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... Search for caches placed by COs with handles that start with a specific numeral


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I've tried this many different ways, and have failed. I'm trying to find any cache placed by any CO whose handle starts with the numeral "0". I can't see how to search that way, at least not with a radius large enough that I see any results.

 

The challenge will not accept alias CO handles, but at this point I'm not even finding those.

 

Is there a way to search using this filter criteria beyond the maximum radius (30 miles?) of the gc.com "find a cache" utility?

 

I've tried making random PQs of 1000 caches (the maximum number), then sorting those by CO handle in GSAK. I'm having no luck that way - I only see a 9-mile radius at a time. I would need to make 40 or 50 of those to cover the Los Angeles basin, then another like amount for Orange County and San Diego. I need to search by first letter of CO handle over a 500-mile radius, or something.

 

There is one latent CO with a 0 handle in my area, but his caches are archived and he is one of those people that got all excited about this 6 years ago, was active for awhile, then stopped playing. I hate to bug him and guilt him into placing a new cache (if I even could) for my own selfish purposes.

 

Alternatively, if you know of a "0" CO with active caches and you live anywhere in SoCal, along the California coast all the way up to Oregon, in Arizona or Southern Nevada, I'd love to know that CO's handle so I can locate a "0 - CO" cache THAT way.

Edited by actualsize
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I've tried this many different ways, and have failed. I'm trying to find any cache placed by any CO whose handle starts with the numeral "0". I can't see how to search that way, at least not with a radius large enough that I see any results.

 

The challenge will not accept alias CO handles, but at this point I'm not even finding those.

 

Is there a way to search using this filter criteria beyond the maximum radius (30 miles?) of the gc.com "find a cache" utility?

 

I've tried making random PQs of 1000 caches (the maximum number), then sorting those by CO handle in GSAK. I'm having no luck that way - I only see a 9-mile radius at a time. I would need to make 40 or 50 of those to cover the Los Angeles basin, then another like amount for Orange County and San Diego. I need to search by first letter of CO handle over a 500-mile radius, or something.

 

There is one latent CO with a 0 handle in my area, but his caches are archived and he is one of those people that got all excited about this 6 years ago, was active for awhile, then stopped playing. I hate to bug him and guilt him into placing a new cache (if I even could) for my own selfish purposes.

 

Alternatively, if you know of a "0" CO with active caches and you live anywhere in SoCal, along the California coast all the way up to Oregon, in Arizona or Southern Nevada, I'd love to know that CO's handle so I can locate a "0 - CO" cache THAT way.

 

For a Challenge cache of this type it is usually required to post the list of caches that were used to qualify. My best suggestion is to look at the cache lists that others have posted and see if any of theirs are still active and close enough for you to get. This has worked for me with several similar Challenge caches.

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For a Challenge cache of this type it is usually required to post the list of caches that were used to qualify. My best suggestion is to look at the cache lists that others have posted and see if any of theirs are still active and close enough for you to get. This has worked for me with several similar Challenge caches.

 

I've thought of that, but the challenge itself is hundreds of miles away. Most of those finders didn't come from around here. But I am running out of ideas, so I had probably do that. Last time I looked many of the logs were signed-in-advance notes, not full-fledged finds. I've also been looking at the stats pages of friends that use MyGeocachingProfile and Project-GC, services that will summarize progress toward this sort of challenge. No one I've stumbled across has a zero CO cache yet!

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Or get a friend to open a sock puppet account and hide a cache.. :ph34r: :ph34r:

Yes, but that doesn't work. The challenge requires the actual CO handle to be used, not an alias. Otherwise I could do it myself, if I was so inclined, which I'm not. :) Oh, wait, you're not talking about a jokey CO alias hide name, are you? I can't do that, either. Edited by actualsize
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Alternatively, if you know of a "0" CO with active caches and you live anywhere in SoCal, along the California coast all the way up to Oregon, in Arizona or Southern Nevada, I'd love to know that CO's handle so I can locate a "0 - CO" cache THAT way.

 

Here you go...

Take a nice visit out to Barstow: link -- Last log was a "found" in January. It hasn't been found in a while, but no DNF's have been posted either.

Or, near Miramar: link

 

Alternatively:

California, near La Mesa: link -- might be missing

CA/AZ border, northwest of Yuma: link

Arizona, east of Tuscon: link

Oregon, near Corvallis: link

Oregon, near Eugene: link -- DNF's posted and unfound for 2 years

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Here you go...

Take a nice visit out to Barstow: link -- Last log was a "found" in January. It hasn't been found in a while, but no DNF's have been posted either.

Or, near Miramar: link

 

Alternatively:

California, near La Mesa: link -- might be missing

CA/AZ border, northwest of Yuma: link

Arizona, east of Tuscon: link

Oregon, near Corvallis: link

Oregon, near Eugene: link -- DNF's posted and unfound for 2 years

 

Wow. This may cover it! Thanks a ton. I'm still wondering if there is a way, in case this ever comes up for another reason in the future. I'll go look at Project GC.

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Here you go...

Take a nice visit out to Barstow: link -- Last log was a "found" in January. It hasn't been found in a while, but no DNF's have been posted either.

Or, near Miramar: link

 

Alternatively:

California, near La Mesa: link -- might be missing

CA/AZ border, northwest of Yuma: link

Arizona, east of Tuscon: link

Oregon, near Corvallis: link

Oregon, near Eugene: link -- DNF's posted and unfound for 2 years

 

Wow. This may cover it! Thanks a ton. I'm still wondering if there is a way, in case this ever comes up for another reason in the future. I'll go look at Project GC.

 

I did a search for similar challenges and looked at some of the qualifying finds from those logs.

 

Search criteria I used was:

cache type = Mystery

cache name contains = cacher name

located in = individual states towards the west coast, the Arizona challenge was most useful.

 

Would be great if there's another way that can be added to this thread. I'll probably need to redo this search for my region at some point, as I haven't gotten a ZERO cacher name yet either.

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I have a set of PQs, set by date hidden, to find all caches within 65 miles. I import them into GSAK, where I can search for thinks like 'hidden by'. I have 'hidden by 0', but not 'hidden by 5' (from 'All My Finds' PQ.) Would be a 40 mile trip for a 'hidden by 5' if I chose to go for such a challenge.

It works well with GSAK, but you would need a fair number of PQs to resolve this question.

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Or get a friend to open a sock puppet account and hide a cache.. :ph34r: :ph34r:

Yes, but that doesn't work. The challenge requires the actual CO handle to be used, not an alias. Otherwise I could do it myself, if I was so inclined, which I'm not. :) Oh, wait, you're not talking about a jokey CO alias hide name, are you? I can't do that, either.

 

A sock puppet might be something other than what you're thinking. I am not talking about hiding a cache and then changing the Placed By field. I was suggesting that you (or someone you know) create a whole new account. But it was a joke and I am not recommending doing that for real.

 

When I did the alphanumeric cacher name challenge, I spent days doing my homework only to find the nearest "0" cacher 320 miles away in Wisconsin. Guess what I did? I drove 320 miles and found a cache. My wife didn't appreciate that one. I can't imagine why.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC1N75T_cherokee-marsh-state-fishery-area?guid=220a8328-a5b7-4ecd-b6c4-2c127da8496c

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I have a set of PQs, set by date hidden, to find all caches within 65 miles. I import them into GSAK, where I can search for thinks like 'hidden by'. I have 'hidden by 0', but not 'hidden by 5' (from 'All My Finds' PQ.) Would be a 40 mile trip for a 'hidden by 5' if I chose to go for such a challenge.

It works well with GSAK, but you would need a fair number of PQs to resolve this question.

 

I was going to suggest this, too. Carpet bomb the area with PQs, then just sort through GSAK as needed.

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For a Challenge cache of this type it is usually required to post the list of caches that were used to qualify. My best suggestion is to look at the cache lists that others have posted and see if any of theirs are still active and close enough for you to get. This has worked for me with several similar Challenge caches.

 

I've thought of that, but the challenge itself is hundreds of miles away. Most of those finders didn't come from around here. But I am running out of ideas, so I had probably do that. Last time I looked many of the logs were signed-in-advance notes, not full-fledged finds. I've also been looking at the stats pages of friends that use MyGeocachingProfile and Project-GC, services that will summarize progress toward this sort of challenge. No one I've stumbled across has a zero CO cache yet!

 

This won't help your search, but just FYI - MyGeocachingProfile.com does have a section that tracks the alphanumeric cache owner challenge where you need to find a cache placed by owners whose names start with 0-9 and A-Z. It's labeled as the "Alphanumeric Cacher Challenge" [here's the link to the section on mgp.com: http://www.mygeocachingprofile.com/account/myprofile.aspx#alphanumeric ] and it even has a separate options page where you can customize the challenge however you want, i.e. whether you look at placed by or cache owner, whether you want to flag finds where the placed by doesn't match the cache owner, whether you only want to count caches found before/after a certain date, etc. [here's a link to this page of options: http://www.mygeocachingprofile.com/account/myalphanumericcacher.aspx ]

 

I hope this helps!

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