VentureForth

Ribbit! My, how the graphics have become mighty purty.

I just realized that my last post was in 2004. Wow. Anyone else from the 2001-2003 geocaching years still check in here?

I want to clarify what I posted originally two years ago. I really don't like the micros, but if they were slightly larger than a film canister and there were tradables in it, then I would be much more excited - kind of like the Altoid caches. VF

Reminds me of the Mitsuko days....

OK. It's cool to have microcaches in urban areas where you can't hide an ammobox under a newspaper rack - at least not without causing severe suspicion. But I'm finding a TON of film canisters being littered across the vast expanses of the country as microcaches where it doesn't seem to be real necessary to have microcaches. Yeah, I like to trade. I like to see the goodies. I can only enjoy geocaching so much bounding from one cemetery to another to find a scrolled up tiny log in a film canister in the crook of a tree. Many are placed 20 miles apart going down the highway by the same cacher. What has happened to imagination? What has happened to trading? I'm really beginning to miss the McGoodies. VF

Web-Ling talked about the fact that perhaps Texas, being the 2nd most populated state in the Union, and being diverse and unique in and of itself, and being larger than 80% of represented countries in the Geocaching community, Texas might do well to have it's own forum. Same could be said for Florida. Never heard a Texan claim he was a Southerner or a Southwesterner or a Midwesterner or a Southeasterner. For that matter, haven't heard Southeasterners claim to be "Easterners" either (REF: 1st post). Texans claim to be Texas. VF PS: What the *%@# is a muggle?

I didn't give them the URL. This is in Greenville, Tx. They know of geocaching, I presume, 'cause the read the log book enough to know that they were encouraged to take bunches of pictures of themselves. I'll have to find out more about Amtgarders. The lady I talked to had a Psudonym. She probably would have thought I was mocking her if I said "Hello Helen of Greenville. I'm VentureForth". Next time I go out there I'll take an offering of Shepherd's Pie. Hey - I may just make some of that for myself... They looked like they were having fun. Kind of picnicking away from all the other park goers. The biggest thing I noticed was that there were a bunch of kids - like 9-12 year olds playing. All having jolly fun. VF

Hi guys. Just woke - well am waking - from a very long hibernation from geocaching. I just wanted to make a few points, get off my log and go back to sleep. I am encouraged by the all the new caches that are in my area. I just can't make the 1-hr out, 3-hr cache, 1-hr back cache trips twice a week. I need some close by. That being said, I've noticed that many in my area have come and gone. I'm happy to say that the very first cache I ever placed is still active and just got a hit yesterday! Woo hoo! Some in the area have been poorly placed. There was one that was hidden in a water bottle in a clump of crepe myrtles in the middle of the grassy area in the middle of the busiest city park. Frankly, I was suprised that it lasted so long. I had the misfortune of being the last one to be successful in finding it. That makes me suspect #1 when it came up missing not long after I found it. It had bothered me a little and so I went back out there yesterday to see what I could see. Same trash was there from 5 months ago, but the cache was certainly gone. I came across a groups of gypsy-esque American-Gladiator types who were swordfighting with oversized Q-Tips. Apparently my Sunday attire and quick walk to the crepe myrtle and back seized them with an insatiable appetite for curiosity. They asked if I was looking for something and I quickly explained about the cache. They told me they saw it months ago and noticed the camera inside with the instructions to take pictures of themselves. So they took a bunch of pictures of themselves, hoping someday to meet the people that left the treasure trove there for them to explore. Well, my guess is that if the gypsies found the cache, the park maintainers found the cache, too. Sigh. Had I mentioned that I'm happy to see more caches in the area? I really am. I hope to knock out the whole county in a couple weeks (Shoot, there still aren't more than 10ish). Better find mine that the last few have given up on. Last time I did that, though, the coords were right on and there she sat... But it has been raining a lot. Anything can move. Anyway, good to be back.

Update! Franklin, Delta, Rains and Hopkins are the only ones without a cache now! BTW, I JUST noticed that this thread title had a typo. I meant COUNTY not COUNTRY.

I don't see how this is a Walmart Brand... Whistler has been making quality radar detectors for a very long time. The other concerns, however, seem justifiable. Though USB seems to be the trend, it's probably a bit ahead of it's time in the GPS interface world. Most of the other features seemed quite reasonable, and it maintains the same waterproofing standard at the Legend. $100? Would be a great deal, though I don't know if the base maps have any more detail than the base maps on the Legend. Everything seems to be fairly similar...almost patently similar. So just because of the USB interface, it may not be for Geocaching, but hey. It seems like it's OK. But the issue is neither here nor there any more. Buy.com is out of 'em, and you'll have a hard time finding one for twice that now. Go get yerself a Legend and be happy! (By the way, I bought my Legend three weeks ago from offroute.com, an official sponsor of geocaching.com. Paid less than $180 with three day shipping. If you look at the cheapest of Garmins, once you add maps and a PC interface cable, you're about there anyway.) VF

I believe that the Mapsource USA CD can be unlocked in its entireity without additional cost. The main ones they're gonna get you on are the water ways and more specialized maps. Jim

Yeah - well, right when I was pulling up the message, I noticed my HotSync logo in the tray. Hit me like a ton of bricks. Works fine now. Thanks! VF

Anyone have any trouble shooting ideas? Cable's all hooked up, but my Win 2000 won't talk to my Legend. VF

Started this game at the turn of the Century with a Handspring Visor Deluxe and a Magellan GPS Companion for Visor. Immediately trashed the bundled mappoing software. Added Mapopolis (got on their beta testing group for discounts), and Cetus. That setup has been the same for about 4 years, and now I'm experiencing culture shock with my new Legend. VF

That's cool, Kjeld! I can't seem to get hint information, though, even bypassing the Windows front and keying in the conversion from c: prompt. I get the conversion to Cetus OK, but without descriptions or hints. Am I missing something? Maybe a new version of GPS Babel I've been missing out on. Jim

From PC-Mobile: Oh well.

Maybe. I just can't help thinking that the Springboard is a serial interface and can somehow be 'rerouted' to the serial sync port on the Clie. No DB9s here. As for the connectors, I have a beat up Visor deluxe that I can pillage the Springboard receptacle from, and Clie sync cables are less than $10. Hmmm.... VF

Ok - I've been thinking. I should be able to create a cable from my Magellan GPS Companion for Handspring Visor to talk to my Sony Clie' T665C shouldn't I? Supposing I have the connectors, and all I needed were to solder the right wires to the right pins, wouldn't it be possible? I'm just having a hard time finding the pinouts on the Magellan & on my Clie. Any advise would be terrific. VF

So long as you have an interface cable, you may want to consider Mapopolis Platinum +GPS. It's around $50, and if you get the CD ROM, you will have every county road available. Of course, you can only install as many maps that will fit in your RAM at a time, but it will make for a great moving map display to compliment your Geko 201. Let me know how your setup is working. I just bought at Clie T665C and am considering buying a Geko to replace my old Handspring Visor setup. VF

I guess I've been out of these forums too long. I'm still using GPS Babel and CetusGPS on my Palm. Never heard of Cachemate. This looks like a neat (new?) app. VF

Hi. I'm Venture Forth. It's been a long time since my last posting. Hello, Venture Forth! I was real proud of myself. I got to place my first cache outside of the US in February...In Japan! I thought I found the best place to hide my cache. I hid it on 2/1. First cacher found it on 2/10. Remember those days when FTF wasn't measured in minutes? Yeah. Those days. Uh huh... Next finder found it on the 21st of February. He told me that the bamboo thicket that I hid my ammo box in was completely clear cut! Now the touchy-feely-warm ooey gooey part of the story. The guys clearing the trash found the ammo box (which was hidden under a rusted out 5-gallon vegetable oil can) in his pile of rubbish. When he found the ammo box (with "Game Piece" written in Japanese all over the box just 'cause of stupid bomb scares), he wrote in the log and returned the box to it's original location - with the rusted can obstructing it!! Of course, this was out in the middle of an open field now, and that's how cache-finder #2 discovered it. After emailing me the particulars, I explained that whereas my dad only lived 1/2 mile away and would take care of it if it were vandalized, he didn't have a GPS to actually relocate it. I asked Kussy if he wouldn't mind relocating it or taking it with him and re-hiding it as a new cache. Well, Kussy took a day off work (unheard of in Japan!) to relocate my cache within the same park. I tell ya, there's not much more brotherhood (gender-neuterally speaking) than that. His willingness to help has allowed for the cache to continue being in the same area with my same original contents. A big thank you to Kussy and to that city worker who discovered that my cache wasn't rubbish! VentureForth (I'll get some pictures and details on the cache page then I'll post it here)

Then, of course, there is the Handspring or Palm V and Magellan GPS Companion combo. One of the best tools, but rapidly becoming obsolete. I have finally run mine into the ground and have subsequently replaced it with a Sony Clie'. Still trying to determine what new GPS to buy, though I'm leaning towards a Geko 201. Except for the power up issue (tends to power up while in your pocket without you knowing), it seems to be the best value if you don't need mapping software. An additional cable will allow you to tie the GPS to the handheld and use with Mapopolis to get to the vicinity. Then, pull the plug and go solo while tramping through the forest with the GPS in one hand and your cache pages in the other. I've been PDA Caching since I started geocaching in 2001 and have loved every bit of it. VF

Wow. I had just about given up on watching this game. Seeing the progress this month alone has re-engergized me! May the Force be with Leia & Luke as they conquer the Dark Side! VF --------------- Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!

Though most who are affected by the blackout probably can't even access these forums, maybe soon you can answer: During the Blackout, I... --------------- Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!

For the most part, most electronics don't interfere with flight avionics at all. There are some fears that they might, so they ask that you turn off equipment during the most critical stages of flight (Takeoff and landing). Most airlines don't have any problem with folks using laptops or GPSr's at altitude. Now, the question becomes how do you get the internet from 30,000 above the Atlantic Ocean? Hmmm... Out of that 2-mile range for DSL. Cable modem would hard to string up that far. Cellphone modem wouldn't work 'cause of cell phone prohibitions at altitude (generally 'cause they're picking up like 1000 towers). So, the answer would be satellite. Most folks don't have a portable satellite internet transceiver/modem to carry with them in their airline seat. To install broadband dual phase satellite will cost a lot of money per aircraft, and will be worth every penny to those buiness people who have to check their Yahoo! email every 38 seconds. I don't see it as a contradiction in rules at all, and if folks are demanding it and willing to pay for it, it should be offered. --------------- Go! And don't be afraid to get a little wet!