ozjeeper

Thanks Greg for the heads-up. We enjoyed last years event so much and are eagerly anticipating the next one. Both Ozjeepers plan to attend, travelling from Sydney NSW. Now we can't wait until the 16th to see what the committee will unfold. Happy caching Helen & Ray

I haven't personally tried this but I believe it works OK. I've heard of a guy who programmed a route from Brisbane (Queensland) to a street address in Melbourne (Victoria) which is a couple of thousand Ks away on his computer, downloaded/uploaded it to his Garmin GPS with Metroguide installed, put the GPS in a RAM Mount on the handlebar of his motorbike and got turn-by-turn instructions all the way. This was also confirmed as possible by the instructor on a basic GPS course I did a few years ago. Sorry I can't give you details instructions but hope this helps.

We had a frustrating day where we logged 5 DNFs in succession. Our problem was an incorrect datum setting in the GPS (it wasn't set to WGS84) and we were searching 200 metres from where the caches actually were - I've posted a topic on this problem in the Groundspeak GPS forum. After correcting our "mistake" we went back, easily found 4 of the caches and changed our log entries to "Found" (running out of time to complete the 5th cache and saving it for our next trip to that area). On another occasion we logged a DNF but we were positive that we had located the place where the cache should have been. An email to the cache's owner resulted in him checking the cache, finding that it had been muggled, deciding the location perhaps wasn't really suitable and archiving the cache to stop other cachers logging a series of DNFs. We had recently also tried several times to find WP1 of a multi-cache without success. An email to the owner provided us with a hint that allowed us to find the very clevery hidden WP1 and then complete the journey to the actual cache, retrieve a "stuck" TB and send it on it's way. If you're always having problems finding a cache and your GPS parameters are correct, try contacting the person who placed the cache for a hint - I'm sure they would sooner have their cache "found" than having it "un-visited" (and you may even get to make a new geocaching friend in the process). Hope this helps and that you get to find a cache soon!

I recently had an interesting day of geocaching with five DNFs because the GPS kept showing locations that appeared to be around 200 metres away from where the cache should have been. I had been playing with the GPS settings and had inadvertantly left it se to AGD66 instead of WGS84. All waypoints subsequently entered whilst the GPS parameter was incorrectly set were entered at a location 200 metres from where they should have been. All waypoints that had been previously entered before the parameter had been changed still retined their correct locations. As the AUSLIG Map-reading Guide states on pages 9 & 10, "GPS is based on a geocentric datum known as the World Geocentric System 1984 (WGS84). A major implication of this change is that GDA co-ordinates, both lattitudes and longitudes and eastings and northings differ from their AGD predecessors by approximately 200 metres in a north-easterly direction". So, if you're Geocaching (in Australia) and start getting GPS readings that don't make any sense and they appear to be about 200 metres "out", check your GPS parameters and make sure that WGS84 is selected.