EdrickV

It seems like it would be possible, but to do something similar to those old books would require a bunch of stages, which would mean more maintenance work and more open spots needed. A Wherigo cartridge would be another possible way to do it. That could include a longer "story" and even endings that don't get you to the cache. (Much like how those books had good endings and bad endings.) And you would only need space for one container, thus reducing maintenance work and allowing more room for other caches as well. A nice place for a multi-path Wherigo might be a park with a trail system that has multiple branches, some of which might connect to each other further on.

Just to make sure, you aren't using a 1st generation iPhone are you? Because those aren't really suitable for Geocaching. (They don't have an actual GPS.) iPhone 3G or newer works. Cache hiders can be very tricky in hiding caches, especially urban caches, which can be hidden out of sight or camouflaged to look like something else. Regular size caches in wooded areas (say parks) would probably be easier to find.

The traditionals in the UK are filling gaps in a series (aka circuit) of 11 puzzle caches, more details below: http://homepages.gold.ac.uk/aphome/tfw/Screen_Stars_Puzzle_Circuit.htm

If you use a high difficulty container like you mentioned, you may not get as many visitors as you might like. On the other hand, most would probably be experienced Geocachers so hopefully you wouldn't have much of an issue with people walking off with the ornaments. You should make sure the land owner understands exactly what the cache would entail so they don't get surprised and potentially cause problems.

Wow, that card must have had a short circuit or something. Major defect.

The methods normally used for paperless Geocaching on a Nuvi use a macro in GSAK, and GSAK is a Windows program. In theory you could try installing and running Windows XP in a full blown emulator, however I'm not really sure what PC emulators are available for a PPC Mac and it may be pretty slow. Pocket queries, and other .gpx files saved from the Geocaching.com site, will not be in the proper format for POI Loader to convert to Paperless style POIs. The macro takes Geocache data (imported into GSAK via .gpx files) and converts it into .gpx files designed with POI Loader in mind. If you get access to a Windows PC the version of the macro I recommend is this one: http://sites.google.com/site/jjreds012/download Of course, that is meant to be used after this program is installed: http://www.gsak.net/ FYI, there is a similar GSAK macro for the 60csx to do somewhat paperless Geocaching: http://gsak.net/board/index.php?showtopic=8932

An event cache isn't like a regular cache, it isn't a specific container. It's a gathering of Geocachers, so that doesn't really fit. Given the timeframe mentioned, it doesn't really meet the guidelines which say that the minimum amount of time a Geocache is expected to be active is 3 months. It would probably be worth reading through the various knowledge books: http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb

It seems control point is a more general term for what we'd call benchmarks while horizontal control disk is a specific type of control point. http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/FGCS/BlueBook/pdf/Annex_D.pdf

As far as I know, there's no such thing as an HD SD card, so unless the person meant no microSDXC, then I'm not sure what they meant. As mentioned, you should try using the card in a card reader. You might need a microSD to SD adapter, depending on the card reader. If you don't have a card reader, then you could look for one that supports microSDHC cards directly.

Looking at the area via the benchmark viewer/s My Topo view shows a "St. Johns Church" that looks like it's on the south side of the road. A BM 415 also shows up near that area on the map.

You can also see caches in a specific pocket query noted when using the Google Maps interface on Geocaching.com, so you can see what other caches may be nearby that aren't in the query.

Depending on what you actually use for Geocaching, the additional waypoints may get added right to the cache listing when the second file is loaded. (I know that's how the program I use on my smartphone works, though you probably are not using that program.)

Geocoins (which I think technically includes items that are designed to work like TravelBugs but are not made by Groundspeak) can get unique icons when they're originally designed. If the designer wants it to have one. As far as icons on this site and the Geocaching.com site, in my experience for the majority of them you can just park the mouse cursor over the icon and wait a sec, and a tooltip should pop up telling you what it is. (The easier way of viewing the Alternate Text.) This should work for almost every icon, from the ones above the Fast Reply box and next to your name in the posts above, to the various icons found in every log entry.

I would think contacting the NGS by e-mail would probably be the best way, if it's officially labeled as destroyed and the datasheet isn't available directly. Obviously you'd want to make very sure of what you found, and from what I've read, their definition of destroyed doesn't always mean the disk (or whatever) is gone. I'm sure someone else with more experience will chime in.

A Pocket Query for regular/large size caches near Sydney would be an easy way to find good caches. I found this one by setting up and previewing a pocket query, and it sounds like just what you want: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=28b94eb1-1af6-4940-ab78-b156cb961506 Edit: Oh, and read the hint.

While it is not a multi-cache, I do know of a "story" cache that used to exist. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c8ac270a-51cc-43a1-9e3c-ec69d247da0c&log=y&decrypt=

GPSBabel should be able to convert all the info into HTML/text formats, at least the Windows version does. CSV it only does the basic info.

If MapSource is a program that lets you view and calibrate topographic maps, then that should be a useful approach to determining the coordinates of benchmarks. For years, I've been using calibrated raster maps from the California Spatial Information Library in conjunction with MacGPS Pro to derive coordinates, and it's been very successful. I was just out benchmarking with a friend in Yosemite last weekend, and the map-derived coordinates took us right near the actual locations in many instances. (Yes, we were also reading the descriptions, but "in a rock outcrop near five pine trees" isn't a whole lot of help in Yosemite. ) MapSource is a Garmin program that can be used to manage data (and maps) for Garmin GPS units. While it can have topographic maps, the only Garmin maps my copy has are different versions of City Navigator. (Routable street map.) So it can be useful in the case of road directions, like the directions in K-22's datasheet. MapSource can load GPX files too. People with more advanced GPS units then the one I've used it with can plan out whole routes and such and send them directly to the GPS. Not likely to have any immediate need for it though as most of the benchmarks in the areas I would be searching are either relatively recent, (say 1990s) or likely long gone and on private property anyways. (Benchmarks along an old railroad bed or inactive railroad tracks.)

How about using GPSBabel to convert the pocket query into an HTML file for viewing/printing from your web browser? Or text format if you don't want the images?

In theory a statistic for the amount of time a cache has been idle since before you found it could be done, however there are some limitations. One is that, the more logs there are between your log and the most recent log, the slower the process would go for a specific cache. (It would have to go through each log made after yours in order to find your log.) Another limitation is that, at present, it could only be used for 6000 caches max if it uses the API directly. (That's the per day API cache data limit in GSAK v8 Beta.) That limit might go down. It would also not really be useable for non-premium members, but that's probably not a major issue. Of course, the way GSAK is designed, it should be possible to store that info for future use via a custom field, and check that field before going through the logs, so each found cache would only need to have it's logs checked once. That might help with the 6000 cache daily API limit

The problem is that there is a bug in the software for the new Etrex line. You are supposed to be able to download a pocket query, unzip it, and put it right onto the device. This isn't something that Groundspeak can fix, the problem is in the GPS units themselves, so it's up to Garmin to fix it. A workaround on the Geocaching.com side would be to make smaller pocket queries. (Though I like the idea of splitting pocket queries into smaller ones via GSAK better, since you could get the same coverage as the original pocket query.)

FYI, it looks like there's a word missing in the description text. "You will at least 5 gal. of water." I assume it's supposed to read "You will need at least 5 gal. of water."

You might look into NGS-GPX, In my opinion it does better paperless style gpx files, and it is possible the upcoming datasheet changes will cause BMGPX to stop working. Now that I think about it, if I was trying to do something like that myself, I could use MapSource. (My guesswork coordinates were being done via Google Maps. ) I'll have to remember that if I decide to go looking for a benchmark with really messed up coordinates.

With GSAK and this macro: http://sites.google.com/site/jjreds012/download You can go Paperless with the Nuvi. That would include the coordinates, description, hint, logs, and other details. However doing things this way would mean the Geocaches would not show up on all map zoom levels (they'd show up around the same time that other POIs show up, like McDonalds) but you could access the list of caches under Extras on the Where To screen. The coordinates wouldn't show up on the map screen, but on the POI info screen. (Where most businesses would have a phone number or something like that.) One other advantage of this method is that you would only be limited by the amount of space on the internal memory. (Putting the POI file on the memory card will work, but will cause the Nuvi to ask you if you want to copy it to internal memory every time it boots up.) Beyond that, you could probably use GSAK to customize the cache names by importing gpx files and then customizing the options on the gpx export screen to edit the waypoint name or cache description. (I forget which field is used for the name on a Nuvi, but with a simple checkbox you can apply the description field to the waypoint name as well.) I'm still not quite sure why you need the coordinates though, don't you have a way to upload waypoints/Geocaches into your handheld GPS?

Thats my issue! Do you know if in GSAK you can change the file size? It's really annoying to use 2MB as a max file size. Saw a post that Garmin is aware of issue but I am also wondering if it will take days or weeks or months to fix. Also does anyone know how to downgrade software on the etrex yet? Don't know that it's possible to downgrade any modern Garmin GPS unit. (I wouldn't mind doing that with a certain Nuvi.) As far as the thing about GSAK, my suggestion on how to limit gpx file size is here: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=283977&view=findpost&p=4875445 Note that the mile numbers mentioned were just guesswork, the info in my edit may be a better way to judge if a filter is too big rather then saving and checking the file size. (Though obviously that will depend on how much info is actually in the individual cache descriptions.) Edit: Guess I was probably a little late.