RockyRaab

Thanks, Cat. Here's a rather poignant (and painful to me) anecdote. I was the tour guide and answer guy for the astronaut class that included Judy Resnick and Mike Smith. When I took them through the Range Safety blockhouse and explained the system, Judy was amazed and almost shocked to learn that destruct systems were in place even for manned launches, including the Shuttle. She was visibly subdued when I explained that they were in fact live systems, and that some anonymous AF officer would indeed have his finger on the Destruct switch when she flew. And then, she and Mike both were aboard Challenger... And by then, I had left NASA to be the media spokesman for Thiokol. That cold January morning was the start of the worst two years of my life - and I'm including my year in combat as being not as bad. On a MUCH brighter note, the next GPS launch aboard a Delta will be next week. To quote a news release: "A Boeing Delta 2 rocket is set to launch a new global positioning system (GPS) satellite for the U.S. Air Force on Nov. 14. The rocket, set to launch during a 13-minute window that opens at 2:25 p.m. EST (1925 GMT), will orbit the GPS 2R-16 navigation, the third modernized navigation satellite to aid military and civilian users. The upcoming launch follows a successful September launch of the USAF navigation satellite 2R-15 and last year's GPS 2R-M1 flight. The spacecraft are aimed at upgraded GPS navigation services by adding an additional civilian signal and hardy military channels that are less susceptible to jamming. " Anyone interested can watch it live via NASA TV or via direct link on www.space.com

Well, "impact" is certainly a more accurate term in the case of a Command Destruct. Fo'sho! I was the commentator for three launch failures, an AF Titan III, A Delta and an Atlas-Centaur. Believe me, it is not easy to retain a calm, stentorian voice when something that big blows. Especially when the near-silence in your headphones instantly turns to high-speed and high-pitched cacophony.

As a former NASA countdown commentator (the guy who does all that speaking), here are some facts: It's an Air Force guy (not NASA) who sits at the Range Safety Destruct Panel. He watches for the vehicle to stay within set lines on his monitor during launch. The computer predicts where the vehicle would impact if the flight path continued at the current speed, direction and acceleration. If that predicted impact point crosses the Range boundary, the AF officer sends the radio command to destruct. Two things happen once that signal is sent. The main engine (if liquid-fueled) is shut down. Also, any solid rocket boosters, plus the main vehicle tanks, are ruptured with shaped charges. Both actions insure that no further thrust is produced and the vehicle will land in a safe area. That's where the 17-foot "crack" came from: it's the result of the shaped charge firing down the length of the solid rocket. The commentator is very carefully trained to never say anything like "Holy crap!" no matter what. If something "unusual" or "unexpected" happens, it's an anomaly not a "big friggin' explosion." There aren't any huge coverups or secrets here, folks; just a tremendous amount of just-barely-controlled energy in a vehicle made up of mechanical parts. Rarely, but inevitably, one or more of those parts fails. When it does... Oh, and on the Delta rocket, not all the solid rocket boosters ignite at liftoff. They use either a 5/4 or a 6/3 sequence for the nine strapons. Some at liftoff and the rest when the first batch burn out.

Have done almost all the above: replaced bags, pens, logs and even a container or two. I've found at least three destroyed caches and reported them, but I concur heartily in the comments about not replacing a seemingly lost or destroyed cache. I have found one or two caches that did not match the cache page description and/or hints, and almost certainly were duplicate caches.

I agree completely that the best strength of a multi is that it can be educational, tell a story or be placed in an area where a single-stage cache would get muggled. I only have one multi so far, and I hid the first of two stages in plain sight, but in a very muggly area. The coords for the next stage can be gotten without arousing a single suspicion, and the ammo-can final is only a hundred yards away, but WELL hidden. I also hate "surprise" multis in which you find one micro or nano after the other with no idea how many more or how far you'll have to go. I've abandoned ship on more than one. It is permissible (in a REALLY tough area) to reveal half the coords in one stage, and the other half in another. This almost gurantees a muggle-free final stage - assuming the final is hidden well and off the beaten track. I tried to do something in my first stage that I'd never seen before, and got lots of "How clever!" comments. Multis are a wonderful opportunity for this, as there's no requirement for a log in the intermediates. I vow to do the same if and when I ever place another multi. Might be a fun idea for the rest of us.

As the OP has demonstrated that he or she has difficulty with plain English, I am not at all surprised that simple codes are impossible.

If they secrete codes, maybe they should called "puddle" caches.

Guys can cultivate a five-day beard and wear a raincoat with shorts underneath so bare legs show. No muggles will EVER approach. If there were a really big crowd of girls, would that be a gigagiggluggle?

I just might steal a variation on it...plain wooden box with two screws exposed. Touching the screws with the 9V opens it via a relay and internal latch. Hidden hinges, fitted door. Hmmmmm.... No song and dance needed except remembering to bring the $%#@*&! battery.

(In his best voice rendition of Mae West...) Hey there, honey, was that a flashlight exploding in your pocket - or are ya just glad ta see me? Sorry, but it's the very first thing I thought of when I read the original post!

Hmmmm.... Well, perhaps I did leap to a conclusion. I didn't think the "with my dad" addition was significant, but you all have suggested an explanation that makes it so - and explains the late posting as well. I demur and hereby offer an apology to the young cacher. (Yes, it IS a shame that any irregularity creates the immediate suspicion of cheating.)

No logs. Both caches were destroyed, one by construction and the other by getting waterlogged.

So I get the usual email notification that someone has found two of my caches. Nice - except that the "find" was for two caches that have been gone and archived for a whole year. Both "finds" were by the same person, and both were dated back when the caches were still in existence. Date they wrote the Log: July 5, 2006. Date he claimed the find: May 2005! Log comments on both were simply "Found it." Now, I sometimes can't log a find because I'm out of town with no web access, and soemtimes I might just lose track of a find for a few days - but FOURTEEN MONTHS? Somehow, I doubt it. So, the only conclusion I can draw is that this pathetic loser enters "finds" on caches where there's no hope of disproving his lie, i.e. long-archived caches. I considered deleting the bogus logs, but that wouldn't help anything except to "correct" his bogus smiley count. Suggestions on what to do? Report him to geocache?

Bearing is the direction from you to the target, regardless of your own direction of travel. Heading is your direction of travel, regardless of the bearing to the target. Clear? Example: Your GPS says the cache is on a bearing of 180 from you (south). You might be facing or slowly walking east, or west or north, but the BEARING to the cache is still south, despite where you are currently HEADING. Now, you start walking south. For the moment, both the BEARING and your HEADING are the same. As you get closer, you continue walking on a due south HEADING but you miss going directly to the cache because you angled off a wee bit. The "GoTo" needle nows swings over until it is pointing east. Your heading did not change, but you have a new bearing. If you walked far enough, the needle would point almost straight back behind you, and your bearing would have swung from south through east to north, even though you never changed your heading of south. Still clear - or no?

If you are going to file a false police report anyway, why bother bringing your weapon? What false police report? There WAS a guy with a gun in the place (I simply wouldn't mention that I was that guy.) It was a tongue-in-cheek post post, clearly. But your comment is illogical: the fact that I probably won't need it is no reason not to have it. The same applies to seat belts, smoke alarms, accident insurance, etc.

Pack a gun. (Yeah, I know what THAT suggestion will spawn here...) If you don't need it for the obvious reason, you can always call the police after you leave the area and report that there was person there with a gun. The cops may not respond to a known "pickle park" in a hurry, but I guarantee you the gun report will get 'em rolling. (And you didn't lie!)

Small, cool, useful - and legal. Sounds perfect to me. Oh, and I'd scarf it up if I found it!

If you do not own a Tilley - you do not own a hat. Period.

Amen to that. I found an ammo can cache the other day with three TBs, but two of them used cuddly stuffed critters as travellers. I left them there (and they'd been there for a LONG time) simply because they'd be darn difficult to place. Ironically, the last cache I found on the business trip - 300 miles from home - was a .50-cal ammo can that was almost empty. It figures.

Well, TM, you know what that means? It means there is room for you to write the next geocaching book. Call it Caching in the Upper Left-hand Corner. If you can write, you can publish.

I knew there were exceptions, that's why I said "most GPS units..."

You almost got it. It should be "When you spend more money in the dollar store than the grocery store."

Yup. Your GPS will appear to "wander" when you get close. As mentioned, you may find it best to stop when you're about 50-60 feet away and just let the unit settle down. This is a great time to do a "wide angle" look at the general scene. After a bit, you'll develop a sixth sense and just about pinpoint where a regular-size cache probably is (micros and smaller ones are NOT so easily predicted!) It's also a good time to take a look around to see if you're being watched. Non-cachers (which are humorously called muggles by we treasure hunters) seem to get curious about why that guy was poking around in the bushes over there. Then, after you leave, they go look for themselves. Many caches have disappeared that way. After your unit settles down, go most of the way to the zero point. You might even set your GPS unit down there to allow it to settle again. One thing to keep in mind is that most GPS units do not point absolute direction. That is, if you have the arrow screen selected (best choice when close) the arrow points to the waypoint based on your last direction of movement. It does not point like a compass. A compass needle will swing if you turn around while standing still, but a GPS needle will not. It won't swing unless and until you move a certain minimum distance and speed. If all else fails, walk 100 feet away, turn around and walk 50 feet back at a steady pace. Stop and do the settle trick again. If THAT fails, walk a large triangle around the probable zero point, watching the GPS needle. Without turning, note where it points, do a mental average and then go to that spot. The cache is there somewhere. Usually.

I didn't read every post here in detail, but... Perhaps you could collaborate with the other cache owner. Transform his cache into a "his and your" multi. Hide the coords to his cache in a micro or even a nano at your artwork site, change the cache page for his to make it a multi, and Ta-DAA! The only hitch would be that previous finders would already know the "final" coords, but how many people go do caches twice? All new lookers wouldn't be any the wiser after the new cache description was posted.

I would think that the only permissible use of such an item would be as one leg of a multicache. Have the next leg's location imprinted on a dog tag and then permanently affix the tag to a non-living support. But code caches are verboten.