TillaMurphs

I would like to see the locations of all of the TillaMurph's finds on a map of the US (probably on Google Earth). We have all of our benchmark searches/recoveries in an Excel spreadsheet. Each row starts with the PID number in the first column and then has miscellaneous info like the disk type, date monumented, date found, etc. in subsequent columns. (We don’t have coordinates in the spreadsheet though). Is there an easy way to take the first column of 500-plus PIDs and somehow generate a kml, kmz or whatever type file that I could import into Google Earth (or similar) to see the distribution of our finds on a map? Just to clarify, I don’t care about date found, etc. I just want to see a spot/icon on the map at the location of each find (and maybe the PID number, but even that is not an absolute requirement). Thanks for any help.

I am not sure if this should be in a new report or not?: If you bring up a user’s profile and click on the See Forum Posts For This User link, it will not show any of their posts from the pre-merger Benchmarking forum. I know there is a lot to keep track of. Keep up the good work. Thanks

Now that the NGS and Benchmark Hunting pages have been merged, there is a link that is no longer pointing to the right place. If you go to the main “Benchmark Hunting” page (http://www.geocaching.com/mark/default.aspx) and then click on the “Discuss in the Forums” link, it does not take you to the new forum. The same thing also occurs farther down on that same page under the following section: “How can I find out more about a benchmark that isn't in the database?” Thanks for any help. Best regards, The TillaMurphs

We've been merged! I feel much closer to the NGS now, how about you?

Thanks for resurrecting this thread. It gives me a chance to mention that we did come to a conclusion on the composition of the gold disks. On 29-April-2010, Bill93 posted a thread with a link to a Jerry Penry post on another forum that confirmed that these are aluminum bronze as Black Dog Trackers correctly surmised. Here is a link to the Jerry Penry post: Aluminum Bronze disks kayakbird, Nice unique find. Was that disk truly gold (like the others above) or did it just weather to a yellow-gold patina? The surface looks a lot rougher than the aluminum bronze disks in the photos above.

WOOOOT! Thanks Moun10BIke and Groundspeak! Thank you SO much. This makes the photos visible and useful again. Much appreciated.

[Rubs Eyes, Yawns and Stretches Arms. Logs On.] Woo Hoo! It was all just a bad (albeit long) dream!

Actually - YES! I was just in the process of writing a reply to thank Bill for posting this. It is very interesting. I smell a field trip in the TillaMurph’s future. We own a copy of the second book in Bill’s link, the 1914 Bulletin #556 Spirit Leveling in Oregon. So far we have found 3 marks that are listed in the book – including one nail & washer in the root of a tree. Would love to find a blazed and scribed tree. Speaking of wagon roads, we did find the depression of the old Willamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Wagon Road (in Central Oregon) that was shown on an 1883 US Surveyor-General’s Office map. There was a benchmark set alongside it in 1903 that referenced the road. Thanks Bill.

Nice job KB. A really cool, and rare, flared stem and you have the first recorded recovery since monumentation!

...and then they discontinued it! Aaargh.

Wooo Hooo!

Ahhh, the joy of finding a station or RM after swinging the arc(s) and probing down for a solid noise! Nicely captured. Any idea what happened to your missing RMs? Do you think someone pried them out? Thanks for sharing your story kayakbird.

Viajero, THANK YOU! I am slowly finding my way around the 60csx but it would have taken me quite a while to find that. I am glad it has that capability. I will leave the topos and the OSMs both enabled for a while and play around with it. Thanks for your prompt reply. MtnHermit, Thanks for the Nuvi information - I had forgotten about the potential to add maps to that. A few years ago I had a trails map that I added to the Nuvi. I am now hoping to keep the Nuvi in the truck and leave the outside trail and topo work to the 60. I really appreciate it guys.

Sorry Moun10Bike. I must have been confusing shutdowns for maintenance with site updates. I apologize for unnecessarily bugging you about this – I know you have plenty of stuff to deal with. Sorry and Thanks.

I wonder if the weird formatting has something to do with vonjoekasey's signature? A quick check of her posts in the last year (3) shows another instance where all posts after hers are indented.

Welcome vonjoekasey, You are in the correct forum. However, it would probably work out best if you started a new thread specifically for your question. In the interim, here is some information to get you started: If you have a phone with Android here is a thread for you: Android? Psst, hey you. And here is a thread related to the one above: Benchmarking App for Android Has anyone used it yet? What's the feedback? If you have an iPhone, here are two threads: Benchmarks with the I Phone iPhone friendly BM site? Good luck!

Hi Moun10Bike, Is there still a plan to correct this? (I noticed it did not get addressed in the two most recent updates). Thanks for your time. The TillaMurphs

After using a Nuvi for the last 3 years I recently got ahold of a used 60csx. I am hoping someone can help with two questions. I have maps from the Oregon Topo mapset (from gpsfiledepot) and some routable maps from openstreetmap.nl that I combined in Mapsource and successfully loaded into my 60csx. Both mapsets cover the state of Oregon. 1) On the 60csx I know I can go into “Setup Map” and turn the individual map segments on or off. Is there any way to turn on/off one entire mapset? (i.e., turn off all of the Oregon Topo mapset segments at once.) 2) Does it hurt to have all the segments from both mapsets turned on at the same time even if they overlap in the same geographic location? Do I lose anything by doing this (routeability or anything else)? So far the 60csx appears to be displaying content from both mapsets at the same time (contour lines as well as data that is only in the openstreetmaps). I just wondered if this will cause a problem. Thanks for any help.

Hi MRF, Regarding your questions on submitting log reports on Geocaching.com: As you correctly guessed, the only time you need to report your coordinates are for Scaled marks. You would not report your GPS coordinates for Adjusted marks. I believe it is important to include your GPS coordinates for all Scaled marks as long as you can get a good GPS reading (i.e. when the signal is not significantly reduced by heavy tree cover, tall buildings or other obstructions). Others will say you should only report your GPS coordinates if they differ greatly from the Scaled coordinates in the datasheet. However, I have never understood that. I think if your GPS reading is close to the coordinates in the datasheet it is still a good idea to report that because that can confirm that the Scaled coordinates are indeed correct. Scaled coordinates on datasheets were often derived from someone scaling off of a topographical map. Sometimes they were very close; sometimes they could be quite a ways off (up to 600 feet). In my opinion, having handheld GPS readings to correct, or confirm, the Scaled coordinates is a good idea. To answer your other question, reporting measurements to nearby objects is much more important than reporting your GPS coordinates. A report with just measurements is much more useful than a report with just coordinates from your handheld GPS. The above are only my opinions so don't take them as gospel. Others here have more experience than me and may have different ideas. Never hesitate to ask questions. Someone here will always be glad to help. Good luck and have fun with your hunting!

For your Christmas present, here is a 1934 SS+CGS in red and green Christmas colors: And here is SC0374 after we sprayed on the white flocking: . . Merry Christmas everyone! . .

I would be very happy to see you log MORC 375 MJ1336.... Happy hunting. kayakbird Kayakbird, I knew you would be able to smell any mention of a MORC mark. As soon as I typed my reply to MRF I knew it would only be a matter of time - 12 hours - you are getting a little slow.

Hi MRF, It looks like you are in a great area to hunt for Benchmarks! There are scads of marks around there that were set in 1949 and very few of them have been logged by any geocachers. I guess you could count them as FTF, although a better term might be FGCTL (First Geocacher To Log). We are always proud of ourselves when we are the first geocacher to log a mark on Geocaching.com but FTF is not really an acronym that we have seen commonly used for benchmarks. There is a 1934 Triangulation Station benchmark near you that might be fun to look for if it is not on private property. Its PID is MJ1336 and its designation is “SEA”. (Iowa seems a funny place to have a station called “SEA”?) The last time it was logged by anyone was in 1950. That Station also has 2 Reference Marks, a MORC (Missouri River Commission) mark and an Azimuth Mark to look for. I am jealous. Triangulation Stations are a bit more complicated than a standard bench mark. You can read more about Triangulation Stations here: Benchmarking FAQ and here: Disks around Triangulation Stations Good luck and have fun!

This IS good news! Thank you Groundspeak. GoinHikin and Shirley, Thank you for very much for making official inquiries!

Thank you Moun10Bike and Groundspeak!