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Penguin_ar

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Posts posted by Penguin_ar

  1. Do you have Pedestrian and Off Road mode on? If so, it should give you "as the crow flies" distances, unless there is water in the way. Generally. a GPS' automatic system is for car driving, so it probably says 19 miles because that is what you'd be driving.

  2. Thanks for all your input. I've decided to release the twin's TBs with just a laminated card, having a photo of the twin on one side and the mission of the bug (simply to travel widely) on the other; I used the "laminate yourself" stuff from Staples, basically business-card sized sicky plastic that you can put paper in the middle.

     

    If anyone is interested, Robyn's TB is TB2HRVC and Wilbur's is TB2HRV3.

  3. Is there a way of seeing a photo of a geocoin on geocaching.com? I am often curious about the designs when I see one mentioned in the log of a cache I am watching or here on the forums.

     

    I know that with TBs, you only get to see a photo/ picture of the TB and hitchhiker if the owner (or a subsequent cacher) takes a photo of it and posts it to the gallery of that specific TB. I thought since Groundspeak needs to approve all trackable geocoins, there may be a searchable gallery or an "activation page" for each geocoin with a photo or something? I have found the overall gallery, but in order to find a geocoin you saw mentioned in a cache or heard about there, you need to know its exact name (rather than the name the owner might have given it, as they are changeable) and then scroll through the letter to find it- some letter have a lot of coins listed!

  4. I am going to release two TBs, one for each of my 13 months old twins. They'll be released into the same cache, but I'll ask that different geocachers take them and the TBs won't have a mission other than to travel far and wide, and see who gets more mileage and travels to more interesting places :D

     

    I am having difficulty coming up with suitable items to attach to the TBs. I don't have any young baby stuff as we moved house and threw lots away, and everything I still have the twins either use or is very cute, and thus not a good TB item as someone might detach it from the TB. So I am considering just attaching the TBs to laminated cards- one side will explain the mission of the TBs, the other side will have a photo of the child whose TB it is. Will this be considered boring/ against etiquette? Do you think a lack of TB traveller object will make it less likely for people to move it from cache to cache?

  5. I read the Longevity clinic and browsed the forum, so I am almost prepared :) I got my TBs today (fast delivery!), and I know what I want my first one to do: as I just moved to Arkansas from Ireland, and don't know much about the geography, this TB's mission will be to travel to all counties in Arkansas (as far as possible; as some are very rural, there may not be any geocaches, but it might inspire more experiences cachers to place one there :D ). I would love it if cachers posted a bit about the county in their logs, and maybe even put photos of landmarks and stuff. How can I make this more likely? I thought I would put a piece of paper explaining the mission and why it has that mission in a little zip lock bag (and put the same blurb on the TB's page on geocaching.com) with the TB attached, and some sort of traveller- probably my son's baby Razorback hat, which he has grown out of- or would that be too useful/ cute an addition? Would I be better off getting a laminated card? Not sure where I can get laminating done... Is there any sugested wording, anything I should definitely include?

     

    I'd love to see some individual TB pages with good stories/ photos of their travels!

  6. I like the idea of electronic rewards, especially as there are many GPS out there now that can take MP3s and jpegs.

     

    You should only get the "reward" if you find the cache- setting distance to 6 foot is not enough, as it is very possible to be within 6 foot and not find a cache, especially in undergrowth or an urban environment (just going on DNF logs of caches I am watching here). So maybe the solution is to set the distance at max 1 inch, or maybe you could put the cache chip in the log book, and you need to touch your own chip to the cache chip when you sign the log.

     

    The other question (at least for me as a SAHM) would be how much it would cost, both for me as a geocacher to have a chip and for people who want to place them in caches- too expensive and people won't be able to afford it. Might be a fun premium feature if you can confince Groundspeak (no flaming about premium vs other members please....)

  7. If you are willing to send it abroad, maybe try some of the regional (out of USA) forums on here to send it directly to a geocacher in another country?

     

    If you get stuck, I have geocaching friends in Ireland I could pass it on to, but not travelling myself this year :rolleyes:

  8. Thanks! I just ordered 8 travel bugs (number purely based on the price break at 8 <_< ), and have designed for four already in mind (one sent to Ireland to travel around, then come to Arkansas; one starting here and travelling to Ireland, and one each named for my twins just travelling).

     

    I have heard of dipping, but am a bit confused about it. Won't other geocachers be excited to see a coin/ TB on a cache page, and then disappointed when it's not there because I only logged it in the cache but didn't leave it there?

  9. New not only to travel bugs, but also to geocaching, so I have two questions:

     

    1. I know it's not a good idea to hide a cache until you've found quite a few, general suggestion seems to be at least 50 or 100, so you know about different hides etc. What about travel bugs (and to a lesser extent, geocoins)? Should one wait until one has some experience in geocaching before releasing any?

     

    2. I recently moved from Ireland to Arkansas. I know some geocachers in Ireland, they always tried to get me involved but were unsuccessful until I got here :D Would it be ok for me to purchase a travel bug, activate it, then send it to a friend in Ireland to place it in cache there, rather than place it in a local cache here in Arkansas? I'd love to have one travel around Ireland to remind me of all the lovely places there. Another idea I had was to start two TBs, one here and one sent to a friend in Irelnd, and race them in opposite directions.

  10. I see nothing wrong with it, with the caveats given by other posters. While browsing local cache pages, I have come across one where the hider asked a hotel could he leave the cache in their parking lot (just in case they got concerned with people looking), and once geocaching was explained to the manager, he said yes and apparently was delighted as he thoguht it might lead to visiting geocachers staying at his hotel.

  11. This may seem obvious- you log a DNF if you don't find the cache. But should you always log a DNF?

     

    For example, what if I am out walking with my twins and the dog, and I bring the GPS for a bit of geocaching fun. Due to my hangers on, I might not be able to spend more than a few minutes looking for a cache, and thus might miss even a very easy one. Especially when I am only getting used to the GPS system and to geocaching! Logging a DNF in that case could be missleading to the cache owner, and kind of wrong for me too, as I didn't have a chance to search properly.

     

    Or what if I know there is a cache in a large parking lot from the description, and I am waiting for a friend, so I search for it. I might spend quite some time looking, but I don't have my GPS with me so cannot pinpoint the area.

     

    I am kind of tempted to only log finds, not DNFs, for the first few months, until I am reasonably confident in my ability to use the GPS system and find caches...

  12. This is probably a silly question, but I didn't see the answer in the FAQ. (How) do you log regular visits to a cache? Should you even visit a cache more than once if you are not the owner?

     

    I see there are several caches along a walking trail I take almost daily with my dog (including the first one I found and already logged), so once I get a GPS system, I'll go hunting. Of course, if and when I find the caches, it would be easy for me to visit again. No point in doing so for micro caches, but it might be interesting to go and check on larger caches regularly, to see log entries in the physical book and what goodies have been left (of course I'd always leave something of equal or greater value if I decide to take something). Is this acceptable or against the etiquette? If it is acceptable to visit a cache several times, do you log a Found It the first time and notes after that, or what?

  13. I just found my first cache by accident (well, the dog did...), and so while I was aware of geocaching for years, I have decided to finally join up. Husband is delighted as he has tried to convince me we need a GPS system for the car for ages :(

     

    He wants to get the Garmin nüvi 360, and it sounds decent for the price and I like that it has the paperless possibility and the MP3 plays to listen to while I walk. But from a quick read around here, it seems that while the nuvi is portable, it isn't really suited for walking/ geocaching? My geocaching will be limited to easily accessible caches for a while, as I have small kids, so I don't need one that can do huge mountains or deep forests, but I would like a GPS system that is good for both car and geocaching, ideally 100-150 dollars but will go up to 200. Sugestions?

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