Team Sieni

I've got it (Trimble Geocache Navigator 2.0.3) and it runs fine on Orange in the UK. Perhaps early versions were US specific? But anyway, Trimble aren't GSP.

Sure you do! A broken Kinder egg toy.

It was. Have some winky smileys:

I've been following this with vague interest. We don't do events, or camping ("tenting" as the other half of Team Sieni dismissively calls it) so I don't really have an opinion. However, it's got me thinking ... People are drawing comparisons between events and regular caches. How far can you take this? Can you have a micro event? (in a lift or a cupboard or a phone box?) A mystery event? (in a maze?) A multi-event (a pub crawl?) A reverse event (where you have to wander around and log the fact if you happen to meet some cachers) A virtual event ( errr.... where you don't actually have to really meet ... I'll have to think about that. Maybe you all log on to the forums/chat). An event that requires special equipment (under water, or in a posh place with a strict dress code). Anyway - I think stand alone camping events are daft. Surely events are about standing together, not alone. And from what I've seen of tents it must be hard to stand at all in them. I liked the sound of the event in the middle of Dartmoor. If we had a) known about it and b] been in the area we would probably have dropped by. OK. that's my wittering done. As you were.

That's very laan of you. I do the same, but my database is a scrap of paper in my caching goodie bag. I had to do one repeat visit to a cache due to forgetting the code before I started doing this, so it's a useful precaution. Edited to add ... but not much use to you in your present predicament I'm afraid.

The verb "to temp" meaning to Temporarily Disable. Cache Note also known as Stash Note. TPTB

For drawing pictures ... http://www.gpsdrawing.com/gallery.htm

I did that on a maintenance visit once. I nearly had to log a maintenance DNF. (DNM?) Even more galling as I only have one cache so I should be able to find it without a GPS.

Quite correct. The GPS is free, but if you use Assisted GPS (A-GPS) it gets some of the info it would normally need to download from satellites (slooowly!) by going over the mobile data network (fast!). It doesn't actually use the phone signal for positioning, just to connect up and get the satellite almanacs. It certainly speeds things up but you do need to keep an eye on your data costs (especially if you use the phone abroad). The Trimble Geocache Navigator software is also free. http://www.geocachenavigator.com/ will tell you what devices are supported. N95! N95! rah rah rah! Edited to add - although the N95 is super-duper (and has a pretty darn good camera, as phone cameras go), I still use my Garmin as my main device for caching/general outdoor stuff, but the mobile is a really handy backup device. A dedicated handheld GPSr has lots more functions, better battery life, and is just generally more solid-feeling!

Deg/min in WGS84 is the normally the default setting for handheld GPS and works consistently all over the world. If each country used its own local system then Geocaching would be pretty unmanageable as the website would have to handle loads of competing systems. I often find it a bit of a fiddle when doing multi caches, when I work out the next destination (in deg/min) then have to switch my GPSr to OSGB to find the GR to locate it on my paper map, and then back again to work out the next point. Serves me right for being a paper-map-using dinosaur I suppose. I sometimes wonder if GS ever considered using UTM as the default co-ordinate system instead of deg/min when they started out.

Here are a couple of old threads on the subject. It may be an idea to contact one or two of the posters in these threads to see how things turned out for them. http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=159588 http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=100445

Also in some cases I've seen, the stash note can be placed so it's readable through the wall of the container.

I know exactly which cache you mean! To be fair it is a pretty enormous rock.

With an avatar that cute? Never!

I'm going to swim against the tide and hold a contrary opinion (so what's new). We don't go back all the way to the "old old days" when there was one cache in the UK and people used sextants and had to beware of footpads. I got my first GPS in '02 and knew about caching but never got around to actually trying it for a couple of years. So we're kind of in-betweeny. Team Sieni has also been relatively inactive due to illness, operations (plus the dreaded "work") for long periods during our four caching years, so that's limited our experience. I don't see much change at all, but this is largely due to our caching style (we all play the game ...). We aren't numbers-hounds, or event-attenders. We just like to find a cache or two on a nice weekend walk in the country. As someone who doesn't maintain a GSAK DB and is still resolutely un-paperless (unless using my wonderful Nokia N95) I'm largely blissfully unaware of the thoughtless micros of which you all speak. I still go on to GC.com when I plan a walk. We still choose, seek, and find nice caches, and still help fun TBs along their way. We still find interesting geocoins from time to time - (more these days!). Nothing new there. I've only been tempted once to go to an example of what I would consider a thoughtless micro, and that was at least two years ago (and we didn't find it!). I still resent that though ... I do hold grudges! I like to think that - as occasional cachers who like to get out and about and use caching to add interest to a day out - we are representative of quite a lot of cachers. In fact I think I'm going to appoint myself as Voice of the Silent Majority

Well ... maybe you have the jump on the rest of us as you may well be able to get contact info! The GAGB (www.gagb.org.uk) have a landowner database of cases where blanket permission has been granted, or where special procedures for obtaining permission are in place. They also haveforums where permission issues are discussed. I haven't visited there for ages, but a few people recently left these forums to make their "home" there, so it may be a bit busier these days.

The old "frisbee rule" eh? this one could run and run. I tend to agree in general with the OP, and regarding this specific instance suggest that, in light of the recent announcement regarding graveyards, he put a SBA log on the cache (or email a reviewer). I've said it before but, if you have obtained permission it's great if you state as much on the cache page. Unlike GS policy, I personally don't assume that the cacher has done so; I assume the opposite, curmugeonly so & so that I am. If a cache seems to be in a questionable place then I just walk on by. I alway find it reassuring if someone states "thanks to xyz for permission ..." on the cache page.

I'm amazed you had the forbearance to even try it without the picure clue! It took us long enough with the clue. For the benefit of others: the cache is in a sea of boulders, and it's under one of them.

GC3660 Inbound from Proxima gets my vote. It may tick a few boxes for others in that it's quite old (Jan 02) it's a Virtual (and a multi) it has a whiff of the puzzle about it, but it's not one of those icky "solve the following simple clue: aklsjfdalksjfhjk" ones. It provides a satisfying few hours in beautiful surroundings. Frustratingly I can't say too much more about it because that would be telling. It's basically a GPS game all of its own. Whether it's really a Geocache is another matter ... Edited to add: GC2BA The First In Wales (Feb 01) is still going strong and well worth a visit.

Just read the first log ... "Left caviar" goodness ... those were the days.

Thanks

Is there a published list of places that have these or similar requirements? Railway stations (this thread) Graveyards ; "SSSI, National Trust etc." (mentioned above) Forestry Commission (I think I've read?) - ie places where reviewers require evidence of permission, rather than assuming that the hider has obtained it. As an aside, I'm generally happier doing a cache that actually says something like "thanks to xyz for permission to place this cache" on the cache page, as I'm probably less likely to stray where I shouldn't be - so if you do have permission - don't be shy about it.

I may be wrong, and you guys know more about this than me anyway - but isn't the state present only on caches created or updated since the UK states were introduced, which wasn't all that long ago, as it has to be entered by the cache owner. Ignore me if that's completely irrelevant. If the "Groundspeak:state" element is absent from the file then it doesn't really matter whether or not it's present on the cache!

Huh? The mind boggles as to how you could prove this. Do the secret cacher's handshake say no more. Keep looking furtively around the store. Lifting up displays, and looking for suspicious piles of sticks. That kind of thing. Or just say "What would I want with a geocoin if I wasn't a geocacher?"

Thanks for that, it's really interesting. I do most of those things, but didn't know about the 3G one. I'm in and around London most of the time so I'd guess the 3G coverage is good anyway, but I'll bear it in mind on my travels. Here's tweak #10. Buy a spare Nokia BL-5F battery and keep it charged up and with you all the time! (that is nearly as easy as carrying an extra set of AAs Edited to add ... or whatever battery is applicable to your phone, mine's a BL-5F but other models may differ. And don't buy a generic non-branded battery. It may well work but the saving probably isn't worth the risk. You hear horror stories. Another edit to add ... Tweak #11. Buy a nice Nokia branded leather case. They're not expensive. Actually this tweak reduces reduce battery life it stops the rather dodgy battery cover from coming off and the battery falling out. A fallen out battery lasts a lot longer!