GeoCyclist

I've seen it done like this: [gentle nudge] Va gur gerrf [strong hint] Purpx arne gur ynetrfg gerr [dead giveaway] Va ubyr ng onfr bs gur bnx gerr do you then manually encode these or do they all open with decode? Not sure what you're asking. The website automatically encrypts them...except for the notes in brackets. While at the cache site, you can then decrypt each one as you need it. Yea, for the spoiler hint I would decrypt using my own code such as 1=A, 2=B, etc. This is simple to decrypt yet will not be done for you by the web site so you have to intentionally do it yourself and therefore won't acidentially spoil it.

I ditto what SerentyNow says. I think the best thing about GW would be if it moved every year. This would give me reason to see different parts of the country.

Addiction to the sport can't accurately be measured by number of finds one has. Especially as the sport gets older the numbers will become more skewed. I consider myself addicted. I have 50+ finds and have been caching for 3 months. I had my first child born in January this year so if I was still with out children I might have found 100 or 200 in my first 3 months if I had the time like I used to have. Regardless I still consider myself addicted independent of the number of finds I have. 20 years from know 1000 finds may be nothing as some might be at the 10k mark. El Diablo who is one of the regulars in the forum and a real contributor to the sport doesn't have that many finds. I don't think I would mind your cache as long as it is easy to get 200 caches in your local area.

Who wants the 2 of hearts? Everyone would take the Ace of Spades.

I here what you are saying CC. I am working on creating a micro cache now that will be a 3 or better difficulty. I plan to give a "nudge" in the standard hint section. I will give a second hint, in a different code, that is closer to a spoiler. This way even if you decrypt on the web you will still have to manually decrypt to get the spoiler. Another way is have multiple hints. After the first hint say "stop reading here, next hint is a spoiler".

RK, sorry don't know. What is a one time cache? I was thinking of making a cache just for Halloween that would be active for 1 day or a week at the most. Would this be approved? It would not be an event cache, it would be a traditional or virtual.

I'm not clear on this either. What about travel bugs? If you find a travel bug in a cache but it was not "placed" there by someone who logged it on the web do you "grab" it? I found one yesterday like this. I will wait a few more days to see if someone "places" it in the cache I found so that I can then "retrieve" it. I guess if no one logs it I will just "grab" it.

Eating is a waste of good cache time. I eat in the car while driving home. At the same time one of the better caches I found in MS ended up at a local resturant by a lake. Had a good meal there and enjoyed the local cuszine.

I see your point, since all 4000 (or however man there are) are all the same I see how you say there is no uniqueness. On the other hand all travel bugs are travel bugs. This is the first TB (or cache for that matter) to get it's own icon on your stats page. I believe that is one reason people are gaga over them. The second reason I belive is supply and demand. Jeep put enough out there to create a fad yet few enough so that demand is greater than supply. If Jeep put out 10 million of these people probably wouldn't care and they would be valued the same as McToys. For now it's something new (new icon). If new cutom travel bugs are over done in the future, like reality TV shows, the fad will die out. Perhaps demand might stabilize in the future and there will be plenty of YJTB's out there. I remember the first year 50 State quarters came out people were hoarding them and buying all they could from banks. Now all the 50 state quarters are back in circulation

Add my name, I'm always eager to learn something new.

Brian's right, topo is great. The city select is great too. Even though the eTrex display is small it works real well. I am pleased.

Remember your GPS is only so accurate, it should say what your accuracy is. If you are 15' this means a radius of 15' or 30' max. By the way 15' is pretty good. The heavier tree cover the worse it gets. If you had 7 sats that's pretty good. The person who placed the cache has the same accuracy problem you do so the orignal coordinates are most likely not perfect. To get the most out of your GPSr when you get close stop under a patch of open sky then let your GPS settle down. Depending on satilite reception it can take 30 seconds. (I have an electronic compass built into my eTrek Vista which helps when I'm stopped.) Like the others said once you get within 30 feet or so it's time to start looking. When I hit 30' I look in the general direction where teh arrow is pointing and guess where 30' is. If I don't see anything in that area I walk past the area and try to get another sat fix and approach again from a new direction.

I agree with what Seamus said. For a volunteer organization it is run extremely well. The web site is awesome and I am amazed how large this sport is and how consitently it is administered. Thanks to all who work to make this sport a reality. I am only 4 months into the sport and probably don't undertstand half of what happens behind the scenes.

Bring em back! Bring em back! I have an idea for a locationless cache but I can't find where I put it. (Okay I know this is bad but I couldn't resist)

Congratulatons on your first finds. Welcome to the sport.

One more thought - sorry if I am hijacking your thread. On the subject of rating caches I wish there was a separate icon for Mircos. (like there are different icons for tradional and multi caches.) Seems like PQ doesn't work well for Micros as people don't always ID them correctly. If this happend then how would you classify a "micro"? Any cache small enough that only has room for a log sheet and no trade items?

Like G&B said check the logs. I do this look for good/bad caches based on what others say. On other drawback is that a "good" cache can be replaced wrong by other finders - either making it too easy or too hard. I agree with what Elf says about ebay. With ebay there are clear expectations: don't decieve the buyer, deliver what you advertise, ship on time, be courtious. The only expectation of geocaching is that the hider get the cordinates correct. Also that they correctly rate terrain and difficulty. This here is subjective and I don't take much stock it it unless I see a 4-5. All of the 2 & 3 rankings I see are about the same. I do like the 50%, 10%, 1% idea. To make it less convoluted just keep it to top 10%. After every 10 finds you get to select 1 find as a "Top 10%" and give that cache a "vote" Others would see how many Top 10 votes the cache received and how many finds it had. I think something along these lines would be helpful. If there was something like this then I would search for caches with the most votes or highest ratings.

So you are saying the joystick does not work when press down to "select" or "enter"? I have a Vista and about 1 in 20 clicks I accidentially end up moving the joystick and not clicking it down. This is a coordination issue on my part. Mine works fine but it requires a bit of accuracy.

I have a HP 2215. I use GPX sonar, a free application. I just save a .gpx file to a folder on my PPC docs then sync. GPX sonar works pretty well for a free program. Mobil pocket reader "looks" better but I haven't figured out how to search for a waypoint with it.

If Compucache didn't cover it all then email me if you need more help. I have a eTrek Vista and use GSAK as reccomened above. I am a premium member and save wayspoints as .gpx file format, not .loc. The .gpx format works better, haven't had much luck with .loc when downloading multiple waypoints from the website.

Okay, I need help, what/when was Geowoodstock? How would I have known about it? As I missed this one when is the next one?

Here are a few more tips: Remember that you must be moving (the faster the better) for your navigation arrow to work. Try different approaches like said above and once you get to less than 50' it is time to start looking. Pratice with your GPS at home. Place a marker in your yard or an open area. Mark a waypoint there. Walk away and walk back. Take another waypoint. Do this 3-4 times and notice how your cordinates will differ slightly. Now using your GPS go find your marker by following the navigation arrow. This is good pratice to see how the navigation arrow gets less accurate as you walk slower and how the "distance to target" will change. For starters go after these types of caches then work up to harder ones: Diffiuculty and terrain of 2 or less. Read the logs, if the cache was found in the last week it is a safe bet it's still there. If the logs say "searched for 2 hours" then try a easier one first. MD is a great cache area, look up the local club and go with a vet.

I agree, I wouldn't get torqued up over someone who can't find a 3 star in 30 minutes.

I don't know about specific rules for houses? A responsible cacher would not walk into someones house unless the instrucitons on the cache page told them it was okay. Even then some people may be weary about going into a strangers house. The other thing is a responsible cacher won't trespass on private property unless the cache page says permission has been given. Also it usually understood that a cache can be found 24/7 unless hours are posted (like for a public park). It would be considerate if you could let others know when you are home so cachers don't try to find your house and get dissapointed if you're gone.

I use GSAK (GPS Swiss Army Knife) a free application for PDA's, the link is off the main web page. I load all cache pages into my PDA that I have in my GPSr. I try to always carry my GPSr and cache bag with with. If I have time while out in town to look for a cache then I search waypoints\nearest. I always have my PDA with me. I then search for the cache name in GSAK (GCxxxx). When I plan to caching I will figure out what caches I want to go after at home and usually print out the pages even though they are in my PDA. When I do this I try to get several caches in the same area of town. I don't update the files on my PDA all the time so it never hurts to look on the web before going out. A cache might have been archieved. I also read the most current logs to see if someone found it recently and any other news about the cache I am going after. Also by looking at the web site before going out I am aware of any travel bugs (TB's) that are out there.