Search the Community

There's been a lot of talk lately about Power Trails, with very heated opinions on both sides of the coin. Seems to me the crux of the con argument is the uninspiredness (I'm aware that's not a real word) of a film can or hide-a-key every 528'. That kind of got me thinking. We have some pretty good rail trails around my town. I'm thinking a power trail of sorts geared toward newbies, kind of a way for them to "get their numbers up" and address one of my little annoyances, caches with the wrong size rating. Start out with the micros: Cache 1 is a blinky, cache 2 a bison tube, then film cannister, etc. Move on up the food chain, culminating in a five gallon bucket. If done right, I could wind up with a 20-30 cache "Power Trail". Now if I can just get the time off work and get the wife to let me out of painting the house this spring, I'll be all over it.

Hi all, I'm trying to locate someone in the NYC area who might want to speak at an event we run called Hobby. It's a monthly event where we invite 4 speakers to talk about their hobbies for 5 minutes each, and answer some questions from a group of very interested semi-strangers. We've got an event coming up very soon, (Tuesday, November 16th, from 7pm-8pm), and we'd be thrilled if someone in the NYC area wanted to share with us? Here's our HOBBY page: http://www.getHarvest.com/hobby and here's out HOBBY channel, with video of previous lectures: http://vimeo.com/channels/hobby What do you think? Anyone game? Feel free to contact me directly at karen [at] getHarvest [dot] com - We'd love to have one of you geo-caching mavens share with us about what you do! Best Wishes, Karen — Karen Community Manager, Harvest — Harvest / 212.226.4160 / 187 Lafayette St, 6th Fl, New York City http://www.getHarvest.com http://twitter.com/harvest

Dear geocaching team! We are passionate geocachers and have laid out numerous geocaches. Also we love playing Adventurelabs and are big fans of it. Unfortunately, our newly created adventure lab has just been blocked because we don't meet the guidelines have and about these very guidelines, we would like to talk to you. Of course a game also needs rules, but the fun of the game must not be reduced by this. Adventure-Lab's would offer a very good opportunity to work indoors when it's cold and raining play. In winter, the cold and the snow limit our activities considerably and adventure Labs are no exception for us. Even in winter, finding Lab's is a hassle, though this game would have a lot of potential for interiors if it weren't for the guidelines. Straight in bad weather or in cold snowy seasons it is always a problem for our hobby live out Even if you want to entertain children in a playful way, you are through the guidelines hands tied. We live in Austria and in Austria you pay an entrance fee almost everywhere if you want to experience something indoors. Thus, with us such possibilities are extremely limited, to play indoors. With us you pay entrance fees almost everywhere and they fit guidelines are no longer related to the circumstances in Austria. So for us it is very Difficult to create a creative, fun and adventurous indoor LAB or to be able to play. As soon as you pursue a hobby with passion, it is always associated with costs. be it one Equipment (GPS device), parking fees or the journey. There are always costs. Every player can ultimately decide for himself whether to enter a museum or a zoo wants to afford. For us, this game loses a lot with the policy that a lab can't cost anything Potential. Because special places are always associated with entrance fees. We personally find it boring playing an adventure lab in a mall. You can neither learn anything, discover something else exciting and go geocaching with children in an inlet center anything but funny, educational or exciting. You tout endless possibilities, this may be the case in the US. We are in Austria unfortunately very limited in terms of free indoor activities. If the guidelines were relaxed, weather problems would be solved for us. This would make the fun of the game clear expand and sights, museums, adventure playgrounds, animal parks, fairgrounds, to be experienced. The fun would be expanded by a multiple and a lot more exciting. It would be one not only for us adults, but also for the children Motivation to pay a visit to a museum. Since we almost exclusively go there, where there is a geocache or a lab. We look forward to feedback from you. We would be all the more pleased if our Lab: "The House of Nature" (Salzburg, Austria) would be unlocked again. But still it would be better if the space to play would be expanded. Best regards BA_huntress (Melanie) Chitto (Daniela)

Yes, there is a way: Post a note on a local forum and invite the local geocachers to a location you designate. You can talk to each other very well without an event listing. These are often the more meaningful conversations than those with geocachers just dropping by to pick up a point. Happy Hunting Hans

In other words, maybe like the now defunct "Off-Topic" forum - I've always enjoyed those sections of forums I've participated in - I don't have a specific question, just want to discuss an aspect of geocaching, or rant about something (like throwdowns) now and then that I know has been discussed, endlessly, but a fresh example just happened and I want to talk about it with like-minded folks! The "irk" thread was where I'd post that kind of thing. Ah, well - I'll miss that thread!

While we're at it, we can also talk about useless DNF posts too. Why do group cachers have to log individual DNFs? Statistically , It OK to log individual finds but one DNF per group is enough. The GC bots don't recognize groups

To start off, I was in Maine yesterday and met a customer right at the Delorme building exit off of I-95. I went in and bought a spiral bound atlas. Looked at the software for the pn-60, NEAT!!! My question is... Can you use your laptop as the screen for a pn-60. Bascially, if I have a mount for my laptop in the truck, can the gps talk back to the laptop and display the information? Since the 60 has a small screen I thought thismight be kind of cool. I know thay offer the small gps units to plug into the laptop, but I thought this might just save some $$$. Don't know why I didn't ask when I as at Delorme. Thanks Hud

I disabled a cache some time ago and got a reviewer note. As instructed, I posted a write note, then fixed the issue and wrote Owner Maintenance and Enable logs on 29 June. My dashboard still says that some of my hides need attention, None are disabled and I can't see which ones are the problem. When I click the "Review your hides" link I get a comment about the reviewer note, but that is all over now. Two points: 1, Could a reviewer please have a look at my hides to check what is wrong 2. Could a Lackey please talk to the programmers and ask then to display better information about which hides are causing problems and why. Something like <<cache name>> is still disabled or <<cache name>> has an outstanding Owner Attention log would be really helpful Thanks Tony.

Even more timely, the last podcast I released, before this news, has a segment where I talk about the hint affecting the D rating of a cache and I touched on how the official app seems to place more importance and significance on the hint over the description. It wasn't laced with opinions on that matter specifically, but helps validate that there's a clear implication and reputation that the devs really don't place much value in the description for mobile app users. I don't think any other mobile app gives that same implication... imo it's quite unfortunate If there is a good reason (ymmv, but an actual conscious decision) for this strategy, I for one would be interested to know. Who knows, there could be factors at work unknown to our side of the fence here.

I've helped with Intro to Geocaching classes sponsored by a county parks department. The instructor presented a quick "chalk talk" at the parking lot, ending it with a challenge to spot a camouflaged geocache right there where the "chalk talk" had been given. (It was a "hidden in plain sight" camouflage cache.) Then we broke up into small groups with an experienced geocacher assigned to each group. Each group was also given a preprogrammed GPS receiver with 8-10 caches on a nearby trail. The caches were rather varied, but close to each other. The new geocachers could find several different types of hide and be back at the trailhead by lunchtime. But yeah, with beginners, each group needs an experienced geocacher just to catch the things they forgot from the "chalk talk".

Let's talk about Letterbox Hybrids and where to hide them, like in barefootjeff's post.

Would posting a Write Note to the cache page saying that you have tried other means to contact the CO and would like to talk with the CO about adopting the cache? Just spitballing here...

I'm sorry you feel this way. Geocaching events are not equivalent to "meetings" at all, at least in my neck of the woods! And the variety of events means you can choose what you want to do! We gather to have pizza, and socialize - very informal, and we have learned a lot about our fellow geocachers, met some very nice folks, and made many connections that have helped us along in our retirement hobby. We meet to clean up a park (CITO), have coffee in the morning, sip wine on a patio, play with gadget caches, work on puzzles, all are unique and different. We too, began geocaching when hubby retired (2017). We greatly enjoy attending events and getting out to meet others. Of course, we like meeting others on the road as well, but I wouldn't ever lump all events together as "meetings" akin to work meetings....I think you are missing a big piece of what geocaching is about! We've come to realize that we are people with a different kind of hobby that not everyone understands or "gets" - and to be able to meet with like minded folks and talk about experiences is one of the things we enjoy most about geocaching! Maybe try a local event, just once, just for this one souvenir. You may be surprised!

So there are threads about crazy caches you have been to or stuff you found in them....but what about caches you have hid? Which is your favorite? What kind of swag do you put in them? What size is your favorite to hide? What general area are most of you caches in (woods, public, outta the way places, etc..)? Camo Job? Basically just talk about YOUR geocache containers. Even brag a little if you want. We all wanna learn some other cache hiding/creating techniques.

Agreed. Such as Hint: red. Real example. You only get the hint on the hard to find cache when you remove the cover and see the red cache. Doh!!!!. Annoying. Want people to talk about your cache with annoyance, and that reflects badly on the CO and their intelligence, or lack of, thinking that was a hint? Give a non-hint like that!

왜 무조건 영어로 대화 하나요!! 한국어로도 대화해요! 무조건 한국어로 대화하는 창입니다 꺄하하하 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 포럼에 나밖에 안노는건 아니겠쬬? ㅠ_ㅠ 완전 슬픔! 날씨 좋은날에는 모두 함께 지오캐싱을 하러 갑시다!

Hi! I have a newspaper assignment on geocaching and need someone to talk with to add "local flavor" to the piece. Is there anyone in Green Valley, Arizona willing to help (either with or without real names)? I'm also an absolutely new member (just getting ready to order my 1st GPS unit) and want to get started. Would love to talk with locals about that too. Are you out there Green Valley? annette in gv

I feel like a total dummy... I know I need a pda...I looked above at the FAQ, only the wiki link worked and I felt overwhelmed by all the info. I use a garmin etrex legend, I think it's H? It's the blue one. I do not have the cords so I have to hand enter each cache, if that matters. I also use an apple macbook. And I do not have a smart phone. If I were to get a pda...what should I get? I'd be looking to get something used, or on the cheaper end (as much as possible...), and am willing to save up to get one if I have to (I am going to start saving up for a new gps with cords too! This one by one thing is too much). I know I'll have to become a PM for PQs, and then do I HAVE to have GSAK? or no? And then I'll need another type of software, too...am I right? So much to know... Thanks for any help!!

I didn't even own a smartphone 10yrs ago. So I didn't use an app at all, but I remember talk about phone apps back then. I don't care about the premium caches right now and yeah, I know they've been around since I was last a premium member. What irritates me the most is the inability to filter caches on the website and I'm pretty sure that functionality was available to basic members in the past. Just to be able to display caches on the map that were harder, or larger containers (so I could filter out all the lamppost micros, or micros-in-the-woods that I don't like searching for) so I could download the .gpx for them to transfer to my garmin. but without paying, I have to just click on stuff until I find something that meets my criteria. that sort of thing is going to get old really fast.

If you don't need the vicar in the zone after the player talks to him, you could move the vicar to the next zone as the first command when you talk to him. If you still need him around in the current zone, you should be able to disable the command, at which point the player app is supposed to be smart enough to recognize there isn't an object in that zone anymore that has that command. If that's not the case--it really depends on how the player app handles things--disabling the command and then toggling the zone's enabled state should do the trick. So: - On Talk() - - Disable Talk command - - Set zone.Enabled = false - - Set zone.Enabled = true - - Do things for Talk

would like to discuss with local geocacher about geocaching & how to go about hiding them

Please can you advise how to shut off the talk to command for each zone. I am doing a Church Wherigo and I want the vicar to pop up at each question point. As such he is in zone 1, has a talk to command, asks a question, gives commands to move on or retry if answer wrong or right. I am stuck at the next bit, as in how do I turn off the talk to, or attribute it to one zone only so I can do a further talk to at zone 2...

When interacting with other people, it's important to distinguish what you consider "poor behavior" from what, to an impartial observer, is a difference of opinion. I spoke up here precisely because I thought the consensus here is wrong. And if there's an established guideline that supports you, I'm not aware of it because the only commonly cited standard is to keep TBs moving, and these are moving. And even if there is something in the guidelines, it couldn't be called "established" because I regularly see this behavior. Anyway, the point remains that you should approach this as a difference of opinion, not being judgemental with your "good behavior" vs. their "bad behavior". Saying "you are behaving badly" -- an accurate reflection of your opinion -- is not significantly different from saying "you're a jerk" even if you feel better about it. Setting a time limit is actually part of this wrong thinking. If you don't like what they're doing but you are respectful of their point of view, you don't have to wait a month. You can talk to them as soon as you notice. The whole idea of "one month or two?" is based on the assumption that they're doing something wrong, so you want to give them some time to come to their senses or whatever. They aren't doing anything wrong, they just aren't doing what you'd like them to do because until you tell them, they won't know what you want them to do. Sure, some of them might not listen to you. Some might even be annoyed what you talk to them. I don't know. But I do know it's more likely they're react negatively if you come at them with "poor behavior"....or even if they're quietly reading this thread and know you're thinking "poor behavior" even though you try to pretty it up in your messages.

If you can eliminate the presumption of "poor behavior", the best course is to contact them and discuss it with them. They've been geocaching a long time. You have not. If you talk it over with them, you can get better insight into what they think they're doing. My guess is that they are under the impression that TB owners like to see their TBs travel, and that most TOs don't really care whether the TBs stop in any particular cache so they can pass from person to person. That might very well be because that's what they like for their TBs. And since it's happen to you multiple times with various geocachers, it sounds like a cultural position in your area you need to be aware of. Like you, I'm not that interested in mindless visits to vast numbers of run-of-the-mill caches. If you talk to them, you can explain your feelings about it to them. But it won't get you very far if you start by accusing them of being jerks. Yes, it's true, some of them may have entirely forgotten that they grabbed the TB and don't know where they put it, but even if that's the case, it will be counterproductive to lead with that possibility. But, actually, that seems unlikely to me because these are seasoned geocachers. If they're acting poorly, they must be doing this with hundreds of TBs by now, and that's hard for me to believe. So I'd assume they have the mistaken belief that they're doing good over the possibility that they're doing it for no particular reason just because they're not nice people.

Yes, and it leads to a little bit more of a mystery... Went out when I could, and started digging around. I did, in fact, find the station that the carsonite post was for! .. But it was NOT for the station that I had expected - it's for an Azimuth mark for a triangulation station, a 3/4 mile away at the top of a mesa. Station has not been recovered since 1958, so the carsonite post is newer than that. Neither the station that is destroyed there, or the description of the AZ mark make references to each other. I have plans on getting the station on the mesa - I need to talk to the ranch owner first. And will need to get a metal detector, and start sweeping the general area for possible hits.