Gps Activities People Are Into

[+nfa]

Hi,

 

I'm interested in finding out, and trying, some of the other fun things I can do with my GPSr. I'm talking about stuff like geodashing (which I have tried, and love) or degree confluence or travelertags and other things along those lines (or outside those lines, I guess, if you're a color outside the lines kind of person ).

 

Please reply to this post with one or more activities, a brief description of each, your experience with the activity, and a link, so that I can go and find out more about what you have described.

 

Thanks,

 

nfa-jamie

[+robert]

Only other thing I do really is use the autorouting (60CS) to find addresses I'm unfamiliar with. I'd like to look at the geodashing but haven't had time. Oh, and finding benchmarks just for fun.

[+Mastifflover]

Just tried benchmark hunting yesterday and it was a blast. Neat to find things that haven't been seen in many years.

[+Mudinyeri]

I don't know if these qualify as "GPS activities" or not but I use mine when hunting, fishing, hiking and off-roading. It's always good to know where you started when you're in unfamiliar territory.

[+Jamie Z]

I'm really into degree confluence hunting. (Un)fortunately, they're not as common as geocaches, and being second to find isn't as interesting.

 

So far, I have confluences in four different countries, none of which are the US.

 

Here are my confluences. I have one more in the process of being submitted.

 

Jamie

[Black Mage]

You can try GPS Drawing. You go to a big field and use the track lines on your gps map to make a huge drawing, like this.

 

May the world be your Etch-A-Sketch!

[campermama]

What are geodashes?

 

I use it for off roading and also to find addresses and whatever else I can think of to use it for.

[+Old Joe Clark]

What are geodashes?

 

See gpsgames.org. We like geopoker here. We are in our 4th game right now and have completed more games than any other area. It does take a dedicated local group to make it work. ojc

[gpsdork]

I use mine chiefly for back country navigation. I was sold on GPS two years ago when skiing over a large glacier to a remote mountain hut at Christmas. We were moving a bit slowly and were benighted (in a snow storm) while still kilometres from the hut. Fortunately, one of the party had a GPSr and that's the only a way we were able to find the hut.

 

I also keep records of trips as routes and tracks to share with others.

 

And I carry my GPS while running or day skiing so I can measure my speed.

[+JT & PJ Cole]

I guess I use my GPS for the usual things....but the other day I was stopped by a LEO at a sobriety checkpoint. He thought my GPS was a radar detector. When I told him that the GPS told me where to go, PJ chimed in and said "hey I thought was my job!"

We all had a good laugh.

[+Rakusan]

My first use of GPS was as a teaching tool -- using it to demonstrate the differences between different geodetic datums, as part of my course on aeronautical cartography. Even professional cartographers could be surprised to see a huge difference between the "numbers" on two different datums, and they understood that it could be a matter of life-or-death for an air chart to be produced on the WGS84 system.

 

I also have used my portable GPSr on my mountain bike, which is a surprise to some people. This was before I started geocaching, of course. I don't have time for biking now.

[+cachew nut]

What are geodashes?

It's like a virtual only the coordinates are random (sort of like throwing a bunch of darts at a map) and you don't have to get to the exact coordinates, just somewhere close.

 

There usually isn't anything noteworthy at the location, it's usually on private property and there is no log book. I'm pretty sure that is a somewhat accurate description although I might be missing the exciting parts.

[+cachew nut]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned lawn mowing yet

Edited December 29, 2004 by cachew nut

[skillett]

You might be interested in APRS It would involve getting a ham radio license though. and the equipment can get expensive. But Hey, you already have part of it!. Aprs lets you track other hams in your area and sent messages back and fourth. If you have street atlas 5 or earlier you can track them to the street level. There are other applications that will allow street level tracking too. If youre intrested in learning more about aprs follow the link below to learn more. BTW you can get a ham radio liicense without having to learn morse code. the test is about 35 questions. But, the kicker is you have to memorize the answers to 200 questions the 35 questions come out of that pool.

http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/aprs/

[+TeamTeeGee]

Talk about debating with oneself over whether to post or not to post!

 

I am actively involved in bigfoot research. Yes, bigfoot research as in sasquatch...NOT monster trucks. Our GPSr was originally purchased for use in field research; primarily for logging the coordinates of sighting locations when I interview a witness and also for logging the coordinates of likely habitat locations. Also, once in a blue moon a witness will actually have the coordinates of their sighting location included in their report when they submit it. This makes it tremendously easier to pin down the location (of course, that goes without saying for the crowd here).

 

And if any of you think you can get some strange reactions from law enforcement by telling them that you're geocaching, try telling them you're doing bigfoot research.

 

Oh! As for a link...Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization

[+Kordite]

While not as interesting as Bigfoot research, I will hike and bike, upload my tracks and waypoints to my National Geographic Topo software, and post hike reports at http://www.localhikes.com.

 

Take a look at The Fairchance Three, a hike report that focuses on a trio of geocaches in Fayette County, PA.

[rescue557]

I use mine mostly for Geocaching, occasionally for backwoods hiking where I'm off trail, and sometimes (once or twice, maybe) for search and rescue.

 

I keep it with me about 99% of the time because I tend to get lost in unfamiliar places.

[+briansnat]

I use mine for creating new hiking trails or re-routing sections. I waypoint where I want the trail to end then go to the beginning and follow the arrow and flag the route. Much easier than the compass method.

[+wolves shepherd]

Impressing my techno-geek friends is always fun!

 

Black Mage.....you need therapy or something....

 

Caching, obviosuly, I've used it to do some of my own mapping--hike or bike a trail then overlay it on a topo map.

 

Hiking, driving, backpacking. Pretty typical stuff I suppose. Since I got my Foretrex I use it when running as well to track distance and or speed. Makes it nice because I can just "go run" and not worry about my route so much and still get the distance I want.

[bug and snake]

I bought mine in the first place as a real input (as opposed to a simulator) for some surveying software I was writing. I had had it for a while before I was sitting surfing the net one evening and discovered this site.

[+MedicP1]

I was using mine for a project to plot/waypoint all of the ERs in Ontario to create a database of the ERs for out of town Ambulances to get a fix on thereby allowing them by carrying a inexpensive GPSr unit to get to the ER without having to tie up the dispatch centre.

[+D & K]

To find our way home when we take our buggy out too far....

 

Get lost? Never....

[+Old Bet]

You mean besides driving my wife crazy by giving her turn-by-turn directions to the movie theater we go to almost every week? Probably the best use I made of it was during a train ride through the Canadian Rockies from Vancouver to Jasper. Sitting in the observation dome with GPS and map, I became something of a tour guide, letting my travelling companions know exactly where we were and what we were looking at.

 

Probably the biggest MISUSE of the GPSr came while looking for a virtual in East Boston. Fellow on a motorcycle stopped to ask if we knew where a certain street was. Explained we were out-of-towners from New Yawk and didn't know nothing, sorry. As soon as he motored off, looked down at the screen of my Merigold and there, two blocks away, was exactly the street he was looking for. Oh, well; he probably was a Red Sox fan and didn't deserve my help.

Edited December 30, 2004 by The Old Bet Brigade

[+pamgod]

I use my gps for a number of things.

 

1. My ride home from work gets boring 33 miles. I plug in my home waypoint and follow the arrow. I found new ways home I never knew. Mostly it took longer but was fun. I do the same thing going shopping. it really is a lot of fun.

 

2, I trailride horses and use the gps to mark milage and speed.

 

3. I set up pace events which is a race on horseback and can finely get an accurate milage and also make maps marking the jumps with my gps and downloading them. Making accurate maps for people to follow.

 

4 I had planned to hide my grandchildrens xmass gifts in the snow and have them find them but I ran out of time maybe next year..

[+pamgod]

oops forgot one more thing. I can sit in the backseat of my kids car whith them driving and tell them thier top speed! They hate that. What fun.

[+pamgod]

I used to be a guide on horseback. 25 miles per day through the woods. How the heck did I do it without a gps?

[+Kitch]

some people hide them in their cars to track their wife

[trocergian]

C'mon, I can't be the only one that uses it to find his car in parking lots. Never go to six flags without it! Not to mention waypointing that funnel cake stand.

[+Kitch]

As soon As I heard that the 60c could auto-route me to bars...I was sold!

[+Kitch]

oops

Edited December 30, 2004 by Kitch

[+NickL]

A few things come to mind:

• I use it to delineate zones/areas for later mapping while doing environmental surveys.
  
• To mark locations of markers/flags/stakes etc for the detailed surveyors to plot. I work with a surveyors that uses a yellow Etrex for this and he just loves it makes his job easier. Makes my Map76CS seem like over kill
  
• Finding my car in the shopping center parking lot, a good use for o’ yeller.
  
• Using tracks and waypoints to mark trails on maps for Boy Scout events.
  
• Use routes so that I don’t zone out while driving and miss my turns.
  
• I use it while traveling so I don’t have to attempt to use the infamous Hertz alleged map.
  
• Find my way home after a long day caching, working, shopping, or what ever. It may not be the best rout but normally it gets you there.
  

[+NickL]

As soon As I heard that the 60c could auto-route me to bars...I was sold!

And home afterwards?

[+DanOCan]

Other things I use my GPS for:

 

-- As an odometer / speedometer when I go for walks or bike rides.

-- Downloading routes from Mapsource for driving directions

 

And, lamest of all, to see how much distance I travel while mowing my grass on my lawn tractor!

[ju66l3r]

I use it to find new and interesting places to wear my bigfoot costume and scare people.

[+CacheStan & TexasJ]

I use mine to mark a hot fishing spot so I am able to return there some other day.

[skillett]

C'mon, I can't be the only one that uses it to find his car in parking lots. Never go to six flags without it! Not to mention waypointing that funnel cake stand.

whoda thunk it! I used to be an over the road truck driver. I can go from coast to coast and find my destination with no problem. but put me in a parking lot and SHEESH I might as well be in the middle of the ocean. great idea. I now have a new use for my gps

[rescue557]

some people hide them in their cars to track their wife

I never thought of that. Not that I needed to, but its a good idea.

[+Metaphor]

Other than geocaching, my primary use is in sailing and sailboat racing. It makes it a lot easier to sail the most direct course when you can't see the mark you are supposed to be heading for due to weather, distance, night, tacking, etc...

 

Also, I like to check where I am and how fast I'm going when flying... the maximum speed on my data screen now reads 650 mph and I have a couple of cool trans-Atlantic and overland US tracks saved.

[Azaruk]

As an avid off-roader who likes getting way off the beaten track and waving a fond farewell to civilisation as we know it, my GPSr is an invaluable tool. There are some wonderfully remote and essentially un-mapped places in the country (South Africa and bordering countries). Without my GPSr and a set of VERY rudimentary maps, Susan and I would not be able to do what we love best (second to geocaching, of course! )

 

When visiting game reserves and wilderness areas, I collect waypoints of interesting places for further investigation for when I am wearing my wildlife photographer hat. River banks, water holes, dams and so on.

 

Have a truly outstandingly successful 2005.

 

edited for spelling as the man in the bright red suit DIDN'T bring me a new keyboard!

Edited December 31, 2004 by Azaruk

[+reveritt]

I bought my first GPSr (Garmin 10) to use on my sailboat, because it beat the hell out of Loran when the fog rolls in and you have to get around a reef.

 

I sold the boat, but now have a better GPSr for geocaching, and also use it for camping, hiking, etc.

[Smaug1]

Just tried benchmark hunting yesterday and it was a blast. Neat to find things that haven't been seen in many years.

For the other newbs out here, what is 'benchmark hunting'?

[+Wild_Bill]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned lawn mowing yet 

Ok. I did the lawn mowing bit. I was even gonna create a cache. I just didn't think this kinda offset would get many visitors. Other than this, I usually use it to show me the way to the nearest Super Walmart. So sayeth my wife.

[2oldfarts (the rockhounders)]

We just love telling people where to go!

 

Here's where we do it.

 

 

 

Smaug1, benchmarks are survey disks. If you goto the main Geocaching page there is a link about half way down the page to help get you started.

 

John

[+tls11823]

I travel fairly often on business. The GPSr makes it easier to find the hotel after a long flight or the office when I'm invariably running late on the first day. Then, while I'm out of town I try to hit some caches when I can during lunch or after hours.

[+mudchet]

I enjoy orienteering and adventure racing. I will use mapping software to setup a set of control points to naviagte to. I download those points into my gps. Then I go and use my good old map and compass to find those points, and check my skills with the GPS. When I am standing on the spot I think is the control point I fire up the GPS and see if I am right.

[+DuncanClan]

QUOTE (Mastifflover @ Dec 28 2004, 06:19 AM)

Just tried benchmark hunting yesterday and it was a blast. Neat to find things that haven't been seen in many years. 

 

For the other newbs out here, what is 'benchmark hunting'?

 

Benchmark Hunting

 

DC

[+robert]

And you can go to your "My Geocaching" page and at the top right, just under "search for nearest caches", there's a link for finding nearest benchmarks.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/my/

[+jaigh_taylor]

I originally bought my GPSr earlier this year for wardriving. I had just gotten my laptop, and thought the idea of cataloging wireless networks was kindof neat. I contributed a few times, and then my laptop got kindof whiney. Foo.

[madratdan]

I use mine to pinpoint cave locations and cool landmarks I come across in my travels.

 

It's saved me more than once to help relocate the car from a different approach than the one I left following. I would highly recommend that everyone venturing into the high country of Colorado carry one.

[+The Waldo's]

Snowmobiling! I like to put my tracks to a map and see were I have been.

*let it Snow*

BenchMark Hunting.

And just plain hiking.