c.j.miller

quote:Originally posted by Team Scotti: I score a 1 if I find the cache, a 0 if I don't. If I use the hint, do I only score a 0.9 of a cache find? Seems like I found it, one way or the other. You find it or you don't find it, whatever tools you used to get there, you got there. Jim. I agree, sounds good. I mean, when you really get down to it, why make this so difficult and complex. It's supposed to be fun. I think the extent of it should be what we have now. Just logging how many finds. Each one is an adventure, and I like to see how many successfuly adventures I've gone on. Yes, some are easy, and some are hard, but if you do a lot of Geocaching and have a good amount of finds under your belt, the law of averages will work itself out and you'll have an even balance of difficult finds and easy ones in your list. Christopher J. Miller Warren, MI

got the same error this morning while trying to log a few benchmarks..... HTTP 500.100 - Internal Server Error - ASP error Internet Information Services -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technical Information (for support personnel) Error Type: ImageGlue5.Canvas.1 (0x80004005) JPEG Error Message - Invalid file name Save As: File={E:imagesbenchmark/lg/10156_100.jpg} Parameters={Quality=medium} Canvas={Width=605 Height=450 Depth=32 Buffer=-251328744} /mark/upload/imageupload.asp, line 229 Browser Type: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0; Smart Explorer 6.1) Page: POST 92320 bytes to /mark/upload/imageupload.asp POST Data: error '80020009' Exception occurred. /IISHelp/common/500-100.asp, line 223 Christopher J. Miller Warren, MI

I was checking out a benchmark in Gladstone, MI. Data sheet that is listed at geocaching.com shows that the last time it was recovered was in 1977 (in good condition). If I go to http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_pid.prl and I put in the PID of this benchmark, the datasheet there shows that the BM was found no longer existing in 2002. So, I guess my question is...how often or when was the last time the data sheet information contained within the geocaching.com website updated? BTW, the PID of the BM was QL0170. Look it up at both sites. Christopher J. Miller Warren, MI

Tried their map search tool.... It works, but gives me an error every other action that I take on the map. But, for what it's worth, it did show graphically where the benchmarks were located in the area that I picked. I haven't been able to figure out how to get it to 'identify' like geocaching.com's maps do, but I'll keep playing around with it. Thanks!!! Christopher J. Miller Warren, MI

Is it possible to get a visual map of the benchmarks in a specific area....similar to the "Visualize" link for caches? I know that the map could possibly be inaccurate because many benchmarks do not exist anymore even though there's a record of them, but maybe benchmark locations can be designated with a different icon if they've been found, not found, or confirmed destroyed or removed. Christopher J. Miller Warren, MI

Sort of...here's what I bring with me while hunting... Palm III with RandMcNally Street Finder GPS Handspring Visor Prism with: -Eyemodule 2 camera -Visorphone I can find the cache with my GPS on the Palm III, and then I can take a picture of the cache or surrounding area/scenery...then switch to the cellphone to log my find, and look for other caches. I probably could find software to upload the picture too, but it's probably not worth the trouble. I'd rather just wait until I got home. Christopher J. Miller Warren, MI

I don't see anything wrong with getting the coords of an abandoned building and placing them as a virutal cache on the site. As long as you don't violate any tresspassing rules by just going to the site. I used to explore LARGE abandoned buildings in downtown Detroit. I'm talking 33 story hotels and stuff. Had a huge website about it, but had to give up on the stuff for a while to plan a wedding, buy a house, and start my next life. So, I guess I wouldn't see anythign wrong with creating a cache for something like a significant abandoned building. It would have to be worthy of a cache though. Just picking an abandoned house in a neighborhood for the heck of it wouldn't work. But something like the Book-Cadillac Hotel in down town Detroit (abandoned for over 15-years) would be significant because it's a historical site, and was once known as the tallest hotel in the world (when it was first built). Just my $0.02. CJ Miller Warren, MI

dadgum....I've got one already...but I busted my windshield mount a while back. Haven't been able to find one on ebay yet. I'd be willing to buy your mount, but that would make your set incomplete then. Let me know if you'd like to negotiate. Christopher J. Miller

dadgum....I've got one already...but I busted my windshield mount a while back. Haven't been able to find one on ebay yet. I'd be willing to buy your mount, but that would make your set incomplete then. Let me know if you'd like to negotiate. Christopher J. Miller

I've found that just doing some preliminary study work on the area (use the topo maps or a standard street-level map), you'll be able to plan your trip better. This happened to me today...was going to look for a cache in a city park. Went to the parking lot...GPS said .7 miles to cache. Not really that far, but judging by the direction it was point to...I knew of another way into the park from the back. Sure enough, when I drove to the back way....only .2 miles to the cache. Sometimes it's more challenging to not do any research. The few that I've done, most of the time I just get the coordinates, and briefly read the description of the cache. I'll print out the cache page and bring it with me, but I like to try to find it on my own with just the coordinates first. I usually end up driving around the site trying to find a road that will lead closer, but I've already had to say "heck with it" and just park-and-walk. No big deal. Makes it more of an "experience" I guess. Christopher J. Miller

I've had my GPS and Palm III combination for almost 3 years now, yet I've only gotten into Geocaching within the past few weeks (knew about it about a year ago, but never tried it). I really like the palm device for what it does, and with the right software (CetusGPS is a nice little app), it can do everything that a dedicated piece of hardware can. You can probably find Palm III units and GPS's REALLY cheap on Ebay now since the Palm III (and variants) have been out of production for some time. Aside from that, I do like the mapping aspect of the palm/GPS combination. I've got 8 megs of ram on it (upgraded it a while back), which can store a good amount of maps. Works out great because the GPS w/ the map software will help you get to the geocache area...then you switch to something like CetusGPS, and that allows you to watch your distance and heading as you close in on the Geocache. Enjoy! Christopher J. Miller