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Thot

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Everything posted by Thot

  1. Thot

    Display

    I’m not sure what you're setting, but if it’s the bearing and you use a compass I’d say you need to use degrees so you can set the bearing on the compass.
  2. You can just click the "Send" icon on the toolbar if you want to send the entire list.
  3. Thot

    Lame

    Webster's Collegiate Lame -- Lacking needful or desirable substance: WEAK INEFFECTUAL
  4. It's probably just me, but I found GSAK much more difficult to use/understand than EasyGPS. And, since EasyGPS does everything I need the extra complexity wasn't worth learning.
  5. For my purposes I find EasyGPS does everything I need. I wrote a little program that combines .loc files downloaded from geocaching.com, so I can just click the mark all, download the 20 on the page, go to the next page repeat, and do this again and again until I get as many waypoints as I want. For example, if I’m trying to get caches around Cheyenne, Wyoming I begin with a zipcode (or lat/lon) near the center of town. While downloading I name the first 20 Cheyenne1, the next 20 Cheyenne2 . . . Cheyenne10, etc. Then my program combines these individual sets of 20 into one .loc file that is loaded into EasyGPS. If you want to be picky you can select all 20 on a page then uncheck any you don’t want, such as 5 star terrain or micros or virtuals or whatever you don’t want before downloading each set. I have a broadband connection. so I can highlight caches on the list in EasyGPS and get all the information available by viewing the cache online. Forgive me if all this is obvious.
  6. It means that it calculates the distance from this "selected" waypoint to the others in the list. For example, I set my home as the "active waypoint" then click on the heading of the "Distance" column. This sorts all waypoints from nearest to furthest from my home and tells me how far away they are. I think you’ve figured the rest out. A couple of points you may not realize: If you right click on any one of a selected set you get a menu of options that includes sending them to your GPS. If you select an individual waypoint and click the yellow pushpin (View on Line) it will start you browser and take you to this cache on the geocaching website. If you have more specific questions post them.
  7. I only enjoy 'um if I can find 'um.
  8. I've seen this handled by explaining the situation in the cache description. Something like: “This is a micro cache, but the micro container is packaged in a 4” diameter outer container.” Then I'd mark it as a micro so people who like to trade and look only for regular size caches won't include it by mistake. If you are willing you can be even more specific: “This is a micro cache, but the micro container is inside a piece of 4” PVC pipe. Here’s a picture of the two.” Then show a picture of what they will find. I know there are different philosophy’s on why caches are hidden. Some people want to make it a challenge for the cacher to find. Other’s feel it’s being hidden from muggles not from cachers. I’m in the second group. Oops, Kai Team beat me to it. Oh, well . . .
  9. There was an entire thread on the subject of waterproof containers a few days ago -- Click Here In that thread someone mentioned these acrylic containers According to the ad they're airtight, featuring a chromed latch locking mechanism and rubber ring for a snug seal. You can find them at linens and things or bed bath and beyond. They are a little pricy but not too bad. We constantly get coupons from BB&B. With a coupon I have now I can get a set of 3 for $10. I've never had any personal experience with them, but they really appeal to me.
  10. Thot

    Accuracy

    Something is clearly wrong with 400 ft difference. Are you allowing the device to have a little time to settle after you get near the target? Soon after I started blindleader & EScout suggested I find some stable benchmarks near me and go to them a few times to see how the gadget behaves when you know you have accurate coordinates. Here are EScout's comments: "[T]here are super accurate benchmarks that are listed to one-hundred thousandths of a second. They are called adjusted (they are GPS adjusted.) This is an excellent way to test your GPSr and get confidence on its accuracy. (The stated "accuracy" on some GPSrs is really an "estimated position error." I think you may be pleasantly surprised when you go to one of these marks, like I have been when testing my GPSrs. Datasheets Go to this website, choose your state, county, GPS sites only. Sort by Lat or Long and then choose a disk or rod (not a CORS.) Lots of these are on public streets and other easily accessible areas ( Remember, if you enter the coords of the benchmark into your GPSr, you need to round off, so you will be within about a 3 foot diameter of the mark. Simple geometry will let you find the position of your rounded coords (one thousandth of a minute is about 6 feet in latitude.)" I think this is good advice. Lower accuracy benchmarks can be way off. I looked for benchmarks that were stability class A, if you don't find any try B. Hoping it is near you, go to it a few times so you see how things vary from time to time. I was surprised how close my unit came to the real coordinates. A friend with an identical unit went with me once and got almost the same reading as I did. This exercise gave me a feeling of confidence about how to use the gadget. Then, when on a hunt you must remember the person who placed the cache may not have been careful in measuring the location.
  11. I don't know about the best place, but I bought my Magellan SporTrack Pro at this place. Their price was reasonable and I was satisfied with the transaction. http://www.digitalfotoclub.com/sc/product-...sp?id=964590965
  12. I think you're mistaken. The article I referenced used isopropyl alcohol. I used ethyl (denatured) alcohol in my experiment. Just for you I repeated my experiment using isopropyl alcohol – same result. So, we now have two kinds of oil that won’t dissolve in either kind of alcohol. According to your reference this is the wrong kind of alcohol. To be clear, I think either type of alcohol would have the same effect. It was your conjecture that one of the two types might not dissolve the oil and your reference specifies isopropyl alcohol while the wipes contain ethyl alcohol. Essentially all authorities agree you should avoid smearing the urushiol oil around or you will make the problem worse. My point all along has been that without a trustworthy authority saying people should use hand sanitizers on poison ivy oil, it may not be a good idea. With this post I withdraw.
  13. This article specifically speaks about rubbing alcohol and vegetable oil (used for cooking). The statement is generally not true. In fact, the opposite is true: alcohols generally dissolve fats and oils. Specifically, rubbing alcohol DOES dissolve urushiol oil and removing the urushiol oil with alcohol is often recommended, see e.g. at http://jaxmed.com/articles/Diseases/poison..._dermatitis.htm I think what we've shown is that there's a lot of conflicting information about poison ivy on the web. The link I referenced came from a website totally dedicated to the topic of poison ivy. They were saying you shouldn’t use alcohol as a wipe. It would be effective as a bath (like if you bathed your hand/arm in it) but you shouldn’t wipe with it, and they gave this link to explain why. There are so many poison ivy webpages I can’t find the one it came from now but the domain name contained the words poison ivy. For the record, I just filled a small jar half full of denatured alcohol and added some household oil (lubricating oil – not vegetable oil). The oil did not mix. It went immediately to the bottom forming balls of oil just like the article said it would. I shook the mixture and, just as the article said, the larger balls broke up into tiny balls, but the oil did not dissolve in the alcohol. If you doubt this, try it for yourself.
  14. I don't claim to be any kind of expert on this, but everyting I've read says not to rub/wipe the poison ivy oil (Urushiol) with anything as this spreads the oil around. The oil must be removed with some kind of agent. As for using alcohol here's an article that says: "oil is soluble in neither water nor alcohol." http://www.haverford.edu/educ/knight-booklet/propofwater.htm
  15. Well, that probably explains what happened. These weren't lines running between giant transmission towers, but there were large transformers on the poles these lines ran to. In one case there were two large transformers side by side. So, the lines must have carried high voltage, even if not H*I*G*H voltage. Thanks.
  16. With two different caches within a week I had a problem that the GPSr would not settle down. First it would lead to here, then there, then over there. The full circle of these locations was probably no more than 30 feet, but it would lead a location and hold there for maybe a minute before deciding it was another. I didn’t seem to drift from one place to another, rather is seemed to jump from place to place. I don’t typically see this kind of behavior. After I arrive at a location the gadget usually requires some settling time during which it drifts (not jumps) from place to place, but after it settles out it usually continues to indicate the same location. In both cases this happened where there were power lines overhead. Other than that they seemed like ordinary areas. No particularly large buildings and no buildings nearby, etc. The EPEs were lower than the scatter of locations.
  17. Thanks. I had just never scrolled down far enough. I thought the last forum was Clayjar's talk or something like that.
  18. Thot

    Accuracy

    Recently I asked people here to estimate the average distance their GPS puts them from the cache. Averaging the nearly 25 replies as best I could, I concluded if you're normally getting within 18-25 feet you're about typical. I assume you understand that the distance can be greater or less than the average and under some conditions the distance can fairly large. If you run into a distance of more than about 50 feet then somebody probably made a mistake.
  19. I've seen several references here to regional forums. Where are they?
  20. I agree that what you say seems reasonable, but some non-profit organizations are hard to distinguish from for-profit organizations. And, the rule only refers to for-profit organizations as an example -- not as the sole case. The full quote is: "Examples include for-profit locations that require an entrance fee, or locations that sell products or services. Solicitations are also off-limits. For example, caches perceived to be posted for religious, political, or social agendas may not be listed." To me this makes non-profits less clear. But again, I hope you're right.
  21. I guess it depends on your definition of many. I’ve posted to this forum more than a hundred times, and I've probably read fifty or more for every one I've posted.
  22. Given my recent posts on this subject I'm obviously not an expert on this, but as I read the "Commercial Caches / Caches that Solicit" rule a cache like you outlined would be permitted as long as it is a public (city/municipal/county/state) zoo. That is, as long as the zoo is owned and operated by a governmental body. If it were a commercially owned zoo it would be a different thing. I don't think the fee is the issue, rather it's the location itself. You can place caches in public parks whether there's a fee or not. There are caches around me in areas owned by a city, county state or Federal Govt. where a fee is required to enter. In fact three of the nearest caches to me are in a nature center that charges a fee. As I understand it you need only explain in the cache description that access to the cache requires a fee of $?? dollars.
  23. I’m starting a new thread for this question, because it has gotten appended as a digression to a thread with an entirely different topic, and I am interested in understanding the answer to this new question. If you want to read the background discussion it starts at the sixth message down in this thread The question came up because, once I understood what APE caches are, I read the rule against “Commercial Caches / Caches that Solicit” to prohibit APE caches. Yet, they are an official cache type with their own special icon. I’m starting this with a repost of my last message in the above thread: That’s certainly a different interpretation of the rule than I concluded when I read the words "[using] the Geocaching.com web site cache reporting tool directly or indirectly to solicit customers . . .” I read ‘indirectly soliciting customers’ to include advertising – trying to draw customers to for your business or product. So, by your interpretation one can use caches for advertising purposes so long as there is no payment required. Is that correct? For example, a restaurant owner could place a cache near the front door to his restaurant to acquaint potential customers with his restaurant, or a nurseryman could hide a cache in his nursery to introduce customers to his location and his wares. A business could set up a cache that randomly includes discount coupons and various inducements to visit their establishment. So long as no payment is required all such uses are permitted? Is there general agreement this it the intended meaning of the prohibition against “Commercial Caches / Caches that Solicit?” -- that the illustrations above are permitted under this rule?
  24. That’s certainly a different interpretation of the rule than I concluded when I read the words "[using] the Geocaching.com web site cache reporting tool directly or indirectly to solicit customers . . .” I read ‘indirectly soliciting customers’ to include advertising – trying to draw customers to for your business or product. So, by your interpretation one can use caches for advertising purposes so long as there is no payment required. Is that correct? For example, a restaurant owner could place a cache near the front door to his restaurant to acquaint potential customers with his restaurant, or a nurseryman could hide a cache in his nursery to introduce customers to his location and his wares. A business could set up a cache that randomly includes discount coupons and various inducements to visit their establishment. So long as no payment is required all such uses are permitted? Is there general agreement this it the intended meaning of the prohibition against “Commercial Caches / Caches that Solicit?” -- that the illustrations above are permitted under this rule?
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