How Do I Log My First Found Trackable?

[+KonstantinMMRR]

I am new, and have found only three geocaches so far. On my third find, there were several "Travel Bugs" with serial numbers. I took one (I don't know the exact protocol about how many I should take). I have tried to log that I found it, so then I can place it somewhere else. I cannot figure out how to log it.

On the geocache where I found the travel bug, it lists "no trackables". I have tried to contact the person who placed the cache, but they have not repsonded. Another person who found the cache after me says "the CO hasn't logged on for many years".

What should I do? I would like to track my travel bug, and let it travel on, but I do not know how.

As a side question: What do the three symbols indicate on the app? There is a heart, an upside down teardrop, and a picture of an insect. I think the insect indicates number of trackables currently at the cache. On the cache where I found the travel bug, the number next to the insect is zero.

Thank you for your help.

 

 

[+kunarion]

See this reference page.

From the main menu, go to the “Map”. Tap the magnifying glass (Search). Tap the “Trackable” button. Type the tracking number into the search box, and remember that some symbols and numbers are easily confused, such as “O” and “0”, “I” and “1”.

Look at the signatures on the cache log and compare them to the online logs.  For a connected phone App, you see online logs in real-time.  If someone was at the cache in the past couple of days, he may have placed the trackables and not yet logged them online.  But if you're lucky, he wrote that info on the paper log.  Some people make their logs days or weeks later.

For trackables that were not properly logged, the App may not be suitable. Go to the web site for your attempts to unscramble them. If the issues are beyond your ability (sometimes it requires a lot of time and research to get the logs straightened out), don't keep it and wonder. Place the item into a cache, and mention that you did so, and what the issue is. Never post the tracking number. But you may post the “reference number” which usually starts with “TB”, and is shown at the upper right corner of the trackable's page on the web site, and at the very top of the scrolling page in the App (also next to its icon after a Search), for trackables you don't own.

Even if the Inventories are all wrong, you might make a "Discover" log, with photos and info about the situation.  Often I do just that, and leave the trackables in there, so I don't have to work on Inventories later.  Anyway, a decent rule of thumb is to take only what you know you can handle (if, say, it turns out that the logs are all messed up).

A mention in your cache log at the cache where you got them would be good, online at least, as specific as possible... "Took beer keychain, unlisted.  I could use some help logging it.  Posting photo without tracking number shown."

If you're having problems with the three you found, reply with the reference numbers if you can bring up their pages.  And reply with the cache where you found them.

 

Edited February 23, 2018 by kunarion

[+kunarion]

17 hours ago, KonstantinMMRR said:

What do the three symbols indicate on the app? There is a heart, an upside down teardrop, and a picture of an insect.

 

The heart is the number of "Favorites" placed by cachers.  The pin (teardrop) shows the distance to the selected cache.  The insect shows the number of trackables that are listed in the cache Inventory.

 

Edited February 23, 2018 by kunarion

[+KonstantinMMRR]

Thank you for your help. Apparently the trackable I found had never been registered. I was able to register it, so now I will try to find a cahce to put it in. Although, a new question has formed: When I registered the trackable, it asked me if it should be "collectable". What does this indicate?

Edited February 24, 2018 by KonstantinMMRR

[+barefootjeff]

27 minutes ago, KonstantinMMRR said:

Thank you for your help. Apparently the trackable I found had never been registered. I was able to register it, so now I will try to find a cahce to put it in. Although, a new question has formed: When I registered the trackable, it asked me if it should be "collectable". What does this indicate?

Collectible means that it stays in your possession and can only be discovered, not retrieved or grabbed. A typical use would be a trackable sticker on your car - you want people to log that they've seen your car, not take it off you! Trackables that are intended to move from cache to cache should be set as non collectible.

Edited February 24, 2018 by barefootjeff
Spelling

[+Aer72]

On 22/02/2018 at 11:13 PM, KonstantinMMRR said:

I am new, and have found only three geocaches so far. On my third find, there were several "Travel Bugs" with serial numbers. I took one (I don't know the exact protocol about how many I should take). I have tried to log that I found it, so then I can place it somewhere else. I cannot figure out how to log it.

On the geocache where I found the travel bug, it lists "no trackables". I have tried to contact the person who placed the cache, but they have not repsonded. Another person who found the cache after me says "the CO hasn't logged on for many years".

What should I do? I would like to track my travel bug, and let it travel on, but I do not know how.

As a side question: What do the three symbols indicate on the app? There is a heart, an upside down teardrop, and a picture of an insect. I think the insect indicates number of trackables currently at the cache. On the cache where I found the travel bug, the number next to the insect is zero.

Thank you for your help.

 

 

type in the code on its back and select either retrieved (taken the trackable) discovered (found but not moved) write note (give info on the state of the trackable) or grab (found in a different cache than it says.) The symbols you saw were the representation of the type of trackables they were.

 hope Ihave been of help Aer72

Edited March 2, 2018 by aer72