Onslow Fisherman

Haven't seen it here yet but I'll look again when it stops snowing and the sun comes out. Geocache hunting is like fishing, so much more enjoyable when the sun is on your back. Greetings from New Zealand

Hi, I am interested in reactions to the above concept. This would be in the category of "Special Equipment Needed" as are some "Chirps" and all "Wherigos" Jim

I have a list of active, temporarily unavailable and archived caches in New Zealand covering the years 2000 and 2001. There are 104 items (cache listings) in my DB. There is still a lot of work to do though to ferret out any that I might have missed. It's been a slow and painstaking process and it feels good to have made what progress I have. Jim

That is the approach I'm taking, looking at the profiles of the early hiders and finders. My interest in archived caches is purely historical not to go loking for them. If I happen to be near one whilst on an otherwise search my interest might be enough to prompt me to have a look. My goal, as stated earlier, is to build up a list of the first 100 hides in New Zealand. To achieve that I need to research the archived one too. I'm getting there by the method that you also would choose. Jim

Ah !! Got it. When I copied it from my own posting it came out in the shortened form that I can use in my spreadsheet. Jim Nope didn't work. Wouldn't log into GC.com in that form. Will from here but not from my excel spreadsheet. Yours all do. So the question still stands. Jim Hmm... when I click on the link in your post it loads the cache page just fine. I'm not sure what is going on there. Dj Storm is right - the most efficient way to represent the URL is using the coord.info shortener. Looks so much cleaner in an email or blog post, too. Yes it was linking via the post but not from my excel page. The dj Storm suggestion works for me off the spreadsheet and is less space consuming. This is what I wanted and am doing. BTW I am progressing with building up the list. My goal is to get the first New Zealand 100. It is taking some trawling and patience. I am up to 76 and look forward to the day when I can release the list and have someone cast a critical eye over it and find one I've missed !! Jim

Wow !!!!!!!! That is exatly what I wanted. That saves a lot of spreadsheet space. Thanks,

How do you get a truncated url as above? I found an archived one that wasn't on your list and my url for this is much longer: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=5a107f2e-4829-43f9-bf76-0b7123d69da3&log=y&decrypt=GC7E9 Seems as the shotened form in the post but when I add it to my spreadsheet it comes out in the long form. Jim Ah !! Got it. When I copied it from my own posting it came out in the shortened form that I can use in my spreadsheet. Jim Nope didn't work. Wouldn't log into GC.com in that form. Will from here but not from my excel spreadsheet. Yours all do. So the question still stands. Jim

How do you get a truncated url as above? I found an archived one that wasn't on your list and my url for this is much longer: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=5a107f2e-4829-43f9-bf76-0b7123d69da3&log=y&decrypt=GC7E9 Seems as the shotened form in the post but when I add it to my spreadsheet it comes out in the long form. Jim Ah !! Got it. When I copied it from my own posting it came out in the shortened form that I can use in my spreadsheet. Jim

How do you get a truncated url as above? I found an archived one that wasn't on your list and my url for this is much longer: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=5a107f2e-4829-43f9-bf76-0b7123d69da3&log=y&decrypt=GC7E9 Seems as the shotened form in the post but when I add it to my spreadsheet it comes out in the long form. Jim

That works well for active caches, but for archived caches some other strategies need to be developed. AFAIK there is no simple way to find the listings - they can be trawled for or stumbled across one at a time via the found lists of old-timey cachers, possibly extracted from really old PQ results. But especially for old caches that weren't found very often - or weren't found at all - it can be pretty difficult. I am working through the process of working on the profiles of the early "placers" and the early "finders" This approach requires time and patience. Some seem to have made only one placement or only one find. I still have some questions for my next posting. Jim

That is very useful. I have already generated a PQ the results of which I will store in a GSAK DB Thanks, Jim

Thanks for giving me this information. You are saving me a heap of time and effort. Jim

Thanks for the replies - brilliant. You have saved me heaps of time. I can now build up a table for my own purposes. Jim

Hi, I am trying to build up a list of early caches in New Zealand. I started by trawling through GS from GC1, GC2,GC3,GC4 etc. The first in NZ was GC45, now archived. This was followed by GC46 which is still active. I was hoping that there might be some simpler means other than trawling. Jim

Then your feeling would, in most cases I believe, be wrong. I and the other veterans of this game I know that use traditional GPSrs don't have a problem with folks using smartphones or whatever else they want to use. Use a sextant if you want to. The "veterans" have been in this game long enough to see a LOT of changes. Some good, some not so good. We started with GPSrs that only let you manually enter coords and then it only showed you an arrow and if you wanted the cache info, you had to write or print it. Heck, in the earliest days, there wasn't a whole lot of information to go off of on most caches. Coords, a small description (maybe), possibly a hint, and that's it. No photos, no attributes, no satellite maps. But the game has evolved and most of us have muddled through just fine, thank you very much. No, what I and many I know think is, um, what's the word? Odd? Interesting? Remarkable? Is that so many folks think it is the end of the world because some 1-off developer decided to bail and stop working on the app he developed. And then these same folks blame Groundspeak and want to punish them for what the 1-off developer did and for protecting their business interests and the performance of their system for ALL of us? Hogwash. I don't know what all transpired between Groundspeak and the developer and, what's more, I don't care. What I do know is that the game, and the tools to play it, continue to evolve. If you enjoy the game you must, at some point, evolve with it and that includes all of you smartphone-only users. OK, so your favorite toy may one day cease to function. So you bail on an activity you like? For a stinking piece of software? You have GOT to be kidding me! Find another method that works for you, be flexible, and be patient. Another developer will come along who will have a better (and Groundspeak-compliant) toy, or Groundspeak's will mature further, and you'll be back in business again. OK, maybe not EXACTLY like you were, but close enough that you can continue to enjoy the game. Now please excuse me while I download my PQs for the week and get those darn kids out of my yard. Edit to add: I am in the technology industry and have been for over 30 years. I use a dedicated GPSr AND smartphone as the situation dictates. This old curmudgeon ain't afraid of new technology. I find the best way to make what's available to me to work for me. What a great reply. You said it so well for, I guess, so many of us.Jim

And a PM to me now that you all have got me so very curious. Jim

In this situattion I have a technique that never fails. I go over to the person(s) and ask "Are you a geocacher?". You either get a "yes" and all is sweet or a blank look and "A what?". A little geocaching 101 and then you can decide to go ahead and make your find, decide to wait the muggles out (which was probably your original intention) or leave and plan to come back. Jim

I just put the coordinates into Google Earth. If Street view is available you can see all that you might possibly need

First screenshot - all seem well Second screenshot - still O.K. Third screenshot - nothing has changed since V2.0.1 and I am stuck right there Jim

I have downloaded V2.0.2 and the message was "successfully". However, even although I am logged on to GC the "Find Nearby Caches" still does NOT function. I will do a series of screen captures and attach them to the next post. Jim

My recent experience when using both of these apps on a day out geocaching. c:geo worked well everywhere I had cell coverage and the "navigate to" facility was spot on. GS app is still not downloading "in the field, on the fly". However downloaded PQs used as "Offline" lists work well and all the features work. In the field I can get logged onto GC provided I have phone coverage but can't download anything except PQs, i.e. nothing "nearby" or "new" or "live" that has been published since I left home. I continue to have confidence that the official one will be fixed. Jim

I hope that this is a step on the way to fixing their own Android app v2.01

And the best of luck from lil ol New Zealand. Have a lot of fun with your climbing mates. Finding the cache will be the icing on your cake. I wish I could come too but, alas, too old, too crippled and too far away. Have I missed something here or is the Refuge bit the cache name? I look forward with close to bated breath the next episode. May the gods of mountaineering and geocaching go with you all, Jim

Have you tried the above - it really is very simple. Jim

that is not entirely true I don't think we're all reading the OP's thread title the same way, nor his message. Yes, it is. "Enter next stage" doesn't change the original data, nor is it of use unless there's a multi involved. The OP was curious to know how to handle a puzzle cache final: "...which require to be altered following the solution of puzzles, so that the cache can be found. " In essence, he just wants to modify the original coordinates of the puzzle to the true coordinates, and you cannot do that on the face of the unit. "Enter next stage" will not help him much there, either - unless the puzzle is also a multi, but let's not further confuse the OP. If in the field (or not using a computer for whatever reason), the easy way to manage this is as I said. You "Mark Waypoint". Before saving, you modify the coordinates from where you're standing to where you want to go (the puzzle final). Before saving, you give it a meaningful name (like GC2Y32T - Final). Now the OP has created a waypoint of the puzzle final coordinates that he can find. I'll have to disagree with ecanderson here. Using the 'Enter Next Stage' is a better method than marking a waypoint IMHO. By entering the new (solved) coords as a stage, you can also read the hint & description while navigating to the final and mark the cache as found when you find it. It also involves less steps than marking, renaming and navigating to a waypoint. I would just enter on "Where To? then on the next screen enter on "Coordinates" and enter the desired coordinates. Press tick mark to save. Then "Waypoint Manager" will find the WP "Coordinates" and you can either just navigate to them or give them a name as suggested above. More ways than one to skin a cat?