tomfuller & Quill

Why? My very first geocache find was an FTF (9/31/2005). Today the cache that I published had an FTF one hour and 8 minutes after it was published. My first cache hide was when I had less than 20 finds. It is still there and is the center of my geoart.

Tomorrow when my newest cache is published, I'll get the 2024 Hider souvenir. October 1 is my birthday so I'll have to do an Adventure Lab to get my "postcard". April 8 is "eclipse day" for my calendar. I will find a geocache in Ohio during the eclipse after attending MOGA. Yes, I did find a geocache in the path of totality in Oregon in August 2017.

Interesting discussion... I'll give you my thoughts as someone who used a $4000+ survey grade GPS unit long before the big blue switch was flipped (mid-late 1990's). The antenna on the CMT MC-GPS was bigger than my current GPS. The more satellites that your antenna picks up, the greater the accuracy of your way point whether hiding or seeking a point. The longer you stay on the spot averaging, (up to 3 minutes) the better precision you will have. The WAAS satellites which are in geosychronus orbit over the equator improved accuracy for everyone. I had found over 500 geocaches before I ever found one using my phone. The first one I remember doing with my phone was in downtown Chicago across the street from Union Station. My GPS was in my suitcase at the time. I use a phone for less than half of my cache finds. As for finding a cache on the other side of the road from where it shows on the map, the CO should have caught that before hitting the "submit cache" button to send it to the reviewer. A safety note for all geocachers that go into deep canyons: Always carry and know how to use a magnetic compass. My Suunto compass saved my life at least once when the GPS could not pick up 4 or more satellites above the horizon. Large areas of Oregon and other western states do not have any cell phone service with any carrier.

My Virtual Reward 3.0 is in Bend Oregon. Published 3/1/22. I has over 300 finds and over 70 favorite points. Several cachers from Europe have come to visit "The One and Only"

A guy named Dave Ulmer has only logged 18 caches online. He has found many more than that. He signs his paper logs as "Father of Geocaching" I have seen his log on paper more than once. I doubt that he has ever been locked out of his account.

I was lucky enough to get a Virtual 3.0 awarded. I chose to put it at a very unique location in Bend Oregon. About 90% of the finders post a selfie but they have the option of naming 2 nearby businesses. The virtual has over 140 finds since March 1 and about 25% of finders give a favorite point. My concern is that all of the finders are listed as Premium Members even though I did not check to box to make it premium only. I have had a complaint that it is not available to non-premium geocachers.

When I was in Harrisburg PA 5/31/22 I logged Monuments in Harrisburg GC922M7. There are 4 other earth caches within a half mile. Monuments is on the capitol grounds and asks the differences in two granite statue bases. If I ever go back there I'll try to log at least 2 more earth caches. You should be able to do some similar earth caches in Des Moines.

I'm happy with my virtual in Bend Oregon at the last Blockbuster video store on earth. Some people choose not to post a picture on the log and some post the picture on the message to me. If a photo is not taken or is too blurry to be identified I ask that they tell me what pizza shop is next door and what gas station is on the corner. Both answers can be found on the map if they really want to cheat but why would they? 17 favorites on less than 80 finds.

The picture is of two of my caches before I put them out north of Gilchrist Oregon. The top one has a 16 oz. container calked into the back and is placed in a pine tree about 4 feet off the ground. It is called "Limping Hitchhiker" I put it out for halloween. The other one I named "Ankle Monitor" with the container hooked to the ankle with zip ties. So far no one has stolen them.

I hide what I like to find. I have never hidden a micro even though I have found many. My smallest cache hide is a 12 ounce plastic screw top container. Most of my hides are 16 ounce plastic screw top containers. I do have a few ammocans out including one that more than 1000 vehicles drive by within 80 feet every day. My largest cache would hold about 4 ammo cans. It is just inside a lava field and is about a 0.7 mile walk from the parking spot. Its name is The Big Box. I also have seven near lookout towers in Oregon. I carry a bag with about 10 16 ounce containers and lids in my 2002 RAV4 in case I find a good place to put a new cache or replace one of mine that is cracked or missing.

After nearly a year, I just spotted this thread. My favorite is the first one I got published. "Crack in the Ground" GC31WJJ. It is in the Oregon Outback and does not get many visits. To get the answers, you must go into the crack. There is no GPS signal there so I tell you how many steps you have to go to get to the answer spot.

I remember doing my first T5 cache find in the summer of 2005. It was on an island in a reservoir in the Cascades of Oregon. That summer they drained the reservoir and I walked to the island with dry feet. Only in rare cases where the terrain change will be permanent would I consider changing the terrain rating on any of my caches. I do remember having to go find another cache to fill in my Fizzy because someone changed either the D or T rating on one of the singular caches months after I had completed the Fizzy.

There are lots of other great geocaches in and around town. Thanks for stopping by. I did get my 2022 HIDER for "hiding" this one.

My new virtual GC9P4VQ "The One and Only" has been logged 9 times in the past 5 days. Some even posted pictures in front of the last Blockbuster in the world.

My awarded virtual GC9P4VQ "The One and Only" was published yesterday at 5:08PM Pacific time. It had two finds before 6:08PM. It is in Bend Oregon at the location of the last Blockbuster Video store on planet earth.

In the 1990's (before geocaching) I used a $5000 Corvallis Microtechnology GPS that had a rubberized keyboard with all letters and numerals and many symbols. It had a rechargeable battery. Using Differential Correction and taking 3 3 minute way points I could nail the position within 2 feet most of the time by averaging. If you have 5 or more satellites visible at your location, you will get much more accuracy than with the minimum of 4.

With only 2032 finds and less than 30 favorite points, I have been selected. I plan to visit the location of my Virtual 3.0 tomorrow. I plan to ask if they object to being a virtual geocache. Hundreds if not thousands of people take selfies at the location every year just because it is now unique. First line of the description is: "There is no need to enter the store" I'm hoping to have mine published within the next week "The One and Only".

That wasn't Dave Ulmer was it? I have found 2 caches in Oregon that he signed the paper log as "Dave Ulmer the father of geocaching". The last time I checked, he had logged 15 caches online but he has found many more than that. I have a Red Skleton DVD that he put in a cache as SWAG.

I have a couple of puzzle caches that use Ed Williams Javascript great circle calculator (google it). It will give you the distance and azimuth between 2 sets of coordinates and it will give coordinates projected from a known set of coordinates at a specified azimuth. (feet, meters, statute miles and nautical miles). I used it this morning for something unrelated to geocaching so it still works.

Thanks to HQ for addressing this concern about Covid 19. It is my plan to hold my Community Celebration event in October so I plan to post it sometime in April to be within the 6 month guideline. I plan to host the event in a public meeting room with maximum capacity of less than 100 people.

A few cache hunters have been surprised when they see (or feel) a rattlesnake on top of the cache.

Instead of depending on 20th century technology, try out the 19th century technology and use the magneto from an old hand crank telephone. They produce anywhere from 10 volts to 100 volts depending on the number of magnets and the number of coils of wire inside. People are still using hand crank radios in some parts of the world.

The oldest active cache in the world is Mingo (GC30) It is in Western Kansas off I-70 not far from Colby.

Find the puzzle cache first to make sure it is not within 528 feet of where you want to place yours.

The one and only time that I tried to delete a bogus log on one of my Earth Caches, I made the mistake of posting that I believed that the logger had never been in the US let alone to my Earth Cache. Groundspeak made me allow the log since the German had given the correct answers. There may be times when i don't respond to someones answers for a week or more but usually it is within 48 hours if the email address is active. When I get a notice that a log has been posted on one of my EC's I expect an email or message from the poster within 12 hours. If the answers are right I congratulate them for learning the lesson.