archaeor

Clowns??!!?? . . . Clowns??!!?? Did someone mention CLOWNS??!!?? Don't get me started!!!

Funny thing is, I could upload an animated .gif avitar to my profile . . . but I can't use it . . . Huh! http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/195173_600.gif Oh well . . .

My SporTrak Topo is on the fritz, and, according to Magellan Tech Support I need to reload the Firmware. Their email gave instructions for this, and I downloaded MagUp for the SporTrak Topo off their website. The email says I need to upload a file called Spottopo.hex, but the MagUp program only contains a file called Ztopo402.hex. Should I try uploading the Ztopo402.hex instead of the one they said to use? And, if not, where can I find the Spottopo.hex file? I thought I'd ask here, before calling Tech Support. Thanks in advance, Rick

Sportrak Topo. Read my post about it here. I sent in a support request to Magellan on Saturday, still haven't heard back.

This is the one I made for free! It only took about 1 minute to cut the side out of a plastic flowerpot. Works great, too! Do I win a prize??!!??

Sportrak Topo, purchased 2 weeks ago, date code 44/03. Bulges and discoloration on all 6 holes, but no cracks, yet. BTW, it's probably going back to Thales . . . it no workee, lost it's map . I'm waiting to hear from customer support. I'll ask them to replace the case while they're at it.

My GPSr has 'lost it's mind' . . . literally . . . (I believe the flash memory is gone), it's useless and I'm waiting to hear back from 'customer support' on Monday. Anyway, I was planning on taking SWMBO and our 2 year-old daughter Brooke out to find a local cache today, but since the GPSr was on the fritz, we went to a nice park I found on a previous find instead. What my question is: I'm pretty sure that I could have found the other cache I was planning on looking for today without using the GPSr, using only the "hints" and the other maps provided on the cache page, especially since I know the area well. If I had found it (and I'm going to try tomorrow), would that count as a "find" if I didn't use the GPSr?? Should I log it as a "found it", even though I didn't use the GPSr?? Does it count?? I'm so confused . . .

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UPDATE: . . . Now, when I turn the unit on, the screen actually says something: It says: "UNIT CURRENTLY CONTAINS NO MAP!" "INITIATING MAP UPLOAD" I'm thinkin' the internal battery isn't functioning. I've looked at the Magellan Support website, but it doesn't give me any clues. Anybody know?? It took 15 minutes or so to upload the MapSend maps from my computer onto the unit after I first got it. Should I just let it sit for a while and see if it works (uploads) all on it's own?, or, should I try and upload the maps off of the CD again?? (or, <Horrors> actually get in touch with customer support??) Rick

Gee . . . Thanks a Lot!!! I've just sent the support fee to your PayPal account . . . Now will you tell me what's wrong!!???!!! Actually, I'm kinda' upset here . . . I was looking forward to a weekend full of geocaching :D . . . I guess I'll just have to rely on nothing but 'hints' and topo maps Rick

And yes, the batteries are fresh (I've tried several). My Magellan Sportrak Topo (2 weeks old, never dropped or wet) won't turn on . . . I've installed fresh batteries and when I push the POWER button, nothing appears on the screen, and all it does is emit an intermitent "Beep" every 10 seconds or so. And it won't turn off (stop beeping) when I push the POWER button again either (I have to remove the batteries to get it to stop). It was working just fine 2 hours ago. Anybody have any ideas?? or is this a "contact Magellan" issue???. Thanks, Rick

As a professional archaeologist, myself, I guess I'll chime in here. All archaeological sites on public lands are protected by law as 'non-renewable' resources. Once they are destroyed, vandalized, pot-hunted, altered in any way, or even excavated by archaeologists, they can't be put back and potential important information could be lost. The "50 year-old or older" is just one of many guideline criterium that the law uses to define whether or not an archaeological resource is eligible for protection under the law. Other criteria include: The resource is associated with people or events important in understanding history; is likely to yield information important to answering scientific questions regarding history; is the oldest, or best, example of it's type; etc., etc. It is the role of a qualified archaeologist to understand the law and determine the significance of an archaeological resource in order to recommend how a particular resource should be treated. For example, if that '54 Chevy is a rotting hulk down in a ditch, it's probably not archaeologically significant enough to warrant treatment or preservation. But if it were to be discovered that it was the car that some important person crashed and died in, then it might qualify as a significant archaeological resource under the law. Case in point . . . during archaeological excavations at the Stahl Site near Little Lake, Ca., we discovered the burnt and rusted remains of an old '40s Ford Woody. This car belonged to the deceased archaeologist (J.P. Harrington) who excavated the same site over fifty years earlier. He clearly describes in his log how his Woody somehow caught on fire and burned, so he had to walk out. Mr. Harrington was an early, important California archaeologist (a little eccentric, but important), so we recorded his old Woody as an archaeological resource. Preservation is always the preferred method of lessening any potential damaging impacts to an archaeological site. Sometimes, the best action in order to protect a significant resource from damage is to keep the location of the resource hidden from the public. All petroglyph sites on public lands will probably qualify as significant, under the law. And, my experience has been, that for whatever reason, some folks, especially hunters and 'plinkers' like to use them as targets during target practice. Even seemingly responsible persons can unknowingly (or stupidly) damage rock art sites. For the movie "The Doors" with Val Kilmer (an excellent movie, BTW) the producers contracted with the NPS at Joshua Tree National Monument in California to use a cave with petroglyphs and pictographs for a scene in the movie. Unfortunately, the rock art didn't show up well while they were filming the scene, so they "enhanced" the rock art with spray paint!! Which, of course, ended up in a heavy fine for the movie company, and irrepairable damage to the resource. They also had to pay to have the rock art "cleaned", but there wasn't much they could do to repair the damage. Now, I'm not about to suggest in any way that any geocacher would be so irresponsible so as to knowingly cause damage to an archaeological resource, (and I know I'm streching it here), but if some crazy 'plinker' with a passion for using petroglyphs as targets were to do a Google search for "petroglyph" and were pointed to the geocache.com page because that word was in the description of a recent cache, the exact location of that resource (within 3 meters, of course) would be available to them. Just more "food for thought". We now return you to your regularly scheduled geocache forum. Rick edited for typos and content.

Better comment on these while you can . . . this post is going to get 86ed soon . . . Many years ago, in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only — Ladies Forbidden"....and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language. The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury. Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better. Coca-Cola was originally green. It is impossible to lick your elbow. The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (Now get this.) The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38% The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400 The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000 Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910. The youngest pope was 11 years old. The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer. The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades — King David Hearts — Charlemagne Clubs — Alexander, the Great Diamonds — Julius Caesar Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th,John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. Q: Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what? A: Their birthplace Q: Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested? A: Obsession Q: If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"? A: One thousand Q: What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? A: All invented by women. Q: What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A: Honey Q: Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year? A: Father's Day In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames with ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight." It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month — which we know today as the honeymoon. In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in Old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's." Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice. AND FINALLY, (drum roll, please . . . ) At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow. (Sorry, just having fun! ) Rick

That cache has to be around here somewhere . . . Rick

They have hills that high in Kansas??!!!?? J/K, Rick

Okay . . . here's the Doll Pic (sorry it took so long, had to have my wife email it to me from her work). Pretty scary, huh?? Rick

Do an unfiltered search on Google Images for "Janet Jackson" and see what comes up . . . If your kids were breastfed as infants, it's not anything they haven't seen before . . . Just my $0.02. Rick

Okay . . . by popular demand, here's the 'Eyeball Story" (short version): 1994, Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California . . . During the seismic upgrade and renovation of this popular San Francisco landmark building (now a museum), they discovered a late 19th century cemetary on the property. This cemetary (circa. 1860-1890) was supposed to have been relocated before the Palace was built in 1915 for the Panama Exposition. It wasn't. We uncovered over 700 coffin burials as a result of this project, and in one area, we discovered the remains from the (what was then) the University of San Francisco Medical School anatomical studies buried in the cemetary. These were the remains of cadavers used by medical students during their medical training, and consisted of boxes (coffins) consisting of legs, arms, torsos, and craniums (skulls). We also encountered an area that had a number of various glass jars, which contained the preserved organs which had been removed during the anatomical studies. One of these jars contained preserved eyeballs. They looked a little like 'freeze-dried' mushrooms, but were intact enough to make an instant identification. And . . . they were blue eyes. Cool, Huh??!!?? Here's a pic of the excavation (notice the coffins all lined up): Rick

I'm new to 'geocaching', but have spent over 20 years, hiking thousands of miles 'out and about', exploring my world and have stumbled across some pretty strange and bizarre things out there. I'm just wondering . . . what strange and bizarre things have YOU encountered during your wanderings?? For me (just to name a few): 1) Two marijuana patches (one already harvested w/booby traps . . . thankfully I'm observant, and one abandoned . . . enough said); 2) "Oh look . . . a decomposing dead deer" . . . "But why does it have a collar with tags??" . . . "Oh my, it's not a deer, it's somebody's pet llama!!" (We called the phone number on the tags but got no answer); 3) Eyeballs (not actually encountered during a hike, but during an archaeological excavation . . . I'll tell the story if anyone wants to hear it); 4) Found out in the field by my wife, who is a wildlife biologist: half-a-dozen plastic toy dolls with the arms and legs pulled off, stuck onto sharp sticks, sticking out of the ground in the middle of nowhere (pictures on request); 5) Homeless encampments are always a little strange . . . Etc., etc., . . . What have You found?? Rick

So . . . even though I allow my GPSr (Magellan SporTrak Topo) at least 10 minutes or more to WAAS average my coordinates at my house (in the backyard, stationary, fairly level terrain, few trees, locked in to at least 8 satellites, etc.), it still places my location as being in the driveway of one of my neighbors' house, a block and a half away, as shown on the display screen based on the "MapSend" Topo software (off by 250 ft +/-)!! Not just this once, but every time since I got the GPSr a week ago, or so. My question is: Could it be that the downloaded software is showing the streets inaccurately on my GPSr (so it shows my position as being 250 ft. away), or, do I live in some sort of "GPS Accuracy 'Null-Zone' "??? Most everywhere else I've tested my GPSr for accuracy (based on topo maps, etc.), it's been 'Spot On' within a few feet or so . . . except at my house Help!! TIA (Thanks in Advance) BTW (By the Way), has anyone ever tried using an old TV satellite dish with their GPSr to improve reception??? Think it would work??? (Sorry . . . just my mind working overtime) Rick

Thanks, all, for the warm welcome!! Many of the things that are attracting me into 'geocaching' are the same things that got me started into a career in archaeology (cultural resource management). 1. A love of the outdoors; 2. The thrill of the hunt; 3. (and especially), the minute, or so, of total excitement when you actually find something; and, 4. Ending the day with a feeling of accomplishment. The only down side of doing archaeology is that for every hour you spend in the field, you have to spend another five hours writing it up!! . BTW, your take on Robert Frost totally made me laugh!! LOL. That particular poem has been my 'theme poem' since I was a kid!! Rick

First of all . . . "Hi"! I've been lurking here for about a week, and, I must say, "80,000+ caches in over 150 countries, and I've never heard of 'geocaching??". Jeez . . . there's over 100 caches within 10 miles of where I live! As I mentioned, I'm totally new to this and truly can't wait to get started, and besides, this was the perfect reason to justify getting a GPSr. (Shhh!!!..., don't tell SWMBO , it went on MY credit card, anyway .) SporTrak Topo should arrive this week! Anyway, I've got a couple of questions . . . I'm much more familiar with UTM coordinates than Latitude and Longitude and this is my first time using GPS. Can I use UTM as efficiently as L & L to navigate (and find caches), etc.? and, Will I ever have to spend hours 'hovering' around a newly found cache to avoid the "muggles", only to find out that the "muggles" were other geocachers looking for the same cache??? (J/K . . . ) This is going to be a lot of fun. Thanks for a new hobby! Rick