Travel Bugs and PDA's

[+wrtiii]

So started using Cachemate tonight.. Pretty nifty, On the Fly I can sort caches by which ones have TB's or Coins or not.

 

Problem is...I get no info on what the TB is... The name of it, or what it's goals are...

 

I try and log using cachemate that I found a TB while standing at the cache and it's asks me for Ref # Ser # and TB Name.. and won't proceed unless I input all 3?

 

Would be nice if PQ's included information on the TB's Included within the caches returned... maybe that could be a future added option. and because it would be a more extensive search and return you could be limited to 1 per day? or week?

 

And it could return all TB info in a 3rd file type? and someone could write an addition program for cachemate that is a database of TB's

 

Now GSAK could be a database for GC's and TB's

 

Now I can sort the 1000 TB's I have in my database by ones I have handled, ones I am watching, ones I currently have, Ones I want to help along.

 

Now on the trail when I find a TB I can check my PDA and see that he wants to go east and realize that I am going to be going West and this way I don't take the TB in the wrong direction by 20 miles before I check and realize the problem..

 

Anyone thought of something like this before? Anything like this in the works? Anyone come up with their own homebrew solution?

 

What is paperless caching anyway when you still have to carry papers for Travelbug info....

 

Bill

[jholly]

Any information regarding what TB is in the cache is probably totally untrue and of no use. Bugs can be gone for months (years) and still be listed on the inventory. You may find bugs that are not listed and when you go to log them you find they are being held by somebody or they just dropped out of the sky after being missing for months (years). Or they were moved by the cache that was just before you. Sometimes a bug or two is accurate on the cache inventory, mostly just ignore it because it probably is not true. So anything in a PQ would just be useless byte padding.

 

I take the bug and if I can help it achieve its mission fine, if not I drop it in a nearby cache.

[+wrtiii]

Well if the bug information is incorrect then you should note that and get it corrected.

 

Yes of course the data could change within seconds of me receiving the PQ but a cache could get archived or go inactive just the same as well..(happened to me the other day).. owner removed the cache for maintenance while I was on my way to it..

 

And lets just say I do a cache near the airport.. I hope off the plane go do a cache find a tb, grab it and hop back on the plane now I travel 3 provinces east and get to my hotel check and find out the TB came from the east coast and is trying to reach the west coast... and I've just taken it almost back to the east coast...

 

If only I had of had that TB data in my PDA....

 

If a TB if not in a cache but is listed as being there then it is part of the responsibility of the cache owner to remove that TB from the cache and put it into limbo until it shows up again.

 

So anyways, I apologize but I must say I totally disagree with your entire statement and well probably no need for me to even post this at all.. lol

 

At any rate...

 

Original post I would still appreciate some chatter and opinions on.. Thanks..

 

ps. I hope I didn't and do not intend to insult you jholly.. it's late and not enough posts on the forums to keep me busy I guess. so somewhat rambling

 

cheers,

 

wrtiii

[+wrtiii]

Hoping to get some chatter on this. Does noone else care what the goals of a TB are when they get to a cache and find one?

[+lil_cav_wings]

I do paperless with an iPhone. Once you type in the TB/Coin's reference number on the dog tag, it pulls up the trackable's goal and description. If you have a data package on your phone, it might help to bookmark the geocache.com website, and check trackables before you grab.

 

Sometimes this works (in an area of good coverage), sometimes not...

[+wrtiii]

Unfortunatly, on caches such as GC5803 that kind of lunxury even if you could AFFORD it is not availible.

 

Having all the info in a database just like you do caches, Is something a little more feasible for most people.

 

I really hope I am not the first person to think of this in 10 years time?

[+Bear and Ragged]

Unfortunatly, on caches such as GC5803 that kind of lunxury even if you could AFFORD it is not availible.

 

Having all the info in a database just like you do caches, Is something a little more feasible for most people.

 

I really hope I am not the first person to think of this in 10 years time?

If the owner has a mission, and has included a mission/card attached to the TB, if I can help I will, or leave the TB in the cache (unless it's been there a long time, with no visits)

 

If there is no mission/card attached the TB moves. Even if it's against it's goal! (How am I to know, if there's nothing attached?)

 

The main purpose of a TB (Travel Bug) is to travel...

 

The other option is read the log book, and see if the cacher that placed the TB left any instructions as to it's mission.

I often leave a note in the log book if that is the case... Doesn't always get read by the cacher collecting the TB!

Edited April 26, 2010 by Bear and Ragged

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

We agree with Bear and Ragged.

 

I think your approach is wrong. Rather than scope out some better way to make it easier for you at the website level, you should be trying to find some way to get the cache owners and TB/GC owners to make it easier for you. A mission statement is a good solution, but only a partial solution.

 

A big part of the problem is CO's and traveler owners that do nothing about a traveler they know is lost, and just leave it as is -- lurking in a cache where it isn't!

 

Clearing up these two things would go a long ways towards rectifying the problem. It isn't a website problem, it is a people problem.

[+roziecakes]

I agree with the previous posters as well. Since TBs are personal property of their owners it is the TB owner's responsibility to do things like report them as missing, give them the proper tags, etc. Using the website is extremely unreliable for TB information, and reporting something is amiss doesn't always do anything. If the TB owner no longer caches for example, they will not mark the item as missing, nor be able to respond to you about its goal, etc.

 

I do what the previous posters do. I find a TB, and if it doesn't have a goal tag, I just move it, or I discover it. Any movement for a TB is helpful generally. If I want to find out its goal, I take it home with me, I log that I took it, and then I look at its goal. If I can help it, I do. If I can't, I put it in another cache so that someone else can help it on its way.

[ao318]

I personally do not pay attention to the TB feature on the PQ's or website because they are almost always wrong. If the TB or Coin has a mission card attached and I can facilitate the mission, I will take it and move it along. If it does not have anything attached to it, I will usually leave it unless it is something cool that I think my daughters would like to see.

 

I have gone to my caches to verify if a TB or Coin is missing. I only know if they are missing when someone makes a note or mentions it in their log. I then will update the cache and the TB. When I am performing maintenance I don't usually check to verify the TB list is correct on my cache. I might note the numbers so when I get home I can log them as discovered.

 

I have read and commented on a few of your other posts. You are trying to accomplish a lot and learn a lot in a short period. My recommendation to you is to just go out and have fun. Find out what works for you and what doesn't. I have changed the way I do things for caching many times, you will also. I look at TB's and Coins as neat things to find but I do not go out specifically to find these things because if I did I would probably be very disappointed in my results.

 

Good luck in trying to find out what works for you.

[+t4e]

Hoping to get some chatter on this. Does noone else care what the goals of a TB are when they get to a cache and find one?

 

not really, if there is no note attached with the goal, i wait till i get home

we go caching every day so i never hold them more than a couple of days

if i am on vacation and the trackable wants to stay in that area, which is quite rare, i just drop it off in another cache there

[+wrtiii]

I'm actually quite disappointed with the negative response in regards to TB's..

 

Maybe we should remove PQ's and Go back to the old way of doing things, because so far we everyone's train of thought we would never have gotten the ability for PQ's.

 

So far I have found most TB logs to be correct or if I do notice a mistake I've found it very quick to get it corrected.

 

Maybe I should start deciding that I do not care about caches and only care about TB's? And maybe a lot of the caches I come across will "disappear" and become incorrect listings? maybe move afew feet here and there?

 

If there is no mission/card attached the TB moves. Even if it's against it's goal! (How am I to know, if there's nothing attached?)

 

You would know because you would have the information included either a) on your printed paper on your pda or other paperless caching method.

 

To the very mildest degree 1 single line could be included in a PQ gpx file.

[ao318]

If there is no mission/card attached the TB moves. Even if it's against it's goal! (How am I to know, if there's nothing attached?)

 

You would know because you would have the information included either a) on your printed paper on your pda or other paperless caching method.

 

To the very mildest degree 1 single line could be included in a PQ gpx file.

I highlighted your statement above and you are incorrect on this premise. If I print a copy of the cache page, it will only list the TB not it's goal or mission. In my PDA it again will list that the cache has a TB but it also will not list it's mission or goal. When I use my Delorme PN-40, which is a paperless GPS, it might list that there is a TB there but again, it will not list it's mission or goal. With the PN-40 I do not recall if it list's TB's in the cache because I do not specifically go out and hunt these.

 

If finding and logging TB's is your thing, then you will have to do a lot more than just print off the cache pages for their information. You will have to go to their specific TB page and print out their mission or goal. That is why most of us, if there isn't a mission card attached to it, generally leave them and will only discover them.

[+wrtiii]

If there is no mission/card attached the TB moves. Even if it's against it's goal! (How am I to know, if there's nothing attached?)

 

You would know because you would have the information included either a) on your printed paper on your pda or other paperless caching method.

 

To the very mildest degree 1 single line could be included in a PQ gpx file.

I highlighted your statement above and you are incorrect on this premise. If I print a copy of the cache page, it will only list the TB not it's goal or mission. In my PDA it again will list that the cache has a TB but it also will not list it's mission or goal. When I use my Delorme PN-40, which is a paperless GPS, it might list that there is a TB there but again, it will not list it's mission or goal. With the PN-40 I do not recall if it list's TB's in the cache because I do not specifically go out and hunt these.

 

If finding and logging TB's is your thing, then you will have to do a lot more than just print off the cache pages for their information. You will have to go to their specific TB page and print out their mission or goal. That is why most of us, if there isn't a mission card attached to it, generally leave them and will only discover them.

 

OK. Yes I completely agree.

 

Now This is the point I was originally trying to make.

 

Would it not be nice If when you did you PQ not only did it include the fact that there is a TB there.

 

But Also Included information on the TB... OK So most people could handle the entire TB Page and still have tons of space left over.

 

But Just picture it this way.

 

When you make a TB Add a new input line. Your allowed One line of text, Lets say 100 characters long..

This is your mission statement.

 

Now Pictures Cachemate.. It has that little TB Icon showing there is a TB in the cache. Now you double click on the TB, or hover over it for a tool tip or something of the sort. And it display that 1 line of text "mission statement" for that specific TB.

 

I mean cachemate already has some sort of support (I have not played with it much) for TB's

 

All that would be required would be some slight changes to how PQ's Come back and the TB Pages.

 

I mean You could add a new box on the PQ selection to chose to include or not TB Mission Statements.

 

And maybe add another option to chose to include TB Full pages.

 

As I said earlier.. It's the exact same thing that was done with Caches when PQ's were created.

 

Now It would just be nice if they would extend to TB's.

 

Maybe there is a suggestions forum I should of posted this in originally? But I was hoping to get some discussion and ideas on it so that I could form a more solid suggestion.

 

I was not expecting such a negative response.. Almost seems as if we should just ban TB's and Geocoins altogether since they seem to inconvenience people more than people enjoy them..

[+roziecakes]

I don't see anywhere that folks have posted saying they are inconvenienced by them, I just think that folks are not so stuck on the specifics of the TBs listed on the cache page that they need to know the details before they seek the cache.

 

Most people I know use trackables in the way I mentioned earlier in this thread. I really enjoy trackables a lot, so please don't get me wrong.