+pulmonaryhip Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 I'm going to Cuba next month and will be near caches in several different areas. Since GPS's are still forbidden, how do I zero in on the caches? I don't use a cell phone, so any advice about using one or a tablet or a camera with GPS capabilities would be appreciated. I love my various Garmin GPS's, but am not familiar with cell phones or other technology. Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 (edited) I'm going to Cuba next month and will be near caches in several different areas. Since GPS's are still forbidden, how do I zero in on the caches? I don't use a cell phone, so any advice about using one or a tablet or a camera with GPS capabilities would be appreciated. I love my various Garmin GPS's, but am not familiar with cell phones or other technology. I have a Samsung Galaxy S2 8" tablet. Not specifically for Geocaching, but it runs the Apps. I'm working on getting completely offline while caching, where maps and caches are loaded in advance. I tried a "free" App called GDAK and now I've switched to a nice App called Locus Pro. These Apps (when the plan is to use them offline) all require a ton of pieces of data to find and load and set up, and it all depends on where you will hunt caches, and what maps & data you prefer. It's as if a "real" GPSr arrived as a bunch of tiny parts in a box. With most of the parts missing . I have a Garmin Oregon GPSr for the main caching tasks, and the tablet kind of as a backup. The tablet's screen image completely washes out in the sun. The Oregon is designed to be readable. So that and lot of other considerations, mean you have some research ahead. This is not really a Cuba issue. You can look in the GPS topics or the App topics about using a phone/tablet without data service. If you have caches in mind, and a printed or saved list of the cache info, and if all you need is a directional arrow and distance, you can type coords into a basic GPS App, without a lot of advance setup. Can you borrow an old phone that has suitable capabilities, and use it for its GPS feature? Otherwise, it could be a lot of work and expense for just one trip. Edited February 4, 2016 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+niraD Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Well, here's one approach... Geocaching.com Presents: “Geocaching Without GPS” Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Keep in mind that the hiders didn't have GPSr either, and knew that few other seekers would be able to use GPSr under Cuban law. I've not looked at them all, but the few I've viewed around Havana appeared to have pretty good walkthroughs and clear hints on where the cache was. Quote Link to comment
+luvvinbird Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 I'm going to Cuba next month and will be near caches in several different areas. Since GPS's are still forbidden, how do I zero in on the caches? I don't use a cell phone, so any advice about using one or a tablet or a camera with GPS capabilities would be appreciated. I love my various Garmin GPS's, but am not familiar with cell phones or other technology. Thank you for enlightening me. I had no idea that a stand alone GPS receiver was not allowed without prior consent. But now I'm curious. There are a lot of caches hidden in Cuba. I'd be inclined to contact some of the CO's who hid them and some of the geocachers who found them and ask how they did it and what they used. I'm guessing a lot of visitor geocachers are unaware of this restriction. Quote Link to comment
+hzoi Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 I'm going to Cuba next month and will be near caches in several different areas. Since GPS's are still forbidden, how do I zero in on the caches? I don't use a cell phone, so any advice about using one or a tablet or a camera with GPS capabilities would be appreciated. I love my various Garmin GPS's, but am not familiar with cell phones or other technology. Thank you for enlightening me. I had no idea that a stand alone GPS receiver was not allowed without prior consent. But now I'm curious. There are a lot of caches hidden in Cuba. I'd be inclined to contact some of the CO's who hid them and some of the geocachers who found them and ask how they did it and what they used. I'm guessing a lot of visitor geocachers are unaware of this restriction. Google Maps, Google Earth, other map software. Or risked arrest/confiscation by smuggling a GPSr. (Except for the ten in Guantanamo Bay, I'm guessing.) Quote Link to comment
Pup Patrol Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Keep in mind that the hiders didn't have GPSr either, and knew that few other seekers would be able to use GPSr under Cuban law. I've not looked at them all, but the few I've viewed around Havana appeared to have pretty good walkthroughs and clear hints on where the cache was. Indeed! http://coord.info/GC55TQ7 Note: Even if it is forbidden to bring GPS devices to the country you could use any kind of smartphone which are allowed. Due to the gps coordinates are not as accurate as I wished, I included in the images gallery pictures with the exact location of the geocache until I found a way to obtain better coordinates. http://coord.info/GC5B6F ... Longest, most explicit hint I've ever read! B. Quote Link to comment
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