henrysunset

Why doesn't the Geocaching site allow finders to contribute the coordinates of the cache as they saw on their device. Over time, the location could become more precise. If you had the finder describe the unit they leveraged to get the coordinate, we could have higher-accuracy units infulence the location more than lower-resolution units. It would be trivial for them to partner with garmin and others with paperless caching to report the find location along with the find details. ---tom

well, this isnt a competition, it's a game of self enjoyment... so do whatever makes you the most happy! If you feel you deserve it, you deserve it... you can only cheat yourself, and you are only cheating yourself if you diddn't get a good experience.

Obviously if every road in the USA went due north or south this would be a moot point, but since they don't we are led to issues. and if that isnt bad enough, most roads don't even follow straignt paths from start to end... thus, the optimum solution would be to use a very rough algorithm and download an excessive number of caches, but in a stripped down format such as XML, with only basic details of the cache. so my suggestion would be to do the follwoing for a multipoint path. Asking for a search radius would be somewhat ridiculous so why not get every cache in a box between the starting and ending point, with say 30 miles padding on either side. (use a few rectangles when going really long distances, creating a staircased approximation of a diagonal) If all we are downloading is the x/y location of the cache (don't even list caches that arent available) and the type of cache and its capsule descriptiont his should suffice. That solution isnt pretty, but it is the easiest solution for now. many of us with newer GPS's can hold hundreds, maybe thousands of points, so I see no reason not to :-) the bigger issue to me once i have every cache programmed into my gps is that, ok fine, I am in nebraska and i know there is a cahe three miles away, but how do I get the details of the cache? I could call a friend with an internet connection but that seems impractical. I could mirror the geocaching site in full before i leave on my trip, but that may cause Jeremy to murder me in cold blood. What options exist for carrying hundereds of cache candidates on the road? I'm beginning to feel this would be a killer premium service. as a premium user, one might be able to download a zipfile with all the caches along the way as well as XML formatted cache details that can be accessed on the road from a PDA or if space is an issue, thru a laptop. I can't imagine the entire text portion of the geocaching website is over a gigabyte, so certainly the basic info (no logs, or possibly only the latest 2 for each cache) for a thousand caches would fit in a few megs right? I might be off my rocker but we ought to be able to make a solution here.

well, one day we could probably go ahead and do benchmark hunting from the couch with a spy sattelite? I remmeber hearing a few years ago that spy sattelites could read a liscense plate if it was placed on the roof of the car. I wonder if we now have the technology to read the etched letterign of the benchmarks themselves :-D

seperation shold help, but good descriptions are even more important... although no ratings or descriptions can help when you go for the spontaneous geocaching trip with only a coordinate and a prayer.

As a geocacher I find myself often travelling to areas with many caches. This past wednesday I went to Patapsco state park, in Maryland, where 7 caches are within a mile. I find printing all 7 cache pages wasteful and daunting. Is it possible to use the checkboxes labelled "download" on the cache listing page to alternatively download a single .TXT, .HTML or a zipfile with a text file of each document. I would personally prefer a single stripped-down TXT file with only cache descriptions, coordinates, rating and waypoint code. HTML might be nice because it allows boldface text. There are viewers for HTML text for both the Palm and Pocket PC's so that night be a good choice. It isn't like the site needs all of the clicking to force advertisments upon users. In fact, if you went with a strictly TXT or zipped TXT system, you could cut down on server load dramatically. Example (2 caches in zipcode 21146): --------------------------------------- GC4E37 - "The Nesting Place" by Klause Von Kuhn & Emmas Tiger difficulty 2 / terrain 1.5 / last found 6/22/2002 N 39° 06.191 W 076° 35.256 (WGS-84) --- This cache is located in Kinderfarm Park. The Park is closed on Tuesdays. --- This cache is a six pack size cooler. It is purple and white. I believe that most people will enjoy looking for this cache. Simply because of this park. There are many things in here to catch your eye. Also, if you are a bird watcher then you are in for a real treat. There are many different types of wildlife here, including birds, mammals, reptiles and insects. And some of these creatures are rather strange looking, especially the turtle I seen with red eyes and the shiney green insect that looked like a spider with wings. I hope you enjoy yourselves here and good luck with the cache. --- Tb Oveqf...Onzobbmyrq...whfg unatvat nebhaq --------------------------------------- GC3C9B - "Lake Waterford Cache" by Klause Von Kuhn & Emmas Tiger difficulty 1.5 / terrain 1.5 / last found 6/15/2002 N 39° 06.780 W 076° 33.840 (WGS-84) --- In Lake Waterford Park-Pasadena,Md. About ten feet off the correct trail. --- Clear container with a white screw type lid. Contents include: bag of super balls baseball cards dog treats (2 packs) seashell candle childs toy bath beads body lotion (2 bottles) wrestling cards log book/pen --- Fgvpx gb gu benatr genvy naq gurer V jvyy or, uvqqra vafvqr n pyhfgre bs guerr.