7rxc

I'll use this note for replying to... the thread... adventurous_fiona is listed in the members list... 12 caches in England and BC found... No trackables listed on the profile... latest were in 07... Edit: My Error... ALL were in 08 last in October 26 08 while in England... Tag found was left... earlier in September... it seems: GC16W0E Scout and About September 2, 2008 by adventurous_fiona (12 found) Found cache with my mum First find in the UK...nice intro. Took star, left piece of 'Kelowna' pottery. Looks like it is just a tag with a misson... not trackable... Just a start, I'm still looking around... you keep going. Doug

Given the age of the original border survey, and the nature of property titles from that period, they certainly have their work cut out... that was an interesting article. I also start to wonder what if any the effect of the NAD27 to WGS84 datum had... the whole world squirmed a bit when they redefined the measurements... even recent (relatively) maps had noticeable shifts... I accept that old records were usually based on descriptions of the land... ie landmark to landmark... and when surveyed finally they were indexed on those points... I wonder if the summit of Sassafras is in SC any more... or ever was... sigh! Perhaps 'borderline' cases need to be identified as borderline... claim either/or/all as it suits you... I should see if there is a cache at Four Corners... what would that be?... Meanwhile, it seems that the intent here was clear, to celbrate a local 'fact' and if the GZ coordinates are good... let it stand til everyone is sorted out, and then adjust... Doug

When you go, try reading the front of the log... even a micro should have the cache ID information... at least the GC / TC whatever number... I'm assuming it's not a full size cache... which would have more. Even the smallest I've found to date had ID and that was a nano.. Good luck, sometimes Identifying the mysterious is more fun than finding the planned cache. Doug

Looks like it is waiting to be logged as moved from the point lighthouse cache to the ridge cache... There's a photo of it in the hands of a cacher... who also visited the ridge... and that is where the OP found it. Doug I agree the number is in the log at the ridge...

Dreaded fatal error Dupe... sorry Doug

Deed is done! Although I answered truthfully, the next grouping is only 5 months, 19 days away... the big 60... Although I feel like I got there decades ago... for the record I'm officially ... er ... um... 39... Doug

Thanks for the list... I'm guessing it might be either just short, or there are some others... unless that is a very small class I checked out the page for the "Hidden Falls" as I said and it looked good... I'm originally from Toronto and know the area well. We live out here in Elkford BC and there are some really nice caching sites just waiting for me... to place and find. Things have been a bit busy for us in the area the last couple of days... if you watch the news... sometimes you find things you don't really want to but it has to be done... Anyway, you can always check out caches in the East Kootenay region, who knows someday you might be visiting the area... lots to find... but it isn't a really big winter pastime here, yet anyway... I have Ideas about one up our xc ski trail, which is mostly safe in winter... I was up to one cabin last weekend at the 3.5 km marker... not that far, but all uphill and there is another 3.5km to the 2nd cabin... so lots of winter possible cache sites in that stretch, maybe... It's doable in summer as well on foot... nice 'semi wilderness area' no motorized thingies allowed most of the time... Got to run. hope you got good marks.. Doug

I guess it depends a lot on where you are... like any navigation exercise... Around here declination is in the area of 16 degrees E... not a big deal at 276 feet like you say, at least to experienced navigators who clearly understand what the corrections might be... I was at one training session where everyone was heading off 32 degrees right of the actual course given... a slight error on the course setters part was to blame... and that made a big difference... the correction was made W... thus the extra 16 degrees... the wrong way. Didn't take much to figure and recalculate, for me... I'm still waiting for the others... Glad to see someone else uses backbearings (even with the GPS)... I have an older Garmin 45xl for cacheing... and use triangulation extensively when the sats are obscured... Only way to find some of the caches in the woods (forests actually, surrounded by mountains)... On the other hand, I use the Google Maps to work on some things like this... works ok if its in True North... Just not enough detail... Anyone there know if the new GPS allow declination correction... my old one does, but doesn't really have a built in compass... but it is handy when using the Suunto which is corrected... BTW... did you know that a handy way to check your declination setting is to 'shoot' the North Star and see how your needle aligns... but don't do it near a magnet... Of course it helps if you can see the stars at night. I made a guess as to what cache this was...not sure I found the right one... OP, what was it anyway? Since I can't cache til the deep snow clears... I might as well dream of Florida... Doug

Welcome!... A class project was it. Glad to see that something like that occurred. If you have read the thread, you will see that MOST of us are supportive of anyone who takes time to create a cache. I haven't made one yet, but then I have been out of shcool for many years, but occupied by life... On the other hand, the big concern is that caches fit the 'rules' and are of course, not giveaways... So my question to you would be... were you left to figure it out on your own (a research project) or did you get some sort of classroom instruction on how, where etc. Also do any of your classmates check in here or are they not as dedicated to caching... Many people only do project's for the credit not out of interest... are any of them active cachers now, or did they fade away... or maybe intend to return next spring... Many of us have put it aside for a bit better weather... and other pastimes... Do you know what the other caches are... I'm not likely to be looking, since I'm in B.C. I'm sure more than one cacher here would like to visit them if good. I saw one listed to you (the falls thing)... that seemed well received... but that was from the logs... was that your project? Anyway got to run... nice to meet you. Doug

While on the subject of navigation practice... Remember there are three Norths... True, Grid and Magnetic... Make sure you know which is set on your GPS or Compass... My first instinct is to go with Magnetic First, since that is what most people think of first when measuring direction... with True North a strong Second choice... Grid North is the realm of people using UTM Grid maps, and is usually close to True North. so unless high precision is needed treat like the same thing in most areas, especially closer to the equator. Most GPS I've seen including the old one I use can be set to the appropriate North... The real problem is in knowing which the person setting the instruction used... I wonder if there is a Geocaching.com standard for Compass North Settings... As for built into the GPS... what next? Maps, Compass, Lists, I have a track plot, and display of direction made good and bearing to target... also distance... sure wish I had one of those new fangled ones. Doug

Anyone up for some 3d rendering I'm In... Edit: waiting to see what it looks like here... bumping this up a bit too! Edit2: Not to bad... we might need to adjust the thing a bit, perhaps the corners off...? Doug

Last night it warmed up to -26C... light snow flurries, better than last weeks -31C and clear... Should get some snow over the next day or so which means a bit milder, around -20...or warmer... Thank goodness the cold weather doesn't show up for a bit longer, since we have to get ready for avalanche season after Christmas... Have a good holiday season all... whatever your holiday. Doug

I'm just using this as a space to opine, since you have a good take on it... One thing I noticed it the reference on the sticker to Geocache... I doubt any lawful agency would bother making a sticker that specific... litter, garbage, unwanted item, okay... but Geocache specifically... hmm. I agree with the flow... problemed person, or professional muggle perhaps... Did anyone produce the ID for the chap who sent that 'warning' email... be interesting to hear their side of things... wouldn't it! Doug

Well, since you were not overly specific on details, check out the pinned subjects on the Canada section... Parks Canada Rules... You aren't all that far away... Merry Christmas! Doug

I'll check that out while I'm calculating mine... Come spring thaw I might be able to help you out... edit... just noticed the post date... make that S T 2009 Of course your centroid might shift a bit by then... Doug

I do not know that unit other than to look at one... but... does that use the 'lock to road' option that many here refer to... that can force the unit into displaying only the closest road access to the coordinates. As for EPE.... I always tell GPS students to imagine that the waypoint is somewhere in a circle with the EPE as radius... Then I tell them that the your position shown is in another circle with with the EPE as radius... worst case is that the circles can just overlap on opposite sides... (just touching) but the place you want to be may be on the far side from you or vice versa... using 50 feet for EPE both cases that could be almost 200 feet away... add to that the fact that the circle you are in can be anywhere around the circumference of the first, and the area can get quite large... Of course that is the Worst case (for accurate readings) Some say I should buy a newer generation GPS, but at least mine presents coordinates and bearings to the target area... so I can triangulate a bit... That said, I have not missed a find because of the age of my 45xl... my age maybe!... Welcome to the club! Doug

Cedar trees will soon stand out yearround out here in BC... All the pine trees are being killed off by beetles... As for the ticks / snakes (add bears etc...) they take the winter off because they don't like frozen flesh... What I like is the lack of crowds, need for reservations in campgrounds etc... of course there could be a few more findable caches locally. Doug

I guess it depends on what military, and what section... NATO uses mils, Canada sure does... Air tends to use degrees, same for Maritime. Mils are used for artillery, but in the time before ... way back... it was not uncommon to read degrees, minutes, seconds... even Radians depending on what you had available to measure with... its more in the execution of the measurement. UTM and MGRS are both different and the same... it is exactly the same grid... 1 km squares at 1:50000.. the prime difference is the method of designating the grid reference... UTM zone and block number followed by the eastings and northings for one and the 2 letter block identifiers plus eastings and northings for MGRS. With UTM there is a more frequent reuse of numbers, thus more blocks and zones... less chance of critical duplication errors with MGRS but then you have to make sure some people can read two letter codes correctly or the numbers get out of sorts. As someone else said the grid NS lines point to true north ONLY along the center meridian of a UTM zone... otherwise there is an offset known as covergence of meridians... that has to be dealt with... near the equator, it isn't as great as more poleward... up here between 49 and 51 N lat... the convergence angle is about .75 degrees per degree east or west of the central meridian... never more than 2 and a bit degrees. This changes with the distance north / south of the equator since the width of a degree of longitude decreases as you get up toward the poles. We use about 1.4 degrees E. Grid north is thus seldom True North... as for Magnetic North, that moves around and is corrected using declination. Magnetic Declination is measured from Magnetic to True North, Grid Declination is measured from Magnetic to Grid North. Doug

Looks like it is now complete (and approved) Perhaps it should be titled: The 12 Days of Murfster's Christmas Doug

Quite likely more people will suffer from the effects of excessive stress caused by worrying about it ! Doug

10 Signals Laughing 9 CITO T shirts 8 compasses spinning 7 stealthy cachers 6 muggles laying 5 Ammo cans 4 Shiny coins 3 log books 2 Garmin Oregons And a film canister in a tree?

What is this "pen" you reference? Don't you sign all logs in blood? Its the pointy implement you dip into the blood in order to apply same to the paper / parchment / papyrus or whatever is handy... preferably some one elses blood! Doug

Maybe, he'd get a FAKE ticket for having the abovementioned FAKE logos and tags... same goes for FAKE fines and FAKE time in a FAKE jail... and there I rest... Still like the concept though! Doug

How many of those 'holidays' occur between Nov 15 and Dec 24 2008... obviously Canadian holidays don't match up exactly? Doug

One thing to consider... BPA is in question, and occurs in bottles marked #7 (recyclable).... BUT... Not all #7 bottles neccessarily contain BPA... #7 is the category for everything that does not fit into #1 through #6 categories... as for what might be in other materials landing in the category, they might be safe® or they might not... Research is called for when one is not sure. I have recently been given a Nalgene as a draw prize, and yep it was a polycarbonate one, #7 and all. I'm going to use it, but, I'm still not sure if it is BPA or not (I suspect that it is), but I have seen almost the same bottle marked BPA free... so who knows... One good piece of advice I read somewhere, so don't quote me please, but it made sense to me... Avoid HOT liquids and avoid acidic liquids (juices) if you wish to use an older bottle... they could cause significant leaching compared to cool, non-acidic liquids. COULD that is... I went one step further on that line and filled the bottle (and left open) with hot water and allowed it to sit til cool then repeated many times [ they should be washed when new anyway ]. At the end of my patience of about 1 week, I felt that any immediate prospects of leaching would have done so and that it should be reasonable to expect very little afterwards in cool water. Of course I failed Chemistry a lot... Just a thought. Doug