68-eldo
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Posts posted by 68-eldo
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Pretty neat find, but too bad you didn't check the coordinates. If I read the map correctly, the longitude of 7th & Nicolette is 93 16 22, not 42 seconds, which would put it off by over a quarter mile. The given coordinates fall closer to 1st avenue and 10th St. Somebody want to check me on that?
The apparent precision of +/- 0.5 second should give you a position within about 100 ft north and south by 72 feet east and west.
Google Earth puts the coordinates stamped on the disk (manhole cover?) near N. 10th St. and Hawthorn. Hawthorn becomes W. Linden a couple of blocks west and N. First Ave. a couple of blocks east. There is a Ramada Inn on the North West corner of that intersection.
Google Earth puts Bill93’s corrected coordinates 1433 ft. (0.27 Mi.) east of the above coordinates and 142 feet west and slightly north of the center of the intersection of S. 7th Street and Nicollet Ave. (using the spelling in Google Earth and Google Maps). There is a Marriott Hotels Resorts Suites on the north corner of that intersection.
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You can cut and paste the coords rights in Google Maps. The coords are in DMS (N34 33 57 W84 14 31). Then you can switch to Satellite or Hybrid view and zoom in to see what the cache page is asking. This is a cool idea!
You just proved my point about how difficult these are. Your coords would land me in Georgia. Should be Texas. The first N digits would be 32 and the first W digits would be 097. I mean, kudos to the cache owners who come up with these puzzles, because they make you work for them. But I wish there was a link to a Google Earth tutorial or something along with the puzzle.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the altitude. It does not work the way I think it should. More important is to use the measure tool. Copy and paste the coordinates in parentheses into Google Earth, click go. Use the measure tool to measure from the coordinates in the direction specified. Look in the area of the measurement for the specified clue.
This is the first time I’ve seen this type of puzzle cache. Pretty cool.
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Actually it is very, very easy to hurt someone with ammunition and no gun.
I watched as a man died because rescuers could not reach him due to ammunition cooking off in the fire. Although I was behind rocks, the bullets flying overhead made an interesting sound.
No disrespect intended but this seems too much for me to beleive. Would you happen to have an article or any other info on this?
I wondered about this, too. I found these:
Something from a military site
The part on souveniers and jewlery is very interesting
Look for "live bullets can be trigger if a fire is lit" in this source from an education website.
Most of this refers to military ammunition. And most of that has two explosive parts. The first is the powder charge that propels the projectile. The second part is the explosive charge that destroys the target. The ammo used by civilians does not have the explosive charge in the projectile. The point being that most of the information in those web sites is not pertinent to this discussion.
That’s not to say the civilian ammo is not dangerous, just not as dangerous as the ammo in the websites.
When I was in Boy Scouts there was a military training site next to the Boy Scout camp. We would find clips of rifle ammo lying around during our hikes. This is very similar to the civilian ammo. One of the scouts would pull the bullet out of the case and pour the powder on the table, then light it. It would make a nice little flare of smoke and fire. The powder from several rounds would produce a flame no more that 6 inches high. (This scout is now a police officer.) However if left in the case a round will go off if it is placed in a fire intact and it will throw shrapnel around. Ammo must be handled correctly. If you do not have experience with ammunition then you should not be messing around with it.
IMHO the smart thing to do is to go to a gun safety course even if you don’t plan to get or own a gun. Take your kids too. It will take the mystique out of guns and the kids will know to leave a gun alone if they find one in a friends home.
A gun is only a tool and is only as dangerous as the person holding it.
That said ammo should not be in a cache unless you know the people finding the cache will know how to handle it.
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While I do not condone putting a lighter in a cache where muggle children can find it I do have a couple of comments I would like to make.
1) You cannot child proof the planet. No mater how hard you try there will always be something else that is a hazard. How much of the swag left in caches could be considered a choking hazard? If it’s too big to be a choking hazard will it hurt them if it is bounced off their head? Maybe all swag should be Nerfware.
1) Parents should not rely on other people to keep their children safe. It’s important to teach your own children to be safe, do the right thing and be responsible when they are alone. While everyone should watch out for children and help keep them safe anybody that relies on others to keep their children safe will be in for a big disappointment.
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I won’t rule out that tower as a Fire Control Station, but I think it is more likely a Battery Commander’s Station.
This tower is a fire control Station.
Notice the pillar in the center. The instrument is mounted on the pillar and is not connected to the tower. That way people moving around on the tower will not create vibrations in the instrument.
If MY4557 was in this type of tower it is most likely destroyed. However in my area many of the fire control stations are in concrete “pill boxes” half buried in the ground on a hill side.
Google Earth locates this benchmark right on top of Battery McCook and since the mark is horizontally adjusted your GPSr should take right to the location.
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What they are referring to is the instrument that targets the ships.
This is referred to as Gun Fire Control or most of the time just Fire Control. I was shipboard fire control so this coast artillery is not my forte exactly but is similar.
The guns are located at one point called the Battery. Obviously this is where the guns are loaded and pointed toward the target. At another location is the fire control station. This can be miles away or on top of the battery. It has “the instrument” which is used to get the bearing and range to the target. This information is sent to the plotting room where the gun angles for firing are computed.
What you are looking for is a pedestal that the instrument was mounted on. It would be in the center of the room with windows to look out in all directions seaward. Most likely there is a center point like a pin or a hole for a pin for the instrument to be mounted on. Frequently these are mounted in towers but looking at Google Earth it looks like this one is in a room on top of the battery.
One type of instrument looks like this:
For more information on Coast Artillery go here.
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I’ve been a bit jealous of those who are able to find information on the early survey of their area. So I did a Google search and found some interesting information about surveying in Hawaii. Although I still have not found the exact information I was seeking I did find a good article on land ownership from pre-contact (before the Europeans found the islands) to present. You can read the article here or download the 3.5Mb PDF file to see the pictures. It’s worth the download.
It gives me some leads to more detailed information.
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We have some answers sort of...
1. Eligibility: The Jeep Geocaching 2007 Sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes” or “Promotion”) is offered in and open only to legal residents of the 48 contiguous United States and District of Columbia (“U.S.”) age 18 and older who have a valid driver’s license. Employees, officers, and directors of DaimlerChrysler Motors Company LLC (“Sponsor”), Rodale Inc., Alcone Marketing Group, BBDO Detroit, Groundspeak Inc., Jeep® dealers, and each of their respective parents, affiliates and subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, web masters and web suppliers, and the immediate family members (spouse, parents, siblings and children and their spouses and in-laws ) and persons living in the same household of such individuals are not eligible. Void in AK, HI, and where prohibited.The last sentence specifically excludes Alaska and Hawaii.
5. Prize/Odds: (1) Grand Prize: 2008 Jeep Liberty. Estimated MSRP: $29,000. Vehicle will be delivered with standard equipment for make and model; available upgrades and options are at the sole expense of the winner. Winner will be required to show proof of current insurance and current valid driver’s license at time of prize acceptance and pick-up. Registration, title, licensing fees, taxes, insurance and costs associated with the vehicle, are solely the responsibility of the winner. Vehicle will be delivered at a dealership selected by Sponsor near winner’s residence. Winner must pick up vehicle within 45 days of notification that vehicle is available, or prize may be forfeited, and an alternate winner selected. Winner does not have choice of vehicle color and actual prize vehicle may differ from that shown in advertisements. Taxes and expenses not stated related to acceptance and use of prize are solely the responsibility of the winner. An IRS Form 1099 for the fair market value of the prize will be filed and a copy provided to winner. Any difference between the stated and actual value of prize will not be awarded. Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.Notice that “…costs associated with the vehicle, are solely the responsibility of the winner.” Then it goes on to say “Vehicle will be delivered at a dealership selected by Sponsor near winner’s residence.” Which implies shipping will be provided by the sponsor.
And the sponsor is….
Sponsor: DaimlerChrysler Motors Company LLC, 1000 Chrysler Drive, Auburn Hills, MI 48326-2766.So all those that wish to protest there is the address to write to.
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Still no official rules to be seen. I guess they wont publish the rules until the first.
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you'd think people in hawaii would be happy that they lived in hawaii, and not whine about not getting a 30 cent toy car mailed to them.
I'd happily give up every tiny toy car for the rest of my life if I lived somewhere that was a tropical paradise.
The problem with living in Hawaii is it’s just like winning the lottery. Everybody you ever knew including the bully that beat you up in school and took your lunch money (aww, I was just having fun) becomes your best friend and wants to come stay with you for a month or two.
That and you are excluded from all the contests.
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In which case, Jeep decides to stop doing the promotion in 2008, there is no contest, no one gets jeeps including Alaska and Hawaii (still!) but at least no one feels excluded anymore?
That is a possibility, but I would hope the contest promoters are more mature than that. All we are asking at this point is for an explanation as to why we are excluded. If they can provide a good explanation then we would quit our protest.
So far the only reasons brought up for excluding us are the gambling laws (which we have proven to be NOT the case) and shipping. One of our residents has gone on record to say he would gladly take delivery of his new Jeep on the west coast and gladly pay the $1000 shipping fee, and gladly pay all the local taxes. I think most of us feel the same way.
I expect the official rules to have language in it to make the winner responsible for the local taxes anyway, and it may make the winner responsible for shipping as well. If the winner is responsible for the shipping then where is the problem?
It would not surprise me to find out that somewhere out there is a “Contest Promoter’s Handbook”, and the handbook says it is normal to exclude Alaska and Hawaii. If it gives a reason that reason may be outdated.
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When the maintenance crews are on the track you know there are not going to be any trains coming.
One other thing, look closely at what the track maintenance crews wear and copy them. The hard hat safety glasses and orange vest will make you look like one of them and nobody will suspect you don’t belong there.
This is so wrong, there are rules in place to protect us while working on the tracks. But it does not mean there will not be trains.
Since 9/11 the railroads have gotten alot more serious about non-authorized people on or near right-of-ways. Impersonating railroad employees is not the way to go. If caught you would probably be facing jail time and fairly stiff fines.
I did not mean to imply that you should impersonate a railroad employee. But if you are out there without the OSHA approved gear you will stand out as much as if you were buck naked. If ask you tell the truth. But from a distance you could be a contractor inspecting the bridge.
The beer could get you in good with the supervisor who would work with you in some manner to help you with your mission. If the crew is in the area and they know there are no trains coming he could let you know and even supply an escort.
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There are two ways to do this.
One is to talk to track maintenance people. I would not go any higher than the first line supervisor. See if they know if any maintenance is scheduled for that line that would shut it down. People at that level probably don’t know the schedule in advance too well. But you might work something out if you offered a case of beer.
The second is to do a lot of recon. I was going to suggest you use Google Earth to check the track and see where the sidings and grade crossings are but I see the resolution is poor in that area. But you need to get that information. Then keep an eye on the track to see if there are any maintenance crews working on the line. Look for large equipment on the track. Highrail equipment is too easy to move. They are normal trucks with retractable flanged wheels. When a train comes they drive down to the nearest grade crossing, retract the wheels and drive down the road out of the way. So they are not as good of an indicator as things like tie tampers that move very slowly and therefore take a long time to clear the track.
When the maintenance crews are on the track you know there are not going to be any trains coming.
One other thing, look closely at what the track maintenance crews wear and copy them. The hard hat safety glasses and orange vest will make you look like one of them and nobody will suspect you don’t belong there.
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So what is the official word from Jeep as to why they don't run the contest in HI or AK? It would be very hard to attempt to get things changed if we don't know what need to get changed. I've always assumed it was the Gambling laws.
Well to be truthful this question has not been officially ask.
To do that we need to know who is officially running the contest and where to contact them. That information would most likely be contained in the official rules. It is important too to see the clause in the official rules that excludes Hawaii and Alaska. Also I would like to see if there is a clause in the rules that state the winner is responsible for dealer cost.
Those rules have not been posted as yet. Which is a little strange, I would think that the rules should be posted first, before a cacher is allowed to request the game pieces, before the web page to request them is up and well before they are sent out. This may in fact be a violation of federal law, but at this point I won’t go there.
I would really like hear from winners of the previous Jeep Challenge contests to see how they received their Jeep and if there were any other issues.
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Point of order!
The bottom of the above page says for complete rules go to jeep.geocaching.com. If you go to that page there are no links to any page except GC.com. Where are the complete rules?
Thanks
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If I were an AK or HI cacher I would probably direct my efforts at state legislators to change the contest laws instead of directing my ire at Groundspeak or Jeep (which you have not done but others have).
Hawaii has some very odd restrictions on gambling. I tried to run a 50/50 raffle at work and I was shut down by the legal department. Hawaii state law forbids it. I was then told of a work around from someone that I work with. I now sell candy and you get a free ticket with each piece of candy you buy. I have no idea why one method is okay and other is not. I was talking to someone from our legal department who has lived in Hawaii all his life told me that some of the anti-gambling laws in Hawaii has to do with Las Vegas. Apparently the casinos there pay for a lobbyist here. If they can keep gambling out of Hawaii then people who want to gamble go to Las Vegas. It makes sense and I see advertisements all the time for Las Vegas, sometimes calling it the seventh island. I've also recently read a new article say that Las Vegas is the number one vacation spot for Hawaiians. Maybe some Hawaiian Geocachers vacationing in Las Vegas will bring a few of Nevada's Red Jeep Travel Bugs to Hawaii.
The legal department where this person works may be more strict than the state law. So that is not a good indicator. Especially if your talking about a military base.
As to the part about selling candy and getting a “free” ticket; I can tell you if someone asks for a free ticket without buying anything you must provide it or else you are guilty of gambling. Look at all the similar giveaways such as Mc Donald’s Monopoly game. You get free game pieces with a purchase but if you ask for one, they will provide it. You have to make the request by mail though so they don’t get a lot of request.
Here is a link to a web site that seems to have the complete state law on gambling for Hawaii (updated March 2007). Can anybody see anything in this that prevents the Jeep giveaway from working here?
I can’t see this jeep giveaway thing being of much concern to Las Vegas. Especially since it’s available all over the rest of the country.
I would really like to hear from Jeep/Groundspeak about why this anti Hawaii and Alaska bias exists.
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When I was first introduced to metal detectors long ago and far away, they were rather simple devices. They were simply an audio oscillator with the detection coil used as the inductor for the oscillator. When metal got close to the coil the inductance changed and in turn the oscillator changed frequency. But the change was not always easy to hear and the constant tone would drive you batty. So a second oscillator was added. When two frequencies are combined four frequencies come out of the circuit; the two original frequencies and the sum and difference of the frequencies. This second oscillator used in the metal detector is called a beat frequency oscillator. The main oscillator is then set well above audio and the BFO is set to the same frequency; so no difference frequency is generated or it is below audio. Now when metal changes the inductance in the detector coil an audio tone is emitted because the main oscillator is not on the same frequency as the BFO. The amount of deviation of the main oscillator is dependant on the size of the metal object and/or the distance to the object. The further/smaller the object the lower the tone. Larger/closer means a higher tone.
The result of this is that pinpointing an object was easy; all you had to do was move the detector to the place that gave the highest tone.
Along came the geniuses who put micro processors into the metal detectors. Now you can see what type of metal is in the ground on the display and what coins are there. The down side of the new fangled detectors is they do not detect anything unless they are in motion. You must swing the detector coil to have it detect the metal. It does work if you swing it vertically.
My detector seems to have a delay in the beep that says it found something. This delay means it will beep six inches to a foot after it passes the object. That makes it hard to tell exactly where the metal is. A lot of swinging back and forth and at right angles is required to narrow down the location.
The geniuses come to the rescue. They put a button on my detector called pin point or some such thing. By pressing this button it changes the detector to the old style that changes tone as it approaches a metal object. No swinging required. I get a high pitched tone when the coil is directly over the metal object.
Too bad it’s only a soda can or a rail spike.
Any way that’s what I think of when someone talks about a pin point detector.
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I like to plug your coordinates into Google Earth and see where they are. Unfortunately the TBM thingy by the river is in a low resolution area. And Google Earth shows it to be in the water.
Stesen GPS 283 also seems to be off by about 30 feet on GE.
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It wouldn't have anything to do with a spur, just roads. and would not be likely to have been left in place if a grade crossing was replaced with a bridge. I looked at Google and didn't see anything looking like a grade crossing either. Maybe it was put there as a historic piece. It is a mystery to me!
Now that I think about it the whistle post for grade crossings that I’ve seen were marked with WX. This one is marked with only the W. Could it be for a different signal?
According to Wikipedia, the X is for multiple grade crossings.
You learn something every day.
Thanks
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It wouldn't have anything to do with a spur, just roads. and would not be likely to have been left in place if a grade crossing was replaced with a bridge. I looked at Google and didn't see anything looking like a grade crossing either. Maybe it was put there as a historic piece. It is a mystery to me!
Now that I think about it the whistle post for grade crossings that I’ve seen were marked with WX. This one is marked with only the W. Could it be for a different signal?
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I'm guessing this post I found right next to the commuter rail station in North Billerica is a similar right of way marker. There was also one on an abandoned spur nearby.
I have to disagree. That looks like a whistle sign. They were placed near a grade crossing to tell the engineer to blow the crossing signal with the whistle.
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(This was posted on the NGS Forum as well.)
Ok, I am really confused. I recently found two disks AX0798 and AX0797 (photos are included at these links). The datasheets say they were both monumented in 1966 but both disks are stamped 1943 and the culverts they were both on look old enough to be 1943. I can not find anything on the NGS site for these two disks. Can anyone help? I don't know what else to do with these to identify exactly what I found. The links to their datasheets are: AX0797 and AX0798 .
Barry Watson
My guess is they were placed by the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1943, then they were surveyed to NGS standards and added to the data base in 1966.
Others with more experience will add their comments, I am sure.
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That brings up the question of the painted BM on the road, which implies that a surveyor used it for some purpose. Either the reset mark is listed with an agency that is not the NGS (states and counties often have their own marks that don't get into the NGS database, but we have already ruled out the county from what was said here), or the reset has been used as if it was the original mark, which would be a mistake. This isn't the first time I have seen that sort of thing, but it makes me wonder what effort some of the survey crews put into finding these marks.
I found AB6521, broken and upside down, yet painted pink, with a notation on the road beside it. This mark was a first order horizontal control mark, so no matter where it was "replaced" after whatever accident broke it off, the accuracy was completely compromised. And that assumes that it was replaced exactly where it was broken. I saw no evidence of the remainder of the base. The mark is unusable and has been declared destroyed.
Maybe the survey crew uses a go-fer to find the marks so that the highly paid professionals are not wasting time tramping around in the weeds. The go-fer found and dutifully marked it. Just a guess.
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I can’t answer your question, but I can offer this tidbit of information.
When we did battery alignment on the ships to align the guns, directors, and other parts of the weapons system we do it by sighting on a star to eliminate parallax. Obviously this has to be done during darkness. But it is always done during the early morning hours because we had to wait until the temperature of the ship evened out. The sun shining on one side of the ship warps the ship enough to make the readings of little value if done too soon after sunset. Not to mention the readings would change as the ship cooled off.
With that in mind one would have to wonder about stations like this one. As the sun shines on one side of the building I would think the mark would move because of expansion of the sunny side of the building. So how can this be a first order mark? And of course the height of this mark must change too, but it is scaled so its height is not accurate.
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Or one of these.