Checksum - can I do this manually? and does the decimal point mean something else?

[+tweetiepy]

I'm working on a puzzle cache - I don't want the solution, but I need a bit of help with the tools I need to work this out.

 

I have a lot of coords to check out (about 1000 or more). I've managed to eliminate those that are way out of the area and I'm told the checksum of the long & lat.

 

However, I'm doing this by hand on the calculator. Are the numbers after the decimal place calculated differently? I've narrowed it down to certain coords but the checksum is off by "1" and I can't make it go to that number. Should the numbers after the decimal be calculated differently or should I end up using a program to do the checksum? The numbers are relatively low but I can't get a combination in our area that comes to those numbers.

 

Like I said, I don't want help with the puzzle, just the tools I need.

 

Thanks

[+Lil Devil]

In all the cases I've seen the checksum is calculated by simply adding all the individual digits together. The decimal point is irrelevant.

[+niraD]

A checksum just adds the digits. The decimal point is ignored. Some caches use a checksum just for the digits the seeker needs to determine (e.g., the cache is at N 37° 25.ABC W 122° 06.DEF and A+B+C+D+E+F=22). Others use all the digits (e.g., the cache is at N 37° 25.ABC W 122° 06.DEF and the 15-digit checksum is 50).

 

But it's possible that the checksum is wrong. Sometimes cache owners update the final coordinates and the formula, but forget to update the checksum. I found a multi-cache earlier this week like that. The checksum was wrong, but I double-checked the formula and found the cache at the coordinates I came up with.

[+terrkan78]

Woah. I'm glad you put this thread up. I have never succeeded in getting any checksum to work. I wondered if I was supposed to be adding up all the digits or just partial.

[+tweetiepy]

I emailed the CO (this is the 4th or 5th time I've emailed him on a variety of his puzzle caches - he's really nice, told me not to give up on puzzles and to persevere). I figure with all our back & forth emails we're now almost dating j/k. I'm hoping I'm jsut a bit off.

 

Terrkan78 - in another post, there was something about .123 adding up to 6, but that .204 also adds up to 6 - so that gives you a false answer too.

[+Olddffart]

Maybe this would be useful -it has a checksum function included ---

 

Go to http://www.fizzymagic.net/Geocaching/index.html

 

- click on "FizzyCalc" - then download "FizzyCalc.exe"

 

I have found this a very useful little desktop aplication.