Spoo

Friday, September 02, 1300hrs EST. I find the system is still down.

Hello. Although I live in Maine, I work for the U.S. Navy, and as such, I spend a lot of time at the NS and Ingalls in Pascagoula and at the facility in Avondale. I hope that all of you are safe there and wish you nothing but prosperity and a fast recovery from Katrina. Please contact me if I can be of direct assistance to you. Spoo

Excellent definition, holograph! Thank you. P.S. to all: Yes, I am aware that most dictionaries define WAYMARK as a guiding point along a highway. But we are a GPS oriented forum and both Magellean and Garmin seem to think that Waypoint is a water-borne mark vs a Landmark. They even allow you to decide if you want the term of Waymark vs Landmark. Again, I am just curious what others might think about this term.

I am trying to find where the BENCH in Benchmark or Bench Mark comes from. My best definition to date is "A working level or step in a cut." as found here: BENCH definitions Also, I am confused by the Waymarking site. Magellean clearly defines Waymarks as points upon water whereas Landmark is the term of choice for a land borne position. Just curious where others draw these lines.

I have read the FAQ's till I am dizzy. Let me see if I understand the Waymarking site: Now people can have a competition to see who has been to the most McDonalds? Now people can have a competition to see who finds the most Rest Stops along the Highways? Now people can have a competition to see who finds the most Oak trees located on the south-east corner of a four way intersection? And people call us Benchmark hunters odd !

bicknell: I often draw this sort of thing out, especially for my mountain top Tri-station hunts. Once I get up there, I want all the info available that I can get without trying to figure out math on the spot. I find it very helpful. I also just love drawing out the math at home in the evenings ! I'll follow this thread in case someone gives you an answer using the computer. It will be fun to compare my own answers and drawings to that of the computer.

evanfall: At the risk of stepping on your toes (which is not intended) : What you MIGHT be observing here, after 3pm, is something the RF (Radio Frequency) Industry terms "Sun Streaming". As the sun gets low in the west, photon streaming begins to play havoc with RF signals. This allows CB operators in New York to hear other operators in CA. I do not pretend to be able to explain it in any terms, but it is well documented that such a situation exists. Think of it as the suns' photons 'blowing' the RF signals around and not allowing you to get an accurate fix. The streaming occurs from west to east. Ham Radio operators often use this phenomenom to 'skip' their signals to places around the world that they would not ordinarily be able to hit. This is different from topospheric bounce.

Jeremy.....same here.....Thank you. Spoo

I spent from '72 to '76 as an Army Aviator (Helicopter Pilot) and exited as a WO2. Effective next month, I will have spent 19 years as a Civilian Field Engineer for the U.S. Navy.

I understand and acknowledge what everyone above has said. At this point in time, I have not filed an official report with NGS. I did however send an e-mail to Deb Brown with photos and explainations. I will wait to see what her repsonse is.

ArtMan I see your point. The Main Station stem was still in place as my log says. I also left the disk itself there and put the rock back on top. A surveyor in need of this position could probably decide it was the position he/she was looking for. I might have been in error marking this station as destroyed. I guess I'll just have to see how NGS handles my report.

See my log and pix: OC2705 It is unfortunate. This station only went in in 1976. Hikers, campers and ATVs are an obvious possibilty based on the evidence at the location.

BDT.....I just recovered PH0294 last week. It may not be on the NGS list yet but my log and pix are on GC. I considered this another of the Maine-New Hampshire Border Commision marks. Do you mean to say this is different from my earlier ATF finds?

Problem deimos........ I never said I had seven NORMAL dogs!

deimos: By all means you may recover this mark. I just do not know where you would log it. As for refreshments: Beer will do nicely for me. And you better bring lots of raw steak. I have SEVEN dogs you'll have to get past.

NFA: I thought the name Jamie was familiar! Shame on me! (how do I make an icon that has egg on its face?) I hope I am still on your list.

NFA: A few weeks ago when I first became interested in a Benchmark of my own, I posted some some notes on the forums about gps-fun. They informed me at that time that they had only made 50 marks, that all were gone, that they were waiting to see if there was any further interest in making more, and that I was now on their waiting list. I have not heard anything further from them to date.

Ouch! Careful, Wintertime. Canadian Geese mate for life and live in the same migration points that they were born in. Up here in Maine, people 'from away' buy property to get back to where it all began. At a particular lake here, Geese started to become a problem in the land-owners minds with 'pooping' in their yards. After several years of complaints, the State of Maine came in and shot all the adult Geese and removed the young to another location. Everyone was suddenly shocked. They just did not understand the patterns and habits of Canadian Geese.

OK.....I had to try this myself. Behind my house the land rises to a hill and at the very top the granite ledge rises out of the ground. I had to put in my own Benchmark. I also had to do it the old fashioned way. By hand. By myself. I ordered a custom Disk from Berntsen Int'l and tools from doitbest.com. In ordering the disk, I was careful to choose a center design that I do not think is being used by an official agency. Over a 10 day period, I took GPS readings of the location and averaged them. This is a picture of the soon to be Monumented Ledge with some of the tools. First I had to drill the hole. One inch diameter by 3-1/2 inches deep. Using only a 1-1/2 pound nailing hammer and lots of water, this took me about 30 minutes. I also went about 4 inches deep just because. I have no doubt that if I had had a three or seven pound hammer this would have been much quicker. The hole: Next, I had to chisel a depression to fit the disk flush. I used 1-1/4" and 3/4" chisels to do the rough work and a 3/8" chisel for the finish work. I wanted a good finish with no chips. I found the granite to be very easy to work with these new tools. Finally, my disk arrived from Berntsen. Their quality was excellent and met their advertised specs. Next, I was afraid to stamp this once in place for fear of screwing up my cement work. (I had no faith in myself.) So I pre-stamped the elevation by hand. (I wanted to add some authenticity to the job) Finally, it was time to install it. I used the recommended cement sold by Berntsen and found it easy to work with but you have to move FAST. It does dry quickly. A perfect fit if I do say so myself ! The completed Monument: OK...now for the bottom lines: My DIRECT labor on this job was about 2 hours. Not bad for a beginner. The cost: Disk: $27.00 Custom Stamping: 30.00 Cement: 6.70 Shipping: 10.56 1" Star Drill: 11.99 1-1/4" Chisel: 11.79 Shipping: 8.89 3/8" Chisel: 4.50 Total: $111.43 All other tools and items were owned and available. Now I just need a Witness Post sign ! (I already have the post) I had a lot of fun doing this and highly recommend it to everyone. Here are the Co-ordinates: (And DO NOT give me a hard time.....I realize my hand-held GPS is +/- 3 feet) "At the top of a hill in an open field, the only open ledge visible, a standard disk, stamped SNYDER 2005 HILL-GULLY FARM 480 FT. With a center point that is circled. Located at about 43 degrees 52.851 N 070 degrees 46.219 W Elevation 480 Feet"

38 hunts in a day staggers my mind. I think my best was 13 or 14 marks visited and 10 finds. That wore me out and it WAS NOT even a hot day ! Nice job, ArtMan.

BDT: I think you missed the Arrow pierceing the Triangle.

ArtMan and I had a very quick and brief discussion on another thread. I suspect it got missed. Can anyone tells us what the mysterious symbol in the middle of his recovered disk might mean? I am very curious about this one. HV7066, ADMIRAL 11

ArtMan: Very Cool find! BRAVO ZULU! I believe that might be more properly ID'd as a U.S. Navy disk, though. At any rate, I am not familiar with the symbol used in the center. Any idea what the arrow is pointing at?

I am in my Third Generation Magellan unit having been with them for about 12 years now. I currently use the SporTrak Topo model. In my area, EVERYTHING is in the mountains and I find the Topo features to be invaluable. (and highly accurate) I have not had any trouble with it tracking me in the valleys and trees and think the WAAS is a real benefit.

Just as an aside: My hiking gear of choice is a Vietnam era military ensemble. It consistes of a standard web belt with load-bearing suspenders. I carry a 'rump-pack' on the back, two 1-quart canteens (one on each side), compass on the left front and first aid kit on the right front. This puts all the weight very low and rear-ward and equally distributed around my waist and off my shoulders. For those extra long hikes, I wear a 1-1/2 Liter Camelback. Everything else I need is usually in the pockets of my various vests that I wear.