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I'd argue with your cause and effect order. In my area, at least, NAs were common until reviewers started taking action based on DNFs, and only then did people stop posting NAs. If it bothers you to search for something that isn't there, then geocaching isn't the game for you. There's always a first person to search for a cache that has gone missing. Nothing can change that, and I think it's detrimental to the game to pretend otherwise. From what I've seen, the reluctance to log DNFs is entirely cultural. All the serious geocachers in my area log DNFs when they can't find the cache. I've never noticed the casual geocachers being very shy about it, either, although I'm sure there are some that don't, and that doesn't really concern me. To be honest, I'm always a little puzzled when people from other places talk about it being common for people to not file their DNFs. Even with the reviewers swooping down on caches with a couple DNFs, everyone still seems it's more important to tell everyone else that they couldn't find it and not worry about how the reviewers will react. It's kinda sad you think there are people that can't laugh at themselves when their DNF comes between two easy find logs. If you think you know someone like that, you should definitely remind them that they're geocaching so they can enjoy themselves, not so they can compare themselves to other people. Failure is an every day occurrence in geocaching, so if someone finds it embarrassing, they're not going to have much fun in this game.

My Colorado 400t is not being seen when I try to send a geocache to it from geocaching.com. When I go to the Garmin site and do a communication link test, it recognizes my unit and everything looks good. I've tried uninstalling and re-installing software and drivers, but nothing seems to work. I'm out of ideas and seriously bummed out. I used to have no problem downloading caches. The one thing different between successful downloading in the past and now is that I had to do a system restore to an earlier date. I don't know if that would effected it(?) Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

I'd suggest archiving the event after a few weeks or when everyone has logged they have attended. I believe this is automatically done by the site these days after a certain period of time elapses. Also, if your event is held at a park or other such venue, I'd strongly suggest making sure the site be cleaned and trash deposited in appropriate receptacles. Make sure all travel bugs have been picked up from tables. As for things to do after an event, you could stay and talk to people, find some caches, look for waymarks, place a cache, play a Wherigo cartridge, go for a hike, do chores, do other satisfying and filling activities, or put in more unpaid overtime at your job. Whatever you decide to do, make it worth your time. You only have one life, so live it.

OK folks, thanks for your help on past issues - Got another one now.... I can't get GSAK to talk to my Garmin Colorao 300. Got the USB box in setup check, and defined the Colorado 300. Have tried all 4 options of Interface in Setup in the Colorado. Error message in GSAK says it"cannot init a USB connection", or something like that. No use trying to learn any more GSAK tricks if I cant get it and Colorado to talk. In the meantime, I'm entering caches one at a time with "sent to GPS" option. TIF for any suggestions.

Have others tried to figure this one out: http://www.cartalk.com/content/puzzler/tra...0906/index.html Basically the GPS had an average speed higher than the maxium speed and it was working properly. My intinal thought was it must be (brand deleted to avoid flames ) I also thought maybe it had to do with a time zone or daylight sayings times but could not figure out how that could get the result. I think I might have finally figured it out-but I could be wrong. I will put what I think it is in a rely so you can go read the puzzle first.

Do you mean the GIFs are in view but they don't animate? Do you have an example? You have a ton of puzzle caches, and here's one of them with animated GIFS embedded in the page and hosted on Geocaching.com, and they are animating. If you have GIFs hosted on Geocaching.com and they aren't loading properly anymore, you may have to instead host them elsewhere. If the files are especially huge, you also need a suitable server and cache page visitors who have a fast connection or patience. The thread you linked to had a "9.1 MB GIF", and it's been 3 months without publication of that cache. If it's not part of the puzzle, it could be a static JPG and exist on the page just fine. Or it can be any kind of linked file that users are likely to be able to run. I've found that I can't talk people out of a way-cool (and ill-advised) "animated GIF idea", so I tend to just post what one may try, and watch them crash and burn .

There was an alternate Wherigo player for iOS, but you can't talk about it since it directly "competes" with Groundspeak's app. Fun with guidelines...

I prefer both. I use "Waze" to route me to a cache area (or to hunt for a parking place for individual caches), and it cannot be pre-loaded, so it works only in an online phone and fails miserably at times. So my toughest challenge is mitigating the problems when the phone Apps fail... preparing in case they fail... in case there's a bug this month that has broken some App function. I have an old Garmin Nuvi ready to route me home, just in case. So it's more like both, plus a backup. But I have a Garmin Oregon 750. The phone can talk to it. So that setup is fluid. It's one or the other or a combination of phone and GPS. The deciding factor is just how solid, or how borderline, or how gone, the data signal is. Which you don't always know in advance.

Wow. Thanks for that. All this talk about "5G" with every carrier, and the area I'd think would be most up on this would be silicon valley.

G'Day My Fellow Geocachers, How are you doing on this fine day? I’m DARKSIDEDAN aka Daniel from Canberra, Australia. I love discovering Geocaches, Trackable items and collecting Pathtags. I hope that you all enjoy Geocaching as much as I do. For me geocaching is a way of life. When I am not Geocaching, I am thinking of Geocaching. Here is a little information about me. I have been geocaching since 2015. At the time of this post I have over 6850 finds plus 340 hides. I am the creator of the “Duck Dip” Lab Cache that won 2nd Place for the Australian Capital Territory in the State Vs State - Battle of the Lab Caches at the OzGeoMuster - The Gong Mega 2019 in Wollongong, Australia (GC7N7ZC). Now let’s talk Pathtags. Currently I have over 8000 Pathtags in my collection plus about 500 Etagz. I currently have three of my own Pathtags (45762 / 46950 / 47696) with another one in the works. https://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=2a2a54fb-66e6-4b02-ad79-fae27aa04984

Ultimately, since it'll likely involve a listing on geocaching.com, this is up to your reviewer. As for just a Wherigo cartridge alone, there's no issue: it's not for sale, no one is making money off it, and it's fair use. I brought that up as a question with Groundspeak in 2008, and their stance at the time was only reactionary, meaning they'd only do something if copyright holders contacted them. So I suggest asking your reviewer. If it proves a problem to get a cache published, you could leave off the name "Gruffalo" and say this story is based on a book. As a geocacher, I've found caches based on and that talk about books, movies, TV, and so on, but heard talk of people having trouble mentioning things like the Little Free Library (though I've found caches on, in, and around them). Go figure.

I thought you asked for our opinions because you recognized there were other valid opinions. But apparently you were just hoping we'd give you ammunition. The way you handled it in the logs, you told the CO he was wrong, and then kept insisting he was wrong and there was no room for him to be right after he clearly demonstrated his contrary opinion by not changing anything. You're done here. Time to move on. Repeating it over and over -- never mind the bold -- told the CO you weren't going to take "no" for an answer. Things escalated from there, and now you've made an enemy for no good reason. I'm sure appeals (i.e., "HQ") would reinstate your log since I can't imagine them coming down against a legitimate find, but I suggest that instead of asking them to, you just talk to the CO, both to make sure he agrees where your opinions differ and to apologize for being so insistent. Then ask for permission to relog the caches if you don't talk about the size. As I said in my initial response, I might mention the size seeming wrong to me in one or two of the logs, but now that you're in this situation, you should just drop it. I think you've forfeited your right to mention your opinion about the size. The basic problem here -- and I'm seeing this more and more often -- is you seeing the CO as an enemy combatant instead of a friend who hid a cache for you. Is there any chance you can take him out for a beer or meet him at an event to have a friendly discussion about container sizes? Figure out where he's coming from, and see if you can accept his opinion as valid for his caches and let him try to convince you it's valid for other caches. Maybe he really is trying to inflate the value of his caches -- kinda hard to imagine in this day and age, frankly -- and, if so, see if you can change his mind about that, perhaps. Naturally you want to make sure he understands the impact on you and others like you when you thought there'd be room for swag and there wasn't. Maybe he hasn't consider that.

Even this, although a good rule of thumb, is not always the rule to follow. I found a cache a few weeks ago, nice big ammo can at the final of a Wherigo. It had visitors discover the TB's that were in it, but the TB's had been in there for nearly 2 years!!! I took all 4 of them, and didn't leave any; if it takes from April 2017 til January 2019 for someone to come along and grab them, I'd rather have it traveling with me for a month or two, taking photos, and gaining miles than just sitting in a cache for months on end, waiting for someone who can further its mission. Well, I claim that what you're saying you did was moving them, so I think you're following little-leggs rule. But I basically agree with you: the rule shouldn't talk about the absolute notion "soon", it should talk about whether you can move them sooner than they're likely to move if you leave them where they are. Clearly these four TBs were stuck, so almost anything would move them sooner than where they are. And I feel like, in general, that's true for any active cacher taking a TB from any given cache. The times I sometimes pause and leave some behind is when there are many TBs. In this day and age, it can take me a while to find 4 caches large enough to take a TB, so I'm more likely to leave a couple where they are under the theory that the next finder will be able to share the burden so all four TBs will move more quickly.

Who's going? Arrg...

Pen doesn't work (empty, broken, lost in the woods). The rusty can won't open. The logbook is wet and I don't want to touch it. ... In each of the cases I have the cache in my hand and have successfully fulfilled the task given by the owner. Why do you have a problem with me not signing the log? Only because of the rules? (I don't talk about "seen it up in the tree and could not reach it" or "could not open the trick lock" or ....)

I'm trying to get a good long streak of consectutive days with finds going (currently at 51). As a freelance photographer one of the things I get to do is talk on cruise ships, which is fantastic for increasing the number of countries I have cached in but the 'sea days' do make it difficult to get a really big streak of consectutive days caching. I know there used to be such things as 'locationless' caches, but are there any caches left that could be legitimately logged on a day when I am in the middle of the ocean? I did wonder about 'banking' some earthcaches - visiting the locations, just photographing them in detail and then only answering the questions when I'm out at sea. But that feels like cheating. Thanks Ian.

How do you know the other cacher's "better coordinates" are "spot on"? How could your coordinates be typically 80 feet off and you not know there's a problem until you hide a cache? Many GPSs have magnetic compass sensors which you can calibrate to see better compass directions. You don't calibrate coordinates. Can you get together with the other cacher and get some pointers? There seems to be a disconnect where you're having trouble with coordinates. Maybe entering them, or maybe with some setting that could be changed. I try to talk people out of the "Waypoint Averaging" thing. It's best used for specific purposes, and way beyond what is required for "geocaching". It requires a definite plan, a lot of time, and visits to the same spot in various weather conditions, times of day, and seasons. After all that work, all you get is an average of waypoints (go figure). Instead, walk to your chosen waypoint (the cache hiding spot), stand there for a while, take some snapshots (save some waypoints), walk a few yards away, return and see which snapshot is closest. Use those coordinates for the cache. Takes 10 minutes. When you return to place the container, check that selected snapshot again, and see if it's still fine. If so, submit the cache page.

Hi there, I am new to the whole Geocaching arena and I started volunteering at several small historical societies in an area with a rich historical background, away from the cities in a very mountainous area. I was thinking of trying to create some sort of geocaching fundraising event where prizes could be awarded for achieving certain geocache goals over a weekend event. I have searched high and low on the internet and I have not found ANYTHING that even begins to relate to what I am trying to find. Can someone give me some guidance in what I should be searching for? I know SOMEONE has done this before, but as of spending over an hour searching on the internet, I cannot find anything. Can someone send me in the right direction; give me the right search terms, or perhaps could I talk to someone who has set up non-profit fund raisers using this venue?

OK, I should be getting my tax cash back in a week or so and plan on ordering a GPS system. Dell has these on sale and I think, if I talk to the right person, I can get them to match Amazon's price, which would be bonus to me as I can use my preferred account with them. I kind of wanted to stick around 200-220, but if I could get Dell to match, I'd have a hard time not pulling the trigger. My goal is to use this mainly for geocaching, some summer hiking/camping and some photo outings. For travel on the road, I have a TomTom, so maps aren't a big deal to me. So, I come to you the geocaching community and ask... sell me on this piece of electronics and tell me why I should spend nearly 300 bucks on a GPS unit? And if not -- which one should I get and why? Thanks for any thoughts/help!

I think it's OT, but I kinda agree, though I feel even having the find count on your profile doesn't mean much to many folks. By talk at events, all those graphs, badges, and animations added-on are wasted on most of us here. We remember there was a lengthy period where we'd time-out before all that carp finally loaded. They can look at your stats page if they're that interested (if not already "compared" to on a third-party site)... At a mega event once, before they even asked who I was (the cord was buggin' my neck...), a Lackey asked what my find count was. - So it's possible I guess that "points", no matter how they came by them (and we've seen some examples...) do matter to some.

The first rule of platinum membership is you can't talk about platinum membership.

The key point is "user-defined" (I know you latched on to 'geocraphic' as the context for that clause though). Anything other than what's HQ-defined. On the DT grid, an explicit shape is a "user defined region". There's also a bookkeeping aspect which I've been cited. Having to keep track of numerous components of a challenge - the fewer the better; a challenge with 3 simplistically defined parameters (x Traditions, y Mysteries, z Multis, for example, or 400 of each D rating, or 30 finds in each corner) is easier than a list of specific matches (all the 15 DT combos required to form this specific shape). A user-defined shape means a list of very specific qualifiers, or a detailed description of qualification 'region', and having to seek out specific qualifiers and keep track of what you've got. That's why I suggested how you describe the challenge could make a HUGE difference. Instead of saying "form an X of a certain number of finds", have a quick math checker that can determine qualification. This is not me saying I'm a fan of decisions based on "user-defined" and "bookkeeping" clauses, but these are what I have been told as reasons ideas like yours are declined. I'm just passing on what I know from experience, whether in agreement or not. Honestly I could potentially see the challenge idea you cited as allowed if worded acceptably in my province. We already have SO many very similar. As long as it doesn't look like a 'pattern' or 'shape' and isn't too difficult to keep track of (bookkeeping), I think my reviewers may allow it. Again though, I'd suggest you talk to your reviewer to find out what they think of the challenge. That's the best way to find out what would be allowed and not, before putting in too much work only to be declined.

Thank you whoever you 4 are. This is the way we should all strive to talk to land owners. This came in to Groundspeak today and I thought thanks were in order. It is so nice to get emails like this. It really helps things when cachers are professional in their dealing with land owners and managers. Thanks to all that do this, not just these 4 people.

Hi i want to activate one of those geocoin. Can, someaone please, tell me where should i go to get the activation code. PL

I think the problem is that you haven't explained a specific problem, only an expression you're unclear on. Has a specific challenge cache idea been denied? It's hard to tell from your original post if you're looking for an opinion, or an explanation. Now that you've explained in more detail what an example challenge is, can you say that that is precisely what you've submitted for review, and it was declined? And that the reason you were given was that "grid art" is not allowed? If so, then the reason is 'user defined regions' (or patterns or shapes) are not allowed. If you want clarity on that point, you should talk to your reviewer. Beyond that, you could only try making adjustments as described in this thread.