spannerman
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Posts posted by spannerman
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The "WE" your referring to is the UK Reviewers, who are following clear instructions given by Groundspeak, within the last 12 months. As for other countries, I can't comment on, as I don't know any of the details behind the decision.
UK reviewers were implementing this policy at least two years ago, possibly even longer. I was told at the time it was Groundspeak Policy so it's interesting to read your comments now.
If you have a issue with the other cache, located in another country. Please take that up directly with Groundspeak.
Personally I can see no justifiable reason to unarchive a cache located in the UK, Archived in 2001 or 2002. the cache has been dead for 10 years, unarchiving it and replacing the container would only have one reason, to obtain the early GC Code, and no other reason, that's not a justification to unarchive.
Deci
The cache I was attempting to resurrect was the first physical cache to be placed on Dartmoor. I thought there was a historical justification but apparently I was wrong.
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Glad you enjoyed The Plume and their fine ale! We've stayed there many times even though we live just a few miles away, and have always had a great welcome from the staff there. They are very dog friendly as well and even have a dogs section on the menu!
If you do decide to wild camp on the moor, have a look here first. It is an interactive map of the moor with permissive areas shaded purple. You are very limited around Princetown and the area you are allowed to wild camp is very rough with no water, far better to stay at the Plume and have a couple of extra pints.
As far as fights go, I have only seen one serious argument in the car park and that was two 14(ish) year old Ten Tors lads having a row over a girly. While I wouldn't dispute *mouse*'s claim, please do not let it put you off returning, it really isn't a rough pub.
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I go to biker rallies and this sounds similar??
Similar as in camping/chilling with like minded people and maybe imbibing the odd half .
Our first bike rally of this year was in January, -6 but very warm under the beer blankets!
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Map/route card in the tank bag for me.
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We had a similar experience at the weekend while out doing a series of caches. Log.
The farmer was very apologetic and even came out into the road to check on Roxy bringing his border terrier on a lead because "it has never done that before" and I don't think he actually believed me. As it approached Roxy it tried to bite her again so the farmer was able to see for himself.
I did get the impression from his surprise that this was not normal behaviour for his little terrier so we accepted his apology and went on our way. I mentioned it in our log because if anyone else does have a problem then it may be worth taking further.
While all this was going on, Roxy was her usual laid back self and an ambassador for her breed.
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Does anyone know if you can put your contact details on the startup screen for a colorado? I haven't seen any instrustions anywhere. Thanks
Taken from the Colorado Wiki page
Yes, starting in Beta Software 2.92. Connect your Colorado to a computer in USB mass storage mode and edit file [CO drive]:\Garmin\startup.txt in a text editor like notepad. You can add several lines of text (at least 5) at the end of this file which will be displayed just before the first screen is displayed at power on. This feature is useful for adding contact information in case the unit is lost.
Modifying the line <display=0> in the same file will change the the number of seconds that custom startup message is displayed (i.e. <display=5> will display the messge for 5 seconds). Note your boot time will increase by the same number of seconds, so a value between 5-10 seconds is a reasonable setting.
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GPS12 or GPS12map are both cheap to buy now and are perfect for setting caches. I set quite a number of caches with either the 12 or 12 map and never received logs about inaccurate co-ords. The first time I did get a log about inaccurate co-ords was when I used my "new" Colorado a couple of years ago. I took the 12map to get a better fix and no one had trouble finding it again.
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One other point that isn't specifically mentioned in the agreement, but has the potential to cause conflict with the MAGIC map...
The FC have taken the view that if any of their woodlands are within SSSI's, and this hasn't stopped the public from having recreational access - then caching should also be allowed to take place.
ie caching hasn't been banned in any of the FC areas under this agreement just because those areas are SSSIs.
IMO this is great news, and shows some real joined up thinking - and I can only hope that more landowners soon take the same view
Nice one! that answers my immediate question on reading the initial post but can our reviewers confirm that they will not require specific permission if a cache is sited on FC land within a SSSI.
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Me and the wife do most of our caching on our bike these days so if you are ever down the the South West we will be up for a ride out. Are you into rallys, we have a few booked for this summer and it would be good to meet with a fellow geocacher at one and find a few local caches.
Ride safe!
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If you still want to try, PM me your email address and I will send you a couple of GPX files.
They are from another site so do not break any terms on GC.com and they will work just the same.
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Lets hope that have at least checked the position of GC-published caches before placing their own, and warned their students what to do should they find a non-Theta cache.
Do you think our reviewers have the time to cross check every cache we submit against Open Caching, Terra caching, NaviCache and now this corporate site?
Why should Theta bow to Groundspeak if we don't consider other listing sites ourselves?
because gc.com is the main site and all the others are like sister sites we were here first
lmn
What about letterboxes on Dartmoor
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I and a couple of others from my neck of the woods are planning to go to see the 5* on the 2nd March.
While we've left it too late to organise an event (you need at least 2 weeks advance notice), would anyone planning to go on that day like to meet up for lunch somewhere locally?
I have no idea where or what's available in the area and also plan to do some other caching in the afternoon, including finally looking for Cipher Cache 8 - always just that little bit too far away, despite having solved it last April.
You could try the The Dog at Over. We are in the area at the moment and ate there last evening while watching the snow build up! It's your standard carvery but it was very good and they also serve real ale
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A few days back, I was bitten by a Doberman, whilst walking across a public park on my way between two caches.
We had a similar run in with a dog in the same park when we did the two caches there. I had to fend off an unfriendly dog twice and then when I was having a word with the owner, the dog charges across to my wife and our dog which was on a lead and under control. Roxy, our dog, snapped back at it and it changed from nasty to playful very quickly. She had more control over it than the owner could ever hope for which is a shame because all it needed was the correct instruction to be a normal friendly dog.
The dog which had a go at us was not a Doberman so it looks like there are more than one badly behaved dogs/owners in that area.
Sure, but if they had that much intelligence they wouldn't be pretending that an animal was part of their family in the first place.
Our Roxy is as much a family member as any of us. I'm proud to have her as part of our family even if that means I have limited intelligence
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At the risk of being terribly old fashioned and simplistic, why not just take the time to read prior logs when deciding which, carefully chosen, caches to do?
I vote for "old fashioned!"
Reading prior logs can be helpful but if I like the look of cache I'll do it whatever. In the same way, I will not do a cache I don't like the look of, even if all the logs say how good it is.
I have "close to home" caches I have no intention of looking for. Most of them have good logs but I know I would not enjoy them so I leave them alone.
I don't need a rating system to help me make up my mind whether I would enjoy a cache or not. Cache descriptions and maps are the future
Found it: although we quite enjoyed the cache, we only attempted it because it was classified as "Cache and Dash"; in the event the closest we could park was fifteen minutes walk from the container, which we considered too far and caused us to be late home.I found that quite amusing
. I would hope I realised when I left the car that the cache was nearly a mile away and I didn't have the time to do it! -
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Instead of moaning about the standards of caches listed on here, but then running off to another listing site! Try staying and actively fighting to improve quality, by changing the unacceptable mind set some within the community have, and so start a process of improving quality.
If you don't enjoy a game anymore, stop playing, go away and archive all your caches and make room for people who are more open minded, less bitter and angst filled - who will ultimately get more enjoyment than you and add to the game - which will evolve and will hopefully still be around, taken up by a new generation, when the groaners and complainers have long shuffled off their mortal coil.
Or just go to one of the alternative sites which practically guarantee you the feeling of THE OLD DAYS™ - less caches and more emphasis on quality - oh but there's less caches.... well that's what you want isn't it?
OK! Now I'm very confused!
Mite be cus I is unejicated
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Or how about "You can't place any more caches if you have 'needs maintenance' logs on, or have temporarily disabled any of your caches".
I was about to suggest the same thing. It's something I have always thought would be a good idea. I'm sure someone will come on here and suggest a number of ways around it.
Human nature being what it is, I would expect this to lead to many poorly-maintained and missing caches remaining "active". There will be a resistance to the cache placer disabling a suspect cache as it could jeopardise a planned new cache. There will also be a strong temptation to fake a maintenance visit!
Needs maintenance logs can also be deleted by the owner but not everyone with a cache in need of TLC is the type of person who would cheat or lie in order to get another cache published.
If only 50% of full/soggy log books were replaced or long time disabled caches reactivated then I still think it's worth a try.
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And if there was a sudden moratorium? As others have said, I don't think it would serve any useful purpose... but what if a ruling came down that said something like "You can't place any more caches, but if you archive one of your existing caches then you can place a new one..." Hmmm, yes, I could go along with that.
MrsB
Or how about "You can't place any more caches if you have 'needs maintenance' logs on, or have temporarily disabled any of your caches".
That's a little harsh IMO. How about "You can't place any more caches if you have NM logs, or a disabled cache, outstanding over 6 weeks without good reason being stated in the cache description."
That would cover all those instances like, "The area's turned into a building site but I'll be able to reactivate my cache once the multi-story has been built" and "The cache is inaccessible for 8 months because the authorities have closed it for repair and re-landscaping etc"?
(We have one of the latter examples, so I'm just covering myself there
)MrsB
There will always be genuine reasons for a few long time disabled caches but we all know that they are in the minority. Giving those who get their pleasure from hiding and finding caches a reason to maintain them as well can only be a good thing.
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And if there was a sudden moratorium? As others have said, I don't think it would serve any useful purpose... but what if a ruling came down that said something like "You can't place any more caches, but if you archive one of your existing caches then you can place a new one..." Hmmm, yes, I could go along with that.
MrsB
Or how about "You can't place any more caches if you have 'needs maintenance' logs on, or have temporarily disabled any of your caches".
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For those who want aerial photos this program I've hacked together might help. I don't have a Garmin GPS to actually try the results on. GarminBingMaps.zip -- requires .Net 2.0 to run.
Extract the zip to folder, run the bingmaps.exe
Select the zoom level in the drop down, higher numbers zoom in further.
The size you probably need to leave alone, the 2048x2048 was for something else.
Enter the latitude and longitude as decimal degrees, the default values are near where I live and show the format required.
Select/deselect the types you want.
Click the grab map button, the top of the window will fill in as the tiles are grabbed.
In the folder where you extracted there should now exist a maps folder, which will contain the kmz files.
From the wiki pages and comments in this formum, I believe the resultant kmz files are of the correct format for the Garmin GPS units.
If it works fine, you will need to delete the cache folder every so often as it will keep filling it with no limit.
The source code is in the zip file if anyone wants to play around with it.
Tried on a Colorado and it works perfectly! It's so much easier, (and accurate), than the method I used to map Dartmoor which has taken me weeks to complete
Nice one, thank you.
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I was out for a ride doing a few caches this morning and had to pass by this one which we found a couple of years ago.
It was one of those subjects that you pass by all the time and without the cache would never know was there. I've visited a few times since the cache and while I love to sit and look out to sea and imagine how the hermit lived here, I guess that he would not be very happy with all the visitors to his home.
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Hmm, I must be doing something wrong. I've generated a map and sent it to the device but it doesn't show.
I can't find any reference to custom maps in the map setup screen, it just lists the built in maps and the Discoverer 50000 maps. I've used WebUpdater and it says I've got the latest software already installed. Not sure what to try next.
Rgds, Andy
Andy,
Each jpeg has to be less than 3mb or it will not display.
Did you create a sub folder called "Custom Maps" in the "Garmin" folder? (Unit or card)
It's worth checking out the Garmin Customer Maps developer forum for more info.
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I once had the same on a mobile phone and was advised not to try and turn it on, remove the battery and put it in the airing cupboard until all signs of moisture had gone and then to leave it for another 12 hours before replacing the battery and turning it on.
Thankfully it worked for me, hope you have the same fortune.
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Dartmoor and nearby caches
in United Kingdom and Ireland
Posted
Glad to see some good caches will live on Andy, good luck with your new hobbies. We were only talking about Manaton Rocks the other day, it was one of our favourites of yours and we have been back up there many times since your cache was set up.
We left the game quite a while ago and although I check back now and again I don't see anything to get exited any more.
All the best mate, to you and Poppy