user13371
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Posts posted by user13371
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BlueMoth and TheBruce replies look real good next to each other - great example of divergent opinions politely expressed.
I don't think of myself as the local cache police; like TheBruce I think that's the reviewer's job. I'm sure I do seem like a snitch sometimes though -- Mr. Cache Reviewer, would you look at this for me? -- but it can't be helped. The alternative would be to walk away from and ignore a bunch of stuff I think (or know) isn't right.
I do approach every cache assuming it's gonna be within guidelines -- and back off if I get too uncomfortable with the spot. Sometimes it's an edge thing, I might be getting uncomfortable but made the find before backing out. And on reflection find myself saying "Nah, this ain't right." Those are the only ones where I'll post both "Found it" & "Needs Attention." But I've never posted a NA just because I "didn't like" a cache. And yeah, and there are some real stinkers in the world of urban caching around here.
As it turns out, the majority of the ones where I have raised a concern were placed by one person/team. They might think I'm picking on them, but it's not so. It might be just be that they've hidden hundreds of caches within a few miles of my home, and some seem iffy to me. Gotta bless 'em for the sheer effort and numbers though! I really don't know if the Geospaz percentage of "iffy" ones are any higher than for urban caches overall. If I picked any other four or five hundred hides by other folks, I might find a dozen or so that also raised a red flag. I don't know how anyone could do any data mining on that.
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BlueMoth, I do live in Portland and I think my concerns are reasonable -- to avoid getting called out for trespassing myself or seeing Geocaching as a hobby getting a bad rap and facing more restrictions than it already does.
I will continue to call a Needs Archived on a cache that seems to violate the guidelines, whether I realize that before or after finding them (like this one). If the mods disagree with me they can always ignore me or tell me I'm wrong.
And thank you for the invite to upcoming caching events next week. Always interested in meeting friendly folks.
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My eTrex 10 just shipped and I should have it in a few days. Will post specific impressions when I get it.
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the ability to actually get within 2 or 3 feet of the coords is more important
You won't get that consistently from any $120 - or even $1200 -- handheld GPS. And you don't really need it, no matter how neat you think it would be.
The eTrex 10 will be more like an eTrex H -- monochrome screen, limited basemap and no add-in mapping. But it does have a USB connection instead of RS-232 serial and the ability to load full cache details. The latter will require premium membership, unless you want to load them one at a time using the "Send To GPS" feature of the GC.com website.
I am speaking only from the published specs though. I have an eTrex 10 on order from REI, but don't expect to see it until some time next week.
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Your best bet is probably that Craigslist ad or eBay. Folks on this garage sale tend to be pretty carefl shoppers.
For reference only: Recent eBay completed auctions on these has ranged from $99 to $130 including delivery. Sweet spot seems to be in the lower end, $100-$110 delivered would probably be a fast sale, the higher your asking price here the longer it'll take to sell.
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Okay, the bloke at the Park Department sent me the following email today after I pointed him to this conversation:
Hey Lee,I appreciate your sharing the link and the conversation that you've started within the geocaching community about caches in our Parks here in Portland.
I'd like to ask that you not put any new geocaches in place at this time, until we are able to complete our policy development. There are currently plenty of opportunities for cachers to explore in our parks right now - and while they don't have permission, we know they are there, and they certainly provide everyone with ample opportunity to explore, until we can catch up.
When we get further along, I may check back with you to help us get some review of our draft policy.
Thanks,
And my reply to him...
I'll be happy to comply with that guideline myself. As you mentionedyou have a couple of active geocachers on your planning group, perhaps
you could get them to enter that conversation online?
so stay tuned, you might get your open line of communication here...
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...In your specific case, I would ask them...
Um, how do you think I got that email from the parks department to being with? I asked them what their policy was. What I posted was the relevant part of their answer.
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...I need to replace the 60Cx ... My concern is that I may not get a refurb unit with a SIRF111 chipset. Should I be concerned?
Well... yes and no. I really do believe the 60csx/SiRF III version has not been surpassed by any currently shipping handheld in any reasonable price range. And you could probably try to hunt one up used from eBay rather than risk getting an M instead of S model from a vendor.
BUT - in practical terms? Nah -- the difference in accuracy & repeatability betwene an M or S based 60csx, or any newer MediaTek or Cartesio based device is probably not enough to affect most users, even geocachers. Geocachers in particular tend to forget this. It'd be nice if everyone posted spot-on coords -- but that just doesn't happen as often as you'd like.
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Well, as knowschad observed, the Parks guy's reply is a little software than "don't do it" - it was more "we'd prefer you didn't, for now" and they haven't decided what to do with any already in place.Not based upon a posting in a Forum, but directly from a Land Manager? Certainly.Over in the Northwest/Orgeon part of the forum, I posted the more direct regional concern. As of yet there is only one reply, basically a snarky "no one cares." Which may be true enough to be a problem in itself.
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I emailed the local Parks Department (Portland, Oregon) and asked if there was a set policy on geocasches in parks, and if I wanted to place one who would I ask for permission. Excerpted from the reply:
...folks who have placed geocaches in our parks have not asked for our permission, as there are many, and until now we have had no policy.I can't tell you what to do at this time. Given a choice, I'd prefer that you wait while we sort out our policy and then proceed. I hope to have things finalized in a few months. Barring that, I'd encourage you to tread as lightly on the land as you can, stay close to developed trails, and respect if things change when we get our policies in place in the future.
If I knew which park you were hoping to place this in, I could get you in touch with that park's manager, but this policy our group is working on will supersede any previous permissions, once implemented.
So, he didn't flat out say "remove any existing caches" and sort of danced around the bit about placing new ones. But it seems pretty clear to me that any cache in a park around here is not complying with GC.com guidelines. Do any reviewers want to tackle the status of existing ones or talk about how they approve or don't approve new ones?
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Okay, let me put this back to a "what would you do in this situation?" realm. I'm gonna post a related message in the appropriate regional forum shortly but throw it out here for general consideration:
I emailed the local Parks Department (Portland, Oregon) and asked if there was a set policy on geocasches in parks, and if I wanted to place one who would I ask for permission. Paraphrasing the reply: "No policy in place, a group is working on a policy but it won't be ready for a few months, they know a lot of caches have been placed but few if any hiders sought permission, they haven't decided what to do about those, prefer that anyone who wants to place a new cache should wait until there IS a published policy."
So ... it seems pretty clear to me that any cache in a park around here is not complying with GC.com guidelines. So, do you call a Needs Archive on every one already in place? Ask reviewers to temporarily disable them until the Parks Dept. comes up with a formal policy?
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EC, the chipset is just one part of what I'm talking about. On paper sevral MTK and Cartesio chipsets look like they could also beat the older SiRF III too --but until you have the entire package in your hand (chipset, antenna, firmware, etc)
Relevant to geocaching users, is anyone making/selling an outdoorsy handheld, regardless of chipset) that actually DOES best the late, lamented 60csx in terms of accuracy? I know the faithful will jump in and say their own GPS is the best thing they've ever had, but I'd really be interested in seeing side-by-side comparisons rather than a venting of user's gut feelings.
PS: Speaking of things I'd be interested in seeing, did you ever corral that magic GPS that was perfectly accurate except for always being 30 feet off in one direction?
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This is really a shame because the 60csx was and STILL IS the best GPS handheld around - maybe not on paperless geocaching or "modern" features, but in terms of accuracy and reliability.
And I'm not talking a personal opinion here. Recently read a review of the new eTrex 20 that included side by side tracking comparisons of an older 60csx (SiRF model, not MediaTek), the 62s, and the eTrex 20. I was a bit surprised to see 60csx was the most accurate of the bunch. The reviewer wrote it off to more mature firmware, but I think for now nobody has come up with a better combination than a SiRF III processor tied to a quad helix antenna.
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Best for me might not be best for you, but ...
Motion-X GPS... http://appshopper.com/navigation/motionx-gps
Offmaps2... http://appshopper.com/navigation/offmaps-2
You could also search/browse the iTunes app store or AppShopper.com and read product descriptions there to see if something seems like n especially good fit to your needs.
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There are numerous apps for iPhone and iPod Touch that store maps from various sources for offline use. Hit appshopper.com or the iTunes AppStore directly and search on phrase, "offline maps." Some download USGS topos, some use OpenStreetMaps, others have their own sources. The problem I find is not a lack of maps but too many to choose from.
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I looked at the OP's caching stats and would guess "urban cacher" -- vast majority are micros and smalls within 10 miles of home. Pretty similar to my own profile.
The iPhone can serve pretty well in these cases. That's not to say a dedicated GPS wouldn't be a fine extra tool to have in hand -- especially if her plan is to go further afield and into rougher conditions. With that in mind, and for the sake of domestic harmony, I'd say keep the gift and get hubby to go geocaching with you. That way you can each have a GPS to use...
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The only context in which your request makes sense to me is if the iPad is your sole computer and you don't feel like lugging it out to the field and risking it to the elements. Because if your had another "real" computer, it would be loads easier to upload your field notes from the Garmin. And if you WERE lugging the iPad out to the field you could enter your field notes in the GC.com app or Geosphere.
So... take this reply as completely cynical or completely practical, whichever you prefer... Buy some kind of WiFi, email enabled PDA, and lug THAT out into the field with your GPS, to enter your notes. I could suggest an iPod Touch, but there are other devices and other geocaching apps you could use on them. Unless you're really hard core rugged wilderness type, an inside coat pocket and maybe an otter box case is all a PDA really needs. So whether you went with Apple or Android, you could keep the device safely in your pocket and just whip it out for a quick note -- keep the GPS for the difficult and battery intensive task of looking for a cache.
I've read that back in the olden days it was fairly common for people to carry both a GPS and a PDA, but that could just be a myth
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Garmin has this new ANT+ adapter for the iPhone, and at $50 MSRP it's cheaper than Wahoo and DIgitfit ... http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/2011/10/garmin-fit-app-and-ant-adapter-keep-you-connected-and-on-the-move.html. But all they talk about is connectivity with fitness gear. Nothing about Chirp, nothing about sharing GPS data.
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Wait, what? You can use this for more than geocaching?
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Don't have one locally, but I guess I'll have to order it from Cabelas or Bass Pro oniine.
REI just sent me an email saying because it was on back order for so long they canceled my order.
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Edit to add: In spite of an email this morning that said they cancelled, it's still showing as open/backordered on my REI account. Since I'm not really hurting for it at the moment, I guess I'll leave it be.
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...I really think it is just a troll...
Well, that is a tricky thing to decide. Depends what you mean by troll. Of COURSE I posted what I did, and how I did it, to elicit responses. Not for the entertainment value of angry mobs with torches and pitchforks, but because I really am interested in how people figure out what is and isn't legit here. Does it still count as being a troll if I'm genuinely interested in the answers?
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I would guess less than 50% would be placed where permission
Indeed, we're both guessing. But my guess differs from yours is that far fewer than 50% of caches are placed within those areas. That could be my city-slicker bias. I originally wrote that opening post specifically about urban caches, but then the 99% figure seemed too LOW.
I'd still infer from the GC.com guidelines that any cache placed outside of public land should have explicit, individual permission -- and anything WITHIN public land would need the same kind of permission UNLESS there was a published policy on geocaching for that area.
So you think my 99% guess is two high and I think your <50% is too low. How would we research that without mining on GC.com's database against property maps?
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...many of the local Regional and State Parks in my area (and a handful of City Municipalities) have documented Geocaching Policies in place, I would say the number is far smaller than 99% for my area. And before you assert it, no, I don't believe explicit permission is required for Geocache placements where an established Policy is clearly defined and available, just as I would not consider getting explicit permission for other recreational activities I take part in on Public Lands where Policies are well established.
Touchstone, I have no wild guess here - do you know what %-age of caches are placed on such public lands? I agree that where there is a published policy there would be no need to individually seek permission; but I don't have a good idea of how many and how large those are, and what portion of geocaches are within those bounds.
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[but that goes both ways, doesn't it? Cache owners SHOULD act responsiby.
And it sounds like you're only offering cachers the choice of of log it, or don't log it -- and only report a problem to the cache owner (not in a log? not to the reviewer?) if confronted. You don't see any other options in between?
Legality or common sense?
in General geocaching topics
Posted · Edited by Portland Cyclist