binthair

In Ottawa we have a number of cachers who make it out in -25 C weather around midnight with flashlights and shovels intent on finding Tupperware under a foot or more of snow. Just makes it a bit more interesting...and the caching stories are hilarious...LOL! And best of all it's bug-free.... with little competition....except for the odd curious cop looking to make what he figures will be a drug bust...Some of them have been educated into the art and science of geocaching now .

Lots of easy caches in the Ottawa area. Suggest you try Vroom, Walk The Line, Cars, Hill Mill Ruin, The Matrix, Games, Smokey Horntail, etc. There's plenty of others. Cheers! binthair

Welcome Aboard Chaz Caching! According to my address book, there are over 60 teams or individuals actively caching in the Ottawa area. According to a survey that I did recently, about one third of cachers are using the Garmin Legend, but you would probably be happy with any GPSr (Magellan included) with the possible exception of the Garmin yellow Etrex. I personnaly get along just fine with a Garmin GPS-12 (no map), but it's a matter of personal preference. Hope to see some cache logs from you real soon! Cheers! binthair

What a great experience BullZie! I've seen wolves about 4 times in my life but not quite that close. I did see a bear real close while doing a cache called Where/What/When near Orleans Ontario east of Ottawa in the early summer. He used cover very well when I spooked him unknowingly. Then a rushing sound, to my right and then behind a hill about 20 meters away. He poked his head up briefly to see what had scared him and that's when I saw his huge head. He continued on and so did I to the cache. The area was full of wildlife near Green's Creek and near it's entrance to the Ottawa river. Bears are seen fairly regularly in the Ottawa/Gatineau area, so it wasn't too surprising. Luckily *most* of the time wild animals run away when encountered. Hopefully, we won't encounter the rare *other* time. Cheers! binthair

Projecting Waypoints With More Precision by binthair 4 December 2002 I have developed a technique on my Garmin GPS 12 which enables me to project waypoints with greater precision than the 100 meters directly available with the unit*. (The technique should also work with suitable modification on other units than the Garmin GPS 12.) The technique involves making use of the built-in Simulator mode. (Simulator mode is called Demo mode on some other brands.) By simulating movement away from a waypoint at a given bearing and speed and watching the trip time, one can mark a waypoint when the trip time reaches a required value. For instance, travelling at 36 km/hr covers 10 meters per second. So if the required projected distance is, say, 270 meters, then marking a waypoint when the trip timer reaches exactly 27 seconds will create a waypoint 270 meters from the present waypoint. Greater precision can be achieved with longer waits. (18 km/hr covers 5 meters / sec; 9 km/hr covers 2.5 meters/ second; and the ultimate precision with this method is 1 km/hr covering 0.2777 meters/sec.). To use the technique, make sure that there is no active route, otherwise, the track may curve attempting to go to a route waypoint. When finished with the projection, make sure to take the unit out of Simulator mode and put it back in Normal mode. ---------------------------------------- * It is of course possible (but more awkward) to project an approximate waypoint in even 100 meter increments, proceed to that waypoint, and then do a GOTO back along the reciprocal bearing in 10 meter increments. However, the technique which is the subject of this note is more direct and can be more precise. Example (for Garmin GPS 12): In this example the initial position is N45 25.365 W075 42.993; the desired distance to the projected waypoint is 270 meters and the desired bearing to the projected waypoint is 216 degrees. (Desired accuracy is 10 meters in this example, so use a simulator speed of 36 km/hr.) 1. Clear the active route. 2. Go to SETUP MENU; Select SYSTEM; Set MODE to Simulator. 3. Go to the position display screen. 4. Initially set SPEED to zero. (This stops any simulation while other values are being set.) 5. Set position to desired start position for example N45 25.365 W075 42.993 . 6. Set desired bearing (i.e., TRACK), for this example equal to 216 degrees. 7. Reset trip time (not elapsed time) TTIME to 00:00 . 8. Set Speed to desired speed, for this example, 36 km/hr, but DO NOT hit ENTER button until ready 9. When ready, hit ENTER and watch the TTIME display. 10. Quickly hit the MARK button when the time reaches the desired time, 27 seconds in this example. 11. The MARK POSITION display will show the projected waypoint position of N45 25.245 W075 43.117 . Save it. 12. PAGE back to the position display and stop the simulated track by setting the SPEED to zero. 13. PAGE to MAIN MENU; Go to SETUP MENU; Select SYSTEM; set MODE to NORMAL. When familiar with the procedure, the above example takes about 2 ½ minutes to perform. MapSource calculates the range to be 275.1 meters at a bearing of 216 degrees from the first waypoint to the projected waypoint. Since 1 second increments correspond to10 meters travel at 36 km/hr this answer is acceptable. For more precision, a rerun for 108 seconds of simulation at 9 km/hr corresponding to 2.5 meters / second of travel yields N45 25.247 W075 43.115 . In this case, a check with MapSource calculates the range as 270.6 meters at a bearing of 216 degrees.

My Garmin GPS 12 works just great. It was almost obsolete when I got it a year ago, but research showed that it got very good reviews as far as accuracy goes; so I bought it. Almost never loses signal or goes bananas under tree cover. I have never not found a cache that was actually there and I have, at present, 266 finds. I sometimes post my coordinates for finds and many times others have found these very valuable for finding the cache. It doesn't have mapping capability but that just adds to the fun. I recently did a survey of the Ottawa area cachers and 1/3 of them now use Garmin Legends (the most popular) and seem to be happy with its accuracy. It has mapping capability and nice screens. But the best bang for the buck, in my mind, is the Garmin GPS 12, if you can still get it. Cheers! binthair

Couldn't have come at a better time! We'll be there! binthair (once before!)(and really enjoyed it!)

I kinda like this here Hide and Seek game...heh,heh,heh! One reason is -- no rules! Different strokes for different folks! Cheers, binthair [This message was edited by binthair on October 24, 2002 at 06:59 PM.]

My wife, dog and I have crossed the border to geocache in NY state several times; have had no problems at the border, and have logged several excellent cache finds there. Why not try it once to see for yourself? Cheers! binthair (from Ottawa, Ontario)

Hello J.A.R.S.! I use MapSource (version 4.07)all the time and have no problem printing maps. Clicking on the Print command does it for me; I'm sure you've tried that. Perhaps there's a problem with your printer setup. Do other applications have the same problem? If not, check with the MapSource support people. Cheers and Good Luck, binthair PS: I'm still trying to figure out how to consolidate tracks (breadcrumb trails)from several outings with Mapsource. Problems arise when the number of tracks gets larger than about 32 and/or the tracks from different outings have the same ID number. Anyone figured that one out yet? The MapSource people of one department don't seem to understand that problem and claim it's possible, when it's not. Another department claims it's not a feature. Poor interdepartamental communication

Please add me to your fast growing list of geocachers who are disappointed that the 'number of finds' is now missing from the logs of the finders. This is an important statistic eagerly watched by cachers in my area. There is tremendous good fun in a competitive sense in knowing how others are doing, and this creates a great incentive to get out there and find more, as well as hiding more caches for the competition to find. I doubt that I would have maintained as much geocaching activity if this statistic had not been in place! Further, it is very interesting and useful to see the this statistic to judge the experience level of the finder as regards his/her comments in the logs. I appreciate the excellent service the site provides, and I understand the new changes have caused it to be dropped, but please try to find some way to reinstate the 'number of finds' statistic in the logs! Cheers, binthair

I just found out that World of Maps in Ottawa won't honour a gift certificate that I received with the intention of purchasing Ontario Southern Vol. 1 CD-ROM by SoftMap. Their website advertizes that product, but when I arrived at the store they said that the product no longer exists. Try as I might they just would not refund the certificate. binthair (and sorry I went!)

I just found out that World of Maps in Ottawa won't honour a gift certificate that I received with the intention of purchasing Ontario Southern Vol. 1 CD-ROM by SoftMap. Their website advertizes that product, but when I arrived at the store they said that the product no longer exists. Try as I might they just would not refund the certificate. binthair (and sorry I went!)

Slowed down? I'm speeding up! What's a little rain! As for cliffy, apparently he's now getting up at 3:30, one hour earlier than last reported! Losing that cache-mobile must really be cramping his style, since he won't be able to cache (or sleep in the back) during working hours...LOL!!! (Only about 32 years to retirement cliffy...hehehe!) Cheers, binthair

Cool! Sounds great to me if our schedule can be arranged to accomodate it. Last time I camped in Frontenac was at Doe Lake. I seem to recall that only 3 tents were allowed there. It may be a similar situation at the north end. So group camping may be a problem. Camping fees in '98 were $7 a head. If Frontenac doesn't work out, perhaps Murphy's Point would be an alternative. For sure they allow group camping there. I've also got a few ideas for caching spots around there...LOL. Oh, I just remembered! The Gould Lake Conservation Area just south of Frontenac Park has a group camping area, great trails which are just as tough as Frontenac, and a good beach! Anyway, I hope something can be worked out. Cheers, binthair

Cool! Sounds great to me if our schedule can be arranged to accomodate it. Last time I camped in Frontenac was at Doe Lake. I seem to recall that only 3 tents were allowed there. It may be a similar situation at the north end. So group camping may be a problem. Camping fees in '98 were $7 a head. If Frontenac doesn't work out, perhaps Murphy's Point would be an alternative. For sure they allow group camping there. I've also got a few ideas for caching spots around there...LOL. Oh, I just remembered! The Gould Lake Conservation Area just south of Frontenac Park has a group camping area, great trails which are just as tough as Frontenac, and a good beach! Anyway, I hope something can be worked out. Cheers, binthair

OK Buddy, I've just set one out there in Blackburn Hamlet with you in mind. It's called Sooner or Later - A Maze. It doesn't require any driving for you to do and you have a chance to beat everyone else to it first! Good Luck, binthair

Congratulations cliffy on number ONE HUNDRED!!! You saved a few tough ones to reach the mark. Best of luck on your next 100! Cheers, binthair

I'm a retired engineer, but I try to stay sane by driving local geocachers (including Cliffy)nuts with out-of-the-ordinary caches. (You look right smart in that cachemobile, Cliffy! Reminds me of a scene right out of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'! Is Malak in the back?) [This message was edited by binthair on May 03, 2002 at 07:53 AM.]

Thanks Alan2 for your reply on how to form one big map of tracks using MapSource. Unfortunately, your suggestion does NOT work. MapSource numbers the tracks and usually each day's numbers start over again. MapSource then asks if you want to replace each track number or not. Therefore it does not allow a merge (unless of course I manually renumber each track, which is exceedingly labourious, especially since I have about 100 days of tracks each with about 30 or more tracks.) Any other suggestions?

After every geocaching trip I have saved my tracks to a separate file in MapSource. I would like to accumulate all of these tracks on one display, effectively making one GPS map of every track I've created. I have just started using GPS TrackMaker and it seems that it will do the job, if I continue to use it from now on. But, in order to import my old tracks (over 100) to it, it seems that I have to transfer each track from MapSource to my GPSr and then transfer from my GPSr to TrackMaker. This is extremely time consuming. It would be nice if GPS TrackMaker recognized the files created by MapSource so that I could directly import MapSource files to it. Does anyone have a solution to this problem? (Or,is there some other software that will do this.) Cheers, binthair

Help!! I'm out of control! How do I put the brakes on my GPSr? Thanks cliffy and 300mag Cheers, binthair

Since starting this geocaching pass-time in Jan 2002, I have posted 6 new caches and all of them require math calculations. They are: DOUBLE CROSS GC364C TRIANGLE GC3FD5 In The Square GC3E49 Walking In Circles GC3C43 Benches & Bearings GC391C F'n Math GC3770 All can be solved using just your GPS during the search.I use a Garmin 12. If anybody else out there has been making up challenging cache descriptions, I would be happy to hear from them. binthair@rogers.com

Since starting this geocaching pass-time in Jan 2002, I have posted 6 new caches and all of them require math calculations. They are: DOUBLE CROSS GC364C TRIANGLE GC3FD5 In The Square GC3E49 Walking In Circles GC3C43 Benches & Bearings GC391C F'n Math GC3770 All can be solved using just your GPS during the search.I use a Garmin 12. If anybody else out there has been making up challenging cache descriptions, I would be happy to hear from them. binthair@rogers.com