MariettaGecko

ok, does anyone have any recommendations as to a location for a meet & greet/travelbug swap meet out there for a monday night? I know that I will be flying in/out of the main Denver airport. I don't currently know where I'll be staying out there, but I'll have something worked out soon. As a note, is there a Colorado association that has some separate forums that I could go get into and discuss it with you guys there?

That is a great idea... I may have to do that.

not exactly. They make buttons. I was thinking more like pins where they are sorta like earrings, except that the shank is significantly thicker than any earring shank, and they have a large metallic piece that attaches to the back to hold it in place. Sorta like a lapel pin.

So I did a search on the forums, and other than one link to a button maker in the Getting Started forum, I have been unable to locate a thread discussing this. Then again, I might just not be using the right set of keywords... I'm looking to make up a sig item, finally. I have the artwork, but I would like to make up a trading pin, much like those found at little league games, and the like. Does anyone know where they can be gotten relatively inexpensively? The cheapest I have managed to find is $185/100 pins + a $50 die set-up fee. That seems rather expensive for an initial outlay. If I wasn't a ye olde poor geocacher, I'd go for it without worrying about it, but that's just a bit more expensive than I was figuring on. Anyone know someplace that will either make blocks of 50, or will make them cheaper than that?

Hmmm. You want to set up a locationless cache? Unfortunately, locationless caches are not currently supported here on Geocaching.com. The coders are, however, working on a new version of the Locationless cache so that we can again place them. For now, though, we have to stick to more traditional sorts of caches.

Actually, these days my GPXSonar databases are always on the SD card. It took WAY too long to transfer them via the USB cradle, so I am transferring them via a special SD card reader. I then access them directly from the SD card. As long as I don't lose the SD card, I'm good.

As much as I look forward to this... Until our GPS units are either updated with new firmware to allow for them to read the new signal, or the GPS receiver manufacturers decide to come out with a new model which will read this new signal, we'll see no difference in our caching, no matter how soon the sats are up.

Since you're using GPXsonar, you can take notes right in there. This is how I do all my paperless caching. When you find the cache, after logging, go to the PDA and log it there. Here's how: Find the cache in your list on GPXSonar. Do a "Tap-and-hold" so that the menu comes up. Select Field Notes from there. you can now enter a note about what you found or whatever. There are four types of notes, as there are here: Found it, Didn't find it, Note, Archive It. Select the note that best works for you, and then save it by clicking the X in the upper corner. You'll now have a small icon associated with that cache in your GPXSonar. A green page for a found log, a red one for not found, a grey one for a note. I've not put in an archive it log before, so no issue there.

And so, we're now back to the coffee analogy. The things we come up with... Anyway, I disagree that the PQs as they are now are not, in some way, deficient. PQs were designed (as I understand it) to allow a user to download the details of caches they wish to seek, in a format which will allow them to easily access those caches on their laptop/PDA/etc. while out in the field. It was designed to allow only 5 of the previous logs, simply because trying to include all the logs becomes prohibitively expensive in terms of both processor time in generating the query, and bandwidth/file size when finally mailing the results. However, therein lies the percieved deficiency. The logs very frequently contain clues that might be useful to have when on the trail. But what happens if the last five logs on the site happen to be some combination of notes posted by the owner reporting that the cache is there and stocked, and DNF notes by users who hadn't been able to locate one stage or another? These logs eliminate all the previous finds from the top 5 logs, and therefore preclude you from seeing the earlier logs. I thank Jeremy and the coders quite a lot for the PQs. My caching experience would be much more difficult without them. However, I disagree that there is no deficiency in the manner in which the PQs were originally laid out. If there were no deficiency, why would anyone have even taken the time to do something like write a program like GSAK? If there wasn't some reason that Clyde thought the PQs were deficient, he would have had no reason to write that program, and we wouldn't be having this discussion in the first place.

While I certainly see where you are going, Mopar, I must disagree. Your argument is akin to my saying that the GPS system was never intended to be used to hide/find boxes in the woods as part of a game, and therefore you should not do it. While I certainly understand that there was an initial purpose of the PQs, that intended purpose does not specifically discount the possibility that there might be other useful purposes. That having been said, I have found a different solution to the one mentioned by Clyde in his thread that he linked. The solution I have found is that I have the PQ load into GSAK, and check the user flag when it does, clearing any user flags that were already checked. I then have a filter set to remove any inactive/found caches from the list, and then go through the list to see all the caches that haven't got the user flag checked (which are also within my nearest 500). Any that is not checked, I go take a look at the cache page to get an idea whether or not the cache is disabled/archived. If archived/disabled, I mark it as such in my database, and continue. I have not at this time chosen to removed archived caches from my database, but I may choose to do so at a later time. The main reason I do maintain the database is because of the fact that I can store corrected coordinates in there, and I can also store notes (for instances, on stages/puzzles from puzzle caches). It also allows me to get around the "only 5 logs" limitation of PQs, and instead have, in most cases, a significant database from which I can draw on my PDA. Thus eliminating the problem of there having been updated coords posted by a user that happen to be significantly closer, but because they aren't within the last 5 logs, I can't see them.

Rather than carrying a water filter, carry a small bottle of iodine tablets. They may give the water an odd flavour, but, when used properly, they will kill everything that might be in the water. Sure, they won't necessarily clean out things like small particles of dirt in the water, but the amount of dirt you might get is small enough that it shouldn't be a problem. Additionally, now you don't have to carry the filter, and a bottle of iodine tablets weighs a couple of ounces, whereas a good water filter (that will match the iodine's effectiveness) weighs several pounds.

Hmmm... Let's see. My flight has been booked, I have paid for the tickets. Seems to me that you can't stop me from coming. I plan to bring the GPS, and therefore you can't stop me from hunting. What's so bad about Mtn-Man anyway?

Well, I know that I plan to be travelling to the YMCA Snow Mountain Lodge in Granby for the weekend, and then I should be back in the general vicinity of Denver for Monday and Tuesday. I have no problems at all with running around north of the city. I know that I have also had it recommended to me that I go out to the vicinity of Red Rocks. Not sure what it would be like that time of year, but maybe.

SO I'm going to be coming to Denver from 17 March through 22 march and was wondering if anyone would be willing to either show me around or at least give me some good caches I should be sure to hit. I'll only be able to go caching the 17th, 21st, and 22nd, as I have a conference over the weekend, but I scheduled so that I'll have plenty of spare time in the area... Thoughts?

As far as I can tell, parasite caches are just fine... so long as they are travelbugs. At one point, you could make a real cache that was a parasite, but for consistancy, since there is now a travelbug, there was no longer a need for "parasite caches" since all they would be was effectively travelbugs that give a smiley. Therefore, no more parasite caches will be allowed.

You forgot "uphill, the whole way... both ways"

Do you have a USB port? If so, nix the parallel port idea and go with a USB->Serial adapter. Since USB and Serial are rather similar, the software is relatively likely to allow you to use that. Parallel, however, will almost certainly not be an option.

I think that a major part of it is that it seems silly to say "my GPS receiver" when I could shorten it significantly and say "my GPSr" and have everyone know what I meant. GPSr sounds like GPS-er when pronounced(usually), and, at least to me, indicates "the thing that is used by me to receive the GPS signals".

On the other hand, what about a family which includes two adults and two kids? The kids grow up, decide that they want to cache alone and end up moving to another area of the country. They want their own "home" coords. Clearly, there would need to be some means by which to split off an account from a family account, so as to allow this sort of situation to happen. Perhaps if there was a "family" page which lists all the members of the "family" (sorta like the Team page idea which was bantered about recently).

I am SO going to have to get my father's help on one... He and I made one a bunch of years ago made of: Lacewood Paduk Purpleheart Hickory Lignum Vitae (bottom tip) Brazilian Rosewood (for the top, acquired pre-the ban on rosewood cutting) We cut 3/4" square sticks of them, forming a 3x3 matrix with lacewood in the four corners, purpleheart on the two sides, and paduk on the other two, with hickory as the core. We then sanded the whole thing down, tapering the staff so that at the bottom of the staff, the hickory core was showing, and at the top, the lacewood was showing on the outside. We then sanded it until it was very smooth and coated it with natural oil(not stain). We then cut a small piece of Lignum Vitae (also known as Ironwood) which we screwed onto the bottom of the staff, and the rosewood we attached to the top, with a compass in one side. It looked beautiful, but I think I want to make another, despite the level of work that it was to make it. I want one!

I don't know... I still haven't gotten my weekly PQ Starting to wonder if there isn't some sort of problem with them, since the site says that it hasn't been generated today.

I had a recent situation where I thought it would be reasonable to log a "find" on one of my own caches. What had happened was that a well-meaning cacher had found the cache sitting out in the open near its original hiding spot and decided that she should move the cache to someplace more protected. She sent me the coordinates, and some moderate explanation of where to find it. The fact is, I still had to search for the cache like anyone else might do. Since I had to do the drunken GPS dance to find the cache, I chose to log the cache as a find.

I would also add that it depends a lot on what you plan to do with it. I do paperless caching, and if I had my family logging caches under my name, then there would be the possibility that a cache would get marked found/not found when I hadn't yet had a change to find it. I suggest asking yourself a couple questions: 1. Is it likely that one or more family members will visit a cache without all members of the family who wish to do the cache? 2. is it worth it to maintain separate accounts? Keep in mind that you can always add another account later on. For instance, say that you were a family of four people, and the kids were pretty young. You and the wife frequently go caching separately, but the kids always go caching together. The kids can have one account, and you and your wife(or husband) can each have your own. Then when the kids get older and decide to go caching separately/alone, they can get their own account and either re-log the older caches or re-visit the older caches that still exist with the new name. And that prompts me to post a different thread about this...

I went paperless sometime during the first year I was caching. Sure, I've run into cases where I brought the GPS, but left the PDA int he cradle at home, but that's unusual. Additionally, I can now go "spur-of-the-moment" caching. i don't have to plan every trip and pick up only caches that I have printed the pages for. I also don't have to keep up with what pages are out of date and reprint them. Makes for a much more fun experience. I use a Dell Axim X3i with GPXSonar and Mapopolis. I think that this was one of the best investments I have ever made in a PDA. in all honesty, I got this for Geocaching, because my old Palm III just couldn't hold enough caches. In this, I can take every cache in my database at home with NO problem. Thanks to all those who wrote the software that makes paperless caching possible.

Well, my plane arrives a little after 1, and I was hoping to be running around from ~1 until ~5 or so, at which point, I'll need to get to the MCM Elegante...