[Caching Songs]

An album title rather than a song comes to mind when doing many of the Motorway Mayhem caches.

 

Diesel and Dust by Midnight Oil

 

[Anyone ever been bitten by a spider?]

Mark mentioned he'd posted about my bite/sting on here, I told myself I wasn't going to read the thread ………Well here I am, I've read it and now wishing I hadn't - thankfully my finger is much better this morning ..... apart from the itching

 

Donna

[What makes a good cache?]

 

Whilst you can't help an area degenerating after you've placed a cache in it, do think carefully about where you're putting your cache, especially in urban areas. Scout out the location beforehand, and if there's any signs of antisocial activity, don't expose other cachers to it by drawing them to the area.

 

Lee

 

We went to check out a local point of interest today that we used to frequent regularly as muggles but haven't been there for a couple of years, Mrs D worked nearby years ago and had mentioned wanting to set a cache there for a while, it has excellent views but the area was littered with broken bottles and rubbish, obviously an after dark hive of activity, a real pity because it would have made a great cache location but there's no way we were going to set one there. This seems to be a growing problem.

[Anyone ever been bitten by a spider?]

The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust http://www.warwickshire-wildlife-trust.org.uk/ would be very interested if you told them - it could be a first for the county. L and I are in the Worcs WT and there are people who get very excited about such things. Yes, seriously

You could ask them about putting caches on their property then..........

 

H

 

Might do that H.

[Anyone ever been bitten by a spider?]

My boss was bitten by a spider in the UK earlier this year and a few people at work think they have.

 

 

I presume they lived to tell the tale then....

[Anyone ever been bitten by a spider?]

Last night, just as it was getting dark we revisited a local cache to make a note of some bonus co-ords we'd forgotten to get on our first visit.

Anyway, as Mrs D replaced the cache in the bush/tree thing she got stung by something. There was no sign of any bee/wasp etc nor stinging nettles.

 

She said that it felt like a bee-sting but the discomfort seems to last a lot longer. I assumed it had been a drowsy wasp or something. Anyway, today she asked on another forum somewhere about stings and someone (from the UK) suggested it might have been a spider!

 

I wasn't aware that any spiders bit people in this country but I remembered that I did see a spider whizz back up its thread when I shone the torch into the bush.

 

Further investigation today (always a bad idea) leads me to think she might have been bitten by a False Widow. The symptoms seem to fit the bill.

 

Anyone else (UK only please) experienced this

 

Thanks

 

edited to add:

Oh yes, we're in Warwickshire

[Is the email fairy on strike?]

A new local cache, for which I should have got notified, was published this morning but there was no email.

 

Mrs D didn't receive an email either (different notification, different email address)

 

 

Thanks

[Box help needed]

Planning a 'The Lock' ?

 

Sorry, can't help in your search...

[Utility for Etrex users]

That's wierd!

 

My version of EasyGPS (2.3.8) doesn't have that GeocacheID column..

 

 

With regards to the G only being dropped sometimes, we usually pick from the 'nearest' list in the etrex rather than searching through the lists

[Micro containers]

bung one in the freezer for a couple of weeks, that should indicate how well they will stand up to cold.

 

It's the repeated freeze/thaw that destroys things not just the length of time below freezing

[Mio p350 GPS problem]

Are you outside?

 

Also, it can take quite a while to find a signal sometimes...

[Utility for Etrex users]

awwww it doesnt work with EasyGPS

 

You can open the fixed loc file but the geocache ID still contains the GC code and the number changes so that its different to the geocaching.com ID

 

I don't really understand what you mean.

 

 

 

I use GSAK for loading data into the Mio, but I use EasyGPS along with my .vbs script for the Etrex.

I don't use EasyGPS from anything other than loading data to teh Etrex so just having the waypoint code tweaked is fine for me.

 

 

Mark

["I Pledge" Geocoin]

Thanks for the reply FollowMeChaps.

 

We set a cache earlier in the week with we think will be OK and have set the accessible attibute. It's only a cache and dash really.

[Utility for Etrex users]

I just tried the link and got this message:

 

"HTTP1.1 STATUS 403 Remote Access to this object forbidden This file cannot be directly accessed from a remote site, but must be linked through the Brinkster Member's site."

 

I was just going to have a look at it out of interest but it sounds like a really great idea to me. I upgraded from the etrex but I imagine that the 7 digit thang is annoying.

 

OK, I've fixed that... I've changed the link to a page on the site with a link

[Utility for Etrex users]

Our Etrex only handles waypoint codes up to 6 chars long. This is a pain as geocache codes are now 7 chars long and the codes get truncated overwriting each other.

 

To combat this problem I wrote a simple .vbs file to remove the leading 'G' from codes with 7 characters and being the nice kind people that we are, we thought others might find it useful

 

Click here to download it

 

Save it to your desktop or somewhere handy and run it by dropping a .gpx or .loc file on to it (or a shortcut to it) It will create a new file with the word 'fixed' inserted into the filename.

 

I'd be pleased to know if anyone else finds it useful...

 

 

Thanks

Mark

[caching in winter]

I save "cow" caches until the winter ...

 

Good Point!!

 

There's a cache near us which we've had three attempts at but is fiercely guarded by a bunch of bolshy bovine beasties.

[Setting a cache in an area with limited access (timewise)?]

Aaaaaahhh!

 

Brilliant!

 

I see your point.

 

[Setting a cache in an area with limited access (timewise)?]

Imber in Wiltshire

Its a virtual, dates back to 2004

GCKCJV Ghost Village.

 

 

Thanks for that. Shame it's not a physical cache...

 

OK I'll come clean

 

What I want to set is a cache to be called:

 

Not Motorway Mayhem M96

 

A 35mm film canister somewhere along the M96 motorway

 

I think it would be a great location - looks like a Motorway Mayhem cache but isn't

 

If anyone fancies trying to get permission, go for it!!

 

I've started drafting a letter but the usual "CITO" benefits to land owners etc don't really apply.....

[Setting a cache in an area with limited access (timewise)?]

There is a cache in a village on an Army fireing range. Only open to the public certain times of the year...

 

(*Not that a previous OK gets an OK this time!)

 

G

 

Which one is that?

Is it still active?

Might be useful to quote when seeking permission...

 

Thanks

[Setting a cache in an area with limited access (timewise)?]

Thanks for the replies.

 

To make this a bit clearer, the place I have in mind is within the grounds of a college so it would be accessible to the 500 or so people who attend the college plus relatives and staff. Obviously only a few of these would be geocachers, the rest of the public would probably have to wait until an open day.

 

I don't know this for sure though as I have never visited the place in person, but I have seen their website

It might be that the facilities are open to the public at other times but I am imagining a 'worse case' at the moment.

 

I am also currently crafting a grovelling letter seeking permission

 

The location is so unique that it would be too good an opportunity to miss

[Setting a cache in an area with limited access (timewise)?]

Hmm... the place I have in mind has open days which are free admission, has no commercial or religious interests.

 

I'm pretty sure it meets all other guidelines.

 

This will probably not come to anything anyway , which would be a great shame, as it would be a great location; unique in many ways but familiar in others

[Setting a cache in an area with limited access (timewise)?]

I've got yet a great idea for a cache but it will be on land only accessible to people connected with the place (quite a few people are) or on annual open days when it is open to the public

 

Would this sort of restriction allowable?

 

It would be a film canister micro to prevent any jokers leaving trackables there

 

I will of course seek full permission from the land owners before setting a cache, but I just wanted to check that it would get approval from the mods first

 

 

Thanks

 

Mark

[Which do you enjoy the most...]

We just got our first log deletion notice for a DNF:

 

 

Why on earth anyone would think that setting a cache in ivy at the end of someone's driveway was a good idea is beyond us. The previous logs were of no help, the clue was pointless and previous finds all seemed to be during an event, anyone since seems to have only found using a PAF - Is it there? We couldn't care as we won't be back to look.

 

I thought we were being quite kind really

 

Name of cache can be supplied on request

[Move a trackable without the tracking number?]

Oh yeah, I hadn't noticed that owners of trackables could see the tracking code.

 

We did email the owner but got no reply/repsonse

[Move a trackable without the tracking number?]

A couple of weeks ago we were out caching and lost a bumbag (it was accidentally left on the roof of the car ) containing, amongst other more valuable items, a geocoin we had just picked up an hour or so earlier.

 

We had not made a note of the tracking number so cannot move it from the cache inventory to the UK TB Graveyard.

 

Can this be done by anyone else?

What does marking an item as 'missing' (by the cache owner) do to it?

 

 

 

 

Thanks

 

Mark