The Good Raymondo

On 13th January 2005 I wrote to Wyre Forest F.C. asking permission to place caches in their forest. I have constantly written reminders and led them by the hand as to what GCing is all about and I eventually got WRITTEN PERMISSION this week and I have also have to sign an agreement and return it to the FC about the nature of the my proposed caches, a map where they will be placed and their British Grid positions. Within the last few weeks there has been a series of multi caches chalked up ('Trek to the Severn') - I question the owner (Coppernoggins') if he/she has permission because until I started their GCing education the FC Rangers did not know what I was talking about. I am in favour of as many caches as we can get in the area but what happens when an 'illegimate' (for want of a better word) rules out a legitimate one because they are deemed too close?. Yes - I am pretty peeved because I have chosen the path laid down by Geocaching.com and clearly I was a mug. Now do we need to get permission or don't we? Will someone please give me a ruling? Ray Shakeshaft (The Good Raymondo)

Does it matter how old the phone is because I have one that is a bit of a brick?

I have been seeking to put some GCs in Wyre Forest but the chances that I ever will are slim. Allow me to explain. After repeated phone calls to the Wyre Forest Ranger's office I got hold of the ranger after about two or three weeks of calling. I started to talk about Geocaching. "What's that" was the immediate reply. I then spend five minutes explaining what it is about and how the FC has guide lines ('Don't know anything about that'). I offered maps of where I want to put the GCs and his own FC guide lines as issued by the N.Wales F.C. which also apply to Wyre Forest. I was invited to email them which I did with a full explanation and relevant URLs since it seemed he knew absolutely nothing of what I was talking about. 14 days later I politely asked (by email) if I could have a reply to my earlier request and did he require anything further from me....and ten days after that I asked again. A week or so passed and I then phoned and left my telephone number on the answerphone and asked them to return my call - that was five days ago. Still no reply. There is no point in paying them a visit because they never answer the phone because they are presumably out in the forest It is hardly any wonder that people set caches without permission if this is what they are up against. I know that rangers are probably busy people but after more than a month and repeated requests I feel I am due the courtesy of a reply by now.

I have been seeking to put some GCs in Wyre Forest but the chances that I ever will are slim. Allow me to explain. After repeated phone calls to the Wyre Forest Ranger's office I got hold of the Ranger after about the tenth attempt. I started to talk about Geocaching. "What's that" was the reply. I then spend five minutes explaining what it is about and how the FC has guide lines ('Don't know anything about that'). I offered maps of where I want to put the GCs and his own FC guide lines as issued by the N.Wales F.C. which also apply to Wyre Forest. I was invited to email them which I did with a full explanation and relevant URLs since it seemed he knew absolutely nothing of what I was talking about. 14 days later I asked if I could have a reply to my email....and ten days after that I asked again. I then phoned and left my telephone number on the answerphone and asked them to return my call - that was five days ago. Still no reply. There is no point in paying them a visit because they never answer the phone because they are presumably out in the forest It is hardly any wonder that people set caches without permission if this is what they are up against. Now I understand that rangers are busy people but surely in well over a month I am due the the courtesy of a reply in some shape or form.

Please note that as a result of correspondence Lactodorum has archived 'Clee Glee' on the Titterstone Clee, Shropshire Hopefully something can be arranged that will put this cache back on line soon because it is an excellent site. Thanks for your help.

Most of this message originally appeared in the main Groundspeak forum because I had not discovered the Brit section at that point in time so please allow me to repeat it so that my chance of a positive response is improved. May I ask geocachers in the UK setting out caches to NOT use recycled plastic food tubs. I have found two recently that were recycled margarine tubs and the one had completely disintegrated, I suspect due to frost damage, (and it is a wonderful site so it is such a shame) and the other had 1" of water in the bottom. It seems stupid to put out good 'gifts' only to ruin them because the boxes are not up to the job. Apart from ammo boxes (sometimes in short supply) there are some excellent strong plastic boxes with clips on all four sides that are really airtight and they only cost £2 or so. ('Biolock' from the Range stores are just one of this type) Could I also ask people who put out caches to make sure that they update their profile details if they change their ISPs etc. I have tried emailing the owner of the ruined cache but the emails keep getting returned as the owner is 'Unknown' Is there any administrative mechanism that would allow me to take over that cache? I would be prepared to replace the box and manage it if that is allowed. If the owner of 'Clee Glee' Shropshire reads this then would they please get in touch with me. PS Since I originally wrote the above I have heard about adopting caches. Would someone please tell me what I have to do to adopt 'Clee Glee' because it would be a shame to waste it if the real owner does not turn up and it is only about ten miles away from where I live. Thanks.

I don't know if it is a UK only phenomena but if it is then may I ask fellow Brits setting out caches to NOT use recycled plastic food tubs. I have found two recently that were recycled margarine tubs and the one had completely disintegrated (and it is a wonderful site so it is such a shame) and the other had 1" of water in the bottom. It seems stupid to put out good 'gifts' only to ruin them because the boxes are not up to the job. Apart from ammo boxes (sometimes in short supply) there are some excellent strong plastic boxes with clips on all four sides that are really airtight and they only cost £2 or so. Could I also ask people who put out caches to make sure that they update their profile details if they change their ISPs etc. I have tried emailing the owner of the ruined cache but the emails keep getting returned as the owner is 'Unknown' Is there any administrative mechanism that would allow me to take over that cache? I would be prepared to replace the box and manage it if that is allowed. If the owner of Clee Glee Shropshire, reads this then would they please get in touch with me. Thanks.

Someone in the States has suggested the plastic 'Lock & Lock' food containers for cache boxes and I have recently come across two of them in the UK and the contents were dry despite having had some recent bad weather. I have now found a range of containers called 'Bio Lock' available in the UK at the Range Superstores which look identical to the 'Lock & Lock' though cheaper than Amazon L & L prices. I have bought one and put it out the garden to see how it stands up to the English weather but it certainly looks as though it has potential. It has the soft blue seal compound in the lid and the four clips on the edges. It claims to be totally airtight. Cost £2.

If you look up in Google a town central to the area you wish to explore then you will almost certainly find it has its own website and it usually gives the address of the Council Offices, Tourist Office or local hotels etc and they contain a post code. Enter the post code on the Geocache home page and it should give you all the caches in that area. Most will also contain the OS map references.

Many thanks for all your suggestions but my son has now resolved the problem and it is similar to Nightpilot's idea. I pass on the solution in case anyone else has the same problem. I was using both of my com ports, Com 1 for my Wacom Drawing Tablet and the Com 2 for my PDA cradle. As I previously stated my GPS Venture did not want to know about either of them. When I removed the Wacom software (Control Panel/Add-remove programs) and then plugged into the Com 1 everything worked OK and my GPS connected to the PC. ......well I have no problems until I want to use my drawing tablet that is. I think the long term answer is probably buying one of those connectors that allows you to plug into the USB ports. Thanks again for your help and ideas.. GoodRaymondo.

The baud rate is 9600 on com ports and Garmin GPS. After two days I am still no nearer a solution.

I am a Brit and fairly new to this sport but it has quickly become obvious that the Tupperware and similar plastic containers are not suitable as caches for the UK weather conditions despite being widely used. I have just poured 1/2" of water out of one (Log book and contents were completely ruined) and others I have found have also been very damp inside making the log books almost unusable. Smaller sized ammo cases seem to be in short supply these days in the UK so what is the answer for dry weather-proof cache containers? The Good Raymondo

I am trying to download 100 waypoints from GSAK Babel Version 1.2.4. to a Garmin Venture GPS via the com ports. No matter what com port I select the dialogue box says 'Cannot init com port' In GSAK 'Set up' I select 'Garmin' and I have selected all the com ports in turn but I still get the same reply. I use other hardware through these com ports with no difficulty. I get the feeling that I am missing some important step. I have the GPS switched on of course but am I supposed to be on some particular GPS setting? OS - WinXP. Any ideas? Thank you.