Find caches that two friends both haven't found

[+Sages]

I am spending the winter in Arizona and several friends cache with me. Is there a way that I can do a query or something that will give me a list of caches in the area that none of us have found? It is getting hard to look at our GPS units and see which ones show unfound vs found by each person.

Thanks,

Travelingsages

[+penguins42]

Edited to conform to the Licence Agreement. Below is a way to do what the OP asked without GSAK, while abiding by the licence. It is relatively simple to do using a program called GPSbabel. GPSbabel is available for Windows, OS X and Linux and can be downloaded here: http://www.gpsbabel....tml#downloading

 

One time procedure (assuming you use Windows)

• Download GPSBabel from the link above. When it has downloaded double-click the file and install the program.

• Open Windows Explorer and go to the folder "C:\Program Files\GPSBabel".

• Right-click "gpsbabel.exe" and select "Create shortcut" from the menu which appears.

• Right-click the newly created "gpsbabel.exe - Shortcut" and select "Properties" from the menu which appears.

• Change the text in the "Target" field to "cmd" and click "Apply".

 

Creating a "NoOneFound.gpx" file

• You will need a PQ of the all the caches in the area you are interested and a list of geocaching codes each friend has found. This can be obtained by looking at your friends' finds and you don't need to download any data.

• Copy your PQ to the folder "C:\Program Files\GPSBabel". Suppose it is called "AllCaches.gpx".

• Open your favourite text editor and create a file "CachesToIgnore.txt" and save it in "C:\Program Files\GPSBabel".

• Enter the codes each on its own line. Place "0, 0, " at the beginning of each line. You can use the text editor's find and replace function to replace "GC" by "0, 0, GC".

• Double click "gpsbabel.exe - Shortcut" in the folder "C:\Program Files\GPSBabel". A window with a black background should appear.

• Type the following (all on one line) into the window with the black background and then press enter.

 

     gpsbabel -i gpx -f AllCaches.gpx -i csv -f CachesToIgnore.txt -x duplicate,shortname,all -o gpx -F NoOneFound.gpx 

 

• Note that you can paste this text into the window by pressing the "Alt" and "Space" keys together then "E" (for edit) and then "P" (for paste).

• There should now be a file "C:\Program Files\GPSBabel\NoOneFound.gpx" which has caches which none of you have found.

 

Don't hesitate to contact me if there is any step which is unclear or you would like further explanation.

Edited February 9, 2012 by penguins42

[+Sages]

Wow! I'll give it a try. Thanks for the quick response.

 

Travelingsages

[+Moose Mob]

My experience with this sort o thing has been to compare maps. When we see an area that we all need a number of caches in, then we head there. No requirement exists that says we all must have never found all the caches on the list.

[jholly]

Wow! I'll give it a try. Thanks for the quick response.

 

Travelingsages

Even simpler is to use GSAK version 8. You can set up a query for an area and have it exclude the cachers that have found any of the caches. Your left with the caches no one has found. One point on the above procedure, be aware it does violate the Groundspeak waypoint license agreement you agreed to when became a premium member. The GSAK method does not and your friends do not need to be a premium member, unlike the above procedure that requires premium membership to get the MyFinds PQ.

[+The Jester]

Wow! I'll give it a try. Thanks for the quick response.

 

Travelingsages

Even simpler is to use GSAK version 8. You can set up a query for an area and have it exclude the cachers that have found any of the caches. Your left with the caches no one has found. One point on the above procedure, be aware it does violate the Groundspeak waypoint license agreement you agreed to when became a premium member. The GSAK method does not and your friends do not need to be a premium member, unlike the above procedure that requires premium membership to get the MyFinds PQ.

To follow on, this uses the new GC.com API Get Caches. Not only will it allow you to find caches not found by up to five cachers, it can also exclude caches hidden by up to five cachers - which is a help when in the "home" area of one or more of the cachers.

[+Markwell]

Take a read on the GSAK board about how I solved the problem 5 years ago...

 

I'll throw one more method into the loop, and it's the one I implemented prior to reading these great responses. It also is a direct result of the end goal: finding an area of caches that none of us have found.

 

The GPX files were ones that were converted from the LOC files mentioned above, but while I had them in GSAK, I also exported them to MS S&T CSV files. I took the 2000 caches, limited it to ones I hadn't found, and exported the single-stage TB-sized caches to the MS S&T CSV version as well.

 

Then I plotted one person's finds with large black, another with large blue, and overlaid the region's caches with small yellow dots. The result was that I could quickly glance at an area and see if either person had cleared out a bunch of caches in a particular area, and specifically look at a concentration of small yellow dots without any big blue and black dots. Once I found the potential areas, I mapped in all of the caches of the area. Cool - we've got a list of about 40 caches in a five mile radius that none of us have found.

 

It was a more graphic way to limit the caches than to do it with a database comparison, but it did work. If I had done it strictly with GSAK or GPSBabel, I would have gotten the caches, but I still would have had to go to some other program like MS S&T or Cache Clusters to find a cache dense area.

 

The last step of course was that I created a bookmark list for them to view and I'll create a PQ right before we go out.

[+Sages]

Wow! I'll give it a try. Thanks for the quick response.

 

Travelingsages

Even simpler is to use GSAK version 8. You can set up a query for an area and have it exclude the cachers that have found any of the caches. Your left with the caches no one has found. One point on the above procedure, be aware it does violate the Groundspeak waypoint license agreement you agreed to when became a premium member. The GSAK method does not and your friends do not need to be a premium member, unlike the above procedure that requires premium membership to get the MyFinds PQ.

 

It appears that my GSAK version 7.7.3.53 will also allow me to to this. It is nice and simple. Thanks so much for your help with my question.

[+The Jester]

Wow! I'll give it a try. Thanks for the quick response.

 

Travelingsages

Even simpler is to use GSAK version 8. You can set up a query for an area and have it exclude the cachers that have found any of the caches. Your left with the caches no one has found. One point on the above procedure, be aware it does violate the Groundspeak waypoint license agreement you agreed to when became a premium member. The GSAK method does not and your friends do not need to be a premium member, unlike the above procedure that requires premium membership to get the MyFinds PQ.

 

It appears that my GSAK version 7.7.3.53 will also allow me to to this. It is nice and simple. Thanks so much for your help with my question.

The advantage GSAK V8 gives, is you can set up a download (similar to a PQ - i.e.. a GPX file) that excludes the caches found and placed by you and your friends. So if you are going to a 'new' (for you) area you don't have to do any additional filtering/sorting, just download and go.