Newbie Question - Distance

[Ann16]

Hello .....

 

I'm brand new to geocaching. I've had my SporTrack Pro for about a month and have found four caches (although, I've searched for about eight). When I'm out hunting, it seems like my SporTrack Pro is always off by about 30 feet.

 

For the caches that I have found, it's mostly because I've searched around rather than used my GPS. Is this normal? Can I do something to get a more accurate reading? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

-=-=- Ann -=-=-

[Lyra]

Use your GPSr to get within 20-30 feet and then ignore it and start looking. GPSr's are great, but they're only so accurate, especially if you've got a lot of tree cover or hilly terrain surrounding you. The final 30 feet is where you are truly "the search engine." That's what makes it fun!

 

Happy Hunting!

 

Always wear proper caching safety equipment!

[+The Merman]

It is perfectly normal for the GPSr to be out by that much.

The GPSr get's you to the area and then it is good old fashioned leg work to find the box.

 

Quite often you will be able to see the obvious hiding place, some hiders are more devious (muh ha ha!!)

 

Sometimes you will get lucky and your GPSr will be spot on.

 

Whichever, enjoy the sport and welcome to the search.

 

The Merman

 

I woke this morning and my boat was not rocking...for one horrid moment I thought I lived in a house!

[The_Brownies]

I have a Meridian Gold and if I let my GPS Average, it tends to get me a lot closer to the cache. Normally I'm within 1 to 6 feet when I give my GPS a little thinking time. If you are unclear with this term, it simply means to set your GPS down and don't move it for approx 10-15 minutes. Most of the time, I only have to let it average for approx 5 minutes. It all depends on how fresh the GPS batteries are and how good the satelite reception is.

 

[This message was edited by The_Brownies on December 27, 2002 at 08:29 PM.]

[+dogdoins]

Hi there,

 

I usually don't count on the GPSr for the last 30 feet either. I just start looking around. The coords are only as good as the GPSr of the person that hid the cache. I have the most inexpensive GPSr I could find but it gets me as close as I need to be. I usually take 3 readings when I hide a cache and pick the most consistent values. It also helps to walk around the cache area when you're hunting to get better accuracy.

Just get close and start eyeballing.

[+briansnat]

30 feet is well within the margin of error. You also have to figure in the fact that the cache placer also had a margin of error built in when he/she placed it. Sometimes you can be as much as 60 feet off.

 

BTW, if you found some caches, how come you didn't log them on the website?

 

"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues" - Abraham Lincoln

[+Renegade Knight]

For some reason the SportTrack/Magellan GPS's take longer to zero in on a cache than Garmins.

 

It will get you there but it just takes a little longer. Like everyone said. Once you get within 20' to 30' start looking.

 

Wherever you go there you are.

[+Centaur]

Hiya Ann!

I cant add much to what folks have already said. Its true, let your GPS get you in the general area, then you have to search out in circles from ground zero.

Some caches might jump out at you as obvious, others will take a while. I have searched for half an hour before I found some. Others have searched longer. I tend to think anywhere from 10 to 15 min is normal for a good cache search on 2/2 caches. 3/3 and higer take longer sometimes. When your really lucky, you find them in 2 min.

 

Another handy tip: carry extra batteries.

Its a bummer to have your GPS drop dead 100' from a cache.

 

[+Night Stalker]

I have a SporTrak Pro and find that like Renegade Knight says it just takes a little longer, but patience will get you there. The other factor is that the person who set the cache may not have gotten it quite right either. After a while you get the geocachers mindreading ability and can sense where the cache should be. Normally that's where it is.

[rfriel1]

i've only logged 5 finds so far with my merigreen. but with this limited experience, geocashing is to easy. 4 of the 5 finds, i've walked right to the cache with no searching involved. it's kind of disappointing that it's so easy. now maybe i'm in for a surprise the next finds, but the 5th cache LL was off by about 33ft. so i am writing the owner of the cache and let them know the new LL. now someone could have moved it to a better location and that's fine, cause sometimes the location may be to obvious, but if the cache is moved to a more secure location, they should let the owner know the new LL.

 

now i realize that the LL may not show the same everyday. the gps sat constellation may change, the waas geosat may have different correction factors, the owner of the cache may or may not have used waas averaging, etc..... all of this plays into the accuracy of the LL location, but with waas averaging for about 3-5 minutes, a cacher should have a very good fix on the LL location when placing the cache. in north america, .001 degree change in lattitude is about 3-5 feet. in all but the last find mentioned above, i was only off my 3-5 feet from the cache and basically there was no searching involved. but the last cache, if the LL had been correct, again, i would have been on top of it. i sat on top of the listed LL for 5 mintues and did a waas average, then i sat at the LL where i found the cache and did a waas average, and i will notify the cache owner of the new LL.

 

i've been wondering how good waas averaging really is so i am testing the LL location in my driveway over the past week and on different times of the day i always stand on the same spot and average for 3-5 mintues. so far over the last 6 days, with waas averaging, i've only been 5ft off of the LL that i saved on the first day i tested.

 

i've read that a good way to test how good the LL are on the cache, go back to the cache at different times on different days and see if the LL change. if you are already doing a waas average for 3-5 minutes, i would suspect that the LL should not change by more than 5ft in each direction, if they do, then maybe you need to do some hand averaging as well.

 

if geocaching is this easy, it's not going to be that much fun. now i know that some cachers may deliberately not give the true LL of the cache to make other cachers "search" for the cache, and that's possible, and that's part of the game, but i have to wonder, if i find a cache that is not where is supposed to be, did the owner purposefully not give the right LL or did the owner try to give the right LL but either waas averaging was not used or the sats that day gave a LL that was not quite right??

 

but, i personally believe the newer models of gpsr's both garmin and magellan have the capability to give accurate LL within 5ft with waas averaging and if a geocacher does not find the cache at the listed location using waas averaging, then the cache owner didnt' bother to average or purposefully listed a LL that was offset from the true cache location.

 

now maybe i just live in a part of the country where waas averaging just happens to give very accurate results, maybe other parts of the country, waas averaging produces results that are not so good, maybe i'm just lucky and don't know it, but with my limited experience, when i stash some caches of my own, i don't want it to be so easy, something so small that even within 5ft, it will be difficult to find. is that being unfair to other cachers? i don't know, i just don't want it to be so easy, 'cause when it's to easy, it's not that much fun to walk right up to a cache. should i deliberately offset the LL and make cachers "search" for the cache? it that fair to other cachers?? i'm searching for answeres to these questions and hope that someone on this board can point me in the right direction.

 

this discussion assumes waas averaging, if waas averaging is not available, then yes, 30-50ft search radius is very likely to occur.

[Sleddog]

Ann, I'm glad you asked this question and I'm thankful for all the "get close and start hunting" responses from the veteran cachers. My wife bought me (HER) a GPS for Christmas and I've never used one before. With this amazing little instrument spouting all this accurate, detailed information, I thought I would have to give up my highly honed "bird dogging" skills I use in orienteering! Now rather than birddogging from a half mile out, this past weekend I found myself doing it only a quarter of a mile out! Then I stopped, looked at the information on the GPS and decided to put some faith in it. Walked me in to about 6 feet! Do you know how many "medium sized oaks, next to a palm tree, surrounded by pines" there are in the Ocala National Forest (Central Florida)? A LOT!

 

Happy hunting!

 

Sleddog - Team WeedWhacker "We're not accurate, but we cover a lot of ground!"