SearchRescueDog

quote:Originally posted by Johnnyvegas: quote:Originally posted by Criminal: quote:Originally posted by Johnnyvegas:FRS radios are limited to a 2 mile range while GMRS radios are limited to 5 miles. With the FRS radio yo do not need a licences for GMRS you will, there is not test involved you just fill out a form and send it to the FCC with a check for $75.00. The license covers anyone in your family and is good for 5 years. Keep in mind if you shop for a GMRS radio some of them have no more power than an FRS radio so there range will be the same. THey are both operate in the UHF band are line of sight communication, if there is a hill in the way they will not work. My girl freind and I use Ham radios which are much more reliable but the license does require a simple test and the price is around $10.00 for ten years. A correction, FRS is _not_ limited to a two mile range. That is just the best range you can expect from the real limit, one-half watt. FRS is limited to one-half watt (500 milliwatts) and must have a fixed antenna. http://fp1.centurytel.net/Criminal_Page/ Getting any more than 2 miles from an FRS radio is a long shoot. I have tried them from several companies and I hav enever gotten more than a mile. The 2 mile limit is what the FCC requires, this is why they lare limeted to 500mw. The FCC does not regulate based on "range". They regulate based RF power (500mw) or Effective Radiated Power (ERP is the combination of RF power and antenna gain). As stated in an earlier post there is no way to make a general statement of the range of a communications system.

If anyone thinks that an IP address is something private then they need a wake up call. By typing gc.com in you browser window YOU are making contact with the server. This is just like YOU picking up the phone to make a call. If you call me at home I have you number on caller ID and your address mapped out on my computer screen. YOU provided this information to me by dialing my number. If you do not want me to know who you are, don't call me. The same applies to the internet. All an IP address will tell you is where someone resides on a network. It does not give you an physical address to your home or a phone number to your home. As many people have pointed out many ISPs use dynamic IP addresses. For Dial-Up customers this gives you a new IP address every time you connect. For Cable/DSL/ISDN users you would get a new IP when the DHCP lease expired 1day/1week/2weeks. I have a static IP address and will tell you right now that my IP is 147.157.18.240 and my ISP is Verizon. It is my responsibility to protect the equipment connected to that address just as it is my responsibility to protect the property in my home. That is why firewalls are created just like locks on the door of you home. [This message was edited by SearchRescueDog on October 07, 2003 at 03:00 PM.]

If all else fails REI has the Suunto A-10 Partner II Compassfor $10. I know that isn't all that cheap but if you are going to have them do map and compass you really need a baseplate compass.

quote:Originally posted by Keystone Approver:Please bear in mind that, in today's heightened security environment, geocaches on or near airport property will have a tough time getting through the cache approval process. It's best to look for parks, etc. which are nearby the airport. Perhaps this would not be as much of an issue at small "mom&pop" fields.

I am a big fan of the Brunton 8096 Eclipse GPS compass. It is inexpensive ($30) and has a UTM reader built-in to the baseplate. It also comes with a Lat/Long ruler. I am thinking about picking up a 8099 Eclipse compass soon, even though there isn't that much use for a mirrored compass around here.

Perhaps I will stop trading multi-tools that include a knife and start trading multi-tools that include cutting tools.

quote: At 45 to 50 degrees you'd probably die of dehyrdation first. Would you like me to site examples of the number of elderly walk-aways that end up dead second to hypothermia in moderate temps. I just had one durring a search mission this spring. quote:And the notion that firefighters or other rescue teams would stand at the mouth of a cave and whimper and call the local Grotto to affect the rescue really shows the elitism you project. As if the cavers would know what to do when they got to the victim. Leave medical treatement to trained experts. Doing CPR unnecessarily can kill a person. Not doing it when it's needed will surely kill a person. Using a touniquette when not needed is dangerous. Not using one when needed can be deadly. Do you really think the paramedics are gonna hand you their defribulator and say "here Joe... you go in, it's too dangerous for us". If you dont believe this from the cavers then let me let you in on a little secret. The closest I have ever got to caving (other than confined space work) would be touring a commercial cave. I am however a FireFighter and Search & Rescue Tech. If you think that a local rescue squad or fire department will handle a cave rescue you have a big shock comming to you. That is why the National Cave Rescue Commision is around. And, by the way, there is a reason than "Joe" gets a Zoll handed to him, It's because NCRC teams have EMTs and Paramedics. Yes, The NCRC is part of the NSS and most are part of local grottos. Another big concern for Fire & EMS crews is that there is no VHF or UHF radio communication in caves. That is why NCRC teams have communication techs that lay hard-wired phone systems into the cave as they go. This is no different than mine rescue. Your local fire department will call for a special mine rescue team. In case you where wondering, mine rescue teams are made of miners not fire/rescue personnel. quote:Get out of your macho fantasy world. A cave is just a fargin hole in the ground... anyone with good solid outdoorsman skills and common sense can figure out how far to go and what dangers are present in a situation as simple as a cave. I guess you monitor air quality when you are camping? I am not against caching in caves... In fact if the cave is open to recreation I am 100% in favor of a virtual in a cave. However, I am very much against entering one without the proper training. I feel the same way about underwater caches. If it requires SCUBA and you are not certified give up or go take a freaking class. I actually plan to attend NCRC weekend next year if they offer the Orientation to Cave Rescue again. Edited for format change

I lost my first etrex over the winter doing a night-time land navigation course. Over night we got like 3 feet of snow. About a month later I got a phone call from the ranger in that area. He was plowing a side trail and saw it pop up over the plow. I picked it up, put in frex batteries, and it worked fine. After a few days the screen started doing funny things and then it stopped working all together. Now it sits at the bottom of the closet not working.

You know those nail clipper can cause some real injury when pinching the skin. I bet you could rip a good chunk of flesh off with one of those things. What if a child would find one? And the finger tooth brushes... What if a child would find a dirty one in a cache and use it, swallow a lot of toothpaste and get sick... Maybe we can ban those too. I hate finding them anyway. And let's not forget about magnifying glass. I heard that you can use them to start a fire on a sunny day. Everyone stay safe and be careful not to choke on any McToys (make sure they are all 3yrs and up please). [This message was edited by SearchRescueDog on September 01, 2003 at 07:49 AM.] [This message was edited by SearchRescueDog on September 01, 2003 at 07:56 AM.]

Just happened upon this article... GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado (AP) -- A man and a woman are recovering from dehydration after spending nearly five days lost in a cave.

Being from an area with limited caves (about 25 in the state I think) feel free to take this with a grain of salt... If there is such a desire to cache in caves that this thread surfaces over and over again why not find common ground. The facts are very clear... Caves are dangerous. There is a reason that you dont see Fire Department confined space rescue teams pulling people out of caves, they call the local grotto. You can down play hypothermia and injuries all you want but air quality is a BIG hazard in any confined space. Perhaps the "cavers" are a little paranoid of some bum walking into a cave and causing damage but if you look at the history of well known caves you will see this is a very real fear. How hard would it be to accept that maybe physical caches should be off limits? Isn't the cave itself worth the trip to do a virtual? Why not work with the local grotto. Is it so hard to think of what progress may be made if a local geocaching society got together with a grotto and setup a virtual that the grotto assisted finders with? Call it supervision if you want but I wouldn't want to fly a plane without taking lessons.

Loran uses RF time difference triangulation for location. The transmitters for Loran are terrestrial. To tell you the truth I'm not sure if Loran-C is still operation of not. It was schedualed to be shutdown in December of 2000. Many GPS units have a setting for "LORAN" to allow you to use those coords (I know my Garmin 72 does).

It sounds like what you need is a MaxiMog Way too many features to list here... You really just need to go to the website and check it out. Lets just say that if comes with GPS, HF/VHF/UHF communications, a jet boat, and unmanned aircraft, and a 123gal fuel tank.

Not to put off the issue of if a dog can handle a trail or not but there is a much bigger issue here that a few people have touched on. It would be very good to have a searchable attribute for dog friendly as well as wheelchair access, etc. However, just as with wheelchair caches the "dog friendly" concept is very subjective. My dog climbs into and over rubble piles, can yours? The only way to really tackle the problem is to define "dog friendly" as Dogs are allowed. It us up to the cache owner to add more detailed info to the cache page if he feels that it is needed. Check out: Gunpowder Essentials Cache & Joppatown Gem Cache These are two examples of how a simple attribue icon gets the point accross but looking at the discription gives you the info you need to make a decision about how well the cache will work for your wheelchair or dog. The big point here is to get searchablespecial situation attributes added to the cache forms.

I always have a radio with me in the woods. It is very rare that I can get a cell signal so radio is about it. Helps a lot for night time land nav without a GPS as well as a safety backup. While I do have FRS & GMRS I normally carry a Yaesu VX-7 144/440 amateur with the car set to cross-band. I also normally carry a fire department portable with me.

Not the best picture of them but here is Savannah (bloodhound) and Dexter (Lab/Mastiff mix). Both love to cache. Dexter has a few that really are his finds.

Not a bad idea... Would make it easier to log multiple finders at the same time with the same text. Unfortunatly my two most frequent team mates dont have thir own accounts.

I think that this issue could bo solved all together if we ever get searchable cache attributes added to the cache pages. This will solve the problems of dog/wheelchair access as well as special equipment. Cache reporting form has several attributes with check boxes. The check box for special equipment then has a dropdown list for SCUBA, 4x4, boat, climbing, etc.)

I start my caches with enough items to fill the container. There is a mixed theory on this. Some people will argue that it does not leave a lot of room for trade but I would rather someone find a nice full cache. I tend to use large containers so this can take 10-20 items.

I think that most of the replies sum up your questions... I will only add that I feel that a paper topo map and compass along with the knowledge to use them together is a must anytime you are in an area other than a "city park". Plus it is always nice to find out that the cache is on the other side of the river before you hike 3miles to find out yourself. Good luck, you sure are off to the right start with the right mindset.

The previous reply is correct. Coords for geocaching.com are set for WGS84 datum. You will find however that is you work with USGS maps most are setup in NAD27.

While I am a big fan of the ammo box I will caution you about using it just as others have. They hold up very well and tend to do a very good job keeping things dry but they are also very suspicious. I think that you will find that in many areas land managers prohibit their use. One of the first exposures Maryland DNR had with Geocaching was blowing up an ammo can placed in Susquhanna State Park. It can have all of the stickers in the world plastered on it and the responding law enforcment officer or fire marshal will not know what it is for. But like I said, I really am a big fan of the ammo can at heart.

I have ordered a good bit from Botach Tactical before. They tend to have pretty good proces and always fast delivery.

There are many caches that offer this type of thing. I created Woodbridge Dog Cache for the people caching with dogs (and those without). The cache is about 75% dog related. It is located behind the only "dog park" in the county. Unfortunatly the county has chosen to no longer keep-up on the park and the fence for the off-leash area is falling down. I also use icons at the top of my cache pages to denote handicaped, dog friendly, legnth of cache, special equipment/skills, etc.

I use the MOB (Man Over Board) button on my GPS72 for quick marking.