A_Canadian_eh

Thanks for the nudge in the right direction - problem solved!

Don't feel so bad, the Etrex menus aren't very intuitive and the Garmin manuals are really poor. From memory (my Etrex is at home) go into the map screen, then setup (left menu button) then Setup Map > Data Fields and choose "Dashboard" I think. Thanks very much for the pointers - problem solved! I was pretty sure it had something to do with the Dashboard, yet for some reason I simply could not find the option for selecting that. Glad to hear someone else finds the manuals poor and the menus unintuitive. I do a lot of computer/spreadsheet related work, including building "applications" that others will have to work with and I am usually considered to have a pretty logical, organized mind. I like our Etrex20 very much for using it, but when it comes to "programming" it I feel like I am going crazy - I am obviously not tuned in on the same wavelength as the designers (or users) who thought they had developed an intuitive menu system - to me a better description would be a random menu system

Everyone enjoys having a chuckle at the expense of a newbie, so here go....oh, I guess with 500+ caches we aren't exactly newbies ... feel free to laugh anyway. Went out this afternoon, fired up the Garmin eTrex 20 after a few weeks not using it and it appears some setting got messed up. Specifically, the GEOCACHE screen works just like it used to - see your cache in the list, pick it and GO. The map then automatically comes up, but we are missing the top bar or section which used to show the compass/pointer, distance to cache, size of cache, etc. We must have messed this up somehow ourselves but I am both embarrassed and frustrated that I can't find how to reset it to the previous display format ... it is probably a really simple step or two, but I have been in and out of the menus for at least 30 minutes and I simply can't seem to find the right settings. Can anyone stop laughing long enough to help me out?

Check out http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=326766&st=0&p=5437461&fromsearch=1entry5437461 for the useful explanation I got when I asked the same question!

Wow .. lesson learned .. let the travel bugs stay where they are .. we had the weird idea we were playing the game when we took them with us as we visited various caches and even took the odd picture in an unusual location. Now we find that owners don't like getting lots of logs about their bugs .. or having their bug not leave the province (state).. or travelling with one person for too long even if it is visiting new caches every week or two. Who needs the grief - let the blessed thing stay in the cache for the next poor sucker. Unbelievable.

Sometimes they are at the oh so perfectly spaced and placed locations shown: And that is why one should be careful about absolute statements! I should have said, in this case and knowing the area, obviously the caches cannot be at the oh so perfectly spaced & placed locations shown! I bow to your correction!

Ok, too late to work on this tonight, but I think I am seeing a glimmering of how this works. Thanks! I think the light has dawned! EACH of the Wood Tick Trail caches is a multi-cache and the reference to "final cache" on each one is a DIFFERENT final cache. For some reason I had gotten the idea (because of the geo-art angle!) that these were all inter-related and were providing clues/directions to a SINGLE final cache. Not sure I feel any less like an idiot now! So let me see if I have it right. 1. This series of Wood Tick caches really have nothing to do with each other aside from a common name and using the "offset" to make a cute picture (disgusting little picture, actually!) .. in real life this is just another trail/series of caches. 2. One can use various tools to derive the new co-ordinates and then enter them on the caching page. I am assuming that those are the co-ordinates that show up in the future when you log in and that therefore the corrected co-ordinates are what you would get if you generate a pocket query? 3. Curiosity question (which I guess will be solved after we locate a few of these) - if we find and log all of these caches, when we view the map of the area in the future from geocaching.com, do they then show as found at the "geo-art co-ordinates" rather than at the real co-ordinates - is that the final purpose of the geo-art schtick, so that you have this cute pattern when viewing your finds? How am I doing? Pretty close?

Ok, too late to work on this tonight, but I think I am seeing a glimmering of how this works. Thanks!

We get multis. Some may need to know more about geoart, me included. Now we are feeling even dumber than before. We sort of understand multi's, we think ... we did complete GC4CFMP. Let us try to ask this another way - we have no pride left - all sorts of people are logging finds for GC4CFMP, etc. and filing logs commenting on the containers. The description says the cache is not at the location listed (which is obvious based on the impossibility of laying out the art that accurately and which is borne out by your comment above). So... what are these cachers finding and where are they going to find it? Where/how does one begin to tackle this "geo-art"?

We are completely stumped here .. not the first time, but usually we have an inkling! What exactly is a Geo-Art trail? e.g. GC5CM47 Obviously the caches cannot be at the oh so perfectly spaced and placed locations shown .. so what is the trick?/secret?/simple answer? as to what we are supposed to be doing? Frankly, we are too embarrassed to ask local cachers for help so thought we might look to this more anonymous forum for some tips, nudges, uproarious laughter ... As the boss said to the new employee, "We've had people here before who didn't have a clue what was going on, but it appears you don't even suspect!" Can anybody help us suspect?

Our profile advises us that we have 279 finds on 277 distinct caches ... to us that seems to imply we have double-logged some caches? Is there a simple way to sort caches found by name or GC code or something to find these duplicates? (By simple I mean something other than using 3 obscure utilities to produce a database in another coding I have never heard of etc. etc. As always, any help appreciated!

Valid point...I am assuming situations where there is no realistic doubt that you have the actual cache in hand. I can't imagine my wife and myself having the (good word!) hubris to assume that a DNF for us means an actually missing cache! The idea of logging a "throw down" as a "find" boggles my mind!

Canadian flag pin!

I have helped several cache owners out. I know they are conscientious cache owners who don't plant more than they can handle and try to provide a good caching experience for people. I have added a sheet of paper if the log is full, I've covered a crack with duct tape. I've wiped out a quality cache container that ended up soaked because one of the tabs on the authentic lock n lock was left open, I've wiped and cleaned out damaged swag in an authentic lock & lock because someone left bubble liquid and it leaked. But I will not enable and encourage deadbeat cache ownership. I will not replace someone's container. They need to learn that dollar store containers, margarine/yogurt tubs, folgers jugs, take-out food containers, film canisters, knock-off bison tubes, knock-off Lock & Locks, gladware make poor containers. Here's what I do. I photograph the mess and post it on my NM log. I 'watch' the cache listing for a couple of weeks. If the CO doesn't respond, I post an NA. If the CO hasn't logged in in months (or years) I will note that in my NA log because it often speeds up the archival process. Once the reviewer archives it, I go back to pick up the remains. I post a note explaining that I have the cache and will keep it in my garage for one month. I offer to return it to the CO but let the CO know that I will throw it away on day/month/year if I don't hear back. I have yet to hear back from a CO that has abandoned their broken, messy cache remains. Like I said, YMMV ... but it sure looks to me like you are spending a whole lot of your time, effort and emotional energy trying to "teach an irresponsible CO a lesson" .. and likely failing at it because they ARE an irresponsible CO who will never take note of your lesson! You'll have to pardon me if I still think that carrying out an action that improves the caching experience for those coming after is a more fulfilling way to invest time, effort, and emotional energy ... especially when the action at worst causes no real damage to anyone and at best may provide many more months/years of enjoyment for other cachers.

I guess this is why they say YMMV I suppose if one assumes when you observe a cache that needs some TLC that the CO is a dead-beat who doesn't look after his caches, then doing something to improve the situation is pointless and maybe counter-productive. On the other hand, in the absence of evidence to the contrary I prefer to make the situation better for the next cacher if I can and just assume that the CO is a decent chap who would have happily dealt with the situation as soon as it was brought to his attention. If I'm wrong, I still don't see where the problem lies. Sure the cache is going to be archived some day .. guess what, all of our caches are eventually headed for that great geocaching archive in the sky (or the dump or something). If I replace a wrecked container and another 50 cachers have the enjoyment of finding it in the next 5 years before it gets muggled - if it turns out that the CO is a deadbeat who has vanished, I still don't see who is the loser! If I want to feel good about myself I can even watch the cache and read the logs and consider them (or at least the positive ones!) as being my own accolades. I certainly am not going to beat myself up as having been responsible for "abandoning a cache" by having replaced a container! I'm kind of curious about what "purists" do when you find a damaged container and contents? Do you remove them - wouldn't that be even a greater violation of protocol, to remove somebody else's cache? Or do you just leave the soggy mess where you found it so that other cachers (or worse yet, non-cachers) can discover the same situation for weeks to come while the NM / NA process grinds along? Beats me how that improves the image of caching! Sorry...I just don't get it and thus end my comments on this topic! Tally ho - cache on!

Guess it seems to me that it is more about caring about what is best for the geocaching community and particularly for the cachers coming after me, rather than about attempting to correct (probably futilely!) the (possibly) bad behaviour of the CO. Well, I guess distances are a matter of perception depending on where you live - in rural Saskatchewan, caches in smaller towns and rural areas would be mighty thin on the ground if COs limited themselves to something like a 10 mile radius of their location! When urban dwellers post logs about loving the beautifully peaceful rural roads they explored on a lazy Sunday afternoon as they searched for a cache I wonder where exactly they are thinking the cache owner(s) live! The CO may be perfectly willing to make the trip to maintain the cache the very next evening/weekend/whatever. Guess I don't see where the problem is if in smoothing the way for cachers coming after me I may incidentally save the CO some time and expense? Guess we are talking half full vs half empty glass... as far as I can see, far from throwing away that container you very probably provided years more of enjoyment for the geocachers who will find that cache .. they don't care whether the container was placed there by the original CO or by you as an "enabler" .. in fact, if you mention in your log what you did, if the cache is in a decent location I'll bet you'll be thanked in subsequent logs! Again I guess where you live may influence your viewpoint ... when I am talking about rural caches that may be visited 10 times in a (hectic) year I just don't see how everyone isn't farther ahead if I do the pragmatic thing and solve the problem at hand if I have the resources. An investment of a few bucks and a few minutes of my time can provide many years more of enjoyment for other cachers. If the CO is behaving appropriately they will be thankful for someone having helped them out and will likely be inclined to pay it forward themselves when they encounter the same situation. And if the CO is a jerk or MIA ... well I don't really care ... the cache will be there for more finders for (quite possibly) a significant period of time and I doubt very much that they care whether the CO is MIA! Sure, I could file needs maintenance logs, try to contact the cache owner, eventually get it archived and then place and list my own cache ... it just beats me who in the world comes out the winner in that situation!

Precisely...that is exactly what I was trying to get at! Some of the responses I have seen on this topic (I didn't say this thread !) seem to be far more concerned about enforcing an attitude adjustment on the CO rather than doing what is best for the greater good of the larger community.

I am really puzzled by the negative comments about fixing/repairing a cache when you *know* you have found the actual cache and it is damaged. So I find somebody's loc'n'loc container (obviously cheap knockoff ) that has three of the four tabs missing. So I can grab an equivalent container from the back seat from our caching supplies and leave two minutes later with the cache in good shape and ready for the next finder. Or I can put back the damaged cache, go home, post a needs repair log following which the CO has to drive (in our part of the country quite possibly) 30/40/50 miles to replace a $2 container. Sorry, but that's just crazy IMHO. I understand the aversion to "throw downs", but when you KNOW (ok, technically maybe only to a 99% certainty) that you have identified the cache container I would suggest it is lousy caching etiquette to not improve the situation if you have the resources at hand to do so.

:) Thank you to all who replied.. as I expected, I feel really dumb here. I certainly knew how to load a picture using the URL... I was hung-up on how to know what the URL of a picture in the gallery was.. just never occurred to me to try to open the picture with a right click!

This will probably be like the several other inquires I have made...obvious to everyone else! My wife and I have about 20 caches (the first ones we have placed) which are being put out for the SCAR2014 event (http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4ZKTZ_saskatoon-cache-and-release-2014). For most of these we had taken pictures we wanted to use as the background for the cache page. I have seen others do this by using a picture that is in the gallery. I have figured out how to load a picture to the gallery while setting up the cache, but the thing I can't figure out is what to fill in for the "Background Image URL" for it to use this picture. Once you stop laughing, can you tell me what I am missing? TIA for any assistance!

Any help greatly appreciated....went to download my updated pocket queries to my Garmin E-trex 20 and got error message "The USB cable is connected to the wrong adapter". Did the download the same way as I have all summer. Tried different cable and different USB port...no luck. Has anybody seen this message before or have any idea what it means? Talk about Murphy's Law....intended to do some caching this morning, but our GPS is still loaded with the data from our trip to Albert two weeks ago!

Thanks...I thought there should be a way to report bugs, but I hadn't scrolled down far enough to find it....my bad!

When you use the "hide and seek" a cache feature, I used to be able to click on the heading of, for example, the Last Found column and have the caches resort in ascending or descending order on that feature. That option seems to have disappeared....clicking on the heading does not result in a sort/resort. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just me and some computer setting?

Thanks so much for all the advice and pointers....what a great support community!

Thank you for that info....that is one of the things I was wondering about! We actually ordered the eTrex 20 with a Canadian map...hope that helps with the sort of problem you mention!