GoPherStash

Our Travelbug, Amish Amos and Sarah was released in 2002 in Pennsylvania, and quickly left the US and popped up in Bankok. It has been in Europe for the majority of the time. It just appeared in its 69th cache, and has traveled just over 20K miles. Quite a ride for two kids in a wagon!

For what it's worth, I used one of the Rubbermaid clear container with the dark blue edge for the lid seal. It has made it through two winters, somtimes totally buried by snow, and has kept everything completely dry. There's a number of sizes and shapes available in this series. Nice option where clear containers are required.

I know this really doesn't help you, but I bet most of the time its just a matter of the TB being at the right place at the right time. My TB took an interesting jump overseas very quickly, and is having a pretty amazing journey. Check out Amos and Sarah. Other than just personally starting it at a International TB hotel, you can obviously give it an initial mission of going to a specific hotel; regardless all it's really doing is increasing its chances of taking a good jump in the right direction. Good Luck!

Without a doubt, this is an exceptionally bad year for them in the NE. In the past, I've never seen more than one or two crawling on me. This year has been heavier. This weekend, my daughter and I were out and hit the jackpot. Just like you, it looked like ants crawling up our pants. This was not at one isolated spot, but throughout the 5+ mile hike. I'm being conservative when I say that between the two of us, we picked off over 100 of the little buggers; some wood ticks and some deer ticks. I'm not heading out again without some really strong repellent. Maybe the fact that this was the first sunny weekend after 15 straight with rain had something to do with it? Perhaps the wet spring after such a dry year last year has really brought them out. GoPherStash

It's cool when bugs take a big hop like that. My travelbug took a huge hop shortly after being released. From PA it went to Bangkok, and is now in Hong Kong. That probably means it will move infrequently now, but's that's just fine with me considering the sites it is getting to. It's been fun pulling up as much info as I can on the net about these cities and parks. I'd love to see it make its way to Europe now, but who knows! Anyway, glad your tb is on a great trip now. The fun should really start now! GoPherStash

quote:Originally posted by MacBWizard201:Recently at I sprung for some Energizer NiMH batteries at 1850 mAh. Once I had opened the pack and started charging them I realized the pack said 1.2 volts. So instead of 1.5 I get 1.2. I tried them and they seem to work fine... until they die about an hour later. Does anyone have experience with these 1.2volt batteries? Should they hamper the battery life that much? Thanks MacBWizard All NiMh will be rated at 1.2v. It's pretty rare that the slightly less voltage will be a problem in electronic devices. The amperage is more significant. Some things like digital cameras will suck the life out of a 1200mAh pretty quickly, but 1800+mAh will last much longer. Personally, I found that my gps and digital camera go almost as far (90% maybe) on 1800mAh NiMh's as they did on something like duracell ultras. Just my experience. But I would say that if you go with the NiMh's (which I highly recommend) get the highest amp rating you can find. GoPherStash

I can't say that I really disagree with the above advice. However, I can say that I have the Sportrak and have found it to be dependable and accurate. Granted it does not have maping. But so far, I've yet to have a situation where I find myself saying, "boy I wish I had mapping here." It's just not that necessary for me, when most caches are within a couple dozen yards from a well established trail. However, I use my GPS only for caching, and don't use it for road maps while driving - I have software on my palm for that and use that regularly in my work. So I guess my only point is that I don't consider it a mistake to buy the SporTrak vs the pro if the main/only use is going to be caching. GoPherStash

quote:Originally posted by Hiemdahl: The hardest to convince was the police officer who wanted to know why I was hanging around a children's playground. Hiemdahl Well, maybe if you weren't wearing that viking helmet and sword.... GoPherStash

quote:Originally posted by Jamie Z:Hey GPS, You know, there's an easy way to find out the answers to your questions. Jamie True, but when I'm at work it's a whole lot easier to have an extra window open under my CAD program than it is to be punching numbers on my GPS while wandering in circles. GoPherStash

Ok, this is obviously nothing more than curiosity, but this thread started me thinking. If I set the "goto" on my GPS for the point which is exactly on the opposite side of the planet from where I am standing, what would the direction of travel arrow do? Would it theoretically be in a useless spin until I travel in some direction so I am no longer at the point perfectly opposite to the goto (similar to a compass at magnetic north), or is there something about the programming or system that would cause it to default to a particular direction? Or on a similar vein, if both I and the "goto" are in the northern hemisphere, but are directly opposite as far as E - W hemisphere, will the direction arrow point N, E, or W? Or should I just go for another cup of coffee? GoPherStash

Caches vary quite a bit in terms of difficulty, so the fact that it may not be difficult to get to is not a problem, as long as you rate it properly. However, since it sounds like it might be a high traffic area, I'd suggest that you hide it quite well and creatively to prevent a non-cacher from stumbling onto it, and to give as much of a challenge for cachers as possible. Also, since campgrounds are either park service or privately owned, you will want to be sure to get proper permission from whomever is in charge. GoPherStash

It's a faze that will never catch on...just like the Susan B Anthony and the metric system GoPherStash

I don't have much of an idea as to what the problem could be. I can tell you that I have used NiMh batteries in mine since I bought it (about 3 months ago), used it every weekend, and have never had it lock up even when batteries got quite low; so I seriously doubt a battery problem. My guess is that you have a faulty unit and should exchange it. GoPherStash

1254 within 100 near me. Can you tell I live near CCCooperAgency? GoPherStash

If your pic won't show, check to see how the file is named. iview sometimes defaults to .JPG. For some reason for pics to show on a page they need to have an extention of .jpg. (Lower case instead of upper). Don't know if that is your problem or not, but it is an issue I've had as well as other people. GoPherStash

Actually the TB tags do come with an activation code, but no real instructions. Best I can remember, you will want to go to the "track tavel bugs" page, and enter the tag number. The search that comes back will show that the bug has not been activated. There will be a place to enter the activation code (which you will find on the envelope the bugs came in. You should be able to take it from there. GoPherStash

"Took Gall Bladder...Left Kidney.... Container is looking rather worn out though..." GoPherStash

I'm using the SporTrak for my finds. It has worked quite well for me. I've also hidden a cache, and the logs indicate that the coordinates are accurate. I'm happy with the value of what I got. I use niMh rechargables, which also has worked well. I will say that once I get close to the cache area, with a lot of stopping, starting, turning etc, that the GPS becomes somewhat "confused", but that it probably true of any of them. So I carry a compass with me, and the combination of the two has been a winner. I'm sure that having a GPS with maps is a nice feature, but I get along just fine without it. Antenna reception has not been a major problem at all, especially if held upright. I haven't found a lot of online info about it, so the owners manual has to suffice. That could be more complete and detailed. But the basics are covered well. Enjoy your SporTrak. As far as I'm concerned, its a winner. GoPherStash

Welcome to geocaching! Actually, you can find a lot of information right here in the forums on the questions you asked. (Use the search feature at the top of this page) So instead of my starting off a whole other thread covering that same information, let me suggest that you look back through this forum, as well as the one on GPS units and software. You'll find all sorts of information there for you already, and can get your answers more quickly than waiting for people to post thoughts to this thread. Also, look in the FAQ's (at Geocaching's home page) or look for a link to Markwell's FAQ's (I think it's www.markwell.us) as I'm sure he has a bunch on it also. Have fun caching! GoPherStash [This message was edited by GoPherStash on October 21, 2002 at 07:43 AM.] [This message was edited by GoPherStash on October 21, 2002 at 07:43 AM.]

quote:Originally posted by Team Shuey: That was what I thought, but was not very sure. Well, I think that answers my question, and the one that I looked at, and couldn't find... It must be hidden in the bushes?? Maybe your car was in front of it?? A lot of people around here seem to think everyone left a parking space just for them. GoPherStash

My understanding is that it is intended to give a short, consistant code name for each cache. A number of popular GPS units cannot handle more than six digits for a waypoint name; so this gives a unique waypoint name for each cache. It may or may not be of value to you, depending on your equipment. GoPherStash

ROTFL..... OK, Let's get this straight... They're Cheeks, ok? Cheeks!!! Read my lips..... oh wait. you can't see them for the cheek cleavage, can you? GoPherStash [This message was edited by GoPherStash on October 11, 2002 at 05:03 PM.]

Each way has its benefits. However, I have mine set to magnetic. This way when my gps show that I should head 275, I can sight 275 with my compass and not have to make any corrections. GoPherStash

Each way has its benefits. However, I have mine set to magnetic. This way when my gps show that I should head 275, I can sight 275 with my compass and not have to make any corrections. GoPherStash

quote:Originally posted by umc:System Notice: [snip] Has anyone else been seeing these messages lately with the forums? Is it just me and my posting habits or is there something going on here? Any ideas? I think it just happens to those people with more than 300 posts. GoPherStash