Gps Features And Geocaching Success

[tunnelrat]

Just wanted to hear back from those of you who have been geocaching for a while about you're success and how much credit you give to your featureful or basic units. I've recently been introduced to the game and have had fun with it so far, and I was simply wondering how necessary all the GPS features are. Obviously the WAAS is good, but how often do you get the WAAS satellites? Although I've only been out hunting for 5 caches, my gps seems to get me within about 20 - 30 ft. Is this standard? or will I want to upgrade to increase my success with micro's etc.? Right now my GPS is quite low on the feature table, but seems to work just fine.

Realize that i'm not looking for the ramblings of someone trying to justify features that he paid lots for and never uses. I'd love an honest answer. Thanks so much.

 

-Jeremy

[+tls11823]

Well, I'm getting along just fine with my Garmin Etrex Legend. It's not the bottom of the ladder, but it's quite a few rungs from the top. From a Geocaching standpoint, it's doing the job quite admirably for me. If you can, as you report, get within 20 or 30 feet, it's about time to stick the unit in your pocket and start looking for "something that doesn't belong", and to get inside the head of the hider.

 

There are some times that I wish I had some more advanced features, but those are times that I'm not in the woods looking for an ammo can or some tupperware. It would be nice to have something that is a bit handier at getting me around a strange town. But I have to say that my Legend, with the appropriate maps and routes loaded from MapSource, does a fairly good job.

 

I guess it would be nice to have a unit with a magnetic compass, since I have to keep moving with the Legend to get a decent bearing. But it gets me to the general area of the cache, and that's enough to keep me from feeling a need to upgrade for now.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I found my first couple hundred with a Garmin eTrex Yellow, then moved up to the Magellan Meridian Platinum for the next thousand.

 

I don't use 95% of the MeriPlat's features!

 

I like that I can load 500 caches from a PQ, I sometimes use the maps, otherwise it's select a waypoint and follow the arrow - just like the eTrex!

[Radman Forever]

I've had great success with the Garmin Etrex Yellow and Etrex Legend. I've kept from using most of the features that it has to offer me, because i don't understand most of them.

[+BadAndy]

I use a sportrak map and never had any problems. I get waas lock nearly 100% of the time, and although I rarely use most of the features, the ones I do use for geocaching have always fit the bill. Mapping and topo is always nice and I use those features extensively. Mostly I stay on the screen that gives me the arrow pointing to the cache.

[+Mfurman]

I just went out yesterday and recorded my first 2 finds. I got my MeriGold on Friday and the first time I turned it on was About 20 minutes before I headed out on the hunt. I didn't even have time to study the manual and figure out the features. I used the cable to load up my PQ and then moved the arrow to the id number I wanted to hunt and hit go to. Then I switced to the screen that look like a compass telling me which way to go and how far.

 

I had to do some looping around when I got close, but in the end when I was within 10 FT the GPS was always accurate.

[+cudlecub]

I started out with a Garmin Emap that I think Noah used to navigate the ark. It was pretty much as bare bones as I think you cuold get. It lost signal when it rained, I had to manually enter waypoints, it had limited memory, and I couldn't update it's software without a serial cable to eliminate the "error" that was built into the programs when this unit was produced. But for 20 bucks, it was a great investment to see if I really would enjoy this new found hobby. But that bare bones unit would get me in the general vicinity of the cache and I learned what to look for in an area to find the cache. I feel it made me a better cacher as I had to be more attentive to the surroundings. It would generally get me to within 30' of the cache.

 

In Jan I upgraded to a gpsmap 76c. I love the unit and have started hiding caches since the coords are pretty much on the money now. It has a lot of bells and whistles that I have never used and am clueless on their function. The main reason I got it was it's memory capacity and a good friend of mine has one. I was considering the gpsmap 60c but he got me the 76c for 50 bucks less than a 60. I couldn't pass up the deal he was able to secure for me. Has that unit increased my success while caching? I think it has. The reson being, I can now lock on and hold a signal in tree cover. But I'm sure any of the newer units would have preformed better than my previous unit.

 

I suggest you keep with what you have for a while to see if you will stay involved in caching and then start looking at units from all the manufacturers.

[+vree]

yep. more features are nice, but won't necessarily get you any closer to the cache. i switched from a SporTrak Pro to a garmin 60c. i love love love the 60c and wouldn't want to go back, but i still have to *look* for the cache. it's nice to not have the problem with the boomerang effect on the magellan anymore.

 

tls11823 gives good advice though. when you get close enough, get in the habit of starting to look. i've wasted a lot of time staring at my gps sometimes saying to myself, "but it says 9 feet..." before i snap out of it and start looking in likely places and find it.

[+briansnat]

I find mapping with Garmin's Mapsource Topo to be very useful. As an example, this weekend I was going for 3 caches over fairly difficult terrain. Using topo I was able to find a ridgeline that connected all the caches, making the walk much easier. Had I just followed the arrow I would have dealt with some climbs and descents and some nasty bushwacks.

 

Topo is also useful for determining which side of a stream to start out on, how to get around a swamp. It can also help figure out which trail or route to choose and it will tell you if the cache is at the top or bottom of a cliff.

[+Mr. Snazz]

I rely on the electronic compass in my meridian platinum quite a bit. It lets me go in to the area and then turn around until the compass arrow is pointing at the waypoint, and then I know which direction to walk in very quickly. So when it says "30 feet" away, I know that its 30 feet behind me and I'm not playing a guessing game with numbers.

 

Unfortunatly it feels loosely wired or something, because sometimes it will "lock up" and I have to bang the unit a few times to make it work again. Banging the unit causes the batteries to jiggle, and so it thinks it has low power. Another annoying thing that the compass sometimes does, is that sometimes no matter which direction I turn, the cache is never infront of me. The needle just flips back around to behind me when I turn towards where it said the cache was. But this is probably related to the looseness.

 

[+2qwerqE]

418 finds as of today, with a basic Yellow Etrex. I do carry a magnetic compass with me, and find it most useful in canyons, tall buildings and deep canopy. If I DNF, I don't blame the Etrex. It's fine, and with a cheap compass, it's all I need. Looking forward to my #1000 with this device.

[+AtoZ]

A Garmin Geko 101 has everything you need to geocache. I have a 201 and a gpamap76 and all you use is the pointy arrow, disatnce to waypoint and bearing to waypoint. So YOU DO NOT NEED anything fancy. I like the 76 only because it has a big screen but I wish ere was a simpler unit with a big screen I would get it.

cheers

[+hoovman]

An etrex yellow has been all I've ever needed, but I've added a magnetic compass to my pack. I've never searched anywhere remote enough yet that walking straight in any direction wouldn't get me to a decent road in a mile or three.

[+IVxIV]

I started caching with a Magellan 315, which is your basic "arrow and distance" GPSr and it worked quite well. Well enough to get me hooked on Geocaching!

 

After a while though I decided maybe having a GPSr that had a basemap showing roads, river contours and and lake shorelines would be nice, so I upgraded to an iFinder Pro. Yup these features (especially the roads) I find greatly helps me getting to the target. So, I would now say my essential tools in a GPSr would be the arrow, the distance, and the map

 

Add to that, my "next GPSr" will probably also include an electronic compass. I do carry a mechanical one, but think it would be nice if the GPSr was better at knowing which way North was when I was not moving.

[+The Puzzler]

A topic too dear to my heart to not comment on, even though I think the previous comments do a very good job of covering a wide range of very reasonable opinions.

 

I started caching with only maps and a compass, and frankly, doing so was a lot of fun. But, there are places where you can't get good enough maps and compass bearings are not possible in the deep woods. Even if you do know which direction is which, you often don't know where you are with enough accuracy to find a cache.

 

At times, I borrowed a garmin geko 201 from a friend. Just basic features, no maps and no built in compass. I still carried a regular magnetic compass and the combination worked great. I would have purchased a 201 if a well-to-do friend of mine didn't give me a geko 301 as a gift recently.

 

For traveling in the backcountry, I value the small size of the geko more than the convenience of mapping that can be found in larger units.

 

Now that I have it, I find the built in electronic compass and altimeter very convenient to have, but they are certainly not necessary. Having the built in compass does speed up finding the cache by not having to take the time to cross reference the gps and line up the compass.

 

Living in BC Canada, and now Oregon, I would get WAAS on any GPS I was buying, but I would not upgrade just to get it. In my caching, WAAS has been unavailable most of the time, and in the few places where I have been able to get WAAS, my signal is already much better than normal. So, WAAS can improve my accuracy on the 15% of caches that I am already getting the best accuracy on, not a big deal. It's the caches with weak signals (and thus never any WAAS) that I need the most help with. Probably an external amplifying antenna would be significantly more beneficial than WAAS unless most of your caching is in open areas where your signal is reliably very good.

 

I would not get a GPS without a data cable connector because I do like being able to download waypoints from my computer, upload tracks to my mapping software, and being able to drive along poorly or unmarked back roads/logging roads with dynamic mapping on my computer so that I know where I am on a map. I suppose a mapping GPS might reduce my need to drag along my computer in the car, but then, I'm not so certain that the built in GPS topo maps are as good as the ones I run on my computer anyway.

 

In the end, I suggest you stick with what you have if it is working for you, and upgrade when you please, realizing that the upgrade will not enable you to find more caches, but might give you some more bells and whistles to have fun playing with, and might speed up your cache hunts a bit, if that is important to you.

[+GRANPA ALEX]

My personal experience is the the basic units are ALL you need for caching, I have seen & worked with the Etrex Legend, the Etrx green & the 60cs - all cached equally well.

 

The added 60 cs features help with logging finds, mapping/directions to parking and a host of other neat things . . . but absolutely do not zero in on the cache with any more accuracy than the defeatured models. My first several hundred caches were found perfectly well with the de-featured models.

Edited April 11, 2005 by GRANPA ALEX

[+WalruZ]

For traveling in the backcountry, I value the small size of the geko more than the convenience of mapping that can be found in larger units.

 

ditto, puzzler. I'm closing in on 2K with my geko 301 and prefer it. I keep the mapping and record-keeping in my palm tungsten e. (cachemate and mapopolis)

 

The GPS does not find the cache. You do.

[+Pablo Mac]

When I saw this movie, I knew there would be no other GPSr for me. How I got by without maps and upload/download capability is beyond me. Now I spend no time keying in coords, much less computer time preparing for caching, and much more time lurking the forums...I mean, geocaching!

[+Still Searching]

For me it’s not only Geocaching, its all of the great technology that goes with it. I own several GPS units some have been upgrades and some not. To be perfectly honest for caching I could get along well with my Geko 101, which is a pretty basic unit. I’m not sure if the WAAS capability is a huge plus on our Geko 201. I like the legend because it can hook directly to my laptop. I like the electronic compass on my Vista a lot. The unit I have that leaves nothing to be desired is the 60CS. Now I would hate to be without the auto-routing capability of this unit. This is great for urban caching.

To make a long story short I like them all. My thinking is you can’t have too many features. I think its ok to have them and still have the opportunity to use them later rather than to not have them and wish you had them later. For the thrill of Geocaching the most basic unit will work fine but for an adventure with technology buy all of the features you can.

I doubt this will help you a lot but it has made me realize I might have a GPS addiction.