gpsfun
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Posts posted by gpsfun
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Two caches in the downtown St.A area have dissapeared from the listings and map. "A little bit of history" a micro and a major cache The St. Augustine geocaching benchmark. I went back to list them as found and could not find them on the registry. Are these just getting maintence or something else it seems unlikely the offical geocaching benchmark would be taken off the map any help on this?
St. Augustine A Little Bit Of History 01 is there and so is FLORIDA GEOCAC BENCHMARK PROJECT; however, both of them are premium member only caches and would not show up in your searches. The caches were recently set to premium member only, which is why you could see them a few days ago but cannot see them today.
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Georgia style can include hiding the cache in a vacant stump hole and covering it with pine needles or other fallen foliage. Stump holes are plentiful in Georgia and South Carolina due in no small part to the Southern Pine Beetle infestation several years ago which killed many pine trees. Pine stumps deteriorate pretty rapidly, leaving holes in the forest floor. Be careful not to step in one as you may need for someone to carry you home.
edit: completed my thoughts
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I am not necessarily advocating this, but when cachers really should read the cache page because important information is stated there, the cache can be made a mystery/puzzle cache with the actual coordinates typed in the cache description area.
Not a really elegant solution, but that's the first idea that came to mind. I like using baseball bats to chase gnats.
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I have no idea of the cost, but the satellite dish installers will sometimes place a fake rock over the dish, and with some appropriate landscaping around it, you really have to know what it is to notice it.
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The cache referenced above may not be the best place to try this, since it would involve wet wheeling, but on another cache in the area try clicking on the Driving Directions link and see where it starts your trip from.
You were right it did take me around by road but the distance still way off. I checked several other local Caches via driving directions and they are all way off.
Thanks for your reply.
Where did the driving directions start from, relative to your home caching area or home coordinates, whichever you set in your profile? My guess is that the driving directions will start at the same point as the distance to caches is measured from. But that is just a guess.
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The cache referenced above may not be the best place to try this, since it would involve wet wheeling, but on another cache in the area try clicking on the Driving Directions link and see where it starts your trip from.
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Which does bring a question to my mind. Why aren't any of the reviewers cats? Is it because they are to smart to do the job? Or is it that no one offers them tuna fish? Or is it because they would eat the hamsters?
We tried using cats for a while. After they ate the mouse and became unable to click the buttons, their productivity went downhill. And the 23 hour naps didn't help much, either.
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On 12-26-2006 the owner says "Due to vandalism in the woods around this area and on the trails and the continued "accidental" discovery of this cache I have decided to remove the tupperware container and contents. This is a virtual cache for now. "
This happens from time to time, possibly because cache owners don't realize that doing so is a mistake.
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I believe the premise that persons younger than 18 are without financial resources and lack the ability to walk, ride a bike or use public transportation is flawed. Also, many persons under 18 are more adept at using communication devices than many people over 50 ever will be.
I'm also wondering how it would be possible to deal with the age of dogs that have accounts.
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Another CO suggested to me that when you start working up a cache listing and have saved the listing (got your GC#) but not yet submitted it to the reviewer, that your unpublished cache shows up as a placeholder for the reviewer. So if someone else comes along and drops a cache within the tenth mile before you have completed and submitted your own listing, your unpublished cache will prevent the other one from being approved. Can any reviewer-types shed some light on this?
It depends. Or as the movie title suggests, it's complicated.
My recommendation is to create your cache listing using the most accurate coordinates you can obtain, explain what you have in mind (including the expected submission for publication date) in a reviewer note, and contact the local volunteer reviewer with the GC Code to state what you have in mind. Occasionally it is discovered that someone else is working on a cache nearby, perhaps for the same event that you have in mind, and the sooner you find out about it the more of an opportunity you will have to find an alternative location.
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If your a earthcache owner your not receiving the log emails and therefore you can't delete bogus logs. If you have a cache that gets a NM or NA log you won't see it and I guess your cache listing could be archived without you knowing or being able to do anything about it. You want to play nice so you don't get banned.
Isn't that a little hypocritical of Groundspeak?
You've done something they consider so bad that they ban you from using the site - but continue to list any caches you own, without giving you the option to take down or disable the listing?
Generally the caches are left in play so as not to deprive the community of finding and logging them. If a cache owner's account is suspended for a week, they can catch up on cache maintenance issues when the account is restored. Two weeks - still not so big of a deal. A suspension for an extended period - well, getting caught up might be more difficult.
A suspended cache owner can write to Groundspeak requesting actions to be taken on his or her behalf. If the requested action will benefit the caching community, Groundspeak may grant the request.
Account suspensions are actually pretty rare. As stated earlier in this thread, a user has to push pretty hard to earn a suspension.
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Just to be sure, check the email you sent to make sure you sent it to contact@Groundspeak.com. Doesn't hurt to double check.
I'd wager that how long it takes depends on the workload. If there's a lot going on, these requests might sit lower on the priority list when otherwise it might not take long at all.
Each username change is approved on a case by case basis. I'd assume this means they've told some people 'no.' I also assume they've emailed to let them know their request has been denied. It would make sense that they do.
In my experience Groundspeak has always had positive customer service so I'd try not to be too concerned and hang in there.
The correct address is contact@geocaching.com Using the Groundspeak.com domain may cause your message to be misdirected or lost.
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Assuming the reviewer is aware of how the cache is placed, it will probably not be published.
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Very cool! Thanks for the link.
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One of the things I have observed is a presumed level of skills on the part of inexperienced posters. There are many people who want to enjoy geocaching who are not particularly computer literate and who may not know about scanning a list of topics for something similar, using the search feature, or about the existence of a FAQ section. Or about the inner workings of the geocaching site or their GPS receivers, for that matter.
It might be good to treat inexperienced posters the way we would like to see our grandmothers treated when they take their aging Buick to the dealer for repairs.
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It's OK to either round off or to drop the least significant digits and use N43 27.403 W072 28.359
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I'm sure I'm not the only person who has done this - the first several times I recalibrated the compass on my 60CSx I held it in my hand and turned myself around twice as directed. Then some kind soul told me that I could just lay the GPSr in the palm of one hand and turn it with the other. Sure - I knew that - right!
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Your caches are on the review queue and the local reviewer will check them and publish them if there are no issues. Generally, new cache page submissions are initially reviewed within three days.
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South Carolina's guidelines for geocaching in state parks are pretty reasonable, and the park rangers I have dealt with have been very cooperative. I was speaking with one of them last Saturday (April 3) and he told me that the SC State Parks and Recreation Areas are seeing an upturn in activity as people are traveling less and enjoying locations closer to home.
I do want to mention that the mention of a $25 fee on their permit form does not apply to geocache placements.
Happy caching!
-Brad
Groundspeak volunteer reviewer for South Carolina
Hi, Brad,
I'm glad you were able to speak in person to one of the park rangers.
Are there any restrictions on bringing dogs? Mine is a service dog, however, I don't want to be confronted by a playful St. Bernard, for example, who can possibly accidentally injure my dog. I have firsthand experience with this from a previous dog I had. (Rusty, sweetheart, rest in peace in dog heaven. I love you and miss you so much.) BTW, Rusty's leg was injured when a big dog (the aforementioned) jumped on him.
What $25.00 fee? I don't think the pdf I found mentioned that. Does that mean I have to pay to seek a geocache?
Any helpful hints on locations of geocaches with flat, easy to walk trails, etc, away from snakes and the like? lol. I'm trying very hard NOT to talk myself out of geocaching. A semi-planned trip was in the works until I watched the video and saw snakes at Poinsett. (yikes!)
Lastly, is there a list of geocache-friendly locations such as parks, lakes, rivers that are pet-friendly?
Thank you!
In the .pdf there is mention of a permit form that must be completed; the $25 fee is mentioned on the permit form. The form is for multiple uses and the fee applies to a number of things but not to geocache placements.
Regarding dogs in State Parks - I do not know the answer to your question and suggest you start with the SC State Parks web site here and check the web page for the specific parks in which you have interest. If you don't see a clear answer, you can call the park office for details.
Regarding snakes, they see animals as either something they can eat or as something that can eat them. Since we are far too big for them to eat us, they want to stay away from us.
The main times we need to worry about snakes is when they don't have a chance to get away from us. Also, never put part of your body in a place that you have not first checked for snakes. If a snake is trying to hide from you under a log, and you stick your hand under the log looking for a cache, you might get a bite. Speaking of logs, do not step over them - step on the log and then step beyond it. If you just step over the log, you are placing your foot and ankle in a place that you have not checked out yet.
I have only encountered one snake while geocaching and that was last year. An Eastern King Snake was apparently planning to cross the trail that I was using, and we both stopped. After a few seconds, the snake decided he didn't really want to cross that path after all.
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Thank you for posting this information, huntfor.
South Carolina's guidelines for geocaching in state parks are pretty reasonable, and the park rangers I have dealt with have been very cooperative. I was speaking with one of them last Saturday (April 3) and he told me that the SC State Parks and Recreation Areas are seeing an upturn in activity as people are traveling less and enjoying locations closer to home.
I do want to mention that the mention of a $25 fee on their permit form does not apply to geocache placements.
Happy caching!
-Brad
Groundspeak volunteer reviewer for South Carolina
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Hey all,
I'm a reporter for the Piedmont Journal and I'm looking for anyone who's searched for or planted caches in or near Piedmont for a story I'm working on. I don't think many folks around here know what geocaching is, and that once you have a gps it is a good free way to get out of the house and do something.
Thanks for your help,
Eddie Burkhalter
The Piedmont Journal
eburkhalter@thepiedmontjournal.com
jsu7923k@jsu.edu
office 256-235-3553
cell 256-689-8783
It will be best for you to more precisely identify your location - Piedmont is a rather common town and area name in the southeastern US. Your area code suggests Alabama...
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That model has (according to the manual) a selection under the setup section for making a setting for the battery type being used. On my old GPS MAP12 I tinkered with this setting when trying out rechargeable batteries and found that the MAP12 would behave in a manner similar to what has been described with rechargeable batteries or with alkaline batteries if the setting was incorrect. I switched back to using just alkaline batteries and rarely have trouble.
One other thing - I used to drive a Subaru Baja and discovered that laying the GPSr on the dashboard just above the radio would cause it to do pretty much what you have described. As I recall, I would have to reset the unit to get it back up and running - but I'm not positive about the reset part of that statement. Swapped the Subaru for a Jeep and got a 60CSx. Problem gone.
edit to remove redundant word
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I could tell you about Platinum Membership, but then I would have to kill you.
Of course.
Figured that.
And then I would have to kill mtn-man for telling you - or at least demote him to Aluminum Membership.
On a serious note, site volunteers will often look into questions like the one in the OP and offer suggestions if we can. It's not always easy to get those first few caches through the review process.
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On March 6 the volunteer reviewer placed a note on each of your cache page. Please return to your cache pages, read the notes, and follow the reviewer's instructions to make contact and have the pages reviewed again.
How do "vacation caches" get approved?
in General geocaching topics
Posted
Give it a try. Worst case it will be a $20,000,000.00 DNF, but it is all about the adventure anyway.