samiller71

One of my main reasons for considering a smartphone is the opportunity to spontaneously cache without the need for PQs. However, I want to avoid any smartphone models if their GPS antenna is very poor (eg. picks up poorly under tree cover). Im leaning toward the Droid but want to hear other cacher's experiences with its GPS accuracy.

I am considering using either a Droid 3 or an iPhone 4 to allow caching without the need for PQs. Can someone please tell me if the GPS receivers on Droids and iPhones are of similar quality or is one significantly more accurate/sensitive than the other? Unfortunately, I cannot find much info about this online and the Verizon sales people know little about caching features. Thanks!

Regardless of your budget, make sure you purchase a unit with a "High Sensitivity" (HC) receiver. It can be very frustrating to cache under the trees and have a non-HC receiver's distance/arrow constantly change.

Consider purchasing a used Palm Zire 21 from ebay. They have few whistles, are cheap, and work great with the software Cmconvert to hold cache data.

Well very cool. I didnt know that an activation code could be derived from the tracking number. Thanks for the info!

I have a question about unactivated geocoins. I found one in a geocache this past wknd and took it to drop elsewhere. However, when I went online that evening to log the pickup, the coin was listed as unactivated. I have contacted the cache owner but he was not aware of the coin being in the cache. It did not appear in the inventory. Since nobody claims this coin, is there any way for me to activate this coin without its activation code? It was made by coinsandpins.com Thanks.

Thanks for the advice. I tried the "Add Path" technique to make a unique route and saved it as a KML. The resulting pocket query was exactly what I needed. Ill also remember the KML editing idea. There can be instances where a curvy route would make the Add Path technique very tedious.

What technique do you use for making a multi-stop route query? I cannot create a multi-stop kml file using Google Earth. I have tried making one with the Google maps website and converting to a kml using this website... http://www.nearby.org.uk/multi-to-kml.php ... but GC cannot upload kml files of any size generated by that website. Other than making several point to point kmls and having countless pocket queries to run, is there any fairly simple way to create a multi-stop route query? Thanks in advance!!!

It would be nice to see GC change the html coding of that webpage so that the button automatically moves when one of the Cache types are selected. It is a very common feature found in most other webpage forms on the net.

I have a recommendation for the GC webpage where one makes a pocket query. When I select the cache types (ie Traditional, Virtual, Event, etc) that I want to find, the button for ANY TYPE should automatically move to SELECTED TYPES. If I do not remember to make that change manually and I hit SUBMIT INFORMATION, the query will ignore the types that I selected and show all types. Does this ever happen to others who are quickly making a pocket query?

Thanks for the information.

Can anyone please tell me the html codes one should use to add a background sound file to a geocache page that autostarts when opened? I have seen some geocaching.com cache pages with background music but I cannot seem to determine the proper html codes. Thanks in advance for the advice!

Since I do much geocaching impulsively in good and bad weather, it sounds like a small, ball-shaped compass on a keychain is my best bet. My keys are one of the few things that I ALWAYS carry with me. The keychain, disk-shaped compasses either have unreliable pivot points or they are prone to temporary failure due to static electricity buildup. I have yet to figure out which one it is. Thanks for all of the advice!!

This question is for the members who use a compass to help them in their "drunken bee dance" when closing-in on a cache... Can anyone recommend a keychain style compass that is durable? I have had to throw out two keychain compasses that have had their magnetic disks gradually sieze up from an apparent failure of their pivot bearings. Each of the pivot bearings started to act up after 2-3 months of use. Either I am very hard on keychain compasses or some are built very cheap. Thanks for the help.

Can one search for a TB by its description/desired destination? For example, if I planned on going to Savannah in a month, can I do a search for a list of TBs in my region that want to travel to Savannah? If so, please inform how this is done. Thanks!

Can one search for a TB by its description/desired destination? For example, if I planned on going to Savannah in a month, can I do a search for a list of TBs in my region that want to travel to Savannah? If so, please inform how this is done. Thanks!

I have recently noticed that there are 3 caches (not virtual) in a wilderness area near me (Northeast TN). Is it against geocaching rules or ethics to place caches in federally designated wilderness areas? If so, what should be done...leave them be, remove them? Your comments are appreciated!!

Kinda reminds me of the Y2K doomsday hooplah...all GPS's will soon crash!!!

I have seen some user profiles indicating that he/she has created several hundred caches, with many being over a hundred miles apart from each other. This leads me to ask how that person can possibly manage such a large number of caches over such a wide area. My guess is that they cannot do it, which leads me to ask if the cachers in this forum believe this to be an irresponsible obsession. A cache not maintained may ultimately turn into litter if a muggle, weather, etc harms it. Should there be a limit to how many caches one creates?

Thank you very much for the help.

When I download the Google Earth KML file, Google Earth shows all caches as orange pushpins, regardless of attribute (Virtual, Multi, etc). However, when I downloaded the KML file on another friends computer, their Google Earth showed the attribute icons for Virtual, Multi, etc instead of pushpins. I would like to have the icons show instead of pushpins but I have no idea why one computer is showing pushpins and another is showing the various icons. Is this an option in Google Earth? I have looked through the help files and cannot find anything. We are both using the same version of Google Earth (4.02.091) Any help would be appreciated! samiller71@rocketmail.com