Mom-n-Andy

Here is an alternative article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/23/wilderness-rules-obama-pl_n_800977.html And here is a Q&A from a government web site: http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=116069

President Bush opened up some federal lands for development. President Obama would like to return those lands to the protected wilderness status that they had prior to the Bush administration.

I agree with that! But paper cards, whether they are "signature items" or just business cards, invariably just get damp and moldy and someone eventually throws them out. The strangest thing I ever saw in a cache was a whole stack of business cards of an Army recruiter. I guess he figured that someone who liked outdoor activities would love the Army! It seemed complelely out of place.

Nixie tubes!!!!!! I haven't seen any of those since the 70's. Gotta be tough on battery life. Is there a schematic somewhere?

A dog.

You need to write your description in html. There is a checkbox to indicate that the description is html. If you check that you can include html code including image tags, links, etc. The best way to see how this is done is to look at a geocache page that does what you want to do and view the source.

Well, this is what I do, on a Mac (YMMV, I've no idea how difficult this would be on a PC): I take a screen shot of the section of the geocaching google map that contains the caches I'm interested in. I drag this into PowerPoint. I then take a screen shot of the park map showing the trails. I drag that into PowerPoint on top of the first map and adjust the transparency of that image to about 45-50%. At this point you should be able to see the info on both images. I then adjust the scale of the top image and move it around until the roads or other landmarks line up on both images. Then I print out the result. This usually gives me a very good idea of which trail is nearest the caches. The biggest problem is that in our local parks there are a lot of side trails that have been created over time, and these don't appear on the official maps. So I use my mashed up map for a general guide but also watch for side trails that seem to go in the desired direction. In many cases caches have been placed off the side trails anyway.

I make my own using Powerpoint. I always try to use a font and imagery related to the cache (i.e. kitty cat font and picture of my cat for a cat related cache, etc.) I enjoy doing this and feel that it adds to the fun of placing a cache. You will want the certificate to fit in the cache container so that the FTF finds it. I make my certificates around 3" x 4". I print them on heavy card stock and laminate them so they feel substantial.

Cool - would new satellites such as this work with existing receivers?

Those would be a hoot to find. Could you use them as stages of a multicache? You might be able to insert plastic test tubes in the holes. The test tubes would just contain a slip of paper with the coords for the net waypoint. Then the final could be any container of your choosing. If you couldn't get a test tube inside you could write the coords on the bottom with a permanent marker. Another idea would be to publish the waypoints on the cache page and write a code on the bottom of each gnome; the finder would need all the codes to solve or open the final. I would be delighted to find something like this in the forest. May I ask where you found them?

I have to say that I hate this kind of caches. As a not so able bodied female who is old enough to be your grandmother, I can't do them, and nothing irritates me more than to get to a cache site and unexpectedly find the cache up a tree out of reach. Especially a difficult puzzle cache that I worked hard to solve, only to find that the cache is 20 feet up a tree. If you do place a cache for 16 year old able bodied males, or folks who wish they were still 16 years old, then do give some indication of what to expect in your cache description. I'd set the terrain to 4.5, the difficulty to a relatively high number, and also specify the attributes for "difficult climbing" and "dangerous area." That way people don't waste their time if tree caches aren't their thing.

A transmitter with PLL, case, and frequency display for $31? That is unbelievable. I couldn't build one from parts for that. Do you have it in your possession, and does it work?

I still don't have my cache operational but I thought I'd report on what I've learned so far. My first approach was to use a "talking house" AM transmitter found on eBay. At $20 plus shipping, it would have been a good option had it worked. It allows you to record a message and then transmits it continuously. In testing I found that the frequency tended to drift over time. My application requires the broadcast to be heard about 150 ft from the transmitter, and the talking house transmitter would do about 70-80 ft max. There is so much junk, I mean, content on AM radio that I had a lot of trouble finding an empty frequency to broadcast on. But the thing that really doomed this transmitter is that it just wasn't reliable - It would sometimes "forget" the recording or just shut itself off with no warning. I know someone else who has had similar problems with his talking house transmitter. I am currently working with Canakit's Universal FM Transmitter. I bought the assembled kit for $17 since my eyes are getting a little old for soldering, although it would be an easy kit for anyone with any electronics experience to build. (I did have to fix a couple of substandard solder connections though.) For audio input I'm using a discarded 2nd gen iPod that I loaded with an audio file I created in GarageBand. The transmitter works great up to a couple hundred feet with fresh batteries, but as the batteries run down after a couple of days the frequency drifts. I've substituted a 6v ac/dc adapter from Radio Shack for the batteries but am getting a hum/whine (I'm guessing 120Hz) on the transmitted frequency instead of my broadcast. After doing some research, it seems that RF circuits and cheap AC/DC adapters are not a good mix. So that's where things stand at the moment. I found an interesting article (http://www.dxing.info/equipment/wall_warts_bryant.dx) that includes a rectifier/filter circuit, and will build one of those when I get a chance. If anyone has any suggestions they would be most welcome! LOL - by the time I get this working I could probably have bought a nice PLL transmitter for the same cost! I enjoy a challenge though.

I would give the coords to the cache itself so finders will have to figure out where the rope is.

joyinthelitterbox, please pm me if you need more help. I see you found the download for non-intel Macs, I was just about to suggest that.

For Basecamp, all you need to do is go to http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4450, click on Download, and then install the software as you would any other Mac software. Basecamp runs on your Mac, you don't install it on your Garmin.

You could also 1. save it as a loaner for someone who wants to try geocaching 2. give it to someone in your area who does intro to geocaching classes (maybe there is a class at your parks and rec dept?) 3. Give it to a beginning cacher in your area with the request that they pass it on when they upgrade to a better gps If that is one of the old units with a serial cable, you'll want to make sure to include the cable. This is very nice of you, btw!

Can't quite tell what this is/does from the pictures. What is the purpose of the screw? Where do the magnets go? What is the black object on the other end of the wire from the screw?

A trick I've seen a few times is an image with coordinates shown in the image, but in really small text. The C.O. would use PhotoShop or GIMP to prepare the image. The cache seeker can usually use any photo viewing software to zoom way in (like 400% or more, sometimes) and examine the image. I've used GIMP for this but I usually just use Preview on my Mac. I'm sure Windows computers come with some sort of basic image display app. I'm of the opinion that a cache finder should not have to download and install any software to seek a cache. In the first place this could pose a security risk. In the second place, caches are supposed to be available to the general geocaching community. Requiring someone to use a particular piece of software might exclude Mac users, PC users, or people with older computers, depending on what that software might be.

Winter is a great time for geocaching. No mosquitos, ticks, or mud, and the geodog doesn't need a bath after. Most parks are very beautiful in the snow. The "winter accessible" attribute is helpful if the cache owner uses it correctly. Unfortunately opinions differ - some think that winter accessible means you can drive to a parking area, some think that being able to hike to the cache area on snowshoes is winter accessible, and others think that the cache needs to be placed above the typical snow depth to be called winter accessible. I've come to ignore that attribute since there are so many interpretations. When I hike to a cache area and it is buried under the snow, that's okay; I'll just come back after snowmelt.

a. Since GPS receivers work with AMERICAN military satellites, it is not unreasonable to wonder if they work outside the U.S. b. It is NOT NICE to laugh at your Mom.

Well when I do that, I first export the caches in my GSAK database to a Palm/Cachemate compatible file which carries a file extension of .pdb. It is this file that is automatically synched with the Palm. There might be other ways to get the job done but that is what I've been doing for about 4 years now and it works really great. I exported the caches in the GSAK database to the Palm/Cachemate compatible file. It shows that it is ready to be transferred at the next HotSync. When I perform the HotSync, it never shows up in my Documents. Have no clue what could be happening. Do you have Cachemate running on your Palm? That's where you would see the caches, not in Documents.

I'm guilty of submitting a cache before it was ready by forgetting to uncheck the "active" box. (I hastily added an apologetic reviewer's note when I saw the email confirmation of submission, though.) I think that the default state of the "active" box should be UNCHECKED. Checking it would take a minimal amount of effort and it will help eliminate accidental cache submissions. What is the process for making suggestions like this?

A dozen deer ticks? Thatsalotta deer ticks. You sure they weren't wood ticks? About the size of a O on this page and larger. Deer ticks are about the size of a period on this page (.)! Just to make sure we are talking about the same critter. The Pro-Tick Remedy tool came with a card for identifying different ticks. These were definitely mature female deer ticks. They were bigger than what you describe. You might be thinking of the nymph stage. The scary thing: We only noticed the ticks when we did because we couldn't find the cache and consulted Cachemate on the PDA. That is when we read previous logs about a tick infestation in the cache area, and decided to check ourselves.

For the results of a scientific study of tick removal methods, see http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~acarolog...am/tickgone.htm Geocaching last weekend in Pennsylvania, my husband picked up a dozen deer ticks. A couple of them attached themselves before we could get them off. I had a Pro-Tick Remedy in my caching bag and it worked VERY well to remove the attached ticks quickly.