Eastside cachers

April 11, 2003

In case you all haven't seen it posted in other spots, the Puget Sound CITO event has been posted. You can see it at http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=63029

Pretty close for us on the eastside -- a park near Carnation. Looks to be a fun time!

1.8k · April 16, 2003

Oh my gosh, EGH has gone and done it now. His new cache Edith II is nothing nice.

Myself like many others today only got so far and then had to head home.

Darn it!

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

April 17, 2003

Wow -- it does look tough! Evergreenhiker, you've succumbed to the forces of the dark (east)side!

Blankjeff loves stuff like this. Once he digs himself out of the code freeze deadlines at work, I'm going to get him to do EdithII with me.

Major congrats to the Weinerdog crew, who got this just before midnight.

cin

April 17, 2003

Seeing the new geocache by Evergreenhiker has me wondering about other "puzzlers" in the Puget Sound region.

Are there tough finds and difficult puzzles that I'm missing? Whose geocaches do you watch and wait for, just to see what they've come up with recently?

Of course, if you're on the eastside of the Seattle area, you're probably already familiar with the evil Dr. Koska and his nefarious hides. LucyandRickie have a fun series (that Pepper and I are just starting) -- Pieces of the Puzzle. Oh, and TravisL can certainly create a doozie! If you haven't attempted MisLed, it's a fun one. There are now hints that might help. BlankJeff and I are VERY proud to have gotten firsties on that one (our first and only firsties ever)!

Any others I'm missing?

cin

April 17, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by CachinCin:
Seeing the new geocache by Evergreenhiker has me wondering about other "puzzlers" in the Puget Sound region.

Are there tough finds and difficult puzzles that I'm missing? Whose geocaches do you watch and wait for, just to see what they've come up with recently?

Of course, if you're on the eastside of the Seattle area, you're probably already familiar with the evil Dr. Koska and his nefarious hides. LucyandRickie have a fun series (that Pepper and I are just starting) -- Pieces of the Puzzle. Oh, and TravisL can certainly create a doozie! If you haven't attempted http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=54343, it's a fun one. There are now hints that might help. BlankJeff and I are VERY proud to have gotten firsties on that one (our first and only firsties ever)!

Any others I'm missing?

cin

KIDNK9

Let us pass over the river

Reverse World

Those are the first that come to mind.

Also, the following caches that I have hidden:

Flatland 4 - completing the square

Trapdoor Jewel

Carnation Conundrum

I suspect you've found some of those already but other folks reading might be interested.

2.7k · April 17, 2003

There's also Dayvi's tough cypher one:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=49144

April 17, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Kodak's4:

Flatland 4 - completing the square

Trapdoor Jewel

Carnation Conundrum

I suspect you've found some of those already but other folks reading might be interested.

BlankJeff and I have done the first two, which were both great fun and in beautiful spots. We'll have to get Carnation Conundrum soon. I see that it's near the CITO event, so we can grab it that afternoon.

Drum Roll Please....

As of this afternoon, Pepper and I have now completed all 6 of the evil Dr. Koska Kaches!!!!!!!! I think that a glass of champagne is in order. Anyone heard any rumors about new evil hides coming soon? (yes, I think this means I'm officially addicted to geocaching)

Cin

1.8k · April 17, 2003

Yep folks Cindy's right she's got it BAD and felling pretty good about right now to-boot.

Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, I'm finished, I'm finished no more Dr. Ufo Kosha Kaches!!!!!

----ha ha ha ha haaaa ha----

Life is good, ahhh the smell of Victory on a lovely Thursday afternoon.

Now really when I think about doing a victory dance I still have to remind myself I am in the middle of TRYING to figure out EGH's latest cache puzzle.

I need a nap!

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

2.7k · April 20, 2003

Pepper, I had fun doing those new caches of yours today! The Redmond Watershed area is a gem of a place. I usually see deer when I'm in there, but didn't today.

April 21, 2003

The summer's approaching, which means that I'll have more time to wander around. I'm hoping to do some hiking in and around the Cascades, search for caches...and search for spots to place caches.

I'm wondering what sort of resources you all use to find trails. Do you have a favorite hiking guide? Is there a good web resource that ranks hikes by (a) easiness/length and ( vehicle accessibility?

I have, of course, already checked out Evergreenhiker's web page -- always a good starting point.

Cin

1.8k · April 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by evergreenhiker!:
Pepper, I had fun doing those new caches of yours today! The Redmond Watershed area is a gem of a place. I usually see deer when I'm in there, but didn't today.

Thanks EGH!

Got a few more in the garage ready to go just need time and a little more research.

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

2.7k · April 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by CachinCin:
The summer's approaching, which means that I'll have more time to wander around. I'm hoping to do some hiking in and around the Cascades, search for caches...and search for spots to place caches.

I'm wondering what sort of resources you all use to find trails. Do you have a favorite hiking guide? Is there a good web resource that ranks hikes by (a) easiness/length and ( vehicle accessibility?

I have, of course, already checked out Evergreenhiker's web page -- always a good starting point.

Cin

http://www.wta.org is a good one to look at. Great website and provides user reviews of hikes and trail conditions. Also, you can sign up for trail volunteer outings.

Of course, Harvey Manning and Ira Spring have their legendary hiking books....Alpine Lakes, North Cascades: Glacier Peak, Central Washingtion, North Cascades proper, etc.

Ken Wilcox has some excellent pocket sized hiking guides: Hiking Snohomish County, Hiking Whactom County, etc. He may have the King County and Skagit County book out now, but not sure.

Of course for the more adventurous, don't forget veteran mountaineer Fred Beckey...awesome volumes on bagging summits of peaks. Almost all the peaks in Washington...maps and route suggestions. Climb ratings. One such book of his is Cascade Alpine Guide.

All these books are usually at REI. The local bookstore might hage them as well. Don't forget the Seattle Mountaineer Bookstore downtown.

This ought to give you some stuff to go through.

1.8k · April 21, 2003

What would be nice is a book of waypoints for all trail heads in WA. I'd be set!

Better yet a file of waypoints for TH's I could down load.

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

April 21, 2003

EGH: many thanks for the recommendations. I'm getting several of these from the library (kcls.org rocks!) to look through, and then probably buy a few after I decide which are for me.

Pepper: There is a beast of a book that lists GPS waypoints for Washington State. It's just page after page of listed waypoints. I saw it last night at the bookstore...but it was a bit overwhelming. I wasn't quite sure how one would make use of it.

I did, however, buy a Washington Wildflower guide -- now we'll be able to figure out all of those new flowers we're seeing in the forests!

Cin

2.7k · April 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by CachinCin:
EGH: many thanks for the recommendations. I'm getting several of these from the library (kcls.org rocks!) to look through, and then probably buy a few after I decide which are for me.

Pepper: There is a beast of a book that lists GPS waypoints for Washington State. It's just page after page of listed waypoints. I saw it last night at the bookstore...but it was a bit overwhelming. I wasn't quite sure how one would make use of it.

I did, however, buy a Washington Wildflower guide -- now we'll be able to figure out all of those new flowers we're seeing in the forests!

Cin

The library site is great alright...I love that you can look through technical computer books online....don't need to drop the 50 bucks for a book all the time.

Never though of looking at hiking books through it also. A lot of mine are older editions.

Cin...Columbia River Gorge should be teeming wiht wildflowers any time now through end of May. You guys got to do caching down there...Dog Mountain has a cache and it's full of wild flowers...Balsam Root, lupines, etc. All the caches down there are great. Catherine Creek is another wild flower mecca this time of the year...nearby cache is Memaloose Island View. Only drawback to Gorge caching is rattlesnakes and Poison oak. I'd worry more about P-oak...it's all over the place.

Pepper...I see Cin already made the recommendation I was going to regarding the waypoints.

April 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by evergreenhiker!:

Cin...Columbia River Gorge should be teeming wiht wildflowers any time now through end of May. You guys got to do caching down there...Dog Mountain has a cache and it's full of wild flowers...Balsam Root, lupines, etc. All the caches down there are great. Catherine Creek is another wild flower mecca this time of the year...nearby cache is Memaloose Island View. Only drawback to Gorge caching is rattlesnakes and Poison oak. I'd worry more about P-oak...it's all over the place.

That sounds wonderful. I'll have to get there soon!

Heh, rattlesnakes don't bother me at all. I used to work with a herpatologist who studied the darn things, so I have no qualms about them.

Poison Oak, on the other hand...it's another of those things that aren't around the arid regions where I used to live. I'm now off to google some info (and photos, lots of photos) on poison oak and how to avoid it.

Cin

2.7k · April 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by CachinCin:

quote:
Originally posted by evergreenhiker!:

Cin...Columbia River Gorge should be teeming wiht wildflowers any time now through end of May. You guys got to do caching down there...Dog Mountain has a cache and it's full of wild flowers...Balsam Root, lupines, etc. All the caches down there are great. Catherine Creek is another wild flower mecca this time of the year...nearby cache is Memaloose Island View. Only drawback to Gorge caching is rattlesnakes and Poison oak. I'd worry more about P-oak...it's all over the place.

That sounds wonderful. I'll have to get there soon!

Heh, rattlesnakes don't bother me at all. I used to work with a herpatologist who studied the darn things, so I have no qualms about them.

Poison Oak, on the other hand...it's another of those things that aren't around the arid regions where I used to live. I'm now off to google some info (and photos, lots of photos) on poison oak and how to avoid it.

Cin

My Columbia River Gorge section has some pics of Poison Oak...Dog Moutnain hike I think.

April 22, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by evergreenhiker!:
My Columbia River Gorge section has some pics of Poison Oak...Dog Moutnain hike I think.

Thanks! I searched the Internet a bit, but all I came up with were drawings and a few dark, low quality photos. Your photos were much better.

Cin

1.8k · April 22, 2003

You know I was looking at the CITO page for WSGA/PS and not to many cachers have signed on for clean up day. I wonder why?

Cachin', Trashin', Talkin' how could ya not go?

Way to much fun to miss out on, IMOO!(in my own opinion)

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

April 22, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by SuperGenius:
You know I was looking at the CITO page for WSGA/PS and not to many cachers have signed on for clean up day. I wonder why?

Cachin', Trashin', Talkin' how could ya not go?

Way to much fun to miss out on, IMOO!(in my own opinion)

I suspect that many people just don't add a note to the page. The meetings only ever get 12 or so responses, but then there are 30 or 40 there.

At least, I hope that's what's up! It should be a fun day with fun people. We'll be providing a great community service, plus getting to geocache afterward. What could be better?

Cin

2.7k · April 22, 2003

Maybe Pepper's charms are working! A cacher emailed me about my Wallace Cache II and when they gave up looking for waypoint one, they wandered around and noticed something white.

It turned out to be my original Wallace Cache container. Logbook and contents are in great shape. I just went out to retrieve it tongiht.

Wierd thing is that someone named Phantom signed in the logbook on 8/22/02:

"Found it, Took a doll, left a magnet, changed location. Find before April 1, 2003 or I'll put it back."

I eventually archived it in early September as I couldn't find it. Glad to get the logbook back as that was my very first cache planted. 6 pack rats were the first finders of that one. Moun10Bike, 2Dolphins, and Kodak's4 were the next group to bag it.

Anyway, I'll recycle the container/contents and use it for another cache. So I guess this was some sort of elaborate April Fools Joke or something.

9.5k · April 22, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by SuperGenius:
You know I was looking at the CITO page for WSGA/PS and not to many cachers have signed on for clean up day. I wonder why?

Cachin', Trashin', Talkin' how could ya not go?

Way to much fun to miss out on, IMOO!(in my own opinion)

Pepper

http://www.geocachingwa.org

Horizontals where it's at!

I'm new to the GEOCache hunt and unable to commit to attending. However, IF I happen to go cache hunting, I'll remember to take a trash bag with me to haul some out.

Cheers!

TL

1.8k · April 23, 2003

[TotemLake]

I'm new to the GEOCache hunt and unable to commit to attending. However, IF I happen to go cache hunting, I'll remember to take a trash bag with me to haul some out.

Cheers!

TL

Welcome the world of geocaching TotemLake happy to have ya on board!

Hope you can make to the TICO event if not see on the trails.

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

April 23, 2003

Welcome TL! My husband and I started in September, and it didn't take too long to get hooked. An unexpected benefit for us, as newcomers to Seattle, was getting to meet so many fun people. We run into each other from time to time, while we're out geocaching. There's a once-a-month meeting of the WSGA Puget Sound chapter. The holiday party in December was a blast, and I'm sure the CITO event will be great. Hope to see you on the trail or at a WSGA event soon!

EGH -- your story about the Wallace I cache is very weird. Makes me wonder if this phantom has done that to other caches. By the way, is Wallace II still intact? (have to do that one soon)

Cin

[This message was edited by CachinCin on April 23, 2003 at 09:55 AM.]

2.7k · April 23, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by CachinCin:
Welcome TL! My husband and I started in September, and it didn't take too long to get hooked. An unexpected benefit for us, as newcomers to Seattle, was getting to meet so many fun people. We run into each other from time to time, while we're out geocaching. There's a once-a-month meeting of the WSGA Puget Sound chapter. The holiday party in December was a blast, and I'm sure the CITO event will be great. Hope to see you on the trail or at a WSGA event soon!

EGH -- your story about the Wallace I cache is very weird. Makes me wonder if this phantom has done that to other caches. By the way, is Wallace II still intact? (have to do that one soon)

Cin

[This message was edited by CachinCin on April 23, 2003 at 09:55 AM.]

Wallace II is still going strong. Waypoint two has changed, but still in the same area.

The container I got last night will probably be used for the next cache I plant.

2.7k · April 23, 2003

My Etrex Summit finally hit the dust after years of use (since Sept. 2000). Dropped it in Lake Ballinger when I attempted Goose Island. Didn't find the box.

Took the gps apart to see if I could fix it, but I'm not a electronics expert. Interesting to see it's guts though.

Anyway, Amazon.com has a great deal on Etrex Vista for 280. On top of that you get a 50 dollar rebate adn free shipping. Couldn't refuse so I ordred it. REI sells it for 350.

So this means I'm Walden Running it for a few days. For those who don't know who Walden Run is, he has over 600 finds without use of a gps.

1.8k · April 23, 2003

Bum-er on dropping the GPS in the lake, but it sounds like your getting a better unit out of the deal.

Myself I am a Magellan Meridian Gold girl, hoping to be a Magellan Meridian Color by May 9th(my birthday ).

Down in the Bay Area we had a non-GPS cacher that went by the name of Rockman. I find it amazing somebody could find a cache without a GPS, I have a hard time finding them with the top of line GPSr's.

Keep us updated on your journey caching without a GPS (Good Luck!)

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

2.7k · April 23, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by SuperGenius:
Bum-er on dropping the GPS in the lake, but it sounds like your getting a better unit out of the deal.

Myself I am a Magellan Meridian Gold girl, hoping to be a Magellan Meridian Color by May 9th(my birthday ).

Down in the Bay Area we had a non-GPS cacher that went by the name of Rockman. I find it amazing somebody could find a cache without a GPS, I have a hard time finding them with the top of line GPSr's.

Keep us updated on your journey caching without a GPS (Good Luck!)

Pepper

http://www.geocachingwa.org

Horizontals where it's at!

Thanks Pepper. Funny my birthday is May 5. Cinco de Mayo. I should have just received my unit by then...though I hope the shipping is fast as possible.

2.7k · April 25, 2003

Tinkered with old gps some more and actually got it to work...tough old unit...still barely holding together with camo duct tape. My new Vista should be here about Monday or so...can't wait!

Anyway, went back to Goose Island and corrected the DNF there. Coords spot on for me there...14 feet to go. Box was hid very, very well...didn't see it before i touched it.

Hopefully, it'll work just long enough to bag all those caches Paul's been putting out near the CITO/Duvall area. I counted something like 5-6 caches for us to do including L&Rs right at the Tolt River mouth.

April 25, 2003

Wow, two upcoming birthdays! I'll sip some virtual champagne in your honor.

Pepper's got me sold on the Magellan's, and I think I'll be getting one of those soon. I've outgrown my little yellow eTrex (time to get something with maps and WAAS) -- will pass it on to my younger brother, who only gets to go geocaching when one of his sisters is around. Now he'll be able to head out on his own.

EGH, your old GPS sounds like my digital camera. The battery pack keeps breaking and just won't stay in place, so we've got duct tape holding the darn thing together.

Pepper and I got in two days of geocaching. Thursday we set off to do another of the Pieces of the Puzzle caches (Scrabble). We were scrabbling for sure! We ended up bushwhacking and getting turned around and stopped by brambles and finally just made our way down to the lake (which we could glimpse through the trees) and the trail that we knew was there. Between the wet growth and the pouring rain, we were absolutely soaked. Didn't manage to complete the cache this week, but we did snag two of the four scrabble tiles. I'm learning learning learning...."must say NO to Pepper when she gets a wild hair about heading off into nasty terrain." She is wild and crazy when a cache is near!

LucyandRickie always have such great caches -- imaginative, challenging, and loads of fun.

Today we had an easier time of it, heading across the Evergreen bridge to snag some easy caches on the west side. The sun was shining, the kites were flying, and we only had one DNF (which we suspect is actually a missing cache).

The weather reports are predicting a nice weekend, so tomorrow should also be dry and sunny. Jeff and I are excited to be seeing everyone at the CITO event -- I think the RSVPs are up to about 18, and I'm sure that more will be coming. We should be able to attack the trash with a vengeance! I've grabbed the coords and printed out the sheets for about 7 or 8 nearby caches (most are Kodak's4!) that we haven't done yet.

Oh, and Aurie the Wonderdog will be there with us. She loves people, geocaching, and getting to go for walks -- so there will be lots of tailwagging!

Cin

9.5k · April 25, 2003

It looks like I might be there during the last 1/2 hour of the scheduled CITO event in Carnation! Look for a red columbia jacket and colorful looney toons hat and a happy go lucky dog with 2 kids and another dad in tow if you happen to be there that late.

Cheers!

TL

April 25, 2003

Great TL -- hope to see you soon!

cin

1.8k · April 26, 2003

There's something to be said about "As A Crow Fly's!"

You see my GPS beeps when i'm within 250ft of a cache, gotta love it.

See ya'll at the CITO event.

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

1.1k · April 26, 2003

Make that 3 B-days. May 6th every year.

Marcus

April 26, 2003

Well, a big virtual Happy Birthday to you too, MA!

Today was a great one for meeting fellow geocachers. I set off for the CITO event with hubby (blankjeff) and Aurie. It was a cold and grey morning, but picking up trash kept us warm. Afterward, we munched out on breakfast treats and then went caching. Often a big group of us would meet up at a nearby cache.

Some memories:

* kids running between hillside and river, then climbing the woodpile, then grabbing a strawberry, then running to the hill again...

* Pepper's fun banner

* trading some neat travel bugs

* finding a cache just as car, after car, after car, after car...of geocachers pulled up.

* Aurie getting more pets than ever before (we have one content dog this evening)

* the twins (Lila & Nikki) scrambling everywhere to get as much trash as possible

*getting some free pins from the Groundspeak crew (and getting to meet Jeremy & Brian!)

* staring down a curious emu

* Slugs! (yes, they're still a novelty to me)

* Adrian's bare feet

I took several pictures and uploaded them to my geocaching journal. Click here for photos of the WSGA Puget Sound Chapter CITO event. Make sure you click through to the second page!

9.5k · April 27, 2003

Well I got there just as everybody was wrapping up and getting ready to go on their cache hunt. We got a later start than I had hoped for and with the bad weather coming in through Duvall, well, it just took longer than I expected it would.

Glad to say I met some very nice people and aside from a couple of you, my mind draws a blank on the names (sorry!).

Anyway, with the opportunity to look for more than one cache in the day, I did learn if I keep my MeriPlat North Reference to GPS instead of magnetic, I'll land on top of the cache's more times than not. It seems teh magnetic reference will place me about 60 feet away from the cache regardless if the EPE is less.

Hope to see y'all again sometime down the trail.

Cheers!

TL

1.8k · April 27, 2003

Well the twins and I had a really good time at the CITO Event.

I guess the park was not in to bad of shape to start with cause our trash hall was a bit on the small side. Although I think that's a good thing. What a pleasure it was to put faces with name of caches I've been doing lately. Nice bunch of folks up here in these parts I think this states a keeper!

Ten caches Saturday and Six today, I wore those twins of mine smooth out this weekend.

See all ya'll next time.

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

9.5k · April 28, 2003

Pepper, they say copycatting is the best form of flattery. I loved your idea for fast tagging the log books with a sticker! I think it was on Old MacDonald that I saw it. I'll be doing the same soon. I just completed Map Datum and with the amount of traffic there, it became evident just how quickly I could have finished that log and get out of the cache area. I had the log book in hand and had to pretend taking notes of the nearby tree when another dog walker came by. Fortunately I had the foresight to keep the box hidden.

Cheers!

TL

April 28, 2003

I know that most of the Eastsiders did COnfluence last weekend but...there was a post on the page today from Steamer's Wake saying that he lost his GPS while visiting the park today. If anyone goes out to hunt for the cache please keep an eye out for it. Rickie.

2.7k · April 29, 2003

There's another good box to hunt for:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=66106

Cool walk or bike ride! Oh, I tried out my new Vista with WAAS and all coords were inside 10 feet...wow!!!! Map feature is awesome too!

1.8k · April 29, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by TotemLake:
Pepper, they say copycatting is the best form of flattery. I loved your idea for fast tagging the log books with a sticker! I think it was on Old MacDonald that I saw it. I'll be doing the same soon. I just completed Map Datum and with the amount of traffic there, it became evident just how quickly I could have finished that log and get out of the cache area. I had the log book in hand and had to pretend taking notes of the nearby tree when another dog walker came by. Fortunately I had the foresight to keep the box hidden.

Cheers!

TL

TotemLake you are absolutly correct I got the idea from PaulWhy a cacher in CA. I am in the middle of Map Datum and have been for a while now. Educating myself one step at a time, hope to finish it up on Thursday.

I have placed another box in woods it is awaiting approval, it goes by the name of (SG #7 Copper Top).

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

April 29, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by evergreenhiker!:
There's another good box to hunt for:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=66106

Cool walk or bike ride! Oh, I tried out my new Vista with WAAS and all coords were inside 10 feet...wow!!!! Map feature is awesome too!

What a cool idea for a cache -- maybe other historic/preservation societies will do similar things. I know I'd do a cache like this when visiting a town!

Congrats on the new GPS, Evergreenhiker. I'm hoping to have a new WAAS-enabled Magellan by next week. Can't wait!

Cin

(who is sore and aching and too tired to much more than read and type tonight -- Lucyandrickie's Scrabble cache wore me out today!)

1.8k · April 29, 2003

<<<<<<Today I maximized time spent at the cache location and minimized my possible find count.>>>>>>

-lucyandrickie- Scrabble

I suffered through the work out, loved the views, stayed confussed and in the end I was able to log a cache I enjoyed. I can say that now cause I know I'll live, after finishing the cache I thought I was gonna die!

-EGH- I bet the minute you got that new GPS you were out the door! Hope it's everything ya wanted and more.

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

1.8k · May 2, 2003

Question for anybody that my know the answer. After dinner today Nikki and I set out to place two multi caches. When I left the house I booted up the ole GPS and by the time I arrived at the cache placement site I only had two satellites #14 and #25. Every once in a while I'd get a fix with #30 but that was only for seconds at a time. It kept on telling me it was searching for sat#3. Over the course of an hour trying to wait out the problem I finaly gave up and came home.

This has never happen to me before. Anybody care to elaborate.

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

9.5k · May 2, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by SuperGenius:
_Question_ for anybody that my know the answer. After dinner today Nikki and I set out to place two multi caches. When I left the house I booted up the ole GPS and by the time I arrived at the cache placement site I only had two satellites #14 and #25. Every once in a while I'd get a fix with #30 but that was only for seconds at a time. It kept on telling me it was searching for sat#3. Over the course of an hour trying to wait out the problem I finaly gave up and came home.

This has never happen to me before. Anybody care to elaborate.

Pepper

http://www.geocachingwa.org

Horizontals where it's at!

If I'm not mistaken, you have a Magellan. When you see something like that occur, shutdown for at least 30 seconds turn it back on. That's the normal workaround to improve your satellite fixes.

Fwiw, now that you mention it, I did see large EPE rates of 250 feet and my MeriPlat can see only 8 satellites and chatting with 3 of them at any given time.

Btw... don't forget to log those two benchmarks. They are valid finds separate from Map Datum.

Cheers!

TL

1.8k · May 2, 2003

TotemLake,

Thanks, and yes I have MeriGold. I did that and it was of no help. Something strange going on today between the hours of 5 and 6PM.

Pepper

Horizontals where it's at!

May 3, 2003

quote:
Something strange going on today between the hours of 5 and 6PM.

That "something strange" happens twice a day. You might have noticed that the satellite screen showed very few satellites in the sky. These days, in this area, the time between 6 and 9pm is particularly bad with the worst conditions happening right around 7pm. Your intermittent contact with #3 was because it was receding over the southwest horizon and was below 15 degrees by 5:20. Even though consumer GPSrs probably have a mask angle of 5 degrees, on the ground in this area, the hills, mountains, and trees usually make the effective mask angle about 15. But get on the beach on Whidbey Island and your GPSr can see forever. Click here to download an almanac and a pretty straightforward satellite availability program to check conditions before heading out.

Here's tabular output from last evening. GDOP (Geometric Dilution Of Position) is the number you really want to pay attention to - lower is better. Notice that the number of satellites above the mask angle is declining.

Time Sats. PDOP GDOP Satellite Nos

------------------------------------------------------------

17.00 8 1.15 2.33 3 9 11 14 15 18 23 31

17.10 8 1.13 2.14 3 9 11 14 15 18 23 31

17.20 7 1.20 2.57 11 14 15 18 23 25 31

17.30 7 1.20 2.63 11 14 15 18 23 25 31

17.40 5 1.38 3.44 11 14 23 25 31

17.50 5 1.39 3.38 11 14 23 25 31

18.00 4 1.73 4.23 11 14 23 25

18.10 4 1.76 4.27 11 14 23 25

18.20 4 1.80 4.28 11 14 20 25

18.30 4 1.80 4.68 11 14 20 25

18.40 4 1.80 5.87 11 14 20 25

18.50 4 1.80 9.30 11 14 20 25

19.00 4 1.80 32.56 11 14 20 25

19.10 4 1.82 19.31 11 14 20 25

19.20 5 1.75 3.36 1 11 14 20 25

19.30 6 1.67 2.87 1 11 14 20 25 30

19.40 6 1.67 2.84 1 11 14 20 25 30

19.50 6 1.66 2.72 1 11 14 20 25 30

20.00 5 1.84 3.11 1 11 14 20 25

20.10 4 1.97 10.69 1 11 20 25

20.20 4 1.98 9.03 1 11 20 25

20.30 5 1.40 7.07 1 11 16 20 25

20.40 6 1.26 5.67 1 2 11 16 20 25

20.50 7 1.28 2.14 1 2 4 13 16 20 25

May 3, 2003

Drat. The columns didn't come out.

2.7k · May 3, 2003

Interesting! Yes, I have noticed poorer performance during those hours. I had a heck of tiem with getting coords planting Edith II and had mcuh better luck next day during lunch hour.

May 3, 2003

quote:
I have noticed poorer performance during those hours

Note that the daily pattern changes shape a little over time and also precess, that is it shifts forward in time by a couple of hours per month. So you can't just print out one almanac table and be done with it.

Who knew that rational people would one day plot the positions of the stars before taking an action?

Eastside cachers

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