NeilFord

To make life easy, the post in question is here. - Neil

Mark (The Cat) has a lot going on at the moment, so give him some time to respond to your email. If you haven't already done so, check the GeocacheUK forums for a post from Mark explaining a number of things. - Neil.

Congrats to Sparticus on setting the record. The bar keeps on getting higher :-) - Neil. (who so far his weekend has found 0 caches!)

I take it you've tried running a version of GPX Sonar or GPX View on the phone. Unfortunately I'm not up with the Smartphone OS to know it's differences to standard Pocket PC. - Neil.

Personally I wouldn't bother with Mobipocket, but go straight for CacheMate. It really is the Mutts NUts of geocaching apps for Palm OS. If you're using a Windows PC, combine it with Geocaching Swiss Army Knife and you have geocaching nirvana. - Neil.

For us, Cambridge is a social visit. so not too much caching that day. - Neil.

It actually looks like we're going to be in Cambridge on Saturday May 29, which is the day you're intending to be in London! :-( So it looks like we may miss each other. - Neil.

There are no approvers, only reviewers! :-) Symantics maybe, but it is a crucial difference. I'm sure Mr Eckington or Mr Lactodorum can explain. - Neil.

Anyone interested in free public access points should check out http://consume.net/. Warchalking was thought up as a way of marking such points. It's combination with wardriving/netstumbling is an unfortunate consequence of media attention. Whilst I understand where Ben's coming from, I think geocaching keeping it's distance from the whole phenomina is probably for the best. - Neil.

As Farewood Foragers has said, check out the recent thread on this subject. I depends how much of the kit you already have and how much of an investment you may have to make. What kit do you already have? Do you already have a PDA, and if so, which one? What are you hoping to achieve? Happy to provide advice as required. - Neil.

Always up for meeting other cachers :-) Happy to meet in London or to make the journey up to Cambridge. - Neil.

Close to the Royal Albert Hall puts you in Kensington, close to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. It puts you close to the West End (or in it, depending on your interpretation). Co-ordinates for the Royal Alber Hall are: 51 30.057N 0 10.645W A search limited to 20 or 30km around those should give you plenty to choose from and nearly all reachable by public transport. - Neil.

Would love to meet up for a chat and some caching (maybe). You say when and where and I'll endeavour to keep the diary free of clients :-) I'll email you contact details. - Neil.

I think this is a superb idea. I suspect an email to The Powers That Be is the best way forward. And now for the humour...... We could then get some independently wealthy person to fund International TB Rescue with it's own fleet of vehicles..... TB1, TB2, TB3, etc. Maybe even get fancy uniforms too. Maybe I should go lie down? :-) - Neil. (who seriously thinks this is a great idea but needed to get the Thunderbirds thing out of his system :-) )

The following is taken from the British Airport Authority's website (http://www.baa.co.uk - do a search on "left luggage" for more info). Left luggage Each terminal has a left luggage facility for storing baggage or belongings for a number of hours or days. All items are security checked. Left luggage offices also offer competitive unaccompanied baggage rates and services and sell luggage and travel accessories. Charges are £5.00 per item per day (or part thereof). Opening times: Terminal 1 (06:00 to 23:00) Terminal 2 (06:00 to 22:30) Terminal 3 (05:30 to 22:30) Terminal 4 (05:30 to 23:00) The service is operated by the Excess Baggage Company, tel +44 (0)20 8745 4599. Hopefully that's of some help. I did type a more detailed reply to your original post, but my browser crashed before I could send it and just before I was due to leave to catch a train. Learned Gerbil and Volvo Man have given you the advice that was in my original post. The one other thing I would suggest is contacting OzGuff as he recently did an overnight caching session in London and may have some valuable tips to pass on. - Neil.

Geocaching.com reminds the holder if there has been no activity on the bug for the 14 days, and it doesn't consider notes activity. So hopefully the current holder, assuming they are checking the site, will have noticed they've had the bug a while. They may even have got an email. But I would considr iy acceptable for a bug's owner to gently prod too. After two weeks further inactivity, get their home co-ordinates and arrange a dawn raid :-) - Neil.

Kiteflyer Apologies for not getting back sooner, busy couple of days. Exactly what cable are you using from the etrex? The standard PC serial one? And what cable are you using from the XDA? I suspect that the problem may be that the pin outs for the two cables aren't the same and that the signal simply isn't getting through. GPS Warehouse do an etrex to pda adapter cable, which would then allow you to use the Serial Sync Cable from the site referenced by Learned Gerbil. Based on prior experience with similar set-up, that should work, but would leave both devices unpowered, a possible problem for a long day's caching. An alternative approach might be to go with the Serial Interface - with power input (again from PC-Mobile) together with the PC Interface Cable with Cigarette Lighter Adapter (from GPS Warehouse and possibly some form of serial converter/null-modem adapter to handle any pin-out conversion. A lot of cable, but both devices would be powered. An alternative would be to consider the TomTom Navigator 3 Pocket PC GPS (UK) which would provide a complete solution. I'm not sure if the supplied cradle is powered but there is one available as an option. Another place worth checking out are the Pocket GPS World forums which have been a source of useful information for me. Hopefully that's all been of some help. As always, shout if you need more, but as it's the weekend, don't expect an immediate response :-) - Neil.

And the moral of the story is.... activate your bugs either before you set out to place them or as soon as you get back. Geocachers are unpredictable people... assume one was at the cache 5 minutes after you were, even if it was a 3 day trek to reach it! ;-) Glad to hear this ended happily though. - Neil.

I assume you've got a known good cable. Are you trying to transfer waypoints or have your position shown on the map? Have to tried any other software (G7TOCE and GPSTuner spring to mind as likely candidates) to see if they can see the Legend? If I remember correctly, the com port should be set to COM1 and the baud rate to 4800 or 9600. You will also need to make sure that the software and the GPS are set to the same protocol, be it Garmin or NMEA0183. Shout if you need anymore help. - Neil.

I suppose at event we should introduce ourselves as "Neil and Natalie Ford, aka Smudgypixels". Did that a couple of times at the weekend and the lightbulb always went on. Doesn't help that I post here under one name and log caches under another (for which there is at least to us, a logical reason). - Neil.

Welcome to Geocachers Anonymous :-) Wait until you get close to a milestone (50/100/200 caches), then you'll want to go caching every available hour (note I didn't use the word daylight there :-) ) to reach it! Having been into the hobby for just under a month now, and have already reached 50, I can confirm that this is a very addictive pastime. It's not too late to put the GPSr up for sale on ebay! - Neil.

I really have no way to hide :-) I own a number of domains and a quick check of their details will tell you quite a bit about me. The only way to have got around that would have been to have registered a PO Box address and a locationless number. So I use my real name most places. - Neil.

I suspect that's a question for the site admins. If the database has been properly built, they should be able to change your username and everything will seemlessly be updated. - Neil.

Well I've finally logged the finds from my mad day in Herfordshire with OzGuff. For those of you that don't fancy working your way through 27 cache logs, here's the full version. If anyone ever asks me to do this again.... remind me to say no! :-) - Neil. Where Four Corners Meet (GC828C) Mad Dash Cache #1 The first of the day and quite a nice way to start. We went in with a little extra information which made getting to the rough area quite an easy process. A little fumbling around ensued until I was able to claim the prize. Did the required log signing. Personally I TNLN. One down, many to go. What had we let ourselves in for. Barrel Makers Ramble (GC6455) Mad Dash Cache #2 Took on this one straight after Where Four Corners Meet. Initially set off in a slightly wayward direction but soon realised the error, back tracked slightly and were soon fairing much better. A brisk walk (the day was young!) later and the gizmos were telling us we'd hit pay dirt. Took the experienced caching powers of OzGuff to locate the booty. Following what was to be a theme of the day, I TNLN and signed the log. Then it was back to the car, which of course we had waypointed (not!). We had been commenting how fresh it was but noticed the temperature rising as we reached the car. Maybe we would be able dispense with our jackets at some point, though it was unlikely OzGuff was going to need his shades. Punched the GPS for the Rabbit Ramble and we were on the road again. Rabbit Ramble (GC57FB) Mad Dash Cache #3 Checked the map, parked the car and we were off. A nice pleasant walk saw us quickly upon the target location. Would love to regale you all with stories of our search but that would give far too much of the game away. It's enough to say that we searched fruitlessly for a number of minutes before OzGuff said "That would be a great place to hide a cache" and the light bulb went on! Even with a lightbulb it still took us a minute or two to locate the cache itself. OZGuff once again took the honours. Signed the log and TNLN. Well done to philgn on such an ingenious hide. Bramble Ramble (GC5727) Mad Dash Cache 4 This proved to feature our first couple of mistakes of the day. The biggest one was that we decided to head out for this one from the same location as Rabbit Ramble. Fine if you fancy a nice stroll, not such a good idea when you are trying cover a large number of caches in one day. It was only on getting close that we discovered how much better it would have been to have moved the car. Our second mistake was in believing what our GPSrs were telling a little two much (and maybe not physically having the map with us), which lead us to find ourselves encountering unassailable (at least in my opinion :-) ) obstacles on two separate occasions. Again, this probably cost us some time. Once we'd got over all of that we found the location no problem. No need for a hint here as both OzGuff and I went "It must be there" :-) Bagging honours went to me. Signed the log and TNLN. Then there was the hike back to the car...... And then a rest stop, sort of :-) North of London travel Bug Hotel (GCG7BG) Mad Dash Cache #5 Very much of an in and out visit this one. Had to delay our final approach in order to let a dog walker move out of the immediate vicinity. Located the cache in short order and set about the business of liberating some TBs. I grabbed Travelling Britannia TB. OzGuff left behind what is possibly one of the heaviest TBs ever to be released in the UK. It'll be interesting to see how long it stays in the hotel. Having completed our business and signed the log, we put the cache back and were on our way. Being the mad cachers we were, we didn't take advantage of any of the facilities the location provided, but simply got back in the car and headed out. On The Edge (GC5996) Mad Dash Cache #6 Our first 'drive-by' of the day. Due to some excellent map work by OzGuff we got nice and close with he car. Had we had a 4x4 I suspect we could have driven right up to the cache :-) Finding the actual container proved no problem, you just have to look for what doesn't belong. Following the by now familiar pattern, took nothing, left nothing and signed the log. A hop, skip and a jump and we were back in the car and off to our next location. Chestnut View (GC771D) Mad Dash Cache #7 Excellent pre-planning and map work by OzGuff got us to within a short walk of this cache. OzGuff was almost detoured by the stud (something about needing his services!? :-) ), but I managed to keep him focused and we headed off in the right direction. Some lovely views on the walk to the cache, OzGuff said it reminded him of his country of birth, something to do with all the sheep! OzGuff found the cache. Took nothing, left nothing and signed the log. Gentle walk back to the car, making sure OzGuff didn't get sidetracked. Coal Post #41 (GCGGNX) Mad Dash Cache #8 A minor map reading error initially put us not quite in the ideal location to tackle this one. One brief discussion later and we relocated to a much more suitable starting point. Decided to throw caution to the wind and rather than look for paths we made a direct beeline for the co-ordinates. Whilst it got us there nice a quickly we arrived with soaking wet feet! The morning dew was a lot more than we had anticipated. Located the coal post no problems and following the directions quickly located the cache. TNLN and signed the log. At this point we considered moving onto Rare Bit Burrow but as the last couple of logs seemed a little vague as to it's status and location we decided to give it a miss. We need hits not misses. How prophetic that statement was going to prove to be. Fast-Carp (GCH7RW) Mad Dash Cache #9 Our first major disappointment of the day. Parked no problems and the walk to the cache site was nice and easy. We even managed to avoid following the sound of the guns. However when we reached the site it became apparent that things might not go smoothly. Not only was there fishing activity, but there was also a large number of people involved in some kind of woodland management activity. Not deterred we proceeded onwards. Unfortunately our initial fears were to be proven correct. There was not way we could approach the cache without seriously risking compromising it's location. We therefore decided to do the sensible thing and move on. Consider this one a Did Not Attempt rather than a DNF. HighPoint (GC4CED) Mad Dash Cache #10 This really was a drive-by, we didn't even turn off the engine! OzGuff get's the honours for this one but then he had the advantage of being on the correct side of the car :-) In and out in short order. TNLN and signed the log. Spirits were lifted after the disappointment of Fast Carp. Hornet Hide 13 (GCGMYA) Mad Dash Cache #11 Our first Hornet cache of the day. The excellent description made this any easy spot to locate and the walk from the lazy cachers spot was perfect. Had to be a little discreet as we encountered two separate groups of walkers. Having made sure the coast was clear we made our final approach. Have to admit that finding the actual cache took us a little while. The previous visitor had done an excellent job of putting it back and even when we were certain we had the correct spot it took much scrabbling by OzGuff to retrieve it. TNLNSL. Carefully put the cache back, making sure that some oncoming walkers didn't see. Then it was a nice walk back to the car and on to meet The Hornet and Lost in Space in a nearby hostelry. Hornet Hide 7 (GC54B1) Mad Dash Cache #12 Found The Fox Public House no problems. Parked up and decided to tackle the cache first as there was no apparent sign of The Hornet and Lost in Space. The description was nice and accurate and we found the cache without any difficulty. OzGuff continued his relentless promotion of Edward Jones, whilst I took nothing, left nothing and signed the log. We retired to The Fox where we spent a very pleasant hour in the company of The Hornet and Lost in Space, discussed much, watched OzGuff almost destroy his 7 Day Travelcard and refreshed ourselves with some suitable beverages. Then it was time to hit the trail again. MI-5 Reservation (GC4C3C) Mad Dash Cache #13 Once again total belief in the GPS lead us a little astray. Stuck the car into reverse and found our way quickly to the correct location. A brief traipse avoiding as much mud as possible and we were upon the cache. Followed the routine and TNLN and signed the log. Returned to the car, cleaned off a little mud (which would soon prove to be a pointless exercise) and moved out. Reserved Voyeur (GC523A) Mad Dash Cache #14 Found the entrance to the target area and parked up. Gathered ourselves and set out. Initially this looked like it was going to be an easy trek. Boy, how wrong we were! ;-) What ensued was an amazing trek through some of the most atrocious going ever. I started out with orange shoes and by half way towards the cache they were brown. No point turning back though and we continued on. Discover of the cache took a little while and involved an element of luck. But find it we did. TNFNSL. Then it was back through the mud to the car. I think we took more time cleaning our boots than we did finding the cache. Once that was done, we were off to our next destination. Hornet Micro 2 (GCD657) Mad Dash Cache #15 This will forever be known as the "I told you so" cache :-) After all the mud of Reserved Voyeur, it was nice to be in a more urban location, even if we did look a little dishevelled. The one-way system of Watford had us going for a while but we eventually found the correct way in and even though The Hornet and Lost in Space advised us parking may be a problem, we managed to park nice and close. Once out of the car OzGuff did a little scouting and proudly proclaimed he'd found the cache location. He was all for jumping and/or leaning over the wall to retrieve it. I was a little less certain and given the location and that it was a Sunday, insisted that we find the proper way in. This we did and headed to the spot previously indicated. Of course, OzGuff was 100% correct:-) As it is a micro we signed the log and made our way back the way we had come. OzGuff to much pleasure in telling me we could have shaved precious minutes off if we'd gone with his plan, but at least he got a locationless out of it as well. Maybe next time we find one like this I'll be up for a little wall jumping. Hornet Micro 1 (GCD655) Mad Dash Cache #16 Another Watford (semi) urban cache. Found the location no problem and set out for a very short walk. I'm sure we looked quite a sight to the muggles out for a gentle Sunday afternoon stroll. A good little cache in a very interesting location. Another micro, another log signed. Onwards and upwards. Hornet Hide 2 (GC4027) Mad Dash Cache #17 After a couple of quick micros, it was time for a Woodland trek. We took the advice and made sure we waypointed the car. Then we were off. I good walk later and we were homing in. As mentioned, GPS reception was patchy and our hunting activities were further hampered by my bluetooth receiver refusing to get lock or talk to my PDA. So it was down to OzGuff's Legend to get us there... and his batteries were showing low! So much for waypointing the car! :-) Eventually found the cache. I picked up TB 314855 to help it on it's way. Left nothing and signed the log. Even though we were having reception and battery issues, decided to head out for the next cache rather than return to the car. Hornet Hide 11 (GC6CFD) Mad Dash Cache #18 Headed for this one straight from Hornet Hide 2 (GC4027). My GPS was still not playing ball and OzGuff's was complaining mightily about it's batteries! This proved to be a slightly longer walk than we initially thought. I was definitely flagging by now but was determined that we'd reach a reasonable milestone, so wasn't going to give up. OzGuff was still going strong and as we got closer to the cache location, he got further ahead. So much so, he had to come find me once he'd found the cache! :-) Followed the usual routine and TN, LN and signed the log. We did strike lucky and find some AA batteries so we were able to get OzGuff's Legend fully operational. A big "Thank You" to the cacher who place those. Then it was back to the car. Of course, my GPSr decided to finally play ball just as we got close! I'm glad we weren't relying on it :-) Time to leave Watford and head for Rikmansworth. Batchworth Bridge (GCHH3F) Mad Dash Cache #19 "So close, yet so far!" Using both the GPS and a map we got close and found a suitable parking place, Tescos car park! Being late on a Sunday they were closed, but there were a couple of people obviously waiting to be picked up, so we asked if we could get to the bridge from here and were told yes and pointed to a gate through to the canal. Great! we thought and we were off. How our jubilation was short lived. We spotted the bridge and knew we were on target. However we reached the end of the path to find ourselves 80ft away, the wrong side of the canal and no way across. Seeing as neither of us was wearing a wetsuit, we decided to find another route. So it was back to the car park and on from there. No point moving the car so we walked round. Reached the bridge with no problems this time :-) As OzGuff had prior experience of Perthos' caches, he let me take the lead. Stumbled across the cache in no time :-) Signed the log and put it all back where it cam from. Back to the car and off to tackle another Perthos micro. (Sometime around here we stopped for food, pie and chips!, which was just what we needed. Our energy levels went up no end!) Stocker’s Lock (GCHH35) Mad Dash Cache #20 Fed and watered we tacked this and our next cache (Twitchers (GCDF3D)) with a little gusto. Parked a short distance away and enjoyed the walk to the target. Some discussion ensued as to which side of the water both caches were but based on a quick look at the lie of the land and the descriptions, I was convinced that we were heading to the right locations. Zeroed in on the cache spot and this being another Perthos cache, OzGuff left it to me to find it. He actually spotted it first but wanted me to fully experience the fiendishness that is Perthos, so he left me to it. Found it eventually :-) Signed the log, made sure the container was secure and moved on. Twitchers (GCDF3D) Mad Dash Cache #21 Having done Stocker’s Lock (GCHH35) it was time to tackle this cache before heading back to the car. A quick check of the description gave us an idea of where to look and then it was off, GPSrs in hand. We quickly made it to within meters of the co-ordinates at which point there was some discussion as to the best course of action :-) OzGuff was all for heading straight through the undergrowth whilst I was convinced the entrance to the path was only a short distance away. We took the decision to try the two tacks. Of course, the path proved to be nowhere in sight so after a fruitless walk I returned to follow OzGuff through the undergrowth. By this point he'd found the cache. TNLNSL and put the cache back in it's hiding place. Then it was back to the car and what would hopefully prove to be the home straight. Hornet Hide 15 (GCHTB2) Mad Dash Cache #22 I'm going to put this one down to tiredness, or failing light, or something.... it definitely wasn't our fault.... non whatsoever :-) Found the location no problems and as per the description it was almost a drive by. Trotted up the lane and zeroed in on the cache, or at least so we thought. Started searching for it. We were dadgum certain we were in the right location but there was no cache to be found. Resorted to checking the hint, which only confirmed things. But still no cache. Eventually we convinced ourselves that it was missing. Subsequent evidence indicates that it wasn't, just that we couldn't find it. So this turned into our first true DNF of the day. Not one of our highpoints :-) Anyways, on to the next one. Hornet Hide 9 (GC54B6) Mad Dash Cache #23 This was probably our first night time cache of this trip. It was my first ever! Can't actually remember much about this cache, which means we probably found it without too much drama :-) Took nothing, left nothing and signed the log. Hornet Hide 3( GC4B98) Mad Dash Cache #24 Another night cache. Found the location easily, the cache took a little more work. OzGuff's head torch worked a treat. Followed the usual routine, TNLNSL. Moving on involved a multi-point turn in the car, good fun in the dark :-) Hornet Micro 3 (GCD658) Mad Dash Cache #25 This turned into quite a tricky little cache. Getting close took us a few goes, map reading in the dark is an interesting exercise, even with a head torch. Once parked, we located the cache location no problem. Oh, how easily fooled were we. Took us a good while longer to find the actual cache container. So late in the day such exercise was possibly not such a good idea. :-) Signed the log, replaced the cache and moved on. Hornet Hide 14 (GCHTB1) Mad Dash Cache #26 Found the memorial fairly quickly, even if we were being furtive around the house. Punched in the details and we were off. Managed to bump into a couple things on my way to the cache. OzGuff headed off in to the undergrowth, as is his way :-) whilst I looked around. Of course, OzGuff hit paydirt, at least I managed to avoid walking into anything else. TNLNSL and retraced our steps, minus the accidents :-) Hornet Micro 4 (GCD659) Mad Dash Cache #27 This turned out to be our last cache of the day. Took a little searching to work out where it was, including actually checking the cache location twice. A very clever little hiding place. TNLNSL. Then called it a day. Totals for the day: Caches visited: 27 Caches found: 25

Proper PHP and MySQL support are unlikely to be free, as they require some administration to maintain properly and prevent security breaches. Have a look at Black Cat Networks who provide both domain registration and hosting. The other place to check is of course GeocacheUK. - Neil.