Mag Magician

Hee hee! Good enough for LPCs. Can you take your vehicle up a mountain?

OK, I will set something up for Near North. There are cachers here who have either achieved the 1000 mark, are working on 600, or working on 500. Heck, there are even cachers here who recently managed the 100 mark, and that is good. I can set up the event, but need to coincide with when the 1000 is back in town. I like the idea! Consider this #2 in the Milestone Event cache series.

It depends on your personal credo. I was offered co-FTF on a prearranged meeting, but my friend showed up at GZ before I did, and signed the paper log first. Big deal! He got to the cache first, signed the log first, so he was FTF! Any other way of looking at it is up to you, as a person establishing your own goals in life.

And, what would be behind the Tequila 81 Challenge? I actually have changed the way I cache, looking for the elusive 81, only because of the stats required on that one.

First, you need access to a photo editor of some sort. I use PhotoImpact 10, which is a paid for program. Others may work for this. Grab an image of the protractor, and overlay it on your map image, then adjust the transparency so you can see the underlying map through it. Now, select the protractor layer and stretch it until it matches your map grid. Voila! You have a protractor that matches your mapping anywhere on the page. (For those unfamiliar with techno geek, I apologize) White Urkel, e-mail if I confused you. From reading your posts the past bit, though, I believe you know the basics. Roger

Ahem!!! Central is between Toronto and Kitchener?????? Where the heck do you think the rest of us live? At least allow the courtesy of making central somewhere north of 9, and I will do my best to make 500 so I have a milestone to celebrate with you.

My favorite find of all time was done just this way only it was a puzzle cache that I had not solved so I did not even know for sure I was in the right woods until I found the cache. No coords, no map but ... There was one picture posted in the gallery and it was taken near the cache and that gave me enough to recognize the spot when I arrived. Nothng unusual in the picture but there were two birch trees and fortunately for me, there were not many birch trees in those woods. I believe there have been one or two DNFs on that cache from people who had coordinates and a GPS. Go figure. . Excellent work! Congratulations on your effort, and I really mean that.

^^^^Thank you, edscott. I started plotting (and creating) maps when I was 9 years old, way back in mmmmmm-m-m-m.........196* something? There is no easier way to learn than doing it yourself, and having a few failures. Book learning (or internet) can only go so far!

Derek, when was the last time you heard about someone being charged with the offense of making a left hand turn without checking that the way was clear? It's an Ontario law, and I was charged. I turned left off a highway, with double yellow lines, clear vision to the front and rear for over a kilometer, my signals clearly on, and no oncoming traffic. The guy who hit me from behind was an American tourist, proven by skid marks to have been doing in excess of 60 kph over the speed limit, and passing illegally. However, under the law, as written, I was turning left, so it was my responsibility to be aware of idiots. I never won that fight in court?????? Laws are meant to be guidelines for judges and lawyers. However, we have to wait a few years before any new law is forgotten, and just written off as something that has become the norm. This new one is welcomed due to the clearly cranial challenged drivers we have out there. I just hope that the enforcers have not been cranially challenged as well.

That looks like a police visit waiting to happen. I hope you have permission and/or it's on private land... Go back to your dark room. Don't need compliments. But especially don't need your dribble. It's true that he didn't use any smilies to show his emotion, but I don't feel that he was being either dribbly or humorous. He has a valid concern, and he voiced it. There's no reason for you to be needlessly rude in return. Temporary Volunteer Reviewer or not, the original comment belongs in a PM or e-mail. Something like that has no place on a public forum. Of course, that's just my humble opinion.

Yup! Dead End Cache was the one. The hider has 80 finds and 1 (archived) cache placed. It seems a serious breach of guidelines by a newbie, but in all honesty, Canada is only lately coming under scrutiny by the terrorist seekers. Most of us have learned what the global threat has done to our sport. Now, it's just a matter of educating everyone on etiquette.

I'm happy that this was so well received. Once again, if I am overstepping my bounds on this forum, the mods should let me know, ASAP OK, the easy part is over. Most cache placements will use true north in any variations they apply. In other words, if there is an offset, or projection, it will be done to true north, rather than magnetic north. In my example, the map I use for this area was produced in 1989. At that point, it indicated that grid north was 0°, 54' east of true north, and that magnetic north was 11°, 53' west of true north. Look at your topo to determine the print date and magnetic declination for your area. Using the print date, we can determine how to set a compass bezel to track true north vs grid or magnetic. Now, using the map's estimation of approximate mean declination at center of map, we can adjust the bezel to give us a fairly good estimation of where we really want to go, as opposed to where we think we want to go by just looking at the map. In my case, the map indicates an approximate declination of 0°, 11' per year, which means over the time from publication in 1989 to now is 3.48°, or quite easily, 3°, 30'. That means I need to set the bezel at approximately 16°17' west of grid north. That way, I keep the needle on north, and follow the 0° mark to go in a true north direction. Clear as mud?

I am no Bay Street lawyer, so I couldn't argue it in court. However, it seems to read such that if you have a "goto" programmed into the GPSr, it would be legal within the driver's view. That would make it the exception under "system for navigation".

We're assuming, as of this point, that if a cop sees you with something in your hand, other than the steering wheel, he will have just cause to pull you over and write a $500 ticket. It's already been proven in court here, that if a cop sees you buckling the seat belt, after putting the car in drive, you can and will be charged.

Oops! Fixing the first image now!

Well, here's a short tutorial on map usage. If the mods have concern about this being posted here, please feel free to delete or move to a new topic. It's been a while since I taught navigation, so bear with me. Let's use one of my hides, Lost Roads, Unnamed #2 This cache is 1.5 kilometers back on crown land, with no roads and no structures to identify the location. Since my topo of this location is produced in Nad 27, I had to convert the co-ordinates into that. In Nad 27, we are looking for N45°45.726', W 79°34.820'. We first determine map scale, and which type the map was produced in. Using the Nad 27 of that map, or converting the co-ordinates of the map by deviating, we select the grid we want. Now, using a scale of some sort, graduated in 1/100ths, we can determine more closely where we want to end up. Since the scale we are using is graduated south to north, and east to west in this hemisphere, it is important to read it that way. Hopefully, this is self explanatory. The final location can be determined by comparing the map scale to the topo features. In this case, we are approximately 20 meters from the creek, and exactly on a contour line. It's a matter of practice and more practice, and even more practice, to get it right when you have only those features to go on.

OK, the Ontario Government has finally proposed legislation that would ban the use of any handheld electronic device while driving. It is their stated goal to ban cell phones, along with any device that could distract the driver. Included in their statement is the use of GPS receivers. Does this mean that when my 60Cx is in the holder on the windshield, it is no longer a handheld?

I totally enjoy finding a cache that hasn't been found for quite a while, and reporting, through a "found it" log, that the hide is in great shape. It save the CO the worry about hiking or boating out to check on something that is really OK.

In honour of the dearly departed, make it a really evil, but in your face hide. That way, the dedicated can watch from above, or wherever they are, and have a laugh or two.

I agree. I don't know how someone could use a map or something and be able to walk 1/2 mile into the woods, bushwhack 200 feet and then find the exact rock pile or whatever where the cache is hidden? Back in my military days, we were given 16 digit co-ordinates, and told to park the radio van in a particular bush. Using topo maps and a compass became second nature. Yes, it is possible! It may be far beyond the technically refined students of bushwhacking of today, but still possible.

My 60Cx almost constantly give me a reading of accuracy to within 2-5 feet, even in deep forest cover. The drift is something I have learned to live with. You should see the maps I tried to make of a campground hiking trail system. Some real editing was in order, that time.

Would somebody remind me why I haven't totally switched to Linux yet?

Refer to this post . Use MapSet Toolkit to unregister the 1.22 in Mapsource, or conversely, to register the files in the folder and make them show up on Mapsource.

Overlooking Algonquin Park, about a month ago. Our northern colours peaked long before you guys down there. Another, taken that same day, at a different cache.

I stand corrected. I should have said "The great people at GC......................."