Macro

Here are some idea from a previous thread... Thoughts from my good friend King Pellinore

Here are some idea from a previous thread... Thoughts from my good friend King Pellinore

Not that long ago I had been out in the woods near a local lake doing some bass fishing. The local conservation officer stopped by to do a routine license check...of course my license was up to date so there wasnt much to the check, but then my curiousity got the better of me...I noticed that he was carrying a Glock 9mm, with 3 magazines on his belt. Now that is a lot of firepower for someone who is checking fishing licenses...so I asked him what he needed so much ammo for. He told me that more and more they come across dealer making large sales out in the woods. They think its safer than doing business in the urban areas where police patrol the streets. Out in the woods, a guy carry walk a mile out into the woods with a briefcase full of money and walk out with a briefcase full of drugs, and probably make the whole transaction without seeing another person. (except the dealer). The ranger told me that since they started seeing more drug activity out in the woods, they were arming up for it, as many dealers had sub-machine gun type weapons, or at minimum, serious firepower. I would not be surprised to hear that drug producers have taken to the woods to manufacture their product. Everyone be safe out there, I dont know what this world is coming to anymore.

I am planing one in NJ. It will be planned around a 20 mile hike. There is a parking lot at each end of the planned hike, which will be along the appalachian trail. You can either park at one end, go in half way to get the cache and then hike back, or you can go with a friend and park a car at both ends and hike through from one lot to the other. Either way I figure it will be about a 20 mile round trip hike. I plan to place the cache sometime soon, but I have no date planned just yet. I figure that finding this cache will take about two days for most people, 10 miles a day, camping out in the middle.

Either, they can both be good. I like fixed spots that are interesting, most likely that is the type I will do for my first V cache. There are some really great ones out there though, that require the finder to take a picture of certain items that may be found in many places, like the "Hometown" cache and the "USGS Recovery" cache. Those are good examples of how to do the "multi-spot" V cache. It's up to you, if you make a quality cache, it wont matter which you choose.

Ammo Cans! I swear by them...they are strong, weather proof, and if you didnt know...they come in many sizes, not just the .30CAL and .50CAL versions you see used all the time for caches. At an Army/Navy place near me they have them in about a dozen sizes, anything from the typical .30CAL small can up to something the size of a suitecase (approx 28"x10"x24" from what I can remember). If you cant get cans of this size, drop me an email. Perhaps I can ship a few out to you. Not sure how much they cost but I can get prices if you are interested. Let me know, Macro

A few thoughts on this... For starters, many people never even read the log book, they simply log in on the first blank page they see and never bother to read through other logs. Another problem is that when someone goes out after many caches in one day, after about 5 or 6 caches, it is easy to lose track of what you take and what you leave. By the time you get home to log the finds online, its easy to forget some items. I always bring a note pad and jot down what I take and leave at each cache so I have an accurate summary when I get home. Finally, as others have stated, some folks dont log the find online right away. I have had visitors to caches I did (saw their entry in the log book when maintaining the cache) butthey didnt log it online for a few weeks. Not sure what the delay was about, but they did eventually log it. Unfortunately, not everyone takes pride in maintaining the log book integrity. I know that I would prefer an accurate record, so that anyone can see where things have migrated to. I guess it's just asking too much of some people.

I bought a handheld GPSR a few years back after using mouted versions on boats and then later usinga friends handheld unit while trekking in the Rockies. I liked the added safety of having it along for big hikes out in the mountains. I go out to Colorado quite a bit and hike all over the place. Since I dont know the terrain as well as the locals, it made sense to carry a security policy with me...it's called an Etrex! Back home, I do a lot of hiking in north NJ and NY state. I have always navigated by map and compass, and for the most part still do...but having a waypoint set for a camp is a wonderful luxary. It wasnt until much later that I discover geocaching. Admittedly, my GPS gets more use for caching these days than it does for hikes alone.

I bought a handheld GPSR a few years back after using mouted versions on boats and then later usinga friends handheld unit while trekking in the Rockies. I liked the added safety of having it along for big hikes out in the mountains. I go out to Colorado quite a bit and hike all over the place. Since I dont know the terrain as well as the locals, it made sense to carry a security policy with me...it's called an Etrex! Back home, I do a lot of hiking in north NJ and NY state. I have always navigated by map and compass, and for the most part still do...but having a waypoint set for a camp is a wonderful luxary. It wasnt until much later that I discover geocaching. Admittedly, my GPS gets more use for caching these days than it does for hikes alone.

I owned a GPSR for hiking, camping, trekking, etc long before I knew about geocaching. Last summer while on vacation, my girlfriend was reading a magazine and came accross an article about geocaching. It was just a quick write up, but piqued my interest, the idea of using my GPS to find something was kinda neat. When we got back home, I programmed in the coordinates for a nearby cache...spent a few hours in a copper mine...and have been hooked ever since!

I have always believed that a "find" requires signing the log book. Knowing where it is does not satisfy the requirement. Go back and sign in, then log the find. Many caches are in clear sight, but are very difficult to actually get to. The cache hider obviously intends for the seeker to complete the effort before you can consider it a "find".

Ahhhh...so thats how you do it!

What I have done lately is to not average at all....well...kind of... When I set the first waypoint for a given location, I turn off the unit and walk away, usually about 500 feet. I turn the unit back on and walk back to the desired spot. When I get to the spot, I check the GPS to see where it is pointing. If I am within 20 feet, I take that reading and figure its good enough. If not, I make a note of where the GPS is pointing and how far, then manually increment the coordinates until it reads as close to zero as possible. At that point, I repeat the whole procedure...until I get a consistent reading under 20 feet. It takes only 5-10 minutes and I have gotten pretty good results with this method.

It's nice to see when people can still say they had a great time, even after all that! Good for you, for seeing the silver lining. But I must ask you, why so darn much technology? What ever happened to just printing out the cache page and heading of into the woods? Even if you are doing multiple caches in one day, just throw all the printouts ina backpack with your GPSR and head out...no wrong waypoints, got the description with you...the only thing you need to worry about is the batteries! Just a thought

quote:Originally posted by blscearce: I would expect geocaching to grow with one of those epidemiological S-shaped curves, where the rate of increase is proportional to the product of the "infected" and "uninfected". You learn about geocaching the same way you pick up a disease -- you come into contact with someone who already knows. I think this is pretty accurate, however there will be error when you consider that some people learn about geocaching from news articles, or GPS related stories. I guess it comes down to how we define "contact"....but overall, I agree with your assessment...I hadn't thought about it that way.

For the benefit of us who arent trained as cartographers, what is the actual difference in the different standards? Also, when referring to "datum", exactly what are you all referring to. I would love to understand this a little better and this seems like a good place to break it completely down. Also, still waiting to see what "danger close" means.

quote:Originally posted by Orange: I know spookymike is a suspect but we don't know if he did it. Let's take him for his word, he is no longer geocaching. I am not blaming anyone at this point. Whoever did this will never step forward and say so, therefore it will always be a mystery. I am not concerned with who did this anymore. I've had a full day to reflect on this and now am just focused on what to do with the cache itself. We love this spot (thats why we chose it) and I really want to keep Alluvial Material alive. Frankly, I dont care who stole the cache, I just hope that it doesnt happen again. And hey, you know what...if it does, I will just keep putting it back there...because ammo cans are cheap, and eventually the thief will grow tired of ruining my day! Back to the point...please lets not convict anyone....there is no physical evidence to condemn anyone, regardless of the circumstantial evidence. We all have our opinions, but its time to let that go and move on with what it is that we really care about...finding caches. Offically, Team_Epitome blames nobody for this. Obviously, the cache is gone, but we dont know who took it, nor do we care to contemplate it, it just isnt worth the effort. Team_Epitome (Macro/Team Member)

quote:Originally posted by Orange: I know spookymike is a suspect but we don't know if he did it. Let's take him for his word, he is no longer geocaching. I am not blaming anyone at this point. Whoever did this will never step forward and say so, therefore it will always be a mystery. I am not concerned with who did this anymore. I've had a full day to reflect on this and now am just focused on what to do with the cache itself. We love this spot (thats why we chose it) and I really want to keep Alluvial Material alive. Frankly, I dont care who stole the cache, I just hope that it doesnt happen again. And hey, you know what...if it does, I will just keep putting it back there...because ammo cans are cheap, and eventually the thief will grow tired of ruining my day! Back to the point...please lets not convict anyone....there is no physical evidence to condemn anyone, regardless of the circumstantial evidence. We all have our opinions, but its time to let that go and move on with what it is that we really care about...finding caches. Offically, Team_Epitome blames nobody for this. Obviously, the cache is gone, but we dont know who took it, nor do we care to contemplate it, it just isnt worth the effort. Team_Epitome (Macro/Team Member)

quote:Originally posted by dja416: I was the last one to find the cache and cash. I replaced it in the same location. I spent 3 trips and hours to find it. I was looking forward to viewing other attempts. I think it should be placed back once more. Is it really worth for someone to spend that long hike in to go and remove it again? It think it is worth giving it one more placement. I just recieved a really nice email from dja416 regarding this whole matter. He and I had been exchanging emails for a while before he found this one. I cant speak for the rest of the team, but based on everything that you all have posted, I am leaning towards replacing the cache. Nothing official yet, but when I get a chance to meet up with the rest of Team_Epitome to discuss the fate of Alluvial Material, I will push for replacing the cache, with some minor modifications. In fact, I will probably start on it tomorrow! I refuse to let one bad apple spoil the bunch. Thanks for all your suggestions and thoughts, Macro (member of Team_Epitome, and various other teams!)

quote:Originally posted by dja416: I was the last one to find the cache and cash. I replaced it in the same location. I spent 3 trips and hours to find it. I was looking forward to viewing other attempts. I think it should be placed back once more. Is it really worth for someone to spend that long hike in to go and remove it again? It think it is worth giving it one more placement. I just recieved a really nice email from dja416 regarding this whole matter. He and I had been exchanging emails for a while before he found this one. I cant speak for the rest of the team, but based on everything that you all have posted, I am leaning towards replacing the cache. Nothing official yet, but when I get a chance to meet up with the rest of Team_Epitome to discuss the fate of Alluvial Material, I will push for replacing the cache, with some minor modifications. In fact, I will probably start on it tomorrow! I refuse to let one bad apple spoil the bunch. Thanks for all your suggestions and thoughts, Macro (member of Team_Epitome, and various other teams!)

quote:Originally posted by BassoonPilot: I checked the leaderboard to learn what other logs the suspect had posted. He had posted 7 find logs and one informational log in total. I checked the cache pages, and each log had been deleted. I emailed "spookymike" and asked him why he deleted his logs. Here is his response: T.E: I've decided that geocaching is not my cup of tea and have decided to absent myself from the scene. Too much competitiveness for my liking. Thanks anyway, though, for taking the effort to establish a challenging hide. S I guess the pressure of geocaching is just too much for some people. I just wish he would have figured this out by his 6th cache! (Alluvial Material was his 7th)

quote:Originally posted by BassoonPilot: I checked the leaderboard to learn what other logs the suspect had posted. He had posted 7 find logs and one informational log in total. I checked the cache pages, and each log had been deleted. I emailed "spookymike" and asked him why he deleted his logs. Here is his response: T.E: I've decided that geocaching is not my cup of tea and have decided to absent myself from the scene. Too much competitiveness for my liking. Thanks anyway, though, for taking the effort to establish a challenging hide. S I guess the pressure of geocaching is just too much for some people. I just wish he would have figured this out by his 6th cache! (Alluvial Material was his 7th)

In the days of discreet component boards, I would have suggested replacing the components on the circuit board with higher quality (meaning higher tolerance) components. I used to do this with audio amplifiers many years ago, and always improved the sound. For a GPSR however, unless you dont need your spare, I would say that tinkering with it will probably render it useless, unless of course you are an electrical engineer with a lab, then things might go just fine. Since these boards are primarily IC based, you would need to find a manufacturer of "high performance" IC's and replace the ones that came from the factory. No idea if this would effect accuracy, but I suppose for a few bucks it might be worth a shot. I doubt you will be able to get a schematic for your GPS, so locating the reciever components may be difficult. If possible, determine what the optimum input impedance of the antenna is, and then use a function generator with a scope, and verify that the Z(in) is acceptable. That is you biggest factor in reception, impedance matching for the input signal. Good luck, let us know what you find.

Well, for this cache you may be out of luck, but for your future team efforts, here is what we did. Myself and a few geocaching friends decided to do some compilation effort caches. Since we all "owned" the cache, rather than use an individual account for it, we created a new account name, along with a new hotmail address for it. We all share the passwords, and all keep up with emails and edits. This has worked great for us...we all have our own caches that we personally do under our own accounts, but for the team efforts, as far as anyone else knows, we have nothing to do it. The only thing that winds up being a problem at times is that since we all have our own accounts, we dont log finds to the team account. As a result, some people dont like seeking a really difficult cache posted by a team with no finds...they think its a fake, or that we didnt know what we were doing. As credible people find your cache however, this isnt a problem anymore. Hope this helps, Macro (of various teams!)

I feel like I am in a locals forum! I cant believe you did all that in a year! You and BP amaze me....so many caches, so little time. And Artful...are you a programmer...you always have the coolest (and topic appropriate) UBB graemlins? Congrats Floopy on a very productive year!