Newbie to Geocaching

KJKev · **Posted:** Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:57 am

Well, I've always wanted a GPS for hiking, wheeling, etc., but when I found out about Geocaching it added more fun to the investment.

I just bought a Garming Etrex Legend C and have installed about 50 caches withing 10 miles of me. WOW I can't believe there are so many. And I live out in the boonies of west central Indiana. But, I guess that's a good place to cache.

Anyway, I'm about to leave to find my 1st cache. Only 3 miles from here.
Well, I hope to find it....LOL

KJKev

KJKev · **Posted:** Sun Oct 30, 2005 2:05 pm

Well, it's about 2 hours after my original post and I did it.

MY FIRST FIND.

Pretty easy find really. High muggle area.
Ran into an old buddy of mine.

Took a Geocoin
Left a bracelet.

Thanks and hope to see some of you Midwest LOST members in this area.

KJKev

NHLiberty · **Posted:** Sun Oct 30, 2005 6:05 pm

Can you GeoCache with a laptop? I just bought MS Streets and Trips and it came with a GPS locator - can I GeoCache with it? I'd love to give it a shot! I'm such a n00b at this!!
Thanks!
Sue

corwyyn · **Posted:** Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:55 pm

NHLiberty wrote:

Can you GeoCache with a laptop? I just bought MS Streets and Trips and it came with a GPS locator - can I GeoCache with it? I'd love to give it a shot! I'm such a n00b at this!!
Thanks!
Sue

Are you saying it came with a GPS antenna and you can actively track your movement on your laptop? You could geocache with it but it would be cumbersome - better to find a low-cost GPSr that you can carry around, something like a Garmin e-Trex or a Magellan Explorist (both can be had for around $100). Good luck and welcome to the hobby!

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:39 am

Sue,
Check some of my previous posts for info on using a laptop. Let me know if u have any questions.

NHLiberty · **Posted:** Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:12 am

cool thanks guys! I'm tracking some WJTB's now!

Yes - the MS Street and Trips came with a GPS antenna. I know what you mean about the laptop being combersome - especially when we stop and start tromping through the woods! But for now - it's all I have

Thanks!
Sue

LuckeyDuckey · **Posted:** Mon Oct 31, 2005 3:04 pm

Quote:

I know what you mean about the laptop being combersome - especially when we stop and start tromping through the woods! But for now - it's all I have

i would buy a GPS TODAY before i took my laptop out again. if you drop that laptop you can shatter the screen, break the hinges, damage hundreds of internal connections or even shear the power connections off the motherboard and never be able to charge it again (without big bucks to a qualified tech).

i've never used the $100 GPS's (we have the garmin 60 CS) but know lots of people that do, if i were you i'd bite the bullet and spend the $100 before i took my laptop "off road" again.

KJKev · **Posted:** Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:23 pm

I guess I should have marked the coords of my post...didn't know it would get hijacked.....LOL

KJKev

NHLiberty · **Posted:** Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:35 am

I completely understand what you're saying about dragging a laptop through the woods - but this is an old beater that I bought on eBay to see if I'd like owning a laptop - so no worries there. But I'm sure it would make the trek a lil more difficult.

As for buying one - I had looked at Staples while I was there but the cheapest one was like $600 and that was WAY outta my league! Now that you tell me there are less expensive one's I may consider it!

Anyone have opinions on these "under $200" one's?

Magellan® eXplorist 100 Handheld GPS Unit $90.99

Garmin eTrex® Handheld GPS Receiver (010-00190-00) $92.99

Magellan® eXplorist 200 Handheld GPS Unit $124.99

Garmin Foretrex™ 101 GPS Navigator (010-00364-00) $138.95

Garmin eTrex Legend™ Portable GPS Receiver (010-00256-00) $138.99

Garmin GPS 72 Receiver (0100030900) $169.95

Is any one better that the other and why

Thanks!
Sue

corwyyn · **Posted:** Tue Nov 01, 2005 11:59 am

NHLiberty wrote:

Anyone have opinions on these "under $200" one's? Is any one better that the other and why

Thanks!
Sue

For basic GPS any of these would work. The nice thing about the Explorist 200 or the Garmin Legend is that both have basemaps on ROM chips which allow you to better visualize where things are. The Legend stores 1000 waypoints while the Explorist does 500 - truthfully, I don' think I've ever had more than 100-150 stored on mine at any one time but YMMV. Having owned a Legend in the past I like the fact that the control buttons are side mounted - makes it easier to use one-handed once you get the feel for the layout. THe backlight on the Garmin is adjustable to several levels of brightness (not sure about the Explorist since I can't get the .pdf manual on the magellan site to cooperate). Both units use a 'patch' antenna, basically a smal square antenna built into the top of the units. These antennas aren't quite as sensitive as teh quad-filar (four-filament helical) antennas on some higher end models, but I never had problems getting to a cache with my Legend; now finding it, that was another challenge

IF you would like anymore info you can PM me. Good luck!

NHLiberty · **Posted:** Tue Nov 01, 2005 10:05 pm

Thank you that's great info!! What do you mean by basemaps exactly?
Thanks,
Sue

corwyyn · **Posted:** Wed Nov 02, 2005 3:19 am

Basemaps are maps that are permanently burned on a ROM chip in the GPS - they cover the US down to street-level in most all towns and in some of the larger cities outside of the US. THe map for wher I live shows the major streets north, west and south of me along with the freeway that runs by about 1/2 mile away. They won't show ALL the streets, but they should show most major streets in any given town, about the same level of detail that you get in the maps on a cache page at geocaching.com. Heres a link to some screen shots from the Legend. Hope this helps clarify things.

NHLiberty · **Posted:** Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:07 am

ok - that makes sense.

So, ya get the GPS, you pick a cache you wanna find, you plop the coordinates into your GPS - you get driving directions to a point near the cache and then what? The GPS "pionts" you in the right direction? Is that how it works?

CaKJFreedom · **Posted:** Wed Nov 02, 2005 6:10 pm

"High muggle area"
:lol:

I haven't got a GPS but I like reading about the hunts you guys go on. Tempting...

corwyyn · **Posted:** Wed Nov 02, 2005 10:52 pm

NHLiberty wrote:

So, ya get the GPS, you pick a cache you wanna find, you plop the coordinates into your GPS - you get driving directions to a point near the cache and then what? The GPS "pionts" you in the right direction? Is that how it works?

Well, the Legend or the Explorist 200 won't do auto-routing (take start and finish points and figure the route in between) but if you input the cache coordinates you can do a 'goto' and there will be a line drawn between the GPSr and the cache, then you can see where you are going on the map and figure out where you need to turn. The more expensive models (Garmin GPS V, MAP 60 series) do have built-in auto-routing; I looked on the Magellan site but couldn't find any of the handheld units that have this feature - if anyone owns an Magellan and uses auto-routing, please let us know. Also, if you are going to be downloading the .loc files from geocaching.com and sending them to your GPSr there are several free software programs that will allow you to do this - EasyGPS, GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) are two of the more popular. If there are any other hints or tips I'll jot them down. You can also check the forums on geocaching.com - they have lots of info for the beginner.

Newbie to Geocaching

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