hostetter

I also keep wet ones in my backpack (the whole dang container) and also lots of assorted sized ZIPLOCK BAGS, also paper towels. Every so often I find a cache that needs some "maintanance".

one of these months I'll quit my job and camp this forum properly...

Just discovered one of my favorite sites, howstuffworks.com, has an article on how gps receivers work. This site is great for explaining technical subjects to smart but non-technical people. GPSr on "howstuffworks.com"

And I came to this site to see if anyone posted it. My favorite part is this: "What we are suggesting," Dobson said, "is that we are only one technological step from placing a transponder in there that burns or stings a person if they step off a prescribed path by a meter. Or if they stay too long in one place. Or cross the path of another person they are prohibited from seeing, or if they congregate with other people." ROFLMAO!!! If a transponder was placed under or against my skin to shock me if I was a meter off target, I guess I'd have to get used to being permanently shocked. At least until the batteries ran out (or mine did). "One technological step away..." oh please. I have learned from experience that a cell phone sized receiver is sometimes up to 100 feet off. He thinks a transponder small enough to be integrated into my body would know to a meter where I am, accurately? I'd say that's a few technological leaps away at least, LOL!

My etrex was doing the same thing this weekend, here in GA. Distance away was bouncing all over the place. Made it very challenging to find caches. The first few caches I have found in previous weeks, my etrex put me within 40 feet which was fine. This weekend it put me merely in the neighborhood and I had to do a lot of searching to find the caches. I think you should normally expect to get within 20-40 feet, although sometimes you might get <10 feet away.

I love the simplicity and the small size of my etrex. Screaming yellow notwithstanding, I can be subtle in a crowded park if I need to be cause it's so small. However on a cloudy day in the woods this thing is not that reliable. I don't have a problem finding caches though.

The best thing about irfanview is that you can batch process images. Useful if you took a bunch of pictures with your digital camera and you want them all converted in the same way, do it all in one operation rather than image by image. The only image modification task I do that doesn't use irfanview is I like the 'autobalance' feature of MS Photo Editor.

I recently got started doing this too. I got an etrex for a little over $100. It works great and on the 3 caches I have found, led me to within 30 feet or so each time. However, it loses signal lock frequently both in the car and in the woods, but only for short periods. And when you stand still it can't point toward the cache because it only measures direction via movement. From what I understand, the Magellens rarely lose signal lock, and many models have built in compasses in your price range (Garmin models with compass cost $$ although you may find one in your price range via a sale). BUT the etrex is only slightly larger than my cell phone, has a good battery life, and works well enough that I have had no problems finding caches (or home, or work, or the grocery store, or anywhere else I have 'marked'). I notice the shortcomings of the etrex, but like the small size and one handed operation a lot. One thing I found disconcerting though - not only is there a fairly decent amount of location error with low priced GPSr's, the error fluctuates. I mark my parking spot in front of my house, go to the store, and return. Sitting in the same parking spot the GPSr sometimes tells me my spot is 80' further. The error when I originally marked, compounded by the current position error, no doubt. If I were ever to place a cache, I would worry about getting accurate coordinates based on my experiences with the etrex so far. [This message was edited by hostetter on February 24, 2003 at 07:12 PM.]

and the best image freeware image manipulator I have ever found is at www.irfanview.com. It can even batch process whole bunches of images at one time, useful if you want to, say, take a bunch of full sized images from your digital camera, reduce the color depth to 8 bits, reduce the dpi to 50, and shrink the size by x% or to a specific pixel dimension. It can even rename them all too. And handles virtually any file type both read and write. Easy to use too.

I did read the faq page but didn't retain that item. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

...But is this a common or at least accepted practice, that the taker of a bug doesn't have to be the next placer of the bug, and handing off a bug to help facilitate it's goal is ok?

And I notice it works noticeably worse in thick clouds and rain than on sunny days. That is to say it still *works* but loses signal lock more frequently and less strength on satallites than on clearer days. I am in the Atlanta area, BTW.

4/22.

Here is something I plan to pursue for objects to leave in caches: uncleaned ancient coins. Try searching ebay for that phrase. You will find that you can purchase authentic ancient coins for only a couple of bucks apiece. In fact I once purchased about 30 for $1 each. HIgher volumes volume = lower unit cost. If you want just a few as samples, get through e-bay. Otherwise contact the seller for a whole bunch at a time. Many look like slugs with faint stamping visible including the portrait and date. Quite a few will clearly show the portrait, date and other marks. They are also very small compared to modern coins. Common periods are Roman - early AD, and greek - BC. They are not hard to clean up and for kids (even adults) are a fascinating treasure find. Imagine opening a cache and finding a coin(s) from 1500 - 3000 years ago!