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Cassette Tape Cache


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Was thinking about putting out a multi that at each leg had a cassette tape that you had to listen to to get the next clue. Was wondering if anyone had seen this done and what they thought of it. You would have to bring your own cassette tape player, ie walkman. Was also wondering how many people still own a cassette player or had everyone upgraded to cd players??

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We have at least one out here with a cassette tape in the first stage. It is pretty interesting to have a 'regular' size container at the beginning of a multi. There is an old cassette player in the container with a few buttons broken off (like eject, FFW, and record).

 

The challenging part is going to be the batteries. If batteries are left in the unit, they'll drain pretty fast, and you'll need to constantly be going back there to replace them, unless cacher's are willing to use their own or replace them for you if they're dead.

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Any reason you couldn't have cassettes _and_ CDs in the initial waypoint?

 

Heck, they're almost cheap enough to put a small MP3 player in there as well with the audio loaded!

 

Agreed. Unless there was some special reason why you wanted to use 30 year old technology, CDs would be the way to go. You can burn them much faster than you can record a cassette and they'll last a lot longer out in the wild. Not to mention that a much larger percentage of people would actually be able to *play* them.

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I not only don't have a cassette player, I don't even remember the last time I actually listened to a CD. Heck, when I went car shopping last year, I refused to even look at models that didn't allow me to plug my iPod directly into the stereo system.

 

That said, I could buy a portable cassette player for under $10 (I've spent considerably more than that to find a single cache), or just borrow one. I think you'd still find a good number of people willing to do what it takes to find a cassette-cache.

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I also considered putting both a casette and cd in the caches, so maybe that is what I will do. I was also wondering how it would work to put a cheap casette player in the first leg and the cacher could use that for each leg and return it to the first leg when they are done. Would just be concerned that it would get taken.

Edited by stickmonkey
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I also considered putting both a casette and cd in the caches, so maybe that is what I will do. I was also wondering how it would work to put a cheap casette player in the first leg and the cacher could use that for each leg and return it to the first leg when they are done. Would just be concerned that it would get taken.

That (accident or otherwise) and having to worry about battery maintenance? I wouldn't do it, personally. For doing CD's you could use any audio recorder, but an interesting free one is Audacity. You could even use those miniature CD's. Most personal CD players have the button that CD's clip into, rather than a tray like computer CD-ROMS have. The only downside is to record those YOU need to have a CD tray with a button (my laptop burner has one, but not my desktop).

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just a thought but i'd be wary on any cache that relied on technology to get me to the next stage. too easy for the item to be damaged and ruin the whole cache.

 

why the need for a verbal instruction? stick with good old fashioned pen mark 2 and paper pref with lamination.

 

just my 5p worth.

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just a thought but i'd be wary on any cache that relied on technology to get me to the next stage. too easy for the item to be damaged and ruin the whole cache.

 

why the need for a verbal instruction? stick with good old fashioned pen mark 2 and paper pref with lamination.

 

just my 5p worth.

 

Generally when I hide a cache, I try to add a bit of a twist to it. Thought this might be a good idea. I'm thinking now that the CD would be the way to go. Could save the message on the computer as a .wav file and if anything happens to the CD, it would be easy to replace

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Most personal CD players have the button that CD's clip into, rather than a tray like computer CD-ROMS have. The only downside is to record those YOU need to have a CD tray with a button (my laptop burner has one, but not my desktop).

:ph34r::ph34r:

 

I can only respond to what I think you are saying.

There are no issues of compatability between cd readers/writers of different loading mechanisms.

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just a thought but i'd be wary on any cache that relied on technology to get me to the next stage. too easy for the item to be damaged and ruin the whole cache.

 

why the need for a verbal instruction? stick with good old fashioned pen mark 2 and paper pref with lamination.

 

just my 5p worth.

 

Generally when I hide a cache, I try to add a bit of a twist to it. Thought this might be a good idea. I'm thinking now that the CD would be the way to go. Could save the message on the computer as a .wav file and if anything happens to the CD, it would be easy to replace

 

The other way to approach this is to eliminate supplying the machine or the media in the field and make the files available for upload in some cleaver way before they set out to find it. You can store something like 25 megs for free in places like Yahoo Briefcase for example. That way the cacher would have to download onto whatever they use...portable CD player, IPOD, Palm. Like any possible solution to doing a cache like this, you are going to lose a few folks to the technology but at least this is going to keep you from dealing with a machine and the ultimate demise of it.

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There is a cache in my area that is a very involved puzzle cache. The one reason - really, the one reason - I haven't done it is because the cache page states the need for a portable cassette player.

Give me a break! I haven't owned one of those in years!

So some of us are going to find it prohibitive, but to each his own.

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The other way to approach this is to eliminate supplying the machine or the media in the field and make the files available for upload in some cleaver way before they set out to find it. You can store something like 25 megs for free in places like Yahoo Briefcase for example. That way the cacher would have to download onto whatever they use...portable CD player, IPOD, Palm. Like any possible solution to doing a cache like this, you are going to lose a few folks to the technology but at least this is going to keep you from dealing with a machine and the ultimate demise of it.

 

This is what I did with my latest cache:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...49-c3b75612eda7

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I did a cache in the Tampa area that was as close to what you describe - however, it had a casette player in the field. When the batteries were low, you were supposed add a 'needs more fuel' note in your log. I believe the idea was to have an extra set in the case, and when those were used to replace the ones in the player, they'd be replaced by the owner.

 

The idea was cool - it was just a looping tape with Mission Impossible theme to it. I will say, however, that I was greatly disappointed in the final after such a cool first stage - ended up being a very small cache in a container that needed maintenance.

 

If I had found a cassette in the field, I'd be in trouble, as I don't own a tape player.

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Most personal CD players have the button that CD's clip into, rather than a tray like computer CD-ROMS have. The only downside is to record those YOU need to have a CD tray with a button (my laptop burner has one, but not my desktop).

:ph34r::(

 

I can only respond to what I think you are saying.

There are no issues of compatability between cd readers/writers of different loading mechanisms.

The only issue is that you shouldn't use the tiny 'business card' CDs. These are unusable in the a 'trayless' drive.

 

Have you considered saving the file in a format that can be read by an audio CD player, rather than a .wav that would (likely) require a PC?

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Most personal CD players have the button that CD's clip into, rather than a tray like computer CD-ROMS have. The only downside is to record those YOU need to have a CD tray with a button (my laptop burner has one, but not my desktop).

:ph34r::(

 

I can only respond to what I think you are saying.

There are no issues of compatability between cd readers/writers of different loading mechanisms.

The only issue is that you shouldn't use the tiny 'business card' CDs. These are unusable in the a 'trayless' drive.

 

Have you considered saving the file in a format that can be read by an audio CD player, rather than a .wav that would (likely) require a PC?

Actually, I think they may be right. I do recall now two different diameter depressions in the desktop CD tray. Now, I dunno if the business card versions work in those, being not completely circular, but the smaller CD ones should still load fine in a non-laptop.

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I had a similar idea for a cache - great minds think alike! It would make a change from the ordinary.

 

It hasn't gone beyond the idea stage, mainly because I wasn't sure what media would suit most people. Personally I still have a cassette walkman, but I don't have a CD walkman. Nowadays I play MP3s on my mobile phone.

 

You can get greetings cards that let you record your own message, I wonder if that would work?

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Was thinking about putting out a multi that at each leg had a cassette tape that you had to listen to to get the next clue. Was wondering if anyone had seen this done and what they thought of it. You would have to bring your own cassette tape player, ie walkman. Was also wondering how many people still own a cassette player or had everyone upgraded to cd players??

 

The voices in my head say that cassette tapes are soooo 1960, and that the "in" thing nowadays is Ipod or portable USB memory sticks or even flash media cards.

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Any reason you couldn't have cassettes _and_ CDs in the initial waypoint?

 

Heck, they're almost cheap enough to put a small MP3 player in there as well with the audio loaded!

 

Agreed. Unless there was some special reason why you wanted to use 30 year old technology, CDs would be the way to go. You can burn them much faster than you can record a cassette and they'll last a lot longer out in the wild. Not to mention that a much larger percentage of people would actually be able to *play* them.

I agree, you should use the 20 year old CD technology :) . Its more likely people still have them around vs. tape players.

Personally my portable cassetee player just died, which is annoying because the local library still has lots of books on tape cassettes. Which was actually the only thing I'd used it for anytime recently so I don't know that I'll bother getting another one.

 

As for creating a multicache that you have to listen to, that sounds interesting. I think that I'd make at least one of the stages where you have to listen to a description or instructions or something besides just the next coordinate. Otherwise its just making people dig out some extra piece of equipement for something that could be done simplier.

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Here's an example of a cache that used cds.

 

The cache owner was constantly thinking outside the box, if you will, when it came to creating caches. MANY people in our area were huge fans of his caches, but for some reason this one never received very many logs. That could be either because not many people have access to portable cd players or because not many people thought they could identify the artists.

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I am planning exactly a cache like this as a sequel to GCMX6A - "New Orleans Elements #1: Marlyville/Fontainebleau", which was based on photos around a neighborhood. This would be for the Black Pearl neighborhood where Mahalia Jackson grew up.

 

I was planning on putting the CDs in the cache, having the recording take you on a circuit which returned to the cache, having gathered enough information to unlock the inner sanctum of the cache and allowing the CD to be returned. I figured most people could get or borrow a CD player (or even use the one in their car, although it would be a walking circuit). I did think about MP3 files but getting them onto a user's device would need to be done in advance since many don't have removable media.

 

However, I did recently hear about the possibility of VERY cheap MP3 players ($8) in the near future, which would probably eliminate the need for any media at all.

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See this one: GCHCCR Mission : Cache

 

It was one of the neatest far and away. It was a two stage multi, and the recorder and batteries were in a sealed watertight case buried in Palmetto off of the trail. From the envelope that the tape was in, to the theme music playing in the background, it was one of the neatest and best thought out caches I have seen in a while.

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