what county a cache is in?

[+Sussex Leprechauns]

Does anyone know of a reliable and easy way to identify what county a cache is in? We keep track of UK counties cached using the INATN map and sometimes it would be helpful to find out, in advance, what county a particular cache is in - so we can colour in more bits

 

I absolutely don't want to start a(nother) conversation about what constitutes 'correct' county boundaries etc, etc, etc

 

Any thoughts?

 

Nick

[+Astartus]

No idea if it is reliable, but GSAK has a new function called "GetCounty()" that should work for UK counties.

[+garyhoney]

No idea if it is reliable, but GSAK has a new function called "GetCounty()" that should work for UK counties.

 

Just to echo that GetCounty() is excellent I have had no problem with it.

[+SkiBums (UK)]

But I assume the function needs a macro with associated Polygon mapping of the UK to determine which county is which. I have trawled through the GSAK forum looking for such a macro, but it all seems to be US county mapping discussions.

 

No idea if it is reliable, but GSAK has a new function called "GetCounty()" that should work for UK counties.

[+rodz]

It is a one line macro, so I doubt you'll find one posted.

 

$updated = GetCounty("ub")

 

I downloads the information from the GSAK server (as it is too big to be bundled with GSAK) so you'll need to be online.

 

You can find out more here.

 

I have noticed what look like a few discrepancies with the counties when caches are very close to the borders - not sure what is going on there. But otherwise it seems very accurate.

 

You can also view county boundaries in Google Earth by selecting Borders from the Borders And Layers options in the Layers pane (bottom left as standard). Nice when used in conjunction with the new States and the GC overlays.

[+Guanajuato]

But I assume the function needs a macro with associated Polygon mapping of the UK to determine which county is which. I have trawled through the GSAK forum looking for such a macro, but it all seems to be US county mapping discussions.

 

The GetCounty() function downloads what it needs (and caches it) from the GSAK server - the polygons are there. Its pretty quick, and once its got a polygon for a particular county, it won't need to download it again.

 

Below is the FULL text of the macro I use. The only lines that do anything are the last two - The first gets the data, the 2nd tells you what its done. This one will put the county into the userdata2 field. if you replace "2" with "ub", it will only put the county in the userdata field if the field is blank.

 

Hope that helps!

 

#*******************************************

# MacVersion = 1.0

# MacDescription = Get Counties

# MacAuthor = North

# MacFileName = GetCounties.gsk

# MacUrl =

#*******************************************

#The syntax for the function is GetCounty(sOptions) : numeric

#sOptions

#u = update user data

#2 = update user data 2

#b = only update if blank

 

$updated = GetCounty("2")

msgok msg=Number of records updated: $updated

[+Bear and Ragged]

But I assume the function needs a macro with associated Polygon mapping of the UK to determine which county is which. I have trawled through the GSAK forum looking for such a macro, but it all seems to be US county mapping discussions.

 

The GetCounty() function downloads what it needs (and caches it) from the GSAK server - the polygons are there. Its pretty quick, and once its got a polygon for a particular county, it won't need to download it again.

 

Below is the FULL text of the macro I use. The only lines that do anything are the last two - The first gets the data, the 2nd tells you what its done. This one will put the county into the userdata2 field. if you replace "2" with "ub", it will only put the county in the userdata field if the field is blank.

 

Hope that helps!

 

#*******************************************

# MacVersion = 1.0

# MacDescription = Get Counties

# MacAuthor = North

# MacFileName = GetCounties.gsk

# MacUrl =

#*******************************************

#The syntax for the function is GetCounty(sOptions) : numeric

#sOptions

#u = update user data

#2 = update user data 2

#b = only update if blank

 

$updated = GetCounty("2")

msgok msg=Number of records updated: $updated

 

Wicked!!!

 

Will give it a go when I get home from work!

[+Sussex Leprechauns]

Many thanks for the replies so far Both new to me so very useful.

 

The GetCounty function for GSAK is spookily new as it looks like it was only released yesterday! I have run it on our (small, 1500 'local' cache) GSAK database and Woo Hoo it tells me what county they are in, all apart from 6 for some reason?

 

And the Boundaries functions on Google Earth does an excellent job of showing the county boundaries - as you would expect (Although having had a quick squiz at it, it could open up that whole can of worms again, but I say nice to see North East Lincolnshire restored to its rightful glory!))

 

However, to use either of these to find a cache in a particular county I have to run a PQ based on a location that I believe to be in\close to the County I want to hit - and for the GEarth option then export\import an overlay.

 

If I clarify what I want to do (apologies that OP was a bit vague) then maybe someone can come up with a lazier\easier way to address this. Tomorrow, I am going to Lancaster, as I am going alllllllllllll the way up there, I might as well go as far as Cumbria to do a cache or ten there so I can 'bag' it as a County. And in the true spirit of it being all about the numbers and coloured patterns I want to drive as little out of my way as possible - no offence intended Cumbria

 

As it stands I will have to pick a cache I am 100% confident is in Cumbria and then run a PQ of nearest 500 and export this to G Earth - but to make sure I get the furthest South cache (price of diesel these days etc etc) I would need to pick most Southerly Cumbrian cache and run PQ from it's coords - unless i got lucky first time round and the PQ overlapped counties. All a bit of a faff for another blob on the map (but probably worth it

 

So, has anyone any other ideas of how I find the nearest cache to me in Cumbria, or North Yorkshire for that matter!

[bikermel76]

You can also view county boundaries in Google Earth by selecting Borders from the Borders And Layers options in the Layers pane (bottom left as standard). Nice when used in conjunction with the new States and the GC overlays.

 

Awesome, thx! (Been cross since GC switched to googlemaps, thus removing the counties when zooming out, and resorting to googling the nearest placename!)

[+hawkeye81]

Hope that helps!

 

Superb, thanks.

 

I was looking at that function earlier when I updated my version of GSAK, but didn't have time to try it out.

[+Bear and Ragged]

Many thanks for the replies so far Both new to me so very useful.

 

The GetCounty function for GSAK is spookily new as it looks like it was only released yesterday! I have run it on our (small, 1500 'local' cache) GSAK database and Woo Hoo it tells me what county they are in, all apart from 6 for some reason?

 

And the Boundaries functions on Google Earth does an excellent job of showing the county boundaries - as you would expect (Although having had a quick squiz at it, it could open up that whole can of worms again, but I say nice to see North East Lincolnshire restored to its rightful glory!))

 

However, to use either of these to find a cache in a particular county I have to run a PQ based on a location that I believe to be in\close to the County I want to hit - and for the GEarth option then export\import an overlay.

 

If I clarify what I want to do (apologies that OP was a bit vague) then maybe someone can come up with a lazier\easier way to address this. Tomorrow, I am going to Lancaster, as I am going alllllllllllll the way up there, I might as well go as far as Cumbria to do a cache or ten there so I can 'bag' it as a County. And in the true spirit of it being all about the numbers and coloured patterns I want to drive as little out of my way as possible - no offence intended Cumbria

 

As it stands I will have to pick a cache I am 100% confident is in Cumbria and then run a PQ of nearest 500 and export this to G Earth - but to make sure I get the furthest South cache (price of diesel these days etc etc) I would need to pick most Southerly Cumbrian cache and run PQ from it's coords - unless i got lucky first time round and the PQ overlapped counties. All a bit of a faff for another blob on the map (but probably worth it

 

So, has anyone any other ideas of how I find the nearest cache to me in Cumbria, or North Yorkshire for that matter!

 

Google earth does open GPX files, and is correct in it's position, rather than using the Geocaching Network KML which has the cache moving around..

[+purple_pineapple]

Many thanks for the replies so far Both new to me so very useful.

 

The GetCounty function for GSAK is spookily new as it looks like it was only released yesterday! I have run it on our (small, 1500 'local' cache) GSAK database and Woo Hoo it tells me what county they are in, all apart from 6 for some reason?

 

And the Boundaries functions on Google Earth does an excellent job of showing the county boundaries - as you would expect (Although having had a quick squiz at it, it could open up that whole can of worms again, but I say nice to see North East Lincolnshire restored to its rightful glory!))

 

However, to use either of these to find a cache in a particular county I have to run a PQ based on a location that I believe to be in\close to the County I want to hit - and for the GEarth option then export\import an overlay.

 

If I clarify what I want to do (apologies that OP was a bit vague) then maybe someone can come up with a lazier\easier way to address this. Tomorrow, I am going to Lancaster, as I am going alllllllllllll the way up there, I might as well go as far as Cumbria to do a cache or ten there so I can 'bag' it as a County. And in the true spirit of it being all about the numbers and coloured patterns I want to drive as little out of my way as possible - no offence intended Cumbria

 

As it stands I will have to pick a cache I am 100% confident is in Cumbria and then run a PQ of nearest 500 and export this to G Earth - but to make sure I get the furthest South cache (price of diesel these days etc etc) I would need to pick most Southerly Cumbrian cache and run PQ from it's coords - unless i got lucky first time round and the PQ overlapped counties. All a bit of a faff for another blob on the map (but probably worth it

 

So, has anyone any other ideas of how I find the nearest cache to me in Cumbria, or North Yorkshire for that matter!

 

can you not do some kind of filter that looks at the user data field? thereby filtering for all caches in cumbria? set a location for lancaster, and then find the closest... it needed, you can filter for trads, and easier diff/terr combis as well...

 

It should be possible to do another filter that looks for counties that you haven't found as well, to help in filling in the blanks... bit harder though...

[+rutson]

So, has anyone any other ideas of how I find the nearest cache to me in Cumbria, or North Yorkshire for that matter!

 

Cumbria:

 

Motorway Mayhem M6 J35/36

 

Motorway Mayhem M6 J36 - Coffee & cache!

[+The Cache Hoppers]

So, has anyone any other ideas of how I find the nearest cache to me in Cumbria, or North Yorkshire for that matter!

 

Cumbria:

 

Motorway Mayhem M6 J35/36

 

Motorway Mayhem M6 J36 - Coffee & cache!

Ian, your hair needs combing .... you are looking very windswept there

[+ayepee]

OK. Silly question. I have created the macro and run it on a filter set up in GSAK. Only some of the waypoints have returned the county. So what is missing from the ones that do not give the county?

 

thanks

 

ayepee

 

Have just been looking at the waypoints that do not return a county and they all seem to be in Gloucestershire. When I look further from home, the success rate seems to be 100%. I wonder if the polygon is corrupted?

Edited September 8, 2008 by ayepee

[+Sussex Leprechauns]

Yay, gleaming bits of info from all of the above the easiest way seems to be:

 

Pick a cache known to be in the county,

Search for 'all nearby caches' ('that i haven't found' - just in case!)

Download results as loc

Import to GEarth

if required, pick most southerly and repeat

 

And the answer for Cumbria is? GCXKTN - Traditional Cache Motorway Mayhem M6 J35/36. Out of curiosity Rutson, how did you know that was the answer?

 

BTW for those of us still in a, relatively speaking, low res Gearth area the resolution for this cache is amazing, i think I can see the container

 

many thanks for all responses

 

Nick

[+goldpot]

Does anyone know of a reliable and easy way to identify what county a cache is in? We keep track of UK counties cached using the INATN map and sometimes it would be helpful to find out, in advance, what county a particular cache is in - so we can colour in more bits

 

 

..what, like my map ;

 

Tried to paste my colourful map here, but failed miserably!

Edited September 8, 2008 by goldpot

[+rutson]

And the answer for Cumbria is? GCXKTN - Traditional Cache Motorway Mayhem M6 J35/36. Out of curiosity Rutson, how did you know that was the answer?

 

I already had fresh cache data in GSAK so I founf the coords of the southern tip of Cumbria using a county map in Memory Map. I then filtered for available caches within a few miles of here and plotted them on memory map, switched to 50k and looked for easily accessible caches near roads. I added the J36 one as there'd been a couple of DNFs on the J35/36 one.

[+Sussex Leprechauns]

Thanks for all of the above, 4 caches now found in (very, very Southern) Cumbria!