Geocaching

 

I have a Garmin 255W. I'm thinking about getting into the geocaching game in a small way, with my grandson. Does the 255W have the capability to do what will be needed to locate the "prize". If not, what would you suggest?

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Hillclimber

it works

lcoon wrote:

I have a Garmin 255W. I'm thinking about getting into the geocaching game in a small way, with my grandson. Does the 255W have the capability to do what will be needed to locate the "prize". If not, what would you suggest?

The 255 will work, but it's not designed for that purpose. You can put in the coordinates and let it route to nearby. The unit would then need to be switched to either Pedestrian or off-road and run on the battery. But the battery life is only good for an hour or two in all practicality.

One of the handheld units would be better. Check Craig's List or Ebay for used ones.

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Nuvi is Useful to try geocaching

If you're just wanting to try geocaching out, your Nuvi will work, with some adjustments and limitations.

You better be able to drive fairly close, because once you take it out of the car, the battery won't last real long.

Once you get as close as you can with your car, set your Nuvi to Off-Road and Pedestrian mode. You should also set the map for North Up display and keep the unit oriented so that the top is always north. Since you will be moving slowly and the Nuvi's do not have a compass, this will help keep the screen from jumping around.

If you Google for a cross-hair pointer, there are a couple out there that you could try. You definitely do not want to be using one of the fancy pointers like a car - it's too big and hard to tell where the "center" point really is. You'll have to zoom in as far as you can.

Once you get close, press the battery icon to see the accuracy of your satellite fix. That's the radius of the circle you have to search when you think you have arrived.

It's enough to give you a taste for the sport. If you like it, you will most likely want to purchase a dedicated handheld unit with a built in compass.

geocaching

If you really want to get into geocaching, get a good quality handheld. Handhelds will handle the weather much better and are much more durable, you drop it more than once.
Many are not much bigger than a cell phone, so you can slip it into a pocket and not worry about it.

I use my auto GPS to get me close, then grab the handheld to guide me to the hide.

Geocaching

Many of the vehicle GPS will allow for a lat/long input but like other posters have said the battery life could be a problem. My first caching experience was a comedy of errors. I parked in the forest preserve lot and deadheaded to the cache. Didn't think about marking the cars location or anything. My daughter and I got to the appox cache location but couldn't find it. It was starting to get dark and the park closed at dusk. I had no clue how to use the backtrack mode of my GPS. We managed to walk out and got a ride back to the lot. A conservation district officer was waiting by the car so he could close the park. We were there for almost three huors. I was using a lowrance ifinder and had plenty of battery life. I have since learned to always mark the car location and to stay on trails as most caches are maybe just a few feet off trails. Oh and I later went back and found that cache.

Sorry, but wrong

johnc wrote:

Once you get close, press the battery icon to see the accuracy of your satellite fix. That's the radius of the circle you have to search when you think you have arrived.

That would be incorrect. You press the signal bar icon, NOT the battery icon.

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nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK