Tassie_Boy

That of course depends of the area the and how stable the climate is. I think anything to do with caches including the containers themselves must take into account the local climate.

The key is the letters stacked on top of each other. It is the "key" to working out the hint a=l b=m c=n etc. I suppose it is done that way so that if you print the page out you still have the option to not view the hint unless you are ready for it.

Do have to agree that the best answer to this is to expand the EarthCache program. Probably something attached to UNESCO (at least that style of organisation) with cache types to handle the Historical and the Natural. Still the same tight guidelines that earthcaches have in regard to what can be used as the subject of the cache so you aren't brought to a Maccas built 10 years ago just because the CO can.

Well Vooruit! who it seems is the only one on this thread who has visited these caches thinks the ratings are appropriate. Don't rely on what he says, pull up google earth and tell me they're fair dinkum. OK I just had a look at what I think may be the ones you're referring to (http://coord.info/GC5NAG0 & http://coord.info/GC5NAG5) and they are CHALLENGE caches, one of which requires a complete grid, and the other requiring a certain number of finds per month ( e.g. 111 222 333 888 etc) for 11 months- note this one has NO finds, only notes written as people record their progress, so obviously that's not an easy one to qualify for. It's common to give a D rating for challenge caches according to the difficulty of the challenge, it's also common for people rate the T similarly. I didn't realise that was the convention, we (thankfully?) Don't have many in this state, inactive i think I've only come across 1 on the map and i can't even remember where that was.

Well Vooruit! who it seems is the only one on this thread who has visited these caches thinks the ratings are appropriate. Don't rely on what he says, pull up google earth and tell me they're fair dinkum.

Actually, in Germany, there are several (at least two I know of) trails having 81 caches that constitute the entire D/T grid: The 'Spielende Zahlen' trail (https://www.geocachi...6,11.00654&z=15) The 'Cachen auf dem 50. Breitengrad' trail (close to the giga at Mainz, now archived) Amazing. Just when I thought manipulation of numbers was at an all time low, now I find out this??? How pathetic. I am glad I achieved my Fizzy completion by actually finding caches with appropriate D/T ratings. Calling a certain series of caches pathetic, without having actually visited them? Right... I know from first-hand these trails have quite appropriate ratings. Do they? I looked at several of the caches with a D5 rating. I would expect that a cache with the highest possible difficulty rating to be extremely difficult to find, yet I saw several of them with over 500 finds and not a single DNF. Honestly, I would expect any cache with maybe a D2.5 or D3 and higher to have at least one or two DNFs. Looking at The 'Spielende Zahlen' trail link above they're all puzzle caches so the D rating most likely refers to the difficulty of the puzzle rather than the hide, those who failed to solve the puzzles don't log DNFs. I picked one at random, a D4 and Geochecker shows 565 smiles vs 432 frowns, so clearly the puzzle isn't a gimme. I would then expect anyone who has solved it and conquered the challenging terrain to give it everything they have got at the GZ to get the find, so maybe it's not so surprising that there's no DNFs. Go back and have another look at the T ratings. The 2 that I looked at, both listed next to the highway with finals down at the off ramp were listed as 4.5 or 5. Have a look at GZ on google earth and tell me ratings haven't been manipulated for stats.

There was also a condition about DNFs, could be his dnf was enough to tip this cache over the threshold of not being suitable for a beginner.

What are you afraid of happening if you do give them a hint?

I'm asking about a way to view other people's unpublished geocaches. That's kinda the point of them belong unpunished, they're not ready for you to look at.

Kind of funny they dis that and did not have such a link to "send email". There's a GM script that does this AND it includes the cachename automatically and adds a user definable footer. So 1 click from the listing to the e-mail page. No need to go to their profile. How many normal everyday people do you think really use that sort of thing?

They don't want to record what you are saying, put the foil hat back in the drawer. For years there's been complaints about "i can't contact xxx user" be it because they cache with a phone app or registered with a throwaway email address. With the message centre app users get the message on the phone when they open the app, those who use a throwaway get it when they come to the website. Sure. But, why send such messages to geocachers which prefere email ?! Because at the very top of the cache page is a link that says "Message This Owner" and it takes you straight to the message centre to send a message to the CO. No need to go to their profile, no need to make sure a return address is included. The intended recipient gets it next time they are on the website or the app. Chances are the sender doesn't know that email is your preference and you can put it on your profile all you want but it doesn't mean squat if there's no reason to go to the profile to initiate contact.

A group of us are keeping track of how many new caches are getting published and how many are getting archived per state. I will say this... GS should be worrying. I wont name any states, but some states are flat line and others been dropping in last two years we been keeping track. The rest are climbing really slow, very close to flat line. And that isn't a bad thing at all. The old stale caches that everyone has found will get archived making way for new and exciting caches. Expect it to happen every few years and then a comeback afterwards. "New and exciting caches?" Yes there is space for them, but no one is putting any out, at least not where I live. Clearly quality (by any reasonable measure) is dead, but I'd guess there probably are enough people interested in mediocre (or worse) to keep Groundspeak rolling in the dough. . Never suggested it would be an overnight thing, it will probably take a few years and it'll take new players with fresh new ideas or those who are around now whinging about what's going to to set an example.

They don't want to record what you are saying, put the foil hat back in the drawer. For years there's been complaints about "i can't contact xxx user" be it because they cache with a phone app or registered with a throwaway email address. With the message centre app users get the message on the phone when they open the app, those who use a throwaway get it when they come to the website.

A group of us are keeping track of how many new caches are getting published and how many are getting archived per state. I will say this... GS should be worrying. I wont name any states, but some states are flat line and others been dropping in last two years we been keeping track. The rest are climbing really slow, very close to flat line. And that isn't a bad thing at all. The old stale caches that everyone has found will get archived making way for new and exciting caches. Expect it to happen every few years and then a comeback afterwards.

So last week, I'm sitting downstairs at home on my Kindle, checking my e-mail and I get a "time is of the essence" MC e-mail from a fellow cacher (relating to an upcoming event). I attempt to click on the links to the MC from that e-mail, but apparently the MC doesn't play well with my Kindle. I can't reply to the e-mail because the cacher did not attach their e-mail. So my choices now are: 1. I can log into my GC profile on my Kindle, look them up, try to remember the exact spelling of their user name so I can find them and send them a reply. 2. I can decide that my "trick" knee is up to another trip upstairs to log into the PC, which would allow use of e-mail, MC, multiple monitors, etc. 3. I can ignore the message until I am next at the PC for a different reason, which could be a day away. None of those options take "mere seconds" for me. I get that you are very tech savvy, almost certainly in better physical condition than I am and the MC is a big ol' No Problem for you. Please stop assuming it is that way for everyone. Mrs. Car54 (Yes, I have gray hair. ) (edited to clarify that the Kindle episode actually happened - it is not hypothetical) If they sent you an MC message and you logged into your profile they would be at the top, aiming of course you hadn't gotten any more messages in the mean time. Their message would be right there waiting for you to reply to, no need to search them out.

As cerebus said, learn to know when to put it away. Keep looking at your phone and you'll spend more time chasing a moving spot than looking for caches.

I still think that if you have a message to send that is over 1000 characters the really simple answer is to send character 1001 and beyond in a separate message, or if answering questions send each question as a separate message. As for having mystery caches you have contacted the CO about, you are interested in the cache so you must have it saved elsewhere. This means you know who CO is, type CO's name into box and there is the conversation you have had with them containing all the details you need.

A reviewer came into the conversation earlier on, he has access to background info that we cannot see, like deleted logs, and made the comment that the CO has a history of deleting logs that call the cache into question. I'll let you go back through the thread and find the post.

Right Here.....

But you ARE here on the forums every day, 2 clicks away from the message centre and you must be on your email everyday (just an assumption as it seems you are happy to use that) so it seems you are not too concerned with going into multiple different programs while you are on the computer.... so what's the problem?? I've said it in another thread before and will say it again... One of the comments coming out of these conversations is "I'm not going to reply right away, it may even take a day..." So what? Why is it the end of the world if it takes a week to get a reply back to someone? You are still going to get the answers required to log the cache, you are still going to approve it, or not and they claim their find....

They show up at zoom level 11, they always have, it's enough to show that they exist in case of placing a cache or if a basic member happens to find them on the ground they can find them on the map to log them. However it is not a close enough zoom to be able to walk out your front door and say "IT'S RIGHT THERE JIMMY!"

Reception is not required for use of GPS. They will be able to pull up a compass type app and have the arrow point to GZ. They will need reception though if they want to use mapping software that pulls the maps off the net as it goes.

Many challenge caches require finding certain caches each day for a number of days. Improperly logging dates would be cheating on those challenges. None of my business, I'm not the CO, but it's cheating. And it's unfair to those of us who do it properly. I can go find a cache, backdate the paper log and backdate the online log, no difference.

You're probably right. It makes me sad to think that people cheat at a game that means nothing. It also makes me sad that I seem to care. I guess I just think people should be better people... Whose cheating? They've found the cache,they've signed the log. Job Done, that's all they are required to do. Date or not doesn't really matter and signing all over the log.... well at least they've signed THE log. Cache I found over the weekend was like a snake in a can with all the scraps of paper thrown in.

I find the best bet for caches that I'm having problems is to walk away and come back another day. I still don't understand the need for must be in touch now, but that's just me generally.