Query by geocacher name.

[+yakherder]

I am trying to complete a Challenge which requires the alphabet and numbers 0-9 to be the beginning of the cache owners name.  How do I run a query to obtain cache owners that, say begin with the number 6 or 8 or letter q.  I don't believe the pocket query works with the wild card "*". Does anyone have an idea on this.

Thanks

[+Harry Dolphin]

I use the My Finds PQ, sort by name, to find the caches I've found to meet this challenge.  To find new ones, I download the PQs for the area I'm interested in, and sort by name.  This is,of course, using GSAK.  At least starting with 'q' on my '65 miles and all of New Jersey' list.  Only one with 8.  None starting with 6.

[+NanCycle]

2 hours ago, yakherder said:

I am trying to complete a Challenge which requires the alphabet and numbers 0-9 to be the beginning of the cache owners name.  How do I run a query to obtain cache owners that, say begin with the number 6 or 8 or letter q.  I don't believe the pocket query works with the wild card "*". Does anyone have an idea on this.

Thanks

When I was doing a Challenge like this, I just looked at the caches that others used and chose from there. 

[+on4bam]

In GSAK this takes seconds but you have to have caches in a database first. The same goes for other challenges too.

[+HHL]

[...]

Edited November 11, 2017 by HHL
Didn't read carefully enough.

[+noncentric]

There isn't an easy way to accomplish what you're looking for on the geocaching.com website.

One thing you could try is to run a search on the search page for your desired area.  Then repeatedly scroll down until all of the results, up to 1000, are in the web browser window. Then do a "Find" (through your browser) looking for "by 6" or "by q". That would show you caches on the page that were hidden by a cacher starting with "6" or "q".  This can take a while, depending on how many search results you have.

Running a pocket query might be less cumbersome, athough still limited to 1000 per query.  You can download the .zip file and then open the .gpx file in Notepad (or another text editor). Then do a "Find" for "placed_by>6" or "placed_by>8" or "placed_by>q".

As NanCycle mentions, you could see what CO's other finders of that challenge have used to fill the "6" or "8" or "q" requirement. That would give you some specific CO names that you could then search for using the search page.

Keep in mind that the Placed By info is the displayed owner name and may not match the CO's actual username.  For example, GC65ETY and GC1BA9E show they were placed by accounts starting with "6", but if you click on those CO names then you'll see that the CO's have different usernames that do not start with "6".  Depending on the Challenge Cache, this may or may not count for the "6" requirement.

[+on4bam]

36 minutes ago, HHL said:

[...]

Yup.. That only takes your FOUNDS into account.

[+Team Taran]

Another method is to use the new search page. Go to the filter page and type the needed character into the hidden by box. You will get a drop down of the usernames that start with that character. If you preset the radius to your acceptable search area, this gives you a list of possibilities.

[+yakherder]

Thanks to everyone that has posted. 

[+noncentric]

19 hours ago, Team Taran said:

Another method is to use the new search page. Go to the filter page and type the needed character into the hidden by box. You will get a drop down of the usernames that start with that character. If you preset the radius to your acceptable search area, this gives you a list of possibilities.

Does that really work?  I just tried entering a city (Orlando, FL) with a 10-mile radius, then started typing a username in the "Hidden By" section.  It doesn't seem like the names in the drop-down are centered around the search area (10 miles of Orlando) and the 10 random names I tried didn't even have any hides.

[+barefootguru]

Paying members can use Project-GC to perform advanced searches on the owner/adopter name:

https://project-gc.com/Home/Dashboard#AdvancedSearch