7rxc

I'm not a high count finder... there simply aren't that many caches available to me, but I try. 2013 gives 22/(22+65) = 25%. However actually looking at this listing in this context makes me wonder if it is accurate. It seems to be just a ratio of DNF logs to Found logs, and that is fine. What I see though is that with the exception of 1 cache (5 dnfs, it was declared as not there) all of them were eventually found by me. Plus it includes a few already archived caches that were still in place for finds. Most of the others were one or two DNFs that were either time restricted, or weathered out, and quite a few that simply had really soft coordinates that I eventually found regardless. Still I see it as a good demo that DNF logging is a fun aspect of geocaching, maybe more so than TFTC logs. Locally we've helped improve local cacheR quality a bit and that has actually increased the number of local caches, although I'm still limited by transportation and terrain. Hard to cache when you constantly have to walk from the bus to the caches and then run back to catch the only bus home... On the other hand my fitness soore is improving as well. Have fun all Doug 7rxc

Just be aware that the 'snowflake' says 'available in winter'... not necessarily friendly! I agree it should mean that it is possible to find under normal winter conditions for that area. Lately some areas may find that concept a bit stretched at least in the short term. I'd expect a cache to be attached above ground level and perhaps under shelter. Still there aren't any guarantees, just an effort made. I have one that may not be always reachable... It is attached at eye level in the summer but could easily be a metre down shortly. Plus no one should try it in winter anyway without a knowledge of mountains with snow (lots ) on them etc. I have to put some winter limits on the page, but it wouldn't be hard to see that it is tough to access, I'd give it a go, but then I know the risks and means to mitigate them... I'll post warnings first though, since access is probably already risky since yesterday's snow fall. As for tracks, IF there are tracks around, you might find out it's just normal winter procedure, leave lots of tracks while searching, leave EVEN MORE confusing tracks after you have signed the log and replaced, adding even more distractions. Never argue with track you can follow...haha. It's mostly about getting out and about in the snow (to avoid shovelling, right?) Doug 7rxc

Agreed. It would be nice to be able to save your score (although you can save the result map on your own computer). You can also save games with interesting locations (like the one that has a location that starts underwater) Starting to get used to that, found some things like which is which by mousing over and playing around... and from guessing grosely wrong. My second trial run, I guessed an area in South America (caught the hemisphere trap laid in the start photo) but it was revealed to be in Austrailia in similar terrain. 10k km away but almost the right latitude... no problem figuring out the markers on that one. Still this is a bit off the topic at hand isn't it. Other than using photo analysis to check things out that is. Doug 7rxc

Certainly looks like a geocacher and not so enthusiastic partner... For those who might not understand the inherent flaws and problems using GE/GM and Streetview as mentioned earlier on in the thread, this is a great example. Check out the views from BOTH sides of the highway. The closer lane streetview shows it where the people are looking, the lane furthest from GZ shows a loacation quite removed from that shown in the closer view. One must always be careful when using those views due to registration problems. I know 4WF probably knows that but there are more readers than participants who might not! Doug 7rxc

As in other versions of this topic, the question arises about who the log 'belongs' to... Depending on that, who should control deletion (actually hiding/ concealing, since nothing gets deleted apparently) of TB logs? Is the log part of my history, or part of the TB history only. An owner of the TB should be able to delete it IF the log is his, or totally bogus. If it's my log then he should not be able to touch a legitimate logging of any sort, ever. That unclear state of being is why I support the ability to see what you WANT to see via filters... don't kid yourself that the log has actually gone anywhere from the servers. Imagine if the log is determined to be the property of the logger/finder. I bet it would mean someone at GS having to fix the deletions, bulk or singly it would be a pain of immense scale. Especially since the visit logs were THEIR idea in the first place! Filter control seems to be the least aggravation. One exception would be if they could figure out how to detect those auto logging apps that always visit everything in the inventory to all caches, even when the TB was lost or whatever... Kunarion has it right in that instance. Manual visiting still takes some time to do. That could be helped a bit by restricting the visit all option a bit and requiring manual selection. Coin collectors might not like that option, but it's a thought in the interim... I also support separating Coins from TB tracking in the future if possible. Right now all trackables have a TB number... TC might work as a prefix for Geocoins. The number portion could maintain sequence or not. Doug 7rxc

If we infer from FabioSantos post and google that his primary hobby is competitive bicycling (BTT) someplace in Europe in which Spanish is the primary language, we can better understand the request for routable elevation profiling over locally detailed roads directly on the gps device while in motion. This is a tall order, pun intended, but perhaps in the Garmin scheme such programming does exist for Europe. Keep in mind that any such profiling based on topographic map contour lines may not show the correct elevations over bridges or road cuts and fills, even on computer mapping software. As to being able to include the elevation data field for proprietary Groundspeak geocache symbolized waypoints, this may vary with the gps device manufacturer if Groundspeak specifications prohibit or strip off said elevation data in downloadable PQs. BTT = Bicicleta todo terreno = ATB or MTB. Mountain Bike Trails is what he wants to show... And he looks to be from Portugal. Close but not quite. Anyway any of the hand (or bike mount) GPSrs would fit the bill from the Etrex 20 up. Doug 7rxc

Have you tried geoguessr? Warning. It's addictive. Thanks for the reference... I tried the first offering it made... only took a few seconds to look at the image but hit fairly close on a global scale... 832.4 km. Still have to figure out which was the correct locaion A or B. Not much by way of instructions. Can't remember if you ever dropped in on the Canada forum 'Where in Canada' quiz that fizzled a year or two back, but I did well there... had to let others get some 'first' to be fair. Only jumped on the 'harder' claims, but always let the poster know the results ASAP... People got frustrated, but I helped a lot figure out how to play well on the side... had fun. I wasn't trying to play on this one, just wanted a better viewing of the site, and revealed nothing new about it. I also am not privy to the cache description either so no speculation on that or anything else except maybe to offer that the '50 foot' ruling might have to do with local right of way regulations for the MAIN Line that runs on the taller towers, clearly high voltage transmission there. The dark wooden poles appear to be local distribution trunks, high but nothing like the transmission lines and the shorter poles seem to be local distribution. Not sure if the boxes are even electrical, they might be phone and cable services. I did notice that there appears to be NatGAS lines there as well in another SV. This might be a spot ID'ed as a critical junction and subject to 'non interference' regs we are unaware of. Still lots of places around for the OP if they try a bit further afield if needed. Seems like everyone is expecting snow tonight and tomorrow, so time to play... I actually went out and found a new cache today, sadly 3tf, I missed the announcement. That's life. Hope you had a good holiday season and new year all! Doug 7rxc

This has obviously turned into a cache on an electrical box debate, but you will obviously have to go back and get better coords. I agree with what some others have said "If the only reason people would want to go there is for the cache then it's not a good location", but this is the forums, and in reality you'll have hundreds of happy finders. Most of them might drop Tftc or Found it logs on you, but they'll be happy. I find it is more about permissions and when/why they are required... also about being clear to your reviewer about how and where the hide is made... only takes a quick description of the cache in a note on the submitted page. A photo in this case will help. Another good point raised is that Google Earth / Google Maps can be quite a bit off displaying coordinates OR your coordinates can be off a bit OR both. Using a GE/GM image edited to show the reviewer where the cache is when viewed on GE/GM would do as well. Using information provided in this topic, it did not take long to locate GZ and view the air photos as well as more of the Streetview. (I like photo games, what can I say). I won't give that away of course. However, as an urban/ semi urban cache it is about as good as any average cache, and we haven't seen anything about its appearance or camo. It may be quite a good challenge, or the final of a good puzzle. It's nice to assume that there would be more to the hide than being stuffed into some bushes beside the road etc. Many would find this a good type of location for a puzzle with a small to medium container since it has some cover. It would be good to check out who controls that land, though it seems to be a road allowance. U.S. rules vary quite a bit sometimes from up here, but someone holds that title, goverment or private. As far as the attraction of electrical equipment... the cache hider should perhaps make a clear statement on the cache page that it is NOT located on any of that stuff.. and do it in clear text, not encrypted. All that wiring overhead could easily mess up GPS reception as well. Well to really vet what coordinates are, not just average a few minutes... this could be over days. I have only one cache and it was almost impossible to quickly get easily duplicated coordinates at first... 3 different GPSrs over a month and it finally came close. Still gave a good hint as well, since it was to be a loggable trail marker on a tricky path. Yep it's a bison tube in the woods... but the hike and views make up for it, plus it helps get to two other mountain ridge caches... and more important marks the best 'exit' to that trail system if nighted out. It does offer more than a 'because' cache. Doug 7rxc

In the case where someone holds a TB for a while, one of the first things to look at is the weather conditions in the holders area ( you can check their information via their profile). Are they in nice pleasant weather? Or are they say up this way where we were having high snow and -30 C temperatures recently. It won't encourage many to get out when it's that bad, but a wee bit nicer and we are out there, trying to find the mostly new micros in several feet of snow. Same for the Northeast US and Canada... that ice storm isn't conducive to caching, but many will go when they get under control. Getting a feel for both the weather and related safety concerns will ease your mind a bit. Some simply are not aware of that aspect, and it relates to flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, landslides and avalanches etc. as well... and the recovery periods also. I've been involved with Search and Rescue for many years, and I can say that often looking for people takes priority over caches and TBs fairly often... however, since I keep a few caches on my GPS, I've managed to take advantage of 'rest' breaks to log a cache or two while on duty as well. It's all relative of course. When it comes to simple sloth and carelessness, not much you can do of course, but hope. As you've seen there are several common techniques used for various valid reasons when it comes to logging trackables, but doing so as promptly as practicable is probably best. That doesn't mean the same as practical or even possible. But it is intended to be a combination of things. Best goal is to make sure that anyone you introduce to geocaching understands the simple goals of TB's and caches in general... thoroughly, before you let go of them. Same for the process of learning it yourself. Patience required for both sides of the coin though. Hope that helps... me I TRY to move them promptly, but sometimes you simply can't find a spot. I do try to stay in touch with the often unresponsive TOwners... makes it hard. So my last advice is, answer queries about your TB's and try to maintain contact with any you hold longer than a few weeks. Doug 7rxc

Good advice... however... would not email date displays fall under either the browser and email service provider settings as well, independant of Groundspeak? They all interconnect to some degree, but I can change hotmail/live displays to suit me... however some don't change all the time. I use YMD formats with no problem. IF they are referring to the appearance of posts / Private Messaging here as well, then the log out/in after saving the profile change works here in the forums as well. One needs to recycle both... not sure about Waymarking, but wouldn't be surprised there as well. Edit: Now I'm not so sure as I was... I notice that some of my stuff is the way I asked for it and some things like the forums posts seem to reject that format. Will experiment... not happy right now. Doug 7rxc

I've said it in other similar threads. Consider the bag of bags concept. A series of progressively larger packs suited to more complex hikes. Your minimal kit can be used for close in caches. That tossed into a slightly larger pack for trips slightly further from the car. That kit can be transfered totally or in part to a larger pack for significant day hikes, and so forth. I also use a small kit bag (duffel) to hold miscellaneous specialty items for use as needed when hinted at or discovered as needed in the field. No need to traipse home. As for contents... experience is the best guide, but I always include items for fabrication of 'tool's in the field as part of that duffel bag, and to some degree in the smaller bags. Works for cache patching as well. Doug 7rxc

While reading about the bridge the last few days... it seems like it might be a moot point. A W Bridge refurbishment Is this the first time a bridge was closed to accomodate a multi cache or any other type... not that total closure for more than a year will help either... but may be a good, neutral reason to alter stage two a bit. Also did some photo analysis from Panaramio, GE and the bridges history like Cheech used... That blue 'rail' or beam top is at least 3 feet high maybe a bit more and lower than the railing top. Note the vehicle in cheech's image and then look at a real vehicle of similar design. Not much would be visible from the roadway in most cars and small trucks. But that wasn't the issue as we said earlier. Doug 7rxc

Hadn't done this for a while... Ok 16km radius of home now shows 77, one is mine. That's up from 8 (0mine) back when I started in 2008. One of those 8 was archived. So we are starting to get more all the time. One kicker to all of those results is that some of them are within the 10 mile/16 km radius, but require 200 to 300 km drive/hikes to get to since they are tough from right here... anyone with valley systems and no connector roads knows what I mean... I don't have a quad so that is one reason... another is that coal mine leases have blocked lots of land one could hike over. Still it's not that bad, outside the radius, things are increasing even faster but you still have long drives to get there... which is fine if you have a ride. Edit: Have to say thanks too! Scanning the areas around here, I found at least 4 new ones listed, but outside the zone... have to think about a caching trip soon. Doug 7rxc

Not hard to find out which one... I don't think most cachers would find it at all dangerous... that blue beam would be almost as high as the railing on the river side and also has turn back rails on the road side of the beam as well for even more distance from the roadway. People stop on walkway/bike paths like that all the time in 'scenic' areas. Just looking and taking pictures.. I suppose a few have other purposes as well, but most would not be seen by most drivers... I saw one guy on a bike that was only head and shoulders high behind the beam. Google Street View. Never saw anything in the logs that indicated the final was up there, however there was reference to a 'sticker' on one of the logs. So it boils down to whether or not permission is in place and the other aspects of the guidelines. I bet we hear from the reveiwer before long as to those aspects. Myself, I'd go for it if I was in the area, but I'm not. Perhaps it just needs some tweaking to get legal. If it was a stage anywhere but on the major bridge itself, it would be considered in public space IMO. edit: I see he beat me. Doug 7rxc

Big Question... Has the person actually selected a cache to find? Or are they simply following the current position indicator along the map till they are near a cache position? That is one common error. They should be able to select the cache for searching by moving the device cursor over to the map icon and when it responds with the name or GC# click to enter that and select GOTO. Most of the time one would use the FIND page and select either the nearest or by name and then enter, then select GOTO for navigation purposes. I assume device users do the same thing don't they? See sections of manual on selecting waypoints and navigation to waypoints etc. If not get more details and come back. Doug 7rxc

That image of the seagulls brought back an old memory... advice from an old fisherman to a young kid about how to avoid water to shallow to take a boat through... Avoid anywhere you can see a seagulls knees! Thanks for that! Doug

Have a good Christmas guys... 23 posts to mention that he was using the E20 as a back up instrument for flying... rather than walking or even driving. OK think of it as a rough bearing indicator based on GPS positions. As long as you have your destination waypoint in, it should indicate pretty closely the way to head. Not the heading by the way just to be clear... bearing and heading are different... many of the definitions can be used differently as well depending on the user group... Select your data windows with care, don't put the wrong one on screen... distance to, and bearing to target for sure, just like caching. You have to see what works for you best, heading will tell you what way the nose is pointing, but many days flying skewed almost sideways to counter drift will show the difference there. I bet a Garmin flight GPS would have more decimal places for declination cancelling in mode. Speed is part of it, since walkers wouldn't have time to induce errors. Thanks to ECA and Fizzy for the tech explanations too. I know things have changed a bit over the years, but I'm pretty sure that the magnetic settings were mostly to adjust the bearing so you could use a magnetic (uncorrected) compass in hand (not an electronic). I used to use it that way, or to correct declination of my compass IF I ran into questionable declination settings in the field... think local anomalys, not electric/magnetic field issues in vehicles. I'm always showing people how to use a small piece of tape to do declination correction on compasses that don't have a mechanism... and how to keep a paper copy with them to use as a field reference. As for declination tables for use by GPS or to calculate from... even topo maps clearly state that their 'calculation' for annual changes is only good for ten years from date of publication. Then they change the magnetic north model field definition. And more than a few years from publication they say that the numbers could be off at that point. Always an interesting topic though... Anyone else do declination by shooting the North Star (sorry PS) I don't think that works from AUS. Not so good in the daytime either, or WX, but for local results it's accurate. Have a good holiday guys. Doug 7rxc

I'm a bit late chiming in, but trying to make some comments... It's not quite what we think of as Geocaching... but as you say something is/was hidden and people will try to find it IF the information is as good as possible and conditions permit. For me it has been a bit of a learning experience, but then for me everything is a learning experience. Memory is not as accurate as some people think at the best of times. So like most good puzzles it's best to try to get as much information as possible. First! I found your image reference and can see the trees as you stated, so good for you, the image following that one is just plain bad viewing... and in your second one they are indeed gone. Small trees might have been simply ripped out, leaving whatever was under them behind, or the whole thing might have been dug up and moved complete with root ball. I'm assuming they were not deep rooting plants and they were young/small. Not that that means much. I found myself wondering if they might have been 'transplanted' to the south side of the street or elsewhere. Not likely to be determined, but that area seems to have come and gone over the years. I stuck a GE map pin on the photos that are current showing the location before going to the historic images. Realized that GE registration wasn't so good back a few years... that pin appeared to move around a lot as I went back in 'time', but I had no problem keeping the houses straight... hope you did. One bonus for me, although it wasn't much use either, but still a good point of GE usage for this sort of hunting, was the discovery that GEStreet view also kicks back in time when the historical images are on. Quite a bit different (but similar) view in 2011. To bad they didn't have Street view when the two trees were still there, then we might have had something... You don't have any photos from back then do you? Say the street view of that walkway or something out front that shows the buildings and the trees there. Anyway. Thanks for jogging the mental juices for most of us. I learned something new which is good. By all means, give your kids the chance to time capsule something themselves, but document it for them and don't depend on temporary landmarks alone. Good luck with the project. Get out caching as well if they are up to it. At least they will understand your story better as to why. Now if the snow would stop so I can get out to cache. Terrible when -10C is a warm day. Doug 7rxc

LOL!! I know, I know. Most people drive through Elko, not to Elko. Actually, I enjoy our little trips back there. My sweetie is from there (We actually met there. I know, crazy!?!?) and we have had some fun adventures in the beautiful Ruby Mountains nearby - there's nothing like the smell of the sagebrush after a rainstorm. We throw a holiday geocaching event every year that we go. Looking forward to seeing our friends in that community again. Stay warm and safe out there! I believe the Snow Shovelers Union requires mandatory "warm up"/"delicious refreshment" breaks every 30 minutes. Big penalties if not adhered to. That Elko (NV) is a lot more developed than Elko (BC) near here... suspect it's a lot more lively as well. That said, nothing wrong with ours either... it's in the middle of some popular caching zones. As for shoveling rules... local conditions demand time to drive to Tim Horton's and back (an hour or more depending on where you are.) That's about 65 km for me, but there will be a new one closer soon. Mostly we just take the time and brew our own. Doug 7rxc

Yes... I've bathed a few dogs in my day... and one brother. (They were his dogs!). Mostly I learned it's better NOT to provoke a response in the first place. My friend there was mostly curious and at most just looking for something to eat. Spent most of it's time as you see it and then came over to see what I was doing next. And yes... I did get skunked on the cache that time... and the next two tries, then found it this year. I figured the ducks were holding it for ransom. Doug 7rxc

Back in 2012 I was making a frustating attempt at finding a micro, it was in the days following a big rain and wind storm and things were just drying up after blow downs and minor flooding in the creek. Life had been a bit disrupted for both types of locals, people and wildlife but was settling down. I DNF'd the cache at that time (found this summer). Still I have distinct memories of that search. The cache was Duck Crossing GC2TN4A While I was following GZ around considering all sorts of possibilities for the hide... I heard (and became aware of) a visitor a few feet away... forunately, all was good and stayed that way til we parted company 30 minutes later on. Definitely NOT a DUCK, although I was well prepared to just that although it might have been a futile effort. This summer when I finally got back to find the cache, the ducks were there as they had been, but I didn't see my friend at all. Doug 7rxc

I'd have to test them fairly to be sure, but I like what I see so far. My only concern is that the lid is only held on with a two level thread. A low thread count could lead to moisture wicking in. If these are as sturdy as they appear, they might make great containers for areas with salt water, which is harsh on ammo cans. The advertisement says they are used for shipping large quantities of prescription pills, which would lead me to believe they are fairly sturdy. I wonder if they make them smaller? Edit to add: I found a 2 gallon version by the same seller. About $33 after shipping. Yikes! I wish I knew who the manufacturer is, so I could hunt a local seller. That orignal link showed an image of the mfg. stamp. Try Curtec Not sure if you have that already, but I didn't see any posts on that... I see it's a bit dated. Doug 7rxc

Any chance it's related to cooler weather? I know that the eastern side of the US is cooler to cold right now, so weather is likely to be part of it. Around here, when the temp goes to -30 celcius, I think that it is puzzle time... for future finding (often not though due to distance). Of course not being PM, I don't look at those puzzles... However I do like hunting traditional PMOCs... but there are not very many around here. Most that are, I suspect are people challenging me to try... fair game, since I like puzzles in general. And since there are not an abundance of caches of any sort until lately, I'll do it. Even straight forward multis. But since I can't see the pages, puzzles are out. Still the basic it's time to solve concept works for me and I assume others... however once it warms up to -20c I'm game to go out, but it's not very productive to look for micros under a metre of snow, but winter friendly ones are fine to try. Doug 7rxc

Now that you have drawn attention to it online, expect many more virtual discovery logs. I'd recommend blurring the tracking number on the cache page photo or delete it completely and another photo. Showing that number invites false logging. Just blur a copy image using MS Paint etc. and repost it, remove the one with the tracking number completely. Doug 7rxc

Remember that once you grab it, you can then 'visit' it to the cache you found it in so that it gets mileage and location credit. After that it's back to normal. As for emails to the CO... well if you used the anonymous mailer in the profile, try adding your email address in the body of text... often people give up on trying the reply function simply because of the mailer name.. and the address is there in the REPLY address line, not ,<noreply@...> also check to see if their reply managed to get into your spam or junk folder... that happens too. When you log your grab on the TB page it should send them a message as well, so ask for contact from them in the same log. That often works better. Congrats for trying to straighten it out though, most of us TRY to when possible. Doug 7rxc