jkettu

Just like any other log, a DNF is a record on geocaching's collective history books. It just documents a fact that happened. Nothing negative about it, neither towards the hider nor towards yourself. In most cases a DNF log contains useful information and there never is any negative consequences for logging one. Please, do not falsify history by not logging a DNF when you searched but didn't find it. As for how long to search before giving up, that's entirely your own decision. A good mystery could take years to solve, a good traditional might take several attempts = several DNF logs.

Take the strongest permanent magnet you can find. The ones found in old cd-rom drives or loudspeakers would work well. Pull it along the surface of the part you are magnetizing, starting at one edge of the magnet and pulling all the way through until the magnet is no longer in contact with the workpiece. Return the magnet to starting position well away from the workpiece and continue swiping it with the magnet. Important: all passes must be made to the same direction and the relative orientation of magnet and workpiece must not be changed. Each pass will add a tiny bit of magnetic field to the workpiece, building up enough strength will take some time and patience. Also note that some materials are easier to magnetize than others and some can't be magnetized at all. You will just need to experiment. If there is room, it might be easier to just drill a hole at the bolt end and glue a rare-earth magnet in there. Fully submerged in the water isn't optimum, rust needs oxygen to form. It would be better if you could arrange a spray of salt water to keep the bolt moist, but fully exposed to the atmosphere. Or rig some kind of a contraption that occasionally dunks the bolt in a bath of salt water and then lifts it back up in the air.

This. And if the stages need to be visited in a specific order, I'd appreciate if the general direction would be mentioned in the cache description. Something like "To avoid backtracking, this is better done travelling north to south.".

Why is it always easier to climb up a cliff face than to come back down? I'd have expected it to be the other way round.

You found it and signed the log: log it as found on the website. No need to wait for the cache to be fixed or get back to it, your signature already is in the logbook. You noticed that maintenance is needed and made an online log to indicate it. That was a correct thing to do. Two separate events, two separate online logs. Both are an essential part of cache history.

I'm not sure if it is only an illusion, but I'm using the following technique and it seems to be more accurate than the drunken bee dance: Walk along a line that intentionally passes the assumed GZ by 100-200 feet. Keep your speed as constant as possible. Note when the arrow is pointing directly to the side and note some landmarks to mark a line along which the true GZ is located. Continue walking well past the GZ on your original heading. Then turn 90°, again walk past the GZ and establish a second locator line to the true GZ. Now put away the gpsr, go to the intersection of those lines and start looking.

Some good ideas there, thanks everybody.

So, there is a rather nice rest area for hikers in the middle of nowhere. It has a lean-to for overnight camping, fire place, well of drinking water, tables, toilets, etc. Nothing comparable for at least ten miles radius. If I place a cache half a mile from this rest area, I can put attributes of the services available on the cache listing, right? How about one mile? Two miles? Where is the limit? Naturally I would explain the situation in the description and let the seekers know how much further they would need to go from the 'base camp' to find the cache.

Stupid question of the day: Suppose there is an abandoned cache, I would like to adopt it, but the CO is unresponsive. If I post a NA, it gets archived and I create a new cache, exactly duplicating the original (only GC code, CO name and date of placement would be different), would there be any copyright issues or other problems?

Google maps is only one of the at least eight map services I am aware of. And imho, not even the best. If they wish to price themselves out of the market, who am I to argue?

Each airport has a datum point which coordinates are public information. I'll leave as an exersice where they can be found.

No, trackables do not contain any beacons, rfid tags nor any other active elements. But the bug tags and some coins are metal and might trigger the metal detector at security checkpoint if you forget them in your pocket. Easiest way to get them on the plane is to pack them in the baggage that you leave at the check-in desk. If you want/need to take them with your carry-on baggage, treat them the same as your car keys or some other metal object of equivalent size. I have never had any problems with getting them on board.

Are you sure it is not trying to route you to the cache using any and all pedestrian-accessible roads nearby? There should be a separate setting somewhere which lets you select off-road (instead of shortest time or shortest distance).

On some units USB connector/pcb solder joints have been cracked. The connector is not supported in any other way and frequent wiggling of the cable puts stress directly to solder points. Relatively easy to reflow them if you are comfortable with fiddling with electronic devices. If not, Garmin will fix this for a fixed fee, contact your local dealer for a quote.

Stupid noob question of the day: Can a CO edit terrain/difficulty ratings without bothering a reviewer? To me the obvious solution would seem to be to leave the cache active, but adjust the ratings according to the season. For example many island caches on my latitude would be terrain 5 during summer, but only 2 in winter.

Sorry, can't help with a place to get it repaired. Just wanted to make sure you are aware that when closing the metal tab, you need to push it against the card and then slide it towards the bottom of the unit until it clicks into locked position.

The OP doesn't say exactly how old his Sirf unit is, but here's yet another point to consider: There is a fairly well known issue with 60's antenna connections cracking when the antenna is repeatedly flexed by external force, more information for example here. Easiest way to check this would be to use an external antenna and see if there is any improvement.

Geocaching is only one of the things I use a gps for. I need accuracy and reliability. Had an Oregon 300 for a while, but managed to trade it for a 60csx for only $100 financial loss - I'm happy now. 'nuff said.

Also please note that at least on Garmins there is yet another setting: offroad. I believe that pedestrian still tries to put your position to a road, it just ignores all the car-specific stuff. Offroad is what I use every time I'm on foot.

How would you know where it is "supposed" to be? Considering the accuracy of both your and hider's gprs, 18' is practically spot on. Leave it hidden as you found it. If in doubt, let the cache owner know of the situation (email or 'needs maintanence' log) and let him sort it out.

Macs do write some unnecessary stuff to the sd card that causes this kind of behaviour. IIRC the cure is simply to delete those offending files from the card. Sorry, can't remember the details and couldn't find them with couple minutes of searching, but this is a known issue and has been discussed before. Edit: Found it: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=234140

I'm not whinger, but.. Yes, I did own an Oregon and fully agree with all three posts above. Unless you absolutely can not live without paperless features, I recommend a 60.

Only difference between 'geocache' and 'waypoint' is the icon. You can change that too on the waypoint edit page. I'm a bit confused here - do you already have the cache info downloaded through usb and can't find it through the menus? Or do you wish to manually enter coordinates to the unit?

This works with 60csx, I guess it is the same with 60. Push 'Mark' button. This will mark up your current location and bring up the waypoint edit screen. Highlight coordinates field and press enter. Edit the coordinates. Use left/right triangle arrows on numbers window to move cursor. When done, select ok. If you wish, you can also edit waypoint name and other details.

Good point. Now that I think of it, similar thing happened to me too. I started a thread about this in the Geocaching.com website forum.