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BRTango

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Everything posted by BRTango

  1. Has anyone made a geocoin with an NFC tag? If so, who was the manufacturer?
  2. Anyone know what this is? It's in the Fredericksburg, VA canal. I'm assuming some type of water level measuring device. It has a plumb weight, pulley, and floater on the end of a metal cable. The floater drops into a pipe in the canal. To the left is a wheel for something... I have no idea what. It was an interesting find this weekend on our near home adventure. Some other great sights from this weekend:
  3. Took the kiddos out on a hike and grabbed a few caches by the resevoir.
  4. I love this story I've introduced my sons Cub Scout Pack to geocaching on our hikes... but something like this would be awesome as well. Thanks for the idea. Like others, I'm curious, did you give her something special?
  5. Hey... don't knock worm farming, along with geocaching and making pens, it is been a fun hobby of mine for years.
  6. The hamsters have been "replaced"??????????? I never scroll down that far, and would have never noticed, if it hadn't been for this thread. TFTP Cosmetic change for change's sake. Oh, well, I guess someone got paid good money to come up with this new colour scheme/design. B. It really should be a hamster... and it should be clickable!!
  7. Just took my two two-year olds, my three year old and my 7 year old out caching on Sunday (thankfully I was not the only adult). While the 2-year olds didn't get into the cache itself, they enjoyed the hike. The 3 and 7-year olds had a blast as usual. I think I started with my 7 year old when he was two... I'd make sure I had a special item to put into the cache for him to find, just in case the cache was empty or didn't have anything he liked.
  8. The United Nations is the only thing that matters. No geopolitical borders other than the UN matter. Find one cache in a UN country and your entire map goes blue!!!
  9. Why would someone log a DNF for something they didn't try and find. As you have found out some think you can DNF without much or any searching. If I get to GZ and search but don't find its a DNF....being in the same county ( or state ) as the cache doesn't qualify. Here's a common way of doing a power trail Drive to the first cache on the trail. Stop. Drive approximately 528 feet. Stop. Drive approximately 528 feet. Stop. Drive approximately 528 feet. Stop. Drive approximately 528 feet. Stop. Drive approximately 528 feet. Stop. ...repeat hundreds of times Drive home Post Found it logs for every cache close to where you stopped (even though you never left the vehicle). Snort a line of ivory soap to un-numb your mind after doing a PT ;-) So by that definition, would you consider this a PT? Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail
  10. Them: What are you doing? Me: I work for the county as an Aroboreal Numerologist. Them: What's an ar.. arb... arborea number... numberologist? Me: I count trees... 1... 2... 3... 4...
  11. Maybe I don't understand the definition of a power trail... I've always thought it was considered a power trail if there are many caches (10 or more?) placed in a line with each cache roughly 528 feet apart. If the defenition of a power trail is poorly hidden, poorly maintained, throw away caches 528 feet apart, then isn't that the same complaint against densley packed LPCs? I'm not as much of an old-timer as some of th folks posting here... but I've been around for more than half the life of geocaching. While I don't like LPCs as a general rule... I have gone out and found many of them just to scratch that itch. They are also great for people like my father who (before he passed away) was getting into geocaching, but really couldn't walk more than 30 feet or so at a time. They do serve a purpose. Similarly, power trails (by either definition) serve a purpose. By my original definition, it will be a great way to introduce a bunch of great kids (and their parents) to geocaching. By the other definition... some people clearly enjoy it and would have been great for people like my dad who unfortunately couldn't do those 5k hikes in the woods.
  12. I'm all for trying to break the record set on 11-11-11... I'm going to try and log as many caches on 13-13-13 as I can.
  13. Although I only log a DNF if I actually got to the spot and did an actual search of the area, I'm all in favor of people logging any attempt at a cache. An attempt is an attempt, no matter what reason a person did not follow through or did not succeed. If people don't log DNFs because a huge cliff got in the way and they never got to GZ, then future finders will not have the benefit of knowing about it ahead of time, and the owner will never know what impact it had on people trying to get to the cache. Geocaching is a two-component deal: get there, and find it. Most people agree that a DNF is for people who don't accomplish the second part, but the first part is also important. I have to agree... the first part is important. A DNF tell's people (owner and other cachers) about the cache, it's level of difficulty, whether or not it's still there. There have been many times I've set out to find caches and while driving to the location I get turned around and don't make the trip. If I haven't gotten there and at least made an attempt to find... then I really can't say "I didn't find" the cache. If I start the hunt and run into a cliff (it's happened more than once), I either find a way around, or if I don't have time, I log a DNF with something like "ran into a cliff, will try a different path next time". It just strikes me as odd that someone would log a DNF on a cache they didn't try and find because they couldn't/didn't get to the location. As for power trails... just like other types of caches, I can see their usefullness. I'm taking my son's Tiger Cub Den out out on a hike in a few weeks and there is a short (15 cache) power trail along the rail-to-trail hiking path. It's perfect for the Den as it gives every scout a chance to find a cache.
  14. Why would someone log a DNF for something they didn't try and find. It would take forever for to log a DNF on all 2 million caches I haven't tried to find.
  15. Why was the Ape Cache souvenir limited to only the Mission 9: Ape Cache? I found the Mission 7: Crab Creek Ape Cache. Any thoughts?
  16. I'm not a Gulf Cacher per se, but will be caching in the Gulf on an extended layover in Dubai. My hope is to get at least one or two caches in Dubai and one or two in Abu Dhabi during my layover. It just so happens to be on 29 Feb, so hoping to attend the "1st UAE Leap Year Special Event".
  17. Mine goes back to my early days in the Army. When I was a platoon leader we used fixed call signs based on unit and position. My call sign was Bravo Red Tango: Bravo = Company B Red = 1st Platoon Tango = Platoon Leader My platoon sergeant was Bravo Red November My buddy was Bravo White Tango (2nd Platoon) When I started caching, I tried several different names, most of them based on the idea that my wife would take a complimentary caching name. When I finally realized that she just wasn't getting into it and would not be creating her own account, I went back to Bravo Red Tango. Since it's rather long to write on logs, I shortened it to BRTango or just BRT.
  18. I've been curious about this myself, so I did a random sampling of several days to see how many cachers signed up, how many used their accounts after they signed up and how many have signed onto their accounts within the last six months (what I consider active). using my definitions, this is what I came up with: On 13 Feb 2009 at 09:36am EST. There were 2,126,827 accounts. Of which 16% of were active, of which 30% had premium accounts. Therefore, on that day there were 340,292 active cachers of which 102,088 were premium members. As of 09:36am EST, 13 Feb 09 (when I had time to kill) There were: 2,126,827 accounts. Sample Days: 28 Jun 05: 543 accounts created 21 Oct 01: 158 accounts created ------------------- Total: 701 accounts created Used for less than 1 month (most never used after account creation): 28 Jun 05: 209 21 Oct 01: 61 38% More than 6 months since last login: 28 Jun 05: 249 21 Oct 01: 46 46% Used within the previous six months (What I consider active): 28 Jun 05: 85 21 Oct 01: 25 16% Of those used within the previous six months: 30% were premium accounts Extrapolating: 340,292 cachers active within the last six months 102,088 premium members
  19. Not likely, but possible. Sprinklers are made to pop up and then go back down afterwards, some do stick up, but not likely 3 in the same area. Besides, if the guy mowing the yard does that damage and is made to pay (if sourced out), it's unlikely they'll make that mistake too often! Agreed it's not likely... but it does happen. In well maintained systems it's much less likely, but in older less well maintained systems, when a sprinkler head gets jammed (a rock falls in) and doesn't go all the way down it can easily be caught by a mower. I won't say all, but a great majority of the sprinklers out there are pretty much enclosed so that a rock cannot get inside of it and cause it to stay up, sand and dirt will do this. However, a simple tap of the head will get it to go back down in 99% of these cases. Knowing that most commercial properties use commercial brand sprinklers instead of the cheaper ones sold at Wally World, I can tell you that my statement about the mower guy won't make such mistakes too often is on target...we're talking between $50-$300 per head for many of these systems. How do the heads look when broken? If chopped off and laying in pieces, I would agree with the mower getting it, if disassembled, then the mower isn't the culprit. You'll note, however, I have not said the cacher is the sole suspect. As to Toz's assessment that stopping them from being placed won't help....stopping placing such caches in places which are prone to problems is a good start, but a better start would indeed be a stop to using these containers altogether. Saying it won't help is bunk, if they cannot be hidden anymore and the old ones start disappearing, it will have a positive effect, no denying that! Less and less to find means less and less chance of damage to real sprinklers. Now, saying it's not going to stop it right away would have been correct! In the mean time, if the PTB did indeed make note of bad containers as well as the voluntary moratorium, educate and stop using both....we'd get positive results a bit faster! The one's I saw were clearly destroyed, not dissasembled. Not sure I know enough about them to tell whether or not they were pricey or wally world brand, they are black plastic with a gray top. I often see them recessed into the ground but frequently not all the way down, and at angles looking like they had been jarred from their original location. Again though, the one's I've seen that were destroyed were splintered, the casing broken with sharp edges and pieces scattered around over several feet. Definately looked like a lawn mower to me.
  20. Not likely, but possible. Sprinklers are made to pop up and then go back down afterwards, some do stick up, but not likely 3 in the same area. Besides, if the guy mowing the yard does that damage and is made to pay (if sourced out), it's unlikely they'll make that mistake too often! Agreed it's not likely... but it does happen. In well maintained systems it's much less likely, but in older less well maintained systems, when a sprinkler head gets jammed (a rock falls in) and doesn't go all the way down it can easily be caught by a mower.
  21. I've found several sprinkler heads in the vicinity of a cache that had been broken, but from the looks of them, they were run over by lawn mowers and such.
  22. I'm sort of up to my ears in LIFE right now and trying to do a few simple ones... Your current image / coat of arms is excellent... For sure it deserves a bit of update work by a talented artiste... that is, better than my skills currently... some will be returning soon I hear... I WILL give it some thought though and might have better luck than I expect... One thing I can say right off... again... take a look at what the avatar looks like when it is posted as an avatar and what the large image started as... There in lies the rub... 75x75 tends to distort and lose details... I'd say use the big one for your profile page, and use a slightly less detailed creation (though similar) for the avatar. I try to work almost that way, start smaller and then clean up the enlargement and add detail... If you read through this thread, you will find that many of the large art pieces never get used as avatars... largely because of that... However, art is fun.. We'll see what happens, keep ideas posted here so we can collectively think about it. Doug Doug, Thanks for the pointers... and I completely understand about the whole "Life" thing. Hopefully you or someone else will get the chance to play with it a little. I don't have either the software or the skills to work on it myself. Thanks, BRTango
  23. I've been doing a bit of upgrading recently such as: upgraded my 60CSx to an Oregon; upgrading my family by adding a baby girl (due in June). So I thought maybe it's time to upgrade my avatar as well. I like the basic design, but was hoping someone with both a good imagination and some artistic skill could give me a bit of help on this. Here's my current one:
  24. It could be fun to set up a cache like that... ok, well, similar to that idea. Just instead of a body falling from the sky, it could be a cache... hmmm... have to think about how that would work!
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