Premium Membership in SA

[+Carbon Hunter]

Hi

 

Does anyone have any experience with Premium membership to the Geocaching.com website?

 

Is it useful for SA? Like caches along the route, member only caches etc?

 

What are the benefits, if any for a South African?

[+Blackjack Bailey]

For me, the most important benefit of being a Premium member is that it allows you to generate Pocket Queries of caches, using various filters and criteria. These queries can then be imported into a PDA-based device like CacheMate, so that you can have all the cache details and logs with you as you go caching, without having to print reams of printouts.

 

The Pocket Queries can also be used by GSAK to generate some useful personal statistics of your cache finds and hides.

 

I haven't had much joy with caches along a route, though.

[Geoff Ogden]

Hi Neville

 

Did the deed - but still no validation code to register. Does this normally take so long?

[+Africard]

Personally, with the exception of the pocket queries - which is absolutely valuable, no other benefit than supporting the people that makes it possible...which is reason enough for me.

[+Wazat]

Africard..... Are you still out here.... You going to join us this weekend?

 

Anyway I was also wondering if it is of any real use. I have not seen how others do it but I generally browse the caches online as I get to an area. I have GPX sonar installed on my PDA Phone so I can load a GPX file from GSAK and quickly link to the various caches via the internet. If you also have a waypoint name and use WAP based geocaching it is even faster and gives the vbasic detail that you need. Only problem will be if you don't get coverage where I guess Pocket Queries will work.

[Geoff Ogden]

Hi Neville

 

Membership came through - would you believe automatically.

 

Great, now for the next learning curve :-)

[+Blackjack Bailey]

That's great Geoff - welcome to the "Club"! I checked your profile just before you posted, and saw that your status had changed.

 

By the way, I'm spending a week in Port Alfred from 23 Dec to 30 Dec - maybe we can do some caches then?

[+colinaly]

Apart from pocket queries (which are great!!) it puts something back into to the activity that brings us great fun and pleasure. Pay the membership, its the right thing to do!!

[Geoff Ogden]

Thanks guys - all I need to do now is to figure out how they actually work and then get it onto the PDA.

Edited October 24, 2007 by Geoff Ogden

[+Jors]

Thanks guys - all I need to do now is to figure out how they actually work and then get it onto the PDA.

I tried all sorts of programs but the best (quickest, least hassle) option for me was to export the cache info from GSAK in html format, copy to pda and read with the pda web browser.

Premium membership really comes to life with GSAK.

[Geoff Ogden]

Thanks guys - all I need to do now is to figure out how they actually work and then get it onto the PDA.

I tried all sorts of programs but the best (quickest, least hassle) option for me was to export the cache info from GSAK in html format, copy to pda and read with the pda web browser.

Premium membership really comes to life with GSAK.

Hi Jors

 

Just had sucess with my pocket query to my PDA and all the info is there. I have setup a query to run once a week and this morning's e-mail had the .gpx file attached, copied the file to my PDA and ran CacheMate and all the info I am looking for is on it.

 

Great stuff - no more bits of paper that will get blown away

[Sippy Dippy]

I really like to queries option. I have set up several queries to run at different times of the week. One query will give me all the regular caches which I have not found. Another gives me all micro/small caches and another gives me all the multi-caches....Now I can get a list of the types of caches I like looking for.

[+Gasman5]

The way I get Caches along a route:

 

Create the route you want to follow in Mapsource. Then from Mapsource, view the route in Google Earth. This loads Google Earth and highlights the route. Save this route as a .kml file. Then on the Groundspeak site, go to find caches along the route. This enables you to upload the .kml file you have created, and you can create a pocket query of all caches along the route.

(Search for gardenroute when on that page, and you will see the route I created form Mosselbay to Port Elizabeth)

[+LeonW]

Thanks Gasman5, I will give that trick a go with our next cache adventure.