chihuahuak94me
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Posts posted by chihuahuak94me
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Man, I thought Toz posted long posts. Toz doesn't even come close. But it really does read like getting back at a CO behind a badge of authority.
I rest my case.
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Our reviewer posted this note on some archived caches:
Archiving at the request of the Virginia DOT. Guardrail caches are now prohibited by VDOT.It seems obvious to me that the only reason the Department of Transportation would even be aware of geocaching is because there were caches placed in such a way that it was hazardous to look for them. Is there a way we could encourage people to consider our impact on traffic safety (for other states, the damage is done in Virginia) or do we have to rely on the usually unreliable common sense?
Nope VaGriz. It's not the reason VDOT is aware of them. A local cacher decided to take it upon himself to challenge the placement of one cache without asking the CO about the hide. VDOT had not choice but to issue a blanket statement that covered all their property. It was senseless and vindictive. Appears to be a personal attack which is resulting in the archival of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of caches across the Commonwealth.
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The restriction is most likely on the land governed by VDOT, not simply the equipment installed on that property.
Well that just about covers the entire state.
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Back on April 18 the cache in question was changed out to be a sprinkler head under the bushes, several feet away from the sign. This little bit if green is located along a sidewalk in a small town. There is plenty of room to park the car at the gas station. Apparently this wasn't good enough because there was a notification tonight that read: "Groundspeak is archiving this cache per an explicit request from the Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Please remove the container with appropriate caution."
So, apparently it's not just signs and guardrails. It includes all the bushes, sidewalks and any area around a road. I guess geocaching will soon no longer be allowed in Virginia.
Heavy Sigh.
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Point taken. However, the original cache in question had been in place for over two years and over 100 finds with no problems. I understand the permission issue. Doesn't make it right. But, if he had raised his question to the CO an adjustment could have been made and saved guard rail caches in the state of Virginia. He went all the way to the top and forced them to issue a blanket statement which does not allow for any wiggle room.
Being unfamiliar with the cache in question, did the person making the complaint ever make a public complaint even if it wasn't directly to the CO or did he just decided he didn't like it and went directly to VDOT? If the latter, there seems to be some kind of disconnect.
The person signed the log. Then, about two weeks later posted pictures and made comments implying that the object the cache was located in had been altered by someone (this was totally not the case). Apparently he had already gone to VDOT to report it and reported his findings to the reviewer. No attempt was made to contact the CO, no questions asked. He was completely wrong about the situation, made false accusations, and took matters into his own hands. The cache was archived without notifying the CO that this was going to happen. Groundspeak looked at the CO's appeal and the posting has since been reactivated and the hide changed to another spot nearby the original.
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He has created quite a problem for cachers in our area.
Do you think he would be able to cause problems if permission had been obtained for those hides?
Point taken. However, the original cache in question had been in place for over two years and over 100 finds with no problems. I understand the permission issue. Doesn't make it right. But, if he had raised his question to the CO an adjustment could have been made and saved guard rail caches in the state of Virginia. He went all the way to the top and forced them to issue a blanket statement which does not allow for any wiggle room.
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Our reviewer posted this note on some archived caches:
Archiving at the request of the Virginia DOT. Guardrail caches are now prohibited by VDOT.It seems obvious to me that the only reason the Department of Transportation would even be aware of geocaching is because there were caches placed in such a way that it was hazardous to look for them. Is there a way we could encourage people to consider our impact on traffic safety (for other states, the damage is done in Virginia) or do we have to rely on the usually unreliable common sense?
Jumping back on topic, I brought this issue up with out local reviewer here, just to see if they had heard anything through the grapevine. I got this e-mail reply back.
"Unfortunately, it's true. One cacher took it upon themselves to dig into the matter and contact VDOT. This is the new template that will be used for any new caches on VDOT property.
On April 11, 2011 a geocacher received a letter from VDOT requesting all geocaches placed on VDOT property be removed. VDOT property is any signage or guardrail on any state maintained road..."anything on the roadway such as a sign, guardrail, bridge, light post, etc is VDOT/state property and are NOT to be receptacles for geocache items."
Any new caches will, of course, be denied. Any caches requiring maintenance will be archived.
We don't have the manpower to look through all the caches in VA, but as they appear on disabled lists, they will be archived. Sad to say, but it IS VDOT property.
It does look as if they are removing them as they find them."
Not ALL guardrail caches are lame and uninsipring. I had one that was a sandwich-sized lock-n-lock that had been magnetized and placed on the back of a guardrail. It caught a lot of people off-guard, as no one expects a cache of that size on a guardrail. It was along a road that wasn't used very often and didn't get a lot of traffic. I found it to be missing a couplf of days ago, and I can only assume that VDOT removed it, since it was in a place not likely to be muggled.
This is not exactly correct, the letter received said "In order to maintain the safety of our citizens and your members, we ask that you suspend all placement of materials on or in our property." It doesn't say "requesting all geocaches placed on VDOT property be removed. VDOT property is any signage or guardrail on any state maintained road..."anything on the roadway such as a sign, guardrail, bridge, light post, etc is VDOT/state property and are NOT to be receptacles for geocache items."
It doesn't list any of the specific items at all. It simply requests that we don't "place" materials "on" or "in". What prompted this entire argument in the first place wasn't even a guardrail.
It involved a local geocacher who decided to take it upon himself to be the cache police and report anything he thought suspicious.
He has created quite a problem for cachers in our area.
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besides the CHIRP caches are set up to be found without the use of the CHIRP device.
Are they? We have one in our area that you cannot get without the device.
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I need someone to tell me exactly how to load caches into cachmate on my incredible. Somehow I got them on last night, have no idea how. I got a new pq of my 500 nearest my house today and I wanted to update the file. Have no idea how to do that.
On my Moto Droid I go to my Gmail account and preview the attachment via cachemate after I run the PQ.
Does it automatically unzip the file or do I need to download an ap that will do that for me?
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Well, that much I had. I need the directions in plain english. Exact how-to for the gal who is not quite as computer literate as the average joe. I have managed to get them on, but both times it was by accident.
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I need someone to tell me exactly how to load caches into cachmate on my incredible. Somehow I got them on last night, have no idea how. I got a new pq of my 500 nearest my house today and I wanted to update the file. Have no idea how to do that.
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In some of the cahes I place in my small town I put a $5 gift certificate to the little ice cream parlor on Main Street. People seem to like that.
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Yes, it can. In GSAK type in %hint in the "Waypoint description format (comments)" box when you click on GPS/Send Waypoints tab. It will allow a total of 30 characters in the waypoint comment field.
Is it possible to make it have more than 30 characters in the comment field?
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You are WONDERFUL. That's the site. I've been looking and looking to find it. I knew I saw it once but forgot to bookmark it. I won't make that mistake this time.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
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I need some help/advice/wisdom from you seasoned cachers.
I have tried carrying my cache info pages out into the woods on my Dell Axim handheld...and I hated it. It drove me absolutley out of my mind trying to scroll around on that little screen to read the description or the hint, or worse yet trying to decipher the needed info for a puzzle cache.
Instead, what I have been doing is downloading the waypoints to my GPSr and printing out all the info pages for caches in the area where I plan to be. I usually end up downloading many more than I print, however, since my GPSr holds up to 1000 waypoints anyway.
Here's my dilemma: sometimes we end up somewhere slightly different than where I originally planned to be and decide we want to do some caching. Not generally a problem, since I have the waypoints in my GPSr... but if I don't have the info page we have no idea what type or size cache we are looking for, what the D/T ratings are, we have no hint and don't know if there is any other info we may need (parking coordinates, for example). Normally we will give it shot anyway and phone a friend at home to look something up if needed, but that's not really a solution in my view.
What I would really like to be able to do is print an Excel or Word table that gives just the basic info for many caches on one page, such as:
Cache Name, Coordinates, Type, Size, Difficulty, Terrain, Hint, Parking Coordinates, Additional Info
If I could fit the basic info for 10-20 caches on one sheet of paper instead of having to print 2-3 pages for each cache, I would be one happy geocacher.
Does anyone know of a way to accomplish such a feat? I was hoping I could download a .loc or .gpx file and somehow export it to excel or something along that line, but alas, I am stumped. Anyone, please... any suggestions?
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I recently saw a site that had camo'd magnetic key holders on it. They already had a sticker identifying it as an official geocache and all you needed to do was to write the name on it and hide it. Unfortunately, I forgot to bookmark the site and now I can't find it. Anyone else out there seen this and know where it is? If so, please email me at chihuahuak94me@yahoo.com and let me know the URL.
Thanks.
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Cool Beans! Thanks for all the tips and offers for translating. Our trip is not until July but I'm sure yall know how its goes. "Ooo lets look for caches where we are going to be!!) Abit down the road some of you just might be getting PMs to help translate the caches. THANKS!
We are going over to Germany the last week of June-first week of July too. I was wondering the same thing. I wonder if we will see each other. I'll look for you carrying around a GPS.
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How is your "North" setting on your gps? True or Magnetic. Perhaps yours is set to one and your husbands is set to the other. Not always, but sometimes this can make a difference. Check your set up and see if they differ.
-Jeff
Hubby said they are both true north.
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How are you entering the waypoint coordinates? Are you punching them in manually? If so, are you both using the same map datum? Are you both using the same coordinate system?
We put them in manually. Why would that matter. I don't know about map datum or coordinate system. Sometimes both units agree and point us both the same way. If they always disagreed I would look at other things. I don't think that would be an issue unless they always disagreed.
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Well, that's the question. How do I know if I am within 20 feet if my GPS sends me 50 feet in one direction from the car and my husband's sends him 30 feet the other way? Which one of us is closer?
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I have been geocaching with my Lowrance Ifinder and my husband has a Magellan 400. It is not unusual for us to put in the same waypoint and have our units send us in two different directions. Sometimes mine is right on and other times his is. This happened several times yesterday. We then went to yet another site where we both walked up to exactly the same tree. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to which GPS will get us to a cache. Anyone know why this happens?
VDOT and guardrails
in General geocaching topics
Posted · Edited by chihuahuak94me