Greetings Comrades!

[MegaevolutionSully01]

I have talked to other geocachers and very few have expressed using a gps system that is car specific but a few have and I wanted to see how many other people were doing this? I was looking at the coyote EOB from track your truck to get started but the idea is a means of being able to very much expand the range you travel. Esp for someone like me who travels a lot and is generally gonna be attached to a vehicle, I would like to hit new locations that are on my destination path.

Still kinda new with this so be gentle

[bneeriemer]

I'm not familiar with the coyote eob. It looks like you'd use it to find your way back to your vehicle after a trip to the cache. That makes sense. There's been a few times when I wasn't quite sure were my vehicle was. Usually, caches have a distinct path, but not always.

[Lostsole68]

Welcome to MGS

It looks like the Coyote is only a tracking device that gives real-time vehicle location, speed and heading 24/7 and can store it. There is not a screen to see destinations or a way to upload waypoints all you would get is a track of where you have been.

- Lostsole68

[MegaevolutionSully01]

Much thanks guys (or gals). So i started looking into garmin 450 and also the 750. They're a bit pricey new. I was looking for like...student sale your old stuff sites and what not. The 450 is probably a better bet for me. The only thing is like i said being in a car and what not i am not sure they will be able to keep up. They very well may I havent had experience with them personally but I have seen a few bad reviews.

Thanks all the same!

[zekester]

A brief GPS primer.

A GPS receiver can fir on a chip then six elf your pinkie fingernail, and then just requires power and an antenna to function. To be functional, (i.e. useful to an end user), memory and a user interface are required. We thus end up with a lot of variability in what is called a GPS unit, as each is specifically deigned for the use-case that the end-user has for it. Some examples:

Hand-held GPS - Ruggedized portable unit designed for hikers. hunter, geocachers, boaters. Can store waypoints (specific geoclocations) and routes (paths defined by a series of waypoints). Can also record tracks (history data of actual data, including geolocation and time stamp.) User interface is usually buttons or touch screen. Data exchange is usually via USB, or some form of wireless. Primary manufacturers are Garmin and Magellan. Garmin has the bulk of the market share.

GPS tracking device - A GPS receiver designed to collect track data for where it has been. This may then be offloaded via USB, or it may be continuously provided real-time via cellular or iridium or proprietary radio frequency adding. The use case here is for businesses tracking their vehicle fleets, think UPS or FEDEX wanting to know where their vehicles are at any give moment in real time. Actually these two companies use pretty specific associated larger systems that also collect vehicle data (speed, acceleration, breaking intensity, idle time, number of left hand turns etc.) for use in travel efficiency data analytics, to increase fuel and time efficiency. The Coyote device you mentioned falls into this category.

Vehicle navigation - GPS systems designed to assist in vehicle navigation and routing. Some are third party (Garmin Nuvi, TomTom for example), and most if not all car manufacturers no offer OEM built in systems. This primarily use street addresses as opposed to coordinate systems for their waypoints, and often feature point of interest libraries ( cast stains, hotels, hospitals etc.) as well. They provide turn-by turn navigation functionality, a situational awareness map view, awn many (particularly OEM systems) include a crude inertial navigation system or accelerometers to do dead reckoning when GPS signal is lost (you transit through a tunnel, or in GPS challenging environments like the concrete canyons of downtown Manhattan). Many will also take coordinates (latitude and longitude) as an end destination, so they can be used to some degree to drive to a geocache location.

Smartphone - All modern smartphones, both IOS and Android have GPS capability. This is often coupled with additional location finding technology using WiFi and Bluetooth. They are capable of providing turn-byturn direction functionality, as well as a situational awareness map (albeit on a minuscule screen). There are numerous smartphone applications for both platforms that are specifically designed for geocaching, a topic for another post, too be sure.

I would also note that, in response to one of your previous posts in this thread, all GPS units, as long as they are able to maintain signal reception for the constellation of GPS satellites, will be able to keep up with whatever you do. This are used in fighter jets at supersonic speeds for real-time navigation.

Bet you already have smartphone, my reommendationn is that you start there. If you are on Android, C:Geo is well, liked. On the iPhone, Cachly and Geosphere are well thought of. Groundspeak, the company that owns the geocache database and runs the game, also has an application for both platforms. Their app is less well thought of.

Good luck, and don't hesitate to post further questions! You also might consider attending a geocaching event, cachers are passionate about their hobby and will be happy to help you out.