wolves shepherd

Even just add a stat to the stat sticker: mileage. Give TB-like distance based on the point-to-point distances of our logged caches, in order. Could be kinda cool....

I JUST became a member. Like, minutes ago. What pushed me over the line? Pocket Queries and GPX files. I did a day of paperless this past weekend and it was great. Being able to do it that much easier--priceless. Well, $30, but hey, it's a bargain!

I use any travel as an excuse to cache. Business trips provide neat oppurtunities because you have to fit it in with whatever time constraints your under. I've done a couple "after dark urban" caches this way. Keeps your sense sharp! Right now, I'm still new enough that pretty much anywhere I vacation will have plenty of caches I haven't tried yet. Once I deplete those, well.......

From the cheap & functional camp..... Yes, the Etrex will find caches. For the most part, all GPS that are currently made are going to have very similar accuracy. The difference is in the bells and whistles. I'm a staunch lover of the Garmin Foretrex 101. You can up/download points. I don't see the need for mapping for caching/recreational use, personally, it runs all day on 2 AAA's and it fits on your wrist. Its the wonder gizmo that works wonders. And it averages $50 less than my first GPS, a Garmin GPS 12 (also a fine unit, BTW.) and does more. Just my non-60c view point.

Give hints in wierd coord and datums. It's at NT 12 S 5467908723 NAD 27! (MGRS with a DATUM twist) It will be hundreds of miles away from the same coordinate system with WGS 84. Make them use some of their GPS features they don't normally use! Or triangulate it's location. Or distance and bearing.... Or do it as a temporary offset cache from the cache it's attributed to. Or just take it and hide it someplace new within the boundaries of the Shire and post the coords to a dedicated web page. Just some thoughts. Sounds interesting.

Terrible Find Took Cache? Welcome!

Thanks. That did it.

Any excuse to tramp through the woods is a good excuse. Looking for toys in the woods keeps the kids motivated. It's an activity the whole family can enjoy. At some point, you've got to travel farther and farther to get finds. I don't see nearly as much wildlife in the woods with the kids along. Yet another eccentric hobby I have to explain to people, still it's cheaper than golf.

I ran across a cacher in a log book entry that I am curious to try to track down. Nothing major, just the name made me think it might be someone I know, but I'm not for sure, no other way to contact. I tried searching posts by username on the board but came up empty. Is their any other way to search for a fellow cacher?

After 20 some finds, I lonly log if I/we trade for something besides McToys. Otherwise I don't bother keeping track of which kid traded which widget for which whatsit. I just regulate to make sure all trades are fair and the cache comes out eve, if not ahead. Now, if I find something I want, I usually will log what I took and what I left in it's place. That's just the way I play.

Can't say for sure, not having used the unit you're writing about, but my hunch is...probably. A dedicated GPS is the way to go.

I found a small dump (old TV, Toilet) near a cache. Would you think the GC community would pice the offending items out if I posted the coords somewhere? It would be sort of a CITO virtual I guess, though there'd be no "credit" since new virtuals are suspended. Whaddyathink? (We took a full garbage bag out of the park, BTW)

Under "Waypoints" select "Create New" and enter your data. Yes, using PC software is quicker, especially if you have a lot of points. Especially if you ust select the ones you want and downlaod the *.loc file. No typing at all that way.

I got my Foretrex 101 (which I was allowed to open early.) Here's it's first post-Christmas Cache. Timing is Everything

Yes, it's just like the Etrex or most other GPSes. Enter the coordinates, hit goto and away you go. I've got my Foretrex to work with GPSUtility just fine using the Garmin protocol.

The 12 is a great unit. I just (yesterday) sent mine to my Dad since he was nice enough to get me a Foretrex 101 for Christmas. If it hadn't been for that, I'd still be using it. I wouldn't be in any hurry to go out and buy a new one. Like others have said, get close, then just start looking around for the cache. Any unit will have some "drift" meaning it won't give you absolute pinpoint accuracy. However, if you do decide you like this geocaching thing, the Foretrex is hard to beat, in my opinion, but the 12 is just fine too.

Impressing my techno-geek friends is always fun! Black Mage.....you need therapy or something.... Caching, obviosuly, I've used it to do some of my own mapping--hike or bike a trail then overlay it on a topo map. Hiking, driving, backpacking. Pretty typical stuff I suppose. Since I got my Foretrex I use it when running as well to track distance and or speed. Makes it nice because I can just "go run" and not worry about my route so much and still get the distance I want.

Good stuff. But would it be Yards or Meters? UTM is, after all based on the metric system, being originally developed by the French after WWI. Merry Christmas to you all as well.

I got a Foretrex 101. Now I just need some good weather next week to go use it! Considering using some Christmas Cache to go Premium...... Allready got a Camelback. Love it.

This Site sheds a glimmer of light, indicating that it might be an arbitrary grid, as it sounds like that was what the US employed, along with the British in artillery operation for WWII. I think the answer could be found in either FM 6-20 or FM 6-40 from that era. However, I have not been able to find and on-line versions as of yet. Right now my hope is pinned on either finding the above manuals or a period map from Fort Jackson to explain the coordinates definitively.

Slow day at work today?

Interesting. Your second plot puts you on Pickney Elementary school on post. (obviously) a fairly new structure. GT, yes, the tool is nice. I've got one, somewhere. I think the big mystery is what unit the coordinate numbers are in. If we could get a lock on that....... Still thinking. Not much open over the holiday. Maybe next week and can find some folks to talk to.

The Mils to Tank Hill work out. I had one waypoint I took between the current tanks which gave me a bearing of 304.84º I then projected one using www.lostoutdoors.com to the approximate location of the old tanks (some of the foundations are still on the ground) and got 310.87º. So somewhere in there would fall the 309.59º that the mils given on the monument refer to. Tank hill is the only point I know where it is for sure 64 years later. I'm now working trying to find the 0,0 point for the coordinates using different units for the coordinates.

Well, I looked throught the material you all posted and it's good stuff. Unfortunately, I don't think we've answered the mystery yet of being able to explain the alleged coordinates on St. Barbara 2. (As long as we're all learning here, St. Barbara is the patron saint of artillery. I don't know why.) Maybe I can get over to the museum on post and find some answers/hints/clues.

GT. Looks good, I'll have to investigate that. The images are on THIS computer, okay.....