+nfa Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Hi, I have digital recording equipement, and have been toying with the idea of setting up a podcache. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, and so wanted to post here for input. I've read through some of the podcaches listings on gc.com, but haven't got much idea from them of what sort of things people have been doing with the technology/twist on the game. I would like to try and work out things to do with the podcache that would make the cacher seeking the cache need to work their way through the cache utilizing the podcache mp3 file while in the field. I've been thinking about about things like: walks or drives, measured in terms of tested speeds "walk until you are 1/2-way between the big rock and the mailbox, then turn left and swim toward the tall dead pine tree until... site along 50 degrees (Magnetic) with your compass and walk to the 3-stemmed birch tree... once you paddle out of the culvert, make for the downed tree at 5 o'clock pace along with me (left/right step = 1 pace = a bit more than 5 feet), "Left, Right, Left, Right...", now turn into the doorway with columns on either side, go through the first door on your left, and ask the person behind the desk... drive east on rt 30 and park your car at mile marker 513.7, walk along the edge of the woods until you see the 7th yellow State Forest Preserve sign on a tree, and with your back to that tree... I would love to hear any ideas that anyone has, and any cautionary tales that occur to anyone...through either experience or just being really smart. Thanks, Jamie Quote Link to comment
+ScoutingWV Posted February 20, 2006 Share Posted February 20, 2006 Reading your post made me think of some old-time radio shows I listen to on XM Radio. Maybe your podcast could take on that flavor of an old story and lead the cacher through the different stages of an adventure or game? If your recording equipment is portable, maybe take it with you as you are laying out the cache and record some ambient sounds to include in the recording. If you can do digital video, you could also do a video version with visual clues for folks with the new iPod video. hmmm ... this could be fun ... Wish I could try it when you're done. Quote Link to comment
+The Leprechauns Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Don't forget to integrate GPS usage somewhere in the hunt, in order to satisfy the listing requirements. Some ideas on how to do that: 1. Start the podcast off at some fairly random spot in the middle of the woods. "Go to the posted coordinates, then turn on your iPod/mp3 player." 2. Use coordinates to skip between long boring stretches, like driving, or a walk down a long straight trail. "Go to these coordinates, then hit "play" again." 3. Collect numbers from signs, etc., during the podcast, which are then strung together to solve a puzzle for the final cache location that's found using GPS. Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 (edited) One of the benefits of podcasting that I have not seen yet is being able to go indoors. The flexibility to do this allows you to place WPs (with coords) inside many interesting places! For example, you could guide people to POI inside a museum and collect info to put some coords together. Another idea would be to guide them into a tunnel where there would be hidden coords in a location you could describe to them... Edited February 21, 2006 by TrailGators Quote Link to comment
+nfa Posted February 21, 2006 Author Share Posted February 21, 2006 Hi, Thanks for the replies so far...the unit I have is very portable, so I would love to include some ambient sound clues (although they would vary by season...we'll see)....I like the radio show idea. I had planned on having the podcache start at the given coords, bump in a couple of turns using clues and such... skipping sections using coords as the next starting point would make some sense and could be done by using only the "Right of the Decimal" (ROD) numbers on your gps..."keep walking along the trail until your north coords ROD read 221 (should be about 5 minutes) before hitting play for the next clue"... I like the puzzle idea...need to peruse the environment to see what will work... Keep the ideas coming... Thanks, Jamie Quote Link to comment
+Quiggle Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 One of the benefits of podcasting that I have not seen yet is being able to go indoors. The flexibility to do this allows you to place WPs (with coords) inside many interesting places! For example, you could guide people to POI inside a museum and collect info to put some coords together. Another idea would be to guide them into a tunnel where there would be hidden coords in a location you could describe to them... Be aware of the listing guidelines regarding commercial listings when considering a stage such as this. If the museum is a part of the cache and does not require an entrance fee, it would likely be acceptable. Pick the location wisely, and if in doubt, run the coords by your reviewer beforehand. Quote Link to comment
+nfa Posted February 21, 2006 Author Share Posted February 21, 2006 One of the benefits of podcasting that I have not seen yet is being able to go indoors. The flexibility to do this allows you to place WPs (with coords) inside many interesting places! For example, you could guide people to POI inside a museum and collect info to put some coords together. Another idea would be to guide them into a tunnel where there would be hidden coords in a location you could describe to them... A cool use could be inside a local historic building (non-commercial, of course), or inside a cave, or deep inside a steep valley with poor/no reception...all of these could be used to place coordinates for further stages of a caches in places that have been unavailable to caching when GPS reception was a must. Jamie Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 (edited) Be aware of the listing guidelines regarding commercial listings when considering a stage such as this. If the museum is a part of the cache and does not require an entrance fee, it would likely be acceptable. Pick the location wisely, and if in doubt, run the coords by your reviewer beforehand. You have to run all caches by the reviewer..... Anyhow, I live in San Diego and our Wild Animal Park, Zoo, Legoland, and Sea World all have caches in them and you have to pay to get in them all..... Anyhow, my point was that podcaching allows you to venture into places that GPSs can't go! Edited February 21, 2006 by TrailGators Quote Link to comment
+Quiggle Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 You have to run all caches by the reviewer..... Well dadgum, nobody told me! Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 One of the benefits of podcasting that I have not seen yet is being able to go indoors. The flexibility to do this allows you to place WPs (with coords) inside many interesting places! For example, you could guide people to POI inside a museum and collect info to put some coords together. Another idea would be to guide them into a tunnel where there would be hidden coords in a location you could describe to them... A cool use could be inside a local historic building (non-commercial, of course), or inside a cave, or deep inside a steep valley with poor/no reception...all of these could be used to place coordinates for further stages of a caches in places that have been unavailable to caching when GPS reception was a must. Jamie Egg-zactly! Quote Link to comment
+New England n00b Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 On a technical note, I have been checking out various podcasts from a variety of genres. For the love of God, PLEASE use a Compressor/Limiter on the microphones! There is nothing more anoying than listening to people break out laughing at something and hearing nothing but pop & crackle! I dunno what equipment you have, but if it is digital it may have effects built in... Good luck! Quote Link to comment
+nfa Posted February 22, 2006 Author Share Posted February 22, 2006 Here's an idea I has today while at work... "walk along the path in a northerly direction until you reach the water's edge...if there is a series of boulders leading into the water, advance this podcache to section 3 and hit play...if there is a dock, advance the podcache to section 4 and hit play..." a decision point like this could enhance the need to play the podcache in the field, as opposed to in your home, on your computer... jamie Quote Link to comment
+altosaxplayer Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Hi, I have digital recording equipement, and have been toying with the idea of setting up a podcache. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, and so wanted to post here for input. I've read through some of the podcaches listings on gc.com, but haven't got much idea from them of what sort of things people have been doing with the technology/twist on the game. I would like to try and work out things to do with the podcache that would make the cacher seeking the cache need to work their way through the cache utilizing the podcache mp3 file while in the field. I've been thinking about about things like: walks or drives, measured in terms of tested speeds "walk until you are 1/2-way between the big rock and the mailbox, then turn left and swim toward the tall dead pine tree until... site along 50 degrees (Magnetic) with your compass and walk to the 3-stemmed birch tree... once you paddle out of the culvert, make for the downed tree at 5 o'clock pace along with me (left/right step = 1 pace = a bit more than 5 feet), "Left, Right, Left, Right...", now turn into the doorway with columns on either side, go through the first door on your left, and ask the person behind the desk... drive east on rt 30 and park your car at mile marker 513.7, walk along the edge of the woods until you see the 7th yellow State Forest Preserve sign on a tree, and with your back to that tree... I would love to hear any ideas that anyone has, and any cautionary tales that occur to anyone...through either experience or just being really smart. Thanks, Jamie I have heard of this before. Sounds like a cool non-GPS concept. It was mentioned on the last episode of Icenryes Geocaching Videozine. Try it and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment
+New England n00b Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Here's an idea I has today while at work... "walk along the path in a northerly direction until you reach the water's edge...if there is a series of boulders leading into the water, advance this podcache to section 3 and hit play...if there is a dock, advance the podcache to section 4 and hit play..." a decision point like this could enhance the need to play the podcache in the field, as opposed to in your home, on your computer... jamie Like a letterbox-geocache audio hybrid. Neat idea... You might have to make sure that the starting point (such as a parking lot) is specified if there is more than one way in... Quote Link to comment
+Team PodCacher Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 Hey, just saw this topic about podcaches. For some ideas from podcaches we (and others) have created, go here. We also put out a weekly audio show all about geocaching at www.podcacher.com. Listen to a few of our shows - we'd love any feedback. If anyone creates a new podcache, we'd love to hear about it. If you need any help or tips on creating the audio, drop us an email at podcacher@gmail.com Sonny & Sandy aka iTrax and FoxTail Quote Link to comment
+TheManInStripes Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 Can someone post a link to any podcaches. I'm just interested to check one out, and don't seem to see any listed on the site as that type of cache. I am downloading the podcache podcast right now. Quote Link to comment
+Team PodCacher Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 Can someone post a link to any podcaches. I'm just interested to check one out, and don't seem to see any listed on the site as that type of cache. I am downloading the podcache podcast right now. There are several podcaches on this page. If you need any help with the creation of the audio or want to chat about ideas on creating one, drop us a line at: podcacher@gmail.com Quote Link to comment
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