Feature Request: PQ find caches outside x miles

[+GManSan]

Currently, the PQ page only allows one to specify finding caches "Within radius x miles". It would be helpful to allow a selection of either "within" the range or "outside" the range.

 

This would allow cachers to expand their caching area very easily. For example, suppose one lives in a cache-rich area. They do a PQ for all the caches in their area and get the 500 max within say 8 miles of their home coordinates. Once they find most of those, they want to go out further, but without using a series of PQs in various geogrpahic spots on the fringe of their 8 mile circle, they can't get that information easily.

 

Allowing the "outside the range" option would allow one to peform one PQ for all caches within the 8 miles, then a second for outside, getting the next 500, say from 8 miles to 12 miles out, then a third for greater than 12 miles for the next 500 caches. In this manner, they could easily populate a GSAK DB with all caches in 15 miles of their home coordinates with only a few PQs.

 

This would be a simple change to the PQ page, to just add a checkbox to select within or without, and then changing the database query to be greater than instead of less than.

 

Thank you for your consideration.

[+StarBrand]

You can already get many more caches further out without any overlap by using the "date placed" as the main criteria. It takes some experimentation, but you find the date that returns the first 500 caches placed and then the 2nd and then the 3rd and so on to get all the caches within any xx miles of any coordinate.

[+trainlove]

Cool idea. Yes, should be simple, except that PQ's are already too complicated, this might break it.

 

But doesn't impact my usage of PQ's. I have my whole state, by placed date, and all the other New England States using the same method. I let GSAK do the dirty work for me.

 

But for what you want, just select 'caches that I have not found', that will ignore each and every one that you have already found.

[+trainlove]

Forums ate my reply.

 

Select 'caches you have not found', that will ignore all the caches you have found.

 

Or PQ collect all caches in your State and let GSAK do the dirty work.

 

lets see if this gets gobbled up too.

 

 

 

 

 

Well the original was not gobbled up, and the reply almost was, but after 4 minutes got through. The first one appeared to get through, but on viewing it, only the first 7 words were actually there.

 

Time for a forum server overhaul. And please do not use different forum software as was discussed at a recent event where many Groundspeak people were in attendance.

Edited December 12, 2008 by trainlove

[+pppingme]

The best way to do this currently is by date.

 

Figure out how big of a circle you want, lets say 50 miles for an example and there are just over 2000 caches.

 

Now set up your PQ's by placed date and the radius to 50 miles so each PQ returns just under 500 results.

 

So you might have this (example only):

 

PQ1 Jan 2000 to June 2003 = 490 caches

PQ2 July 2003 to Sept 2005 = 485 caches

PQ3 Oct 2005 to Aug 2006 = 495 caches

PQ4 Sept 2006 to Nov 2008 = 490 caches

PQ5 Dec 2008 to Dec 2009 = 100 caches

 

Then you can just run those on a regular basis.

 

The only adjustment you ever have to make is to the last PQ, and create a new PQ when the last one fills up.

 

With the "circle" method you describe, you'd have to be constantly adjusting all the PQ's as new ones are created, this way you only have to maintain and adjust the last one.

[+Corey]

The only adjustment you ever have to make is to the last PQ, and create a new PQ when the last one fills up.

By the time the last one fills up, there likely will have been enough older caches archived that you can expand all the date ranges and leave the last one more room.

[+Parabola]

You can already get many more caches further out without any overlap by using the "date placed" as the main criteria. It takes some experimentation, but you find the date that returns the first 500 caches placed and then the 2nd and then the 3rd and so on to get all the caches within any xx miles of any coordinate.

 

Thanks for the great idea StarBrand. I've been trying to figure out how I could set up some PQ's so they don't overlap and really had given up. The date feature I hadn't though about. Thank you!!!

 

What is the max limit of distance> I think the default is 50 miles but not sure how big of a radis you can do.

[+Cache O'Plenty]

I've used the date placed process for my main database for some time now and it takes 10 PQs to go out 30 miles. That gives me about 4500 to work with (and that's restricted to D<=2.5!). But I think you can go at least 100 miles because if you create a new cache from scratch, it is already populated at 100 miles - so I guess that's the default.

 

If you find older caches, the count goes down (of course!). I've thought of doing a challenge to myself to find all the caches in the oldest PQ. I've never done it cause that means bypassing a younger cache 0.1 miles away!

[+Yossarian]

What is the max limit of distance> I think the default is 50 miles but not sure how big of a radis you can do.

 

500 miles is the max.

[+FireRef]

I don't think the point of this thread was a workaround... that has been discussed multiple times, mainly because there are programs like GSAK that allow you to work with this data in this way. But if TPTB are seriously concerned with the server load, I would think they would like this suggestion because allowing us to more seriously fine-tune a PQ would cut down on server requests.

 

Can we get a response from someone at GS.com as to whether this is something they can do?

[+eigengott]

One trick not mentioned yet: Use the filter options of PQs (size, type, difficulty, terrain, active/owned/etc.) to weed out all those caches from the result which you are not interested in.

[+pppingme]

The only adjustment you ever have to make is to the last PQ, and create a new PQ when the last one fills up.

By the time the last one fills up, there likely will have been enough older caches archived that you can expand all the date ranges and leave the last one more room.

My experience has been that the older PQ's are pretty stable (don't loose a lot to archiving), its the newest two or three that tend to have the most caches archived. I currently have 9 PQ's to cover a circle close to me.