SMN703

Just Download and install BaseCamp. The link to MapSource is an update. BaseCamp does not make you got through all that trouble and might be better suited to an Oregon 400t GPS as it will display your installed topo map on your computer. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU... I downloaded basecamp... and could see the file but couldn't figure out how to change it to gpx... then downloaded GPS babel and that converted it to GPX and I got it onto my GPS... and I checked - it's there and I can do my hike tomorrow - THANK YOU!

I really appreciate everyone's help and I swear I'm not stupid... I have the program downloaded as the .exe file and every time I try to open it to install it, it starts the process and tells me "previous mapsource not found! Setup will terminate." So I'm not sure where this "previous" mapsource is suppose to be...

That's the site I was on - and I downloaded it - but when I tried to open it to install it they told me I had to have a previous version of mapsource... That's for the 57.68MB file... the other file said it was a patch and I knew I didn't need that...

I don't have mapsource... and when I tried to look for it I wasn't able to find a place to download it (sounds like it's a disc I have to get?) Is there any other option for me or am I not going to be able to do this hike tomorrow?

I have an Oregon 400t that I've used for a year to geocache. Tomorrow we're going on a hike and the website I'm getting the trail from will let me download a GDB file but I have no idea how to download this and get it to open on my oregon - and I can't exactly "hope" I do it right and then get out there and it's not on my GPS unit... They say that I can download a GPX - BUT their link/download is broken or something http://www.hikingupward.com/SNP/OldRag/ so I can't do that... Is there a free and semi-easy way to get this GDB file onto my GPS tonight so that I can do this hike in the morning?

NEVERMIND - I found another post with a link to a site that answered my questions

I've been using a Nuvi for my caching adventures and today my Oregon 400t arrived... I'm trying to get cache's onto the unit BUT I don't want to send one unit at a time. With the nuvi - I created a pocket query, opened it in GSAK, filtered it, and then sent it to the Nuvi. I tried doing the same thing now and it's going to the Oregon (based on the information on my computer) BUT when I turn the Oregon on and press the geocaching icon it says I don't have any cache's there... I think it's just not sending them to the right spot... Anyone know where I should be sending them??? OR is there an easier way to send 25ish cache's at a time to my Oregon?

I'm a female and I do this... and the only other person that I know that does this hobby is also a woman. I consider myself a dork with computers but I'm just a teacher. My friend isn't as tech-savy (she says) but her career has to do with parks and maps and such. However, everyone that I've encountered (via e-mail) about this hobby has been a man. We take our kids out - 3 of them - and they're all boys so we're adding to the male population of cachers....

But the more fake it is - the more likely someone will tear it down knowing it's not a real sign. Even a poster about a concert ect is likely to be torn down by someone that thinks the band is horrible, doesn't like the type of music they think it is, ect. I went with a lost pet sign because they might take pity on the person they think lost the pet and leave it alone.

I was wondering the same thing. A Google search came up with several entries that defined it as Inactivated polio vaccine. Hmmm, don't think that applies here. "In Plain View" maybe? Yes - in plain view - it's right in front of you and you dont realize it's the cache

and a ferret and a rat and a bird and this dog http://signofjonah.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/ugly_dog.jpg (YOU'RE warned the dog it not pretty)

I'll look into that idea - clearly that would make sure nothing fell out - also - since I don't mind replacing it every couple weeks with another pet that's "missing" that might help keep things dry.... I was wondering if I should put my real phone number on the sign or not too... I was worried if I said "reward" with a fake number that someone might call just for the reward, find out that it was a fake number, and remove the sign... I was also laughing that I'd put the ugliest animal pictures that I could find on the internet as my fictitious pet.... Perhaps my kids and I are too easily amused

So I have found a couple of the IPV magnet caches... And I'd like to make some - hopefully someone else could help me figure this out. I found the magnet sheets at an arts and crafts store. They had three kinds - one you painted on, one you could draw on, and one that had adhesive so you could take a piece of paper and stick it on. 1. Which of the three am I suppose to use? 2. If I do adhesive - and just put on a piece of paper then the weather would eventually damage the paper - so what are people printing on? Is there a special ink that withstands the elements? 3. OR are people buying the sticker (like the electrical box ones) that are already water proof and just sticking that on the magnent? If so - where are they getting them? 4. On the back - I've just seen like a plastic bag taped on the back with the log folded inside - is there another (better) way to do this or does that work just fine? Thanks!!!

So for a week now I've been toying with this idea for an IPV cache that I want to create. I'm not sure if anyone's done it before (I'm guessing someone has) but I've never seen one like it.... SO really I'm hoping someone might be able to offer me the one great idea to make it work. I want to put up a "lost dog" sign on a light post - I'm sure you've all seen them... And the back of it has the log to sign. I would put a "please do not remove" sign on it and I figured every couple weeks I could swing past and change the sign to be a different dog or cat (haha.) SO obviously I need a way to keep it dry so the log won't be damaged. I thought a sheet protector would work best - with the opening at the bottom, and the log could just be slid up inside the sheet protector - behind the lost dog sign - and it wouldn't get wet - BUT then it would just fall out.... Has anyone ever seen one like this before? Can you think of what type of "container" I could put this into so that the sign and log wouldn't get wet BUT it would still be retrievable?

Thank you - the last time I looked it up it was also like 500 on Amazon and so I didn't even look now (that was a few months back)... So clearly if I'm going to get this I should just go through Amazon - THANKS!!!

The place I'm buying from that's offering me the 30% off doesn't have the Oregon... and I don't like buying electronics or things this expensive from Ebay since there isn't a hard n fast return policy - whereas if something happens to this I can return it to the store (there's a store in my area but they don't sell this in the store - only online).

Okay I have a Garmin Nuvi 680 that I use in my car and I pop it out and carry it when we GPS. The battery dies in 20 minutes in the winter when it's really cold, and it's not exactly the easiest thing to carry since it's for the car - but otherwise I love how accurate it is. BUT since we're getting more and more into geocaching (will hit 200 finds this month) I have been thinking for a few months about buying a handheld... The Garmin (I like Garmin's) Colorado 400T is $599 BUT I can get $180 dollars off if I buy it this weekend.... I have it in my shopping cart and I want to buy it but before I do I was curious... Would you buy this one? I mean $180 bucks off is pretty good and I've only ever seen this one for $550-650 even when I've seen it on sale it's never been less than $550 (If I buy it, I'm buying it today...)

Obviously I could simply state that. But if a major part of this game is to not be caught and to not have things muggled I don't exactly want to go around asking people and drawing attention to things. If they're not they're likely to ask what it is. I have talked to people about what it is and told them - but only when needed (like when we're busted - my friend was busted by the cops because there's a cache at the Pentagon property line that she was getting).

Has anyone else ever thought that we should have some key word that we can say to people on a trail to identify if they are caching? There are several times that we've been out and seen people watching us or in our area suspiciously and we laugh and wonder if they're caching. Since we don't know anyone else (other than myself, my kids, and one friend) that cache it would be nice to talk to others that do it. This last weekend someone followed us through a park from one cache to another and then was near a third. I shouldn't say followed because he didn't literally follow us but he was at one, and then when we were coming back from the 3rd we saw him near the 2nd... We thought if there was just some key word we could say we could find out if he was a cacher too (we saw paper and pencil in hand but no GPS.) Along those same lines - my kids are no longer able to yell out "found it!" instead we say "Bingo" and if anyone is around we start singing "B-I-N-G-O" the song - it's a cover since I have a young one... But it's probably a lot less innocent looking to just be singing a little song with a kid than to yell out "I found it, here it is!"

I wrote a response this morning and it seems to have not gone through. I was in no way saying I was going to replace their cache container - I have containers for caches that I plan to hide - NOT to fix what someone else has done. I brought up the containers just to say that based on my other finds and what I've read about cache's I know they need to be water tight and sturdy and sandwich bags clearly aren't. I guess I'll just go back and add maint. posts to the ones that I remember being ziplock bags...

This weekend my buddy and I went caching on a weekend trip - cached the entire way to our destination, and then all around that town, spent the night and cached on the way home.... We came across so many cache's that were in such bad containers, many in the same city, some by the same person... And I wondered what to do/say (if anything)... I wonder if the person really understands the game. Here is an example - and this is what ALL of them were.... Ziplock bag - not the good quality freezer ones but the cheap $1 store sandwich ones, with a mini spiral notebook, pen, and swag inside.... The bags had holes in them (probably from being pulled out of their spots and dropped back in)... Two of them even had the whole top (the thicker part where they seal shut) torn off and hanging by a thread. There were a couple that were in tupperware - but they were in the really cheap disposable sandwich size ones and the lids were warped and didn't seal. They were in places like dropped into hollowed out tree stumps, dropped behind logs, or stuffed inside a tree. One of them had two candles inside which clearly would melt all over everything as soon as the weather warms up. Most were damp. I realize I haven't hidden that many BUT I have a lot sitting in my home ready to go out - and I know that it's important to have things that are sturdy enough to be outside and to withstand the elements... Heck - plastic bags around log books go INSIDE the larger containers.... Would you e-mail the person? Say something? Or log the find and move on? I just wondered if they understood how the game works and how the cache's should be done... Thoughts?

If this is how you feel then why post asking if we'd look for it. SOMEONE would, and if it's only 10 people I wonder if those 10 people would really be on here to reply. Set it up and post it and see who shows up. (It sounds like a re-enactment of Blair Witch Project to me)

My boys and I have gotten used to finding ticks - not that we like them. I've had to pull three off one of my kids "bathing suit area" and two off my own - as well as over 10 from backs, shoulders, thighs, and ankles... (We had our first experience with ticks 2 months ago when we were camping/geocaching - I'd never seen one before that, possibly because I'm from another area and only recently moved here.) I did a lot of reading and actually saw that DEET was not a great idea - but that you can find tick repellant - Check out this site http://tickencounter.org/education/dogtick Now every time we cache - even if we're not in the woods or tall grass - we walk in the front door, strip to our underwear and check each other other. Then each boy goes to check the rest of himself and I check the 2 year old and myself. Also - be sure you light those suckers on fire and wash them down the toilet or the sink - I once washed one down the sink with hot water - 2 hours later went in to wash my face and found it crawling out of the sink. Clearly water doesn't kill them.

Is it horrible of me that I think you should turn the paper over and start a new log on the back of that? Basically - keep playing the game as it was planned. Fine the things are missing, but he's supplied a new log. (not sure if someone else posted this idea already)

I just spent an hour reading old threads with amazing ideas on containers, camos, making them, etc. (The thread was from 2004 so a lot of pictures weren't there anymore). So I have questions - and thought that the answers I get would probably help others that are new to hiding and possibly even help others that have been around for awhile but looking for more ideas... 1. I personally am in this for the thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of the find. I don't care about the prizes/swag inside. So as I'm getting ready to hide some I'm not too concerned about putting in FTF prizes (especially the really small ones) BUT I also don't want someone getting annoyed or posting a comment because I don't have a FTF prize or because it's not cool enough. I have a couple FTF buttons that are the size of a quarter, but even those won't fit into the smaller containers and they're not cool... How do others feel about the FTF prizes? 2. How close to your home would you hide a cache? We're planning on hiding them all within a 5 miles radius of our home - which does include a lot of parking lots and parks so we can do both woods and urban caches... But there is also a spot or two that are very close to our home that I was thinking would be a cool place to hide because of the location BUT also because it would be funny to see people come look for them. I live on a residential street though that's pretty darn quiet - do you think I should be more concerned about bringing traffic onto my street? I don't really think any geocacher would be into staking out homes but maybe I should be more cautious? (I wasn't going to post my address or anything crazy like that - but I would be able to see the people from our back windows - about 100-200 yards away from my home and a couple neighbors' homes). 3. So far we've only made containers wrapped in black electrical tape for more urban hides although we have two that are larger for the woods'y hides... I have a long list of things I'd like to make though after reading the other posts. Are there any cache's that you think you'd like to see more of? Ours aren't going to get you to a great view - again it's more about the thrill of the hunt and possibly a walk for some exercise. 4. Other than: log book, pencil, note on what a geocache is printed from the site, plastic bags, some little trinkets (typical match box cards, mcdonalds toys, and other random things that we've seen or found in other caches) and some travel dogs and geocoins... Is there anything else that we need/should include in our caches? Thanks!