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Bushnell BackTrack 5


JRFI

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Today I tried to locate a cache. I was at the co-ords. specified in the post. I was unable to locate anything.

 

I know there is no flashing lights saying; "here it is!" and this was my first attempt at this. My question is: Does anyone know if a Bushnell BackTrack 5 is accurate enough to find anything with?

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Not many people on here use Bushnell's but it has nothing to do with accuracy. It is the features and support we get from Garmin and Delorme. There are people finding them with phones and car units. So a Bushnell can also getr you close enough to find them.

 

Considering these things.

 

1. Pick regular sized caches to start with and avoid micros at first.

2. Pick your caches with a difficulty of 2 or less to start. After you've found a few then you can up both of these.

3. Make sure Coordinates on you GPSr is set to Degrees, Minutes and Datum is set to WGS84.

4. Then when you get with in 20-30 feet of ground zero stop looking at the screen and start looking at your surroundings. Where would you hide whatever sized container you are looking for?

5. Go to some events and join any local clubs and forums. Get to know your local cachers and they will be happy to help you along.

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I'd consider using something other than the BackTrack series. From what I can gather from the Bushnell site, their main market focus is for people who want to know how to get back to where they were when they punched the button to mark their car/tent/truck/etc. Yes, the "BackTrack Point 5" has a "digital compass that also shows you your latitude and longitude coordinates", but, for geocaching, I would think that forces you to walk around, focusing more on making digits match up, and then narrowing your search based on where the match occurs. If you use a GPSr like Garmin or Delorme, you are able to enter the coordinates, save them as a location, and then "follow the arrow" to that location. That way you can really make sure you follow steps #3 and #4 in Jeff's post - the correct datum and coordinate method can make a huge difference (trust me!). Also, you look at the arrow, get a general idea of which way to head, and then get to look at everything around you as you walk for a while before you check back to the screen.

 

I really like Bushnell for their optics, but I think their GPS models have a very limited application.

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Thanks for the input.

 

I tried another cache today with the same results, luckily they are both within a half-mile of my home.

This time I also used a Garmin nuvi in addittion to the BackTrack.

 

I know that these devices are not really intended for this activity but thought I might get by especially with 1 or less difficulty ratings. Both these units gave me a Long. & Lat. reading but in different forms and there is no way of setting DATUM to WGS84 (whatever that is :huh: )

 

Apparently this is not as easy as I thought it would be and will require a little more research. I will lurk on the boards for awhile and pick up what knowledge and tips I can. I guess a "real" GPS will also be required in the future.

 

Thanks again for the help.

 

EDIT to ADD: I looked it up and I now know what DATUM WGS84 is. I assume that the Bushnell and Garmin use it as their default because there is no way of setting it in these units.

Edited by JRFI
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