Geocaching
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I read about this thing called geocaching and decided to give it a try. From there website, “Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.“
If we pay attention to the words “adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices” we find a couple of items that need our attention. First is adventure seekers, if you have read any of my posts you will find that I do like to seek adventure. The most important part is the GPS devices. I do have a GPS device, sort of. Really it’s an iPod Touch with a GPS unit attached that I got from Orange Gadgets. In order to use the Geocaching app you need an Internet connection. The iPone comes with a data plan so no matter where you are you can get a map of where you are. As it turns out there isn’t a wifi hot spot out in the mountains, so I had to rely on the GPS compass to point me in the right direction. That would have been fine if the darn thing wouldn’t have had a serious case of tourettes.
Fortunately I found the first one. It was right off the main road. The idea is to pick something up and drop something off if you want to, but you should always sign the log book. I picked up the “Magic Dough” and I dropped off an IC chip:
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The second one I wasn’t able to find. I’ll refer you to my erratic GPS. I did get a wonderful view of Mt. Rainer:
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The final one was quite clever:
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Running around trying to find the caches was fun. The ones I choose were easy and did stray me to far from the main road. Next time I will be trying ones that have a bit more of a challenge to them.
One of the benefits to this trip was the plan to visit Stewart’s Meats. Anybody from this area should know about this place. Every time I visit the place it’s packed with people. I even went to a farmer’s market where they had a booth setup. The line was long there too. Anyway, I made a pilgrimage to see them. Normally I get their jerky, but this time I opted to also get some old fashion sausage and some wild boar bratwurst. No I’m not kidding about the wild boar bratwurst. I had them when I got home they were quite good!
Hello. Can you go into detail about how well the Geoaching app you used on the iPod touch worked with the iGPS 360 adapter? I was thinking of getting one but was wondering what parts of the app were lost by using it on an iPod rather than an iPhone. Thanks.
For the most part I thought the app worked well with the ipod touch using the GPS360 adapter.
The Geocaching app has a map function that links up with Microsoft Maps. Using the iPod touch without a wifi connection you will not get any map data at all, nor can you cash it for off line use. You will see a place maker for you and a marker for the cache, and it does update the closer or further away from it you get. I got around that by using the xGPS app that is available from cydia (assuming a jail broken iPod) to get me in the general area then switched over to the Geocaching app to use the “compass” to lead me the rest of the way.
I don’t know how well the iPhone’s internal GPS unit is, but the GPS360 did have a tough time in certain spots. For instance I was looking for a cache that had high voltage power lines above me and the best I could get was with in 15 feet of it. I never did find that cash, even though I walked around the entire 15 foot radius, so I don’t know if the power lines messed with the directions or not. Another time I was in a heavenly wooded area and I was only getting correct data intermittently. That one I did find, but I had to rely on my developing Geocaching six sense to find it. I’m not sure the internal GPS of the iPhone would have done any better in those situations. Obviously loading up the Geocaching app with the caches you want to find while you do have a wifi signal is a must. You can comment on the cach that was found, but it will not be delivered until you get a wifi signal and start the app.
Keep this in mind if you do decide to get one. The GPS360 does hang off the back of the iPod rather precariously. The maker of the unit couldn’t have done much to fix that. I have been working on a way to house the iPod and connected GPS unit so that the possibility of breaking one or both is minimized.