Blaidd-Drwg

Despite what Malarky says, I've cached in 21 states and several foreign countries, and I've got to say that Oklahoma has some of the best hid caches anywhere. Depending on your likes and dislikes, we have everything from urban micros to large woodland caches. Edmond, wheere Malarky's profile says they're from has one of the largest concentrations in the state. The small town of Healdton, in south central OK, has one of the best assortments of well hidden caches to be found anywhere, and also has the added benifit of being near Ardmore, OK, which provides many caching opportunities. All of this is just a short 1 1/2 hour north of the DFW airport. So I say, try Oklahoma.

So, how do you tell the difference between it and the lowly gold oak leaf?

Team Madog consist of myself and normally my wife. I added the 'Team' to my name to show that I don't always cache alone, but that I do take credit for the finds. My wife does not have a GC account, nor does she cache on her own. Could I just as easily kept a individual type of name? Yes, but by giving credit to my wife, I get to have someone else in my profile pictures. IMO, if my wife cached on her own, then I would have a separate account. This would insure that I was only counting caches I had been to, and not getting smilies for those she visited.

My event listing is meager, compared to others. I've attended 8 different events. Seven of those events have been held in my home state of Oklahoma. The eightth, I was lucky enough to be in London when that group of cachers held an event at the Ye Olde Mitre Pub. The events in Oklahoma are mostly weekend long social gatherings with geocaching games included. The most enjoyable part is the campfire story sharing, which takes place normally on the Friday night before all of the caching gets started. Our monthly meeting in OKC is an event, that although I've attended many of, have only logged an Attended once. But, as with the weekend long events, these regular meetings provide a great chance to share experiences with other great cachers and Oklahoma is blessed with many of these.

I used a Tungsten E (not an E2) for awhile. Then I got a mapping program for it, but was disappointed in the speed of the map redraws. I then upgraded to a Tungsten T5 and was still disappointed in the software performance. So I believe that it was really a case of crummy software. The E2 should be a great unit. Like others have said, get a carrying case. I use a metal T5 case and it has saved my unit during some harmful drops onto rocks.

Although I've migrated to the GSAK/Cachemate combo, I started with the Spinner/Plucker programs. Once you learned how to use them, they provided good usable input. They are free. But, I would at least go for the Cachemate software at $8 since it is fairly easy to use. As for GSAK, I just couldn't cache without it anymore.

Countries cached: United Kingdom, Grand Caymans, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, and a few in the USA. I'm on my way to New Zealand next week, and hope to add it to the count.

But if what you're asking is 'Can you use your Legend connected to a computer (laptop) to display your location, then yes, provided you have some kind of mapping software loaded on the laptop.

I agree with Briansnat. If a cache has the same ID number and I have a log on it, then I don't believe in additional find logs. This issue has risen it's ugly head in my home area. The organizer of one of the state events stated a policy that if the location of the monthly meeting (an event with a GC ID) is in a different location, then it can be logged as a find. My personal opinion is that it is the same event, so I only log a note. Your mileage may differ.

After reading through this thread, I'd like to add another wrinkle. Most of the discussion deals with 'Event' caches when they are a single instance and nor-recurring. Within Oklahoma, there are three event caches which are held each month. These serve as chances for local cachers to get together and swap tales and techniques. My opinion is that once I log the event once, then that is it for 'Attended' logs. Recently at one of the events, it was anounced that the concensus was that if the event was being held at a different locaiton, then a second or more 'Attended' log could be logged, but if the event was at a former location then it should only be logged as a note. I will continue to play the log game my way, despite other guidance. Who does it affect, if I log or don't log this multiple times? NO ONE!

Another use of the Keenpeople gpx mapping tool, will generate maps of a state. Using the advanced functions define the center of the state (lat/long) and a width and height to cover the state. If you've filtered your gpx file to only include caches of interest in the state, then you can further manipulate the image in any photo software package. Here is my home state of Oklahoma (less two counties in the panhandle) showing my finds. You can see that the individual counties are noted. This image was generated at the 640x480 settings. Use of the other resolutions will change the detail shown.

One possible page is www.keenpeople.com and use their GPX Mapping Tool. The trick to know there is that a gpx file as sent from GC.com won't work directly, or at least it doesn't for me. The work around is to open the GC GPX file in EasyGPS and save it as a gpx file. This file is then selected for inclusion in the map and will work fine.

I was down that way on Thanksgiving. Here are the easy caches, starting with my stateside port of Galveston that I was able to grab. Found It! Virtual Cache (1/1) Size: Not chosen 10 Mar 03 Grand Cayman Heroes by littleyellow (GCE29E) Cayman Islands Yesterday* 02 Dec 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1/1) Size: Not chosen 10 Mar 03 Franklin the swimmer by littleyellow (GCE2A4) Cayman Islands 6 days ago* 02 Dec 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1/1) Size: Virtual 22 Nov 01 TO HELL AND BACK by NCFLYERS - The Double J's of Fortuna, CA (GC2978) Cayman Islands 6 days ago* 02 Dec 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1.5/1) Size: Virtual 15 Jun 02 Fort Portobelo by -Team Family Affair (GC6CD0) Panama 27 Dec 05 30 Nov 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1.5/1) Size: Virtual 15 Jun 02 The 8th Wonder of the World- The Panama Canal by -Team Family Affair (GC6CD6) Panama 27 Dec 05 30 Nov 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1.5/1) Size: Virtual 14 Jun 02 Christoper Columbus's 4th and Final Voyage by -Team Family Affair (GC6CCA) Costa Rica 27 Dec 05 28 Nov 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1/2.5) Size: Virtual 23 Nov 01 The Mayan Ruins Of Tulum by NCFLYERS - The Double J's of Fortuna, CA (GC29B5) Mexico 10 Jan 06 26 Nov 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (2/1) Size: Virtual 16 Feb 03 Playa del Carmen by Eagle6 (GCD61A) Mexico 5 days ago* 26 Nov 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1/1) Size: Virtual 18 Jan 03 Pirates Abode by Vetteman & Sharon (GCC6F7) Texas 21 Jan 06 24 Nov 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1/1) Size: Virtual 8 Oct 03 Bishop's Palace by Teddielynn (GCH1CG) Texas 21 Jan 06 24 Nov 05 There is also one a Stingray city on Grand Cayman

That type of information is not publicized by TPTB because it is subject to interpretation based on what the question is. You will get different answers for: How many geocacher accounts exist where the state/country is "xxxxx" How many accounts exist where the coordinates fall within "xxxxx" How nmay accounts exist where the geocacher has found at least one cache ... found at least one cache in the past year. ... from the same IP address As you can see, the question needs to be defined according to what the information is for. The database has so many sock puppets and non-validated accounts, "teams", and such that if someone said 1500, then someone would choime in and say 1800 if you count spouses and kids over 5. 2200 if you include geopets. So as much as I would agree that some sort of number would be nice for a reference, it isn't something that we can hold up with any true value.

Does anyone know of a technique to identify the number of cachers registered in a geographical area, like a state? Keenpeople and Grand_High_Pobah provide partial answers, but not the entire answer. Second, is there a method for determining the cache within a state that has the most logged finds?

These caches are virtuals that are in Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Galveston TX, where we went out of. If nothing else, these will serve as center points for PQs. These virtuals were found either near the port or at popular tourist spots. Found It! Virtual Cache (1/1) Size: Not chosen 10 Mar 03 Grand Cayman Heroes by littleyellow (GCE29E) Cayman Islands 11 Jan 06 02 Dec 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1/1) Size: Not chosen 10 Mar 03 Franklin the swimmer by littleyellow (GCE2A4) Cayman Islands 10 Jan 06 02 Dec 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1/1) Size: Virtual 22 Nov 01 TO HELL AND BACK by NCFLYERS - The Double J's of Fortuna, CA (GC2978) Cayman Islands 10 Jan 06 02 Dec 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1/2.5) Size: Virtual 23 Nov 01 The Mayan Ruins Of Tulum by NCFLYERS - The Double J's of Fortuna, CA (GC29B5) Mexico 10 Jan 06 26 Nov 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (2/1) Size: Virtual 16 Feb 03 Playa del Carmen by Eagle6 (GCD61A) Mexico 10 Jan 06 26 Nov 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1/1) Size: Virtual 18 Jan 03 Pirates Abode by Vetteman & Sharon (GCC6F7) Texas Yesterday* 24 Nov 05 Found It! Virtual Cache (1/1) Size: Virtual 8 Oct 03 Bishop's Palace by Teddielynn (GCH1CG) Texas Yesterday* 24 Nov 05

It's too late for this month, but put this on your calendar for next month. Thisis the monthly OKC geocacher's meeting and is normally held near your neck of the woods. This month it was held at Hunan Garden on Council. Next month will be somewhere else, but most spots have been near you. You will get a lot of opportunities to meet other cachers and many in the group go out after the meal.

I have to do a little self-promotion. Obviously, I enjoy a good brew.

As just a curiousity, when I was stationed in Korea we had small computers that were left in vehicles with temps below zero. Basically, they would freeze up and not display anything until the internal heater warmed them up. I doulbt that your GPSr will be ruined.

Just looking at currently available caches here in Oklahoma. 2001 Caches still active = 55 2002 caches still active = 140 2003 caches still active = 263 2004 caches still active = 422 2005 caches still active = 863 TOTAL active caches = 1743 I know that there are a lot of older caches archived, but if you look at just the increase from 2004 to 2005, the number of caches has doubled. I think this indicates that the sport is increasing.

After glancing through the thread, I figured I'd put in my $0.02. I'm a firm believer in a camera that uses AA batteries. Since I occasionally get to travel outside of the states, the thought of having an incompatible power source via the proprietary batteries found many cameras is unacceptable. The comment about a camera being no good, if it's not with you is also very good. I carry an older Cannon A40 in a pocket of my caching vest. It's only a 2 mega-pixel camera, but for taking pics while caching, it is adequate. Another thought might be the type of memory. The use of SD chips might be considered a benefit since that is the memory type supported by the Magellan GPSr, although the new Garmins are rumored to use something else.

Does anyone have a url for info on the Garmin X versions. I currently have a 60CS and I'm really happy with it. Plus the fact that I have several of the mapping programs, I would not make the switch to a Magellan. That's a point for the OP to consider. As for benifits of the CS, I really like the dedicated geocaching mode. Once I'm in the area of the caches for the day, I just identify the first cache, then from then on hitting the enter button to say 'found' followed by hitting the enter button to select the next nearest cache is a very convienient function.

I'm normally a user of Firefox and don't have any issues there, but my problem comes when I display my GC profile page in IE. The page becomes too wide and forces the viewer of the page to scroll to see the entire page. I've tried to resize the tables on the page to display at only a certain percentage, but it appears that IE will not force a table to that size. In Firefox, the table with cells that are longer will automatically provide wordwrap so that those cells do not take up a large piece of the width. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Are there any known ways to fix the issue. My profile page is HERE

I went out caching two weeks ago and due to the fact that I had my GPSMap60cs returned to Garmin for a faulty USB connector, I was forced to use my Etrex yellow. The one I have is old and does not support WASS. Even with this drawback, I was experiencing reported CPE of only 18 ft and of the 15 caches I found that day, all were within 20 feet of the posted coords. Personally, I believe it you got a great bargain on the etrex yellow, then I wouldn't worry about the WASS functionality. The yellow is a great little unit and is good for caching.

One old collie (named Pup)