Ish-n-Isha
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Posts posted by Ish-n-Isha
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I like virtuals but I don't want to go out of my way to find one, only to learn that the 'special object' I'm hunting for is an old washing machine...
But as long as there is a ammo can inside that old washing machine your good right?
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This cache perfectly fit the purpose for which virtuals were first added to the website.
I disagree totally. That was not the purpose when they started and anyone who has been around here a year and a half or more knows it. They used to be just a diffrent type. Just like a micro or a multi or a traditional.
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I like virtuals. I prefer the gps part of caching more than the crawling around sifting through leaves part. I like history, I like interesting places. I'm satisfied when I get to some odd place I've never seen before more than I am trading a toy car for a whistle.
I'm new to this and unfortunately came into this game too late. I wish new virtuals were allowed. Then the seeker would still have the option to not look for the virtuals if they didn't want too.
If you prefer finding histoical places with your gps to finding tupperware and ammo boxes, there are other websites out there better suited to what you like.
The two that come up the most are www.ecoscavenger.com and www.waypoint.org. Now, lots of people will say that those sites aren't as nice as this one. Well, then complain to them! This place has certain rules in place concerning what caches they will or will not list. If this place doesn't have what you want, find someplace that does, Being a car guy, I still think of all the people complaining that this site doesnt have what they want as akin to complaining your local Chevy dealer won't stock Fords.
THATS totally nonsensical since they used to stock fords here.
Understand. Its the bait and switch aspect that people complain about.
And that HAS happened. Its a fact.
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The virtual guidelines should be rewritten to say:
"a virtual cache may not be hidden anywhere, no matter how novel and interesting the location, if there is even the slightest chance that you could hide a scrap of paper stuffed into a film canister in a nearby pile of trash and debris and create an offset to it even if you have to check on it daily to make sure that it has not been cleaned up or otherwise disappeared."
On the other hand:
"a traditional cache may be hidden anywhere, no matter how stupid, inappropriate, or mundane the location as long as there is a scrap of paper large enough for somebody to write their initials on stuck in some container for geocachers to find."
These are not the actual geocaching.com guidelines but this is a pretty fair appraisal of the way that they are applied by the approvers. The mistake you made was assuming that a good location would make a good cache. The game used to be played that way, and sometimes it still is, but that idea is pretty much irrelevent in this day and age. If you want to get a virt approved these days: lie, lie, lie, and hope that they buy your story.
WOW! Its only funny cuz its true. 
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There's a couple of more advantages with on-board magnetic compasses that were not mentioned above (at least with a Garmin Vista). While not necessarily important for caching, they're important for hikers and other who are navigating in general and/or those who use quad maps. You can:
1. Using the "Sight 'N Go" feature, you can visually locate a landmark (like a distant mountain or lake) by aligning the front and rear sight lines on the Vista. (Kind of like you would do with a regular mirror type compass). But the advantage with the Vista, is you then click a switch and you've locked the magnetic bearing line with an accuracy of a few degrees. You then navigate following the pointer arrow to the mountain or lake. You don't even have to remember the degrees as it's stored. Satellite reception is not required; the bearing arrow is always visible.
2. As an alternative, you can estimate the distance to the destination at the time you sighted it in 1 above and project a waypoint. Then follow the bearing arrow to the created mountain waypoint as a destination just as you would a cache. That's helpful as you travel back into woods where you'll lose sight of the mountain.
These features take a regular compass one step further by allowing you to easily sight a bearing, locking its bearing to navigate on and projecting a waypoint as well. You can also see the advantage of these features to be used in conjuciton with UTM quad maps for those who use these. Let's say your map tells you to travel 245 degrees. You start "sight N Go" rotate the Vista until it reads 245 and click the switch locking the magnetic bearing line. Then follow it to the destination. If you've calculated the distance from the map, just project that distance and create a waypoint. Just set the GPS to true north so the maps and GPS match up.
Alan
edit=added info
Alan2 has the best analysis so far.
In addition an electronic GPSr will automatically know what declination to adjust for if you go to diffrent parts of the country and although I have a nice silva and use it, I usually forget to bring my declination map when I travel. Even if I did bring the map, they are pretty crude.
Also for cache hunting if you rely on a GPS compass bearing you never know when it loses signal and is trying to update. At least If I enter a bad coverage area and lose signal, with a electronic compass I have at least walked straight over caches many times.
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Maybe i'm the only one, but i like those "silly" waypoint names that gc.com comes up with. It's nice to have a direct link from the waypoints on my gps to the website. If i need to look at a cache page, i just type in the gc.com waypoint. Anyways, just wanted to say that!
Thats fine if you are using a PDA GPS like an Ipaq but if your only talking going paperless then thats diffrent. Spinner does the WHOLE job. One move makes every cachepage into a Internet explorer webpage as well as a file you can put in your GPSr w/meaningful waypoints.
If you have a treo of some other combo phone/PDA dialing up web pages can work, but if you really want to do some serious caching in a day use a PDA spinner Gpx and Garmin V combo. We have done 30-50 caches a day many many times. Also the new GPX Sonar for 2003 is a pretty good option.
As to your title question though. A previous poster said the main diff in the 2 you specified is really a question of Palm or Pocket PC. I agree that is the main point with those 2 programs.
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It's completely irrelevant how specific the cache description was. He could have provided the astrological sign of the guy who rents the boats, and it still wouldn't fit the accepted definition of virtual.
Accepted discription of a VC is an oxymoron these days.
Lazyboy pointed out one of a number of easy alternatives one could employ to photo visit a specific underwater location and if you happened to be there when the rays were, then so much the better.
If you had read all the previous posts you would have understood that the refrence to the specificity of the discription was in response to the previous posts concerning potential cachers going there with all the time an expense and potentially finding no rays.
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Spinner beats both since it also converts those silly GC numbers to meaningful waypoint names and uses an existing program to run it. and its cheaper.
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His cache page would have been plenty specific. He said up front you had to rent a boat, buy a underwater camara and that the rays frequented the area.
Seems like the fine folks at GC are trying to protect all us stupid people who cant think for our selves and understand simple english.
I'm suprised they didnt call it commercial since you had to rent a boat ect.
The only thing this one needs is a second type of verification that the rays you find or may not find, are from the area in question.
I'm kind of suprised that the fact the rays might not be there every second wasnt hailed as a good thing since I hear the complaint frequently that, "When was the last time someone logged a DNF on a LC or VC."
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using whatever resources you have can you plot saturation vs population density? I imagine it should track that the more population in the area the more caches but are there areas where it doesn't follow? More people less caches or less people more caches?
Well, there are a lot of people in Watts and Compton, but while I was down there this last weekend, I didn't see but a couple of caches in the area. Here is a map of L.A. The big empty area is Compton and Watts. I found it interesting. Draw your own conclusions.
--Marky
Those 2 areas are where GC.com is testing out their new "Has to pass the coffee table book" interest level on traditional caches
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Yes, Bloencustoms will now provide a link to a list of all the "Approved" Coffee Table books
Its really a semi insane way to measure the value of a virt cache isnt it? Isnt a coffee table book a highly subjective measurement? Like they have MADE all the coffee table books that will EVER be made, but if you send the link to the book then its OK?
I have half a mind (sometimes literally) to go and fine the most insane coffee table book I can and make a virt out of it!
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(In best actioneer voice)
Ok, 2:00pm EST has the most votes now. Everyone agree?
And just in case everyone does, someone post what the corresponding times will be for the diffrent time zones so I"LL know when to log in!!!!
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OK. After the input so far let me further refine the subject.
How in the context of the 2 examples does a vacation cache fit in.
If it is getting regular logs (per the second example) it would seem logical that it would lead out a semi normal lifespan.
If it is up in Timbuktu and the effective hunting season is 1 month in the middle of the summer (per example 1) does logic suggest that simple lack of use implies a higher degree of abandonment?
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On another thread Geolitter was defined as a cache someone placed, who is not in close enough proximity to maintain it.
Please give your 2 cents on these 2 examples.
For the first example; Someone places a cache in a remote area that they frequent often. The cache goes a year with 1 find.
Second example; Someone places a cache in an area they frequent 1 time a year. The cache has 67 finds in a year.
Which one is truely geolitter?
Since geocachers (most) see themselves as people who would help out their fellow cachers and carry spare plastic baggies, goodies, ect, doesnt cacher traffic count as a factor in maintainance?
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You can almost see the future. It lookes like a slow death spiral towards microcaches only since they dont even have a pencil.
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Dec 26 has the most votes now. Anyone want to start thinking of a time so we can all set up a reminder in outlook to remind us?
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So now we have 8 to 28 million less park visits..........
HUmmmmm I 'spose they will let up now on geocaching impact since they have that many less visitors!!! 
Maybe we can sell caching as a way the state can raise funds!
HA Just dont tell them we all park outside the boundries. 
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OK! Yeah!
We apparently have an OK from as high as you can go here!The 26th is by far the most suggested date so far.
What do you think of the time? The 26th is a Friday. What do we have 4 time zones in the contenental US? Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific?
Would around noon work best or should we try for an evening thing?
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The 26th is sounding good for most people so far.
We will continue to see the input from cachers, but also we would like some input from GC so we are sure there is no harm. I have a feeling there are those who would like to participate but as yet havent heard from the site webmasters to make sure everything is OK.
If you have a date and time that works for you, please post it.
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We are not trying to crash the site, just log on for 5 min and watch the counter on the main board go up.
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How many of you have noticed the most people on the boards at 1 time so far, was 166? Since the holidays are comming up wouldnt it be cool if the Geocaching community had their own little online christmas event?
In short, what we are looking for is sometime near the holidays we arrange to all be on the boards or at least logged into the forums at a certain time. Could you imagine beating the 166 record and setting a new one of say......500?
Everyone has diffrent plans I know but it wouldnt have to be on Christmas day, just sometime where we could get the most people logged in.
Tell us what Date and time would work for you.
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If I have a UTM position and I'm asked to move 116m West and 1005m North for instance. Do I simply add the meters to my current UTM position or do I have to do special calculations to take into account the planet's curvature?
Thanks
I have been told that UTM assumes a flat earth. So no special caclulations needed.
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<snip> I've logged a few lame virts with just a note because I did not feel that my "find" was really that, but I did it want to document my visit and let the person who posted it know that I found it interesting.
~erik~
Sort of a dyslexic cacher amnesia huh? Lame, but interesting?
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You keep telling me to not do the same thing your doing.
Yes, but I freely admit I enjoy a little more spirited debate than you might care for, so my posting here is not as diametrically opposed to my likes and dislikes as yours.
Sorry to hear of your RC problems but maybe its for the best. Crashing a few hundred dollars of planes in an afternoon
will give you way more of a blood pressure problem than reading these threads! 
WOW! Its only funny cuz its true. 
HUmmmmm I 'spose they will let up now on geocaching impact since they have that many less visitors!!! 
We apparently have an OK from as high as you can go here!
A Loss To The Northwest
in Northwest
Posted
I recently became aware that OtisPug had achived all his caches, (nearly 100). A lot of these caches have been intoduced to us in the great NW by Niskibum.
I have no Idea why it happened. Certainly one of the best and most origonal hiders anywhere. I wonder if he knows he's had a big effect on caches even up here?
Maybe it wont be so hard to find 'bum caches now!
Our loss.
Thanks Otis