YeOleImposter

What info is protected? I know if I archive a cache it will be unarchived with my next GPX update. How about finds? Are they 'unfound' when I update? If it is not already in the docs, a list of items that will be overwritten by gpx update would be nice. I have 'locked' some of my records just because I am not sure

Ok, besides the fact that alot of folks made some pretty funny posts about the Space Needle - how would you counsel someone to log this? If you are not going to log this one, then why log any intersection station? I can be just as sure of this one has not changed as I can be that another row of bricks has/has not been added to a smoke stack since 1932. Are Intersection Stations the 'Virtual Caches' of benchmarking? The purists look down their noses at those who log them? Most of the hilarious logs of the space needle are made by the same people who cannot tell the difference between a triangulation station and a reference mark. If someone thinks that the the Space Needle is no longer 'THE 606-FOOT HIGH STRUCTURE' shown on the datasheet then maybe it should be reported to NGS as 'Destroyed' I hope my attempt humor comes through in this post. Just be glad that none of the logs ANYONE writes here at gc.com show up on the NGS database

Can't tell you all what fun I had watching everyone look for caches. Got to meet some more super people - and see others again. I think the 1 mile hike in to Bateman Island after Red Robin with a small group finished off anything I had left in me! Horizontal may be where it's at - but the only horizontal I wanted to do after that was in my warm waterbed!

Friday Night at Carl's Jr. N46 13.243 W119 13.363 The manager has promised to even give us a 10% discount on all purchases.

Too funny - but check this out: RD3152 STATION RECOVERY (2004) RD3152 RD3152'RECOVERY NOTE BY US POWER SQUADRON 2004 (RHC) RD3152'RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION. RD3152 RD3152 STATION RECOVERY (2004) RD3152 RD3152'RECOVERY NOTE BY NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY 2004 (DB) RD3152'RESET INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE AT NGS. Our friends the USPS found this one

The local cachers would like to invite all those attending the cache machine for a 'Pre-CacheMachine' get together at the local Carl's Jr. We tried to set up a BBQ but alas none of the nearby parks are set up for 'after-dark' so this is the next best thing - 99 cent meals and free refills on pop There is quite a bit of seating and we should be able to mill about and shoot the breaze easily. I am planning on being there from 6:30 till everyone feels it is time to hit the hay for the big day Saturday. Looking forward to a fun time. The restuarant is on Columbia Ctr Blvd very close to both Motel 6, Super8 and the RedLion. Gary YeOleImposter

GPS Babel is too cool! Wish I could find some simple line art for a stamp that would work for my alias: YeOleImposter Thanks if you can figure anything out.

Oops, you mean the coordinates are 'adjusted' not 'scaled' Cool find! There is 1 'chiselled stone' in my area. I have been within 10 feet of the coordinates - but it is 6" underground and 8 feet the other side of a 8' chain link fence on 'No Trespassing' RailRoad property

I transfer waypoints from cachemate on my palm to my garmin with no problem.

heh... thanks. So simple, I don't know how I could miss it. Glad to help. My big wish is that there were an easier way to get a screen shot printed out - but I do use the 'Screen.jpg' quite a bit too.

But I don't believe there is anyway to label a point on the map. That is what made LostOutdoors a great resource.

I like your take on this. Was hoping to get some discussion - and maybe something we can reference to those who are just starting out. I have yet to log a DNF on a NGS PID that is also on the USGS Topo map. Notice first requirement is that they already be on NGS database, then that they are on the Topo. Maybe it is just a confidence thing for me, and that it gets me a little closer to where it is really located than I usually start out. Most of the urban landmarks around here have changed so drastically that any description from 1960 or before is almost worthless, so an X on a current map helps out alot.

Was just explaining to someone the 'easiest' benchmarks to find - and thought would post it here to get some comments from others. Seems there are 3 factors in finding a Benchmark: 1) Shows on a Topo Map 2) Adjusted Coordinates 3) Not Found by someone other than USPS I have had very few benchmarks that show up on a Topo map end up being a nofind. Interactive Topo map makes it easy to 'adjust' my own coordinates. I have been using LostOutdoors.com - but since they will be gone at the end of July I have been getting used to using USAPhotoMaps. With this software I can get better coordinates of where the X really is. Adjusted Coordinates will usually put you right on the spot (that is if the spot still exists). Noobies have to be careful of finding a Reference Mark and mistaking it for a the actual mark which may be missing. Only experience will make them realize that the station mark never has an Arrow pointing somewhere else and lettering such as 'No. 1' under the station name. And of course if the description says that the concrete cylinders with the station mark and reference marks were found lying next to a plowed field back in 1960 then you probably do not need to go look - unless you too want to see what concrete cylinders look like. So, as a noobie myself I am trying to find: 1) all the Adjusted benchmarks that show up on my Topo Map 2) all the Scaled benchmarks that show up on my Topo Map 3) all the other marks will be looked for when A) they are real close to 1s or 2s I run out of 1s and 2s to look for I figure by the time I have found all the 1s and 2s in a 20 mile radius of my home I will have enough experience to say that a 3 is a true DidNotFind rather than a inexperience DNF. All of this is to encourage those who are just starting out to read the descriptions in the NGS datasheet. Compare that description to what is showing on the Topo Map. Compare that description with what you actually find on site. If you just use your GPSr to get close - spot the benchmark - check it off your list - go look for the next one - you will not learn how to find the hard ones. So, go look for the easy ones but use the GPSr just to get you to a good parking spot. PS. I do not include in 1s or 2s benchmarks that are tall structures - ie water towers and steeples. Those are too easy and are just fun quick finds, and should probably be labeled 0s. I found all those in my neck of the woods right away - but I am talking about hunting actual disks here.

Yep: View | Goto Lat/Long It will pop you to that location and then ask you for the Name of the coordinate and place a green dot on the spot. Or if you are already there, click on the spot and it will ask you to name it. I use that for finding better coordinates for 'scaled' benchmarks that show up as an X on the topo map. Gets me a little closer on with a GPSr than the 'scaled' coordinates do.

I thought it might be good to start a thread to see how people are using USAPhotoMaps. If you have suggestions, tricks, tips, etc., then just post them here. I just downloaded the newest version and plugged in the coordinates for Seattle - It is cool to use the new Urban maps - can zoom in and see people represented as single pixels! Here are some of the latest updates: Version 2.30 July 15 Fixes a bug that occurs when changing zones while looking at urban area map. Version 2.30 July 14 Other programs can access a GPS while USAPhotoMaps is open. It hasn't been tested on a Magellan, though. Adds info about datums in Help -Using. Version 2.29 July 8 Adds a small addition to GPS capability. Changes track editing slightly. Version 2.28 July 2 Cleans up the usual new-feature bugs. You'll need to get BigJpeg 2.25 to work with this version. Version 2.27 June 30 Adds a line to the Dialog Box that pops up if you press the X key. This line contains the URL address of the center of the screen in USAPhotoMaps, and if you copy and paste it into the address bar in your browser and go to it, you'll see in your browser what was on your screen in USAPhotoMaps (well, topos might look different because USAPhotoMaps only downloads 4 meter/pixel topos). The URL address can also be emailed. Version 2.26 June 28 ***Adds capability to download Urban Areas from Terraserver.*** If you're editing a track, and right click on a track point, speed as well as time is shown next to it.

That was fast! Hmmmmmm.... lets try this.... What percentage of users download PQs of their finds and wish archived caches were included? Hey, a guy can dream, can't he? Or at least export archived caches for 1 month after they have been archived - so it will at least update offline databases like GSAK - otherwise if they go archived immediately they show active in the offline database until you notice the cache has not been updated in GSAK for 3 months And usually after you go hunt it, DNF, come back to make the log and find it has been archived for 2 weeks.

Maybe the Found checkbox could be a check for found, an X for not found, and a blank for neither. Does your grid support a 3-state control? Unfortunately No, they are boolean values only. But no problems, I am sure I can come up with something Following on .... I think the easiest solution would be to just add a DNF field to the database, with its own column, and ability to filter on. Hmmm. Would just being able to put a date in the 'Found by Me' when not found take care of DNFs? What I am wondering is you have 2 fields used now for finds - Boolean & Date If not attemped then found is false and there is no date If found then 'found' is true and there is a date If DNF then found is false and there is a date Probably just easier to have a DNF field and share the date field though.

I could see how this could be useful. For me though, any cache that is not found and has a note has been, at least so far, a DNF. Assuming that you have made a log entry for all caches NOT found, a work-a-round for the DNF, is to go to your 'My Cash Page' and print out all you caching logs. Then for each DNF, go to the cache and marked it as 'watched", and keep these up to date in the future. Now a PQ can be generated for all 'watched' caches and you have a DNF list. Not sure how that would keep track of which ones are DNF from within GSAK? Also, how would I separate those from the caches I have on my 'watch' list now? Using the DNF (actually I put in !DNF) in the user-data field I can easily exclude DNFs if I want, or list just DNFs, etc. I allready get the cache info for the DNFs in my regular PQs.

Ditto for me too. I will miss LostOutDoors.com I have USAPhotoMaps - but the ease of printing a topo/photo map with coordinates made the site invaluable. Thanks so much!

I hope it is on Clyde's 'someday' list I like to keep track of my DNFs also. What I do now is put the letters DNF in the User Data field. Then I can filter based on that field.

Interesting. You have quite a few measurements in your description. I have never been as thorough. Do you use a tape or just the GPS?

Question - How frequently do each of you report your finds to the NGS? I guess that is at least a 2 part question - 1) Do you report most benchmarks you find that have not been found in X years? 2) Do you usually do it in batches or as you go?

And John got his 1900th about an hour after me at.... what was it? I haven't logged yet! Wow. 1900! I remember when I dreamed of 100. Now I hit 500 and have a feeling someone will pat me on the back and say 'I remember when I had only 500 finds....' Congrats Wienerdog & Evergreen hiker! (edit: wish I could spell)

Since you read my post so carefully, you know quite well that I never claimed to have seen an "8-INCH SQUARE STONE POST", nor did I suggest that you change your log. It was you who were suggesting that others change theirs. Of course I and everyone on this forum knew that information and advice was not the primary purpose of your post. So at the risk of getting my first forum warning I'll just make a sly and oblique reference to a very politically incorrect joke about arguments on the internet and the Special Olympics, and leave you in command of the field. Oh well, I must be dense cause I am not following your arguement at all. I was just pointing out none of us actually found the 'benchmark' that is listed on the benchmark page. Not sure why the hostility. Sorry I brought it up.

I usually delete a category before I reimport it from GSAK - just in case the smart name is different or I mess up. I use Cachemate in the field - I don't try to use it to keep track of everything. When I need to update cachemate it is just easier to delete the category and reimport, so no duplicates.