Brown Dwarf

Good question. Our rule is to replace it exactly where we found it. If it seems that it may have been moved from the original location, we note that in the log. Although we put a cache back where we found it, we do try to conceal it as best we can, often with a light dusting of leaves over it, and brushing away any scuff marks we may have left in the area. This is consistent with the "leave no traces" philosophy.

As for features you may not need: 1) I've never had any need for an altimeter when caching. For wandering in the mountains, one of the watch/altimeter combinations works well. 2) Although GPSs do really well at indicating direction of travel when you are driving, they don't do as well telling you which way you are going when you are walking. Although some of the pricier units have electronic compasses built in, I've been very happy with a good old-fashioned compass. Don't confuse which direction you are going -- your heading -- with which direction the cache is in -- the bearing. Any unit will do a good job of telling you bearing and range [distance] to the cache. A compass will give you your heading; the GPS will give you the bearing. Although I'm drifting off-topic, you'll find that you generally don't want to head directly towards the cache. Something else you may want: an external antenna that rides on top of your car. I've used the Lowe for several years, running the cable through the sunroof to the unit. Means I get a much stronger signal in the car. If this sounds useful, you'll want a unit that accepts an external antenna. Not all of them do. Final thought -- if you really get into this, you'll probably be trading up for a fancier unit sooner or later. Your first unit then becomes a backup [don't laugh; lot's of us carry two] or a unit that someone else in your group can use

You don't miss the water ........ ........... 'til the well runs dry.

Is great -- but only as a guide. We have lots of semi-wild parks around here, laced with unofficial networks of trails. We work our way along the trails towards the cache by using the arrow to tell us which fork in the path to take. When we are within 50-100 feet of the cache we start thinking about going off-trail. Crashing cross country for much more than that isn't fun, although I admit I've done it from time to time. Usually just long enough to remind me how cold a swamp can be in the winter.

about how many posts it takes to get off topic?

That's what happens when a cachewidow stashes her husband.

A geo-decache is what happens when you archive a cache, no?

Might want to leave your unit on for ten to fifteen minutes before you take a reading. Gives it a chance to stabilize. [i keep mine on from the moment I leave the car.] What's happening is that the current causes the components to heat up just a tad -- which affects their electrical properties. Nothing to worry about.

Check to see that they are in the same format. There are several possibilities: Degrees, Minutes, Seconds Degrees, Minutes [with decimals] [caching standard] Degrees [with decimals] The way to tell is to look at the format. If it's DD MM SS [three separate numbers] you have the first. If it's DD MM.MMM [two numbers, including decimals] you have the second. If it's DD.DDD [one number, including decimals] you have the third. Set your GPS to use the second.

I've used the Palm/Magellan Companion combination for a few hunts. It seems quite stable and sensitive -- but it is fragile, and it doesn't offer the convenience and features you'd get using a "real" GPS with your Palm. No need to restart the discussion of which GPS is best. Most of them will do a fine job -- but don't expect any of them to lead you right to every cache. Just doesn't happen that way very often. That's what makes the game fun.

DD.DDDD = D + M/60 + S/3600. This also works: DD.DDDD = D + M.MMM/60. [use it when only degrees and minutes are given.] Easy enough to set up on a spreadsheet.

Garmin 12XL [almost always] Silva Ranger [most of the time] Palm 505 [recent addition] Yeah, we keep trying to get organized, and should carry at least the "ten essentials" for longer trips, but this has been fine for all but perhaps four of our finds.

I've had good luck with the Lowe -- and bad luck with the Garmin. Works great sitting on the roof of the car, with the lead coming in through the sunroof. Haven't needed one on the trail; the 12XL may lose signal occasionally -- but it seems to pick it up again quickly enough. Given all the errors in the system, no GPS will consistently bring you right to the cache. Use it to get you close -- and then go into ferret mode.

Sounds fine to me. Might want to try two things: 1) Leave the unit on for a while, and where you want to use it, so the electronics has a chance to stabilize; and 2) Figure out how to orient it so the antenna is in the optimal position. I think your unit has a quad antenna -- but I don't know how it's placed in the box. From what I understand, you want a quad to be pointing straight up.

Yup, George got it right: -add- east declination to convert from magnetic to true; -subtract- west declination to convert magnetic to true. If you want to convert from true to magnetic, reverse the procedure above.

Sounds like you may have a Garmin unit. I kept mine on "automag" until I realized it was giving me magnetic headings, not true. Most of the caches I've run into specify true bearings, rather than magnetic -- so I've switched the unit over. One way to check would be to drive a road that goes due east/west, and see what the gps compass says you are doing. Should be real close to 90/270 if the unit is giving you true bearings.

You didn't say if you were using a compass in your GPS -- or a real compass. Your GPS can -- almost certainly -- be reset to give you a true bearing. As for compasses, the more expensive ones can also be adjusted to read out true bearings. True bearings are a better bet for someone who's hunting in pretty much the same area. Just remember to check the declination if you are hunting far away from home. Declination out here in the PNW is about 20East, for example.

Sounds like someone had a "temporary loss of situational awareness". Hard to blame caching for that.

Magellan makes a Palm Companion GPS [uSD$100 after rebate] that rides on the Palm. Mapopolis has good maps for the US and Canada that load into the Palm. It's possible to jigger the .loc file from the custom queries to form a file of waypoints that can be superimposed on the Mapopolis maps [uS but not Canada] -- so you wind up with maps, GPS, and cache descriptions all in your Palm. Some glitches along the way, so it's not a perfect combination, but pretty good.

Some computers are using Com 1 for IR -- and the plug on the back is Com 2. Software is generally configured to use Com 1 as a default. Changing your software to use Com 2 may solve the problem. Alternatively, the Garmins have a number of different protocols for sending data to a computer. I suspect the Maggies may be the same. If the software is expecting one protocol -- and your unit is sending another -- you won't be able to establish a link. Making sure the software and the GPS are using the same protocol may solve the problem

Be interesting to know if the satellites have been placed to maximize accuracy at any given latitude.

Thanks. These guys also seem to make something that might work: http://www.georgecomm.com/products.html

Is that there is an implicit contract between the owner of a cache and the hunter. On one hand, the owner is responsible for an accurate description and realistic assessment of the difficulty, both of terrain and of the hide itself. These ratings are highly subjective, so reasonable people will differ on their assessments, but generally not by more than one level of difficulty. (Yes, there are guidelines for assigning difficulty numbers, but they are still subjective, and aren't always used.) (Some days I want a long, difficult walk to look for a single cache; other times I want something that I should be able to find in fifteen minutes. I rely on the descriptions to help me sort them out -- and am really annoyed when I find that a cache I'm hunting has been poorly described.) The owner is also responsible for picking a site and writing a description that will minimize disruption of the area by cache hunters. The cache hunter is responsible for reading the description, and accepting that the caches that are rated 3 and above really are intended to be difficult to find -- but perhaps more satisfying. In the best of all possible worlds, the cache hunter would provide feedback on all hunts, and log "failed to find" when appropriate -- although I'll admit my track record here is less than perfect. (There are already several threads on this issue; no need to rehash them here.) So where are we? My answer lies in the third paragraph. If I think the cache has been fairly described, I can accept not finding it. Otherwise .....

I'm the owner of two caches mentioned above: FlutterBy and Salmon 'Chanted Evening. Several comments: 1) We placed them with the hope that cache hunters would find them challenging but possible to find -- and given them ratings to tell prospective hunters what they are getting into. "Challenging" and "possible to find" are contradictory concepts; a challenging cache is, by definition, one that some folks will miss. I've followed the results of the more experienced local cachers and modified the descriptions and clues based on their reports. I've also provided additional help to folks that logged failed efforts. 2) Some hunters don't seem to have read the description or the clue. During our maintenance visits, we've found evidence that folks have searched in areas that clearly don't match the description. We chose the areas and the specific sites because they are robust -- but we've still been surprised by the disturbance. Fortunately it's temporary. 3) If a hunter doesn't record a "fail to find", then I don't have any way to know what to change to fix the problem. All this to suggest that micros may require a bit more management than traditional caches.

I'm thinking about hooking a Palm 505 to a Garmin 12XL. The idea is that I could use the Palm and Mapopolis maps in the car to get close to caches -- and then carry just the GPS for the hunt itself. Questions: 1) Anyone know where I can find a single cable to do the job? (Don't really want to string together three or so cables.) 2) (For bonus points) Is it really worth doing? Is there a better way?