Google Earth

[+It's Spitting!]

I'm running Google Earth 4.0.2093 on a Mac and I've just discovered the excellent pan and tilt function which appears when you hover the mouse over the icon in the top right hand corner of the screen.

 

Don't know if everyone else is aware of it but it makes the images appear as if they have been taken from a low flying plane window and you can vary the height - especially effective if you angle it with the shadows of the objects on the ground - makes the objects stand out far more than the default 'satellite' overhead view.

 

However I do encounter a problem when using the Geocaching Network KML, both in default overhead view and when using the pan and tilt function. As I move the image, the cache icons jump to new locations. When I stop moving some jump back to where they should be but others remain in clearly the wrong place. I've set the refresh time down to 1 second in the KML properties but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

 

Anyone else experienced this problem?

[+adambro]

Its not really a problem as such. The cache locations as viewed through Google Earth using the Geocaching.com KML file are not exact. This is intended to make GE a tool for finding whereabouts a cache is, not its exact location. Bit of a nonsense though since you can just copy the exact coords from the cache page.

[lakeuk]

It's not a problem, it's by design - can't make it too easy

[+Jaz666]

Seems a bit of a pointless feature, considering you can click on the google maps link on the cachepage, which does let you zoom all the way to the exact location!

[lakeuk]

Seems a bit of a pointless feature, considering you can click on the google maps link on the cachepage, which does let you zoom all the way to the exact location!

 

I expect it's done like that because you don't need to be a member to use the kml file

[+PopUpPirate]

To fix it you can download the GPX files for the caches, either page at a time or via a PQ, and import them into Google Earth, they're there permanently then, and at the exact location.

[+Cryptik Souls Crew]

The co-ords for the KML are intentionally varied to prevent automated scraping of the data. I think you are also limited to maybe 200 refreshes within 24 hours, so if you scroll about too much it will eventually stop working.

 

As others have said, if you download a gpx and open that in GE the positions will be correct.

[+It's Spitting!]

To fix it you can download the GPX files for the caches, either page at a time or via a PQ, and import them into Google Earth, they're there permanently then, and at the exact location.

 

Thanks, that sounds like a good solution I'll give it a try.

 

The co-ords for the KML are intentionally varied to prevent automated scraping of the data. I think you are also limited to maybe 200 refreshes within 24 hours, so if you scroll about too much it will eventually stop working.

 

Yes, I noticed a counter dropping down from 120 as I moved the map - Thanks, that explains it.