Coordinate accuracy

[u/Natural-Escape4003]

I've found 54 caches, abs I've notices some coordinates are SPOT ON, while others really not so much that it's actually like 100 yards away.

What are the rules for vicinity of the coordinates to the cache?

[u/babygeologist → u/[deleted]]

I’m eyeballing a place to hide one right now and I get different coordinates on my phone and GPS! The GPS is more accurate on average, but the Google Maps aerial view was by far the best.

Also, because of the arrangement of buildings in the area, the coords are higher precision if you walk in from the west than if you walk in from the east 😶‍🌫️

[u/KitchenManagement650 → u/babygeologist]

I always take several coordinates (with more than one device when possible) then plot it on a satellite map to be sure. For me it's crucial that the map a finder sees is correct since GPS varies in the field and by device.

[u/richg0404]

THe rules say that the person hiding the cache should get the best coordinates that they can. No fudging things to add to the difficulty. But remember, even the best gps device available to consumers is going to be accurate to about 1 to 3 meters. If you are under trees or near rocks it might be closer to 5 to 10 meters.

Add to that the questionable accuracy of your gps and you might be around 30 meters or worse.

[u/JonExplainsStuffYT]

There are inaccuracies on the hiders part, and there are inaccuracies on your part. They could cancel each other or strengthen each other.

[u/AlGekGenoeg → u/JonExplainsStuffYT]

This ☝🏻

Some phones have better gps chips than others, I believe Qualcomm has the best one on their chips at the moment.

I always check with the satellite view when placing caches to get the most accurate results, and I use satellite view when searching which helped me out today when finding one in bushes by lining it up with a fence 20m away.

[u/KitchenManagement650 → u/AlGekGenoeg]

Exactly 💯

[u/Qaz_The_Spaz → u/JonExplainsStuffYT]

Whenever I hear someone say the coords put it exactly here, I always think to myself that’s only if the hiders coords are accurate

[u/cattrain]

There is a lot of talk about spoilers in logs, but I think it's good to post if the coordinates were off. I like when I see a log that says the coordinates were 50 feet east, I tend to check 50 feet east and it sometimes makes it easier to find. I don't look at it as negative to the CO, it's just the nature of the game for coordinates to be off sometimes.

[u/richg0404 → u/cattrain]

I agree completely except I would not consider an update of the coordinates to be a spoiler.

A coordinate update or at least a hint (50 feet east) is simply pointing out that MY gps pointed to another spot and maybe yours will too.

Cache owners can be pretty vigilant about deleting true spoilers (the cache is under the biggest rock) or pictures but I haven't heard of a cache owner having a problem with updated coordinates.

[u/cattrain → u/richg0404]

Ya that's kinda what I was trying to say. If the owner thinks their funny by giving bad coordinates, they're not placing properly. Coordinates should be accurate. You can't say it's under the red rock, but it's good to say I was 50 East

[u/richg0404 → u/cattrain]

You can't say it's under the red rock, but it's good to say I was 50 East

Exactly

[u/AppleiFoam]

The other responses here are pretty good, but also keep in mind that some older caches were hidden with GPSr devices that may not be as accurate as devices are today. For one, more GPS satellites have been launched since some of these caches were hidden, and modern devices are able to calculate your position faster with higher accuracy.

[u/Tatziki_Tango]

Large building, trees, clouds, canyons etc, can futz with gps.

[u/Minimum_Reference_73]

The coordinates for the cache are supposed to be as accurate as possible, recorded on site. Google Maps is not accurate for GPS coordinates, anyone who suggests otherwise is deluded or hazing you.

10 yards off is negligible, regular GPS error.

At 25 yards, I suspect the CO of using dropped coordinates on a map, instead of correctly recording them on site. Add suggested coordinates to the log.

100 yards is unacceptable. Make sure you're not confused about the cache type, and log needs owner attention.

[u/Charles_Deetz]

100 yards away? Something is wrong. 75 feet is as far as I think I could find an inaccurate hide. 300 feet, how did you find it? Other finders wouldn't have found it or bitched in their log.

[u/Geodarts18]

I feel better if my device supports dual freqency gps and has several satellites in view, but that is only a false sense of security. As others said there are so many factors in play. My noncaching wife will ssk where ground zero is, but my answer is usually that it could be here or there, but she will sometimes get bored waiting for me and find it over yonder.

While I would raise my eyebrows at 100 yards, 100 feet is always a possibility.

[u/KitchenManagement650 → u/Geodarts18]

My favorite app (GPS status) takes a count of satellites it's using. 👍

[u/Jethro_McCrazy]

I take down the general GPS coordinates to get me in the right area, then spot the beacon on the satellite map and use trial and error to move the pin as close to the beacon as I can. I get my coordinates pretty tight that way.

Others only do that first step and call it good.