# Geocaching



## jcat67 (Aug 8, 2008)

I know this is one of those questions that ask for opinions. And of course we all know what opinions are like....but I am going to ask to get some feedback from folks who have used them to aid in my decision making as well as other research. Which handheld GPS units have folks used and like. Good, Bad, otherwise. Looking for primary use for Geocaching, but other uses as well.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

PM PDX_Doug...he just did all the research on this last week.


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## jcat67 (Aug 8, 2008)

Oregon_Camper said:


> PM PDX_Doug...he just did all the research on this last week.


Great idea. His posts was the one that got me headed in this direction. Thanks.


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## muddy tires (Jun 22, 2007)

jcat67 said:


> PM PDX_Doug...he just did all the research on this last week.


Great idea. His posts was the one that got me headed in this direction. Thanks.
[/quote]

Any modern unit (and many not so modern units) would be more than adequate. Everything else is bells and whistles for geocaching.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

_I just sent a PM reply to jcat67 on this, and figured I may as well just share it with the group..._

Sounds like this geocaching thing may take off, eh? I was looking around on geocaching.com and found 56 of them within 1/2 mile of my house. 960 within 10 miles!!!

Anyway, I have not had too much chance to play with my new toy yet (hope to go after our first cache this weekend), but from what I have seen it's a huge improvement over my old first generation Garmin. Picks up satellites really quick. The first time I turned it on took 4-5 minutes, but now it finds them in 15-30 seconds. Also, I can actually wander all over INSIDE my house, and it never looses signal. That's impressive.

I did do a fair amount of research, but will admit that I focused on Garmin. I have used their products in the past, and am a real fan of the company. The 'Oregon' and 'Colorado' units are really nice, with huge displays, but I have questions about how rugged they are with that touch screen. Being out in the woods, they are bound to get beat up a bit. Also a bit more than I thought I would get away with spending.

The 60CSx seems to be a very strong mid-range unit. It has the new SiRF III chipset which is supposed to be faster and much more sensitive than the older/lessor units, and that seems to be the case from what I see so far. The color display, while not huge, is very readable and the unit does have some special geocaching features. Finally, the price is not too bad. I got mine from Amazon for under $300.

Would I recommend it as a navigation GPS for in your car? No... The display is too small, and operation too cumbersome for while you are driving. Would I recommend it for when you are on foot (or a bike), absolutely. Also, one of the hiking magazines (don't remember which) named the 60CSx as their GPS of the year, so it must have something going for it.

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

PDX_Doug said:


> The 'Oregon' and 'Colorado' units are really nice, with huge displays, but I have questions about how rugged they are with that touch screen. Being out in the woods, they are bound to get beat up a bit. Also a bit more than I thought I would get away with spending.
> 
> Would I recommend it as a navigation GPS for in your car? No... The display is too small, and operation too cumbersome for while you are driving. Would I recommend it for when you are on foot (or a bike), absolutely. Also, one of the hiking magazines (don't remember which) named the 60CSx as their GPS of the year, so it must have something going for it.


While I can't speak for the Oregon, I have been using the the Colorado all summer and have not had any problems with the screen. Although the Colorado does not have a touch screen, I was also worried about the larger (for a hand held unit) screen. BEFORE it took it into the woods the first time, I purchased an InvisibleShield screen protector. Probably something in the area of 70 caches later, still no marks on the screen. One nice thing of the screen protector, if you happen to damage the screen protector, they will send you a new one.

As for using it in the car, it works fine. If you have your route set, you just follow the arrow. It will give you a heads up when you are getting close to a turn. So there is no need to be able to read the road names, just follow the arrow. And if you happen to pass a turn, it will automatically reroute your route for you. For sure I'd give it a


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## o0jonna0o (Oct 29, 2008)

I love geocaching! I use a Garmin eTrex Vista HCX and I love it. Only complaint is the little menu *stick* can be a little difficult to use some times. Just out of bias, I would suggest a Garmin device as www.geocaching.com has plug-ins to allow you to download caches directly to your GPSr.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

PDX_Doug said:


> _I just sent a PM reply to jcat67 on this, and figured I may as well just share it with the group..._
> 
> Sounds like this geocaching thing may take off, eh? I was looking around on geocaching.com and found 56 of them within 1/2 mile of my house. 960 within 10 miles!!!
> 
> ...


This sounds like a neat hobby..but..my concern is, as above, signal strength. We live in the southern part of Lancaster county - which is basically pretty rural. There is very little next to none cell phone reception here... So, I guess, before purchasing something like this, will it work here? What influences signal strength - as I realize it may not be the same as cell phone reception?

I did a search on the geocaching website and found some no more than a mile from our house. Amazing!

Also, I found this article on the 60CSx that I thought I would share...Garmin 60CSx


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## dgilmore12 (Mar 31, 2008)

rdvholtwood said:


> _I just sent a PM reply to jcat67 on this, and figured I may as well just share it with the group..._
> 
> Sounds like this geocaching thing may take off, eh? I was looking around on geocaching.com and found 56 of them within 1/2 mile of my house. 960 within 10 miles!!!
> 
> ...


This sounds like a neat hobby..but..my concern is, as above, signal strength. We live in the southern part of Lancaster county - which is basically pretty rural. There is very little next to none cell phone reception here... So, I guess, before purchasing something like this, will it work here? What influences signal strength - as I realize it may not be the same as cell phone reception?

I did a search on the geocaching website and found some no more than a mile from our house. Amazing!

Also, I found this article on the 60CSx that I thought I would share...Garmin 60CSx
[/quote]

GPS positioning is based off of satellites, so not related to cell phone coverage. As long as you have open sky you will have a signal.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

dgilmore12 said:


> _I just sent a PM reply to jcat67 on this, and figured I may as well just share it with the group..._
> 
> Sounds like this geocaching thing may take off, eh? I was looking around on geocaching.com and found 56 of them within 1/2 mile of my house. 960 within 10 miles!!!
> 
> ...


This sounds like a neat hobby..but..my concern is, as above, signal strength. We live in the southern part of Lancaster county - which is basically pretty rural. There is very little next to none cell phone reception here... So, I guess, before purchasing something like this, will it work here? What influences signal strength - as I realize it may not be the same as cell phone reception?

I did a search on the geocaching website and found some no more than a mile from our house. Amazing!

Also, I found this article on the 60CSx that I thought I would share...Garmin 60CSx
[/quote]

GPS positioning is based off of satellites, so not related to cell phone coverage. As long as you have open sky you will have a signal.

[/quote]

Pretty much like satellite radio....my son has the sirrus and unless you are in direct open sky you get signal - otherwise - its choppy. I guess for most of what you do with geocaching is in the open - but - do trees block the signal?


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## dgilmore12 (Mar 31, 2008)

rdvholtwood said:


> _I just sent a PM reply to jcat67 on this, and figured I may as well just share it with the group..._
> 
> Sounds like this geocaching thing may take off, eh? I was looking around on geocaching.com and found 56 of them within 1/2 mile of my house. 960 within 10 miles!!!
> 
> ...


This sounds like a neat hobby..but..my concern is, as above, signal strength. We live in the southern part of Lancaster county - which is basically pretty rural. There is very little next to none cell phone reception here... So, I guess, before purchasing something like this, will it work here? What influences signal strength - as I realize it may not be the same as cell phone reception?

I did a search on the geocaching website and found some no more than a mile from our house. Amazing!

Also, I found this article on the 60CSx that I thought I would share...Garmin 60CSx
[/quote]

GPS positioning is based off of satellites, so not related to cell phone coverage. As long as you have open sky you will have a signal.

[/quote]

Pretty much like satellite radio....my son has the sirrus and unless you are in direct open sky you get signal - otherwise - its choppy. I guess for most of what you do with geocaching is in the open - but - do trees block the signal?
[/quote]

There are somewhere between 24 and 31 satellites in orbit. You only need 3 to get a position, so I would think it would be better than sirrus. There is a good explanation here. It does mention dense foliage towards the bottom of the page as potentially causing problems.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

dgilmore12 said:


> _I just sent a PM reply to jcat67 on this, and figured I may as well just share it with the group..._
> 
> Sounds like this geocaching thing may take off, eh? I was looking around on geocaching.com and found 56 of them within 1/2 mile of my house. 960 within 10 miles!!!
> 
> ...


This sounds like a neat hobby..but..my concern is, as above, signal strength. We live in the southern part of Lancaster county - which is basically pretty rural. There is very little next to none cell phone reception here... So, I guess, before purchasing something like this, will it work here? What influences signal strength - as I realize it may not be the same as cell phone reception?

I did a search on the geocaching website and found some no more than a mile from our house. Amazing!

Also, I found this article on the 60CSx that I thought I would share...Garmin 60CSx
[/quote]

GPS positioning is based off of satellites, so not related to cell phone coverage. As long as you have open sky you will have a signal.

[/quote]

Pretty much like satellite radio....my son has the sirrus and unless you are in direct open sky you get signal - otherwise - its choppy. I guess for most of what you do with geocaching is in the open - but - do trees block the signal?
[/quote]

There are somewhere between 24 and 31 satellites in orbit. You only need 3 to get a position, so I would think it would be better than sirrus. There is a good explanation here. It does mention dense foliage towards the bottom of the page as potentially causing problems.
[/quote]

Thanks for your help - now to get the DW to let me buy one!


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## o0jonna0o (Oct 29, 2008)

Just tell her that you can use it while driving and you'll never have to ask for directions again! Instant seller!

(how do you think my husband got me into geocaching







hehehe)


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

I believe the Garmin 60 series handhelds have been discontinued, so buy them while you can still find them. Whatever the model, buy one with the SiRF III chipset in it for greater reception/accuracy in tree cover or cities with tall buildings. (The newer units will have it.) My 6 year old Magellan Sportrak does great in the open, but walk into the woods and the signal scatters like crazy and the ability to position is lost. Similarly, the Sportrak would not pick up signals in my house. Contrast that with my new Garmin Nuvi 750 automobile GPS, which can get signal lock on 7-8 satellites inside my house in about 15 seconds!

I have noticed that the Garmin Oregon does "paperless" geocaching, meaning you can hook it up to your PC/Mac and download geocaches directly to the unit without keying in the data. You can also wirelessly transmit waypoints to other units.


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## Stolenfates (Jun 11, 2009)

rdvholtwood said:


> _I just sent a PM reply to jcat67 on this, and figured I may as well just share it with the group..._
> 
> Sounds like this geocaching thing may take off, eh? I was looking around on geocaching.com and found 56 of them within 1/2 mile of my house. 960 within 10 miles!!!
> 
> ...


This sounds like a neat hobby..but..my concern is, as above, signal strength. We live in the southern part of Lancaster county - which is basically pretty rural. There is very little next to none cell phone reception here... So, I guess, before purchasing something like this, will it work here? What influences signal strength - as I realize it may not be the same as cell phone reception?

I did a search on the geocaching website and found some no more than a mile from our house. Amazing!

Also, I found this article on the 60CSx that I thought I would share...Garmin 60CSx
[/quote]

GPS positioning is based off of satellites, so not related to cell phone coverage. As long as you have open sky you will have a signal.

[/quote]

Pretty much like satellite radio....my son has the sirrus and unless you are in direct open sky you get signal - otherwise - its choppy. I guess for most of what you do with geocaching is in the open - but - do trees block the signal?
[/quote]

There are somewhere between 24 and 31 satellites in orbit. You only need 3 to get a position, so I would think it would be better than sirrus. There is a good explanation here. It does mention dense foliage towards the bottom of the page as potentially causing problems.
[/quote]

Thanks for your help - now to get the DW to let me buy one!








[/quote]

I bought a Oregon 400t about a month ago. It works great even in thick woods, the touch screen is easy to read even in direct sunlight though I don't think as easy as the non-touch screen Colorado's. I found the interface friendly and the direct input of Geocache info straight into the unit to be very easy and since it loads all the info for the cache into it I don't have to look up what I forgot on my blackberry storm.

I still haven't figured out how to get it to give me driving directions though, keeps saying all the roads are not set up for directions or something stupid.

All in all I've found it to be a fantastic unit (if you can stomach the $600).


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## dherndonnc (Nov 11, 2008)

jcat67 said:


> I know this is one of those questions that ask for opinions. And of course we all know what opinions are like....but I am going to ask to get some feedback from folks who have used them to aid in my decision making as well as other research. Which handheld GPS units have folks used and like. Good, Bad, otherwise. Looking for primary use for Geocaching, but other uses as well.


I have the 60CSx and like it alot. You can go to geocaching.com and download the items directly onto the unit...then when you hit the "caches" menu item, it will show you which ones are closest to you.....from the ones you downloaded of course.

One word of caution: it's easy just to blindly download a bunch and take off and go looking for them. But print the page out that you downloaded them from (after a search) and keep it handy. Some of the listed caches are not really caches, but "earth caches" or caches that you have to put pieces of a puzzle together to find the real location. So you can spend time looking for caches that don't exist......if you have the printed list, you can see details of the caches to know if it's a real cache or not or just a scenic spot.

Dave.


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

I would add that if you have a standalone GPS for your car, you may already have what you need. If it can run off batteries for a period of time and display LAT and LON, you're golden.


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## SaveFerris (Sep 19, 2009)

If geocaching is the main goal, and if budget is a concern at all, I wouldn't get too carried away with even getting into the mid-range units. You can get a decent handheld GPS with all the basic tools for a little over $100 on Amazon (e.g. the Garmin eTrex series).

I just got a DeLorme for the DW for Christmas. It will be partly for geocaching, and partly for trail hiking. The maps are what sold me on the DeLorme. It comes with a base topo map of the entire U.S., and you can layer satellite images, import your own maps into it, etc. Pretty cool stuff, really, for a unit that is well below most mid-range handhelds out there right now. The functions do take a little longer to learn versus a Garmin, but that was a small price to pay, all things considered.

Have fun geocaching! No matter which unit you go with, it is all about getting out and having fun. It is easy to get caught up in all the gadetry and forget to enjoy the outdoors!


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## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

dgilmore12 said:


> There are somewhere between 24 and 31 satellites in orbit. You only need 3 to get a position, so I would think it would be better than sirrus. There is a good explanation here. It does mention dense foliage towards the bottom of the page as potentially causing problems.


Not to be a nitpicker, but you need four to get a fix.









Here's what I suggest regarding the GPS unit. Check out the caches near your house and go try to do them WITHOUT a gps at all. I think you'll find that in the vast majority of the cases geocaching is an excuse to buy a toy, but it doesn't really require it. Especially true if you use the clue. In my experience the fun of it is in seeing what's in the cache and reading the log entries, not the actualy hunt because the description off the site gets you close enough to just start looking for it.

That's my two cents worth. Try a couple of them before you buy anything.


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