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wmas1960

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  1. This may have been addressed enough but I just want to also say that I think there is a difference. I credit the creators of some of these boxes for their creativity and Inventiveness or whatever you would call it. However, I do think it goes in a bad direction in that it may encourage children or others to tamper with dangerous items while they are caching. Not knowing if an electical box in an urban location is real or a setup. I don't think one wants to encourage people to open electrical outlets or Junction boxes thinking that they MIGHT house a cache. With all do respect, I just feel it is something that shouldn't be done. I guess though, there is a very small amount of lee way though if the box is placed in a totally ubsurd location where there is no doubt that it is a cache. Like in the middle of the wilderness where there is NO expectation of an electrical connection. But then, what would the point of that be if you placed something so obvious in an environment that finders could see it from 100yds off. EDIT: I guess I replied to the wrong post. I was commenting on the comparison of one writer to falling and tripping, falling off the side of a mountain or cliff or having a car accident while searching for caches. Comparing accidents of that sort to something that some may argue, actively confuses some items and encourages the tampering with utilities, whether it be gas, electric, sewer, water or communications (cable or phone services) etc. in search of caches, may be misguided. Like I said though, if the cach is in a totally obsurd place it might be different but in an urban environment or where such items would be plentiful and expected, I don't feel it is wise. Just a few thoughts. And you are encouraging people to play in electrical boxes why? So what happens when some kids looks for your next caches and thinks it is the same hide "technique" and dies from an electrical shock? Will you still think your container is so cool? Very clever, although I agree there is that danger of encouraging people to start searching live equipment. To make this one 'perfect' a very small geocacing logo, GC#, or even 'pnpur' added to the bottom corner - or anywhere discrete but visible - would be wise. Still keeps muggles at bay, needs a good look (but no touching) to confirm the container, and doesn't ruin the fun element.
  2. There seems to be a lot of technical discription that will take some time for me to read. I am not that, specifically, technical minded but in simple terms, as I understand it, Please correct me if I am wrong, It is basically using a navigation process called triangulation. Back when I took map reading during JROTC classes we would use highly detailed charts or maps of an area. That chart would contain landmarks like water towers, tall buildings, lakes, rivers, railroad tracks, bridges and what have you. The area where I was consisted of a lake, There was an astronomical observatory on one shore that stood out very clear. Then there were a couple points along the shore that stuck out some. Add water towers and even the schools flag pole which was very tall and considered an official landmark and you had the information that you would need. You would seek a high point or look around you and see if you can find any of these land marks. Standing in one point, you would use a compass to determine the location of each landmark. Subtracting 180 degrees from your compass to the object that you located on a map, you would then draw a line from that object in that direction. Then you would repeat the process for your second object. The point where the two lines crossed is your location. With GPS it is doing the same thing but using sattelites. the satellites are launched and tracked in relation to the earths location. The GPS is a receiver is reading data from satellites as to, I guess, things like the time, orbit, location relative to the earth... Using all kinds of math, I would guess it could get quite accurate. Your receiver picks up the signals from as many of these satellites as it can and collects the data. The more satellites it receives, I think the more precise it's location can be. I think it needs, at least, 3 satellites to determine latitude, longitude and elevation. Calculating the coordiates, and I guess distance from where you are to where the satellites are, the GPS can then tell you where you are, where you are headed and track your movement. I believe, the stronger the signals and the more satellites that your receiver can continuously detect, the more precise your coordiates and tracking will be. My eTrex sometimes veries from about 70 feet down to 12, I think. Military versions are supposedly far more precise or maybe it is that the military has access to more of the satellites, allowing them more precise or complete sets of data. I seem to recall an issue some time ago where the civilian market was only given access to so many of these satellites to allow us some sort of navigation. That being why our machines are only so good. But then, we aren't trying to drop a missile down a chimney. Edited to correct for what I had just read. Didn't turn out to be as complex as I had anticipated. Graphics and charts can sometimes be helpful or scary. I guess this time they were more helpful.
  3. Very well said! I agree! I suspect that somef folks are taking all the things they see in a park of which they disapprove, and are blaming them to one subculture or one type of activity, when in fact, much as we point out on our cache listing page cited above for PUC #10, such phenomena are often due to a wide range of subcultures and activities. Don't misunderstand my statements as trying to lump it all on one subculture. That wasn't my intention. I was referring to several different activities that occour in the local forest preserves. They are engaged in by all kinds of people. Kids hiding out and drinking and partying around a camp fire or people looking for partners to hitch up with or people who know that they can drive in, meet up for a drug deal and get out without little risk of being seen. I think one of the reasons that forest preserves and such are popular for this is that many are areas that are surrounded by acres or even miles of wilderness. Many are very quiet and desolate during certain times. Some are chained off after sunset and while you might not be able to drive in, you can easilly walk in and there are people who, I am sure, walk in after dark. They know that nobody will be wandering through. With some being pretty secluded, even during the day, there are people who just go there to do things that they know that they can't get away with in the public eye. Truth is though, that they are still using public spaces and innocent people who have equal rights to that land have the right to expect that they or their families and children won't wander upon this activity. It doesn't really matter who is doing it.
  4. While I haven't actually encountered any of it yet, personally, I have seen a few signs of it, as posted in my previous post. I am not against people going to the parks or forests to find a friend and hang out... Heck, I wouldn't even care if they shared an embrace, hug or whatever. However there is a limit to what is appropriate in a public place. Especially one where one might go and take family and children. If someone stalks you around, like one other post mentioned, if they leave "Biohazardous" Trash around, or if they are engaging in their extreme intimate acts in public than I would be on my cellphone immediately. Heck, I might even use the camera phone for some evidence in case the sheriff (forest preserve cop) or other authority arrives and they are gone. When it gets to these points, I don't care if it is hetero or same sex. It is inappropriate and the proper authorities need to be contacted and charges of stalking or public indecency need to be enforced. As for the litter, there may not be a lot that the police can do to take care of that. But, if you let them know about it, and the other stuff that you see or witness, than if they take action to get rid of the main activity, the trash should go away with it. Same thing also with drug use and such. I do a lot of metal detecting also. Haven't come accross any of this yet but if I came accross a needle infested area, I would notify the authorities. They can, at least, send someone down to try and clean up some of the stuff, for the public health and safety issues and start to monitor the area. If I noticed people actually engaged in any such activity, I wouldn't interfere at that moment. I would, maybe, discreatly hit the enter button on my GPS and register that location. Then keep going till I was out of site. Then I would call the authorities to report the situation. Lastly, it is sad that I say this, Perhaps we all need to start putting special containers in our caching or metal detecting packs for when we encounter these types of things. That and some good sturdy rubber gloves. When detecting, I wouldn't feel right leaving this stuff around, especially the needles lying around for some child to get pricked with. The right thing to do, as difficult as it may sound, is to be prepared to dispose of this stuff properly. Used condoms could be burried several inches down perhaps. However, something like needles could be found by another Metal Detector and someone could get hurt digging them up. They should definately be properly disposed of. As I think of it, Extreme care and caution needs to be exercised when digging these things up or when encountering them and any attempt should be made to properly dispose of them and notify the authorities of the actions that are leading to it all.
  5. Reading this thread has gotten me to thinking. First, a few caches in my area are in or near places that are reputed for some of this activity. Second, there are other areas where my girlfriend and I often pick up some dinner, say at a fast food place, and go sit and have a little picnic. They are wooded areas with limited traffic and kind of out of the way. Sometimes with a nice open field or small lake and wildlife around us... We have noticed some suspicious activity in these forest preserves in the past. Thought it had more to do with some sort of drug activity or something in the secluded out of the way areas. Perhaps drug transactions going on. We often see taxi drivers and people in other work type vehicles driving back and forth. Sometimes older gentlemen in non descript vehicles. I go into some such areas from time to time to take wildlife pictures and in the middle of the afternoon will see people parked there in delivery vehicles... I figure a lot of them are just grabbing some lunch and taking a little rest while doing their routes. But, there are often those who have looked suspicious. Most of these areas are roads that lead to parking slots and will loop around with no outlet. So, when you see the same car go back and forth about 5 times, you know something is up as the person is obviously cruzing or looking for someone or something. It can get a little uncomfortable at times, especially in some of the more off the road and secluded areas but we tend to just chuckle it off. There are a couple areas now that are just so creepy and uncomfortable that we don't go there. In reality, we have never been confronted or seen anything disturbing or anything but it often comes down to just a comfort factor. Then, there is the time when I was at a small lake in the Cook County Forest Preserves, not far from O'Hare airport. I was on my way home from a video job and had stopped at a nearby McDonalds to pick something up to eat. Being that I had all my camera gear with me, I decided to drive over to this park and watch the airplanes and take a few pictures. I was there for about 20 minutes when a forest preserve cop came by and asked what I was doing. Taking pictures of airplanes, I told him as I stood there with my Nikon D100 and 200mm 2.8 lens. He suggested that I go over closer to the airport, near Irving Park Road. In this day and age, post 9-11, I didn't think that was smart as the attention was more heightened over there. I just told him that I had been to McDs and that the current place was convenient. He had no problem and was on his way. About 2 minutes later, he was back. This time saying that there was a specific complaint about me as a suspicious person. I took it in stride as he said he was now required to check me out because it was in response to a specific complaint. He checked my license plates and ran my drivers license. I couldn't imagine who would have called me in though. There were basically 3 sides (triangle) to the parking area. One was a wide open lake with, I guess, a dog park. The other was some Railroad Tracks and the third was the hill leading up to the tollway. Not a house or building anywhere around. There were only a couple other cars in the parking lot and a few people way out in the park walking their dogs. Maybe my camera and my long lens got someone nervous or something. I thought maybe someone who should be at work, napping in their car or something, afraid that I might have been casing the area or something. But, perhaps it was someone concerned that I might have been driving away their action?
  6. OH, and honestly, I am not trying to discount anything said. It all is good advice. I forgot about Golf Balls. I have a few of those to put in also but would just suggest this for such items as those. Golf Balls are not cheap. But, if you are going to put those into a cache, make it a package of 3 or 4 maybe, however they may come. Most I have seen are 3s. Or, if you are leaving single balls in a cache, try and put them with some design or logo on them. Some people do find them collectable and might be interested in those. I wouldn't put just 1 standard Titlest in a cache. But, that is just me.
  7. Good point that was made in another post about Something that maybe can't be said enough and part of what I was getting at with my earlier post. I don't think it would be hard for any of us to put together a good assortment of quality items that might be cluttering up our lives. With my examples I think I have shown how I have drawers full of stuff. Whether cerial box toys, trinkets from trips I have taken, Happy Meal Toys, items that I have gotten packaged with other items like batteries. I have bought batteries with toy cars (Matchbox) attached. I have gotten AA batteries in 8 packs with flashlights, collectable pins, snow globes and all kinds of things packaged in them. Or, Carnival and redemption machine prizes like from Chuck E Cheeses... Heck, even left over tokens from CECheese. Some people do collect those things. Value, might be concidered to be, maybe about a quarter. Keep a caching backpack around. Put in it your GPS, a basic kit of first aid items like bandages and disinfectant. Maybe some sun block, bug spray and burn ointment or cream for if you get a sun burn out there or some other ointments for bug bites.... and such. Maybe a map or two of areas that you search. Add in there some assorted trinkets so that you can always be prepared to leave a trade, or just a thank you to the cache owner for making your day fun. Put something in for the next guy, assuming there is space available of course. Some other items that you could put into a cache that you might buy so you have something for a good item to trade. AA Batteries for a GPS. Some Film for a cacher's camera mini flashlights. I cant tell you how often I am standing at the check out and see small flashlights that use 1or two AA battery(ies). Sometimes they are packaged free with batteries but I would trade those for lower items. I have a few of them around here. Have some larger and good items for larger caches but don't forgeet smaller items for smaller caches. Anyway, as said above, and I would even ammend slightly, Trade even for an item that you want to take or Trade UP if you don't have something more even. Your having some fun? Don't be afraid to show it. Don't put true JUNK into a cache. Keep it things that someone might actually want or find interesting. Or, something that their kids might find fun or interesting. Remember, kids are usually easy to satisfy. Go to the dime store (I know you can't find a lot for a dime any more but...) type toy store and pick up a few things for a few bucks. I liked a list I saw earlier where someone pointed out bouncy balls and balsa wood gliders. Jacks for little girls maybe. Costume Jewelry might be good. How bout going to target and grabbing a few Hot Wheels or Match Box cars. For 99c or less, that isn't bad. Watch for sales or the bins where they don't sort them, hang them on pegs or anything. I have seen them cheap, just dumped into a drum at an end cap at Toys R Us. Maybe look for some of the NASCAR models. Might cost a little more but NASCAR stuff is popular these days. And, if there is room for it in the cache, there is nothing wrong with putting something in, even if you dont take something out. Of course if everyone did this, there wouldn't be room in any caches for anything. So, use your judegment. If there isn't room for what you have with you, hold back and make it up on another cache in the area or go back and refind the cache on a later walk or bike ride etc. Odds are, with pillaging and such, or with people just taking and not leaving anything, you might be able to help revitalize a cache at another time. In reality, by having a good assortment in your bag, you should always be able to accomodate almost any cache you might find. If you do take something out, you should certainly have room there to put SOMETHING back. But, and this is me, if I found a cache that looked empty or low on options and it was a 50cal Ammo container, for instance. With a cavernous space in there full of nothing but air and a log book... I would put something in, even if I didn't take something. Also, keep in mind Pencils. If you see some cool pencils somewhere along your journeys grab them. Maybe put a couple of those in also. Sometimes you can get them free from your bank, your insurance guy... I often see boxes of them on counters at various places. Of course, don't take all the pens from your Dentists counter but grab a couple here or a couple there when you see them. Something I took on a trip to Vegas one time... Took them with thought of caching but never got out. I grabbed about half a dozen purple crayons from the Keno Counter. For kids, not for writing logs, of course. I wonder though, how often people wander off with or break the pencils that are in a cache. Making it difficult for some people to sign a log later.
  8. Sure wish my mom was still around. Do you take her the occasional happy meal for old times sake? edit: spelling Actually we bring them in for her these days. Not the happy meals per se but McDonalds. She loves McDonalds. She was in the hospital about 15 years ago after having an aneurism burst and she suffered a stroke. She was in for over 6 weeks and wasn't eating much and all. My brother told her doctor about her liking Hershey Bars and McDonalds and asked if it would be on her diet to bring her a burger and fries or something when we went to visit. He said sure and that he didn't care what she ate, if she just ate the Hershey Bars just as long as she ate. Seeing her walk up the front walk on her own was great, after she had some bypass surgery. She is still with us and doing remarkably well considering the challenges and problems she has gone through. Pretty much able to take care of herself and all. Has memory issues and just can't do much. Can't walk from the kitchen table to the phone without getting winded. We just finished with McDs for dinner tonight, in fact.
  9. I'm not sure that I understand what you mean. If it's considered a TB do you still "trade" for it? First of all, as you may know, a Travel Bug is something that you log when you find it, where you find it and you put it in another cache somewhere else along your travels to build a history of how it moves around. Like WheresGeorge on a dollar bill. I have bills that were sent out in So. IL or IA and I found in bowling prize money or with my Girlfriends tips. We log them on the net and send them on their way. Dropped one at a toll booth on the Chicago Skyway and a few weeks later, someone, I think in MA logged it as change from a convenient store purchase. It is interesting to see things make that kind of progress. Basically, regardless, I would put something in. But that is just me. I have lurked around here for some time now and haven't actually been able to get away for the time it would take, around here. to actually look for any caches. Therefore, I don't know what others really do. I am hoping to do some this summer if the Mosquitos and such aren't too horrible. Look forward to knowing the real world situations on what people do leave behind. I understand that what is written on the logs of a cache isn't always a true representation of what is in there. Not everyone writes down what they took or put. Since learning of Geocaching, the only times when I would have been able to go out it was overly wet and muddy in the forest preservrs. Starting out, there were only about 6 caches around here and most weren't that accessable through the swampy or muddy trails. Now they seem to be everywhere. Parks and fountains, historical sites... Either that, or the last year and a half, we were all hysterical about West Nile Virus and the Forest Preserves were not a place where some people wanted to be. Had a couple friends who got hit with it the last couple years. Fortunately they pulled through ok. Used to wake up at about 7am to the annoying racket of huge black crows in the trees. Saw one at the end of our driveway that was bigger than my dog. Haven't heard or seen one now in 2 years. I guess their populations here have been hit really bad by the virus. Anyway, I have so much junk around. Actually not junk but stuff, clutter and all, that I have picked up here and there. I have a bankers box full of Unopened Happy Meal toys. Used to take my mother (80 yrs old) out shopping when she was able. Now she has emphazyma so bad she doesn't get out much. Just doesn't have that kind of endurance anymore. We used to stop at McDonalds for lunch and she would always say, I am not that hungry. Maybe just a burger and some fries. A small burger though.... So, I would just make it easy and buy the Happy Meals. Would always end up tossing the toys in the back seat. Cleaned out my car one day and loaded a whole box. I got another box full of decks of cards that I pick up at Casinos when I go to Las Vegas. The thing must weigh about 50 pounds. Then, along my travels, there are always key chains, swizzle sticks, dice, $1 casino chips... If it is small enough, cheap enough, and not tied down, I grab it. Every year I go to Las Vegas with 1 suitcase and a bowling bag. I then come home with 2 suitcases and a bowling bag. Last year, I also shipped a box home from the hotel as well. A few years ago, I got stopped at security at the airport as they emptied my carry on out to find the source of something suspicios on the xray. The security guy asked if I was a courier. I said, with a puzzled tone, that I wasn't. He asked if I was carrying gems. Diamonds and such. I said no. He then asked if for my security if I needed a private screening. No I said... He then went through and unpacked all my chips and tokens, keychains, matches and bar napkins, Hurricane and margarita glasses.... Decks of cards and t-shirts, until he goes, This is what I am looking for. Reached down a side pocket and pulled out 2 slot machine shaped bottles of ground up casino chips. He said that the metals used to create some of the colors along with materials put in for security identifications of the chips... often glow on the xray. He said all the little chunks looked like they could have been gems. Back to the subject, Every summer there are carnivals and fairs. My girlfriend and I go to the county fair and usually end up with a few stuffed animals I no longer have room for. More the fun of playing the games and winning them than actually wanting the animal. If a cache is big enough, I could throw one of those in a ziploc and stuff it in. Was at Target the other night and they have the One Spot Shop with a few shelves of stuff for a buck. There is always stuff that can be had there. Of course, you don't want to really put your junk in other peoples caches but I would bet that any one of us could find a backpack full of odds and ends that we could take out and swap or just leave. Make it more fun for the next guy that might have a couple kids with him. If there is the space and all. Hell just put something in. Even if there is nothing that you want to take. Let the best of you come out. That is my thoughts.
  10. This is something that I have a concern about looking at a thread about cache containers. Some seem ingenious but there is one common thing that bugs me. When someone goes to Home Depot and buys some conduite or some PVC Pipe and all the fittings to put together a fake electric box or something and drives it into the ground in some bushes.... Or, puts a utility box on a pole and hides their cache in it. Maybe I am overly concerned but it seems that it might start to encourage people to get too close to some dangerous utility devices and I cringe at the thought that some guy might start to dismantal an electric outlet thinking it is fake and zzzzzAPPPPP!!!! There are also a couple, I have seen with hollowed out bolts in guard rails along highways or what have you. Anything that encourages someone to dismantal something seems, to me anyways, a little risky.
  11. I don't know if that would really be a problem or that I would be so concerned about that. Unless you are talking about specific situations near you that I am not aware of. I do a lot of metal detecting and one of my favorite areas to search are the playgrounds. Even around schools. While they don't yeild much of huge value, they are interesting in the types of things I find. Zipper pulls from jackets. It is amazing how many different ones there are. I have never found 2 the same. Odd trinkets and toys that kids might have in their pockets, foriegn coins and arcade tokens... diecast cars, loose change and cheap children's jewelry. Usually plastic with a metalic plating or paint on them. Just enough to register on a detector. Anyway, I have never been stopped or bothered by anyone. Occasionally kids will come up and watch me and parent's might look at me a little funny but I find it more curioscity. Most are polite and all but may think I am a little wierd. They know what I am doing and often are curious if I am finding anything. Around here, they may just think it is a bit of a waste of good time and all. Besides, whenever children come up to play, I tend to move on as I don't want to be the subject of such attention. Also, the play lots are theirs and built and intended for them so I just get out of their way. Now that it is staying light out longer. I often can come back again later when they have gone home to bed or come out in the morning when they are off at school. Unless it is a school that I am detecting or searching. Whether Metal Detecting or Geocaching. If the cache or whatever is near a school don't go there during school hours. Also recognize that these days, schools often are open earlier for early drop off of children and active late with after school activities so kids can have a safe haven while parents are at work. Faculty and staff will be alert to strange people lingering around. Schools are best left for weekends or later in the evenings. I can see having some caches around playgrounds. That could be good for families and children, as you describe. I wouldn't discourage someone from going to search one out though, just because they aren't there with kids. I would caution about placement of caches around such areas though. You don't want to place a cache where some kid, or other Muggle type, will accidentally stumble accross it. Hide your caches well and while near, keep them away from actual play equipment and all. Unless you can be really clever and creative. Also, especially around schools, be careful of the type of container you use. Try and make it transparant and label it to the fact that it is a Geocache, so someone will know what it is and not get overly anxious over this strange box or container hiddne under a bush.
  12. Don't know if this thought has been said but I don't think posting pictures of children is bad, really. As long as YOU have control over the content of those pictures and other info relayed with them. Even a child posting a picture of themselves wouldn't necessarilly be bad. There is a concern that I would have, and I am having difficulty expressing it or defining this border line but when the child is communicating in connection with the photo, on a regular basis, or if there is other information included with a post about locations and favorite hang outs... where a predator might see the picture and zero in to the child to confront them and start conversing with him/her that you might have a problem. Otherwise, I would think it is just a picture. I guess, as I think about it, if you are posting the picture and your identification in your post shows where or what city in which you live, any other identifying information or any information that might lead someone to an area where you or your children might frequently visit, especially alone or without you with them, that could lead to some wacko stalking out a child. Now, do I think it would happen from a log entry on GC.com or a picture in a thread like this? Not likely. However, in connection with, say, an ongoing conversation or correspondance between a child and a potential predator, where the photo is one link in a chain of building information, that could be a reason for concern. That's why parents need to be aware and supervise what their children are doing on the computre. I would think, that would be unlikely but, if you are at all concerned, it could happen. Best, whenever you do post photos, to keep them as annonomous as you can and try not to reveal more information in your accompanying posts than you need to. Frankly, I think it is that other information that would be more dangerous than the photo. Also, make sure that photos are not too discript as to specific locations and such that could lead someone to know where they might confront you or your child.
  13. When catching up on things last night, and trying to familiarize myself with all this, I was thinking the same thing.
  14. Ok, am starting to visualize this one. Tell me if I am right. The artist would cut, long, shapes that correspond to the different design components of his art. Then, piece all the parts together in, say a long log. Then, by rolling it back and forth along a table everything will get longer and longer and longer, till it is the proper diameter. Then, you would take the long snake that you mgiht have and slice cross sections of your finished piece. If you wanted to, you could make a stamp for an embossed design to lay over the top. Like with a casino chip where they have a design to the chip, with the edge spots and all. Then, they would stamp the casino name, a hat and cane or other design in it. Some home poker chips have dice or hearts diamonds spades and clubs stamped into them and so on. Once stamped, if you decide to do that, you would then take your thin chips and place them in the oven to bake. One question I have though. How do these come out in the end. Do they warp at all? or are they flat. They look like they might be a little irregular and would warp. Not that that is bad. It kind of adds to the hand made art of it all. I really like those pictures of the ones that have been posted. They are beautiful. I am getting really psyched to try this.
  15. Not sure if this is going to work. Haven't been following Geocaching in a while and this is my first time reading these forums in about a year or more. Is this what all this I read about Geocoins is? When I signed on tonight, this is the first I had heard of them. Is there some good source to really get up to speed on understanding this. I also collect casino chips and one of the forums I read on that subject is loaded with talk of people trading custom personal chips. Using some of the companies that make the chips for Las Vegas Casinos and the like, they make up their designs and pay some serious money to create these chips. Sometimes for business card types of things or for special events like to commemorate the birth of their child or mark their wedding day etc. I priced having some of these done and with setup charges and minimum orders of, say 500 chips, it could cost upward of a grand. And to think there are some of these people who are making up chips for any little whim that they have. Some of the clay chips or coins that people have shown here are very nice. Again, any good source for information about doing that. Also, I had a thougth about the wooden nickels, as I always knew them as. Take something metal. Maybe, using a soft metal that can be carved or shaped or hammered out. Create your design into it with a little depth and then heat it up and burn your design into the wooden blanks. Or, if you are really handy and good at drawing, engrave with a dremel tool or wood carving tools. Then wipe some stain accross the coin. Leaving the stain into your design and wiping it off the surface. Maybe wax the surface before you start your carving. That way, you would have the resist of the wax on the surface but every where you engraved or carved would now be exposed bare wood. Applying stain will only go into the exposed areas. Then, a cleaning with something that would remove the wax would clean it all up. Or, use a small soldering iron and burn the design into the blank. Good work anyway. I am really intrigued by this.
  16. That never occoured to me. I love that idea. I was headed out to Ravinia a few weeks ago but the heat was so oppressive that we cancelled it. Your idea would also work great at any outdoor event that can be confused or complicated by large areas or heavy crowds. A GPS along with FRS or GMRS radio would be great at airshows, festivals, theme parks... If your group gets separated use the radio and tell the others your GPS Location. Also, as I think someone else already mentioned, you can use it to find your way back to your car after a concert or other event where there can be thousands of cars parked in a field somewhere. Incidentally, I use the electronic breadcrumb trail, a lot when going places I am not familiar. I went to a friends house the other night and she lives in an apartment complex off in a complicated development. A lot of parks and lakes and winding roads. You can get turned around pretty easilly. It was bad enough finding my way in, however, with all the winding roads and dark intersections it would have been equally tough finding your way back to the main roads again. When it was time to leave I just drove along the little gray lines till I knew where I was again.
  17. That never occoured to me. I love that idea. I was headed out to Ravinia a few weeks ago but the heat was so oppressive that we cancelled it. Your idea would also work great at any outdoor event that can be confused or complicated by large areas or heavy crowds. A GPS along with FRS or GMRS radio would be great at airshows, festivals, theme parks... If your group gets separated use the radio and tell the others your GPS Location. Also, as I think someone else already mentioned, you can use it to find your way back to your car after a concert or other event where there can be thousands of cars parked in a field somewhere. Incidentally, I use the electronic breadcrumb trail, a lot when going places I am not familiar. I went to a friends house the other night and she lives in an apartment complex off in a complicated development. A lot of parks and lakes and winding roads. You can get turned around pretty easilly. It was bad enough finding my way in, however, with all the winding roads and dark intersections it would have been equally tough finding your way back to the main roads again. When it was time to leave I just drove along the little gray lines till I knew where I was again.
  18. I took mine to Las Vegas. It was kind of difficult sometimes getting signals on the strip. I assume it was from all the buildings. Anyways, I marked entrances to all the casinos I visited and to my hotel. I stored them into the waypoints list and can now tell about how far I walked during my trip by setting up a route of all the stops. Or, I can tell the distances between specific points. I can tell you how far it is from The Orleans to Barbary Coast? From M&M Store to Treasure Island or Aladdin to Venitian. I also use it to set up GOTO when I am going somewhere and can keep track of an ATA if I need to tell someone how long it will be before I get somewhere. It isn't exact but is a general guide. I guess it considers your speed of travel and the distance from a your location to your destination and calculates how long it would take you to get there. Also like a previous post, I can use it to keep track of routes and determine the milage to different stops or calls or how many miles I traveled in a day. You do have to remember though that the milage that is recorded may be the distance As The Crow Flies and not actual road distance. Lastly, I haven't had a need yet but one of the reasons I bought it was for use with my AstroPhotography. When going to a remote observing site, I can take a waypoint for my location and plug that into the telescopes computer. With proper alignments, I can then select certain objects from the computer and the scope will sight in on my target more accurately. Also I can plug the location into computer software and get accurate sky maps for the area. Then with an interface between my laptop and the scope I can even have the maps locate objects and set the telescope for me.
  19. I took mine to Las Vegas. It was kind of difficult sometimes getting signals on the strip. I assume it was from all the buildings. Anyways, I marked entrances to all the casinos I visited and to my hotel. I stored them into the waypoints list and can now tell about how far I walked during my trip by setting up a route of all the stops. Or, I can tell the distances between specific points. I can tell you how far it is from The Orleans to Barbary Coast? From M&M Store to Treasure Island or Aladdin to Venitian. I also use it to set up GOTO when I am going somewhere and can keep track of an ATA if I need to tell someone how long it will be before I get somewhere. It isn't exact but is a general guide. I guess it considers your speed of travel and the distance from a your location to your destination and calculates how long it would take you to get there. Also like a previous post, I can use it to keep track of routes and determine the milage to different stops or calls or how many miles I traveled in a day. You do have to remember though that the milage that is recorded may be the distance As The Crow Flies and not actual road distance. Lastly, I haven't had a need yet but one of the reasons I bought it was for use with my AstroPhotography. When going to a remote observing site, I can take a waypoint for my location and plug that into the telescopes computer. With proper alignments, I can then select certain objects from the computer and the scope will sight in on my target more accurately. Also I can plug the location into computer software and get accurate sky maps for the area. Then with an interface between my laptop and the scope I can even have the maps locate objects and set the telescope for me.
  20. Good to know you weren't thinking of digging. WHEW The gravel is called BALAST. As I understand the process, the ties are placed down to maintain the distance between the rails. The rails are anchored to the ties to prevent them from moving around and to maintain a continuous and constant distance between the rails. The balast is then spread along the right of way, between and around the ties to fill all the voids and maintain the distances between ties and rails etc. The balast is then tamped down and compacted to further strengthen the entire structure. Keeps everything in place. I would think that if the marker was on a reasonably high post that it shouldn't be burried. If you think about it, the depth of the balast would have to be no higher than the ties. Unless the whole road bed was raised over time the post should still be the same distance above the ground. Remember, the waypoints provided with markers is not always accurate. They can actually be quite off. You might want to check all the different directions like distance from crossings etc. or from a nearby station to verify that you are looking in the right location. You mention a lot of seasonal growth from brush and weeds etc. Maybe it would be a good idea to check again when the vegitation has died off. The marker might be there but bushwhacking to find it might be making it too difficult to find. It, of course, could be possible that the marker was destroyed or removed during other maintenance of way work.
  21. Good to know you weren't thinking of digging. WHEW The gravel is called BALAST. As I understand the process, the ties are placed down to maintain the distance between the rails. The rails are anchored to the ties to prevent them from moving around and to maintain a continuous and constant distance between the rails. The balast is then spread along the right of way, between and around the ties to fill all the voids and maintain the distances between ties and rails etc. The balast is then tamped down and compacted to further strengthen the entire structure. Keeps everything in place. I would think that if the marker was on a reasonably high post that it shouldn't be burried. If you think about it, the depth of the balast would have to be no higher than the ties. Unless the whole road bed was raised over time the post should still be the same distance above the ground. Remember, the waypoints provided with markers is not always accurate. They can actually be quite off. You might want to check all the different directions like distance from crossings etc. or from a nearby station to verify that you are looking in the right location. You mention a lot of seasonal growth from brush and weeds etc. Maybe it would be a good idea to check again when the vegitation has died off. The marker might be there but bushwhacking to find it might be making it too difficult to find. It, of course, could be possible that the marker was destroyed or removed during other maintenance of way work.
  22. Old Railroads sound great. Are you referring to abandoned railroads or just long established ones. As a railfan, I have looked into a few marks on bridges or signals etc. near me. I wouldn't want to get too close to the right of way though. I had thought of finding those markers and seeing if their is any safe and legal way to document them as well as use them as a vantage point for some good train pics. Anything to sort of add some interest or color to the pictures. Maybe it is the architecture of a tressel or bridge. Or the trains running the ravine under the bridge... I would just suggest looking at the environment as a canvas to create a picture that presents the feel and cheracter of the location. You mentioned highways and the big flat nothing shots. I have encountered a couple situations like that. For those shots I just try to find something, anything. Passing cars, Wild flowers along the side of the road, maybe a nearby road sign... One time I was hanging out with a friend around a railroad switching yard. There was nothing there exept a single engine. I found one Locomotive off on the side but one loco shot is similar to so many others. What to do to make it unique??? I got on the ground a distance away and shot low at the Engine aiming accross a small patch of wildflowers along the tracks. It made all the difference in the world. Sometimes you have to think outside of the box. Sometimes just putting another object in the forground along the edge of the picture will help add some interest. Try to combine foreground with background and add some depth to the picture. Especially with digital where bad shots cost me nothing I take a lot of chances experimenting with wierd angles and compositions. Getting low, holding the camera high... Shooting through trees at at tunnel might not be as bad as it sounds. I use a Nikon Coolpix 990 that has a pivoting screen in relation to the camera portion. That allows me to get into so many different vantage points by pivoting the camera and monitor around. quote:Originally posted by WingArcher:My take (heh) on the picture thing... I photograph the monument up close, and nothing else. For the most part, the things I find tend to be along old railroads, and the 'view' is just a tunnel in the trees. Other stuff around here is out along roads, and again, you just get the big flat nothing shot. My photograph of the disk or whatever is just evidence to support my claim of finding it. [This message was edited by wmas1960 on August 15, 2002 at 11:19 PM.]
  23. Benchmarks can vary greatly in the challenges they represent. I have only found 1 so far but I have been out looking for several others. the first one was on a monument that marks the entry to my subdivision. When I ran a zipcode search I came accross it and from reading the info sheet I knew exactly where to find it. There was no challenge at all. The info sheets often will tell you exactly where to find it. You really don't even need your GPS. For example, (Wasington Street East 1.6 miles from the Main Fire Station to Route W, Then North .5 miles to a bridge over the East Branch River. The marker is a bronze disc located in the South end of the bridge 2.25' along the hand rail of the East side of the bridge, 6' from the curb of the roadway...) Other benchmarks can be a bit more challenging though, especially if an area where many of the landmarks for finding the marker may no longer exist. My second Benchmark search has actually been more of a project. I have been searching an old Navy base that has been closed and is now undergoing redevelopment. Many of the buildings roads, runways, gates, fences... that were used as references are gone. So far, I have determined that the South Gate Guard House has been removed. The East Gate and Eastern boundries fences have been removed and houses have been built on and over the property line to adjacent parcels. One old office building that I know was along the fence line is still there marking where the gate was. The marker that was described as being 2' from the East Boundry fence line now appears to be in the living room of a new home. I went down 2 streets, one on each side of the house. My GPS indicated 98' North from one curb behind the house and 150' South from the office building accross the street on the front of the house. Putting the living room in the middle. The operations building and the control tower with revolving light still are there and seem to be undergoing renovation into a shopping center. I have not gotten close enough to see if the marker(s) there are still there. The water tower is not present on the skyline either. Anyways, my point is that searching benchmarks can become quite challenging when you look at your hunt as an entire package or project and when the environment is undergoing frequent change or alteration. Yes, like you said, they are a real challenge for your photography skills. Closeup, as well as landscape etc. It also helps you think of how you can use your photography skills to document as well as illustrate. Before I embarked on my first benchmark hunt I read a paper published by NGS about digital photography of survey devices. I don't remember the details of where I found it but it was on the NGS site. A full description is in my post under Steeples. This publication showed me what the minimum PACKAGE of photos was for the documentation of a benchmark. Of course you can go to any extreme you want or that your creativity takes you. However there are only 3 basic pictures they need. The marker (Close up), The marker in it's position (a little wider). And, a picture or pictures showing the surrounding area. The pictures you take should fill these needs and would be numbered 1, 2, 3 respectively. If you take additional pictures in each class than you would add a, b, c to them. For example, one of my finds I took two closeups. One normal(1a) and one extreme showing just the stamped numbers of the date and the marker number or ID(1b) I also took a few pictures of the surroundings of the marker, showing angles of direction toward other landmarks numbered 3a 3b 3c... This is where your GPS can really be helpful in marking where you took the pictures from. You can certainly take, like I mentioned also in the Steeples post, beauty shots and other good creative and artistic shots but while you are there pop off the basic necessity shots as well. I agree with you though that when I look at the gallery I tend to pass over the ones of the benchmarks. One bronze disk is often the same as another. I find the catagory 3 shots the most interesting. Like you said they show you the different environments that exist accross this land. From mountains to cities and highways to the pastures of Wisconsin or the swamps of Florida... Maybe in relation to this hobby, if people use image numbers in their image names, according to the above mentioned NGS guidlines, other seekers might be able to choose shots that they don't want to look at as spoilers. Knowing that images with number 1 on them are close ups of the marker and that 2s show the placement of the marker and that 3 shots are area shots might help seekers decide what kind of help they want or don't want. Personally, I wouldn't be put off by others who have already located and posted spoiler photos of a marker. I also don't think you need to do anything like putting your drivers license in a photo to show your mark on the location. Your view and interpretation should differentiate your experience from others. If you want your photos to stand out from the next guys on a table of pictures put your innitials in, say, the lower right corner of your pictures. That shouldn't be that necessary though since your photos are attached to your log entry. As a photography enthusiast, I look at it that my creativity, skills and personality can document a given site differently than someone else. Even if I can find the marker in 15 seconds the experience is an individual exercise in a procedure and an art. We are all individuals and our pictures can reflect differences in how we see the marker and it's surroundings compaired to the next guy. As for photographing a close up of the marker the only purpose of that, officially, is to determine the condition of the marker and that it is the marker in question. As for this hobby it would be the latter and your evidence that you were there. Like I said, put your innitials in the lower right and somebody else can't use your picture to document finding the marker themselves. Although why somebody would do that, I don't know... After all, this is a game. And I add, one that there is no actual reward or penalty for. Therefore if somebody derives enjoyment from cheating and fabricating experiences that they never accomplished or experienced so what. You point out what gives you the enjoyment, That is the important thing. With your expressed views I can safely say, you will derive more actual enjoyment from Benchmark Hunting than the guy who may log finds that he/she never found. The experience of being someplace and seeing with your own eyes... will always be in your brain. The other guy won't have that. Lastly, there is the significance of some benchmarks. Their historical or arcitectural significance of the site. The landscape or scenic beauty. Whether it was easy to find or not or someone else had found it first, the ability to locate it and view and enjoy it yourself has plenty of value as well. An interesting way to direct your travel accross the country or even your hometown. Could even help you see your own neighborhood in a new light from areas, angles or vantagepoints that you previously took for granted. quote:Originally posted by Black Dog Trackers:Everyone has differences in what aspects of an activity is the most enjoyable to them. Benchmark hunting is different from Geocaching in that a large part of the activity in Benchmark hunting is photography. Benchmark photography is in 2 categories - photographing OF the benchmark itself, and photographing the view(s) FROM the benchmark. I find the view photography much more interesting. I wonder what other people's thoughts are on this. I have found some benchmarks and enjoyed the process of finding them, but have never taken pictures of any, although I have taken view pictures and posted them. I also greatly enjoy looking at other people's view pictures in the Gallery, but never look at the benchmark pictures - they just aren't all that different from each other. The view pictures have such interesting differences in local plants, landforms, people, and other scenery aspects! I guess one could say that without a closeup benchmark picture, there's no actual proof that I've been to the benchmarks that I've logged, but I'm out for the challenge and the process, not proofs, and certainly wouldn't claim a find if I couldn't achieve it. Plus, after one person has photographed the benchmark, how do you photograph it differently to prove that you were there too? Put your driver's licence next to it in the picture? I can't resist bringing up the relationship of all this to the spoiler concept. I find that benchmark hunting does have an aspect of challenge, and I just wouldn't be as interested in finding a benchmark's location that's 'spoiled' by a picture showing how to find the benchmark. I think that neither a CLOSEUP VIEW OF IT, nor a view FROM IT is particularly a spoiler, but a view of it that shows its location in relationship to the local environment IS definitely a spoiler. I know - just don't look at the spoiler. But its existence on the site is itself a spoiler whether you look at it or not.
  24. Benchmarks can vary greatly in the challenges they represent. I have only found 1 so far but I have been out looking for several others. the first one was on a monument that marks the entry to my subdivision. When I ran a zipcode search I came accross it and from reading the info sheet I knew exactly where to find it. There was no challenge at all. The info sheets often will tell you exactly where to find it. You really don't even need your GPS. For example, (Wasington Street East 1.6 miles from the Main Fire Station to Route W, Then North .5 miles to a bridge over the East Branch River. The marker is a bronze disc located in the South end of the bridge 2.25' along the hand rail of the East side of the bridge, 6' from the curb of the roadway...) Other benchmarks can be a bit more challenging though, especially if an area where many of the landmarks for finding the marker may no longer exist. My second Benchmark search has actually been more of a project. I have been searching an old Navy base that has been closed and is now undergoing redevelopment. Many of the buildings roads, runways, gates, fences... that were used as references are gone. So far, I have determined that the South Gate Guard House has been removed. The East Gate and Eastern boundries fences have been removed and houses have been built on and over the property line to adjacent parcels. One old office building that I know was along the fence line is still there marking where the gate was. The marker that was described as being 2' from the East Boundry fence line now appears to be in the living room of a new home. I went down 2 streets, one on each side of the house. My GPS indicated 98' North from one curb behind the house and 150' South from the office building accross the street on the front of the house. Putting the living room in the middle. The operations building and the control tower with revolving light still are there and seem to be undergoing renovation into a shopping center. I have not gotten close enough to see if the marker(s) there are still there. The water tower is not present on the skyline either. Anyways, my point is that searching benchmarks can become quite challenging when you look at your hunt as an entire package or project and when the environment is undergoing frequent change or alteration. Yes, like you said, they are a real challenge for your photography skills. Closeup, as well as landscape etc. It also helps you think of how you can use your photography skills to document as well as illustrate. Before I embarked on my first benchmark hunt I read a paper published by NGS about digital photography of survey devices. I don't remember the details of where I found it but it was on the NGS site. A full description is in my post under Steeples. This publication showed me what the minimum PACKAGE of photos was for the documentation of a benchmark. Of course you can go to any extreme you want or that your creativity takes you. However there are only 3 basic pictures they need. The marker (Close up), The marker in it's position (a little wider). And, a picture or pictures showing the surrounding area. The pictures you take should fill these needs and would be numbered 1, 2, 3 respectively. If you take additional pictures in each class than you would add a, b, c to them. For example, one of my finds I took two closeups. One normal(1a) and one extreme showing just the stamped numbers of the date and the marker number or ID(1b) I also took a few pictures of the surroundings of the marker, showing angles of direction toward other landmarks numbered 3a 3b 3c... This is where your GPS can really be helpful in marking where you took the pictures from. You can certainly take, like I mentioned also in the Steeples post, beauty shots and other good creative and artistic shots but while you are there pop off the basic necessity shots as well. I agree with you though that when I look at the gallery I tend to pass over the ones of the benchmarks. One bronze disk is often the same as another. I find the catagory 3 shots the most interesting. Like you said they show you the different environments that exist accross this land. From mountains to cities and highways to the pastures of Wisconsin or the swamps of Florida... Maybe in relation to this hobby, if people use image numbers in their image names, according to the above mentioned NGS guidlines, other seekers might be able to choose shots that they don't want to look at as spoilers. Knowing that images with number 1 on them are close ups of the marker and that 2s show the placement of the marker and that 3 shots are area shots might help seekers decide what kind of help they want or don't want. Personally, I wouldn't be put off by others who have already located and posted spoiler photos of a marker. I also don't think you need to do anything like putting your drivers license in a photo to show your mark on the location. Your view and interpretation should differentiate your experience from others. If you want your photos to stand out from the next guys on a table of pictures put your innitials in, say, the lower right corner of your pictures. That shouldn't be that necessary though since your photos are attached to your log entry. As a photography enthusiast, I look at it that my creativity, skills and personality can document a given site differently than someone else. Even if I can find the marker in 15 seconds the experience is an individual exercise in a procedure and an art. We are all individuals and our pictures can reflect differences in how we see the marker and it's surroundings compaired to the next guy. As for photographing a close up of the marker the only purpose of that, officially, is to determine the condition of the marker and that it is the marker in question. As for this hobby it would be the latter and your evidence that you were there. Like I said, put your innitials in the lower right and somebody else can't use your picture to document finding the marker themselves. Although why somebody would do that, I don't know... After all, this is a game. And I add, one that there is no actual reward or penalty for. Therefore if somebody derives enjoyment from cheating and fabricating experiences that they never accomplished or experienced so what. You point out what gives you the enjoyment, That is the important thing. With your expressed views I can safely say, you will derive more actual enjoyment from Benchmark Hunting than the guy who may log finds that he/she never found. The experience of being someplace and seeing with your own eyes... will always be in your brain. The other guy won't have that. Lastly, there is the significance of some benchmarks. Their historical or arcitectural significance of the site. The landscape or scenic beauty. Whether it was easy to find or not or someone else had found it first, the ability to locate it and view and enjoy it yourself has plenty of value as well. An interesting way to direct your travel accross the country or even your hometown. Could even help you see your own neighborhood in a new light from areas, angles or vantagepoints that you previously took for granted. quote:Originally posted by Black Dog Trackers:Everyone has differences in what aspects of an activity is the most enjoyable to them. Benchmark hunting is different from Geocaching in that a large part of the activity in Benchmark hunting is photography. Benchmark photography is in 2 categories - photographing OF the benchmark itself, and photographing the view(s) FROM the benchmark. I find the view photography much more interesting. I wonder what other people's thoughts are on this. I have found some benchmarks and enjoyed the process of finding them, but have never taken pictures of any, although I have taken view pictures and posted them. I also greatly enjoy looking at other people's view pictures in the Gallery, but never look at the benchmark pictures - they just aren't all that different from each other. The view pictures have such interesting differences in local plants, landforms, people, and other scenery aspects! I guess one could say that without a closeup benchmark picture, there's no actual proof that I've been to the benchmarks that I've logged, but I'm out for the challenge and the process, not proofs, and certainly wouldn't claim a find if I couldn't achieve it. Plus, after one person has photographed the benchmark, how do you photograph it differently to prove that you were there too? Put your driver's licence next to it in the picture? I can't resist bringing up the relationship of all this to the spoiler concept. I find that benchmark hunting does have an aspect of challenge, and I just wouldn't be as interested in finding a benchmark's location that's 'spoiled' by a picture showing how to find the benchmark. I think that neither a CLOSEUP VIEW OF IT, nor a view FROM IT is particularly a spoiler, but a view of it that shows its location in relationship to the local environment IS definitely a spoiler. I know - just don't look at the spoiler. But its existence on the site is itself a spoiler whether you look at it or not.
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