MileHighAko

Wow, that community has gone grade A socialist. Forget geocaching, how about just having a good time. Sounds like they want the park to be like the library. Here is what you do, if a park employee asks you if you're geocaching, just tell them your little device is a decible meter, and you're just making sure that the noise level in the park is at acceptable levels.

Which part? Scanning the frequencies in my area is perfectly legal (some states do have restrictions), so there is no foul there. But If I'm out in the woods and find a hiker that has fallen over a cliff, and the only way to get help is to talk over a police frequency, I'm going to do it. The governer might give me a medal at the same time the FCC takes away my license. So what? Its worth it to save a life if thats what it takes. Besides, part 97 of FCC rules does provide some protection in an example like this, and its more likely the Sheriff and FCC rep will attend the medal ceremony. I think the point that you're trying to make (correct me if I'm wrong) is that you better be darn sure it is a life or death type of emergency before you go freeband, else you're going to find yourself in trouble. I agree completely. Losing your keys isn't an emergency. Losing your two-year old in a river is.

Uh, you can do what now? Just what I said. For example, the local Sheriff/EMS dispatch where I live operates on 151.110. With my little Yaesu VX-7R HT (fantastic radio by the way), I can transmit and contact them directly in an emergency (of course you wouldn't want to do so unless it was a true emergency, and then in that case you would use any means necessary to get help). Last week I was in the mountains and was listening to the the forest service coordinate the creation of some fire break lines. If there was an emergency, I could have contacted them directly to seek help (Note: if my cell phone was working, I'd call 911. But if I were in a situation where I didn't have cell phone servce or similar access, I wouldn't hesitate to use any means necessay to get emergency help). A few other great things about ham radio when it comes to emergencies: 1. In amateur radio there is a "wilderness protocol" established to address emergency needs for folks that are outside of repeater range. The protocol is a suggested set of simplex frequncies to monitor at specific times in case others have emergency or priority calls. 2. Here in Colorado, there are many areas in the mountains where cell phone service dosen't work, but you can still hit a local ham repeater, which is configured with an autopatch, allowing you to make phone calls from your ham radio. 3. When the power is out or normal phone communications are overloaded or not working, ham radio still works!

I just got my ham radio ticket, both Technician and General license. If you're smart enough to use Geocaching.com, enter coordiates in a GPS, and find a cache, you'll find the ham radio test quite easy. Here are my recommendations on how to do it: 1. Go to your local ham radio shop (I chose ham radio outlet (hamradio.com)) and buy the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual (red book) for $20. Its an easy read, and has all of the questions you'll find on the test along with the answers. You can also buy online at www.arrl.org, or you might find it at your local library. 2. If you're not comfortale with amateur radio after reading the book and would like to learn more before taking the test, find a local ham club (listed on www.arrl.org) and just show up at one of their meetings and ask questions. You can even join the club if you want, but its not required. Hams LOVE to talk about ham radio, especially to new potential hams, and they always welcome newcomers. 3. Look for a testing site listed on www.arrl.org. The exam cost $14 (cheap). I took my test at the local fire station (they do it once a month at that location... in the Denver area I found that you can find the test being given at least once a week somewhere in the greater metro area). 4. Get a rig and get on the air! Why go for a ham instead of using FRS/FMRS? Here is my short list: 1. With ham, I can use local repeaters to talk over huge distances. 2. I can use repeaters connected to the Internet to talk all over the world (I'd love to see a coordinated multi-state cache event that requires real-time communication using IRLP or EchoLink). 3. With my ham radio, I can listen to police, fire, rescue teams, and communicate with them in an emergency. 4. With my ham radio I can listen to local CB, FRS, and GMRS traffic if I want. 5. I can listen to the national weather service, and be instantly notified of local weather alerts. 6. APRS! Automated Position Reporting System. I can plug my GPS into my ham radio, and beacon my location, allowing friends and family to see my location on a map (check out http://www.googleaprs.com/). I could go on and on. Ham radio is a great supporting technology for geocachers. Enjoy!

What "massive changes" are you talking about?

In my backpack I carry a small first aid kit, a multi-tool, and a tactical flashlight in case we find any dark places that need illumination. On my person I always carry my Bersa Thunder 380 handgun. Just like American Express, I never leave home without it. I don't ever expect to have to use it, but I'd much rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. I really like the Bersa .380. It is light weight, easy to carry and easy to conceal. Very accurate, and a big enough round that a well placed shot (or two) will take down big game. But it's not so big that shots will go through the game and hit whatever is on the other side. Self defense. Perfect tool. (www.bersatalk.com)

You can't go wrong with the eTrex Legend. It is a solid tool for GeoCaching. I use both the Legend an a Pocket PC solution, depending on location, climate, and my mood. :-)

It will NOT replace the base highway map. You can add multiple maps on top of the base map.

Me 2. I'd hate to abandon my family because I took them out Geocaching in the wrong area, got arrested, and have to go to prison. Has anyone ever received a fine or ticket (or worse) for geocaching?

Been getting a lot of Server Too Busy errors today. I'm sure the Groundspeak staff are aware of it, but I thought I'd mention it. These forums are working fine though.

Okay. So I realize that I just needed a snack and didn't mean to be so up tight. Actually I got a nice e-mail from someone helping me put things in perspective. So I take back what I said and decided to eat a Twinkie instead. I supose I'll believe that most of you are nice.

I mean no offense to anyone with what I'm about to say. I'm a new cacher... just started a few weeks ago and am really enjoying myself. I'm looking forward to a local event here in CO in September and hope to meet many people. But as far as the geo woodstock thing, with this entire discussion, I think I'll pass. All of the bickering back and forth has turned me off. Sorry. It just doesn't seem like something I'm interested in. I wonder how many other people are like me. I think I support the position of not bending rules. I also support the desire and creativity of the promoters to get the word out. I think there could have been a better way, but I don't know what it is. Anyway. Sorry y'all. I'm still going to go geocaching, but I'm thinking twice if I really want to rub shoulders with this crowd. -MileHighAko

Here is another good report from 9NEWS in Denver last month. I had heard of geocaching before this, but it was this report that moved me to go puchase a GPS and get in the game. http://www.9news.com/acm_news.aspx?OSGNAME...47-c589c01ca7bf Enjoy! -MileHighAko

Yo! I'm here. I've currently implemented GPX schema 1.1 and Groundspeak:cache 1.1. Wish I could get that data out of Groundspeak.

This is an old thread so I may have missed an update, but whate ever happened with v1.1 of the schema? Pocket Queries is still using version 1.0.

Well, I'm not a woman, but I am a husband and a son, and so my advice is this: Please ladies don't go geocaching alone. I think the advice is well given to the men too. It's not a good idea to be going to unknown places in remote areas all alone. Take a buddy. Take your kids. But specifically women, please don't make yourself a target. Just my $.02. For me, I take my two young sons with me. DW sometimes joins us. I always leave a printout of the cache we're trying to find, so in case of emergency she has a good idea of where we went. My oldest son is old enough to run to get help if needed. We should all practice safe geocaching. Man or woman, young or old, geocaching is a group activity.

I just started, and have found the following to be essential: 1. WATER 2. Sunscreen 3. Pen 4. Good shoes 5. Camera (I use my camera cell-phone) 6. A buddy (usualy my kids)

This page on BestBuy has a good rundown on FRS and GMRS radios. It helped me figure out what the heck you all were talking about: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id...oryRep=cat06000