imajeep

Way late to this thread--I hope everyone hasn't gone home or fallen asleep! There is an opportunity here for an enterprising programmer. Whip up a simple little app that will let the user specify what they want to see in a cache writeup. Then let the app display caches downladed by the user in a pocket query in that format, and print out hard copy in the same format. It would give people the ultimate in user-friendly output, and it would be a fairly simple program to write, using XSLT for the formatting. Should be saleable for $29.95 or so. Why don't I write it? Wish I could, but we have to stay focused on other things.

A few weeks ago, I posted a question on this forum about uploading pictures to be displayed in forum postings. What I learned was that the photo has to be uploaded to a photo hosting site. Then, click the 'Tree' icon here and paste a link to the hosted photo in the pop-up box. I finally got around to looking for free photo-hosting sites, and I found three that may be useful. I want to share this list with the community. I'm not affiliated with these sites in any way, and I haven't had any experience with them, so I can't vouch for them, other than to say they appear clean and sober: AllYouCanUpload.com PhotoBucket.com ImageShack.com In addition, BayImg offers free image hosting. I have separated it from the main list because it is sponsored by PirateBay.com, a rather notorious BitTorrent site. If you have had experience with any of these sites, please chime in. If you know of any other sites, please add them to the list. Thanks!

(Putting on protective outerware to shield from rotton tomatoes and other foodstuff being fired in this general direction ) I dunno, I kinda like the ads Groundspeak has run so far. I realize that Google ads probably won't be as focused, but I have found them to be generally unobtrusive and occasionally helpful. And if ads allow a larger community to enjoy a basic level of service for free, well then good for them. I get my $30 worth per year--how Groundspeak spends it is their business, as long as I get the service I'm promised.

That's easy--We'd respect the posted hours. Face it--to muggles, we look like drug users who are looking for goods in secret stashes. In the current environment of generalized paranoia, we probably look to some of them like terrorists. What keeps us on the side of the angels, as far as LEOs are concerned, is that we are boy (and girl ) scouts. We get permission before placing cahes, we obey the law, we are family-friendly, and we clean up after other people. All of that goes out the window once we start getting caught in parks after posted hours. Ask yourself this: Is a FTF worth having some parks bureaucrat ban caches in a large park system because a dozen GCers have been nabbed prowling around after dark? The first person who claims they didn't know the posted hours will probably get away with it. The thirteenth will probably get caches banned. FTFs are fun (how the heck would we know; we don't have any yet! ), but hardly worth raising the ire of those on whose goodwill we depend.

I think they are talking about "Buzz Off" clothing, which is treated at manufacture. Buzz Off says its treatment lasts 70 washings.

Placer was definitely the Antichrist! But creative caches like that sound like fun.

After our Santa Monica experience, my wife and I decided to go paperless. Palm Z22 running CacheMate (for cache data) and Splash Photo (for overview aerials from Google Earth). We're pleased with how well it works!

Thanks much, folks--the urban game is different and challenging, which makes it fun! We'll use these tips to try and nail down a few of the urban critters...

Yes--they use high-sensitivity receivers, as do the new eTrex "H" models from Garmin. I started with an eTrex Vista and sold it within two weeks because of the same problem. Garmin 60 Csx completely solved the problem. I get great reception under canopy.

I use Google Earth to generate overview an aerial photo of a hunt area (typically, a hiking trail) with cache markers. I save a screen-shot as a JPG, then load it onto my Palm Z22 using Splash Photo. On the Palm, the program lets me zoom in on an area of the photo (so I can read cache IDs from the cache markers) and pan around the larger picture (by dragging the stylus across the screen). So, as my wife and I proceed down a hiking trail, we can find the next cache on the overview. She punches up the description and logs for the cache on CacheMate, and I punch it up on our GPSr. And off we go! We're pleased with how it works, particularly considering the fact that we're pretty new to the game.

Sorry, not a cache. But--if you can get to the Eiffel Tower the night of 13 July (the day before Bastille Day), you can get an incredible sight. Since it stays light so late in France at this time of year, all of the areas around Paris that have local fireworks do them at the same time, right after sunset. If you can get op to the first or second level of the Eiffel Tower, you will see simultaneous fireworks displays all around--360 degrees! My wife and I saw this display in 2000, and we will never forget it!

I'd echo the recommendation on Easy GPS. GSAK is a great application if you want to maintain a complete cache database offline. But some people prefer not to do that--for example, I use the online database exclusively, then download caches I want to hunt as a pocket query. I can load the waypoints for these caches into my GPSr using Easy GPS (I actually use Expert GPS, a paid upgrade to Easy GPS).

We went 0 for 5 on a set of urban micros last week. We norrmally do in-the-woods caches, but we were in Santa Monica, CA for a few days and decided to try for some urban caches. From the logs, the caches looked fairly easy, but they definitely weren't easy for us. We figure they were probably right under our noses, but we didn't know what we were looking for. So, what kind of tips can you offer a couple of newbie seekers of urban caches? Beyond the obvious (like lamp post bases and the like), how do you go about finding an urban micro, once your GPS has gotten you to the location of the hide? Thanks!

I have to (respectfully) disagree. I (and many other cachers) find it rude to foist political or religious opinions on strangers, given the contentious nature of these subjects. That's the best reason in the world for banning religious and political tracts from caches.

I almost got run over by The Queen once in London. My wife and I were crossing the street in London, in a bit of a hurry, when she pulled me back. A couple of police motorbikes sped by, followed by a Bently with the Queen's flag flying on top. The old codger next to us (I swear I am not making this up) doffed his hat and let out a "Blimey! It's The Queen!"

Thanks! I just ran into this problem and had submitted it to CacheMate TS this moring. I use Google Earth to provide an overview aerial photo of a cache area on my Palm. Basically, I take a screen shot of Google Earth with the cache markers, save it as a JPG, and load that onto my Palm using Splash Photo. Works like a champ, but the cache markers show waypoint IDs, rather than cache titles. So the 'display by waypioint' option in CacheMate is very helpful!

Depends a lot on where you live and what you want to do. Here's what I'd suggest: -- Definitely get a unit that connects to your computer, preferably by USB cable. Makes it much easier to download a bunch of geocache waypoints to your unit. -- If you expect to cache in the woods, in canyons, or in urban areas, get a 'high sensitivity' receiver, like the Garmin 'H' models or the Garmin 60Csx. Tree canopy and canyon conditions interfere with GPS reception. Life will be a lot less frustrating if you can get a strong signal all the way into the cache. -- If you are a hiker, go straight to the Garmin 60Csx. It will record a clean track of your hike while hanging from your belt. Most other units won't. -- If you are a boater or fisher, go straight to the Garmin 76Csx. It floats. -- If you just plan to use the GPSr for caching, you probably don't need a mapping unit. Hope that helps!

Hey, this was very cool! I discovered that the third-oldest, still-active cache in the world is located just a few miles from my home! Well, I know what I'm doing tomorrow at lunchtime!

[First part of this thread seems to have gotten lost. I had noted that when I opened the 'Find' page and selected either waypooints and geocaches, an edit field opened at the top of the screen, and the alphanumeric pad opened as well. I couldn't figure out why that was happening.] I called Garmin and got my answer. I'm still impressed with how quickly they answer the phone, and how helpful they are. The answer is: It a feature! The box at the top of the page is a search box. It appears whenever there are more waypoints or caches loaded than will fit on the screen. The alphanumeric pad opens for entry of search criteria. Hit the Page key to exit search mode and display the list of caches.

I just did some research, and most of what I'm seeing is spray-on for clothing, with about six ounces required to treat a shirt and pants. What do you use? I did some research, and I can answer my own question. Sawyer Military Style Clothing Treatment is the soak (rather than clothing-spray-on) product. Both REI and Cabella's carry it, and both carry the Sawyer spray-on as well. Can anyone provide suggestions as to which of these products (spray-on or soak) is the better choice? Thanks.

For Groundspeak: I keep a 'To Do' bookmark list. I use it to collect a list of caches to search for on our next trip, and I clear the list after each trip. I noticed this evening, after clearing the list and setting up the next batch, that the page count at the bottom of the bookmark list page is wrong. It currently reads "Page 3 of 1", and the 'Previous' link is enabled. Clicking on it throws the following exception: "Offset and length were out of bounds for the array or count is greater than the number of elements from index to the end of the source collection." I thought you'd want to know.

Haven't done any hides yet, and probably won't until I've got 100 or so finds under my belt. But when I do hide, I'm going to use a clear plastic container of some sort, and I'm going to prominently label it as a geocache. I've been reading too many stories about geocaches being mistaken for explosives and blown up by LEOs.

Some retailers sell GPSr/map bundles at a discount. That's how I got my first unit.

I just did some research, and most of what I'm seeing is spray-on for clothing, with about six ounces required to treat a shirt and pants. What do you use?

I have generally recommended against using the same GPSr for both driving and geocaching. The reason is that good caching units don't generally make good car navigation units (small screen, no voice directions). Plus, you need two sets of maps, a city set for driving, and a topo set for caching. Dedicated car navigators have gotten so inexpensive that they aren't that much more expensive than a set of city maps. So, their lighter weight, larger screen, and voice directions don't really cost much more these days. You can get a good car navigator for as little as $200. I use both types of units, and I have been very pleased with the results.