Puzzzler

>> I put this one out today. Sure looks like a dinosaur bone. Great workmanship.

No arrows. When a team arrives at a set of reflectors, then have to search for the next set. Each set of reflectors should be visible from the previous station. So, I agree that half the fun is trying to spot the next reflector. I use the phrase "set of reflectors" because I usually put two or three reflectors at each stage in case one of them is damaged or removed. Also, at the end I use a different color reflector so that the seekers know when they've reached the cache. Someday I hope to get a big plastic owl with reflective eyes to use as the end point. That would be a blast and totally unexpected.

I have a couple night caches in the Albuquerque area. They are Dark of the Night and Dark of the Night 2. Both rely on following a set of reflective tacks from the starting location to the final cache site. The funs comes in now because while at the cache site, you can't see the reflectors to get back. Thay are all on the wrong side of the trees. But, since the starting point is in their GPS', then it's a matter of following your GPS back to the car. So, it's like a reverse geocache. Here is one place that sells the tacks. Archery Reflective Trail Tacks Make sure you pick an area where the seekers could still get back safely in case of an equipment malfunction. Also, you can do a search for waypoints using keyword "night" to find more night cache ideas. I say, go for it. It's a lot of fun and different from the same old thing.

It sounds like this may be more difficult than the 2 you gave it. However, since only one person has tried to find it, you can't go on his experiences alone. You may want to raise the difficulty level at first and see how people fare against it. Also, with a higher rating, you won't need to give any extra hints. Your current hint says that it is not a film cannister. That's pretty vague. Maybe you could say something about its size as compared to a film cannister. But the bottom line is, it's your cache and you do not need to give out any extra hints if you don't want to.

Now I'm getting confused. The word "pointy" is the culprit. This seems to imply that it is ok to use a non-pointy object, otherwise the word "pointy" wouldn't be specifically called out. Does this mean that is ok to use your hands to create a depression? For instance, I've seen many forest caches where the cache was placed in a shallow depression in the pine needle ground covering. The dirt was not disturbed, only the pine needles. This was definitely "dug" but not necessarily with a pointy object. The other aspect of this thread that confuses me is that natural holes can be used to insert the cache container. However, is it allowed for the cache hider to carry over small rocks to fill in the sides of the hole to make it conform to the container? If not, then what's the difference where a cache has been placed on the ground, has a large rock on top, and a few smaller rocks set along the sides? I'm not trying to be nit-picky here. I just want to try to understand the intend of the requirement. I had previously thought that the phrase "Caches that are buried" referred to caches with dirt/sand/gravel on top such that the seeker would have to dig for it. Now I find that I'm mistaken. Thanks for any clarifications that any of you can provide.

Hey Neo_Geo, Your Registry edit procedure worked like a charm. I've wanted to do this for years. Thanks for the tip. For any others who may be reading, the Mapsource Topo install program does not give you an option to install on your hard disk, unlike the newer City Select and such. This method is great. The Puzzler

Most of the Mapsource software can be installed on two GPS's, so I think you're ok. Now I have a question. Does anyone know how to disassociate a GPS with Mapsourse? You see, I had two GPS's assigned, and then one of them broke. So I bought a replacement GPS and would like to load my existing Mapsource into the new one. Anyone?

With that many containers you could set up a race course with two paths. Then two teams could come to the first point together, then split along the two separate paths and race to the end. I've only ever seen one other cache set up to do this.

OK, if I put together a lot of the ideas listed here along with ideas from other threads, this is what I come up with. First, find an urban telephone pole that has lots of potential cache hiding places nearby. A telephone pole near a university would work best. Then staple a poster on the pole saying something like this: LOST FLUFFY THE CAT - put picture here - Brown and white long haired cat. Please call either nights or at work (035) 028-8362 (N) (106) 045-1991 (W) REWARD If this pole has other announcements, so much the better. Then leave this poster out for a couple weeks to age. Notice that the telephone numbers are actually coordinates to the final cache. Next, right before the cache is approved, place an opened film cannister in the area. Cover it with camo tape. Make it look like it was discovered by a muggle. After a week or two, you'll want to replace the new film can with an old cracked one. For effect you can actually hide the final cache in a hollowed out stuffed cat toy. Make sure your picture on the poster matches your cache. Any more twists we can add to this? Geesh.. I sure hope GPSaxophone isn't reading this. It'll spoil all their fun searching for this.

Here's a couple cigarette lighter adapter to garmin 4-pin connectors for the power cable: http://www.gpscity.com/gps/brados/5179.2.1...arcigadapt.html http://pfranc.com/cgi-bin/P/Power12 However, if you want to hardwire the power cable into you car, here is a bare wire cable without the cigarette adapter. http://www.gpscity.com/gps/brados/7042.2.1...rpowerdata.html For the data cable to your PC, I would recommend the USB cable that came with the GPS. For a spare check out this: http://www.gpscity.com/gps/brados/7042.2.1.../garusbcbl.html I don't believe you can power the GPS-60CS through the USB connector.

You could try using an old rusted can that's half burried and looks like trash. Or how about under a fake animal turd.

As long as the final location is a physical cache and assuming you'll list this as a single multi-cache, then I see no problem with your idea. In fact, many multi-caches have virtual components to them. And while this type of cache will not appeal to everyone, there are enough people around who will love the challenge and history lesson. I say "go for it!"

On the main geocaching home page, there is a box in the upper right corner where you can view caches by zip code, state, or country. Select your state and click on it. In your case, since you're from Indianna, this is the link you'll go to: http://www.geocaching.com/local/default.aspx?state_id=15 Bookmark that page in your browser and use it whenever you log on. I believe it'll give you the data you're looking for.

Try changing your State page to your default geocaching home page. The State page shows the last 10 geocaches hidden in your state plus the last 10 travel bugs than have been moved. You'll get to see all this as it happens. And maybe, you'll get the scoup on a new cache and be the first finder.

The article was very engaging and informative. It even mentioned The Puzzler!!! Good show GPSaxophone. The Puzzler

Here's another variation of a night cache. This one has both day time and night time components. The cache is called Equinox and is at: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=37756 "The coordinates above lead to the place to park and start your search in the darkness of the now closed Coronado Airport. Posted below are pictures that show lights which can only be seen in the dark after sunset. By locating these lights in the indicated directions and then moving to align them in the posted configurations, the geocacher will find the first half of Equinox, the night container, which is a gray plastic travel mug."

These could be nasty to find if they were left to look like litter. These are fake cans with a screw-on top or bottom. You can find them several places on the internet. Search for "decoy safes" or "diversion safes". Here is one such link: http://www.pentagondefense.com/diversionsafes1.html Has anyone tried these? What was the response?

I would agree with Perseid88 as long as all the readings were within 100 feet. If they were greater, then I don't think the avaraging method would necessarily give you accurate results. Besides, it also means that people using your coordinates would likely experience the same distance errors, thus nullifying for them all the accuracy you tried to get.

It certainly could be. I imagine that sales of the GPS V and StreetPilot III have been slow recently pending the release of the iQue 3600. This is probably a mechanism by Garmin to boost these lagging sales.

Garmin has just announced a $75 rebate on the GPS V Deluxe and a $100 rebate on the Street Pilot III Deluxe, both good from April 6, 2003 until July 6, 2003. This is just the incentive I need to upgrade. The details can be found here. Garmin Promotions

I've noticed that several virtual caches have certificates for the finders. These are password protected such that you need information from the cache site to open them. I couldn't find any place on Geocaching.com that discusses how to add these certificates to a cache page. Does anyone know how? Thanks.

If you're going to use a 128 MB or larger SD card, you'll need to download and install the latest firmware update for your GPSr.

There's something else to consider. I haven't seen any instructions saying that the stamped number on a Travel Bug has to be noted. Even the tag doesn't mention it. So, the first time I found a travel bug, I moved it about 30 miles away that same day. When I got home to record the transfer, the system wouldn't let me do it. I tried entering the TB number, but that doesn't work. So, that's how I messed up. But today I fixed it by hiking out in the rain and getting that blasted secret number.