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Geocaches on Google Earth


acachebox

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I just tried and it doesn't work for me either. When I grab the server address it's trying to contact and try to browse to it, I get a server error, so it looks like there's an issue on the geocaching.com side.

Error Status Code: 'InternalServerError'

Details: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

 

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5 hours ago, acachebox said:

Would letting the Mother Ship know of the problem have any results as they might be able to contact Google with more Umpf than we could?

The issue isn't on Google's end, it's on the geocaching.com end. I'd recommend posting this as a bug report in the Website section of these forums.

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I also have noticed that 'Geocaching Google Earth Viewer' is no longer working on my computer. Noticed this a couple of days ago. I have reinstalled Google Earth Pro and the Geocaching Google Earth Viewer and it still is not functioning properly, actually not at all. I use this tool often and would like to see it worked out to be useful again. Just don't know who to contact to find out what is going on and if indeed anything is being done. I guess if enough of us post this problem, it might get noticed and something done with it, or at the very least, to inform us as to what is being worked on by somebody.

Edited by losel2
Made an incorrect assumption, edited.
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18 minutes ago, losel2 said:

Reading this thread, it was suggested that this is not a Google Earth problem (how that was determined is unknown) and that it should be listed in the bug section of this forum. Well it looks like it was originally in that bug section and then moved here. Can you say run around?

 

The thread was moved from the Geocaching Topics forum (Discuss geocaching and related topics) to this correct forum - Bug Reports and Feature Discussions.

Please explain where you feel this is a "run around".  Thanks... 

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Being new to this forum, I thought I saw where this tread was moved 'from' where I thought was the spot to report bugs. I guess I was incorrect. Just thought it wasn't being addressed as a bug problem in the category for bugs. Sorry for my interpretation.

 

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Ok,  I have spent the last half hour searching online for an answer.  After years of successfully being able to find geocaches on Google Earth, suddenly, it is impossible to see any anymore.  All I see is a 'red light' in the geocaching KML area on Google Earth.  No idea why that is.   I use two laptops.  Neither one shows a 'green light' and neither one has allowed me to view cache locations in Google Earth!  I've reinstalled the program.  No change.  Is this now only available to Premium members?

 

Searching on this forum for at least a half hour hasn't resulted in any solutions.  There's talk of a runaround.  I agree because after wasting so much time looking, I have yet to get a solution.   One post says the discussion was moved to the "Bugs" Section, and of course, no solution provided  Where might I find that formum? 

 

Another post says it was moved to yet another forum.  Why can't there be a simple answer?  Is no one from geocaching.com even looking at these posts?  Are they just laughing in their cubicles while those of us without premium memberships waste our time?  Are basic members being forced to buy premium memberships even if we only look for caches every now and then?

 

How about a straight answer to what's going on from those who write the code?  Could it be that Geocaching.com is so incredibly greedy as to only allow Premium members to use the Google Earth Viewer?

 

This geocacher has been geocaching since 2004.  For a while I was really into it until geocaching.com made the downloads to GPS receivers and searches more complicated.  It seems that now it is very difficult to play without paying for a premium membership!   Seems geocaching isn't a whole lot of fun anymore if it is impossible to find caches on Google Earth.  Am I mistaken?  Is the goal to drive basic members out?

 

Yes, I really do think this is a runaround.  And, it seems that maybe GREED has invaded geocaching.com and made it no fun anymore.  Why can't I get a straight answer?  I really hope someone can provide a clear answer as to how I can once again view caches on Google Earth and have fun.

Edited by El Dorado Kid
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24 minutes ago, El Dorado Kid said:

Yes, I really do think this is a runaround.  And, it seems that maybe GREED has invaded geocaching.com and made it no fun anymore.  Why can't I get a straight answer?  I really hope someone can provide a clear answer as to how I can once again view caches on Google Earth and have fun.

 

In detail, please explain why there is a "runaround."  Please explain why GREED is the root cause of the technical problem.

 

I moved the discussion thread to the website bugs forum earlier this weekend.  Let's give HQ a chance to notice and investigate when they're back in the office.

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10 hours ago, El Dorado Kid said:

One post says the discussion was moved to the "Bugs" Section, and of course, no solution provided  Where might I find that formum? 

 

You’re here. ?

 

You pay Groundspeak precisely nothing, yet you expect an immediate response from them over the weekend.  Seems like quite a sense of entitlement.

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13 hours ago, Keystone said:
13 hours ago, El Dorado Kid said:

Yes, I really do think this is a runaround.  And, it seems that maybe GREED has invaded geocaching.com and made it no fun anymore.  Why can't I get a straight answer?  I really hope someone can provide a clear answer as to how I can once again view caches on Google Earth and have fun.

 

In detail, please explain why there is a "runaround."  Please explain why GREED is the root cause of the technical problem.

 

I moved the discussion thread to the website bugs forum earlier this weekend.  Let's give HQ a chance to notice and investigate when they're back in the office.

 

I didn't seriously expect a response to this post, but to close the loop, I'll reply to myself.

 

Last Wednesday, acachebox started a thread about Google Earth functionality issues.  That thread was posted in the "Geocaching Topics" forum, which is the forum section for general debate and discussion about geocaching.  Website bugs, like the Google Earth feature, should be posted in the "Website" subforum of the "Bug Reports and Feature Suggestions" forum area.  When I saw on Saturday that acachebox did not know where the Bug Reports and Feature Suggestions forum was located, I moved the thread and explained in my first post what I did:  "I moved this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum."

 

The thread has only been moved once - from the wrong forum (Geocaching Topics) to the correct forum (Website Bugs and Feature Suggestions), which is where it is now.

 

As a volunteer forum moderator, I can help by making sure that bug reports are positioned in the place where they're most likely to be seen by Geocaching HQ staff.  I've done that here.  I am in no position to troubleshoot the problem or to provide an answer.  I have somehow managed to have fun hunting for more than 7,500 geocaches without using Google Earth.

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Keystone: It looks like I created one big mess of things with my posting here on this site and with you. It is totally my fault for making the statement for the movement of this thread that others have responded to. I thought it was moved from the 'Bugs' to 'Website', not the other way around. Now I know that this is the correct location for this thread and we appreciate moderators like yourself, to keep all of us posting in the right location. I surely made a mess of things with my post and I am sorry for that. I hope this 'movement' subject would just go away and we get back to the subject at hand, which is Geocaching Google Earth Viewer isn't working and hoping it will be addressed by someone so that it can get fixed. So again, I apologize for my posting to begin with which caused such a hassle. And thank you for your moderator time you put forth.

 

On the other hand, you state that somehow you manged to have fun hunting for more than 7500 geocaches without using GE. Sorry for that as well as it is a very useful tool for geocaching that saves me a mess of time. I bet it would also be beneficial for you if you give it a try. If and when it gets fixed that is.

Losel 2

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I doubt this is a Bug Problem. Bugs don't cause whole features to just stop. I am more inclined to suspect this is a money problem. Google is all about money flowing towards Google. I am thinking Google has finally suggested to Geo. that they kick over some money to continue the feature. The money that moves around behind the scenes of the internet is beyond belief. While that money is accounted for in the third or forth decimal place it does add up.   

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50 minutes ago, acachebox said:

Bugs don't cause whole features to just stop.

 

Oh yes they can.  There's even a term: "showstopper bug".

 

I can think of a high-profile example in the current news, sadly.

 

I spent a whole career fixing bugs (and naturally introducing a few, oops), and to me, this just sounds like a bug.  Bit decay. Happens when nobody's paying attention to a non-critical feature and external things change.

 

Edited by Viajero Perdido
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On ‎3‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 8:23 AM, acachebox said:

I doubt this is a Bug Problem. Bugs don't cause whole features to just stop. I am more inclined to suspect this is a money problem. Google is all about money flowing towards Google. I am thinking Google has finally suggested to Geo. that they kick over some money to continue the feature. The money that moves around behind the scenes of the internet is beyond belief. While that money is accounted for in the third or forth decimal place it does add up.   

The issue has nothing to do with Google. The plugin itself is functioning correctly within Google Earth. It's just that when it contacts the geocaching.com servers to get the cache information, the request is failing due to an issue somewhere on the HQ side and no data is returned. The only folks that can fix the issue are HQ.

 

As for bugs, a software bug is any instance where something doesn't work as intended. They could range from a minor cosmetic issue to an entire service being unavailable. The root cause of a bug could be a simple missing semicolon in code somewhere, and that could lead to an entire service not working.

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1 hour ago, jpd43 said:

Has anyone had any luck fixing this? I have not and I have tried everything I can think of. Logged in, cleared caches, cleared memory, uninstalled, reinstalled both GE & KML and still all I get is a red dot over the file folder.

 

See Moun10Bike's post a few posts above. HQ is aware of the issue. There's nothing you can do to fix it, because the issue is on the geocaching.com servers. All you can do is wait.

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On 3/13/2019 at 4:01 PM, Moun10Bike said:

I've reported this issue to the engineers and documented it in our issue tracking software. I can't say when or even if they will get to it, as it has pretty low usage (although I'm sure that it's more than 200 people :bad:).


Hopefully soon!  I use this feature extensively!

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This has nothing to do with Google. It is a KML file built by Groundspeak that links to the data via the API. I know there have been some changes to the API over the years, and it's possible that, in preparation for the new API coming later this year, that old (less current) methods of connecting to the data have been closed. I doubt the interactive  KML file has been updated lately. It's not a greed issue on the part of Google or Groundspeak, but one of priorities. It's a low priority feature for most users, and so it's a low priority feature for the developers at HQ.

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Same here. Something I had to show to the less experienced geocacher not working.

It's a valuable tool - for example when you have to correct geoart on the map.

Since google maps changed and making my own map is also a lot of clicking, it was an easiest tool to create such maps.

 

HQ - please pay more attention for this kml.

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I have very disappointed with the fact that this feature is not working. As someone who has placed over 400 caches and found over 20,000, done Delorme Challenges and County Challenges in 10 states and will be doing our 11th state in May/June with 23 other state routes planned using this Google Earth application. Without the app, it is virtually impossible to decide where to place a cache when you can't view where others are already and I am not inclined to place a cache and then come back and try to publish it and find out it is in an area where it is not allowed or too close to another cache. 

 

If this is such a low priority and few people use it, it is probably because they don't understand the value of having it. 

Waiting for the issue to be resolved or will not place any more caches or plan any more caching trips. 

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18 hours ago, Bubblegummers said:

Without the app [Google Earth viewer], it is virtually impossible to decide where to place a cache when you can't view where others are already and I am not inclined to place a cache and then come back and try to publish it and find out it is in an area where it is not allowed or too close to another cache.

 

The Google Earth viewer already isn't the best option in this regard, due to the random offsets applied to each cache. In fact, they explicitly state that it shouldn't be used in this way (bolding mine):

Quote

Please Note: The coordinates used in Google Earth are only an approximation and can be up to 100 ft from the actual location. The Geocaching Google Earth feature is a tool for viewing geocaches in a general location. Do not use the coordinates in Google Earth for finding or placing geocaches.

 

There are also limits as far as how many caches you can see at one time and how many times the view can be updated each day.

 

As an alternative, I'd suggest using either the map on the website (which shows all of the same information, but without any random fudge-factors or limits) or a smartphone app.

 

All that being said, I do think there are legitimate use-cases for this Google Earth, so it shouldn't go away permanently. It's just that there are probably better tools for some of the work being done with the viewer.

Edited by The A-Team
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I sent an email a few minutes ago to 'Geocaching HQ Support' <contact@geocaching.com>.  It had attachments the issue.
Subject: Request {991696} [Google Earth Viewer issue]
Body:

Hi,

It’s been a couple of weeks.  Anything happening with this?  

Please review the attached files one again as they clearly documents the issue.

The Google Earth Viewer is a very useful tool to do high level and sometime detail trip planning.  This is significantly hindering that effort for my trip planning to New Mexico for the DeLorme and County Challenges.

Once a fix is made, let me know and I’ll verify it’s behavior on the user end. 

Cache On!!! / Ken (KCSearcher)

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1 hour ago, KCSearcher said:

I sent an email a few minutes ago to 'Geocaching HQ Support' <contact@geocaching.com>.  It had attachments the issue.
Subject: Request {991696} [Google Earth Viewer issue]
Body:

Hi,

It’s been a couple of weeks.  Anything happening with this?  

Please review the attached files one again as they clearly documents the issue.

The Google Earth Viewer is a very useful tool to do high level and sometime detail trip planning.  This is significantly hindering that effort for my trip planning to New Mexico for the DeLorme and County Challenges.

Once a fix is made, let me know and I’ll verify it’s behavior on the user end. 

Cache On!!! / Ken (KCSearcher)

 

On 3/13/2019 at 4:01 PM, Moun10Bike said:

I've reported this issue to the engineers and documented it in our issue tracking software. I can't say when or even if they will get to it, as it has pretty low usage (although I'm sure that it's more than 200 people :bad:).

 
HQ is aware of the situation, and it should be in their To-Do queue. But, as Moun10Bike points out, it's a low priority job due to the relatively low number of people that are impacted.

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Since GSAK was reset on my PC on 6-2018, Here is my macro interactions.

GoogleEarth.gsk
351 times

Challenge.gsk
13 times

since GSAK was reinstalled on 6/2018

Forum topic:

Posted March 9
moved to Geocaching topics

Posted March 13
reported bug
I've reported this issue to the engineers and documented it in our issue tracking software. I can't say when or even if they will get to it, as it has pretty low usage (although I'm sure that it's more than 200 people).

<when or ever????>

It's been more that 15 days and would like this (maybe a paid feature) to be resolved.

Please BUMP-UP to high priority at this point.

 

I would like to finish some delorm grids

NorCal_Delorm.JPG

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People who relied on Google Earth for advanced map planning (beyond the native site search features) may want to consider workarounds/alternatives that are used by the majority of geocachers, such as (for example) Project-GC or GSAK.  I recommend this due to the expectations/wishes expressed in the recent posts.  A low priority issue like this one would need to be slotted into a future development sprint where there is capacity to include the story.  Once included in a release plan, the sprint for that release also takes time to go through the normal design, coding and testing steps.  This would not be accomplished in two weeks.

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On 3/24/2019 at 11:13 AM, KCSearcher said:

I sent an email a few minutes ago to 'Geocaching HQ Support' <contact@geocaching.com>.  It had attachments the issue.
Subject: Request {991696} [Google Earth Viewer issue]
Body:

Hi,

It’s been a couple of weeks.  Anything happening with this?  

Please review the attached files one again as they clearly documents the issue.

The Google Earth Viewer is a very useful tool to do high level and sometime detail trip planning.  This is significantly hindering that effort for my trip planning to New Mexico for the DeLorme and County Challenges.

Once a fix is made, let me know and I’ll verify it’s behavior on the user end. 

Cache On!!! / Ken (KCSearcher)

 

Did you ever receive a reply? I send an email also and I never got a reply.

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, hallycat said:

I used it too. Not all the time but for proximity placing. Sorry they think it's low usage. <shaking head>

they don't think. That data is actually available for the data team to analyze. When Moun10Bike says it's low usage, there is evidence behind that.

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20 hours ago, Zop said:

Did you ever receive a reply? I send an email also and I never got a reply.

 

They're already aware of the issue and have already acknowledged it here.

 

On ‎3‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 4:01 PM, Moun10Bike said:

I've reported this issue to the engineers and documented it in our issue tracking software. I can't say when or even if they will get to it, as it has pretty low usage (although I'm sure that it's more than 200 people :bad:).

 

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On ‎4‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 10:54 PM, x_xenolith_x said:

Since GSAK was reset on my PC on 6-2018, Here is my macro interactions.

GoogleEarth.gsk
351 times

Challenge.gsk
13 times

since GSAK was reinstalled on 6/2018

Forum topic:

Posted March 9
moved to Geocaching topics

Posted March 13
reported bug
I've reported this issue to the engineers and documented it in our issue tracking software. I can't say when or even if they will get to it, as it has pretty low usage (although I'm sure that it's more than 200 people).

<when or ever????>

It's been more that 15 days and would like this (maybe a paid feature) to be resolved.

Please BUMP-UP to high priority at this point.

 

I would like to finish some delorm grids

 

The Google Earth application in question is unrelated to any GSAK macros. If you're having problems with a GSAK macro, you'll want to contact the maintainer of that macro.

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On 4/2/2019 at 12:24 PM, Keystone said:

People who relied on Google Earth for advanced map planning (beyond the native site search features) may want to consider workarounds/alternatives that are used by the majority of geocachers, such as (for example) Project-GC or GSAK.  


I can't speak to Project-GC, but as a workaround, GSAK is...  well, words simply fail me.  I love GSAK, and use it regularly, but it's MUCH harder and takes MUCH longer to get the information Google Earth provides with a single mouse click.

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Honestly, the geocaching website, with the base map switched to satellite, is just as good as google earth. Sure, you miss the 3-D effect, but the coordinates are accurate (they are not in the Google Earth KML file). If topography is your need, switch the map over to terrain if using Google Maps, or if using Leaflet, there are several layers, including the geocaching layer, that has contour lines. This is really the best option for exploring an area for caches.

If you have a list of caches that you then want to visit, or even a PQ file for an area, you can import that yourself into Google Earth and you'll get accurate waypoints with the 3-d terrain.

 

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For me, I love using Google Earth. Not for geocaching, but for exploring around. If I find an interesting area, I might use the cache viewer to get an idea how many caches are in that area. As for navigation, it is worthless because of the random offset that gets added. That has put me on the wrong island, the wrong side of a river or small lake, and the wrong side of an escarpment. If the feature never comes back, I won't miss it. 

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I will just chime in to add my vote to fix Google Earth, please

Both Google Earth and Project GC are non platform programs.  ie.  they work on both PC and MAC

Vs GSAK PC and iCaching MAC

 

It really boils down to how easy it use to be to use the Google Earth Viewer.  Just click and you were there and up and running.  

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Just found out that the Geocaching thing on Google Earth did not worked anymore. I normally make trips in Mapsource and view them in  Google Eart. And with the "GeocachingNetworkKML" I could look for nice caches nearby and select them.

I have't heard of any project that can do the same!.

How about that!.

 

I hope the are reading with us.

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1 hour ago, partner said:

Just found out that the Geocaching thing on Google Earth did not worked anymore. I normally make trips in Mapsource and view them in  Google Eart. And with the "GeocachingNetworkKML" I could look for nice caches nearby and select them.

I have't heard of any project that can do the same!.

How about that!.

 

I hope the are reading with us.

You can export your route as a GPX file, and import that as a custom user route on the website, then create a pocket query along a route. Problem solved?

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