new to geocaching

[Scrappy Scout]

hello all, me and my wife are new to geocaching and we need some help .we just bought a gps unit(a Lowrance h20). i think this is a good unit for geocaching but would like some input.we would also like to know how we should get started. we were thinking of doing the fox 6 geocaching for July put I’m having trouble with learning how to set way points and coordinates to find the next location. if anyone is familiar with this gps unit and can help us please reply back. any help would be great and thanks for helping us lead a better and healthier life.

[greyhounder]

manuals found here

Tried to help someone at the campout with this type unit and failed miserably, but I did find some info for you on the web.

“Waypoints
A waypoint is simply an electronic “address,” based on the latitude and longitude of a position on the earth. A waypoint represents a location, spot, or destination that can be stored in memory, then be recalled and used later on for navigation purposes. Simply think of it as an electronic address. You can create a waypoint at the cursor position on the map, or at your current position while you are navigating. Create a Waypoint These techniques use the Quick Save method, the fastest and easiest way to create a waypoint.
Create Waypoint on Map
1. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the place where you want to make a waypoint.
2. Press ENT|ENT. The waypoint is saved and automatically given a name with a sequential number, such as “waypoint 001.” The waypoint symbol and number appear on the map.
Create Waypoint at Current Position
1. While you are traveling, press ENT|ENT. The waypoint is saved and automatically given a name with a sequential number, such as “waypoint 002.” The waypoint symbol and number appear on the map. Create a Man Overboard Waypoint This unit has a man overboard feature that shows navigation data to the location where the feature was activated. To activate it, press the ZOUT and ZIN keys at the same time. Your position at the time these keys are pressed is used as the man overboard position. The unit automatically begins navigating to the MOB waypoint. For further details, see this subject in the Easy Mode Operation section.”

I don’t know if that helps much — I really only skimmed the manual.

Bec

[Scrappy Scout]

thanks that helps a little that’s the same thing i read in the manual too.it is just not working lol i don’t know if it is me or the unit lol. but i will keep plugging along another question i noticed alot of people use laptops do you really need a laptop for geocaching or can you get along without one.

[ThatGuy]

@otdoorsman wrote:

thanks that helps a little that’s the same thing i read in the manual too.it is just not working lol i don’t know if it is me or the unit lol. but i will keep plugging along another question i noticed alot of people use laptops do you really need a laptop for geocaching or can you get along without one.

I use my Dell Axim X50v and an Earthmate BLueLogger GPSr. This combination works great for me. I can’t imagine lugging around my 17″ laptop through the woods for several miles.

[greyhounder]

Just having a computer available for uploading waypoints and cache pages to the PDA is a great thing, but you don’t need it. And you don’t have to get a laptop specifically for geocaching, nor bring it along with you while geocaching.

Some people along the laptop for auto-routing, but I think your GPSr does that?

I think starting out with just the GPSr is a great start. From there, decide what you need to make your journeys easier and/or more enjoyable.

Bec

[Team B Squared]

My wife and I both use IFinders and we really like them. They don’t autoroute, but we look at trying to figure out the best way to get to a place as a good part of the fun.

Anyway, your unit should have come with with a mmc card and mmc card reader. If you use the geocaching swiss army knife you can upload waypoints directly to your mmc card. This is far easier than hand entering coordinates into your unit. The geocaching swiss army knife reads the GPX files that are available to download through gc.com. If you click on the download GPX Exchange File it will dowload this file for you.

With my IFinder, to hand enter coordinates I have to do the following. Make sure GPS is on. Press enter… Scroll down and click on the From Entered Position checkbox… Scroll back up and click create… This should give you place where you can hand enter the coordinates. I don’t have my GPS with me here at work, but hopefully this description will get you through. If it doesn’t, please repost and I will try to give you more detailed instructions when I have my GPS in hand.

[hogrod]

Seems this may be a simple issue, when you first get a lowrance unit it’s in easy mode, you don’t get as many options in the menus, and can’t mark waypoints. you need to put the unit into advanced mode and everything should work.
if you download the h2O emulator from lowrance(can play with H2O on pc) even the emulator works this way.

if anyone wants to play with a lowrance check out the emulator, its just to bad they don’t have one for the new expeditionC.

http://www.lowrance.com/Software/PCSoftware/Install/iFINDERH2O/default.asp

[EnergySaver]

@otdoorsman wrote:

thanks that helps a little that’s the same thing i read in the manual too.it is just not working lol i don’t know if it is me or the unit lol. but i will keep plugging along another question i noticed alot of people use laptops do you really need a laptop for geocaching or can you get along without one.

No, you don’t need a laptop.

Since you’ve never geocached before, lets stick with “the basics” for now …. You can use your desktop computer and printer to print off on paper the caches you want to try and find. You can use the print outs to hand type the coordinates for the geocaches in to your GPSr. This is the basic concept: print geocache pages on paper, enter the coodinates into your GPSr, then take the GPSr and paper out to seek the cache.

Now, in the future, when you get hooked on geocaching, you can always explore other options, such as:

(1) Using a cable between your GPSr and Desktop computer to load a bunch of geocaches (but that’s a whole seperate experience, first find some caches using the basics).

(2) Down the line you can avoid paper printing all together, by using a Palm Pilot (easy to carry in the woods) or a Laptop (hard to carry in the woods). Or, you can just stick with paper, like many people do.

[Scrappy Scout]

thanks all for the information, I’m looking forward to finding my first cache. my wife and i started a log book too just to keep track of all the information and things we find and leave behind. this sounds so much fun and a good way to stay fit (trying to loose some weight lol). so ill keep people informed of what happens on our first trip this Saturday. as a matter of fact one more quick question how can i check other peoples logs i cant see them like if you go to the recent log page i cant see the for information for helpful tips or is that page just for people to write down there trips for themselves. i keep getting im not logged in or name and password dont match. please let me know thanks again for all the help full hints. and team b squared my i finder did not come with a mmc card or a card reader. if you know where i can get one cheap (limited budget) that would be great. thanks again for all the help please keep me in mind if you have any other use full tips or tricks.

[Sean Connery]

😀 If you go to the webpage: http://www.geocaching.com and register for a free account, you will be able to see all the logs on a cache page. Just follow their steps to open a new account.

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