blue postal box or a bus stop. Mark it appropriately..."Blue" for instance.

 

Then use "goto" and tell the gps you want to go "home". It will guide you back and as you use the compass, road or other screens, you will see yourself getting closer to home and the .00 mark.

 

In other words, set up some waypoints or landmarks that are familiar to you, and practice first before looking for a cache.

 

Also, in the wilderness, you can't expect to come right on a cache. You will have to look around a bit (maybe in a 20 foot or so radius) before finding it.

 

Just practice .... you will succeed.

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Guest vwBob

quote:
Originally posted by Ron Streeter:

.

Also, in the wilderness, you can't expect to come right on a cache. You will have to look around a bit (maybe in a 20 foot or so radius) before finding it.


 

yea, that's what i was going to say. you'll notice when you get really close to the cache (under 30 feet or so) and stand still the GPS will fluctuate the distance. it will go up and down a bit. then you just have to think, "ok, where would i hide a cache here?"

 

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Bob

Cleveland, Ohio

... look for the green bus!

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Guest Paul Lamble

I can say that my learning curve started out exactly like yours. The first cache I tried to find with my new GPS was a real laugh. Somehow I ended up looking for my truck's coordinates rather than the cache. (I think I set it as a waypoint and then told the GPS to lead me to it.)

The second cache I sought brought me right to it (based on the photos on the cacher's web page) but my GPS said I was still 110 feet away. But I was out yesterday and my GPS lead me to within 4 feet of the cache. I think I'm figuring it out.

Don't despair or give up. Especially if you have little ones along. As you know, they'll take their cues from you.

 

And always carry out some trash after you've found a cache.

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Guest cascade

Boy, that's a relief! I took my 11 y.o. daughter out to look for one last weekend (which *everyone* before and after us found easily--quite embarassing), and spent a good 45 minutes stomping around, trying to find the stupid thing. We had fun just being out there, though (not to mention trying to establish communications with some odd, cow-like beings), and will probably go back to the same site before trying any others.

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Guest AZMark

Always good to have a GPS user and a Cache looker (kids are great and low to the ground for this)

 

Plus look at the maps make sure the coorids are takeing you to approximatly the right place, check those numbers twice,,,print the cache page,,,always helps.

 

AZmark

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