+ssearchers6 Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 We bought a new colortrax magellan and we have been to about a dozen sites and haven't found any of them. Not sure if it is us or the GPS. We were wondering if anyone is in the area of the Oregon/Idaho border that would be up to meeting us and comparing GPS's to see if it is this new one. We have an old GPS but it doesn't have enough places after the point to get us close enough. According to the clues it seems to be getting us closer than the new one. New one had us off in a totally different area. Hope I can find my way back to this forum to find an answer. A bit confusing. If someone has time and is in the area please email us. Thanks. jennykaesimpson@yahoo.com Quote Link to comment
+chris-mouse Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 We have an old GPS but it doesn't have enough places after the point to get us close enough. According to the clues it seems to be getting us closer than the new one. New one had us off in a totally different area. One thing that comes to mind immediately is to check the reference map datum. It should be set to WGS84. If that's set incorrectly, it will result in errors of a few hundred yards. Quote Link to comment
+tirediron Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 Chris-Mouse' point is an excellent one... a very common mistake. Are you putting enough time into your search? Are you searching for the right types of 'caches? Don't forget, you GPS is only so accurate. At best you can expect 3-4 meter accuracy, and very commonly 8-10 meters. Since the hider has the same problem, that means potentially your zero point is 20 meters from the actual 'cache location. Pick the easier 'caches to start with 1 or 2 star difficulty ratings so that you can get an idea of what you can expect to see. Reach the 'cache page carefully!!! Know what type of 'cache you're looking for (Micro, ammo-box, et cetera) and read the past logs. If there are five DNFs in a row before you... chances are, it's gone. Typically what I do is approach the cache for the last 20-30 meters (if I can) following the arrow, and adjusting my path so that it points ahead of me. When I get to the point where it starts to dance, I look at the distance to go, and pick a mental mark at about that point. Then, (again if possible) I move 90 or so degrees to the right or left and repeat the process. I then put the GPS down, and pick a point that is roughly in the middle of the two that I have just picked, and start my search from there, working outward. Look for things that aren't "right". An odd pile of stick, un-natural rock formations, holes under tree roots, crevices in rocks... all good hiding places. 'Cachers can be devious, so you're work is cut out for you. Of course, that's the whole challenge. Now, get out there and find some 'caches! Quote Link to comment
+Sputnik 57 Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 The other common mistake is having your GPS set to read coordinates as degrees, minutes and seconds (ddd.mm.ss) instead of degrees, minutes and decimal minutes (ddd.mm.mmm). N29° 30' 45" (degrees minutes and seconds) would be 29° 30.750 in degrees minutes and decimal minutes. Cache pages all list cootdinates in the dd.mm.mmm format. A newer GPSr with only 2 digits after the decimal is likely set to degrees, minutes and seconds. Quote Link to comment
+ssearchers6 Posted December 18, 2004 Author Share Posted December 18, 2004 Hey, you guys are great! I think we are ready to try this again. The new GPS (which by the way is the Sportrakcolor not whatever I said earlier) might have not been on the right map datum. The old one is a Magellan 2000 and I did get it changed to read right so now we probably don't even need the new one. Wasted our 289 dollars. Guess hubby can keep it and I will claim the old one for my own! Hows that for a deal. We'll bag the Christmas shopping tomorrow and go GEOCACHING! Yes, I'm a female who hates to shop. Thanks a bunch I will let you know what happens. We do study these printout very carefully. I print them out and my 11 year old is assigned to decode the hints. Then they go into a notebook that goes with us. Maybe he will get back to being excited if we can find one. He is discouraged and says he won't go again so we just have to find one so he can have a change of attitude. We hated to send this GPS back thinking it just might be us not knowing what we are doing. So we will give it another try. Quote Link to comment
+Escapades Posted December 18, 2004 Share Posted December 18, 2004 Good Luck, Let us know about your first find tomorrow Quote Link to comment
+ssearchers6 Posted December 19, 2004 Author Share Posted December 19, 2004 Well, we didn't get to go Sat. MIL had to have a new refrigerator as hers quit. Thought we'd sneak in a hunt after shopping. Didn't happen. Missed church today cause of miserable colds (didn't think everyone would want us to share). So after sleeping in and resting up we went to the cache closest to our house. WE FOUND IT! I can't believe it. I'm so excited. We should have found this the first time we were there as the clue was good, even without our GPS being on. Just a very very tiny cache. Almost didn't find it again. So thank you everyone so much. I really appreciate all the help. Now we are off on a fun new hobby. I was so mad when we got home. I took my camera so I could take pictures of our searches and forgot to take any. Duh! So both GPS's are working properly now. It is very cold out there. Can't wait till summer. Quote Link to comment
+Sputnik 57 Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Congrats, Ssearchers6! Welcome to the recreational activity/sport/hobby/addiction! (Hope you're feeling better too, btw). Quote Link to comment
+Team Tayjam Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 ...WE FOUND IT! I can't believe it. I'm so excited... Congratulations! Have fun caching! Quote Link to comment
+Escapades Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 The first one is the hardest. Have fun!!! Quote Link to comment
+bradandangela.com Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 My Magellen GPS 2000 actually seems to be more accurate sometimes than my friends newer GPS's. I just have to round off the last digit to .XX instead of .XXX. We still plan on getting a newer GPS soon so we can download waypoints, etc. Quote Link to comment
ra87 Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 The other common mistake is having your GPS set to read coordinates as degrees, minutes and seconds (ddd.mm.ss) instead of degrees, minutes and decimal minutes (ddd.mm.mmm). N29° 30' 45" (degrees minutes and seconds) would be 29° 30.750 in degrees minutes and decimal minutes. Cache pages all list cootdinates in the dd.mm.mmm format. A newer GPSr with only 2 digits after the decimal is likely set to degrees, minutes and seconds. How do u convert to that? can u teach me? Quote Link to comment
+strikeforce1 Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 How do u convert to that? can u teach me? ra87 Depending your model, you will need to get into your “system” or “set up”. Read your manual on displaying coords. On my Garmin legend, start with “main menu screen”, then “setup screen”, then “units screen”. Then under “Position Format” highlight your format, toggle thru till it displays “hddd°mm.mmm - you then (depending on your model) exit your way back out to the main screen. You should be all set. If you have a Magellan, you might want to list the model, and someone else can chime in. Hope it helps. Good luck. SF1 Quote Link to comment
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