Geo-caching

[JWW]

What is Geocaching?
Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.

A Few months back somebody posted a link to www.geocaching.com . Well my friend Tony and I finally tried it last night. With a GPS unit and no real knowledge of how to use it we headed out to Lytle Creek to find our first cache.

This first find would turn out to be a little confusing. After parking at the bottom of the trail we hiked in about 1/2 a mile. This was all up hill so my body was already hurting. At this point we run into the inevitable fork in the trail. Now this would be a good time know how to program you GPS unit. We of course didn’t know how so we took the wrong trail. We went in another quarter mile when we hit the correct latitude reading. After debating about the longitude position we decided to head back to the lower trail.

We walked for all of 30 seconds before we saw a semi steep hill we could jump, slide or at least hope we could make it down with out getting hurt. We finally made it to the bottom and continued on. When we finally reached the approx position we searched for about 30 minutes before almost giving up and heading back to the truck we finally found the box.

Inside the box their were things like a pack of cards, some seeds, cd cover, a cassette tape and a few other little things. The idea is to trade items in the box so Tony left a pack of trading cards and took some playing cards from the old Sahara Hotel in Vegas.

After that we took off for a pretty uneventful trip back to the truck. I learned a couple things on this little trip. We were able to somewhat track our mileage and it came out to about 2 miles with our wrong trail included.

1. I need to quit smoking
2. Knowing how to use a GPS would be cool
3. Exercise can be fun.

If you have a GPS I encourage to check out www.geocaching.com and give it a try.

Jeff

 

[Pvt Joker]

That's a really cool report.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[JPIVEY]

Hey Jeff, That was I who posted that awhile back, I've been on three trips now and everyone was a kick, They even have some stashed out by were we race, but we have not had the time yet to check it out.


Have Fun

 

[tx246]

geocaching is a really cool way to get the kids outside. everytime we have done it we have had a great family outing. i was going to do some caches myself but i am hurt. i was going to do some on the islands of our local lake. make sure your format on your gps is the same as the coordinates given for the cache. remember that a gps unit standing still wont work like a compass due to SA error. finally, straight line navigation is usually not the best way to go on these cache hunts. look for trails. they are much easier to walk on than cutting across the terrain. go get em!

 

[OldassKDX]

I've been a few times with the roomies....its a lot of fun and gives you a reason to get out and do something when you otherwise might not think of something to do. Great clean fun, I'd suggest it to anyone with a GPS.

 

[canucklehead]

Originally posted by tx246
remember that a gps unit standing still wont work like a compass due to SA error.

Well, technically, selective availability was turned off by the DOD in April of 2000. It was originally intended to produce enough error is basic consumer GPS systems so that they couldn't be used for weapons systems. But, by 2000 anyone could buy a decoder that would defeat SA, so they turned it off and made everyone's GPS FAR more accurate. The reason why some models don't work as a compass standing still is that at least 3 satellites need to triangulate your position and compare it to the last reading in your handheld, giving the direction you're heading. If you stop, your GPS only knows that you're stopped, not which direction your device is pointing.

Sorry TX, not trying to be a jerk... but with the limited knowledge I have, i need to use it every chance I get! :confused:

Dave

 

[tx246]

dave,

you are right about the SA. i guess i was trying to make the point that most gps units have a navigation screen that uses a pointer and a compass ring and people try to use it as a compass. gps is very good for derterming direction of travel but when you are stopped that arrow is going to "wander" and send you in the wrong direction.

to "see" how many wrong ways it can send you using these screens as a compass try the following.

get your sats locked and turn on your trail(trac) and set it on the ground. leave your gps in one spot and come back in an hour. look at where your gps "walked" by observing the trail(trac). granted, with sa off the "wandering" is confined to a smaller area but there are still mondo direction changes. doesnt seem to matter if i have 6 sats and WAAS working.

ive got a garmin 76 which is a decent consumer gps but it wont work as a stand alone compass. ive got to be moving then i can get a reference based on the direction of travel.

how would a gps unit work as a stand alone compass? does it have a different mechanism to act as a compass? maybe like the alpine watches that have something built in.

any help with the above would be great

 

[MikeT]

I hate to say it, but lets just say I was a crackpot murderer. I could put some coordinates in there and just have my victims come to me..... Plus by the time they come to me, they will be worn out and not be able to put up a good fight, or run away.

Something you all need to think about.

 

[IrishEKU]

Originally posted by MikeT
I hate to say it, but lets just say I was a crackpot murderer. I could put some coordinates in there and just have my victims come to me..... Plus by the time they come to me, they will be worn out and not be able to put up a good fight, or run away.

Mike just admitted to being a sociopath, it's the first step in recovery :)

 

[MikeT]

You know what I'm getting at. I just hate it but although it seems to be a lot of fun, you need to be careful with all the weirdos out there.

 

[IrishEKU]

Yes Mike I do. ;) With all the crap that is becoming "News Worthy" these days that is just what some nutcase would do to get the recognition that his Odeipus complex wouldn't or couldn't supply. :debil:

 

[JWW]

I hear ya Mike. My buddy and I were talking about that at the last one. Started to freak me out since the sun was coming down and we had never been to the area.

 

[canucklehead]

tx426,
Some models have a magnetic compass inside of them (like the Garmin eTrex Vista) that allow it to show magnetic North while not moving. I think it's about twice the price of the 76, and in my opinion, not really worth it. Granted, it has a barometer, blah blah blah, but I find for most people a fairly simple model does just fine. I LOVE my Magellen 315, but never tried a geocache trip. Looks like my weekend just booked up!
Dave