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The Chaos Crew

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Everything posted by The Chaos Crew

  1. Yes it would. I think most caches would work on one of them. I'm hoping to make my next cache a Wherigo in Swindon... so if I do you can try it out there. Mark ooh fab, will look out for it!
  2. I've always wanted to try one as I think the kids would love it - but I've been worried by all the reports of them not working, and didn't want two frustrated children if we tried for an hour or two and then it crashed before we got to the end, or something... I have both a Garmin Oregon and an Android phone, maybe if we tried it with both at once that would give us a better chance of succeeding?
  3. thanks all - have gone for that Wildfire S deal on 3, I think he will be chuffed with that
  4. I don't have the cash spare at the moment to buy the phone outright, unfortunately, what with the other Christmas pressies I have to get, but I agree that would have been a better option in the long run That 3 deal on the Wildfire S looks better than the other deals I had found on that phone - thanks for that link Dr D&V I'll also check out the Sony phone that a couple of you have recommended, thanks
  5. Hi all My middle son is away now at university, and is missing being able to occasionally steal my GPS and go out for a quick cache hunt. He has asked for an Android smartphone on contract for his Christmas present, and one of the things he is hoping to use it for is for occasional caching. He doesn't need anything super fancy (anything will be an improvement on his old brick of a not-at-all-smart phone!) - so I was looking at the cheaper Android contracts - under £20 a month, preferably closer to £15. Can any of you recommend a cheaper end Android handset that works well for caching. (For example, I was looking at the HTC Wildfire S but then I wondered how well that one functions as a GPS as the screen is pretty dinky and it would be tricky to see the maps in detail, maybe?). And if you’ve seen any particularly good offers about, please let me know. (UK only, obviously, which is why I've posted this in here....) ta! Sarah
  6. The only time I was really irritated by a virtual logger was when one logged one of my caches online stating that they hadn’t been able to sign the log book as there was no pen, but they had made a mark with a stick in the book instead. I duly slogged out to my cache the next day, in the pouring rain if I remember rightly, to replace the pencil, only to find it was still in there, PLUS a working gel pen that someone had left as swag, AND there was no sign of a mark made with a muddy stick. Pah. I’m wondering if perhaps they got it mixed up with another cache? I was miffed at the wasted journey though. In general though, I think armchair loggers are only diddling themselves. To me, the actual caching is the fun half of the activity, logging is the boring bit. So why you would want to do the dull bit without the fun bit baffles me. More fool them.
  7. if you click on the link above, then scroll to the bottom, there is space for you to leave a comment. Just pop your caching name on there and a comment to the effect that you would like to enter the draw, and that will do it. Sarah
  8. Hi all I was recently lucky enough to be sent for review a copy of a new book called Timecachers. It's a loosely geocaching-related novel with elements of sci-fi (time travel) and elements of historical fiction (much of the story takes place in the old Wild West) Having finished reading the book, which I loved, I'm now giving my review copy away. Details are on my blog here: http://are-you-flowin.blogspot.com/2011/11/timecachers-by-glenn-r-petrucci-book.html UK residents only, please, as I have to foot the bill for postage and it's a BIG book good luck if you enter! Sarah (mods - I hope it's ok to post this here - there's no financial gain to myself so hopefully not against guidelines....)
  9. ah, see that is a really good use of challenges - presumably this is a location where a "real" cache cannot be hidden, so the challenge setter has used an alternate method of getting people to go somewhere cool and have a great experience. which is what most good virtual caches were more like this please!
  10. We haven't done any yet, but there are a couple of local ones I think my kids would enjoy, so I expect we'll get around to it eventually. I quite like the idea of them, just a pity they haven't really caught on yet, plus as others have said, they don't appear on maps or in PQs so it's easy to forget they are there.
  11. I also get frustrated over the lack of points - we don't do much in the way of 'numbers runs' - we only do a couple of caches a week usually, but we research them beforehand to make sure they are going to be good ones. I could very easily hand out 2 or 3 times as many as we're allocated. But all that said, I don't think I'd like it if people could favourite as many caches as they wanted to. The system seems to be working very well as it is, with just the top 10% getting points. Not everyone's 10%s will be of equal caliber, depending on the types of caches they look for, but overall, it seems to be doing a good job at highlighting the better caches and helping us decide which ones to go after....
  12. I just checked my list – only one of my favourites has since been archived – but that one still has 8 favourite points (including mine), and I think that’s about as many points as it had while it was still up and running, so it can’t be all that commonplace to whip back the point and reallocate it as soon as you notice a cache has gone….
  13. Another improvement I am noticing with 5.10 is that my 450, which had been noticeably dropping off over recent months in accuracy, is now performing much much better. We were using it out and about over the weekend and it was behaving so much better in terms of delivering us to the cache location. And I love being able to see sizes/D/T etc in the list when I am looking for the next cache to tackle in the area (as we sometimes skip micros or nanos especially if the kids are with us). So for me, the improvements are well worth the slightly longer time it takes to boot up.
  14. Am overjoyed to report that, following an upgrade to the latest version of the software (to version 5.10) last Friday, I have been using my Oregon a lot at the weekend and it's been absolutely spot on! (so it can't be the batteries as I've still not got any new rechargeables) It's back to how it used to behave from new, the whole family have noticed the difference. We only had to check two hints all weekend (one in an urban area where we wanted to find it quick to avoid arousing suspicion, and one where the co-ords were spot on and we had already checked and written off the hidey hole, it was just that the cache was tucked away in there in a clever and unusual fashion so we had overlooked it the first time) Compare that to recent months where we have had to really rely on hints as the GPS was so off. Brilliant, so happy
  15. I finally got it working - no idea how - I just tried and tried over and over again until it finally behaved! I still got the message about finding an older version every time though, even the final time when it worked. Odd. (PS mine is also now taking forever to load up but I do like the way it shows D/T and size on the list of caches around...)
  16. Oh dear – I have tried to update my Oregon 450 to version 5.10 and it hasn’t worked. I’m using WebUpdater from the Garmin site, and all seems to be working fine while the GPS is connected to my computer. WebUpdater confirms that it is version 5.10 that is required and downloads it accordingly. When I disconnect my GPS, however, and switch it on, it comes up with the following: “New software found This software is older than your current software, would you like to continue and lose all user data?” I have tried both Yes and No, either way, it carries on and eventually boots up looking like an old version of the software – with none of the new improvements. And sure enough, when I look in “Setup/About” – it tells me I am now running Beta software 3.52 (I think I was on 4.something before) It also now thinks I am 4,900 miles from home But I’m sure when I get it outside with sight of the sky it will soon come to its senses. Does anyone know how I can get it to accept and install version 5.10?
  17. What is your reported error radius now when you are having issues, and what did it used to be when it was behaving well? not sure I would have to check. Will have a look next time we are out with it. I know everyone is saying it's just behaving normally, but it honestly isn't, compared to how it used to be, there is a marked degradation in performance.
  18. I'd expect alkalines to be an improvement over rechargeables. My 450 was pretty much always as you describe -- all over the place, loose compass, with occasionally great readings. I've since upgraded to a 550. Same thing. But it's just a tool to get you in the ballpark. Once you arrive, it's time to play ball. So to speak. my rechargeables are really good ones though - they last about twice as much as standard alkaline batteries. I need to steal them back from my kids as for the GPS - I wouldn't mind if it had always been like this, but it used to perform considerably better, I just want it to behave like it did before.... hmmmm .... will try the software update thing and hope for the best! it's more of a hindrance than a help sometimes at the moment.
  19. good theory - but we are having the same problem all over the place (we travel about the country quite a lot) and we haven't changed any settings. the only thing we have done differently recently is switch from rechargeable to disposable batteries - as my kids have stolen all my rechargeables for their games console handsets and I haven't bought a new batch yet. Battery life is considerably shorter than with my old rechargeables. Do you think that could be the cause?? (grasping at straws a little...) I do do the calibration thing whenever it asks which is (annoyingly) often.
  20. I've updated it twice, but not for a while - the drop in performance didn't come after a software change. Maybe I ought to try upgrading to whatever the latest version is....
  21. It definitely is VERY noticeably not as good as it used to be though, especially the compass jumping around all over the place - and this has only happened in the last 2 months or so. It's not even a gradual degradation of performance, it's quite a sudden drop. Definitely seems to me like something is not right with it
  22. Hi everyone, I have an Oregon 450 which is now coming up for a couple of years old. Over the past few months it has appeared to be decidedly less accurate than it used to be, often struggling to settle on ground zero at all (ie can’t get under 15 feet and keeps jumping around), and even when it does seem confident that it has brought us to the right place, it can be 30 feet or more off (whereas it used to be pretty much spot on most of the time) On the plus side, it has certainly made us better geocachers, as now we only really trust it to get us within the rough locale of the cache, and we have to use our eyes and our spideysense more I did wonder if maybe I was just imagining the decline in performance, but the matter was proven to me last week carrying out a maintenance run on one of my own caches, where I know that the co-ordinates used to take me right to it, as I tested them out at the time of placement and also at subsequent maintenance visits. This time it was pointing a full 50 feet away. So – the question is – is there anything I can do to fix this? Is it just an age thing that I have to put up with? (I hope not as it’s not THAT old and it cost a lot of cash , and I can’t really afford to replace it right now!) Does it need to go back to Garmin for a service? All suggestions gratefully received….
  23. That is absolutely the best advice I also use the favourite points as a guide, and read past logs carefully.
  24. Yes, that's a good one I missed out and don't know why I haven't got around to doing it yet. definitely make the effort to get around to it, it's a great series, one of the best we've ever done (although it has been slightly re-routed since we did it, I'm sure any amendments made have been for the better) A thanks from me for this thread, also, it's giving us some ideas too
  25. now that IS annoying! I sometimes wonder if ammo box thefts are mainly kids - I know my boys would have loved to find an army ammo box in the woods when they were younger (and before they knew about geocaching)
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