How many Premium Members vs. Basic Members

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

Thinking about becoming a Premium Member. I notice there are very few Members Only Caches in my area. Excatly how many Premium Members are out there? But other then that, is it worth it to become a Premium Member for the other benefits?

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

I have no idea how many PMs there are in the world, lots.

Premium Member Ony Caches (PMC or PMOC) are the least of the reasons to become a PM.

The Pocket Queries (PQs) alone are worth the cost.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

Yeah, I read the Premium Members page. I was wondering about the Pocket Queries. This is new to me. What would be a nice little device to download pocket queries too? Now I have to buy one of thoses. Any advise? Thanks

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

I have no idea how many premium members are out there...I do know there are very few PMOC's in my area (but apparently some areas have a lot of them). No one should become a member for the PMOC's.

I would recommend becoming a premium member for the other perks. The PQs, the ability to make bookmarks, and the way the maps behave were my main reasons for paying up.

You will need a PDA to put your PQs into a form you can read on the run (I recommend a cheap one that won't break your heart if you drop it--a Palm iiixe works just fine for instance--and you can pick those up for under $25 US on the forums or eBay) and you will probably want to invest in a couple of programs like Cachemate and GSAK to get caches to your GPS and PDA. Both those programs are inexpensive and the work well together. There are free programs and less expensive programs that do the same thing, but GSAK is awesome.

Edited February 28, 2007 by Neos2

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

I use an inexpensive Palm PDA with cachemate on it.

I use GSAK on my computer to open PQs and send the waypoints to both my GPSr and PDA. There are several other options to do this. Run a search of the forums for "paperless".

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

You mean I can download waypoints and other info from the computer to the PDA, and from the PDA to the GPS, if you wanted too?

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

It's worth 3 bucks a month to surport GC.com even if you didn't get Pm benifits. Go for it, you won't regret it.

You can download 500 caches direct to your GPS, the Pda just makes it all paperless, that is the way to go!

Edited February 28, 2007 by wiseye

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

So there must be a USB port on the PDA for uplading from the computer? But can you download cache info to your cache waypoints from the PDA to the GPS? I'm a little confused. Thanks again.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

I wont say you can't, but I don't know of a way to load from PDA to GPSr.

I load cache pages from computer to PDA. Then I load waypoints from computer to GPSr.

That way I can choose from 500 nearest waypoints(already loaded on the GPSr) to search for, and I have the cache pages to go with(including hints and past logs) on the PDA.

I always have the closest 500 caches from home loaded up and ready to go. If I am out and about and find I have a few minutes I can look at my GPSr and see if there is a cache near by.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

Of all the members who signed up during the last 12 months, I'd be surprised if PMs made up over 5%.

Follow me. I mean of all the PMs in total, I'd bet we'd make up less then 5% of all the total members who signed up in the last year

Seems that way to me.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

I bring my laptop where ever I go, but I can't put it in my pocket and go. The PDA sounds nice and handy.

The PDA has a USB port I assume. So the cable I'll need is a USB plug on both ends or does the PDA comes with that cable. Now that I am going to buy one now, a Palm is the way to go. I guess I'll be checking out E-Bay for one.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

Of all the members who signed up during the last 12 months, I'd be surprised if PMs made up over 5%.

Follow me. I mean of all the PMs in total, I'd bet we'd make up less then 5% of all the total members who signed up in the last year

Seems that way to me.

I don't know. Most of the cachers I know are PM. But that is obviously a small part of the total number of cachers. Either way, I won't loose sleep dwelling on it tonight.

I bring my laptop where ever I go, but I can't put it in my pocket and go. The PDA sounds nice and handy.

The PDA has a USB port I assume. So the cable I'll need is a USB plug on both ends or does the PDA comes with that cable. Now that I am going to buy one now, a Palm is the way to go. I guess I'll be checking out E-Bay for one.

I don't know if a PDA and a GPSr speak the same language, the computer will probably have to translate.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

The PDA typically doesn't have a USB port (ok, my HP iPAQ doesn't, can't speak to Palms). My iPAQ came with a PDA-to-USB cable for connecting to computer.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

So there must be a USB port on the PDA for uplading from the computer? But can you download cache info to your cache waypoints from the PDA to the GPS? I'm a little confused. Thanks again.

No you can't download from your PDA to your GPS unit. These are two seperate steps, or functions that work independant of each other. You can use GASK or EasyGPS to download to your GPS unit. Then use Plucker or Cachemate to download to your PDA. I like GASK and Cachemate.

El Diablo

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

No you can't download from your PDA to your GPS unit. These are two seperate steps, or functions that work independant of each other. You can use GASK or EasyGPS to download to your GPS unit. Then use Plucker or Cachemate to download to your PDA. I like GASK and Cachemate.

El Diablo

Depends on your PDA/GPSr combo. I don't think it will work with USB because one has to be the "host" and neither device is capable of that. Personally, I'm using GSAK and Cachemate in two seperate steps.

Dunno how well this works until I get a Palm III xe > Meridian cable but....

Cachemate Plugins

Cetus GPS Export 1.0

Export waypoints to Cetus GPS

Garmin GPS Query/Upload 1.3.3

Transfer waypoints to and get location from Garmin GPS receivers

Magellan GPS Upload 1.22

Transfer waypoints to Magellan GPS receivers

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

Actually, GPXSonar (a Cachemate-like program for the Pocket PC) has an option to export to Lowrance, Magellan Explorist, and Magellan Meridian waypoints. Since my Pocket PC and Lowrance both use an SD card, I should be able to transfer files using the card and thus skipping the whole need for a USB or PDA specific cord, but I've never tried it.

I'm curious, though, so I might try it tonight. I'd expect, however, that I couldn't customize the data like I do in GSAK. For example, I have GSAK set to output the name of the cache rather than the GC waypoint and would think I couldn't change this in the GPXSonar transfer.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

A common misconception for over five years running is that you need a handheld device to make use of Pocket Queries. They are essentially an advanced search, and you can use many of the programs mentioned above on your PC to peruse them. Very useful.

Edited February 28, 2007 by Dinoprophet

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

Thinking about becoming a Premium Member. I notice there are very few Members Only Caches in my area. Excatly how many Premium Members are out there? But other then that, is it worth it to become a Premium Member for the other benefits?

I agree that finding Member Only Caches is probably the least of all the reason to become a paying member.

I don't know exactly how many members there are or how they break down, however, you can get a rough guess by looking at the members function of the forums. There is a link above between "Search" and "Calendar" that will take you to a page where you can sort on different member types.

There are approximately:

155020 members (non-paying)

49190 Premium Members

1710 Charter Members

How this actually breaks down is unknown. No telling how many non-paying members are actually un-used, bad, or abandoned accounts, or the number of additional accounts for a paying member, or simply sock puppets.

I'm thinking, simply by judging the activity of cachers in our area, the majority of legitimate active accounts are paying members.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

i want to echo the sentiment that it's worth the $30 regardless of anything else. i paid up before i was able to use the premium features; in fact i paid up two weeks before the first time i went caching.

i find, however, that being able to load the waypoints and such to my GPS is well worth the price, nevermind about the maps and use of PDA.

member-only caches are just silly in my eyes and not a consideration for premium membership.

(yikes! my roof jusst warmed up and there was just a loud avalanche!)

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

So there must be a USB port on the PDA for uplading from the computer? But can you download cache info to your cache waypoints from the PDA to the GPS? I'm a little confused. Thanks again.

Before purchasing any additional hardware, buy a premium membership. It's worth it for a lot of reasons as stated. Then spend a little time in the forums and learn how to upload waypoints direct to your current GPS. Once you have that down and are able to work with GSAK (the popular choice) or another database program that will read a pocket query, then looking into PDAs should be your last step. There's pros and cons that need to be considered from Palm to PC based PDAs. This will depend on what hardware you already own and your personal situation. There's a forum and threads that are about this very subject. This is the section of the forums that you need in to be right now. I would start by plugging the brand and model of GPS you have into the search box.

Oh and most importantly... welcome to Geocaching!

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

I've been a "MEMBER" for 5 years, and don't feel like I've missed a thing. I've logged, maybe, three "PREMIUM MEMBERS ONLY" caches, (Yes we can do that, look it up). I also don't carry a PDA, but sometimes cache with others who do, but it is rarely called upon. I don't even carry paper info with me, just the coords in the GPSr. Kind of makes it more fun when searching. I will admit to selectively downloading caches using EASYGPS, which has all the technology I need, usually only avoiding puzzles and multis when planning a "CACHE RUN".

My bottom line is, you don't need PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP to have a lot of fun with Geocaching, and I DON'T feel guilty about it!

GM

Edited February 28, 2007 by Gator Man

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

My bottom line is, you don't need PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP to have a lot of fun with Geocaching, and I DON'T feel guilty about it!

Totally agree. I only signed up to be a double-plus good member because I was out of town for a week with sketchy internet and wanted to cache daily. Now I won't go back, but I'm not ashamed of that either <_<

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

[edit] double-bounce

Edited February 28, 2007 by GSVNoFixedAbode

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

G7toCE is a PocketPC version of a program that allows you to transfer your data (tracks, waypoints,...) directly between the GPS and the PocketPC - but it only works with the serial port versions of the units, ie the old etrex series, 60CS (not csx) etc and not over a USB connection. Edited February 28, 2007 by GSVNoFixedAbode

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

It's worth 3 bucks a month to surport GC.com even if you didn't get Pm benifits. Go for it, you won't regret it.

You can download 500 caches direct to your GPS, the Pda just makes it all paperless, that is the way to go!

Amen to all of that, though these days I'd pick a Pocket PC instead of a PDA. Then I can carry other files along as well, and connect to the net when hot spots are encountered.

Laptops are great, but when you're 1/2 mile from the truck it sure is nice to pull the Pocket PC out and re-read the cache listing in the field.

As far as paying the annual PM fee goes, it's my humble opinion that anyone who's found 30 caches or so, and intends to continue caching, has a moral obligation to pay the PM fee.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

Thinking about becoming a Premium Member. I notice there are very few Members Only Caches in my area. Excatly how many Premium Members are out there? But other then that, is it worth it to become a Premium Member for the other benefits?

I agree that finding Member Only Caches is probably the least of all the reason to become a paying member.

I don't know exactly how many members there are or how they break down, however, you can get a rough guess by looking at the members function of the forums. There is a link above between "Search" and "Calendar" that will take you to a page where you can sort on different member types.

There are approximately:

155020 members (non-paying)

49190 Premium Members

1710 Charter Members

How this actually breaks down is unknown. No telling how many non-paying members are actually un-used, bad, or abandoned accounts, or the number of additional accounts for a paying member, or simply sock puppets.

I'm thinking, simply by judging the activity of cachers in our area, the majority of legitimate active accounts are paying members.

Hey CR...I've got a question then..

In another thread, we have been tracking the Member numbers...the 1,000,000 member should be assigned within the next day or two.

So, where are all the other accounts in your totals above? Are there that many "Unverified" memberships out there? I don't expect you to have the answer...I was just wondering if you or anyone else knew...

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

The numbers CR quoted are for the forums.

We're about to reach member 1,000,000 on geocaching.com.

Not all members of geocaching.com join the forums. According to the numbers above, only about 1 out of 5 members join the forums.

According to those numbers for the forums, about 1/4 of the members are Premium. If that ratio holds true for the entire geocaching community, there are about a quarter of a million Premium members. Personally I think that number is high, but I'd believe 150-200K Premium members.

Edited February 28, 2007 by Lil Devil

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

The numbers CR quoted are for the forums.

We're about to reach member 1,000,000 on geocaching.com.

Not all members of geocaching.com join the forums. According to the numbers above, only about 1 out of 5 members join the forums.

According to those numbers for the forums, about 1/4 of the members are Premium. If that ratio holds true for the entire geocaching community, there are about a quarter of a million Premium members. Personally I think that number is high, but I'd believe 150-200K Premium members.

Cool!

Thanks for the feedback.

Posted February 28, 2007 · February 28, 2007

The numbers CR quoted are for the forums.

We're about to reach member 1,000,000 on geocaching.com.

Not all members of geocaching.com join the forums. According to the numbers above, only about 1 out of 5 members join the forums.

According to those numbers for the forums, about 1/4 of the members are Premium. If that ratio holds true for the entire geocaching community, there are about a quarter of a million Premium members. Personally I think that number is high, but I'd believe 150-200K Premium members.

Cool!

Thanks for the feedback.

LD is right. I had forgot to make clear the numbers were for the forums. The forums aren't completely integrated into the rest of the site.

I also doubt the percentages hold true if you try to extrapolate the numbers out. No telling how many user IDs are burned off just to simply look around. There are a good number of usernames that were never verified. That number could be in the thousands.

The only way to really know is to run a query, something TPTB probably are already doing just as a measure of how well the business is doing. It's not likely to filter down to us so we can only speculate.

Posted March 1, 2007 · March 1, 2007

Even if you don't own a PDA (yet), pocket queries can save you a lot of time and effort. Especially if you don't have a broadband connection.

Here is one way.

Lets say you want to look for all caches within 20 miles of your home, but not micros, and not virtuals, and not multis. Or whatever.

So, you set up the pocket query and a file is emailed to you. The file will contain up to 500 caches (the limit for pocket queries). Load this into a viewing program ... I use GSAK.

So what??? You now have a list of up to 500 caches. As you scroll from one listing to the next, you get an instant screen that looks very much like what you see on the geocaching web site, minus images. There will only be several recent logs, not all of them. But you essentially have instant access to every one of these cache pages ... offline! And, with a click of your mouse you can jump to the actual Geocaching.com webpage to see the original cache page if desired.

And ..... and ..... this can come in REALLY handy those times when Geocaching.com is DOWN!

Oh, there's LOTS more, but this is something to wet your appetite!

Happy Geocaching!!!

How many Premium Members vs. Basic Members

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