Beds Clangers

Have a look at the front of this weeks Bedfordshire on Sunday, sorry do not know how to do those "linky" things, but it is available on-line. Even farmers can get into trouble!!! Regards Nick

Hi sssskenties, Have a look at the EAC (East Anglia Cachers) Forum, you will have cachers jumping to your aid. Beds Clangers

Great Post!!! I have actually met Alan (DrSolly) but think he was going out the door to do another quick 30 caches I tried to do the CH100 Series yesterday, but the weather was wet, well wet, well very wet have to say it WAS WET But, the mud was muddy, well very muddy, have to say VERY MUDDY, when I got to the point to find a cow, yes cow, stuck in the mud, I thought "What am I doing here" I'm looking for a 300ml tubberware box in a field with cows, which are stuck in the mud!!!! CACHING LOVE IT Comments on caching are "spot on". Cheers Nick

I placed LQ:-Lincs in the good old days (one year ago) when the "Credit Crunch" was unheard of!!! At the time I was working on a Lincolnshire Broadband project (term five years) which has now been cancelled!!! If anybody uses OnLincs then contact me by e-mail!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If anyone would like to take over LQ:-Lincs let me know ASAP. Cache will remain in place but if nobody wants to take this on, I will remove it on 29/05/09. Regards Nick

NO!! Not more devious caches around Beds/Herts!!! Keep them out of the woods, flattened Ammo Cans are a real swine to get TBs out of!!! Good luck with now being a man of leisure!! Cheers Nick

As Jackagirl states!!! Not PC coin tracking numbers are at least six digits long i.e. PCXXXX, the one you quote is only five, unless the final W is in fact two V V. Regards Nick (UK)

My new Colorado arrived today. The tracks upload to Memory Map without a problem so it looks like there was a fault with my last model. I'm sure there are a load of "duff" C300s in UK circulation!!! My FOURTH C300, in about six months has again packed up today!!! Anybody want a silver and black doorstop!!!! I knew I had some time to waste today so loaded Garmin Topo for an "area" near Spalding, Lincs. Also loaded a GPX file for all the locals "trads" as not sure of what time caching I would have. Fired up the C300, only one GPX file loaded, and Yeppie!!, the nearest cache listed was 380 Km away!!!!!!!!!! Looking at MM and Fugawi, cache in question was about 1.2 Km away from my current location, did the "compass" calibration dance and GREAT, cache is still 380km away, which puts its in the North Sea somewhere Next week, w/c 05/01/09, I am going to try the "not fit for purpose" with Garmin, should be "fun"!!!! C300's are really useful, as DOORSTOPS!!!!!!!!!! Nick

OK, don't mention the war!!! Didn't we have some idiot a few years ago (may have been 2005), think he called himself the "Virtual Cacher" , who logged FTFs in Libya, London and the USA on the same day? He then splattered logs all over the UK caches, which when plotted on a map, looked "rude". Don't remember the exact details, but we all agreed "muppet", DELETE logs Nick

Hi Pieman, Also using the same MM version as you and a C300. Did a couple of caches yesterday and using the Import from GPS, Tracks got a nice big "red" line of the "track". First time I have ever done this so wasn't sure what to expect? Actual track in MM is very good and follows the roads/paths very well. Doesn't really help you though!!! Mine works OK , yours doesn't!!! My C300 has been changed by Garmin three (YES 3Xs) for various odd faults. The one I have now, two weeks old, will not "connect" to a PC if the track "log" is very big. Plug it into the USB Port, you get the "saving" waypoints/tracks message, it gets to about 14% and locks up!!!! You have to take the batteries out of it, delete all the track "logs" and then try again!!! Regards Nick

This location in MK has no micros/nanos stuck all over it!!!!! N52 00.800 W000 48.550 Sure if you knock on the door they would give you permission! Go for something bigger than a micro (35mm Film Canister), I've got 6 "small" clip locks in my garden shed that you can have with pleasure, just to stop the micros masses in MK!!!! Cheers Nick

Assume you have a GPX file and your "laptop/PC" can see you C300 as an external device? C300 appears on you "laptop/PC", under My computer as a blue triangle icon. You simple copy the GPX file, to the C300 in the directory Garmin/GPX. Then go outside, make sure you have a good GPS "lock" location. Enter the "Geocaching" Shortcut and you should "SEE" all the caches loaded from the GPX file. Nick

Hi All, Thanks for the help/responses!!!! Have a second (refurbed) C300 which I've been using today and the problem of multiple GPX fles is fixed. My C300 was faulty, which is the second C300 in 6 months. Still have my trusty 60Csx which has no problems at all!!! Had GPX files for Bristol, Swindon and Oxford loaded and can see all the caches. Just been given MemoryMap V5 so trying to get my head around it as I've only ever used Fugawi. Use TOPO on the GPS but have a "fixed" laptop in the van which I now run MM on. Still have to calibrate the compass more times than I would want, but may be able to live with that. Compass calibartion only affects the C300, tried it today and the 60Csx compass was fine all day. Did 13 caches and had to calibrate the C300 8 times??? Cheers Nick

Lost my internet connection in the middle of last post!!!! Have a GOOD GPS signal!! OK, today I'm in Liverpool and have two GPX files loaded :- Liverpool and "London" (Home). Looking for caches I see NONE and looking at waypoints I also see NONE. If I try to add a new waypoint "get waypoint full error!!! Delete the London GPX file and I can now see all the Liverpool caches. Load ONLY the London GPX file and I can see all the London caches. Load a second GPX file and again no caches shown!!! Spoke to Garmin today, they are going to replace the Colorado for the SECOND time, as it appears to have an "Internal Memory Problem"???? Would make a good door stop, but as a GPS!!!!!! Nick

Hi All, This may have been answered before but I cannot find the answer so SORRY for the question, AGAIN!!! If I load a number of GPX Files (500 "caches") to my Colorado 300 which GPX File does it "load/open" first? OK, I load three GPX files of local caches in say London, Liverpool and Glasgow. If I'm in London I have to DELETE the Liverpool and Glasgow GPX Files to "see" the nearest caches? If I'm in Glasgow I have to DELETE the London and Liverpool GPX Files to "see" the nearest caches? etc etc If I do not do this when I go to Shortcuts/Geocaches just get "None Found"??? Anyone else have this problem? or should I just stop moving around the UK Regards Nick

Try the EAC (East Anglia Forum) we cover Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Herts, Beds and Cambs, nit sure if we have anyone in Essex but may be. Cheers Nick

I picked up a TB near Portsmouth about one week ago with a "mission" attached. Mission "to follow the Santa Fe Railway Line"!!!, Now my geography may be a bit rusty but I don't think the Santa Fe actually got as far as Portsmouth TB was not logged into the cache, last location listed, is close to the Santa Fe, USA E-mailed owner twice, no response. I haven't logged it yet but have posted two notes on the TB page. What would you do, let this TB loose in the UK or wait for the owner to get in contact? Nick

Even better than that, I have two GPSs (wonder what the plural of GPS is ) I can now be in two places at once, create a waymark, works better under trees. , then "GOTO" it. One GPS says I'm 20m away the other says I'm 5m away, so must be true, two places at once Just checked, I've got another house!!! 8m down the road, better not tell the wife, she may want to move there Just realised I must be MOVING!!! Nick

NO, SORRY Birdman-of-liskatraz we now have two standards for UK cachers:- 1) Did you attend Harrogate Mega Event? ANSWER:- YES:- You are a wonderful cacher, all your children will do well and you know all the UK caching secrets, all of your caches will be approved without question and in fact GC.COM would like you to have it's children!!! NO:- You are no longer a cacher, you should have sold your house, your wife, and your children to get the train fare to Harrogate, you are a DNF on the Megaevent radar!!! As you did not attend the Mega Event you are a "sub-standard" cacher, the UK reviewers/moderators think you are a slug, blimey it's only 4 Hours by road to Harrogate!!!! Go into your garden and kill yourself!! OK, To any USA Moderators, I'M JOKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any UK, moderators, well you are still pissed!!!!!!!!!! BC

There are a series of caches in Norfolk/Suffolk placed in churchyards were you don't have to rummage all around the churchyard, so have no problems with them. However, I have come across micros INSIDE "broken" tombs and many hidden in ivy covered grave stones. Have had one "run-in" with a church warden, cache inside a rubber chicken in a yew tree , placed without permission issue. May just be me but I always feel "uncomfortable" lurking/searching around churchyards. I did try to place a cache in a local churchyard (village of Toddington J13 of the M1) because it has a grave with a date of 31/04/XX (Don't remember the year) and I thought it was quite curious. Local "church council" were horrified at the idea and had visions of lots of people running all over the churchyard and I think they said something like "showing no respect to the buried and their relatives", didn't bother after that!!!! Nick

Why haven't you seen me?? I always wear a Hi-Vis jacket, and there are a few others who do also, so perhaps that man checking water meters, looking up telegraph/electric poles, paying a lot of attention to an ivy covered tree, poking about in a brick wall, inspecting park benches etc etc, TOO MANY CLUES THERE!!!, was in fact a cacher Nick

So, Nick, is there anything you haven't been bitten/stung/injured by? As Ali said the other week, can we look forward to your reports of having your arm broken by a swan? Urban Myth, never been a case reported of a swan braking a man's arm, well not yet!!! I keep well away from Beford river, 100's of the blighters down there!!!! Never met a swan near a mobile phone mast, now there's a story Nick

Trust me a bite from an adder is very painful and the jabs you get afterwards are even more so, well I am a big chicken!!! Not sure if I was bitten or just sat on the dadgum thing but it did bite me OK, while working in the new forest, mobile phone site, had just come off a tower and a "flopped" down on the grass/heather. Had my full working harness, fall arrest kit on and something bit me in the very high part of my right leg, if you get the general area!!! Lept up, saying "Oh dear something just bit me" well not those exact words, but think you get my drift!!! Work mate came over and that's when we saw the snake, looks like I had sat on it but my harness/steel fixings had done quite a bit of damage to the snake. . It was about 1m long but had the tell tale "black diamond" markings. Over loads of laughing from my mate and the obvious jokes about "I'm not sucking the poision out, It was only a little prick, etc etc!!! My leg was starting to get very painful, red and had an obvious bite mark. OK, off the nearest A&E somewhere near Ringwood. Limped in and explained what had happened. "How do you know it was an adder?" enquired the nurse. "Well it looked lke an adder and it did bite me!!" I replied At this pont my mate nipped back to the van and came back with a bag and "YES" dumped the now very sick looking ADDER on the floor!!! We almost emptied the A&E dept' but they did confirm it was an adder!!! Bite was very painful and sore, took quite a while to settle down Nick

As others had said John, DON'T. Actually took me 18 moths to complete!!!! If you need any help with any "stages" let me know glad to help. Cheers Nick

Think you are a bit too far West, the A417 runs through Wantage in Oxfordshire, sort of Reading area to Cirencester, know it very well. Heard the programme, stuck on the M62 in the lorry drivers fuel protest, and yep I though "geocaching" and expected a Chris Evans comment, "What's Geocaching?" but nothing. Cheers Nick