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quote:Originally posted by RedwoodRed:Ring any bells, Goss? No, but all my life I've had to hear how much I look and behave like my father, so perhaps we should talk to *him*!

quote:Originally posted by RedwoodRed:Ring any bells, Goss? No, but all my life I've had to hear how much I look and behave like my father, so perhaps we should talk to *him*!

ay in the same place and socialise a bit. I was dissapointed that the York gathering finished as quick as it did. By the time I'd finished the gargantuan lunch, everyone was starting to drift off. Never got to talk to many people at all, which was a shame. Why don't you do the Dalby thing for May and I'll try to put something together for Allendale later in the summer. Alex.

I have some ideas but I'll email you. don't want to give too much away here. I'd like a weekend event where we can all stay in the same place and socialise a bit. I was dissapointed that the York gathering finished as quick as it did. By the time I'd finished the gargantuan lunch, everyone was starting to drift off. Never got to talk to many people at all, which was a shame. Why don't you do the Dalby thing for May and I'll try to put something together for Allendale later in the summer. Alex.

I first learned about geocaching from my editor ... once I did the story, I was sure that it was just about the perfect sport for my copy editor buddy at the newspaper. I borrowed a GPS and we hunted and found a cache just north of town (a 1/1 that still took two trips ) Next payday he was at the sporting goods store shopping for an Etrex. As my reward for finding him a new hobby, I get unlimited use of the GPS for a whole year! (Hey, can I log that as a find?) He hunts more than I do -- because he travels more and take the GPS with him -- I hide more and spend more time on the forums and such. My hubby is OK with caching, but isn't bitten by the bug. My two boys are OK with it, too, but aren't nearly as interested as Mom, who mass produces sig items and frets about planning a event cache this spring. So caching makes an outdoorsy thing to do when I want some time for me. I usually do hunt with my caching buddy; it's often a longish drive and it's good to have someone to talk to. I've also done a few with a friend or two along to introduce them to the sport. Light brown/dark blonde, occasionally lightened from the box ...

JF, Sorry to hear about your problems. I can only guess you are an exception as well, as Lexus is usually at the top of any customer service ratings I see in car magazines. I am one of those that is getting the short end of the stick from Magellan. I ordered MapSend Topo on January 10 from Cyber-Marine, and I'm still waiting to get a working copy from Thales. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't live right in the middle of the bad data. To defend Thales, though. The last time I called (long-distance) the tech (Christine) was very friendly. Only problem was she didn't seem to know much about the program and I had to be put on hold more than once while she went and talked to someone else. I guess I'd rather have friendly and uninformed than to talk to some know-it-all jerk. Jamie

quote:Originally posted by Gee Ode:That makes me wonder about the quality of the people doing the security checks. I have yet to have a security check take notice of my GPSR in my carry-on, even after 9/11. I sat next to a guy last week who got the window seat and pulled out his GPS and stuck it to the window with a car mount. The flight attendant (United) didn't say a word. We must've annoyed the people around us with our GPS geek talk. A few years ago, I ended up at my destination and realized that I had 5 .30-30 rifle cartridges in my carry-on. I had had been hunting the weekend before and didn't check my carry-on very well. Needless to say, the shells didn't make the return trip. I thought about telling the security people at my origin (Austin's old Mueller airport) but I realized that I unwittingly commited a felony and I didn't care to spend hours in a little room with a 20w lightbulb dangling over my head. After that experience, I find myself approaching the security guys with this nagging little voice in the back of my mind "do I have rifle shells in my carry-on?". -E ------------------ N35°32.981 W98°34.631

quote:Originally posted by Gee Ode:That makes me wonder about the quality of the people doing the security checks. I have yet to have a security check take notice of my GPSR in my carry-on, even after 9/11. I sat next to a guy last week who got the window seat and pulled out his GPS and stuck it to the window with a car mount. The flight attendant (United) didn't say a word. We must've annoyed the people around us with our GPS geek talk. A few years ago, I ended up at my destination and realized that I had 5 .30-30 rifle cartridges in my carry-on. I had had been hunting the weekend before and didn't check my carry-on very well. Needless to say, the shells didn't make the return trip. I thought about telling the security people at my origin (Austin's old Mueller airport) but I realized that I unwittingly commited a felony and I didn't care to spend hours in a little room with a 20w lightbulb dangling over my head. After that experience, I find myself approaching the security guys with this nagging little voice in the back of my mind "do I have rifle shells in my carry-on?". -E ------------------ N35°32.981 W98°34.631

The yanks still think we all talk strine and that kangaroos hop down Pitt st. They probably hop down embis main road and they come into my back yard.At least with this hobby and the photos we all post it gives us all an insight to the wide world. We have a great country but a dreadful lack of great maps for the general public at reasonable prices.

Hey don't get me wrong either. I am all for allowing Geocaching in Parks. Although my 2 cents is not the final say, I am only the Park Manager not the Director. I have spoke to other Mangers about this sport and most of them see that it has a place if properly monitored. I have even hid a cache in one of the parks I manage. Anyway I plan to talk to our director about Geocaching in our state of Florida soon. BrownMule

Actually, it sounds like you have already made up your mind and are simply having buyer's remorse. On the one hand, you compare memory prices, which indicates you are considering Garmin units outside the eTrex line, on the other hand, you talk about getting a better ant. with Meridian, which seems to ignore that some Garmin lines offer QH ant., along with a connector for an external ant. (a feature that the Meridian line lacks). There are plenty of happy Meridian owners, and I see little reason why you wouldn't be happy with a basic, marine, or gold. If you are looking for reassurances on a Platinum, that is another story. Most people have little legitimate use for a barometric altimeter. And, a built in compass with 5-10 degree accuracy is a convenience, but it lacks the accuracy (and robustness) for serious outdoor navigation. So, if money really is a concern why spend money on these features? Especially when it means being an early adopter of a product that has been plagued with manufacturing problems and delays. Likewise, if you are doing some heavy duty mountaineering, do you really want to put your trust in a brand new, repeatedly delayed device? The logical choice would be to buy a Gold, which would give you the Meridian you obviously prefer, fight off the evil Garmin empire, and give you a unit that is well field tested. On the other hand, if your heart is set on a Plantinum - go for it. A hundred bucks isn't chicken feed, but if having all the bells and whistles increases your enjoyment of the unit, then that is worth something too. -jjf [This message has been edited by jfitzpat (edited 13 February 2002).]

Actually, it sounds like you have already made up your mind and are simply having buyer's remorse. On the one hand, you compare memory prices, which indicates you are considering Garmin units outside the eTrex line, on the other hand, you talk about getting a better ant. with Meridian, which seems to ignore that some Garmin lines offer QH ant., along with a connector for an external ant. (a feature that the Meridian line lacks). There are plenty of happy Meridian owners, and I see little reason why you wouldn't be happy with a basic, marine, or gold. If you are looking for reassurances on a Platinum, that is another story. Most people have little legitimate use for a barometric altimeter. And, a built in compass with 5-10 degree accuracy is a convenience, but it lacks the accuracy (and robustness) for serious outdoor navigation. So, if money really is a concern why spend money on these features? Especially when it means being an early adopter of a product that has been plagued with manufacturing problems and delays. Likewise, if you are doing some heavy duty mountaineering, do you really want to put your trust in a brand new, repeatedly delayed device? The logical choice would be to buy a Gold, which would give you the Meridian you obviously prefer, fight off the evil Garmin empire, and give you a unit that is well field tested. On the other hand, if your heart is set on a Plantinum - go for it. A hundred bucks isn't chicken feed, but if having all the bells and whistles increases your enjoyment of the unit, then that is worth something too. -jjf [This message has been edited by jfitzpat (edited 13 February 2002).]

Is treemoss2 proposing that a vigilante squad watch a cache. Well I always carry a gun when out and about,and if I'm aproached by several people as to why I'm there and what I'm doing, I'll do whatever is necessary to take care of my hide. The smart thing is to check with the rangers if its a nature area it probably is not allowed in that area. Go talk to the Rangers all they can say is NO! To Geo Quest: "If you are the devious kind you could buy one of those "game trail" cameras and set it up to watch the cache location. Get a picture of the bung hole and post it on this forum." I'll gladly moon your camera and show you what some cachers really are!! ------------------ JoseCanUSea [This message has been edited by JAMCC47 (edited 13 February 2002).] [This message has been edited by JAMCC47 (edited 13 February 2002).]

Is treemoss2 proposing that a vigilante squad watch a cache. Well I always carry a gun when out and about,and if I'm aproached by several people as to why I'm there and what I'm doing, I'll do whatever is necessary to take care of my hide. The smart thing is to check with the rangers if its a nature area it probably is not allowed in that area. Go talk to the Rangers all they can say is NO! To Geo Quest: "If you are the devious kind you could buy one of those "game trail" cameras and set it up to watch the cache location. Get a picture of the bung hole and post it on this forum." I'll gladly moon your camera and show you what some cachers really are!! ------------------ JoseCanUSea [This message has been edited by JAMCC47 (edited 13 February 2002).] [This message has been edited by JAMCC47 (edited 13 February 2002).]

quote:Originally posted by BigNick:I have used it to plot most of the caches in my immediate area (this, obviously, was why I purchased it, as you can't exactly pick a cache and just drive with the GPS, following the arrow - sometimes you need to know where you are heading and what you are getting yourself into. Exactly why I bought it to. quote:I have been happy with the waypoint placement accuracy (it has the option of using NZGD2000 map datum, so you can punch in co-ords directly from geocaching pages) and the support is great - I have emailed a couple of suggestions to them, and they have responded (within an hour!) - hopefully we will see them in a future update . Funny that, I suggested that they allow some way to import waypoints from a file and they said they would look into that. quote:Don't get me wrong though, the software is only version 1, and the basics work perfectly, but it does have some quirks. You have to go through a couple of menus to get to the "jump to co-ords" option (currently does not have a KB shortcut) which is a pain. You have to enter each co-ord manually, one at a time, then mark the location, one at a time. The other problem I have is lack of scrolling with the mouse.... quote: When you zoom out on the map, your waypoint icons get smaller until they disappear (so you can't get a overview of the caches and their distances apart) There is no way (that I have found) to get the distance between waypoints. You create a user object and add points and when you zoom out enough it shows you the distance. quote:Street names are strange as you zoom (this is being upgraded in the next version I have been told) but overall I can't really complain, for $100 it is pretty dadgum good. (I will now have to make a etrex cable and try out the GPS interface )[This message has been edited by BigNick (edited 09 January 2002).] It looks like the Garmin eTrex seriews may not talk to TUMONZ at the moment other than showing where you are on the map.

quote:Originally posted by BigNick:I have used it to plot most of the caches in my immediate area (this, obviously, was why I purchased it, as you can't exactly pick a cache and just drive with the GPS, following the arrow - sometimes you need to know where you are heading and what you are getting yourself into. Exactly why I bought it to. quote:I have been happy with the waypoint placement accuracy (it has the option of using NZGD2000 map datum, so you can punch in co-ords directly from geocaching pages) and the support is great - I have emailed a couple of suggestions to them, and they have responded (within an hour!) - hopefully we will see them in a future update . Funny that, I suggested that they allow some way to import waypoints from a file and they said they would look into that. quote:Don't get me wrong though, the software is only version 1, and the basics work perfectly, but it does have some quirks. You have to go through a couple of menus to get to the "jump to co-ords" option (currently does not have a KB shortcut) which is a pain. You have to enter each co-ord manually, one at a time, then mark the location, one at a time. The other problem I have is lack of scrolling with the mouse.... quote: When you zoom out on the map, your waypoint icons get smaller until they disappear (so you can't get a overview of the caches and their distances apart) There is no way (that I have found) to get the distance between waypoints. You create a user object and add points and when you zoom out enough it shows you the distance. quote:Street names are strange as you zoom (this is being upgraded in the next version I have been told) but overall I can't really complain, for $100 it is pretty dadgum good. (I will now have to make a etrex cable and try out the GPS interface )[This message has been edited by BigNick (edited 09 January 2002).] It looks like the Garmin eTrex seriews may not talk to TUMONZ at the moment other than showing where you are on the map.

Could any kind sould out there talk me through how to convert WGS-84 co-ordinates, as found on this website, to MS Autoroute co-ordinates?? Also how to do this in reverse?? (i.e. convert MS Autoroute pins to WGS-84??) Many Many Thanks James

This post marks the conclusion of the geocaching quilt project. I am currently quilting the quilt and will have it finished in a few days...watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics was a great time to sew!! I have been reflecting on this project as I've sewn. The project was started in Mid October with the first packets of blocks going out 10/28. Over 30 packets of blocks were sent out. There are 320 blocks in the quilt. 960 individual pieces of fabric. 2 borders, very thin batting and a backing that I think reflects GPS tracking... Over 25 states are represented in the signatures. Additionally, many blocks were signed in far off reaches of Canada as well!! And 2 blocks were signed in Germany. I received many encouraging e-mails, snail mails, photos, a few treasures (Canadian tatoos, prayer flags, magnet, travelor and a fed ex envelope)and in the midst of it I was able to participate in a geocaching survey and talk, real time, with other cachers. Now as I sew and read the blocks I can picture caching events where there was warm breezes and more cachers that quilt squares, caches hidden only to find an on slaught of eager cachers waiting to join and too few blocks to accomodate them all, boys scouts who draw great aliens, a variety of caching dogs who left behind decrative paw prints, cachers who work daily around the airline industry just as my husband does, children who's first cache found them signing a square, reflections of the 9/11 disaster and the aftermath that seemed to impress on people what really is important in life, Mopar's square that looked like the pen bled..I touched it up and have wondered ever since if he's ok with it, the names of so many cachers that I've read about in caching posts, the square that is written in latin and I still don't know what it says and the square that is simply signed "outsider" with a tiny face and makes me wonder who this perwson is and if he always caches alone.....Anyway the quilt it self is something just to sit and read and smile over and over with. I think that it will make a GREAT tangible thankyou! Now what I am interested in, is other cachers thoughts on the project. The quilt has gotten so large that it is difficult to clearly see each block....should I take pictures of sections of the quilt and post them so people can see where there square is? Do people want to send e-mails with messages that they want included when the quilt is delivered? Geezeeeeeeee Time to go caching! It's 40 here and sunny....bonus...time to get off the computer and outside!! DxChallenged

You know, some people just don't know that stuff. Google is one of my best friends, but sometimes I forget to talk to it. Thanks for the hint. I'm done agonizing now.

You know, some people just don't know that stuff. Google is one of my best friends, but sometimes I forget to talk to it. Thanks for the hint. I'm done agonizing now.

...you've been telling friends about this fascinating pastime and they alternatively nod knowingly and shake their heads, talk about you, offer you another drink/counselling and generally think you are off your rocker.

quote:Originally posted by broek:I just posted a new cache, and it fits the profile of this message: >>FLITS<< Hehe... this one is certainly different. I wonder if this one will eventually be archived, given the quasi-criminal bent... However, I have zero room to talk, since I was able to log this cache for a speeding ticket I received while Team Lead Pipe was off caching in Columbus, Ohio. Details and a picture are in the log for this cache. I wonder if this will turn some of the more avid cachers into hardened criminals just so that they can log a find... "Honestly officer, I wasn't carjacking, I was GEOCACHING!!" Hmmm... ------------------ Team Lead Pipe Geocaching since June 2001 Neutiquam Erro

Markwell: Hey, I did not mean to offend you. As for those little smile faces, I just did not put any in. Myself, I have yet to read anything here that you should be slammed for. A poke in the ribs maybe, but that was about it. When, and If I am offended by anything you or anyone else puts here, I will try to keep it out of these logs and contact you directly. Until you hear a knock on the door and there are two guys out there named Guido and Luigi, take everthing I flip you as snide remarks and razzing. Now as for the laptop, Over my head and shaking it? Is that geek talk? I tried the throwing it on the floor and dancing around it while screaming curses about inbreed programers and such but that did not help. Oh man, programers are now going to be after me.

I just noticed, there was no Arkansas Geocaching area on this board, so I thought I would make one. I have only been geocaching for a couple of weeks, but am hooked for sure. Would love to talk to anyone in Arkansas that enjoys geocaching, maybe find out where everyone around here is from, and if anyone is planning any new caches anytime soon. Rusty ------------------ RW Da Man!!!

I think you'll have to decide whether or not it is more important that people actually end up finding the cache, in which case you'd include more specific info, or if you risk people not finding the cache, in which case you give less specific info. I'm sure there are people who don't even start out the door before they read the clue and have never even gone through the trouble of manually decrypting code. Others won't and will only decrypt it at last resort. You won't be able to control that aspect of it. So just go with one of the two choices you have before you based on what kind of experience you want this to be. Either a cache that, in the end, is findable, or one that is tough even after decoding the clue. Heavens knows I've seen my share of those!! Which leads to another question: What good is a clue if in the end it doesn't help you find the cache? (Talk amongst yourselves.) ------------------ Tyler Slack's Geocaching in Utah