MtnGoat50

This guy was in my backyard for several hours last Friday morning. edited to remove link to website.

It's starting to pile up around here. These are a couple of pics from Spokane this morning.

Yep, If it's a "Premium Members Only" cache you can see an audit log of everyone that's looked at the page. I've only had a couple go missing. Making them PM caches has helped and it can be fun to see who's visiting your cache page. Just to clarify my statement. There is no way to see who has the cache on their "watchlist".

Yep, If it's a "Premium Members Only" cache you can see an audit log of everyone that's looked at the page. I've only had a couple go missing. Making them PM caches has helped and it can be fun to see who's visiting your cache page.

Thanks! I'm trying to set up a cartridge where people visit different locations and have to answer a question to move on to the next location. When a player enters a zone I display a message directing them to the tasks button where I've made active and visible a task called question. When they click on it, it's supposed to get input. This works fine in the emulator but when I try it on the Colorado it doesn't work. I just get the task description but none of the "on click" events execute. I don't see a commands window in tasks so it looks like I may have to make my questions "items" instead of "tasks" to use your work around? Thanks again for your help. This has been very frustrating, I thought I was almost ready to publish when I discovered this problem.

To answer my own question.... I have added the extra custom command (duplicating most of the onclick action) but if the onclick action is executed (because it runs on a PPC or because the Colorado player has been fixed) as part of this action the now unnecessary workaround is removed. Any chance of getting some sample code. I've run smack into the same problem. Works fine in the emulator but not on the Colorado...

Cool!! I think that's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!!!!

I'm working on a cartridge that involves touring a park. One particular area of the park is closed in the Winter. Can I design the cartridge so it will automatically skip that area during the winter?

I'll second that! And, Congratulations to LLCool for topping 2000!

I found this old post. I'm not sure if it still applies....

My answer to the OP's original question is, dumb caches. I've seen a lot of them. On the other hand, I've met a lot of geocachers and I can't think of any I'd call stupid. I also realize that smart people often do dumb things. I know I do, I just try to learn from them. I like fake electrical box hides (fake sprinklers and magnetic key holders too). They work well in places where nothing else will. I would hate to see them banned. What I don't like are fake sprinkler heads hidden near the real thing and I really don't like caches that require the finder to bring a tool in order to take anything apart. If the guidelines where updated with something like. "Caches that require the finder to bring a tool (such as screwdriver to open an electrical box, or a wrench to remove a bolt or nut), are not allowed". I would be fine with that. I also think it's unfair to accuse searchers of vandalism when an area is damaged from excessive searching due to poor coordinates or a poorly thought out cache. From my experience most people search carefully but when you have enough people searching an area, it's going to show some wear. A competent hider will take this into consideration.

That's awesome! The map on the cache page seems to have a lot more "quads" than your map?

I'm excited about the upcoming cache machines and I was just looking at a map of Yakima showing regular caches. The map centered on Yakima shows about 100 caches. Out of curiosity I looked at the Tri Cities. A map with the same area there returns about 390 caches!!!! I realize it's late but is there any chance of swapping dates with Yakima? I'm afraid if you wait until the fall of 2009 it will have to be a week long event! Whatever you decide is fine. My wife and I had a blast at Grays Harbor and were disappointed to miss Vancouver so we're really looking forward to the next one.

My wife and I worked the one in Spokane last year and really enjoyed it. We thought it was very worthwhile helping teachers learn about geocaching and we had a lot of fun!

These are some Lock&Locks I've painted along with some stencils I hand cut. I use Krylon camo paint with a first coat of Krylon Fusion (satin black) . It works pretty well but I think I'll try the Valispar primer next time. I've also noticed that the newer cans of Krylon "ultra flat" camo colors say they're made with "Fusion technology" so maybe the primer won't be necessary.

Me too! I would really like a chance to finish the challenge that I started. I prefer #2, with a grace period so people that want to, can finish with the old maps. I really don't like #3, while the new maps are a little different, completing the challenge still involves travelling the state. I would hate to see this one archived and a new one placed. It just wouldn't be the same.... I also don't like any time restrictions on when a cache was found or hidden when completing a challenge. As a side note, after seeing this last night I went over to Costco and bought the new atlas ($11.50). My 1988 version was getting a little worn.

I haven't seen the new atlas. Have the page boundaries changed or just the numbering?

Way to go Ray, it's about time! I've been working in Walla Walla recently and I've enjoyed doing quite a few of Bluesman63's caches. Congratulations on 1000 finds!

While that's generally true, I noticed recently that they make one they claim is waterproof. "DuraRite" Pocket Notebook

I had planned to do a couple of caches at lunchtime today but it was raining, cold and windy so I stayed inside. When I got home after work and checked my email I noticed a new cache had published close to where I live. That was just too much for me. It was still windy but it had warmed up 10 degrees and the rain had almost stopped. FTF at about 6:30 PM in the dark. Great fun!

Maybe for many it is, but that's not the only reason. I would say that I am not into the numbers game, yet I tend to avoid multis in areas I visit or multis that have been around for a while. The reason? The probability that something has gone wrong with a multi (missing stage, etc.) is much larger than for a single-stage or puzzle cache. I've had several experiences of hiking several miles for a multi only to discover that the penultimate stage is missing. So, even though it's not abouut the numbers and even though I had a nice hike, there is still frustration at being unable to finish. And then instead of fixing the problem it's archived..... I'm amazed at how often someone will hide a long multi and then not maintain it. A stage is reported missing and the cache sits disabled for months until the admins archive it. I've been working out of town a lot recently and geocaching adds an element of enjoyment to an otherwise onerous situation. I usually only have an hour or two after work to cache and multis are always at the bottom of my list. I just looked at a map of the area that I just finished working in and when I check the box to hide my finds about the only ones left are multis.

The Vista has an electronic/magnetic compass. My experience is that these only work well when; the unit is level, relatively still, and calibrated. When you are moving, the unit will calculate direction based on movement (GPS's like the Legend don't have a magnetic compass and do this all the time). My Vista came set to switch from GPS bearings to magnetic bearings at 15 MPH. I changed that setting to 1 or 2 MPH. So the magnetic compass only activates when I'm stopped. For me, at least, this has worked better. You might try this and see if it helps.

I remember the first "members only" cache I ever saw. For some reason I felt personally insulted. Did the cache owner do this just to spoil my fun? Was he trying to blackmail me into becoming a premium member? I learned later that this was not the case. That cache owner was having problems with some of his caches being muggled. Making them "members only", somewhat limits access to the cache page and provides an audit log of everyone that views the page. It's not perfect but it helps if you're having problems. I have one "members only" cache. I did it for the reason above. It was either that or archive it. Now that I've seen the audit logs, I really like them. They're fun. It's tempting to make all my caches "members only" but I won't do that because I want folks to find them. I hope this gives you some perspective, I do understand how you feel, even if I no longer agree. There are some good reasons why someone might make their cache "members only" and, as everyone's been pointing out, there are plenty of other caches out there that you can find for free.

That's also a good suggestion! However, many P&S cameras do not come with optical viewfinders. The A570 IS does, though. The optical viewfinder also saves batteries, since you aren't relying on the LCD. LCDs can be hard to read in bright light, as well. I would agree with the above. Whatever camera you get, make sure it has an optical view finder and use it. It won't take any longer and it really helps holding the camera steady. I would also suggest getting a small "pocket" style camera over an SLR. I have no experience with digital SLRs but back when we used film, I had both. I always got the best shots with the pocket camera, because that was the one I had with me. The SLR and all the lenses spent most of the time in the camera bag, in the closet. To answer your original question. I have a Canon SD600, that I'm very happy with. Based on my experience I would probably buy another Canon.

I'll second that. I bought some Energizers and a 15 minute charger. The batteries would come off the charger so hot you could barely hold them. They worked well at first but after a month or two, if you didn't use the batteries right away, maybe put them in the pack as spares, they'd be dead in one of two days. Now I have a Powerex, 4 battery charger (electronic with individual ciruits for each battery) that has a 100 minute and a 3 hour setting. It cost double what the energizer setup did but it seems to do a good job and the batteries are lasting a lot longer. Previously I used Costco batteries, bought them by the brick. The size of the bag of dead batteries I would put in the recycle bin every month was embarassing. I try to use rechargeables when ever I can.