Team Neos

Genealogy and rock & mineral collecting (old bones and old rocks)

For a lot of webcam caches, the URL the helper needs to go to get to the camera is listed on the page. A few make you search for the webcam yourself as part of the puzzle. Almost all webcam caches have directions on the page for how to get the shot you need. Some webcams have controls to move the camera around so your friend can find you in the shot, while others have a place the camera always points where you will stand while you pal takes the shot. In general, you frame the shot and save it--usually by some method like right clicking on the photo and pasting into it Paint on a PC--or hitting the PrintScreen button or the Control Button and the PrintScreen Button at the same time and then opening Paint and clicking into the box and clicking on "paste" to put the image into Paint. Then you save the Paint image with a name you can remember. Then upload the photo to the log when you are logging the cache. If you'll be using a Mac, the directions are a little different. If you have a particular imaging software you want you use, they usually have directions for how to save a screen shot in their help section. (Photoshop, Roxio, HP viewer, FinePix, ect) You can even use Excel, if you have that in MS office.

Some people do draw more attention to themselves, but most of us aren't really as conspicuous as we think we are. We do have a friend who insists on wearing complete camoflauge every time he goes caching, and carrying lots of little black bags of "things" (water, camera, GPS, etc) plus various things clipped to his belt. He looks prepared to join some swat team at any moment--and then he wonders why people watch him in public! I've noticed that if you dress "normally" for the area & weather in basic color clothes--tan, kakhi, brown, white, etc you tend to fade into the background more quickly. Some people have luck looking like the belong in an area if they carry a clip board and tape measure, or a leather journal and "bird-watching" binoculars. A camera goes a long way toward making people not so curious about what you are doing. Even if someone sees you kneeling on the ground photographing the rock under the feet of a statue, they tend to ignore you after they decide you are just trying to get an artistic shot. When we cache together, we use the photo trick a lot. I've tried the "just tying my shoelace" routine as well, with less luck (really at forty-something, I ought to be able to tie my shoelace without having to redo it ten times!). Usually we just act like whatever it is we are doing, we are supposed to be doing it. It usually works.

There are 5300 caches within 50 miles of my home zip code. Only 5297 within 50 miles of my home, though.

4 miles even. We've already done it, but there are a few caches between here and there that we haven't gotten to yet for one reason or another.

Some of the units have a geocaching mode --When you mark a geocache as "found" on the unit it automatially searches for the next closest geocache. It puts them on your calender for the day too--so you can pull up the list of caches you have found at the end of the day and speed up your logging because all the gc numbers are right there in the order you found them. That also lets you send the data on founds back to GSAK (or similar programs) so you can filter out those finds the next time you want to go out. PLus it marks the cache as found on your GPS map automatically.

Have you done the other multi near there yet? If not, I'd do that one first to make sure part of it isn't where you want to place yours. That said, you'll get somewhat fewer visitors to a multi than to a regular cache, especially if you don't give folks any idea of how far they need to travel for the multi, or how many stage there are in total. Yes, It makes no sense, the same people who might walk three miles for a single cache, won't take on a multi that covers the same amount of distance, if they don't know in advance how far they'll have to travel. I know, because I am one of those people.

Sound like works of art...I'd be tickled pink to own one, also. I think they'd make a fantastic bit of swag to find in a cache. Um, do you need directions to one of my caches?

Hey, I just saw this. Are all of the threads you start going to be deliberately controversial? I wish there was some way to subscribe to threads by certain people for the amusement value.

I'm not really following these comments of yours: "just download by hand the coords to my gpsr. lo and behold i bought a palm " I am guessing that you mean only that you are glad that you will now be able to have a copy of the cache page handy so you can look up coordinates and punch them in by hand. Did you know that you can use the cable that came with the Legend to put the coordinates into the GPS? All you need is some program that will translate the coords into a language the GPS can understand, such as GSAK, or easyGPS. We started with easyGPS first, because it was free, and my husband still prefers to use it to load caches into the GPS. I use GSAK and Cachemate. Your PDA will hold information about the cache pages so you can read about them while you are geocaching to look for clues or to read the last few logs, etc. You will need to convert the cache pages into something the PDA can understand. With a program like easyGPS, you can download GPX files into your Palm 20 cache pages at a time (then click next page and keep going). To really automate the process, you can become a premium member, and have files of up to 500 caches at a time sent to your computer in the form of PQs. You choose the area you want the cache information from, filter out any cache types you don't want (or look only for those you do want) and get the PQ sent to you. Then you use a program like Plucker/Spinner, or GSAK to put the entire PQ into your PDA so it can be searchable. Five minutes from getting a PQ and I can have 500 caches loaded into the GPS and the PDA and be on my way out the door. What Jhwk was trying to say is that you really didn't have to buy that nice a PDA to do all those things. You could have purchased a used Palm IIIxe for around $25. That's what I use. With its 8mb of memory, I can carry around a few thousand cache pages worth of info, and if I drop it, I can afford to get another PDA like it. I also got Cachemate and GSAK to use for geocaching and I'm still inder $60. Since you have already purchased the tungsten e2, I recommend that you make sure you get a shock-proof case for it, and an Invisible Shield screen cover to help protect it in case you drop it while your caching. You'll also want one of the programs we've mentioned to get cache pages onto the PDA, and you should consider a premium membership. One advantage you'll have with all that extra memory in the PDA is that you can load the photographs that some cache pages use for clues. I dont know how to do that, sorry, but I don't that you can do it with the tungsten models.

The jeep site lists die-casts that can be purchased: http://www.gear.jeep.com/product.asp?webgr...=gift_jee_u25_C

You'd probably get a better response in the local forum. Perhaps a moderator will move this one for you?

Then my guess is that the Legend Cx doesn't have the geocaching mode. I have never had a Legend Cx. I know my eTrex Legend didn't have it, and my 76cs and my husbands 60cs do. I looked through the literature on the Legende Cx on a couple fo different websites and didn't see any mention of geocaching mode with the Legend.

When you loaded the waypoints, did you give them the geocache icon (closed box)?

Gosh, after CyBret's nice post I hate to post mine, but I'm going to discourage you from doing the class just yet. First, while I see that your area really does have a low density of caches, college students aren't really the people you want to place caches in your area. They tend to drop out, or graduate and move back home, and the next thing you know, your area is saturated with abandoned caches. Second, you have only found a handful of caches, and haven't even hidden one yourself yet. I'm not being hateful--I am a teacher, and I understand how it feels to try to plan a lesson and not really be sure how long things will take, or what all the students will need. If you can't even think of programming to last 16 hours, then you'll feel much more confident when you have a bit more experience. I sat and thought about what a class ought to have and wondered how to get everything in that ought to be done in "just" 16 hours! Now that I have said that, my conscience is clear--Since you'll probably ignore me (I would since you didn't ask me why you shouldn't do it!) and do it anyway, here's what I would consider including: 1) How GPS units and satellites work to make geocaching possible 2) How to start an account with GC, pick a caching name, and log a cache. 3) How to use the GPS unit to find a cache 4) How to use the GPS unit to create a route 5) How to create a tracklog 6) How to plan a day of caching (entering waypoints into the GPS, etc) 7) How to upload caches to the GPS 8) Preview of PQs, Cachemate, GSAK, Spinner/Plucker etc to store caching data 9) Camo 101: How to spray paint a camo pattern on a ammo can, the joy of camo tape, etc 10) How to create a quality geocache container: Labels, stash sheet, log book 11) What to put in a geocache 12) How to write a great cache page 13) Where to hide a cache/ how to find a cache 14) How to read a topo map 15) How to read a map 16) Cache log etiquette At a bare minimum, I would show the class how to create an account at GC, how to locate a cache to find, the basics of how to use the GPS, how to find a cache, how to log a cache, and how to hide a cache. P.S. Have you checked into the geotruckers site? Its a specialty forum for truckers who geocache. You can talk with a lot of other truckers there--perhaps there are some in your area that will be interested in helping your cache density problem.

A finder's perspective-- I just don't hunt multis that don't tell me up front how many stages there are and about how far I will have to go to find all the stages. I want to know if I can finish it that day, or if it will need multiple trips. I also like to know if I'll be walking or hopping in and out of the car. That's especially important to me when I'm away from my local area. And I have quit in the middle of multis that have too many identical stages--you know, walk a while look at a tag, walk awhile look at a tag, walk awhile look at a tag, etc. If the views are that great, I'll be gawking at them anyway. I like multis that either keep it down to just a few stages or give me a different kind of hide at most of the stops just to make it interesting!

And sometimes it is just you, or at least, sometimes it is just me. There was one in a park that I know like the back of my hand. It was new, no one had found it yet, we were going caching that day anyway and had to pass it, so we stopped to grab the FTF on a nice little 1/1 on our way to greater adventures. We looked for it, and looked for it, and looked some more until we got frustrated. We finally left for our planned day, shaking our heads and wondering what in the world was wrong with us/the GPS units/the cache. Someone else posted the FTF the same day. It was the first cache they had ever looked for. They said it was easy. Huh? We went back a couple of weeks later, and looked everywhere for it. We must have spent an hour looking for it. We looked up in the rafters and down under the stoops. We searched every crack we could find, every stump, every hollow place in a tree, every nailhead on the picnic tables. We had to go away and post another DNF. The cache owner--a friend who has cached with us before and knows we aren't stupid --emailed to say he was amazed that we couldn't find it. He said it wasn't supposed to be hard, or tricky, or sneaky. Hmmmm. We went back ...one... more... time...and found it in thirty seconds. It was an easy find.

Not that I am aware of, but it would not surprise me. I know he didn't teach there, but a sabattical would not have been out of the question. Deborah Skinner finished her graduate studies in Fine Arts 1973-75 at Vancouver School of Design.

becareful .. I bought a Garmin ETrex Legend, for around $120 Was able to download way points. Then tried the unit.. Lost Sat in any kind of cover, Accuracy was 10 feet with WAAS on. Standing on top of a cache, the unit told me I was 185 ft away. I am upgrading A.S.A.P. Cheap is not going to help you find caches very easy. Thanks I've been thinking about buying the Garmen eTrex legend but now i don't think i'm going to!!!!! I found my first 300 caches with a Garmin eTrex Legend. It was a beautiful unit for a beginner. I originally purchased one for my husband to use in his work (He is a truck driver) to route himself aroung wrecks or to find his way after getting bad directions. He loved his unit so much he bought me one too. We have upgrade since then, but not because we didn't like our Legends--we just wanted auto-routing too. We kept our Legends and let guests who cache with us use them. Most of the guests we have taken caching with us like how easy they are to use, and decide to make a Legend their first unit also. If a Legend gave a reading 185 feet off, the unit was likely not set correctly. Either the datum was switched somehow, or the wrong cords were entered in by hand. I have NEVER seen any Legend give a reading more than a couple of feet off any other gps. Most units lose their satellite connection under cover. Some "fake" the connection by using the last known position and estimating your new position based on how fast you were traveling before you lost the signal. The Legend admits it lost the signal and all you have to do is find an area that is somewhat clear so it can find the signal again (YOu have to do that with the others, too). Holding the Legend flat in front of you, facing the sky so it can get a signal improves it's reception, and you can't hover over it. Garmin units with the newer "x" chips get signals indoors, I hear. The Legend is inexpensive, durable, doesn't drown easily (I know, I took mine for a swim in a half-frozen creek!); it comes with the cable to attach to the computer for downloads, it doesn't eat batteries too quickly and uses AA or an adapter and recharagebles; it has good screen resolution, decent sized map, nice basemap, easy to use and easy to reach controls. It's very intuitive to use. I highly recommend it for a first unit.

Good summary of what to do, for the most part. Of course, people do vary in exactly how they handle things. For instance, I would log a DNF if I went to a cache and there were too many people around to to be stealthy while trying to find the cache. I log anything that will help the next cacher decide if they want to do the cache, and what day or time of day is good for that cache. I've seen lots of caches that mention there may be a lot of people around and have scads of DNFs through the week, and a few logs that say someone found it on a weekend when there was no one around. If I go once and just don't find it--DNF If I go back and there are too many people --DNF and say there were too many folks around If I go back and there is construction--DNF and say that If I go back and it has just rained and I think the cache is under water--DNF and so forth If I go back, look a couple of the same places I looked before, get bored and leave, I might not log a DNF, since that really doesn't add any new information for the owner or another cacher. (That hasn't happend yet, so I can't say for sure, though--but it seems silly to just keep posting "looked in the log and the fence but didn't find it" six times). As for the acronyms, I almost never use them. I never use ONLY ancronyms. I tend to write chatty logs, even if I have to resort to telling the story about the jokes we were telling each other on the way to the cache. I just hate to write boring logs. I have written to cache owners if I suspect the cache may actually be missing. I tell them all the places I looked and make some remark like "You must have really hidden that one well because I can't think of anywhere else to look" That gives them enough info that if I looked where it was supposed to be, they can decide if it's worth checking on the cache. On the other hand, if I missed the spot, they usually write to ask me if I want an additional hint. The term "muggle" doesn't bother me one way or the other--I did enjoy the Potter series (and give it full credit for turning my youngest son from an extremely disinterested reader into a voracious reader). Obviously you don't have to use it if it annoys you.

I use the mapping features on my GPS when I am caching, paperless or not. Of course, I keep both City Select map and Topo maps loaded on my unit for the area I usually cache (KY, IN) so I'm not relying on just the base maps. I did use just the basemaps for a couple of years though, and only very rarely printed out any additional maps. I've used Plucker/Spinner and now I am trying out Cachemate with a Palm IIIxe. There are things I prefer in both programs. My husband uses the Cachemate with his Zire

I guess I need to get one of those DVD's ---I keep going back to the Rose Island caches to see if you ever posted the shots you took of the cute little ridgeline we were about to climb. I want to show it to my students. I alsready showed them the photos of the canoe and the creek where I showed off my swimming skills, and the bunkers where we ate lunch, and the field of snow we walked through etc. ...but I want them to see the snow covered hill I climbed after lunch.

I think the name could be something more powerful. The title you suggested might be offensive or distasteful to some people and having folks comment or argue about the name would just water down your message. Instead of being provocative, why not create a name that is powerful and evocative?

I'd leave the DNF, too. It really isn't that bad, and reading through the guys recent cache logs, it looks like that is pretty much just his style of log. I'd bet most of the locals already take that into account when they read his logs. A couple of his recent logs say he's been feeling a little under the weather lately, and in many of them he lists all the things he doesn't like about the caches. He even has several finds on caches he help a friend hide (and signed the log several pages in, then waited until well after FTF to log online) where he complains mildly about things like the steep path to the cache. Since he even grouches about his friend's cache, I'd guess he is just recording his experience, and not trying to be harshly critical.

Does that make 22 left to go online? We need an official countdown, I think! This is sooo cool.