The_Brownies

People will pay for anything. I remember a scam where a company advertised a copper image of President Licoln for just $5.00 plus s&h. Of course the people got what they paid for. A one cent piece. Just goes to show you a sucker is born every minute.

I see a lot of posts about I placed this altoid container micro cache and it's hard to find. Unless you have pictures, it's hard to visualize just what your mean. In other words, show me the goods... I want to see why an Altoids tin micro cache is so hard to find. The one in Utah painted white would be hard to spot if it were in the great salt lake. Anyway, show me some pictures of your containers. Let's see just how good they really are.

I'm surprised I have not seen a post in here about "GEOCACHING IS NOT ABOUT NUMBERS".

99% of the time I do long frownies however there has been times when I forget to log my frownie or I got to the cache area and simply did not want to look for it because I was too tired from caching to look. In a way Frownies are good because if there are a lot of frownies it is a good indication that maybe the rating placed on the cache is too low. I watch my caches and if I see a lot of no finds, I start to wonder has the cache been plundered and so I go and verify that it is still there. If you don't log Frownies, you should. It doesn't mean that your stupid or anything. It is your way to tell the cache owner, "Man you hid that sucker pretty good" or "Maybe you might want to see if the cache is still there". Plus there is not a count on Frownies and they do not effect anyone precious statistics.

I found mine at the local ace harware store. Also look at a key/lock store. Maybe even a ranch and home store.

I have not had to deal with the Megellan Tech Support Staff, but as professional software support tech I can assure you that every tech support person I have ever dealt with, such as Microsoft, Gateway, etc, pretty much have the same guidlines that I am required to follow. Please note as issues come in, there is a certain time frame in which an issue is required to be followed up with. My companies policy is 48 hours. If the tech fails to follow up with the customer within that alloted time frame the tech support superviosr will come down on them and want to know why the issue has not been addressed. So don't be fooled into thinking they have forgotten me. Sometimes techs become very busy and they cannot address your issue within what you percieve as an acceptable time frame. That's why they have the most commonly asked FAQ or Help Spots. It is not the technicians fault that there are not enough of them to answer all of the incoming calls and people need to understand this. Plus it is not their fault if they are a new technician and need to ask more experienced techs for answers when needed. Also I need to point out that telephone calls take more priority than an email. Generally emails will be answered quicker than a phone call. The reason for this is the simple fact that you have thought about what you wish to convey to the technician, and the technician simply has to respond to your question. They do not have to try and determine your name, emial address, phone, customer number, etc. In short, before you start cracking down on the tech support staff, just remember we are people too and I personally strive to give the customer the best support I can possibly give them. Granted you might not always get an experienced technician. Sometimes you will get a greenhorn and they might take longer to answer your questions. But just like me, we all have to learn so give them a break.

I created a night cache called Night Stalker #1. The reflectors I used were not very good. I talked to a couple of users and they were using reflective tape. I thought I'll need to buy some until I went to a geocaching meeting. After going to a geocaching get together I was informed about trail tacks. I had never heard of them, but when I did a search on the Internet it was like hitting gold. You can get them at Wal-Mart for around $2.50 QTY 25 or 50? They reflect very well in the dark, and are visible up to 200 Feet. They have a nail for sticking them to tress and they can be placed anywhere. Plus they come in different colors and they come in a couple different shapes. Very Cool.. When I get to Wal-Mart or an Archery store, I'm going to get some. Here's a couple links I found. www.bowhunter.net www.hunterspec.net

After reading this review, I'm not so sure Garmin has put together such a good device. I'll let you judge for yourself, but I'm going to wait for their next version. Rhino Review

Love my MG and have had no problems with it. However, it is around $250. The one good thing about it is the expandable SD ram that you can buy for it, and it comes with 8MB of on board memory. But lately I have read some of the reviews reguarding the new SportTrak. I have not come accross a negative one, and you can get them for as low as $149.00. WOW...It makes me want to get one for the kids. Here is the thread on how to get the Sport Trak for the $149.00 Sams / Costco Sport Traks On the flip side I read another thread and they that discussed how you could get an etrek Legend for a really good price. I think it was $112.00. Anyway, here is the link to that thread. Etrex Legend for little over $112. Happy caching..

When you up load images to your Geocaching account, The message says to upload only JPEG images. I've uploaded GIf's and Word documents. Others have uploaded WAV, MP3, Excel files.. You name it, they have uploaded it. Look at some of the cache pages by the Artful Dodger to get an example of everything you can upload and use in a cache page.

If you go to the Paintshop website, you can download a demo copy of paintshop, and then you can easily resize the image. Plus the live software is only $65 - $70 at Costco.

You do not need to link to an image on another website. This knocks down the bandwidth on the other website, and it makes them rather upset when you do this. Instead -- your background image can be loaded to your geocaching account, and then you can link to that image with the the following instructions. To load the image, go to MY CACHE PAGE. Click on Change my Account Information. Then find the PHOTO Section and click UPLOAD ANY IMAGES YET. You will get a box. Browse to your image and upload it. Click Upload another photo. Note, You ARE NOT going to upload another image. Another blank upload window will appear. Scroll down, and you will see the image you just uploaded. Left click on the image link. The image should open in a browser window with a web address. This is the address to your image. Copy the address line. You will need it in a second. Close out of the Upload Image window and go to your cache page where you want to add the background. In the Long Description copy and paste in the following code. BGPROPERTIES="fixed"> Change the http:// address to the address of your image. When you save the changes, the cache page will load with the image that you loaded as the background. Here is a link to my Night Stalker Cache and if you notice the background image does not appear on the cache page. Night Stalker #1 Hope that get's you started.

Wow... ElkMilk that's an awsome accomplishment. 400 caches in under a year.

Micro's are small and fun to hunt because they are a lot harder to find than a traditional cache, and a lot cheaper to maintain. Granted I still put out traditional caches, but I generally make them a lot harder to find. Large caches have a bad attribute. Geocachers taking out the good stuff and putting back junk in return. With that in mind, you can see why they become somewhat expensive to maintain. I.e. 10 caches X $10 each rounds up to $100 a year if you replentish the cache yearly. That's why I believe micro's are so popular. Here is a really good micro container. $2.95 at REI's website. I have encountered these on just a few caches and they were hard to find. But once I knew what I was looking for, I was able to find them in a minimal amount of time. Bison Key ring holder As for the logs. I use Right as Rain waterproof paper that really works well. If you go to their website, you can find a distributer in your area. A ream of 500 sheets is $21.95. But that comes out to about .04 cents a page and I made 12 micro logs out of just 8 sheets. You can make up your own Micro logs using a PC and a laser printer. Inkjets will not work. The ink will come off the paper. If you do not have a laser, simply feed the sheets through a copier at Kinkos. It will do the same thing. I.e. the toner is non-water soluable and you will never have a wet log. Hope this helps..

Found a micro in a paste container that you turned a screw to extract the log. Another Micro was in a little bullet looking container that you can get from REI. Bison capsule Key chain The capsules were not very hard to find, but they were cool. The other interresting idea was an plasic electrical junction box that you unscrewed the cover to get to the cache. Very expensive container. Around $8 - $13 bucks.

Had a great weekend caching, and I came accross some of the most ingenious cache containers. One cache was in a hollowed out stump where the bark peeled off to reveal the cache. Another one was in a sprinkler head, and yet another one was in PVC pipe that was stuck in the ground that resembled a drain. What about the rest of you?

I've been working on one called the CONTACT CACHE by Fractal. I've almost got it finished, and that has got to be the hardest cache I have never found. What about the rest of you? Contact Cache Right now it's archived, but if you have never seen a true work of art. You should try this one.

I've been on some tough caches lately, and I must say, they had me scratching my head for a while. But I was able to find all of them. Tell me what has been your hardest find? Give a link back to the cache site if possible.

I'm killing this thread, but I want to thank all of you for the input. I think the solution posed by EraSeek is the best possible solution.

I ran a thread over the weekend to see if Virtual Caches should have their own count. The solution given by EraSeek was a rather good one. When the person logs a find on the cache page, show the users's total finds i.e. 100. However on the Users' cache page, break down the finds in a simple format that would show the total number of Virtual, Physical, and Others. I.e. 100(2/98/0). EraSeek actually thought of encorporating benchmarks into the actual find number, but I think they should be kept separate. Question - Would you like to see this implemented?

Nice idea EraSeek. I had not thought of using a break down of stats like this. I.e. 160 total finds with a breakdown(10/100/50)Benchmark, physical, virtauls. Put EraSeeks stat breakdown on "MY CACHE PAGE", and leave the total count on the user logs alone. Please Note..We are not brow beating virtuals here. I simply want to know if they should have a count of thier own. EraSeeks' solution is a rather simpe one that I would not mind seeing implemented. It encorporates the separate virtual cache count, but leaves the total number of caches found alone. Sometimes simple solutions are far better than complicated ones. [This message was edited by The_Brownies on January 13, 2003 at 07:29 AM.]

Not everyone trespasses on purpose. Yes, in Washington state, the landowners are not required to post their property, but what are the laws in Colorado? Every state has their own laws, as we are so freqently reminded, there are some weird ones in Oregon? What if the landowner is required by law to post his property? I don't know because I live in Washington. On the same token, What if the landowner had assaulted the cacher. Would the criminal trespasser be found guilty or would the land owner been in trouble? Nope, I think the landowner should have written down the license plate number and contacted the authorities, or simply called the police and had them deal with the person. It's when we try and take things into our own hands that the problems begin. Just look at the criminal justice system. Who is it geared more towards. The victum or the convict? Seems to me the convict has more rights than I do. If you do not agree then look at the case of our U.S.traitor John Walker Lind. I served this country for 8 long years, and I proud to be a veteran. I would have given my life for this country, yet this guy gets off with a slap on the wrist. I'm not so sure the cacher got off lightly. The owner is lucky that the cacher was nice and did not pull out a gun a shoot the landowner. In Seattle I think they call this ROAD RAGE. One guy shoots at a car full of teens because the teens cut them off. Again, the owner of the cache should have placed parking coordinates. But as a reminder, before you go after a cache, do a little research, and when in doubt, do not go after the cache.

The question being posed is very simple, should GS Track virtual caches separate from physical caches. Geocaching is not a competition and I don't look at caching in this fashion, but I like virtuals, and I would like them to be counted separately. I'm just trying to see who else has this same general thought. I agree there are others out there who try and be the cacher with the most numbers, but that is them, and I honestly could care less about them. It's not about numbers and that is topic for another thread, Not this one. SO please, keep to the topic at hand. Would you like to see virtual caches tracked separately. Me -- I would like to see this implemented, but do you?

MEAN PEOPLE SUCK.. If the guy doesn't want people on his land I guess he'd better get out the barbed wire, spot lights, and guard dogs. Clearly this guy had the IQ of a rock. You handled the situation very well. Just send a note to the cache owner. Normaly if the cache is so close to private property, the cache owner should put in parking coordinates. I know they do that here in Washington.

I have seen the etrek's, but the new Magellan Sportrak honestly has more bang for the buck. I opted for the Meridian Gold because of the neat features it has such as a magnetic compass that points the way to the cache, and the expandable memory, which is good for storing detailed street maps. You could also get a standard yellow Etrex or a magellan 310, 315 for $90-$100. It all depends on what you want a gps to do. P.S. I ran into an Etrex legend user who saw all the things I could do with my Meridian, and from the expression on his face, I think he wished he would have got the Meridian. What is funny is that he originally bought the Meridian and sent it back because he was too intimidated by it which made me think did he even read the manaul that came with the darn thing?