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Great SA 2011 TB Race.


BruceTP

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still five more events to launch your TBs

 

Please give us a summary of these. I need to get my racer started, but won't be here for the next GP event and would like my racer to go with me to CT.

04 December 2010 - KZN Sandpit Christmas Event (GC2GC9W) by DiePienaars

05 December 2010 - Fine Wine 3: A Season to celebrate (GC2H995) by cownchicken

11 December 2010 - Breakfast At Uncle Scrooge Palace (GC2HTCV) by Team_vdlo

11 December 2010 - Celebrating 2010 in the Lowveld (GC2JPZV) by Bouts777

15 December 2010 - QC X - December 2010 - Mall @ Reds (GC2J7QK) by Wormgeocash

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Our TB's tags were posted from Gauteng on Friday 26th, so I hope that they get to us by next Sunday! Not very confident, as something posted last Friday via the same service still hasn't got here. :D What happens if they don't make it in time for the start at the event? Can we start late?

 

Another alternative would be to place another order but pay the overnight fee for that one. If you place it over the weekend and then drop W@lly an email to confirm receipt of the order and to give you the tracking number, and you should have it by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.

 

Took your advice and had a courier pick another two up on Tuesday - had them first thing Wednesday morning, so we'll be logging them into the EC shortly. Murphy's law dictates that the others will now probably arrive before then as well. If so I'll have two spares available if anyone is looking for some. I'll bring them on Sunday (if they arrive in time) but will have them available for you or anyone else in CT who wants TB's thereafter, if they don't arrive in time.

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After entering the spreadsheet I could hardly see straight - partly due to the lateness of the hour and also it is a manual action and I have to go into each and every listing to compile the scores.

 

We've barely started and I already feel sorry for you! Just opening more than 60 TB pages is going to take a looong time. Can't one of the tech wizards write a macro type thing to extract this info from a pocket query or something?

 

Or alternatively, can't you design a standard "information template" (in Excel) which every TB owner can fill in say every fortnight and send you. You then just consolidate the info (a honesty system should work fine but you could obviously also do some auditing).

 

Also, just realised when I saw all the "discovering" at the events that this never featured in the discussions. Don't you think a discovery is worth a point or two...?

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Also, just realised when I saw all the "discovering" at the events that this never featured in the discussions. Don't you think a discovery is worth a point or two...?

 

Eish, now you REALLY want to keep Bruce off the streets!! :D How will he ever get time to cache then? ;):anitongue:

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Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions. I had thought of a self regulating system whereby people update me on a change of score, typically when it is moved or placed. I shall have to see how I get on.

As for automation, the GPX files are no longer available as they were in the previous race.

Points for discovery? What does the community feel? 1 Point per discovery? I am willing to add it as an additional item in the rules.

 

With a day to go to the Cape Town event, the total race stands at 72. Is there going to be the same rush at the event like there was in Gauteng with cachers only bringing their TBs to the race on event day? I shall wait and see with eager anticipation.

 

I want to thank everybody out there who has entered a TB. :D It is going to fun tracking them all and noting their progress :D or lack thereof ;) depending on whether your TB lands in a little known cache on top of an inaccessible mountain or whether placed in a busy urban cache! It is all part of the fun - Enter and enjoy it. :anitongue:

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The total is now up to 81 and another chance for the Free State Cheetah's to enter the race: :sad:

 

GC2K25M

 

Brekvis in Cheetahland

An Event cache by Team Ginger Event Date: Friday, 10 December 2010

 

Glad to add this event to the list! Thought it a grand idea to give the Free State cachers a chance to enter their TBs at an actual event in their own province... So hoping to have a great turnout and many more TBs added to the race! :laughing:

 

W@lly, if you still have some TB tags in stock, maybe I can take some along to Bloem if guys order them from you?

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10 days down 390 to go and the provisional results have been published. They are most probably out of date already because as I write I am receiving logs of TB placements. Be that as it may, this is a snapshot in time and already we have six TBs international. Well done! :santa:

 

Short of going into each and every cache that the TB has visited, I have no way of knowing whether the visit was an FTF or not. If you know that you took a TB to an FTF, and it is not reflected in the score, please drop me a not and update me please, so that I can amend the scores accordingly.

 

Keep the TBs moving. :P

 

PS. Who has hijacked my one and is holding onto it? :)

(Only joking... but if you do have it, please get it moving.)

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Bruce - just an admin question ....

 

What is international? Are neighbouring countries considered international?

 

If a bug is taken to (say) Lesotho or Swaziland does it become international?

 

Just asking as it hardly seems fair when comparing with bugs that may be jetting off to the US, Australia or Europe over the holiday season ....

 

PT

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What is international? Are neighbouring countries considered international?

I am glad you asked that question. I consider SADC as the name implies, a Community. Therefore it would be local. We are just part of the whole community. There again, there are 15 member countries in SADC including The Seychelles, United Republic of Tanzania and Madagascar which, should a TB travel to one of those countries are they not far enough away to be considered international?

 

Here is the compromise I would like to propose : Sub-equatorial, continental African countries be considered as local.

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I am glad you asked that question. I consider SADC as the name implies, a Community. Therefore it would be local. We are just part of the whole community. There again, there are 15 member countries in SADC including The Seychelles, United Republic of Tanzania and Madagascar which, should a TB travel to one of those countries are they not far enough away to be considered international?

 

Here is the compromise I would like to propose : Sub-equatorial, continental African countries be considered as local.

 

I might have been more inclined to stick with the anywhere outside South Africa rule, but exclude Lesotho and Swaziland from that rule for obvious reasons. Or maybe go as far as excluding Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique as being international, simply because it is quite possible and easy, to drive into one of these and place a cache/TB.

 

My only concern about sub equatorial is that places like Nairobi are more often likely to be visited, for business or pleasure, from down here and a return trip & dip would clock up over 8000kms for a TB while not loosing its local race status.

 

Just my 2c worth.

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For what it's worth, when I administered the previous race, I deemed Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe as "local" but the racer did get the international boundary bonus for visiting the country. I know that bonus does not apply here but it did work well - I think 3 TB's crossed those borders during the race. There was 1 that went to Zambia and 1 to Zanzibar [and got muggled there!] but they were treated as "international".

 

I agree with MnCo that with the current rules concerning dipping the racer can easily clock up a nice mileage and still be "local". Bruce, many decisions have to be made "on the fly" when you are adminstrator! :ph34r: But, at the end of the day, you are sole judge and executioner in this matter. :P

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Here is the compromise I would like to propose : Sub-equatorial, continental African countries be considered as local.

 

I might have been more inclined to stick with the anywhere outside South Africa rule, but exclude Lesotho and Swaziland from that rule for obvious reasons. Or maybe go as far as excluding Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique as being international, simply because it is quite possible and easy, to drive into one of these and place a cache/TB.

 

Just my 2c worth.

 

My take / vote would be that local only includes "common border" countries - Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana.

 

Any others are international. So Zambia, Tanzania and Angola would be international, together with Madagascar, Mauritius etc.

 

Another 2c

 

PT

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Just a quick reminder for those using the tb-run lists to keep an eye on the competition between updates to the official score board

 

We now have 7 racers that have gone International and subsequently been moved to the International Category listing.

 

2011 Great SA TB Race - Local Racers

 

2001 Great SA TB Race - International Racers

 

 

Note: Some racers are using the tb-run gadgets to show their distance ranking. If you have moved to the international race list, you will need to update the gadget on your tb page. Just add a 2 to the end of the race name in the link.

 

.

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With all the 2c worths, I could become rich... :huh:

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.

I shall concede: Any country with a common border with South Africa shall be considered local. <_<

That means: Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe Namibia, Mozambique, Botswana are all local. Local is lekka! :)

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We have more than doubled last years total number of entrants. With two events still to go, we are sitting at 99.

It is an amazing achievement. :D

 

GC2J7QK

QC X - December 2010 - Mall @ Reds

An Event cache by Wormgeocash

Event Date: Wednesday, 15 December 2010

 

GC2JZVM

KaapseHoepsie PanneKoeksie Xmas Jol

An Event cache by Fish Eagle, GPS Storm and RedGlobe

Event Date: Thursday, 16 December 2010

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I doubt that I shall be able to launch a TB with this awesome initiative. We look forward to helping all of your bugs move all over the country!

 

Where can I find TB's and coins (trackables) in SA to place and join in this fun? Also, how do I keep updated with regards to events in SA?

Edited by VryBurgers
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I doubt that I shall be able to launch a TB with this awesome initiative. We look forward to helping all of your bugs move all over the country!

 

Where can I find TBs and coins (trackables) in SA to place and join in this fun? Also, how do I keep updated with regards to events in SA?

 

You can purchase TB's (assuming all the racers have not bought up all the stock :anicute:) from SA Geo Shop. If you are prepared to pay a bit extra on postage, you can have the tags within a day or two. Just email W@lly to confirm your order and he'll send them off to you. In the meantime, prepare your bug(s) and one the tags arrive, rush off to your nearest event (see the list here).

 

To keep up to date of events, as with the publication caches and a range of other things, you need to be a Premium Member. Once you have that, on the right hand side of your profile page, you will find a link under premium features to "Set Up Notifications".

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After an eight hour marathon session, I am now able to present you with snapshot of the scores at present. There are a few surprises and others not. I trust that you will enjoy them and he statisticians out there should have a field day. :anicute:

 

With 362 photographs posted thus far, are there only two worthy of nomination for photo of the month? Even if you don't nominate any, they are worth just browsing through. Well done to B and C for a great photographic contribution and for leading the pack. :)

 

Until next time, enjoy the race further. :)

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Looks like it does pay to hold on to your own bug :blink:

wow yes!

But is that the purpose of having a TB in a race? :( Only asking.

As dipping is only allowed in caches you are logging for the first time, there will come a saturation point when you can no longer find 100 new ones every weekend. Those current lead racers are there because of last week's caching spree in Bloemfontein. Time will tell but I am sure as more cachers move TB's The points will even out. My one still has not even been logged out of the November event yet. I do not know who took it but I do hope it gets going some time.

 

PS. My 2009 entry which supposedly has been stuck in Danger Point Lighthouse for the past six months has surfaced in Mpumalanga!

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As dipping is only allowed in caches you are logging for the first time, there will come a saturation point when you can no longer find 100 new ones every weekend. Those current lead racers are there because of last week's caching spree in Bloemfontein. Time will tell but I am sure as more cachers move TB's The points will even out. My one still has not even been logged out of the November event yet. I do not know who took it but I do hope it gets going some time.

 

True, but its the other things you can control, like ensuring you visit/dip the TB at every cache (some people forget) and uploading a photo for every cache you visit/dip which add the points. Then there is the ability to control who else has it, for example handing it off to a cache-buddy to take it on a trip, clock up some distance points and then return it to you.

 

PS. My 2009 entry which supposedly has been stuck in Danger Point Lighthouse for the past six months has surfaced in Mpumalanga!

 

Its funny how these things happen. Just goes to show that you should never loose hope for a lost bug. I'll never forget one I picked up about a year ago. It had been picked up 4 years earlier and then disappeared into the bottom of an infrequent cachers bag. 4 years later it tuned up in a nearby cache where I retrieved it. Unfortunately a short time later it ended up an a cache which was subsequently muggled, but hey, you never know. It may turn up again :(

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I have updated a further 20 scores tonight and the international tally has increased to 14. It is interesting to see where all the TBs are going and visiting. Keep them moving and photographing them. :mad:

 

If I manage to update 20 scores in an evening, your TB will be updated at least once a week. So please be patient. Then once a month, with the help of Avanclan, a full audit will be done on all TBs at once so that an accurate positional list can be obtained. (Thanks to Avanclan and to Carbon hunter for volunteering you, if you did not know...) :huh::P

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With 2010 fast drawing to a close, I still have 20 TB scores to tally and then the year end scores will be completed. It is amazing to see how some TBs race ahead while others go nowhere fast. On the upside, my TB as well as Happy Hunter's Tigger have now surfaced after having been MIA for exactly a month. So hopefully they can catch up a little. :D

The scores thus far have been published but the completed version should be available later today.

It is certainly a mammoth undertaking, but fun to track all the various TBs and monitor their progress. Well done to all of the TBs out there and may you all fare well in the new year. :antenna:

Like Edward Lear's Owl and Pussycat who sailed away for a year and a day in their beautiful pea-green boat to the land where the Bong-tree grows: TBs, see this beautiful land of ours, see the world and see you all back for the finish line in a year and a day. :laughing:

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If I manage to update 20 scores in an evening, your TB will be updated at least once a week. So please be patient. Then once a month, with the help of Avanclan, a full audit will be done on all TBs at once so that an accurate positional list can be obtained. (Thanks to Avanclan and to Carbon hunter for volunteering you, if you did not know...) :huh::P

 

Its a pleasure, glad to be able to help.

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Its a pleasure, glad to be able to help.

I really appreciate your offer of help even if you were press-ganged!

 

The provisional year end results have been published. Logs are still coming in for TBs with December logs so please let me know if there any updates which I have not picked up on and I shall gladly update your scores. I intend keeping each of the monthend scoresheets for later analysis by the number gurus. They are available on request if you would like to do your own number crunching. Available in Numbers, XLS or CSV formats.

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With over 700 photographs published on the various logs, I only had 3 nominations. So what I did was to go through each TB and try and get one photograph from each to publish. It had to clearly show the TB and also capture some of the ambiance of the cache. From this list I look forward to some comments and suggestions for an overall winner. All the photographs can be viewed here. The final winner will be published on 15 January once I get back form the 10 year celebrations in CapeTown. In the interim, get voting.....

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With over 700 photographs published on the various logs, I only had 3 nominations. So what I did was to go through each TB and try and get one photograph from each to publish. It had to clearly show the TB and also capture some of the ambiance of the cache. From this list I look forward to some comments and suggestions for an overall winner. All the photographs can be viewed here. The final winner will be published on 15 January once I get back form the 10 year celebrations in CapeTown. In the interim, get voting.....

 

I like "Don't come knockin" pictured in the snow.

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Thanks to B & C who have supplied me with some race summaries for the entrants. I have made the link to those files the click on the name. If you click on the TB reference it will still take you to the GC TB page. I have published the first 20 and would like to solicit your comment before doing all the rest.

Enjoy. ;)

Edited by BruceTP
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The latest provisional scores are out. We are now at 25 TBs which have gone international. :laughing:

Please check your listing from time to time and just check that your total distance reflects the right value. If it does not then just go to the ACTIONS box on the right hand side in the listing and click on recalculate distance. There were a couple which I picked up on and had to do a manual distance calculation. There may be others which I have missed.

 

So well done to MadSons and Leon St for being the current leaders in the local and international categories respectively. :)

Enjoy the scores.....

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With over 700 photographs published on the various logs, I only had 3 nominations. So what I did was to go through each TB and try and get one photograph from each to publish. It had to clearly show the TB and also capture some of the ambiance of the cache. From this list I look forward to some comments and suggestions for an overall winner. All the photographs can be viewed here. The final winner will be published on 15 January once I get back form the 10 year celebrations in CapeTown. In the interim, get voting.....

Although the deadline was the 15th, I have only just caught up with my logging from my trip to Cape Town and the weekend's caching spree in Centurion, not to mention some late night FTF hunting.

I must agree with Hesamati, the photo of Undercover Ginger captures so much. It has been well composed and good use of depth of field has been achieved. Many of the others of Undercover Ginger were cleverly composed and hence many were nominated.

"Don't come knockin'" was also well done. The subject was in clear focus and also captured the essence of the December snow in Germany.

 

Bruce could you please let us know how long people have to vote for each month's competition (deadline?), who can vote (only TB race entrants?) and if you have only 1 vote?

 

Ooo, good question.

 

Love the photo.

 

The voting is open to anyone participating on this forum or who has taken an interest in the race through the website and e-mails me directly via the links. Depending on how many nominations there are, you are invited to rate your top three and also give a motivation of why that photo grabs your attention.

 

So congratulations therefore goes to: Undercover Ginger at Rolandale (Visit the log.)

 

Well done!

 

I look forward to receiving your nominations for January.

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