Bill D (wwh)

I read all the logs, not looking for spoilers but to note any possible problems or pitfalls, and I print the page with the clue still encrypted. I look at the co-ords in GPSMapMaster to get as good an idea as I can of the location, and I take a 1:50 000 OS map with me, or a 1:25 000 map if I have one. And I check for any new log entries the evening before (if I remember!).

An hour to go until midnight so it's not too late - Happy Christmas everyone! (If there's anyone out there - the web is unsurprisingly quiet tonight).

I agree completely with that little lot! Especially the geocaching bag - since I discovered geocaching a few months ago my walking bag has also become my geocaching bag, and it's getting HEAVY! But at least I remembered to set the car park as a waypoint on Saturday when I was on Milk Hill in Wiltshire (not geocaching). When I made my way back it was fully dark and extremely foggy - without the GPS (and the waypoint) I think I'd still be there!

Postie wrote: quote: Originally posted by Bill D:Two posters have mentioned http://www.insidecorner.com. The stats there don't seem to be very accurate, even though they're supposedly updated every day. They say I've found four caches, the last being 6th October, and haven't hidden any - in fact I've found 14, the last being 16th November, and I've hidden one. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- endquote I have just been to there site and they have my caches up to date (which geocacheuk never did!) That's strange - I've looked again and I'm listed twice, once under my user name and once under my display name, and the user name stats are correct. I take it back!

Two posters have mentioned www.insidecorner.com. The stats there don't seem to be very accurate, even though they're supposedly updated every day. They say I've found four caches, the last being 6th October, and haven't hidden any - in fact I've found 14, the last being 16th November, and I've hidden one.

Bit obscure, this one, but in theatre in the UK multi-way adapters (for putting more than one plug in a socket) are called Grelcos after the one-time biggest maker of them.

Does anyone know what the minimum number of nav satellites in earth orbit would have to be in order to ensure that anywhere on the earth's surface could receive three of them for 2D navigation, and the minimum number to ensure four everywhere for 3D nav? I believe that there are actually twenty four in orbit, but presumably that's deliberate over-coverage to allow for malfunctions or whatever.

I'm fairly new to geocaching (only 14 finds as yet) but I've been back to caches 4 times. Twice to get "Where's George" information from dollar bills which people from the States had left and forgotten to record properly, once to start off a travel bug of my own, and once to introduce my ten year old great-nephew to geocaching. Each time I've posted the visit as a "note" not a "find". I've only placed one cache of my own so far, but I'd be quite happy for people to go back to it if they had a reason to.

The "US only" thing probably is to do with mapping. The best way of getting an answer would probably be to post a question about it in the "GPS units and software" section of the forums.

Jeremyp wrote: quote: George Airy lived from 1801-1892. He did not define OSGB36, but he did define the Airy1830 spheroid on which OSGB36 is based. I'd known for years that OS maps were based on something called an Airy spheroid, and I'd vaguely wondered how a spheroid representing the earth could be in any way air-like... Duh!!!

Teasel: Many thanks for the explanation, and for the link to the full gory details!

That's an excellent addition - thanks! Just one small point - using Ordnance Survey's GridInQuest to convert co-ordinates of caches from the Lat/Long on the cache page to OSGB, I'm finding that there are small differences in the last digits of the eastings and northings on the cache pages and in GIQ's results. Typically the easting is one figure different and the northing is around four or five different. For example, E abcd3 N efgh3 on the cache page and E abcd4 N efgh7 from GIQ. Does anyone know why this would be? I do realise it's a tiny difference - I'd just like to know the reason.

I've just tried it in Internet Explorer 5.5, Netscape 4.7 and 6.2, and Opera 5.02 on a pc and it's fine in all of them.

jeremyp wrote: quote:This is true, but the web scrape software "views" the site as fast as it can. The time between HTTP requests is probably several hundred (or thousand) times faster than human viewing. If this is the problem, that the software causes a big load on the server in a short time, then couldn't it be re-written to spread the load over a period, in the same way that many search engine robots do?

Thanks, Dave! Stupidly and chauvinistically, I'd assumed that the first UK cache would have been in England, and so would have been earlier than "Scotland's First". Duh... Sorry, all you Scots out there!

Can anyone tell me where the first geocache in the UK was? I know that the first in Scotland was "Scotland's First" 15 Dec 2000, and the first in Wales was "The First in Wales" 17 Feb 2001 - that was easy as they're both still active. But what was the first in the UK? I'm sorry if this is a question that crops up again and again!

I'm having problems with EasyGPS 1.1.9 and GPS Utility 4.04.6. I can download files without problems, and opening them in Notepad shows that they appear to be ok. But I get a .gpx file whether I choose .gpx or .loc. If I choose .loc then EasyGPS shows me an empty file. If I choose .gpx EGPS only shows the first waypoint. GPSU shows me an empty file either way.

Thanks, Jamie, for that information. Hopefully in the course of time the TB pages will get the same treatment.

I'd prefer to see co-ordinates that mean something, like the nearest car park or the first stage of the cache. I find all those caches on the maps pages that are apparently in the middle of an ocean rather irritating! Or are they all out there on rocks and things? :-)

It seems a bit odd, but if the owner doesn't mind then why not? Having just released my first travel bug, I think I'd be happy with this, as long as I was asked first.

I'm fairly new to geocaching, so sorry if this should be obvious! On cache pages, my logs appear with both my display name and my username, but having just released my first travel bug, I see that on the tb page only my username appears. Is this normal or have I done something stupid? If it is normal, is it possible to get my display name to appear as well as my user name? I originally posted this on the UK forum, but no-one seems to have an answer, and someone suggested I post it here.

You can also get travel bugs in the UK from Finger Technology: http://www.fingertech.co.uk/gps_geocaching_accs.html (No affiliation with them, just a customer).

I'm new to geocaching, and in fact I placed my first cache yesterday. It didn't occur to me to post anything in the forums about it - why would I need to, when it's a bright green blob on the UK map page? Posting to the forum just to advertise a new cache seems like something to be avoided to me.

I'm fairly new to geocaching, so sorry if this should be obvious! On cache pages, my logs appear with both my display name and my username, but having just released my first travel bug, I see that on the tb page only my username appears. Is this normal or have I done something stupid? If it is normal, is it possible to get my display name to appear as well as my user name?