tozainamboku

Using different datums is a problem whether you are using lat/long or UTM. Since the earth is not exactly a sphere (perfectly round), a datum is a set of parameters that define the shape of earth. The different datums give slightly different shapes and therefore different latitude and longitude for the same location. When you are giving someone your coordinates it is important to specify which datum you are using. T & S point is that many topographic maps use the NAD-27 datum. If your GPS is set to the WGS94 datum it won't show the same position as your map regardless if you are using UTM or lat/long. You can't change the datum of your map but most GPS units will let you change the datum they use for displaying location.

RK and PS are correct in that if you are trying to determine distance between two points on earth that are in different UTM zones you will probably have to convert the UTM coords to lat/long and do a great circle calculation. It isn't meaningful to compare UTM coordinates from different zones.

UTM is a projection of the curved earth onto a flat plane (your map). Think of taking a thin segment of the curved suface of the earth and flattening it out. You will get some distortion at the edges of the segment. When the segment is very thin the distortion won't be very big. For UTM the segment is six degrees, so the distortion isn't very big. And the distortion is greatest at the edges of the UTM zone. For the most part the distortion will be less than the accuracy of your GPS.

Wish I knew then. When I hid my first cache about a year ago, I could tell that there was a members only cache on the same trail. But would my cache be too close? I couldn't figure out any way to answer this except to either become a member or submit my cache and wait to see if it was disapproved because it was less than .1 miles from a existing cache. I chose to become a member. Any way now I'm addicted to getting my PocketQueries so I'll probably renew next month when my membership expires

It's very easy to screw up coordinates when posting a cache . When I first posted this cache I put N34 06.744 instead of N34 06.774 so it was 182 feet off. It still got three finds with the bad coordinates but I pretty much gave a spoiler because I knew that GPS reception wasn't good in that canyon. I think with the new cache submittal pages things can even get worse. Some people may be getting confused by the option to specify coordinates in decimal degree; degrees and minutes; or degrees, minutes, seconds. The other day I went to this cache. After some serious bushwhacking I got to ground zero. When I didn't find the cache I decrypted the hint. Fortunately I was familiar with trail the cache was supposed to be on (a bit north of the posted coodinates). So off I went and I actually found the cache about .5 miles from the posted coordinates. The hider had written the coordinates in the log book and these were correct so I suspect an error was made posting the cache. Other than multi's and puzzle caches that say "The cache is not at the posted coordinates" - what is the furthest away from the posted coordinates that you still found the cache? I bet that I have a record.

quote:Originally posted by ErnieModesto:_tozainamboku_ was the first one to suggest Eureka (I looked back on page one of this thread) I put it in all of my various designs and variations. Anyway, it looks great! I am glad that we have a final design. ErnieModesto Actually, looking back at my post, the credit should go to Green Achers who suggested the state seal for the back of the coin. I just pointed out that the state motto which appears on the state seal would be appropriate for geocaching. Anyway, I hear they are changing the state motto to "I'll be back" 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

quote:Originally posted by rocksnrivers:Look I get it you people don't want virtuals! I don't know about TPTB but I like doing virtuals - especially ones combined with a good hike. (Most of the virtuals around here are historic markers in small urban parks or plaques on the side of an old building). However, this is a geocaching website. If a physical cache can be placed nearby then I can see archiving the virtual. I your case, you want to let hikers know about this hut. You can place a cache further up the trail from the hut and say "on your way you will pass a hut" - voila! you've let people know about the hut. You can even put the coordinates in the cache description. Of course, if the hut were in a National Park or someother place where physical caches are not allowed you might have a reason to make this a virtual. 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

Good thing the approvers don't get to decide what polls get posted on the forums or we would have polls "Should my poll have been approved?" - Hey how about a Locationless to find the lamest poll? 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

If every historical marker should be a virtual then we really do need a separate categories and treat virtuals different from traditional caches like benchmarks. I like doing virtuals, and sometimes they take me to an interesting place I might not have seen otherwise. But wouldn't it be better to have hidden a physical cache nearby. You would still have made me aware of the place of interest. You don't even need to hide a micro behind the monument or make it a multi-cache. Just put on the cache page - be sure to visit the marker nearby at N xx° x.xxx W yy° y.yyy where this historical event happened. I bet most cachers would stop by to check out the marker. If the location is inside a national park or monument or for some other reason there is no way to place a physical cache nearby, then it is a candidate for a virtual. Still you have to be able to justify to the admins why this cache would benefit the geocaching community. My virtual, in a area administered by the NPS, was turned down at first as not having sufficient interest. I was able to explain to the admin that this put a geocache on a popular hiking/biking trail that might not otherwise be visited by someone who would might only go where there there was a cache and the it also represented something about the history of this area before the suburbs of LA began encrouching on it. The cache was then approved. The exchange of emails with the admin made me realize that there are real guidelines for virtuals. Virtuals that meet the guidelines are approved. The admins have a difficult job determining if a cache meets the guidelines. If they are not sure they will archive the cache, but the if the cache owner can demonstrate to the admin the guidelines were met the cache will be unarchived. The admins are busy and disputed virtuals often fall to the botton of their list of things to do. When I replied about my cache being archived I heard nothing from the admin for a full week; and then it was that my cache was approved and had been unarchived. Immediately appealing to forums and being critical of the Admins in the forums is probably not the way to get a virtual approved. Working though the issues with the admins and realizing that this is not their highest priority so it may take some time would have better results -- and there would be fewer polls in the forums. 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

My complaint is all the benchmarks that the owners haven't registered on geocaching.com. Maybe these are listed on the N*v*cache web site []. 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

Now I feel better about the Highlights stickers I put in a cache I just hid. 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

I read all the logs before they were deleted. Like every story there is more than one side to it. This cache doesn't get that much traffic. The last finder was me back in February. So it should not be unexpected to find it in bad shape. Unfortunately, when the owner responded to Strapped for Caches original find that they had moved since placing the cache and were unable to maintain it, Strapped for Cache responded that he felt the owner was unresponsible and was abandoning his cache. The owner seemed to take this as a personnel attack and responded by deleting Strapped for Caches log. In the meantime two other cachers (myself being one of them) offered to adopt the cache. The owner ignored these offers until Strapped for Cache posted a cache should be archived and got the attention of an Admin. The Admin has posted a note that the next finder should retrieve the cache so it can be archive. This got the owners' attention and they wrote me to thank me for the adoption offer. They have also posted a note that they were wrong in deleting Straped for Caches log and he should re-enter his found log. Remember this is only a game. Don't go putting stuff into logs that the cache owner might think is attacking them (even if you don't mean it as an attack) Nobody likes to be criticized in public. It is probably better to handle these things with an email directly to the owner instead of posting it in a log. 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

I know of several caches hidden at or near small general aviation airfields. Perhaps the best way would to find these would be to enter the lat/long for a an airfield you will be flying to on the seek a cache page and see if anything turns up 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

quote:Originally posted by Green Achers:OK. Since Geocaching is well represented on one side, how about the State Seal on the back? The state motto works pretty good for geocaching. 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

quote:Originally posted by georapper: didn't you know that requiring a password or clue to prove you visited a virtual cache is soon to be outlawed by the random rule happy admins? watch out your cache may be randomly and arbitrarily archived. Huh? I think it more likely that TPTB would ban virtuals that didn't have some form of confirmation like this. The idea is that you did go to the site and (possibly using your GPSr) found the data you need to confirm you were there. You may be confused by the change to require that micros have log books and can no longer be confirmed by a password or code in the cache. 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

quote:Originally posted by rjo: Its another field in the database... with another couple of queries to look up the varying types.. it isn't exactly brutal hehe It's not quite that simple, most cache can be reached by multi access. For example my caches are in places that can be hikes, mountain bikes, or on horseback. So you would probably need to select multiple item from a list to show the alternatives. You could require new caches to specify how the cache can be accessed, but for existing caches you would need to rely on cache owners going back and adding this data to their cache pages. Finally, once some asked for this the next think they will want is to filter by difficulty/distance of a hike/bike/etc. The best solution is the one we have now - read the cache page and the logs and look on a map to find out how to get to cache 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

This probably would be better handled as email to the cache owners and the SoCalAdmin - but here is a example of a new cache being placed too close to a stage in an existing multi. This cache is only 13 ft from the final cache location in this multi. The funny thing is reading the cache pages you can tell that both had the same idea of placing a cache behind the famous HOLLYWOOD sign. The new cache even points out that the starting location of the multi is nearby. Didn't the hider think of checking that the other stages of a nearby multi might be close to where he was hiding his cache. :confused 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

quote:Originally posted by Trogdor!:As logged by The Widget at my cache Johnson’s Gate: “The guards would not let me drive in, had to park outside and ride in. This was my first attempt a biking and caching, I pushed it most the way up but the ride down was quick and easy. Took the Moun10bike geocoin, left nothing.” Wow, you can’t imagine how disappointed I was to here that one of the great Moun10bike geocoins had made it to Southern California, only to be snagged by someone who didn’t trade fair! I’m willing to bet The Widget keeps the coin. I was first to find Trogdor!'s cache. I had read in the forums how cache's degrade - but this cache was full of what I considered junk and I was first to find. I took the only things I thought were worth trading for - a Where's George Dollar and an LA Marathon pin - Then I realize I didn't have much to trade with me. I left a compass and the Moun10bike coin that I had. I had been holding on to the Moun10bike to put in a cache that I though was worthy - particularly one that would be good for mountain bikers to go to. In spite of my disappointment with how Trogdor! had stocked his cache, the hike to the cache, the location of the cache, and the method he used to hide the cache made it worthy of the Mount10bike coin. This cache made me realize that the trading part has very little influence as to whether or not I enjoy a particular cache hunt 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

I almost lost my GPSr here 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

Make it challeging, so that the finder will have a sense of satisfaction in finding the cache. A well hidden urban micro, a long hike on a little used trail, an interesting puzzle to solve, can all be challenges that make a cache memorable. Don't make it too challenging that it is frustrating. Of course, a higher difficulty rating may indicate that one might not find a cache on a first attempt. Give hints that are useful. The worst experience is to decode a hint after looking for an hour that doesn't provide any useful information 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

quote:Originally posted by Tower247:Has anyone thought about making prediction tables for optimal satellite constelation times? Seems like they'd have something like that along with the best time to hunt & fish accessories. This? 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

quote:Originally posted by ventura_kids:If I trade you for the Hollywood trip, will I get to find all the caches you hid? Ventura Kid and Spider Dude No. Don't forget the vacation cache Dru hide in Las Vegas. 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

Look here 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

quote:Originally posted by Doc-Dean: quote:Originally posted by Rasstag:I heard it rumored that if you spray your trousers with a mild Viagra solution that it will cause all the velcro-like hooks in the burrs to straighten and then simply fall off. Haven’t verified this myself… but thought I’d share the info in case it case merit. Actually, its a 3 to 1 dilution which would be more of a moderate solution and it needs to be applied manually with rapid strokes or the burrs will cross over to your hand, which by the way is called _transferrance_. Transferrance is bad and you may want to protect your hand by wearing lambskin or other prophylatic measure. If you can not avoid transferrance, then you should really see your doctor and be checked for _HIB_ (Highly Infective Burrs) which can really ruin your day if left untreated. LOL. After reading in another thread that Doc-Dean really is a doctor, maybe a lawyer can give us a legalese description of how to avoid stick-tites. The computer geeks (I guess I'm one of them) are probably to busy debating duck tape vs. duct tape to give a techie explaination. 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?

quote:Originally posted by Alpinehoy:Do you think if you put an Official Geocache sticker on the back window of your vehicle, that would count as a cache? Fellow cachers going down the road spotting it would get credit. Just a little humor. Wouldn't you need to be driving a yellow jeep to put an Official Geocache sticker on it? 東西南北 Why do I always find it in the last place I look?