August Statistics

[holograph]

I updated the statistics page with August's statistics.

 

It looks like the NGS didn't post any new recovery reports in August, so those statistics haven't changed. I found only one recovery report of any kind, and that was from the North Carolina Geodetic Survey for DG9910.

 

I have not updated the maps, since there would be no change.

[+PFF]

I've been watching the "datasheet by load date" file and noticed the same thing. Looks like a repeat of what we've seen in the past, when a holiday falls at or near the end of the calendar month.

 

The September statistics should look really, really good.

 

-Paul-

[ArtMan]

The September statistics should look really, really good.

 

-Paul-

I plan to do my part. There are some white counties in my part of the world that are just begging for a little coloration.

 

-ArtMan-

[+TheBeanTeam]

ArtMan;

 

I have at least one county to color as well. My first, first so to speak.

 

Holograph:

 

I have some questions.

 

1) I finally did an NGS report from one I found back in July how does that show up in the stats? Of course I listed the recovery date as being in July.

 

In the scheme of things I know this is trivial and unimportant but on one of my recoveries (QD1681) I noticed that NGS did not include my reporting initials. That report will not show up in my stats if I understand it correctly but will still show up in the overall geocaching stats,...correct?

 

Thanks for the update. I really enjoy and appreciate the effort you put into your reports.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Hmm... My nearest white county Putnam County, NY. I may have to make a trip there sometime, but it's not a high priority. I think I'll have to work on changing the colors of other nearby counties.

[ArtMan]

Hmm... My nearest white county Putnam County, NY. I may have to make a trip there sometime, but it's not a high priority. I think I'll have to work on changing the colors of other nearby counties.

Change is good ...

[+shorbird]

It's fun to watch those counties change color. Of course, it's fun to turn a white county into a colored one, too. The road trip to Clearfield County, PA will turn another white county into a colorful one! Carroll County, OH will be similarly affected.

Edited September 5, 2007 by shorbird

[holograph]

1) I finally did an NGS report from one I found back in July how does that show up in the stats? Of course I listed the recovery date as being in July.

 

In the scheme of things I know this is trivial and unimportant but on one of my recoveries (QD1681) I noticed that NGS did not include my reporting initials. That report will not show up in my stats if I understand it correctly but will still show up in the overall geocaching stats,...correct?

 

Your July report will show up when the statistics are tallied at the beginning of the month following the NGS update to the datasheet, which might be a month or more after you made the recovery. For instance, the NGS might get around to updating the datasheet in September. The statistics would change at the beginning of October.

 

For all recoveries reported using the GEOCAC organization code, the report is counted in the "missing" row whenever there are no initials on the recovery report.

[+seventhings]

I dunno.

 

None of the 42 recoveries that I submitted in the last week of July or the third week of August are reflected in the current datasheets.

 

Hmmm.

 

Will

[+PFF]

I don't get it. In North Carolina, the "datasheet by load date" has lots of old stuff--where the recoveries were 1975 to 2005, with one going back to 1917! This is for a search between Sept 1 to Sept 5. The same was true for the month of August.

 

So, why are the old reports showing up, now? And why do we not see our August submissions?

 

And why does the 1917 monumentation have a fairly new PID series assigned? Is NCGS really that far behind in its paperwork?

 

Inquiring minds want to know....

 

-Paul-

[+Klemmer]

Someone loaded a file from 1917?

[+Klemmer]

#$%^&* double post. Sorry!

Edited September 6, 2007 by Klemmer & TeddyBearMama

[+PFF]

Someone loaded a file from 1917?

 

Indeed they did.....which is probably why Jim pulls our monthly statistics from another portion of the NGS website. The info was uploaded on Tuesday. There were no new recovery reports. Only reports from several years ago--or longer!

 

I have two theories which spring from my last visit with Gary Thompson, head of N.C.G.S., back in April of this year. The Geodetic Survey recently moved its offices, after several decades at the old site. Perhaps they found a few datasheets which had fallen behind the filing cabinets, and they decided to go with a "better late than never" philosophy on the uploads.

 

At the time of my visit in April, Mr. Thompson told me that his staff was short-handed, with the recent retirement of long-time Boundary Specialist Roger Barnes. Here's theory #2. The Fiscal Year began on July 1st, and there may have been some additions to the staff. Perhaps the first assignment for the "new kid on the block" was to clean up the files and upload the backlog. That's how it's worked, every time I've gone to a new employer.

 

So, why no GEOCAC submissions in August (or, so far in September), while NCGS material continues to appear in the report? Well, perhaps their reports are automatically added upon being uploaded, while ours go through a buffer so they can be reviewed. Deb shared with me that she is working from outside the office for the next few months, so the approval of our submissions may be slightly delayed. And it's okay. This is not a task which can be rushed. Reports which are published in the database must be correct!

 

-Paul-

 

"That which is not monitored, deteriorates."

Edited September 6, 2007 by PFF

[holograph]

Just for the record, I retrieve the datasheets using the same "by load date" interface that everyone else uses (although I have a robot do it for me). The FTP site that used to have monthly update files hasn't been updated in over a year.

 

Recovery reports aren't the only reason a datasheet may be updated, indeed seem to be the minority reason why updates occur. Here is an example update from August, FX3096 in Virginia, even though its last recovery report was 1947.

 

Here's the original sheet (note the two periods after "September 1995.."):

...
FX3096.The horizontal coordinates were established by classical geodetic methods
FX3096.and adjusted by the National Geodetic Survey in September 1995..
...
FX3096.Superseded values are not recommended for survey control.
FX3096.NGS no longer adjusts projects to the NAD 27 or NGVD 29 datums.
FX3096.See file dsdata.txt to determine how the superseded data were derived.
...

 

And here's the revised sheet (note the periods have been fixed, and an HTML link has been added.)

...
FX3096.The horizontal coordinates were established by classical geodetic methods
FX3096.and adjusted by the National Geodetic Survey in September 1995.
...
FX3096.NGS no longer adjusts projects to the NAD 27 or NGVD 29 datums.
FX3096.<a href="http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_lookup.prl?Item=HOW_SUP_DET">See file dsdata.txt </a>to determine how the superseded data were derived.
...

 

There were updates to 1,757 datasheets in August, but only one was for an August recovery report.

Edited September 6, 2007 by holograph

[+Rusty105]

It's fun to watch those counties change color. Of course, it's fun to turn a white county into a colored one, too. The road trip to Clearfield County, PA will turn another white county into a colorful one! Carroll County, OH will be similarly affected.

 

Where can I find these colors? Is it a graphic of Counties that need updating???

 

Rusty

[holograph]

They are referring to the maps that are produced monthly from the NGS recovery statistics. Click here or on the images below to go to the site that hosts the maps.

 

[foxtrot_xray]

They are referring to the maps that are produced monthly from the NGS recovery statistics. Click here or on the images below to go to the site that hosts the maps.

 

Haven't been to that site in about a year - I like the additions! Especially the maps. Very well done!

[ArtMan]

They are referring to the maps that are produced monthly from the NGS recovery statistics.

The creator of the maps uses the passive voice to modestly avoid taking credit for the tremendous amount of hard work and creativity he has devoted to the effort.

 

Bravo, holograph!

 

-ArtMan-

[+seventhings]

Ditto, multi-bravo and many thanks to the graphster.

W

[+YeOleImposter]

I just was in Kootenai county in northern Idaho and recovered a few benchmarks there. Can't wait to see some color there!

 

Looks like I need to make some stops also along both sides of the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon, hard to believe there are 8 white counties there!

[andylphoto]

September ought to be a flood. I just checked and found all my submissions from early August through the first part of September have been added. I don't have an exact number because some stations I couldn't log with NGS (recent submissions, intersection stations, etc.) but probably about 25-30 logs. That also includes a couple stations from June that I had logged but didn't get added to the datasheets and I resubmitted.

Edited September 13, 2007 by andylphoto

[+Harry Dolphin]

Ah. Finally got four from July through September! Still have an earlier set not listed as reported. Oh, well.

Guess I'll have to resubmit them.

Edited September 14, 2007 by Harry Dolphin