Craynerd's GeoCache Containers and Hides

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Brass_Machine:
I have heard of geocaching and have thought about trying it out sometime. Can a normal car GPS be used for this? What kind of stuff do you cache? I would be interested in doing this because I can be sneaky B* at times.

Eric

-steves-:

--- Quote from: Brass_Machine on October 25, 2011, 09:51:00 PM ---I have heard of geocaching and have thought about trying it out sometime. Can a normal car GPS be used for this? What kind of stuff do you cache? I would be interested in doing this because I can be sneaky B* at times.

Eric

--- End quote ---

A car GPS is generally not used as there is an application to go with it. Most people I know either use a dedicated GPS device like a Garmin, but more and more people these days are using mobile phones with built in GPS, be it Apple, Blackberry or some form of Android device, most smart phones can be used and are pretty good.

As for the "cache", its definately more about the fun of finding and signing the log than whats in the cache container. There seem to be fewer and fewer caches that can "trade" items as people seem to be going more for nano's at the moment. Its also a really good excuse to find things in places you have walked by everyday, as well as explore lots of new places that you never even knew existed :)

If you take it up, then enjoy.

Oh, for the application, there is a free one called "C:GEO" which can be downloaded from most mobile stores. If you do try a fwe and enjoy its definately worth becoming a premium member as there are quite a few caches which only premium members can see and log.

:D

raynerd:
I`m only half repeating what Steve said, but I`m currently using my HTC Wildfire mobile phone and a couple of friends have found hundreds of caches using their Iphone 3G. From reading the forums, the new iPhone 4 apparently has an excellent GPSr chip which equals some of the dedicated units. The only problem I have with my phone is that if I`m under trees I normally can only get to with 10 meters away and if it is a tricky hide then that requires a lot of searching but normally the "Hint" gives it away. There have only been about 2 I couldn`t find so far which I put down to using a phone rather than dedicated unit. I am considering getting a Garmin eTrax model but the Garmin H is tempting at only £40.

The FANTASTIC thing about using a mobile phone app is that it is connected to the internet and so on a spur of the moment you can select "Find local cahes" and they pop up and you simply pick one! Like today, we are going for a trip to York as a family and I`m sure at some point, I`ll take out my phone and find the near by caches and have a hunt for some. Unfortunately, with the dedicated unit (or certainly ones <£300!!!) you have to load the co-ord and info from the geocaching.com website from your computer prior to going on your trip. The other option is to take your mobile and your GPSr, using the mobile to find the location data of the cache and the GPSr to get you there.

Eric, if you visit www.geocaching.com and put in your postcode (or zip code?!) then when the list comes up, click "Map this Location" at the top and you get a map of your local geocaches.

Regarding what you cache, it is definately just about finding it. My daughter is 3 and of course she loves finding the large plastic boxes filled with toys, trinkets and "treasure" which she loves to swap one of her toys for another in the box. I do it a lot on my own now and for me it is about finding the nanos or something a lot harder to find and signing the log like in my little red cache above.... ohh, but I enjoyed the little yo-yo I picked up on my last visit :lol:

kvom:
Tree cover (or anything else containing water or vapor) absorbs GPS signals regardless of the type of receiver, so whether a dedicated unit will be better than your phone is debatable.

A good technique in some cases is using a compass to triangulate, assuming that your GPS will indicate magnetic bearing.

The best signals I've ever gotten have been in deserts.

Brass_Machine:
Ahhh. I have a Garmin GPS.

I also have a few smart phones (didn't think of using one those with the GPS)

I may get involved in a few months.

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