[Brevard County, Florida, Seeking Help With Event]

I would like to hold a geocaching event on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2006 which I need help in planning.

 

I am the extension agent for the 4-H program, teaching GPS and geocaching throughout the county. This event will be held during the Space Coast State Fair time (Brevard County Fair), although it is not in any way assosicated with the fair or its location.

 

We have a wonderful facility here at our office for a nice social event. We have plenty of parking, restrooms, public auditorium, and kitchen facility.

 

I have reserved our building from 10am to 3pm.

 

I envision a multicache event, ultimatly leading to a potluck luncheon and nice social hour, meeting other geocachers and some of the 4-H families. The event will be family oriented.

 

Please call or email if you can assist in the planning process.

 

Gus Koerner

Extension Agent for 4-H

UFL/IFAS Brevard County Extension

3695 Lake Drive

Cocoa, FL 32926-4219

 

Phone 321-633-1702

Email: gkoerner@ifas.ufl.edu

[Help From Hungary]

My son will be heading to the Budapest area of Hungary in a few weeks, and I am sending with him a GPS (Garmin, Geko 201). Is there anything special I need to do in the set up? I am giving it to him as a give in a few days.

 

Thank you.

 

"Gustavo"

 

Gus Koerner

Florida, USA

[Earth Cache Needed In Logan, Ut]

A Utah caching family has offered to help me with this. Thank you KayCees!

 

gustavo

[Earth Cache Needed In Logan, Ut]

My parents died in 2000 and 2001, and I never got a photo or a waypoint of their grave stone. I am in Florida and won't be making it to Logan very soon. I am looking for someone to do me this favor, to just get a good GPS fix and a high-res digital picture of their head stone.

 

Perhaps this is too morbid, but I would sure appreciate it. If you're interested, just let me know. I can give you coodtinates within 100 feet or less, and a good description of what to look for.

 

Email me if you're interested. Thank you.

 

Gustavo.

[We're Currently Not Accepting Proposals]

I accept the fact that you need to "get all ducks in a row" before accepting new categories.

 

I propose (or will so when the time comes) for your to include Cemetaries as a category. Under it could be historic, pet, strange, spooky, etc. Cemetaries should be considered an important category, considering all our fallen heros and loved ones.

 

I have a waymark to put in tonight, so I'll put it in under either historic places or lodging (final lodging) (ha!).

 

Thanks for building such a great site!

 

Gustavo

[Forum Search Prolems - Short Words]

Thanks all. I am inquiring because our 4-H extension office has 10 Garmin eTrex units available for 4H use. It has become a popular area of youth education here in our Florida county. I was just wondering if other 4H members and clubs post activities here. Not much, so I'll start to do so.

 

gus

 

University of Florida

Brevard County (FL) Extension

[Gps & Life Science Topics]

Try these sites...

 

http://geospatial-online.com/geospatialsolutions/

 

Geospatial Training and Application Center, Huntsville, AL - In association with Space Camp: http://www.gstac.com/

 

Space Agriculture In The Classroom

http://spaceag.org/

http://spaceag.org/gsenglish.htm - Whole magazine, but especially pages 5-6.

[Successful Event For School Or Club.]

Last night in Cocoa Beach, FL we had our 1st Annual 4-H Beach Bash that included GCing. In 2 hours, about 50 people ran the short circle course, with the vast majority (95%)of them being brand new to the sport, this being open to the public.

 

I had the course laid out with bright yellow 1" circle tags hanging at eye level numbered 1-5 (waypoints 1-5) all about 75 to 250 feet apart. On the back of each tag was the letter H, E, A, R and T.

 

The 4H's stand for Head, Heart, Hands, and Health. So to win the "cache", the cacher had to get the key word which was Heart. They had to find at least 4 tags of course to guess the word.

 

The last tag led them back near to the base table. The 1st tag even had a bright yellow flag underneath, which made it super easy to find, but this proved to be a good thing for some until they got the hang of it. By cache #4, most of them were "pros". If they were able to deduce, guess, find the word HEART, they won a 4H prize such as a button, magnet or braclet.

 

This seemed to be a big success and will be repeated again with very minor changes. Most of the success we had was due to super volunteer staff support, and 10 identical eTrex GPSr's.

 

Note of GPS programming: each GPSr had only the 5 waypoints, and they were all identical. I love that EasyGPS software!

 

Hopefully you can recreate this or a similar event with your 4H club or school. If so, let me know!

 

"Gustavo"

University of Florida

Brevard County Extension 4H Program

[Forum Search Prolems - Short Words]

I'm not real new to this forum, but I need some search help.

 

I am looking for 4H clubs across the country to exchange instruction information for 4H leaders other extension agents and clubs. I search for 4h, 4H, 4-H, and other combinations and I come up with near nothing. Am I doing something wrong in my search criteria, or are there very few posts for this topic?

 

Any suggestions?

 

"Gustavo"

University of Florida

Brevard County Extension 4H Program

[Etrex Serial Connection Problem Solved]

Hope this helps someone...

 

I was setting up a course for a 4-H event, and I had to mark waypoints with 1 Garmin eTrex, and dump them (via EasyGPS) to 9 others. My HP notebook computer does not have a 9 pin serial I/O to fit the Garmin cable, only a 25 pin. Why doesn't Garmin sell a USB data cable??

 

I tried a 9 pin to 25 pin adapter, but this does not work - later confirmed by Garmin Tech Support.

 

What DID WORK is the Radio Shack USB-to-Serial Port Cable, Catalog #: 26-183, $39.99. The additional 6 ft. of cable is a hassle, and you have to install it EXACTLY LIKE IT SAYS IN THE INSTRUCTIONS, but it worked. It comes with an install disc, and I was using MS XP.

 

Gustavo

[Gps Grants?]

Hey Everyone,

 

I worked with a middle school Integrated Science Team to get a set of 13 eTrex Legends through a Florida Ag In The Classroom grant. They were successful, but they were required to tie their curriculum to Florida agriculture. They did so by teaching about how GPS units are used on tractors to assist farmers in planting thier crops, fertilization, etc. - the practice known as Precision Farming. Also they laid out a garden and plotted their landscape trees all with these GPS units.

 

I would check your local Ag In The Classroom for teacher grants, as well as your local (usually county) Farm Bureau. See...

 

http://www.growingyourfuture.com/index.html

http://www.colofb.com/index.php

 

Gustavo

--------------------

Gus A. Koerner

4-H Extension Agent

Brevard County

3695 Lake Drive

Cocoa, FL 32926-4219

 

Phone 321-633-1702

Fax 321-633-1890

Email: gkoerner@ifas.ufl.edu

 

University of Florida IFAS/Extension: Solutions For Your Life.

Web: www.ifas.ufl.edu/, www.extension.ufl.edu/

[Geocaching For First Graders]

I'm an old boy scout, and went through all the orienteering training way back when. If you search for Orienteering education materials, you may find some basic info on Lon/Lat that may be at a 1st grade level.

 

Also check out Featured Programs on the Utah State 4-H site. They have some good stuff. See... http://utah4-h.org/

 

I have a 1st grader, and boy does she love to "treasure" hunt when me and her brother go looking for a cache. She mostly likes to dig through the box to find cheap chinese toys! The more cheesey the better.

 

Gustavo

[Gps In Education]

Have there been any development is this? That is PowerPoint presentations for GeoCaching? I need one next week, and would appreciate inputs. When I am done with mine, I will make them available for the rest.

 

Gus