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Markwell

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Everything posted by Markwell

  1. I'm still amazed that the PQ criteria still lets you choose conflicting parameters and doesn't use radial buttons for these I suggested this layout as far back as 6 years ago.
  2. This really has moved beyond the scope of "getting started". I'm going to shut down this particular thread. If you have specific issues with the app (new or old), it should go in the appropriate forum (Website, iPhone App, Android App) I'd also caution against phrases like "get over yourselves guys". Keep comments to topic, and please refrain from something that might be construed as a personal attach - especially in a forum that is supposed to be a welcoming first look to people dipping their toes into this wonderful hobby. Move along. Nothing left to see here.
  3. Throw downs? Doubtful. No - they're not really "accepted". Just because it's frequent doesn't mean it's right. However, if you have permission from the owner that's a different story. Link to listing guidelines AND Link to Adoption It's likely that if the cache AND the owner is gone, the cache will eventually get archived.
  4. And this should really be in the GSAK.net forum...
  5. Markwell

    GSAK Query

    Best to ask this on the GSAK.net forum...
  6. What is the "printing" of which you speak?
  7. We've crossed the line into name calling. We're done here.
  8. While my answer may have been short, I was actually serious - not trying to be a jerk. Geocaching was built on the premise that the GPS signal was world-wide and any GPS device could catch the signal with keying in coordinates. The unit that I used for the first few years didn't have a data cable. I read the cache page on the website, and figured out which caches I would search for. Then I manually keyed in the coordinates by hand to the GPS, and followed the arrow. No pocket queries. No data cable. No bookmark lists. No ignore lists. No iPhone App. No cellular service. GPS units are surprisingly cheap in comparison to most cellular data plans. Cabela's has a Garmin with "Enhanced geocaching features" for $109. If you're heading to an area with no cellular service, I still think buying a simple inexpensive GPS is the best bet as a solution to your question.
  9. About 5.5 years ago, I posted this... I can vouch for that. In some research I did for tech editing a book, I talked to someone on the Garmin technical team. FOR NON-BAROMETRIC ALTIMETERS, because of the angles that the satellites use (based on the distances from the GPS units), they are very narrow angles. These narrow angles give a much wider ranges of proximity to ground. The problem is that if to get a wide enough angle to compute a more accurate altitude, the GPS needs the satellites to be closer to the horizon. If the sats are closer to the horizon, the signal is degraded by the thicker layers of atmosphere - and the accuracy is ruined. So they're in a Catch 22 with accurate altitudes. FOR BAROMETRIC ALTIMETERS ON GPS UNITS, these mirror the altimeters on airplanes. My private pilot buddy showed me how his barometric altimeter was calibrated (a little dial like on the back of a clock) because you needed to listen to the airport status at that time of day to get the barometric pressure offset for the known altitude. The altitude of the runway was a known altitude above sea level, but based on the barometric pressure of the day, you'd have to adjust for the highs and lows (even by the hour). In our area, the topo maps say that everything is around 637 feet above sea level - and we're VERY flat. Adding 6-8 feet to that might indicate that it's up a tree, but then again a mile west of my house is 649 feet elevation. You'd be hard pressed to see the difference. ================== If I've lost you at this point, the consider this: Most GPS units can't get within 30 feet, the altitude could be off by 30 feet, which is pretty significant if you're trying to tell someone it's in the tree top.
  10. So I'll do the math - but let's round to 9,700 for easy 1000 x 5 PQs = 5,000 caches - well maybe 4,900 with the needing to make each one less than 1,000 That leaves 4,800 to pull from the API in the same day. Since there's 6,000 per day with the API, I'd still be able to pull an additional 1,200 And you must have missed this part...
  11. What everyone seems to miss is that you don't need ALL of the caches, but rather the ones that match your criteria for hunting. I've posted this before, but I'll give an updated scenario. At my last data pull over multiple days, there were 9,699 caches within 30 miles of my home. My preferences can further limit the data: I'm not partial to micros, and if truth be told, this area also uses "Not chosen" and "Other" for nano and micros. If I cut all of those out, it leaves 3,363 caches. If I'm caching "on the fly", I'd like the cache to be at the posted coordinates. If I cut out all of the caches that aren't "Traditional", it leaves 2,790 caches Terrain 1 typically represent parking lot caches, and "on the fly" I usually like to limit my upper-end to 3.5 terrain, so eliminating Terrain 1.0, 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 leaves 2,605 Difficulty on the fly - probably 3.0 or less, and that leaves 2,588. There are 29 disabled remaining, so 2,559 There are 302 remaining with "Needs Maintenance" So what started as 9,699 ended as 2,257, about 24% of the full list. Of these 2,257 caches, I'm pretty sure I'd have a good time finding any one of them, and I've pre-filtered problems or ones not to my taste. These are "ready to go" ones that I could easily download and be sure to go out and get. Am I going to possibly going to miss some good caches? Yep. But I'm still out there having fun, right? It's better to get out there and find them than worrying about upkeep of your own database to try and post-filter the data locally.
  12. While it doesn't solve the problem of a single file for uploading (which I do understand), if you want more caches per day (really???), purchase a second account.
  13. Also - what if the cache owner changes the difficulty and/or terrain based on changing environmental conditions. If you REALLY need to complete this side-game grid, it might be best get more than one for each cell.
  14. or... http://markwell.us/pq.htm
  15. http://markwell.us/pq.htm#step1simple
  16. Closing duplicate thread http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=336608
  17. Markwell

    Attributes

    I've always thought the best reason for an attribute is to either specifically include the cache or specifically exclude the cache - which for one attribute MAY give you five options: Ignore the presence of the attribute completely (regardless of either yes or no) Only include the cache if the attribute="yes" exists (only include caches if the Park and Grab is set to "yes" would ONLY get Park and Grabs) Only include the cache if the attribute="no" exists (only include caches if the Park and Grab is set to "no" would ONLY get the caches where the owner specifically says this is NOT a Park and Grab) Exclude the cache if the attribute="yes" exists (exclude any cache where Park and Grab is set to "yes" would be similar to (B) but not exactly the same list) Exclude the cache if the attribute="no" exists (exclude any cache where Park and Grab is set to "no" would be similar to (A) but not exactly the same list) Since we don't have the ability to add any/all attributes (you are restricted to 15 attributes per cache), owners are constrained to choosing the most significant attributes to place on their cache. A question I would ask myself in the request of a new attribute is if the existence or non-existence of a shelter significant enough information to help someone choose that they want to include or exclude a cache based on the setting. I've never thought that "Camping available", "Public transportation", "Picnic tables nearby", "Telephone nearby", "Fuel Nearby" and "Food Nearby" were really needed attributes. The fact that there are picnic tables nearby doesn't really aid me in my selection of a cache. Likewise, "Part of Power Trail" with both "Yes" and "No" is an attribute that I think would definitely aid seekers to refine their search.
  18. Markwell

    Attributes

    Going to move this to the website section of the forum.
  19. http://markwell.us/pq.htm#tips
  20. Heh... if I didn't provide a geochecker, some of my puzzles wouldn't ever be found. Terms of use: Since you're the owner, it's not a problem.
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