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During the review process, we look at two things when a fee is involved. First, is it a commercial fee or not? Second, is it a reasonable fee? For the first part, it can't be a for-profit entity - if it is, Groundspeak would have to allow it. But national/state/county/municipal park fees are allowed, and so are non-profit entities such as the Nature Conservancy, botanic gardens, and museums. For the second part, reviewers have discretion as to what might be a "reasonable" fee in their area. Since you're in Florida, unless you're planning or discussing a cache outside of your normal commute, I'm your local geoaware. I'm happy to discuss specifics if we're talking about an existing or potential earthcache in the SE USA. Or we can talk it here, up to you.

Spitballing, I wonder how hard it would be to rig up some type of 3D-printed "funky" case, the guts of an old smartphone for brains and something like the LiPo battery out of an RC car for power? Though the next person to pick it up wouldn't be too happy about the long charge time. The phone would only need to be smart enough to run the logging software, so older hardware running some flavour of Linux could do it. I wonder how hard it would be to make it "talk" to the person that picks it up, make a bit interactive? Maybe have a single, big button in the middle and when someone pushes that, it "wakes up" until it detects no motion, no signal, or some other variables to denote "stop paying attention and go back to sleep".. I don't think I have the smarts to do something of this caliber, but would be kind of cool to do. I wonder if it would have better results than poor hitchBOT did, travelling in geocaching circles rather than the general public?

When I first started in 2010, throwdowns were fairly normal in my area. Yes, it was mainly experienced cachers, but that's more because they carried supplies, not because they got huge numbers from dropping replacement caches. Over the next few years, opinion turned against throwdowns, so now it's pretty rare for a replacement to be placed without getting in touch with the CO. In short, I think this is a cultural thing that varies from place to place and over time. I suggest you talk it over with whoever you think dropped the throwdown. Maybe you can change their minds about whether they're really being as helpful as they think they are.

Should we talk about Waitawhile?

OK. I'll confess to keeping all of my DNFs in a separate GSAK (yes, Windows) database. There, it is easy to see which ones are already found afterward (they show up in yellow) so that they can be quickly found and deleted in two simple steps, or are archived (they show up red with black line through them) so that those can be deleted as well. What remains are the ones that I still need to go out and find. For Windows users... As you may have noticed, GSAK comes up here all the time as a solution to particular problems. It is also said that there is a steep learning curve for GSAK. That kind of comment is both untrue and true. Everything depends upon just how extensively you want to delve into the possibilities. You will probably never use all of the blades on this Swiss Army Knife. Most of the things we talk about here, the OP's request being an example, can be learned in about 10 minutes. Creating and loading a GSAK database with caches is pretty trivial. Learning the searching/filtering options most used is as well. OTOH, if you can do your own programming, you can make it dance and sing and recite poetry if you like. I have built a macro that downloads all of the caches in the area from gc.com, compares my unfounds to my caching friend's, adds in my solved puzzles, excludes 'problem' caches, and builds unique POI files for my TomTom of everything. Yes, it can take some time to prepare something like that, but it's not something anyone need learn how to do for the kind of basic problem the OP is trying to solve here. There are also all kinds of macros already written by other users (that are shared on the GSAK site) to perform some common (and quite uncommon) tasks that only need to be downloaded and run by the new user to benefit from other users' prior experience. I would encourage anyone with a Windows box consider this tool as a potential friend for geocaching. It's being offered for free by the author at this point, and contains no advertising, so no one is going to profit from my recommendation except the new user.

Well, we've got that (the mention) now! Honestly, if you'd talk with Clyde, you'd have a better picture of how ugly the situation actually is. And if you didn't pick up on it here or elsewhere, understand that Clyde's ability to contribute to the current project is pretty limited. Fortunately, he's got a couple of people helping. I've also spent some time porting code for a living (I used to do printer firmware development, and all emulations had to be ported to different platforms), and it's only after having a better understanding of how GSAK was built that I suggest that moving it to another platform would be a train wreck for anyone trying to tackle it.

What else do you expect when you talk about a new PT, be it made of ALs or real caches? The numbers crowd falls all over itself from excitement. Quite a while ago, in a German FB group someone mentioned there is a new Mega-PT in southern France - more than 5000 caches (which is absolutely huge for Europe). A lot of people liked that, and many were like "We MUST do this ASAP!!!!!". So, of course you get "wows and yays" for an AL-PT(*). I'm still not convinced that it's a good idea, though . (*) I just noticed that "ALPT" are the first four letters of the German word "Alptraum", an alternate spelling (less common but valid) of "Albtraum", which means "nightmare" !

We did talk a while but I didn't ask to be 'joined FTF" and he didn't. The reason? It's not important. When meeting other cachers we always have talks about each other's caching experiences and more importantly about nice caches. When meeting cachers along a series though we tend to wait a while so others can enjoy finding the containers themselves or if we are on our bikes we try to get ahead far enough. Nope. But I see a "team" as people who know each other and make arrangements beforehand, not people who accidentally meet at a cache and "team up" to be FTF. Besides, did I miss a memo? Is there something to be won? (besides FTF )

Hello everyone! I am Son of Cyclops and started collecting geocoins back in 2005. Throughout my caching I collected a lot of coins but due to my interest being elsewhere and life getting in the way of geocoins and geocaching. I am selling off the last of my collection. In total, I have 543 coins on the Google Sheets list which I have attached in 3 different binders and a box. I would prefer to see if I can sell the entire collection to one person or if I can break it up in large portions that would be ok as well. A small portion of the trackable coins are activated and I can transfer these to you. If your interested in specific coins, we can talk about prices. But if I sold the entire collection to someone (to reduce the work on selling them off in smaller portions), I would ask $1800 obo. Not sure what the current market is for geocoins but this prices out to about $3.30 a coin which I feel is reasonable. Again if you are interested in smaller groups of coins or individual ones, we can talk. Some of the coins are more special which I listed below (although they are copied onto the list in the link) The Easter Coin Bunny (Blue and Red) The Easter Coin Bunny (Green and Pink) UF Gator Mystery Pay it Forward Gold GeoBandit Mystery 1markymark1 bronze 07 1markymark1 antique silver 07 Geocoin Club ROT13 Pure Silver Geocoin (Only one in public hands) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sdzCtHnX-DwT1qij99ujaOrbxQ_1XGb8xD1PJukOCUE/edit?usp=sharing Thanks for the time and don't hesitate to ask any questions!

Again, just because it works that way in your neck of the woods does NOT mean that it works that way everywhere. Just as terrain ratings differ based on the general topographical features one area has that others do not, there are various ways that FTFs are determined. You believe it's a black and white, clearcut determination, whereby only one person is entitled to the FTF. There are many of us here who have pointed out that while this is certainly a possibility (and one that is valid), it's not the ONLY way to determine who may or may not lay claim to the FTF and that a group of cachers, regardless of whether or not they know each other, can discuss it and come to some arrangement that each cacher can abide by. Sometimes that may mean a singular FTF and other times it may mean a shared FTF. We're not asking you to change your determination of who may claim a FTF. We're only pointing out that cachers in other areas have come up with some other solution that appears to work and co-exist within each others' manner of playing. If it happens not to work, then it reverts to the manner in which you play, which is perfectly fine as well. The fact that it didn't even come up seems a bit odd to me as, at least in my area, cachers tend to be talkative when running into other cachers, even if we don't know each other, be it at events or at a cache. We realize we're part of a community and socialize as such, which typically means that a P&G can turn into a 5-10 minute meet and greet. It doesn't always happen that way but more often than not, it does. Having managed quite a few FTFs, I can only think of one time when another cacher (or group of cachers) didn't talk about the FTF. There used to be 4 of us that were serious FTF seekers during my first couple of years of caching and we'd continuously run into each other at newly published caches or just miss out running into each other. Each time we did actually meet up at a newly published cache, we discussed who was going to claim the FTF if it was found with more than one of us at GZ. The longer this went on, the more it changed to a shared FTF style of play, except when the other cacher requested they be the one to claim the FTF (for whatever reason). I (and hopefully the others who feel as I do) am NOT telling you that you need to change your style of play. What we hope you realize is that your way isn't the only way and that both styles can co-exist. Logically, it may not make any sense to you but for those of us who choose to play this way, we're fine with this determination of whether or not we are willing to share a FTF. Beats? Are you trying to win something here? We're discussing various methods of determining how cachers rectify FTFs and throwing out, in essence, two different variations of how cachers determine who gets to claim the FTF. Your way is certainly a valid way. No one here is really disputing that (at least I don't think so). Since it's not a recognized thing by GS and there are no guidelines that specify exactly how a FTF is awarded (first to put hands on it, first to find it [someone else may have unknowingly touched it without realizing it was the cache], first to sign the log), we are left to our own devices and those of us who feel like a shared FTF is a valid decision are comfortable with that decision, assuming everyone else at the cache is fine with it as well. If not everyone agrees, then we arrive at some consensus that allows a singular FTF and that's usually the one who pulls it from the hiding spot, although I can think of one instance when it was the first person that actually saw it but was unable to retrieve it due to physical limitations.

I'm working on my AL; a tour of wineries near me, in our Valley. At a socially distanced event in a park in June, (the first in months!) talk turned to AL's - turns out another gal was also working on highlighting our Valley - we did have a couple of the same spots on our list! We decided to focus each a bit differently, as I'll do all wineries, and she will focus on fruit, olive oil and some of the other things produced by local farmers - the bounty in our Valley. And we compared our locations so that they are all different. She will have a winery on her list, I will have 5 and will not include the one she is using for her AL. Without the in person event and actually talking with people, Neither of us would have known the other was working the same locations. It was good we could cooperate and make each one unique! I need to get mine done and out there before someone else does one first!

Yeah, I'm tempted to do just that. I'm holding an event as I've held off hosting an evening since sometime in February. Would be nice to talk to other cachers again. I'm sure people will show up, but if not then I likely won't log it as it just feels wrong.

I don't see any problem here considering the finds of the last week. The cacher was in South Africa (vacation I think) and found some caches that were recently found by others and the owners are still active as well. Then (s)he returned and made finds in california which seems possible, too. The number of caches found isn't too big - and if someone wanted to boost the staristics (s)he could do better: find more caches, find more countries, find more of the rare icons (and not so many traditional caches) .... So maybe all the bad logs have been deleted but from that what remails I can't see anything that proves your (bad) claim (so I am not sure if I like what you do here). I think it would be fair to inform the cacher that we are discussing about her/him so that (s)he can give her/his own version of the story. We shouldn't talk behind the back of someone as long as there isn't any evidence..... Jochen

You can talk about that topic here: https://forums.geocaching.com/GC/index.php?/topic/358303-release-notes-website-attribute-search-filters-august-31-2020/&tab=comments#comment-5851476

There'd be a whole lot less discussion overall in the forum about ideas, and a whole lot more demanding if that were the case; or at least incentive to brainstorm and things through. I don't think the system needs to be changed, but that doesn't mean we should not talk about ideas for how the system could be changed. So no, respectfully, I don't think I'll take that suggestion (especially when plenty of other users regularly post complaints about the current system) Yep, looks like they went with what's probably the technically easiest implementation, combined with a few other related updates.

My post did not talk about any attribute except for the Challenge Cache attribute, and the guidance provided should be limited to the four corners of my post. Reviewers generally do not have jurisdiction over the correct use of attributes. There are existing exceptions, such as use of the Wheelchair Accessible and Wireless Receiver Required attributes. The Challenge Cache attribute is part of that list of exceptions.

Bonus caches, including bonus caches solved by completing an Adventure Lab Umm. Is there any other type of Bonus Cache? And, while they may now always have to be Mysteries, there are those that are not. Does anyone at GCHQ talk to each other?

Wow.. I looked it up, seems in Belgium Covid-19 (PCR) tests cost €46 (max.) and it's 100% paid by health insurance if it's a mandatory test. If voluntary (not by doctor's request) it's at the patient's expense. A test for travel is probably voluntary. We're not prepared to sit shoulder to shoulder in a confined metal tube yet (although air is very clean and filtered and it seems no infection has been traced to air travel yet). Ouch. We thought it was quite high but still cheaper than eating the airline and hotel costs. Plus honestly we felt over 6 months in Thailand was more than enough. Now if Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam had of reopened... Fortunately the whole shoulder to shoulder thing was not an issue. In both flights there were many more rows of seats than people. In fact the first flight was a 777 with roughly 40 people. Would of needed a carrier pigeon to talk to someone else. I hear you though. I am severely immune system compromised so flying probably wasn’t the wisest action.

Some place where there is a caretaker, but does't require interaction with the caretaker would work. A library or chamber of commerce building, for example. I found a cache at the chamber of commerce in Kansas City. The coordinates took me to a spot where I could see the cache. Even though I didn't have to talk to the woman working there to find the can I had a nice chat while signing the log.

Go back year after year, season after season? Mebbe actually go in and talk to them AND buy some of their produce? After all, you're a growing boy - you need your fruits and veggies.

I snipped out the parts of your post to highlight some of the things I wanted to comment on. I wouldn't object to having some flexibility in creating an even with a higher D rating, as long it didn't create an additional burden for reviewers having to arbitrate all the requests for giving an event a rating higher than D1. It's hard to take your post seriously about justifying a higher D-rating around Christmas (keep in mind that not everyone celebrates Christmas). There's always going to be some reason why attending a specific event would be difficult (for example, I wish I could have attended a WWFM event several years ago in Ethiopia but I was enroute on an airplane at the time) but that is no reason to increase the difficulty. I am curious why geocachers in your area talk about "dead of events". The point of an event is to bring together geocachers to socialize, meet new geocachers and old, and talk about geocaching. I fail to see how the difficulty should make any difference. Filling up a D/T grid is just a side game and I, personally don't want to see guideline changes just to cater to some challenge cache or other side game. The only reason that I could envision an event with a rating higher than D1 would be if it was in a location that was from some reason difficult to find (e.g. behind an unmarked door in Manhattan), which, to me kind of defeats the whole point around events. Creating an event with a rating higher than D1 just so attendees can fill in a square on a D/T grid is not, to me, a legitimate reason.

Can't argue with that at all, that's reasonable, but Tom's talking about someone who wants to talk to the manager because he's got to provide two photos.

Hi All: I’m in the process of building a tour-type Wherigo for a local museum using the Earwigo builder. I would like to have the geocachers interact with same character in more than one zone using the “Talk to” command. How can I accomplish this? Would I need to move the character (much like I do with items) into the same zone if I wish to interact with him or her? Many thanks in advance! CWillyPngn

I have previous used an android tablet and LocusPro when out as a back up for the GPS. Then I bought a new phone. I have loaded the Geocaching app on my new phone and most of it works fine. However, when I click on 'directions' I get the message "This device does not have a compass". This could well be the case as it wasnt one of my priorities when chosing which phone to buy. There are many compass apps around but does anyone know a way of getting the geocaching app to talk to any of them?

Thanks for the link Max. Nice to know that it isnt just me. However, my question remains. Does anyone know of a way of getting the Geocaching app to 'talk' to any of the Compass apps available out there.