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I've been all about challenges for years. We started the Challenge Talk podcast in 2020 which is great for challenge enthusiasts. Personally there are so many challenges in Ontario now that I'm not so much working focused on specific challenges any more, but passively working on any I don't qualify for yet As mentioned above, I have a doc that lists all the challenges I know of and I periodically update them all with current progress, and whether they're qualified (then log it as such with a note); and if I sign in first I mark it in the doc as found as I know once it's qualified I can just log it found. Going on trips is prime time to prioritize finding qualifying caches. But I also have them sorted by priority. Dates needing find specific qualifying caches go straight on my calendar so I know "today I've got to find 5 caches, 2 letterboxes, 1 Other, and a 3.5/4" for example. If I'm traveling then region and location becomes priority. Any rare caches in the vicinity of travel go on the stop-and-find list. Especially region oldests, jasmer caches, rare DTs, or even just properties that don't appear nearly as often near to home. Rarely ever on a trip do I just casually find caches. There are too many and the vast majority don't help towards any qualifications. Even so, before casual caching I'd be searching for high favourite points for the best chance at maximizing my travel's experiences. Challenges give that extra goal, a new layer on top of regular geocaching (like geocaching on top of the real world :P)

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.

Talk me out of returning my Colorado and getting a 60 CSx. I'm really disappointed about spending the cash and none of the geocaching features work.

So, your talk about privacy was misleading. You are affraid of strange motivations. Let's compare this airtag with a logbook. Logbook reveals your private data. Logbook is tracking you not the airtag. You should opt-out all of them because there are huge number of airtag owners with more strange motivations compared to the OP. For example, a business owner may be tracking you when you enter the shop and can count how many times you have visited - spooky - isn't it?

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

If forum participants want to talk about challenge caches, the General Geocaching Topics forum is the place for that. This is the Creating Adventures forum.

I can't seem to get my new (Christmas gift) Garmin 76CS Plus gps to (Interface) send lat. or long. to my new Raymarine DS 500 X fish finder. On their own, they both work perfect, but I am at my witts end and I need some help. I have read both owner's manuals from cover to cover and it seems to be so easy to make the gps send text to the fishfinder. I have hooked everything up the right way ( I Think), I set the gps to send NMEA text and the fishfinder to receive NMEA in. The Garmin gps only has four wires out of the power/data cable ........... {Red=Power} {Black=Ground} {Brown= Serial Data Out} {White=Serial Data In}.......... The Raymarine fishfinder has alot more wires, Seven to be exact..........{Red=Power} {Black=Ground} {White=NMEA Input+} {Green=NEMA Input -} {Yellow=NEMA Output+} {Brown= NEMA Output -} {Grey=CGND}. I used the {Brown, Serial Data Out} wire on the gps and hooked it to the {White, NMEA Input+} on the fishfinder and nothing happend. Do anyone of you know what I'm talking about? I need some interfacing help here. I will try to talk to Raymarine after the holidays if I still need to, but they are vacation till Jan. 2nd.

Can anyone compleatly decode the geo-talk abreviations found in log books, I figured out tnln, and ftf, and dnf, but that was it? What is some of the other abreviations used?

We are fairly new to the geocaching world and have become VERY addicted to say the least. We enjoy hiding as much as we enjoy finding. We are wanting to put out a multi cache. Ive been doing research on different caches to see how everyone else does theirs. I haven't found all that much about how to list them and how they need to be done to get approved. Say if I want a 4 stage cache, how would I go about inserting all the coords. We are going to do a trivia one and the answers to the questions will be the key to the next one's place. Do we just put in one cache's coordinates? Im really a green pea here that needs some help. Thanks in advance!

When I've introduced people to geocaching, I have never had them create a geocaching.com account or install an app (any app). As kunarion pointed out, that's a lot of finicky technical work, and it's more productive to introduce them to the "finding tupperware in the woods" part of geocaching. When I've taught one-hour classes on geocaching (usually, but not exclusively, to kids at church), I've spent the first half of the class explaining geocaching with as many hands-on examples as possible. Then I've taken everyone outside to a nearby spot where I've hidden a bunch of varied containers, and I've had them raise their hands when they've spotted a hidden container. In the class, I start by explaining that geocaching is like a modern scavenger hunt or game of hide the thimble, using GPS coordinates to show roughly where the container is hidden. (I specifically avoid the term "treasure hunt" because that gives people the wrong idea about what geocaching is.) To demystify GPS, I have three colored strings/ropes hanging from the ceiling. I explain that the GPS device (whether built into a phone or a separate handheld device) measures the precise distance from it to a GPS satellite. I grab one string and show that with one satellite, it defines a circle. Then I grab a second string and show that two satellites define two points, the places where the two circles intersect. I grab the third string and show that three satellites define a single point... except that there's another point "up there" so you have to assume I'm on the ground and not "up there". All this takes just a few minutes. The bulk of the explanation part is explaining and showing them different containers (sizes, types, camouflage), different trade items ("Trade up, trade even, or don't trade."), and different trackables (and that they are NOT trade items). I also explain difficulty and terrain ratings, and I briefly explain that most caches are traditional (a container at the GPS coordinates), but that some are more complicated (multi-caches, puzzles, etc.). By then, it's time to go outside to look for hidden containers. I generally try to have at least one hidden container per kid. If you don't have enough real cache containers, then any recycled jars/bottles covered in camo tape will do. Before the class, I hide them in an area where there are plenty of bushes, trees, and other landscaping features. Vary the hiding spots, and make a few of them really hard. I have the kids stay behind a line and raise their hands when they've spotted a hidden container. I try to call on everyone once before I call on anyone a second time. It's important to have a count of the number of containers hidden, and the number of containers spotted so far. As we get to the end, I let the kids know how many containers are left to find. If we run out of time, then I reveal the ones they missed. The other style of class that I've helped with has met at a trailhead parking lot in a county park. After a brief "chalk talk" explaining the basics (pretty much the same way I described above, without the colored strings/ropes to explain GPS), the new geocachers break up into small groups, with one experienced geocacher assigned to each group as a coach. Each group receives a preprogrammed GPS with real caches hidden along the trail. We used a popular trail that had become naturally saturated with a variety of caches placed by different owners (what we called a "power trail" before the advent of modern numbers trails like the ET Highway trail). Over the course of 2-3 hours, the new geocachers could find an assortment of different caches and be back at the trailhead in time for lunch. The experienced coach in each group was there mainly to answer questions, and to make sure there wasn't any confusion about trackables or replacing the cache as found or things like that.

FYI, It would seem that the OGA talk list RSS feed has been locked out. A shame that the general public can no longer see what is going on unless they become an official member.

I have a real problem with muggles. Not the ones that catch you cacheing as I have only found one cache so far. No, I have problems with them at work; I am afraid they are going to catch me printing out the caches that I am going to look for this weekend! I have to hit the print button and run down the hall to get the printout off the printer before someone sees it. Oh, I could explain what I am doing, but half would think I am crazy and who knows what the other half will think.

This water fountains, with the intent of providing water to the population - now or in the past - is definitely something deserving its own category. They are usually interesting, many are historic, pure heritage, and still, no place to place them in Waymarking. From time to time there is some talk about creating a category but so far, nothing came up. Fountains - as far as I can remember - only accept decorative fountains.

A lot depends on who it was that took it. For example, you'd talk very differently to a church custodian who didn't realize it was supposed to be there, than you would to a bored preacher's kid who got into some mischief.

I met pmaupin at the Mega GIFF in 2021, after I saw his signature on another event earlier that day and we had a good talk. I also know that some cachers I've met personally some time ago (in about 100km distance) do some Waymarking - but caching is more on their focus.

The moderator may move or delete this, I don't know, but our magnetic compasses (if we carry one) are as much a part of our gear as our GPSr. I am curious as to what make and model magnetic compass people are using. I have a Suunto M3G with the global needle (I am in Ecuador). Turns out the little Silva starter compass I carry every day in my backpack worked just fine. But I like the larger dial and needle and the luminous dial on the more expensive model. Looking through the catalogs, you sure can spend a lot for a compass! I Remember years ago Silva was the only game in town.

Some people talk about High D/T ratings. Some people talk about solving a difficult puzzle. Some people talk about the cool places they go. But I'll be honest, I'm still chasing that high from the first time I submitted an EC to the Geoaware and said "looking for feedback on what needs to change" and he said "I can publish it right now." Whoosh. Blew. My. Mind.

There's probably a good reason why not, but I would like it to look like this: There's been some talk in these forums about issues with the notification emails. Perhaps having it look like this would help:

Ethical discussion on collecting countries. I realized a few days ago that it's still possible to visit Russia: Go to Gdansk, take bus to Kaliningrad. Well, it's not that simple. Depending on your home country you need an invitation, insurance and visa, or you need to actually talk to the Russian ambassador to get this visa. In some countries it's not possible anymore at all. But it would theoretically be possible here. How you actually get rouble for your stay is a completely different matter as creditcards might not work. But it's possible. On that note, there are buses from Austria to Ukraine. Just saying. Discuss

Then you should be here----> http://forum.geocaching.com.au/ Mix

I have a Pioneer XM Radio Inno, with car kit, home kit, remote, and portable speakers. I am looking for a Magellan Roadmate 2000 or 3000. May be out of the ball park here, but I firgure it never hurts to put it out there. Thanks for looking, The Miller Family

I eagerly anticipated attending an event hosted by a sort of infamous new geocacher who placed hides on private property, had hide coordinates hundreds of feet off, etc. In fact, several of those of us who attended were really interested to meet this person and talk to them about proper hide techniques. The event owner never showed up. Bummer! And hasn't hidden a cache since. And I think all their caches are archived at this point. I still attended the event with several others and we all logged it as attended. The event owner didn't though lol.

The approach I've used for locations that haven't already had official geocaching policies has been to ask who I should talk to about getting permission. I don't ask "random employees" for permission. But I do my best to find someone who might know, and then ask that person who I should talk to.

Nothing personal of course but as from tomorrow I shall be on holiday and out of contact for a couple of weeks. If you have any questions, comments etc. please contact either Eckington or Deceangi in my absence. I'm hoping to have limited internet access from 22nd March and I'll be back as normal from 30th (or more likely 31st allowing for jet lag). If anyone has a TB or Geocoin that wants to go to Grenada in the West Indies be sure to put it in Gatwick Bug Hotel MK 2 (West Sussex) by tomorrow morning as I'm hoping to bag a few caches on my way to the airport tomorrow afternoon. Be good while I'm away Byeeee

Watch it. I love learning. I dislike having to prove it. Weird is pretending you can "place" or "find" these geology quizzes, as if they were something tangible. Weird is that it's mixed in with a game about containers. Weird is that you need landowner permission to "place" nothing at their land. I'm EC-free for well over 10 years now. That hasn't changed. Oh, since they nuked Brass Cap Cache (searching for tangibles), I'm done with virtuals too. I offer the same ridicule for them as the special-case virtuals about geology. EDIT to avoid dragging this out. Nothing weird about events; we talk about finding caches, and don't pretend to "place" or "find" events. I love events.