gbod

There are a handful of benchmark hunters in my area that have logged quite a few marks- most of them are not die-hard cachers though. Most of the prominent cachers here have no interest in benchmark hunting. I think benchmark hunting appeals to a different crowd. Benchmark hunting is more technical and requires a little more knowledge to become proficient- it's more of a techno-nerd activity than geocaching. My kids love to go treasure hunting for McToys in drive up caches, but have little to no interest in taking pictures of radio towers and bronze disks in the ground. I on the other hand am a techno-nerd and find radio towers and bronze disks interesting. I enjoy learning the technical aspects of the hobby, and the history behind certain benchmarks. I do think it is more thrilling to be a first to find a benchmark though, as knowing someone before me has found it already kills the challenge.

So, any of the benchmarks you have found first would not count for anyone else? That doesn't seem fair, as any newcomers would have a very difficult time improving their find count. It's like letting only the first to find a geocache log it... I think the hobby would die rather quickly if that were to happen. Just my opinion.

Here is a very informative thread about GPS and geocaching software.

My first find in the woods was exactly like you describe. After a while you learn to stop looking at the GPSr arrow, and start looking for hiding places.

Oh boy... you will get as many opinions as there are GPS units available. Coke vs Pepsi, Ford vs Chevy, Garmin vs Magellin. If I had money to burn, I'd buy the new Garmin GPS60c.

What does your cache repair kit consist of? We went for the first time yesterday (found 4 out of 4). One was a micro (really hard to find!!) and the little ziploc bag it was contained in had a few tears. We would have replaced the bag, but we didn't have one with us. Should I have started a new topic for this? Just started -- not sure of the etiquette. Lungy Stu Yes- new topic. And it was discussed here. p.s.- you can search the forums for previosly posted topics.

After reading this topic in the Getting Started forum, I got to thinking about if I really needed to use my GPSr again if I had to go back to a cache. I admit I don't have a lot of finds yet (mainly because I have such little free time out of the office), and most of them were low difficulty, but I can remember exactly how to get to each one of them without having to use my GPSr or looking at the cache page again. So, my question is: At what point do you start forgetting the cache locations that you've visited? Is it after x number of finds? Is it after x number of days or months? Are difficult caches in the woods more difficult to remember? When will this information be purged from my brain? What are your thoughts?

U.S. ED? Hmmm. Energy Department? Any other guesses?

What's Geocaching? By Gary Berline February 3, 2004 Today is January 16, 2004 Interesting the article was written in the future!

There's a reason for that: it crashes regularly, and (believe it or not) can actually cause other applications to crash without it even being installed (try running TealDoc when there's a Mobi document on your Palm, whether or not Mobi itself is.) Good to know. I have not experienced any problems yet... although I must admit I don't really use the PDA I have it loaded on (an older Palm Vx) for much else.

No one here has mentioned mobipocket reader along with the PQ in e-book format. Sure, it may lack functionality, but it serves the purpose of being able to read cache descriptions on your PDA, and is quite easy to use.

Thanks for all of your interesting and informative replies. Next time someone asserts that benchmarks are not important, you can reference this thread! (Of course this thread may have more credibility if I had actually spelled benchmark correctly in the tiltle!)

I am hoping someone that surveys or makes maps for a living can answer this. I have noticed that responses to questions about bechmarks in the forums here imply that benchmarks are archaic relics from times past. (Of course I mean bechmarks in the GC.com sense: horizontal and vertical control stations.) My observation about the $250 fine not going up over the last 100 years brought this response: Another question about not finding a benchmark illicited this reply: Looking forward to hearing your responses!

This kind of question gets asked alot. Only NGS markers can get logged here. See this recent thread.

This is a common question asked here in the Benchmark forum. What you found probably is a benchmark from some agency. Unfortunately, the only ones we have a database for are from the NGS. So, although you did possibly find a benchmark, it doesn't "count" here. Quote from the Benchmark home page: I found a benchmark, but it isn't in your database. Why? The NGS is not the only organization that creates and uses benchmarks and other types of control markers. For example, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) places survey markers at their dams, dikes, levees, flood control systems and other structures.The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other federal agencies, along with your county surveyor and private surveyors and engineers place markers that often appear very similar to geodetic markers, to reference land survey corners as part of the public land survey system. Your local highway department also may have set markers along highways, at major bridges and overpasses. Many markers have also been set in recent years by utility companies, telecom companies, and others engaged in laying pipe or cable over long distances, to mark their underground lines. In most cases, the information stamped on the disk will tell you, or at least give you a clue, about its purpose. Remember, all these markers are highly important, both to businesses and to individual citizens such as your neighbors, so please treat them with respect, while enjoying the thrill of the hunt. We'll try to find other databases and add them to the site as well. If you have access to one of these databases and would like to submit it to Groundspeak, contact us. If you find a marker that isn't in the database, please do not email the site with the information. Unfortunately at the moment there is nothing to do with the information you send us. Hopefully, we'll have a way to report new benchmark finds in the future. In the meantime, feel free to challenge your fellow hunters to help you identify any markers you find that have only cryptic initials on them by posting a photo and description on the message board.

I just re-read your original post. Do you mean how to upload images to the forums? If so, there is a code button labeled IMG above where you type your message on the forum post page. Click the button and insert the URL of your image. Like this... (clicking IMG button, pasting URL, voila...) Hope that helps!

Assuming you are asking how to upload benchmark pictures... First, log the benchmark. Once you have logged the benchmark, go back to the benchmark page you just logged, and you should see the upload images link below your log that looks like this: [upload images] (you have to be logged in to see the link) From there, just follow the directions on the upload image page. Images will be resized to 125K, so you can save time uploading if you resize your picture file to below 125K first. Hope this helps.

Ouch! I thought $250 was a little low!

I think you're missing the point. Many people here would argue their value. I just thought it was interesting that the fine hasn't increased in 100 years. Also, I use the term Benchmark in the GC.com sense- referring to horizontal and vertical control stations.

If you just look at the datasheet, it says when the marks was placed. In this case it says: 1903 by USGS (MONUMENTED) The monumented date is the date it was placed.

After looking at many pictures of benchmarks old and new, I think it's interesting that the penalty for disturbing a mark is still $250, just as it was 100 years ago. I found an inflation calculator based on consumer price index that calculated that $250 in the year 1900 is equivalent to over $5000 in todays dollars. Perhaps if new marks were stamped "$5000 fine for disturbing this mark" people would consider them more valuable.

Of course you could just manually change your home coordinates to whatever coordinates you want, and then perform a search "from home coordinates." Yes, it's kind of a pain, but you can get the information you want by doing this.

Great find! I'm no archeologist, but my guess is that it is good condition since it is mounted on the side of a building, away from dirt, corrosion, and elements that would weather a disc mounted in the ground.

Careful with hot glue. There are 2 types of hot glue- low temp and high temp. My wife used low temp hot glue on some outdoor craft/decorations that melted and fell apart during our heat wave last summer.

Try looking at this page first. If you still have questions- come back and feel free to ask them here.