mikeh420

Here is a pic of "Are we there yet?" near Simi,CA. A bit melted, but contents are OK

Very likely that dozens if not 100s of caches have been lost, but even more tragically, 100s of homes are lost too. Most areas that are burning are areas most popular for caching, especially the north end of the Simi Valley. Hopefully, that one doesn't make it to the Pacific Ocean like it did a few years ago.

you can "type" a ° symbol by holding down the ALT key while typing 0176 on the number pad, then let up the ALT key and the ° appears.

My fisrt GPS was also a 310. It doesn't have quite the accuracy that my Garmin eTrex has, but I found 56 caches with it. It's a bit more challenging. I too have found using UTM coords makes things easier. A "click" in UTM mode is 1 meter, a "click" in DD MM.MM mode is 52.8 feet.

My fisrt GPS was also a 310. It doesn't have quite the accuracy that my Garmin eTrex has, but I found 56 caches with it. It's a bit more challenging. I too have found using UTM coords makes things easier. A "click" in UTM mode is 1 meter, a "click" in DD MM.MM mode is 52.8 feet.

We gotta ask this question: What's more important, a cool looking web page, or a great cache placement? With some of the caches I've seen, if as much effort placing the cache as writing the web page, it would be great.

I had a Garmin eTrex that started shutting down because the batteries were loose. They sent me a new GPSr, no questions asked, no receipt needed. Found out later the brand of battery I was using (Eveready) was slightly shorter. I now use Duracell.

I had a similar problem with my eTrex. One of the battery contacts is a spring that weakens after time. When bumped slightly, one battery loses contact long enough to shut down the unit. After getting a replacement GPS and having the same results, I changed battery brands. I was using Eveready, I am now using Duracell. I was told by a Garmin tech that some brands of batteries are shorter, I didn't believe him at first. He was right, the Duracell batts fit more snugly than the Eveready, and last about 10 times as long.

With tensions high as they are right now, what the heck were they thinking when the cacher placed this one. Would have been better if it was made out of metal pipe!

#8 is very familiar, the black garbage bags, as I started GCing in Sacranento Most caches there seem to be inside black plastic bags.

quote: Hearing Joan Osborne was strangly familar from a time long past. Joan seems to fit in perfectly, as if it was meant to be. I've got a few shows on CD d/loaded from "the net", can't wait to see them again. I was thinking of placing some of the CDs in caches. Deadshowz have always been good items to trade!

quote:Originally posted by jaedend:So i am assuming, antenna issues aside, it has to do with the processor speed of the individual GPS unit; calculating speed if GPS' don't have CPUs. ?? Basically, Yes. GPSr's do have computer circuitry to process the signals from it's multiple receivers, and the electronics vary in different brands.

I wonder how many cachers don't realize they have to take multiple readings when placing a cache? I take 6 to 8 readings by walking towards the cache from different directions, then average the #s. The best accuracy I've had on my eTrex is 16 feet, but it's usually 25 to 30 feet, which is AMAZING accuracy considering how high the satellites are. The Earth is about 8000 miles in diameter. 20 feet accuracy is pretty stunning.

I used a Mag310 for about a year and found 50 caches. It was much easier after I got my eTrex, but I found that if you set the 310 to UTM coords, you get a smaller distance (1 meter) for each 'click' than you do for DD.MM.MM.

Thanks to TPTB (Jeremy, et al) for that welcome change. I was almost getting used to moving the red x a 1/4 inch to the right. GC.COM and TOPOZONE.COM ROCK!

I rarely look at the ratings, who are we trying to impress anyway? I just like the hiking and navigating aspects of caching, most of the time it's TNLN. I also limit myself to no more than a 2 or 3 mile hike due to a bad knee from a motorcycle accident in '84.

There was a similar one in the Sacramento area called Atlantis, archived in '02. At first glance the coords are 10 feet out into a lake, then you see a bungee wrapped around a tree trunk, but it looks strangely taut. You pull on the cord and out of the water comes an ammo can!

Would it be a lot of trouble to change the Topozone link on the cache pages to request WGS84 coords instead of NAD27 to pinpoint that "red x" on the map? Just a thought.

quote:It does NOT move the target symbol to a new location on the map; you need to change the datum requested in the URL to do that. That's what I wanted to know, which is fine because I'm used to looking about 1/4 inch to the right to get the WGS84 location. Maybe we can get Jeremy to change the URL. I noticed on one map I was looking, there was the border of the actual printed map. Are the maps no longer continous from one quad to another?

I figured making the changes and hitting REFRESH would apply the changes. I just want to see the red 'x' where the WGS84 coords are. Thr REFRESH button is confusing then, why not make it "RELOAD LAST PAGE" since that is what it really does.

quote:If you're nice, we might even tell you how to switch between NAD27 and WGS84 coordinates, but not if you're cranky <g>. I tried switching from NAD27 to WGS84 and it switches back to NAD27 when I hit REFRESH. Once it works, it'll be extremely hwlpful.

Don't hold your breath up there in Sac. They did a number on us in SoCal, changing coords, providing bogus hints, such as "swimming pools and movie stars" (Bev. Hillbillies) and something about Morocco, which was the name of a trolley station in the Beverly Hills area, then it ends up being in Orange County, an hour drive from B.H., and even then they messed up the coords. Magellan obviously went about this venture with little, if any, input from any Geocachers. Marketing People, pffft!

Using the TopoMaps, I have compared known lat. x long. locations, and it seems that the WGS84 location is 1/4 inch to the right of the NAD27, at least in California (Sacto and L.A). That's at 1:50,000 scale.

I will be meeting MarcB at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel Thurs 8/21 9:30 AM. If anyone has any Travel Bugs they'd like to be taken "across the pond" to England, Staffordshire, to be more exact. Let me know by Wed. and we can meet somewhere for the exchange. Thanx -Vacman: Marc left the UK 8/6, and I was able to e-mail him just before he left.

I'm about 15 minutes north of Hollywood and will probably be free those dates. I'd love to help out. TTFN!