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"Chaining" Caches into shortest route


sc_dragonflies

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There maybe several ways to accomplish what I am asking, but surely with the sage knowledge of seasoned cachers here, we can find the ideal way.

Let's say I am going to a new town and want to check caches while I am there. I usually log on to Geocaching.com, put in the name of the town and ask for caches within 10 miles. I go down the list and choose caches that sound interesting. Here is my question. Once I have a list of caches I would like to visit, what is the best way to "chain" them into the shortest route. I have an Android phone with the Groundspeak app. Right now I use the "Caches Nearest me" feature, however that sometimes causes a lot of backtracking. (I also have a Magellan Triton 400) Tell me how you go about this task.

 

Thanks

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In addition to Streets and Trips there is also a macro that uses an algorithm on Google. It is limited to 25 caches. There is nothing I am aware of that runs on a phone to solve the TSP. I find caching by pressing the next button to be totally and completely frustrating and inefficient. Why manufacturers think this is a good thing is beyond me.

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Another item to consider in the Traveling Salesman Problem is the actual traveling distance:

space.gifGC25C7W is 641 meters from GC25CBC.

space.gifGC25C7W is 664 meters from GC30TYK.

If you rely PURELY on the math, you'd say the first is the best option in the TSP, but the reality is that the walking distance between GC25C7W and GC25CBC is much shorter.

 

I would use the Streets and Trips (which approximates a good result), and then review the path and temper it with reality.

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There maybe several ways to accomplish what I am asking, but surely with the sage knowledge of seasoned cachers here, we can find the ideal way.

Let's say I am going to a new town and want to check caches while I am there. I usually log on to Geocaching.com, put in the name of the town and ask for caches within 10 miles. I go down the list and choose caches that sound interesting. Here is my question. Once I have a list of caches I would like to visit, what is the best way to "chain" them into the shortest route. I have an Android phone with the Groundspeak app. Right now I use the "Caches Nearest me" feature, however that sometimes causes a lot of backtracking. (I also have a Magellan Triton 400) Tell me how you go about this task.

 

Thanks

Ok, the way I do this is: After I have reviewed the list of caches and picked the ones I wish to visit, I load those caches into my GPS then download them into Map Source. I then plot my route and then load the route back into my GPS. This might be a lot of work if you are a numbers person and want 100s of finds but I,m not and it works for me. :D

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There maybe several ways to accomplish what I am asking, but surely with the sage knowledge of seasoned cachers here, we can find the ideal way.

Let's say I am going to a new town and want to check caches while I am there. I usually log on to Geocaching.com, put in the name of the town and ask for caches within 10 miles. I go down the list and choose caches that sound interesting. Here is my question. Once I have a list of caches I would like to visit, what is the best way to "chain" them into the shortest route. I have an Android phone with the Groundspeak app. Right now I use the "Caches Nearest me" feature, however that sometimes causes a lot of backtracking. (I also have a Magellan Triton 400) Tell me how you go about this task.

 

Thanks

 

Can't you just run a PQ? Isn't that what you are talking about? Do like a route from the city your in, to a close by city, and fill in all the parameters your looking for, and that way it chains them into a route.

 

You can load it under "PQ's" on the main page, and add it to your saved list.

 

-Waffle

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