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Logging caches whilst on holiday


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I'm wanting to know how other cachers handle the logging of caches whilst on holiday

 

I've been on holiday touring round for several weeks - usually in the mountains where there is no connectivity.

Ideally what I'd want to do is to create the "found it" log etc there & then on my mio350 pda in cachemate or similar, whilst I've got the desire to write an enlightening log.

Perhaps these logs could then be somehow uploaded later....

 

Logging 100+ caches all at once after coming back from holiday is a bind & I never have the patience to write a decent log - instead I tend to copy paste the same response onto each one which isn't great for the cache owner.

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On our hols we sit down at night and write the logs on the laptop using the brief notes we make at the cache site on the hand held.

 

We also name each digital photo we take with GC1234 The best cache ever 21st Aug No1.jpg then when we get home use a gsak list to upload the logs via macro and then upload the photos.

 

We then print out each log with photos to update our journal.

 

Makes the look at our holiday photos more of a talking point if the (decent!) log is next to them to read.

 

Takes us about a week to do them all but we find it worthwhile.

 

TB's are done via notes on the first or second day back as trackables can't wait that long.

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On our hols we sit down at night and write the logs on the laptop using the brief notes we make at the cache site on the hand held.

 

We also name each digital photo we take with GC1234 The best cache ever 21st Aug No1.jpg then when we get home use a gsak list to upload the logs via macro and then upload the photos.

 

We then print out each log with photos to update our journal.

 

Makes the look at our holiday photos more of a talking point if the (decent!) log is next to them to read.

 

Takes us about a week to do them all but we find it worthwhile.

 

TB's are done via notes on the first or second day back as trackables can't wait that long.

I wish I was only half as methodical - more like "now where did I leave that TB?" and "Was that the one where I fell in the stream?".

But actually I do try to use the user notes on GSAK to record what I have done when I get back to the laptop and then use those notes when on line again.

And yes I do try to record TB movements more quickly as people may be expecting to find them - increased numbers of wifi points does help and the WAP site can be useful. The full cache log can wait but not the TB recording.

Edited by John Stead
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I mostly use wap.geocaching.com on the PDA via bluetooth and cellphone (GPRS) for cache logging when on holiday. It works very well and isn't TOO expensive.

 

Wow! I didn't even know wap.geocaching.com existed!

We've looked up details on the normal site using a mobile phone and it's really tedious...

 

 

 

 

Mark

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The WAP site is very useful - the site just gives you the minimum necessary information on a small page with no graphics or frills. The only small limitation when it comes to logging caches on it is that you can't change the log date - so you have to log the same day if you want the recorded date to be accurate (I suppose you could always change it on returning home, of course).

 

You can record travel bug movements as well, which is probably the biggest benefit when you're away - this minimises the confusion that ensues when a TB/Geocoin is registered in a cache but has been moved.

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I mostly use wap.geocaching.com on the PDA via bluetooth and cellphone (GPRS) for cache logging when on holiday. It works very well and isn't TOO expensive.

 

Wow! I didn't even know wap.geocaching.com existed!

We've looked up details on the normal site using a mobile phone and it's really tedious...

 

Mark

 

I've just looked at the wap site - this will be so useful whilst on the move

So is this a closely guarded secret by Groundspeak?

Edited by stonefielders
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I mostly use wap.geocaching.com on the PDA via bluetooth and cellphone (GPRS) for cache logging when on holiday. It works very well and isn't TOO expensive.

 

Wow! I didn't even know wap.geocaching.com existed!

We've looked up details on the normal site using a mobile phone and it's really tedious...

 

I find that site almost impossible to use on my mobile phone. By the time I've written more than a couple of words in the log the connection has broken and it asks me to log in again and anything I've previously written is lost. So I log in again. Then by the time I've written....... ad infinitum :(

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I find that site almost impossible to use on my mobile phone. By the time I've written more than a couple of words in the log the connection has broken and it asks me to log in again and anything I've previously written is lost. So I log in again. Then by the time I've written....... ad infinitum :(

All I can say is that it's never happened to me and I've probably logged over 100 caches using it. Perhaps it's beacuse I use GPRS rather than WAP.

 

To be on the safe side (assuming you're using a PDA or smartphone) you could write the text to a file first then just copy and paste whilst connected?

Edited by Happy Humphrey
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If you travel with a laptop, you can find a wifi connection and log in the usual way. Hotels are starting to offer free wifi, or you might get it free at a bar or food place if you're buying food/a drink there. In the UK, petrol stations (particularly Texaco) sometimes have free wifi too.

 

Or there's always internet cafes?

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If you travel with a laptop, you can find a wifi connection and log in the usual way. Hotels are starting to offer free wifi, or you might get it free at a bar or food place if you're buying food/a drink there. In the UK, petrol stations (particularly Texaco) sometimes have free wifi too.

 

Or there's always internet cafes?

 

I've been in Canada for 3 weeks & had to call in at internet cafes each week to update the TB ins/outs

Would've been better if I could update via GPRS on the move as they were dropped/picked up

Especially with 2 young kids in tow who would relish being let loose in an internet cafe :(

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I've been in Canada for 3 weeks & had to call in at internet cafes each week to update the TB ins/outs

Would've been better if I could update via GPRS on the move as they were dropped/picked up

Especially with 2 young kids in tow who would relish being let loose in an internet cafe :(

When in the USA we did about 60 caches and I kept on top of the logs using GPRS (mostly) and internet cafes (a couple of times: there weren't many about). I was very grateful to get home knowing that all logs were up to date. I have a folding (full size) keyboard for the PDA which came in very handy.

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I've been in Canada for 3 weeks & had to call in at internet cafes each week to update the TB ins/outs

Would've been better if I could update via GPRS on the move as they were dropped/picked up

Especially with 2 young kids in tow who would relish being let loose in an internet cafe :(

When in the USA we did about 60 caches and I kept on top of the logs using GPRS (mostly) and internet cafes (a couple of times: there weren't many about). I was very grateful to get home knowing that all logs were up to date. I have a folding (full size) keyboard for the PDA which came in very handy.

 

I'm interested in your folding keyboard for the pda

Is this something you bought or is it an integral part of the pda?

 

If you bought it, is it specifically for pdas? ie with a mini usb connector?

If not how did you convert from usb to mini usb & get the pda to recognise the keyboard?

 

Tell you what, I start a thread on this forum & learn a whole load of extra things I'd never thought about :blink:

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I'm interested in your folding keyboard for the pda

Is this something you bought or is it an integral part of the pda?

 

If you bought it, is it specifically for pdas? ie with a mini usb connector?

If not how did you convert from usb to mini usb & get the pda to recognise the keyboard?

 

Tell you what, I start a thread on this forum & learn a whole load of extra things I'd never thought about :(

It's a Targus Stowaway portable keyboard. It folds in 4 and then is just a little larger than the PDA. It connects direct to the PDA (with an adaptor specific to the PDA), and the connector acts as a support so you can see the screen easily when typing. I must say that it was a very good buy! You oad a driver to install the keyboard then off you go.

 

But I bought it several years ago and I don't know whether the same thing is still available.

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Did I mention that i went to canada last year?

If you travel with a laptop, you can find a wifi connection and log in the usual way. Hotels are starting to offer free wifi, or you might get it free at a bar or food place if you're buying food/a drink there. In the UK, petrol stations (particularly Texaco) sometimes have free wifi too.

 

Or there's always internet cafes?

 

I've been in Canada for 3 weeks & had to call in at internet cafes each week to update the TB ins/outs

Would've been better if I could update via GPRS on the move as they were dropped/picked up

Especially with 2 young kids in tow who would relish being let loose in an internet cafe :surprise:

 

Whilts on holiday in Canada we were able to log our finds half way through the holiday at a public library which provided internet access for free.

My slant on this was fairly easy actually. I took my laptop with me. I cached for around 2-3 hours most days, in the morning before the rest of the family were up and about.

 

At the end of my stint, on the way back to where we were staying (no internet access), I drove down a couple of residential streets and found one of my WiFi access points. Previously, I found about three useful ones (different routes home) to use, sat outside and logged all my finds; TB's; DNF's; emails etc

 

Why not?

 

:(

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Cos it's illegal to use an unsecured Wifi point unless it's a public one. It's classed as theft

 

I read about a case in Michigan where a guy got busted for sitting in a coffee-shop's car park and surfing. In fact I wrote it up in the "trade press" here.

 

Since it's very easy for a public WiFi hotspot to provide access control (at McDonald's they print a username and password on the till receipt, so you have to buy a coffee or whatever to get access), and since there is usually nothing in the WiFi network's name that makes it clear that you are expected to pay, I wonder how successful any prosecution might be (assuming you had a lawyer with a clue).

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Since it's very easy for a public WiFi hotspot to provide access control (at McDonald's they print a username and password on the till receipt, so you have to buy a coffee or whatever to get access), and since there is usually nothing in the WiFi network's name that makes it clear that you are expected to pay, I wonder how successful any prosecution might be (assuming you had a lawyer with a clue).

 

I just thought of another example. Right this minute I'm using a paid-for public hotspot. The first time I connected to it, it asked me to create an account and give credit card details. Suppose that at that moment, the "have you got a valid account" checking server had been down for maintenance. The operator might well have decided to leave the access freely open during this time. So my connection would have succeeded without any challenge. Am I then meant to immediately disconnect because, instead of getting temporarily authorised free access to a normally commercial service, I might in fact be accessing an unsecured but not free service? How the heck am I supposed to work out the difference?

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Hmmm. Suppose I'm sitting outside your house but using the GPRS/Edge card which my company pays for and which uses the mobile phone network? I wonder how many policemen know the difference? Come to that, if the people in that article had been sufficiently quick-witted to make such a claim, how likely is it that the police would persist?

 

Let me give an example in case it can be of use to anyone. :mad:

 

"Stealing WiFi from my car, officer? Crivens! Perish the thought! I'm using GPRS/Edge technology to access the Internet over the mobile phone network. It's awfully good. But don't tell my employer, who pays the bill, that I was using it to log geocaches, will you? I say, would you like some of this brandy? It's awfully good too."

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I'm not saying that I agree with it but it obviously has been an issue that has been taken seriously and I don't think anyone should be admitting to it on a public forum or encouraging others to do the same. It could come back and bite them on the proverbial. Unlikely but not impossible.

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I mostly use wap.geocaching.com on the PDA via bluetooth and cellphone (GPRS) for cache logging when on holiday. It works very well and isn't TOO expensive.

 

WOW! I never knew about geocaching.com wap access - for the last two years I've been trying to do it viewing normal geocache website on my GPRS PDA.

 

Excellent... :lol:

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