ValleyRat & TillyMouse

There are a couple of possibilities: 1. Although we are in a declining-sunspot-activity period, radiation from sunspots can sometimes cause short-term loss of satellite signals. This one is not likely, according to your symptoms. You can see info here about the phenomenon. 2. Most car radios have a "local oscillator" that acts like a tiny transmitter. It's varied by tuning the radio. If a harmonic (exact multiple) of the LO signal happened to hit on a satellite frequency, it could be strong enough to block the signal.

The greatest magnetic cache I ever found was not identified in the log as "magnetic." The log said "Microcache." You can buy magnetic sign material at sign shops, cut a piece of appropriate size, print the geocaching page/log and glue it to the back, print an innocuous clue on the front and attach the material to most anything ferrous. I was expecting a box of some sort and finally, after five trips, found it. GREAT IDEA! I wish I'd thought of it first.

My Sony is great, but. . . It's just too big for caching. I need a small, shirt-pocket camera. One with a memory stick is preferred. Anyone with recommendations or a surplus one to sell, please PM or email.

Whatever container you use, place it in a Wall-Mart bag; what muggle in his right mind would pick up one of those?

From a noob: Pick up a retired ski-pole to use for a walking stick; sharpen the tip so you can remind snakes that the two species -- reptiles and homo sapiens -- are really not compatible.

Would like to trade Geocaching Bumper Stickers (value $2.50 each) for equal value Geocaching T-shirts or other geocaching gear. The Bumper stickers are quality vinyl, waterproof, 3"x11". writer29@rgv.rr.com

I can see now, that my email was just olfart stupidity. It was only a suggestion. I'll be more prudent about my newbie suggestions in future.

How about a variation on the Say The Secret Word cache. This one could have commercial sponsors, though the rules might have to be changed. e.g., a cache hidden near the business of a friend of ours who sells Emu oil and Aloe Vera products might have a secret word, Emu posted inside the cache. By going into the business and saying the secret word, the finder would receive a free sample of the product.

My rule about caching: Never hunt in the snow, nor in the Arabian desert. This sport is supposed to be fun!

I recently received an email from a new friend (I think it's a friend -- I don't recognize the address, nor the name) It said "That's a neat idea." It would be nice to know which one.

As the former owner of the world's largest metal detector retailer, and the founder ot one of the first treasure hunting clubs, I can offer some insight into metal detecting/treasure hunting. Although my Garrett GTI-2500 always accompanies me on my geocaching trips, it's almost unheard of to find a site where the detector can be used in locating the cache, but . . . Many, many rural caches offer a perfect location for metal detecting. When I see a description such as, "This is near the old home place of Jamieson Farm..." I always envision a few minutes of "real" treasure hunting. To sum it up, I have never used my detector around an old abandoned house place, that I didn't find at least one treasure -- old coin, metal toy, etc. There are few thrills more exciting than hearing a sexy female voice emanating from the box below my hand saying, "Quarter -- six inches!" The GTI-2500 is a GREAT MACHINE! Recommendation? Buy the most expensive Garrett machine you can afford -- they come from $99 to around $3000. My GTI-2500 cost $1,200 three years ago. There's a reason Garret was chosen for airport security. IMO It's the best! The photo below was taken in my store, Arlington (Texas) Electronic Center, during the heyday of Metal Detecting (1972). The detectors shown are a group of White's machines. The line that I sold included White's Electronics, D-Tex, Garrett, Fisher, Surplus Mine Detectors, and a few real cheapies including dowsing sticks made from whale bone.

We carry a box of trash bags when we are out geocaching. Pick up trash, but we never even bother to mention it in the log. In Texas it's part of life! Pick it up! Dump it! Don't brag about it. Am I wrong?

I'm a relative newbie to this wonderful sport, but.... I have found two "camo micros" that were no longer in the original location. One had apparently been muggled and all contenrts removed. It was laying in the grass. I logged it as such; maybe I should have logged it as FOUND, but ... The second one was intact but in the grass below the tree where it apparently was placed originally. I placed it in a tree hollow at the original coordinates, hoping that was the original location. Being new, I'm not sure this was the proper action. Any comments?

TillyMouse is the partner in far more than caching. Friends DallasAndJoAnn flank her in this pix.

We visited an advertising gimmick store and purchased a bunch of printing seconds -- keychains, some with lights, rings, balloons, lots of different little toys, etc. Kinda cheap, but usually unique.

TillyMouse and I use retired ski poles. The sharpened ends make good snake sticks and the leather strap on the handle make them handy to use.

My Garmin Yellow is SOLD. Please -- no more PayPal payments

Anyone know of a website for side-by-side comparison of the different eTrex models? on edit: Well dumb me. I found it on google http://www.gpsnow.com/gmetrexcomp.htm thanks anyway, for reading it.

I have a (used once) little yellow. Just upgraded to Legend and will sell the little yellow for $50 plus $4 shipping (paypal) Email writer29@rgv.rr.com

Yeh, but really, all kidding aside, What is it?

Getting your granddaughter interested in it. Then after she learns the system (she's 8 and already can track coordinates) hiding special gifts near her home, especially for her that no one else knows about. Sort of like a year-around easter-egg hunt.

I'll take one. But I'd also like to see a "coffee-table" book where hundreds of our photos could be published. Thirteen's not very many, considering the number of members. As former newspaper publishers/formatters (PageMaker, PhotoShop, Illustrator, etc) we would be glad to help if you don't have folks with those skills on staff. Do you have a RELEASE FORM online for photogs to print, sign, and fax or mail? Nothing can eat up publication profits like a lawsuit.

For posting on forums and websites, it's extremely important to keep the picture size very small. Most photo manipulation software allows for image sizing. A picture that's reduced in size to a width no more than 300 pixels gives good resolution on computer screens; monitors seldom reproduce more than 92dpi, and that size is easily handled by dial-up connections. Higher resolution pictures serve no purpose but to cause frustration in folks who have only a slow dial-up connection -- many 56k modems get under 20k transfer rate because of poor copper lines between their computer and the central office. The phone company is only required to provide 19.4kbps; if you get more than that, consider yourself lucky. With this in mind, a high-megapixel camera can be set for lower resolution if computer/forum/website publication is your aim. Usually the setting in the camera is stated as "400x300" or a similar designation. Most newspapers also use a lower-resolution photo for publication because of press and newsprint (paper) limitations. If you send high-resolution photos to a newspaper, they (usually) will reduce the LPI (lines per inch) to their press/newsprint requirements. Slick magazines, on the other hand, require much higher res photos; send them the highest-res photos your camera can produce. If your aim is prints from your printer on glossy paper, use high-resolution. I solve the dilemna of multiple needs by shooting the picture at high-res, then saving it to my computer, then loading it into PhotoShop and using IMAGE|IMAGE SIZE| and reducing the size and SAVE AS a different name. Most of my pictures have three copies saved; as [pictureoriginal.TIF], [pictureeMail.jpg], and [pictureNewspaper.jpg]. If possible, the camera should be set to produce pictures in .tif format because .jpg and .gif are "lossy" formats, and lose some detail each time you load, change, and resave them. This includes every time you DEFRAG your hard drive. I know this is a long answer to the question, but. . . I've owned several cameras, all Sony because, Sony produces so many cameras for so many different purposes. My requirements are at least 5x OPTICAL ZOOM, plus 10x digital zoom. My Sony DSC-F505V has 10x Optical Zoom plus Digital Zoom, 3.3 Megapixel. Several are available on eBay for a couple hundred dollars. IMHO a second-hand camera with the features you want is better than the same money spent on a new one that doesn't have those features. This is it:

Anone interested in participating in a group hunt (about 4 hours) for learning and socializing, please contact me at writer29@rgv.rr.com.

GYM I'm not complaining about the volume, we need their input. We're just thinking about putting one of those glass partitions between the seats.