Dallan72

It never made it to JAZ666's bookmark, but I today rescued TBC83A Bender after over 18 months stuck in GCHQQW Windy Mellor. The TB was left by the last visitors to the cache in May 2006, shortly before it was archived but left in place. Interestingly, I had made enquiries with a reviewer at the time the cache was about to be archived about what would happen to the TB and was told "This cache is on my bookmark list with a note to request a TB rescue if not collected by the 21st of June, as I'm aware of several who had commented about this cache." Unfortunately, but perhaps not surprisingly given the amount of other things reviewers have to do, the rescue never got requested that I'm aware of. Would it not, though, make sense for reviewers to routinely get caches added to Jaz666's bookmark if they archive them whilst containing trackables and appear to be still in place?? That way others are made aware and can mount similar TB rescues and the TBs don't get abandoned along with the caches. Looking at other caches owned by the same team as Windy Mellor, several of which were archived at the same time in 2006, one contained two TBs at the time of being archived and also appears to be still in place.

Yes it does appear to be as you say, and affects the "Last Found" dates in all "Seek Geocache" searches and has only been like this since last website changes I believe. Here in the UK it's even worse because "yesterday" doesn't start until 8pm GMT = 12 noon PCT, rather than at 8am as it used to. So both yesterday's finds and today's finds are shown as "today" until 8pm. Interestingly, though, it only seems to affect caches logged through main website. Yesterday I logged one cache through main website, and this is still showing as last found "today", but I also logged six others using wap.geocaching.com and they have already changed to "yesterday" at 8am GMT as they all always used to. Also "Yesterday" and "x days ago" last found dates are affected in exactly the same way ie not incremented until 12 noon PCT. It's clearly changed and needs fixing - perhaps TPTB can at least acknowledge that it's on their "to do" list please??

Found a cache this morning that I didn't know had been disabled since I last got a PQ for it. Tried to log my find "in the field" at wap.geocaching.com but got an error message "You can't log a disabled cache." Is this intentional since there are no restrictions on logging finds, posting notes etc. on disabled (or archived) caches using the main website, so why have them on the WAP site?? In this case, I logged the find no problem on the main website when I got home.

Time to reply after all the fuss I seem to have caused... Thanks for that Paul. To be fair though if I remember correctly somebody else had been and reported it as being located in the base of the wall and I responded to a note you left on the cache page asking for it to be relocated by the next visitor. So along I came at 0730 on my way from Lancashire to Belfast for the day (the cache is just off the A75 near Gatehouse-of-Fleet) and relocated the remains of the container. Next day, on my way back from overnight at Stranraer, I replaced the box with a brand new one from Tesco's in Belfast. As I said at the time, it's all part of the service! But the difference with Simply Paul's cache GCPGAP is that he had responded to some previous comments and sought to relocate it. Emma's TB Hotel had received comments in the past about being located somewhere it shouldn't be, and was apparently even going to be relocted on Boxing Day, but still remained there. I'm no wall expert, but this particular wall certainly had loose stones in the middle, one of which was hiding the cache, and as Tigger quite rightly pointed out the cache was also across the fence/wall from the road and public ROW, gap (which I never noticed) or no gap. Hardly terrain 1 as listed. I'd already been poking about on the other side of the wall, so somebody could quite easily have pulled out the "wrong" stone and caused some serious damage. So I posted an SBA to alert the reviewers that there may be a problem with the cache, on the grounds of the wall and trespass, just following the system previously encouraged in the forums. What happens next is between the reviewer and cache owner. No problem: no archive. Problem: archive and/or sort it out. The problem is that not many cachers seem to post SBAs because, I believe, of the rather negative name "Should be Archived" and the backlash like this that sometimes occurs. Instead, caches either remain located in silly/dangerous/"illegal" places or temporarily disabled for months and months. The reviewers are good, but they can't monitor every single cache! Back to Moote's original and subsequent posts, I was somewhat surprised at his stance since this cache doesn't appear to meet GAGB guidelines re. crossing fences, landowner permission and being hidden in stone walls and yet he has previously been referring cachers to these very same guidelines for help placing their first cache etc. Fair enough, it might be a mortar-topped drystone and not just pure drystone, but does that really make it any better and a suitable hiding place?? I still don't understand why Bexybear didn't just relocate the cache on Boxing Day to a suitable place on the other side of the wall, but not in it. That way it should meet the guidelines so problem solved! P.S. Logging a find on a 'naughty' cache: Did I find it: [Yes]

How about GCQ68D All About the UK, with 17 cachers watching it and only found once since being placed last August?

Belated thanks for all the congratulations, and yes I got the FTF on "All About the UK" a week later and after yet another ferry ride!!! Quite an adventure this cache with visits to North Wales, Wiltshire, Caithness and Northern Ireland just to find the TBs. Looking forward to my next visit to NI Mike, and hopefully a slightly longer stay. Duncan

It says "Suitable for all 12 to 32 volt GPS types with the 4 pin round plug", which seems to match the spec for the GPS 12XL. Why not send them an email? I had a couple of queries before I bought my cable and they were very helpful and seemed to know their stuff very well.

Is THIS cable what you're after? Claims to link GPS 12XL to several IPAQs. Bought a different cable from them a few months back and the customer service was spot on.

No, it isn't. The font size on the "my" page has been reduced to less than it was originally. Unfortunately it is now visibly smaller than the other standard text fonts the pages use (Opera 8.51, but that shouldn't matter). Please have another look into this. BalkanSabranje More small text, using IE6 Sp2: 1. Cache owner line at top of cache pages 2. Image name link and notes in cache descriptions 3. "Travel Bug Options" box on TB pages But at least most of the small text has returned to normal - keep up the good work!

Try GCGNE0 for starters as it covers the whole route.

Will be passing by on Saturday morning on way to Newcastle for the day and might have some bugs to drop off. What time are you visiting Hyning Scout?

Nearly right. My understanding is that bugs can be "marked as missing" which thus changes their location to "unknown". This can only be done by either the bug's owner or the owner of the cache shown containing the bug and the option doesn't otherwise show up on the bug page. I used this facility a while ago when a bug in one of my caches was reported as gone, but no-one had logged it out. I checked out the cache, it had definitely gone, so I posted a note to that effect and then selected the "mark as missing" option. A couple of months later the bug reappeared with a log about someone's mate taking it but not having internet access. But at least it didn't keep showing in my cache when it wasn't there. I also used it when another of my caches disappeared. It unfortunately had a bug in it at the time, but again I posted a note on the bug's page and marked it as missing. It never showed up again though!

With some virtuals you will have a very long wait if you do this as some owners don't respond to the messages / emails. Quite expected from someone who hasn't logged on for months, in which case I'd perhaps request that the cache should be archived, but some very active cachers also seem to do this for some reason.

Sorry, looks like you'll have to find part 1 first...!

I reckon so Rutson. No problems with it as far as I'm concerned - and I thoroughly enjoyed my day trip to Hampshire!! Yes TB mileage might be a problem, so I didn't leave one, but the cache is good because it is unusual. No-one is forced to find it, so cachers can make the choice and just ignore it if they can't or don't want to find it - like they would with any other cache. Doesn't make it wrong or unfair in any way.

True for some, but not "nearly all". And even if you can park right next to the cache, there is nothing to stop you parking further away and making a decent walk of it. The good thing about Geocaching is that there are now so many different types of caches out there that you can easily pick and choose which ones to find and ignore the drive-bys if they don't appeal to you, or only do drive-bys if you don't feel like walking or are mobility impaired. I like a complete mixture - sometimes a drive-by or short walk is appealing when going to a meeting in a suit but at the opposite extreme climbing Ben Nevis last October was very appealing at the time and took up the whole day. Central London is different again - I enjoyed getting the train there and walking around all day on Saturday with the odd bus ride in between but wouldn't have dreamed of taking the car. At the end of the day it's entirely up to you. Just do what suits you best and enjoy it!

Yes it is good, and also gives you lots of other search options to play around with. Cache Tools is also a great new feature.

Another similar way is to check the "Include archived/unavailable" box down the bottom of the page at G:UK when doing an advanced search from wherever eg your home postcode. I've used it a few times and it's amazing what interesting results you can get.

Plenty of snow above 2000ft when I found the winter cache in October, but a totally cloud-free climb up with absolutely superb views. Quite lucky as it was the only clear day that week.

I don't think that cache density matters, nor frequency of being found - the main thing is that they are ALL owned by active cachers, are ALL maintained as and when required, and are ALL reviewed if that process is implemented. Picking on areas with loads of caches doesn't seem fair and probably won't solve many problems as these also tend to be the areas with more active cachers and those who already adopt abandoned caches. Another thought - a cache owned by an active cacher but not maintained because it is miles and miles from their home is just as bad as one not maintained because it is owned by someone who has given up caching. Perhaps a 50 miles from home limit unless exceptional circumstances (second home, working away during the week, frequent visits to relatives etc) should also be considered during an annual review to weed out the remaining "holiday" caches that don't get looked after.

An excellent idea. There are far too many active caches with inactive owners, but it also addresses the problem of Geotrash. Just because a cache is archived on the website it doesn't mean it has been removed. I wonder just how many archived caches could still be found?

Totally agree on this one. Also helps if they are together in a suitable plastic bag, particularly fluffy toys that tend to get rather smelly once they get damp. If I find a TB with its goals attached I can decide if I can help it or not. If there is nothing attached then I always just take it to move it on. Sometimes I find that I haven't helped it, or have even hindered it, but at least it gets moved on and gains a bug sheet and plastic bag from me to help the next finder.

Good news Suzylou that you are offering to take on some of the 28, but the lack of email response is rather odd as Family-Wood last visited GC.COM as recently as 17th April so are still active as such. Is the next step to perhaps post your adoption offers as a note on each of the caches concerned and/or contact Lactodorum or Eckington to see if they can make contact and facilitate the adoptions?? If they can't make contact they may transfer them to you anyway after a couple of weeks.

I don't FTF that many Yorkshire caches, though GCN78Y does spring to mind - and still no-one else has been mad enough to fnd it yet!! And never mind getting the cache out of the car, sometimes the car is the cache isn't it Fruity!

Thanks for the link Stuey - I should have stuck one in my OP to save confusion!