+Chrysalides Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 With the increase in number of geocachers, there is a shortage of GPS signals to go around. This results in longer time for the GPSr to lock on to the satellites, and in wildly inaccurate coordinates. Obviously, if this is allowed to continue, geocaching as a hobby may well cease to exist. How, then, should we go about solving this problem? I propose that all geocachers be divided into 12 groups, and each group be given a 2 hour window every day to go geocaching. This should provide a temporary relief to the situation until a more permanent solution is found. Your group ID and geocaching timetable will be sent to you shortly. Please do your part and keep geocaching alive. And have a good April 1st. Quote Link to comment
+thedeadpirate Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Maybe we should cut military access. They're way too serious. We have way more fun with the signals. Quote Link to comment
+Chrysalides Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 The military.. oh, don't get me started. They act like they own the whole thing. They even think they invented the Internet, the nerve. Quote Link to comment
+wolfslady Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I really wish people would listen before we have to ration or geocaching gets banned. Sadly I don’t think people will take this seriously until it’s too late. In light of this new information I propose that we change the mascot from a frog to a hog as is fitting since we all know how addictive the sport is. I can’t seem to turn my GPS off even when I’m sleeping because I don’t want to miss anything. So I would take a dozen of the signal hog coins. Quote Link to comment
+WhoDis Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I heard they are going to start charging $10 for each and $5 for each . Reason being in probably took longer not to find than it would have if you had just look on the guardrail in the first place. Quote Link to comment
+JohnE5 Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I was out yesterday and on my 10th find it said I have reached my quota for the day and if I wished to continue my accuracy would drop to +- 100ft. Quote Link to comment
+Jackalgirl Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 (edited) I really wish people would listen before we have to ration or geocaching gets banned. Sadly I don’t think people will take this seriously until it’s too late. In light of this new information I propose that we change the mascot from a frog to a hog as is fitting since we all know how addictive the sport is. I can’t seem to turn my GPS off even when I’m sleeping because I don’t want to miss anything. So I would take a dozen of the signal hog coins. Will this do? Edited April 1, 2010 by Jackalgirl Quote Link to comment
Clan Riffster Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 This just goes to demonstrate the inefficiency of governments in general. When Congress first addressed this possibility in 2005, they were greeted by scorn. I don't remember the hippie's name off the top of my head, but I remember clearly the CNN soundbite showing him, replete with tie-dyed T-shirt and leather thong headband chanting "Free Signal" with all his hippie friends, as if he honestly believed that his Hollywood rants would be taken seriously. Freekin' hippies. When he was interviewed on The Rosie O'Donnell show, all he kept whining about was how the system was created by the government, and as such, should remain free to everybody. Our government's response was to impose a tax on GPS devices that was supposed to generate 365 billion dollars over 5 years, to be used to build/launch a whole new series of satellites. Well, that part worked. They took our money. The only downside is that our government is so horrendously inefficient it has cost us 368 billion dollars to collect the tax. Now they are talking about GPS signal rationing. Sigh... But at least I'm not bitter! Quote Link to comment
+rob3k Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Simple solution is for everyone to turn on WAAS (We All Are Sharing) This lets your GPSr share the signal with other units. If your GPSr doesn't support WAAS, you should really do the responsible thing and upgrade soonest. Quote Link to comment
+swizzle Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Will this effect Hamstercaching? Swiz Quote Link to comment
+Korfus & Son Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I really hope you are joking? Just assuming you are not joking, radio waves do not work like that lol Just like, oh let's just say DirectTV satellites. There is no cap on the number of receivers. BUT, I am sure this was just a post in humor, so I posted this truly assuming that this was a humorus post. Walter With the increase in number of geocachers, there is a shortage of GPS signals to go around. This results in longer time for the GPSr to lock on to the satellites, and in wildly inaccurate coordinates. Obviously, if this is allowed to continue, geocaching as a hobby may well cease to exist. How, then, should we go about solving this problem? I propose that all geocachers be divided into 12 groups, and each group be given a 2 hour window every day to go geocaching. This should provide a temporary relief to the situation until a more permanent solution is found. Your group ID and geocaching timetable will be sent to you shortly. Please do your part and keep geocaching alive. And have a good April 1st. Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Simple solution is for everyone to turn on WAAS (We All Are Sharing) This lets your GPSr share the signal with other units. If your GPSr doesn't support WAAS, you should really do the responsible thing and upgrade soonest. I turned WAAS off. I'm entitled to use that signal without the degradation caused by sharing it. Just wait your dadgum turn! Quote Link to comment
+Korfus & Son Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I like that one! Never thought of it that way But I turned WAAS on all my units since they were right out of the box. I am not stingy, I share. Walter Simple solution is for everyone to turn on WAAS (We All Are Sharing) This lets your GPSr share the signal with other units. If your GPSr doesn't support WAAS, you should really do the responsible thing and upgrade soonest. Quote Link to comment
+Korfus & Son Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 *Team KORFUS give a big Homer Simpson DOH! YOU GOT ME, that was an Aprils Fool post* I have not fell for one in over 25 years, you ruined my streak! With the increase in number of geocachers, there is a shortage of GPS signals to go around. This results in longer time for the GPSr to lock on to the satellites, and in wildly inaccurate coordinates. Obviously, if this is allowed to continue, geocaching as a hobby may well cease to exist. How, then, should we go about solving this problem? I propose that all geocachers be divided into 12 groups, and each group be given a 2 hour window every day to go geocaching. This should provide a temporary relief to the situation until a more permanent solution is found. Your group ID and geocaching timetable will be sent to you shortly. Please do your part and keep geocaching alive. And have a good April 1st. Quote Link to comment
+Capt. Bob Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 *Team KORFUS give a big Homer Simpson DOH! YOU GOT ME, that was an Aprils Fool post* I have not fell for one in over 25 years, you ruined my streak! This is no joke. I’m old enough to remember when magnetic compasses were all the rage and the devastating affect they had on the earth’s magnetic field. Deviations and variations of ten, fifteen, even twenty degrees in some areas were the disastrous results that we still live with today. Signal sharing seems like a good idea whose time has come. Quote Link to comment
+t4e Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 i heard of this a while back, and it got me really worried, so i went and bought me a new and improved GPS that is really "green" when it comes to signal usage Quote Link to comment
jdcb Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 perhaps we should take a hint from the highway system and thier use of Car Pool lanes. Give priority access to signals to those caching in groups. Quote Link to comment
+wimseyguy Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I have to work all day today and cannot go out to cache. Anyone who wants my share of the signal is welcome to use it today. Quote Link to comment
+wimseyguy Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 (edited) Daggdum double posting double posting internet internet satellites. Edited April 1, 2010 by wimseyguy Quote Link to comment
+Isonzo Karst Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I was out yesterday and on my 10th find it said I have reached my quota for the day and if I wished to continue my accuracy would drop to +- 100ft. Yeah, I've gotten that too...I think that's why so many caches these days are attached to stuff (like transmission towers, and lamp poles in parking lots) where you can make out the location from the map. Then +- 100ft works okay. But at least I'm not bitter! Riffster, take a bath, then we'll slow roast you and find out if that's true.... Quote Link to comment
+Capt. Bob Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I thought Groundspeak’s “528 rule” was specifically enacted to prevent this very problem, i.e., “the dilution of signal strength due to cache placement proximity”. As everyone knows, dilution of signal, or more commonly known as DOS, has been the source of many problems for a long, long time. Slightly OT, if Groundspeak enacts a new signal sharing policy where premium members have priority over non-members, will platinum members still have exclusive access to the “enhanced accuracy” signals? Also, will this have any effect on the platinum’s “FTF advantage program” of pre-published cache notifications? Quote Link to comment
+rob3k Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Simple solution is for everyone to turn on WAAS (We All Are Sharing) This lets your GPSr share the signal with other units. If your GPSr doesn't support WAAS, you should really do the responsible thing and upgrade soonest. I turned WAAS off. I'm entitled to use that signal without the degradation caused by sharing it. Just wait your dadgum turn! If you can't find a cache with the +/- 150 foot accuracy afforded with WAAS turned on, you should really just find another hobby. Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 With the increase in number of geocachers, there is a shortage of GPS signals to go around. This results in longer time for the GPSr to lock on to the satellites, and in wildly inaccurate coordinates. I disagree. When at least one sat is over my state because of the lower population we don't given begin to use all the available locks. Go tell California to back off on usage and leave us alone. Quote Link to comment
+ArcherDragoon Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 You mean to tell me many of you aren't already going green... When I cache with a group...we only use one gps in order to conserve signals...come on people...get with the times and enjoy...heck...embrace conservation of signals!!! Quote Link to comment
+ArcherDragoon Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Will this effect Hamstercaching? Swiz Darn right it will...we start to lose the signals becuase of overuse...no more hamster caching...those poor things will end up all alone...no more visitors... Quote Link to comment
+ArcherDragoon Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 The military.. oh, don't get me started. They act like they own the whole thing. They even think they invented the Internet, the nerve. I know!!! Poor Al Gore has to live with that everyday...them taking credit for something he did...poor guy... Quote Link to comment
+Cedar Grove Seekers Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 (edited) I propose that all geocachers be divided into 12 groups, and each group be given a 2 hour window every day to go geocaching. This should provide a temporary relief to the situation until a more permanent solution is found. Your group ID and geocaching timetable will be sent to you shortly. Please do your part and keep geocaching alive. And have a good April 1st. We instituted this in my area several months ago, and I got stuck with the 2AM-4AM time slot. Looking forward to the new timetable. Edited April 1, 2010 by Cedar Grove Seekers Quote Link to comment
+swizzle Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 What if premium members are allowed exclusive rights to all FTF's before they are made available to the other members. This would cut down on a rush of signal suckers to specific areas. Swiz Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 (edited) What if premium members are allowed exclusive rights to all FTF's before they are made available to the other members. This would cut down on a rush of signal suckers to specific areas. Swiz Why just FTF? Non-PM should only be allowed 1 cache per week. And set a distance guideline that a search only reveals 1 cache per 10 square miles. Edited April 1, 2010 by BlueDeuce Quote Link to comment
+HawkLawless1 Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 We could sell GPSr season tags and set a limit on the number of caches any one person can log. If you go over, you pay a fine. Obviously, size limits apply. Anything smaller than an ammo can has to be thrown back. This would definitely limit signal usage/abuse. Quote Link to comment
Dinoprophet Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 The US has more than enough GPS signal to last for CENTURIES underneath Alaska. But certain people won't let us access it because a few caribou and grizzly bears won't like the noise. Without that, we'll grow more and more dependent on foreign global positioning systems (GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo). Quote Link to comment
+Stargazer22 Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I was out yesterday and on my 10th find it said I have reached my quota for the day and if I wished to continue my accuracy would drop to +- 100ft. Yeah, I've gotten that too...I think that's why so many caches these days are attached to stuff (like transmission towers, and lamp poles in parking lots) where you can make out the location from the map. Then +- 100ft works okay. But at least I'm not bitter! Riffster, take a bath, then we'll slow roast you and find out if that's true.... Oh yeah, and please make sure to wash your hat. We want to be able to approach the feast! I'm not planning on going caching today. Anyone want to rent my signal allottment for the day? Quote Link to comment
+Semper Questio Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 And while we're talkin bout bein fair and sharin them there GPS satellite signals, how about you folks up north stop hoggin' it all?! Let a little more of them there signals trickle on down here, will ya? Dadgum. Quote Link to comment
+Klatch Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 This is clearly another way of the geocaching "elitists" trying force others to play the way they think it should be played. Quote Link to comment
+Borst68 Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 This is clearly yet ANOTHER assault on the Geocaching community as a whole. Cemetery caches a FELONY in South Carolina? check. Geocaching bomb scare in Louisana? Check. Now this?!?! The real culprit is all the zillions of people with the car GPSr units. Half these people can't get to grocery store for a quart of milk without using their Garmin or Tom Tom. They are hogging the GPS bandwidth in searching for something (grocery store) that they should know where it is. Don't blame us! Quote Link to comment
+KJcachers Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I just heard that Congress inserted the Fair Access Requirement Tariff in the Health Care bill right before they passed it. Now it looks like you will have to pay a FART tax if you want access to the signals..... Quote Link to comment
+Vater_Araignee Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 (edited) HAHAHAHAHAH! Good thing I hacked my Mio so I could run more than navigation programs. I just loaded "Signal Sipper" and took it for a test. I'm only having errors of up to 21 inches now. I'm sure the rest of you don't mind that I'm only borrowing 5mm of accuracy from each of you. Edited April 1, 2010 by Vater_Araignee Quote Link to comment
+Semper Questio Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 I just heard that Congress inserted the Fair Access Requirement Tariff in the Health Care bill right before they passed it. Now it looks like you will have to pay a FART tax if you want access to the signals..... Great. Just great. Now I gotta clean coffee off my monitor. Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment
+Castle Mischief Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 This is clearly yet ANOTHER assault on the Geocaching community as a whole. Cemetery caches a FELONY in South Carolina? check. Geocaching bomb scare in Louisana? Check. Now this?!?! The real culprit is all the zillions of people with the car GPSr units. Half these people can't get to grocery store for a quart of milk without using their Garmin or Tom Tom. They are hogging the GPS bandwidth in searching for something (grocery store) that they should know where it is. Don't blame us! No, no, no. You got it all wrong. It's the GPS-enabled cell phone users. 90% of them don't even use the GPS function, but they turn it on because they think a team of Navy Seals will rescue them when they fall off a mountain. Quote Link to comment
Shrekito Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 With the increase in number of geocachers, there is a shortage of GPS signals to go around. This results in longer time for the GPSr to lock on to the satellites, and in wildly inaccurate coordinates. Obviously, if this is allowed to continue, geocaching as a hobby may well cease to exist. How, then, should we go about solving this problem? I propose that all geocachers be divided into 12 groups, and each group be given a 2 hour window every day to go geocaching. This should provide a temporary relief to the situation until a more permanent solution is found. Your group ID and geocaching timetable will be sent to you shortly. Please do your part and keep geocaching alive. And have a good April 1st. Can someone please attach a link somewhere about this topic. I am very confused and would like to know more about this. Is this a joke? I read a couple of post down that someone said they reached their cache limit for the day? Theres a cache limit? Quote Link to comment
+Vater_Araignee Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Can someone please attach a link somewhere about this topic. I am very confused and would like to know more about this. Is this a joke? I read a couple of post down that someone said they reached their cache limit for the day? Theres a cache limit? Don't worry about it dude, BMs get to leach from inactive PMs. Quote Link to comment
+NeecesandNephews Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 (edited) This just goes to demonstrate the inefficiency of governments in general. When Congress first addressed this possibility in 2005, they were greeted by scorn. I don't remember the hippie's name off the top of my head, but I remember clearly the CNN soundbite showing him, replete with tie-dyed T-shirt and leather thong headband chanting "Free Signal" with all his hippie friends, as if he honestly believed that his Hollywood rants would be taken seriously. Freekin' hippies. When he was interviewed on The Rosie O'Donnell show, all he kept whining about was how the system was created by the government, and as such, should remain free to everybody. Our government's response was to impose a tax on GPS devices that was supposed to generate 365 billion dollars over 5 years, to be used to build/launch a whole new series of satellites. Well, that part worked. They took our money. The only downside is that our government is so horrendously inefficient it has cost us 368 billion dollars to collect the tax. Now they are talking about GPS signal rationing. Sigh... But at least I'm not bitter! I am disappointed you failed to mention the indisputable truth! "Hippies are dangerous, Kyle". Edited April 1, 2010 by NeecesandNephews Quote Link to comment
GermanSailor Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Your group ID and geocaching timetable will be sent to you shortly. Please do your part and keep geocaching alive. And have a good April 1st. How will that work? The world is running out of IP-addresses shortly. What if someone accidently deletes the internet? GermanSailor Quote Link to comment
+Chrysalides Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 What if someone accidently deletes the internet? Well, no fear on that count. I have it backed up on floppy disks. Quote Link to comment
knowschad Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 With the increase in number of geocachers, there is a shortage of GPS signals to go around. This results in longer time for the GPSr to lock on to the satellites, and in wildly inaccurate coordinates. Obviously, if this is allowed to continue, geocaching as a hobby may well cease to exist. How, then, should we go about solving this problem? I propose that all geocachers be divided into 12 groups, and each group be given a 2 hour window every day to go geocaching. This should provide a temporary relief to the situation until a more permanent solution is found. Your group ID and geocaching timetable will be sent to you shortly. Please do your part and keep geocaching alive. And have a good April 1st. Can someone please attach a link somewhere about this topic. I am very confused and would like to know more about this. Is this a joke? I read a couple of post down that someone said they reached their cache limit for the day? Theres a cache limit? Sure... no problem. Glad to see that you are taking this seriously enough to be concerned. Quote Link to comment
+Semper Questio Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Your group ID and geocaching timetable will be sent to you shortly. Please do your part and keep geocaching alive. And have a good April 1st. How will that work? The world is running out of IP-addresses shortly. What if someone accidently deletes the internet? GermanSailor Hey! What does THAT button do? Quote Link to comment
Shrekito Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 (edited) Can someone please attach a link somewhere about this topic. I am very confused and would like to know more about this. Is this a joke? I read a couple of post down that someone said they reached their cache limit for the day? Theres a cache limit? Don't worry about it dude, BMs get to leach from inactive PMs. I am not going to be a BM for long. I am planning on hiding my first cache this weekend. And I would like it to be a PM cache. So this is serious then? So basically theres only so many satelites in the sky right. And each one only has the power to link up with lets say 1000 Gpsr's. So what it boils down to is that is getting harder and harder to hook up with the satelites with more and more Geocachers useing up all the signals? Edited April 1, 2010 by Shrekito Quote Link to comment
+swizzle Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 What if Non-Premium Members were only allowed to use a topo and compass for their first 100 caches? That should help out and get rid of a lot of GPS users who only cache once in a while. Maybe have a machine for each cache that you need o put a quarter in to get the cache. It wouldn't take long to buy an extra satellite or 2. Swiz Quote Link to comment
Dinoprophet Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 (edited) What if Non-Premium Members were only allowed to use a topo and compass for their first 100 caches? That should help out and get rid of a lot of GPS users who only cache once in a while. But then people would just find a 100 parking lot micros which don't need a GPS to find anyway, so the net savings would be nil. Edited April 1, 2010 by Dinoprophet Quote Link to comment
+Chrysalides Posted April 1, 2010 Author Share Posted April 1, 2010 Maybe have a machine for each cache that you need o put a quarter in to get the cache. It wouldn't take long to buy an extra satellite or 2. Swiz The no solicitations guideline would prevent such a cache from being published. But I like what you're suggesting. Quote Link to comment
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