Paul G0TLG

Nice

Cache cam pics are online at this link - you'll need to click on "Pics" next to "Test Way 1" in the menu bar. I only visit this forum every couple of days, 'cos it's blocked from the network at work - so be patient if your name doesn't appear straight away!

I also have had excellent service from Garmin: I turned up on their doorstep during my lunchbreak without an appointment, needing a new memory-backup battery in my 3+. 15 minutes later I had a new GPS free. Oh, and Blitzy's right - at least 2 members of Garmin's UK staff are cachers.

I log a DNF when the information would be useful to someone. If I've got to the co-ordinates and searched for ages, and not found, that information is useful to the cache owner because it might be missing. If I've failed to get near the co-ordinates because a right-of-way has been diverted, or the only available parking for miles around is closed for repairs, that information might save someone else a wasted trip. In both of those cases I'd log a DNF: But if I've failed because it got dark and I'd forgotten my torch, or if my GPS batteries had gone flat and I didn't have spares, or the cache page said the cache was only available at certain states of the tide and I hadn't bothered to check before I went out (these have all happened to me!), then I wouldn't log it - although if it's a particularly amusing story I'd probably post it as a note.

I placed a new cache last Tuesday evening and it was approved overnight sometime. By the time I got to work at eight next morning it had been logged.

You're not dreaming, that's exactly what PQs can do for you. Every week when I get my PQ, I load the supplied file into Waypoint Workbench, which strips out all the intermediate points on multis and creates seperate GPS waypoints for them. I then load the original PQ file into GSAK where it provides info on type of cache, last logged, type of last four logs (note, found / not found etc). Obviously the above two are features of the software rather than the PQ, but the PQ is providing all the info the software needs to do these things. Then I load the original PQ file into my PDA, where GPXView gives me a copy of the original cache page, with last four logs, hints, the works. The only thing I fdon't get is any pics that are on the cache page, but that's because the PDA isn't connecting to the net. In short, PQs are capable of giving you exactly what you're after

That'll be me, then

The only time I ever had to call emergency services to an off-road location, I quoted an NGR and they found me with no problem. This was in pre-GPS days! That was Sussex Police, and as I gave them the grid, the operator said, "Oh yes, that looks on my map as if you're just south of XYZ Farm?". So some of the can do it!

Thanks for those - I've just had a wrist operation so can't drive, lace up walking boots or anything really. Working through those two has contributed to saving what remains of my sanity!

Weils (pronounced "Viles" which about sums it up) is Leptospirosis - I suspect it's always been caled that 'cos that's the name of the bacterium which causes it. Can't remember what Lymes disease's other name is. And while I generally agree with the "some dirt" theory, no amount of exposure will give you resistance to leptospiosis OR Lymes. The reason why kids swimming in dirty water didn't die of Weils in the old days was that the cholera generally got 'em first.

I was going to mention Geobars (see your local fairtrade shop), but James W beat me to it! Second favourite is bananas. Paul

Yay, joint 24th on my first entry! Cheers Deego, I must now remember to enter even in the "barren months" (e.g. December )

nope The simple answer is, some you do, some you don't. The ones sold by gadget shops as PMR446 are licence free: However, there are many other flavours of PMR which DO require a licence. As was said up there somewhere, it's now easier than it's ever been to get a ham radio licence (at least at the basic level), and for any serious gadget freak it opens up loads of possibilities! Paul G0TLG Amateur callsign G0TLG (Surprise surprise!) "Licenced in the days when you had to work for it" (Only joking)

I've done one where the description was so good I was able to do it without a GPS. On another, I forgot to take my GPS to work but did that evening's cache anyway . I plotted the co-ords to a map, walked as close as I could, and used the clue.

My personal rule is "It ain't a find till the log book's signed" (or the requirements of the virtual complied with!), which i guess is what most people say. If I don't find a cache, but I'm sure I was in the right place, I'll log a DNF: If I fail to find because the GPS batteries went flat, or I ran out of daylight, I probably won't bother - the logic behind this is that in the first instance, the DNF log warns the owner there may be a problem with his cache: In the second instance all it would tell him is that I'm daft! The research thing is a bit more of a moot point: About six months before I started caching I visited the first location for the "Wild Cat" multi, and I took a photo on which the information required by that section of the cache is clearly readable. I don't think it would add anything to my experience of the cache (should I decide to tackle it!) to revisit, just to collect information I've already got access to. However, I agree that just Googling for the answers is beyond the pale, especially for caches in a country you've never even visited. I suppose the next stage for people who do that, is to claim a webcam cache by photoshopping themselves into the picture! Having said all that, frankly I don't care much what rules other cachers apply to themselves: If someone logs every single cache in the country without signing logs at any of them, they haven't deprived me of the experience of the cache. Their numbers look better than mine, but so what? They'll soon be rumbled at the first cachers meet they attend anyway! I've rambled a bit here, haven't I?

According to the nearest cache page, my nearest is 8 miles: However, that's to the start of a multi and I've done all except the last bit, which is much further away (and I believe it may be missing). Next nearest is about 9 miles and involves wading a river, so that can wait for the warmer weather!

Thanks everyone...sorry, I don't read these fora very often*, only just seen the thread or I would have replied before. *Because they're blocked on the network at work, not because I don't like them!

Thanks folks! It was especially special (if you see what I mean) to get my hundredth in the company of the cachers who introduced me to this wonderful zany game! Now on to the next hundred... Paul

Well done to Team Tate for topping the ton today! Get yer caching skates on Taters, I'm creeping up behind you! Paul

I've also experienced rubbish reception on the dashboard of many modern Peugeots...which my employers use as pool cars, so I get to drive them quite a bit...just when a working GPS would be useful, too! On the dashboard of my Nissan I have no trouble. As Adrianjohn suggested, the answer is an external antenna. Even on eBay they're a bit expensive, although if you're handy with a soldering iron there are several sets of plans on the web for making your own. Have fun Paul

quote:Originally posted by Me: quote:Originally posted by Gavotteers:or you could become a radio ham as they are exempt Are you sure about that? (snip) I stand corrected! Thanks to Mel of the Gavotteers for pointing me at the website where this info came from. It looks like radio hams, taxi drivers and others using "press-to-talk" devices WILL be exempt. Now, how do I equip my GPSr with a PTT button... Paul A member of the Geocaching Association of Great Britain

quote:Originally posted by Gavotteers:or you could become a radio ham as they are exempt Are you sure about that? Radio hams have been being stopped and moaned at for years, for using a hand-held microphone while driving, although I must admit I've never heard of a prosecution. My phone and ham radio kit are both hands-free while in the car, but thanks to Dave Womble for the warning...must admit I han't thought about a GPSr coming under the same law... Paul A member of the Geocaching Association of Great Britain

For work, I have a load of password protected stuff and on the "document info" (i.e. the bit you can see without a password), it says something like "Password is xxx's middle name", where xxx is a friend of mine whom no-one from work would know. That way, my password is as secure as it needs to be (mega security isn't necessary on these files), but if I fell under a bus my successor could find it out without too much difficulty. Other than that, I find things like the registration number of my last-car-but-one to be fairly memorable, but not remembered by anyone else. As an aside I used to keep a (password protected) list of all my passwords in my directory on the work computer. IT accidentally lost the list in a server upgrade... Paul A member of the Geocaching Association of Great Britain

quote:"yay! a GPS; I can now find my arse without an atlas" Only if you remembered to waypoint it Welcome to the hobby! Paul A member of the Geocaching Association of Great Britain

quote:Originally posted by Lactodorum:Finally to pull the thread back off topic, Oh Goody! quote:I've encountered auto censors before when sending a (legitimate) e-mail to someone for work purposes mentioning that well known Cheshire town Chorlton-cum-Hardy. A friend of mine works for a well-known techno company. After they installed their first attempt at an auto-censor, one of the bosses - who has the same surname as the Director General of the BBC - complained that emails sent to him weren't getting through... My first encounter with an auto censor was when mentioning the author of "Oliver Twist" by name. Cache on... Paul A member of the Geocaching Association of Great Britain