cutsandbruises Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 So I have been reading up on geocaching on this website and i have decided to jump in and do it. My question is this, and I know it is stupid but if I buy a GPS, will I be able to figure it out with the manual or is this something I'm gonna have to take a class at a junior college to figure out. (Now thats a run on sentence if I ever saw one!) Quote Link to comment
+LoRo Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 We bought a Magellan SportTrak yesterday afternoon and found our first two caches this morning. With a little trial and error the manual was fine. Enjoy... Quote Link to comment
+Jamie Z Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 C&B, Unfortunately the manuals are pretty sorry... but it will get you going. The best way (for me) was to turn it on and play with it. You can't break the GPS by pressing buttons. Use the manual to figure out how to turn it on and mark and edit a waypoint, but learn to use it by practicing. Set a waypoint at your house and then walk down the block. Then set a GOTO for your house and get the feel of following the GPS. The more I use the GPS, the more features I utilize. Features which are barely (if at all) mentioned in the manual. Oh yeah, and if you can't figure something out, the folks here are a great supply of help and tips. Jamie Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 It didn't take long to get up and going. The manual was helpful but left out things like "How to input a waypoint". Just getting out and doing things helped. Every now and then I'll see how someone else uses their GPS and pick up a new trick. These things do a lot more than most of us utilize. Almost everyone seems to use them a little bit differently. Quote Link to comment
+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 It's important to make sure you are using the WGS datum in DD MM.MMM format, unless you do benchmarks. Till a voice, as bad as Conscience, rang interminable changes On one everlasting Whisper day and night repeated -- so: "Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges -- "Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!" Rudyard Kipling , The Explorer 1898 Quote Link to comment
+Kite and Hawkeye Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 It's not hard to learn to use a GPS. Figure out how to mark a waypoint, and how to make the unit guide you to a waypoint; once you've got those down, you're in business, and you can learn more later. I turned on my gps during my morning break at work, and found my first cache during my lunch hour. Quote Link to comment
+robert Posted September 6, 2003 Share Posted September 6, 2003 Pretty easy, just play with it! Go outside and let the GPS get a good reading for a while. Set a waypoint of your driveway, front doorstep, whatever, then walk around the block. When you get to the opposite side, do a GO TO and select your waypoint. Make sure to use the ZOOM function to get a better idea as to how far or close you are to the waypoint. My first cache I never zoomed past 500 ft and it looked like I was right on top of it. Going to 100 ft showed it was still a bit away. Good luck ~robert Notice: Driver carries less than $20 cache. Quote Link to comment
cutsandbruises Posted September 6, 2003 Author Share Posted September 6, 2003 Thanks so much for all your helpful imput. I am really psyched about doing this. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be geocaching with the best of them... I'm working on a signature item to leave... Quote Link to comment
+gallahad Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 I found the whole thing intimidating at first. The GPSr manual was some 75 pages long. Just taking the machine outside with the manual in hand and playing with the buttons for an hour or so elevated my confidence level and I discovered that I didn’t need to use every feature on the device so get started. Fact is, there’s some featues I don’t expect to ever use. I agree with mrkablooey - his model for getting started seems quite a good idea in my view. "Today's truth remains valid only as long as it withstands the test of tomorrow's discoveries" - George Hicks Quote Link to comment
+Finders_Jeepers Posted September 7, 2003 Share Posted September 7, 2003 So I had no clue what geocaching was a month ago. My mother in Arizona is moderately involved and sent me a GPS unit and a video. I found my first cache within 2 days or so (work got in the way) and feel very very comfortable with the operation of my unit (the GPSr that is) They are basically a fool(full)-proof device with a few buttons.. If you can operate a video game, this is a piece of cake.. In fact, if you are capable of logging onto this website, joining, posting, you are more than capable of operating a GPSr! The video just gives a few hints and tricks that you will learn eventually -Ken Quote Link to comment
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