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Cyclometh

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Everything posted by Cyclometh

  1. It's an interesting idea, but doesn't qualify as a cache- which at a minimum is a container and logbook. Without the book, it's not a cache and I don't think it would get past the reviewers.
  2. Easy, just get the really tiny ones. Made from paper clips and balsa wood. Hrmph, clicked the wrong "Reply" button. This should have been in response to the "How would you get mousetraps in a film canister" question. Meh.
  3. Absolutely. I use my Palm III and hunt both caches and benchmarks. Here's what you do. For a Palm, get Cachemate, it's 8 bucks and worth it by a long shot. Next, go to http://www.parkrrrr.com/ and download BMGPX. Get yourself a copy of GSAK, and experiment with how to use it to send data to your Palm. Use the "Export to Cachemate" option on the File->Export menu. After you've set up Cachemate and can sync GPX files you get from Geocaching.com, go to the NGS website and get the ZIP file for your county or the area you're looking for. Extract it and drag it onto the BMGPX program you downloaded, and it generates a GPX. Import that into GSAK, export to your Palm and off you go. I personally keep two GSAK databases- one for caches and one for benchmarks. Prior to going out, I'll clear my GPS of all waypoints and send the contents of both to the GPS. I then use GSAK and export a copy of both databases to my Palm and sync it. Then when I start Cachemate, it pulls in all the waypoints and organizes the data. (My Palm III has limited memory, so I usually delete all the records in it before I try to import from my PC). When I'm out caching, after finding a cache, I'll usually head back to the car, find the cache in Cachemate, and tell it to find nearest using that cache as the centerpoint. Then I look for nearby benchmarks. If any are interesting, I'll go hit them up, otherwise I go after a cache. Lather, rinse, repeat. I carry my GPS and my Palm with me when caching. That and my digital camera is all I need. Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions about how to set up your paperless caching experience.
  4. Travel bugs aren't trade items, you can take them without leaving anything. My first TB got picked up tonight by someone who didn't leave anything. Travel bugs are supposed to move toward their destination.
  5. This is the confusion I've been trying to clear up - the 'D' (when you have WAAS available) is not D[ifferential]GPS - it's a differential correction. (Which is an entirely different kettle of fish.) That's what the 'D' on the birds means - the GPSr has recieved the differential correction for that bird. (At least on my eTrex Legend, you can watch the corrections arrive - the 'D' appears on different birds at different times - as the WAAS bird broadcasts the corrections for that bird.) Here's what it says in my Garmin eTrex manual. From page 44: "Initial reception of the WAAS signal may take up to 15-20 minutes, then 1-2 minutes afterwards. When WAAS differential correction has been received for GPS satellites (numbers 32 or below), a 'D' appears in the signal bar of the Advanced Sky View. When enough satellites have received WAAS differential correction, 'DIFF' appears below the 'Ready to Navigate' message." So, at least for the eTrex yellow and eTrex camo, the D on the satellite and the 'Diff' in the display are basically both referring to WAAS. Sorry if I wasn't clear above- I didn't mean that the D meant true "Differential GPS" (which I didn't know existed until this thread anyway). I thought it was all WAAS. I can't speak to how any other GPSr does it, of any model. I don't have one, or their manuals to check.
  6. I work in Seattle (Redmond) and live in Olympia, so I'm back and forth at least 4 days per week. If anyone wants me to be their bug porter, I'll be happy to help out as I can. And I'm going after Poor Man's Pool this week (didn't have time last week) so it may be a good chance to get them in there. Feel free to PM/email me or post here. I'll try and get over to the UW campus soon to snag them- I'm pretty busy at work so I can't promise anything, but I'll try. (sewage outflows? yeesh)
  7. You should read the thread before you write a response like this. We are not talking about DGPS - we are talking about WAAS. (They are two seperate things. no matter what Garmin calls them.) I read the thread, but the question asked (and quoted) was about the "D" on Gramin units. It can mean DGPS or Differential (using WAAS), depending on the situation. My eTrex shows a "D" on sats it's getting differential GPS from, but shows "Diff" in the main display next to the resolution when it's got a WAAS fix. Don't know how other systems do it.
  8. See Handicaching- it's a site that rates caches by more than just difficulty/terrain, providing information that is useful to people needing particular access. For example, you can tell if the cache is wheelchair accessible, or if you could walk to it with assistance, if there's paved paths, changes in elevation, and so on. Good luck and welcome to the sport!
  9. Hm. I just got one for yesterday. Four finds already.
  10. This reminds me of the famous quote by Bill Gates: "Nobody will ever need more than 640 KB RAM." Cornix The quote was actually "640K ought to be enough for anybody". But he never actually said that.
  11. I would imagine that the requirements for "membership" would be basically expressing an interest and paying some amount of money to defray the cost of striking the coins.
  12. Oh, Talisker is VERY good scotch. I have an empty bottle in my cupboard. More's the pity.
  13. Neat coin. Just as a tip, you shouldn't post pics of trackable objects with their "ID" visible. This one doesn't seem to have that- the number in the picture looks more like a serial number, not a tracking number. The reason for this is that if you post an image with the tracking ID visible, anyone can log it, and people can "steal" the coin by using the ID number to log it as a find even if they don't have possession of the thing. Like I said, you didn't do that with this one, it seems. But if you find another one or have questions about it, it'd be best to "blur" or crop any tracking ID number before posting a picture. Great find, BTW!
  14. Each cache has a waypoint, or coordinates, and the waypoint "name" is a unique code that starts with "GC" and a set of letters and numbers. With it you can always identify the exact cache being referred to. As the previous poster said, you can search out the waypoint by this code by using the "Hide and Seek a Cache" page. It's basically the way you can be absolutely certain about the cache being discussed. They're also useful when you're trying to find them in your GPSr.
  15. I'd be in. Sounds like a good time.
  16. How about placing the cache in the radioactive wasteland of a decommissioned nuclear reactor? Oh wait, already done and approved. holy... WOW. Wish I lived on the East Coast, I'd love to go after that one.
  17. If you take apart old floppy or hard disk drives, please exercise caution. Some of them contain sharp bits, and there are materials in them you don't want to ingest (not likely, but you know, it should be said). Also, don't simply toss the parts that aren't magnets- there's a lot of material in electronic equipment that shouldn't go into landfills. Your local solid waste disposal facility should be able to assist you with getting rid of all that stuff- generally inexpensively. And lastly, be extremely careful with some of the magnets you can get out of hard drives and floppy drives- most are very strong, but ones from older systems can be EXTREMELY strong- unbelievably so, enough in some cases to break bones or crush flesh if you get your hand/fingers/extremities pinched. It's a good idea, just be careful when tearing apart old equipment and dispose of it properly.
  18. Or how about a night cache in an ammo can, rigged to set off a flashbulb or strobe when you open it? You'd find the cache and have to wait 20 minutes to be able to see well enough to sign the logbook!
  19. A 35mm film canister in the middle of a large field. Filled with mousetraps.
  20. Speaking from experience, multi-lingual site development is a LOT harder than it sounds. That said, I think it's a really good idea and needs to happen at some point. But don't be surprised if it takes a bit to make happen.
  21. I tend to agree, but the recovery report does say it recovered Merom College 1947- the year the change was made. It sounds like they specifically said they recovered the offset mark, not the original.
  22. Thanks guys for the info. Just to let you know Bill, they didn't end up tearing down the spire. It is still there to the best of my knowledge. I will have to head over there this weekend if I get a chance. I will post a pic if it is still there. You guys are real helpful in this forum. According to what I read, the original spire is gone, but a new location was established before it was taken down. I didn't know they could do that.
  23. The benchmark is the spire itself. It sounds like the original benchmark from 1885 was gone, but before it was removed, a new one was established by a traverse from the old one. So if the new spire is still there, the benchmark is still there. It says that the one established in 1947 was recovered in good condition. For these types of marks, my understanding is that you only need to be able to validate that the object can bee seen (ie, still exists). These are used to sight on from other points to establish a location.
  24. I'll definitely buy a coin/pin or both. I think the trouble is we'll have to settle on a design and the text that goes on it- these things have to have a die cast, then there's the stamping run and the cost of integrating with Geocaching for tracking ($1.50 per coin, plus $150 for the initial setup). Moun10Bike's pages showed he could get coins for anywhere from 4 to 6 bucks per, but these would be much less expensive, since they're simple bronze disks with no color. I'm definitely behind the idea of a benchmarker's club with a signature coin for the club- that would rock the house.
  25. I'm very interested to hear what kind of options/cost there is to these. I totally love the graphic- that's almost exactly what I was thinking of. I'd probably get one in bronze and have it mounted in the street in front of my house!
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