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Tracking Most Wanted Caches through Personal Lists


BG2015

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I am looking for opinions and experience-based viewpoints on the best way that people have found to keep lists of geocaches.  Here is my dilemma:  I currently have 27 different lists of geocaches.  Most of these are location based, so if I am planning a trip to Denver, for example, I have a list of caches that I would like to find while I am in the area.  I also have a list of specific challenge caches that I need to sign, as well as a list of caches that were placed in the year 2000.  My problem is that if I travel somewhere, I often forget about my other lists that have caches I need to find for specific challenges, or hidden dates, or D/T ratings, or a certain delorme page, or a specific county's DOA, etc.  I feel like I am missing out on the intersection of some of these lists, and then I have to backtrack or wait for another opportunity to travel to that area.  Should I move all of these caches into a single "global" list?  Or is there a better way to keep track of the many, sometimes intersecting, goals?

 

Anyone have a great plan that works?

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3 minutes ago, BG2015 said:

I am looking for opinions and experience-based viewpoints on the best way that people have found to keep lists of geocaches.  Here is my dilemma:  I currently have 27 different lists of geocaches.  Most of these are location based, so if I am planning a trip to Denver, for example, I have a list of caches that I would like to find while I am in the area.  I also have a list of specific challenge caches that I need to sign, as well as a list of caches that were placed in the year 2000.  My problem is that if I travel somewhere, I often forget about my other lists that have caches I need to find for specific challenges, or hidden dates, or D/T ratings, or a certain delorme page, or a specific county's DOA, etc.  I feel like I am missing out on the intersection of some of these lists, and then I have to backtrack or wait for another opportunity to travel to that area.  Should I move all of these caches into a single "global" list?  Or is there a better way to keep track of the many, sometimes intersecting, goals?

 

Anyone have a great plan that works?

Terratin brought up this idea in another thread. I think it's a great idea.I

 

 

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I keep multiple lists, and any given cache may qualify to be on more than one list, which reduces the likelihood of missing something if I forget to download a list.

 

I have a Solved But Unfound list for my home state, and another for outside of that.  The home state one is downloaded to my GPSr relatively often.

 

If I am going to travel, I put together a bookmark for that trip (or update a former one if I've made the trip before).  This will include the route there if driving.  I review the online map and add anything that interests me--ones that will help with challenges; ones with interesting D/T combos; highly favorited caches; etc.  I usually wind up wind up with more caches than time to get them, so I don't worry about missing some intersecting caches.  I just accept that will happen.

 

I have lists for Challenges I qualify for; Challenges I've signed but don't qualify for, interesting Challenges I want to make progress on, and quite a few others.  Overall though, don't worry about the ones you don't get--you'll drive yourself crazy doing that.  Enjoy the ones you do getand be pleased with the progress you do make.

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I've been happy using my bookmark lists on my phone. When I'm traveling, I can pull up the list, look at the map for the list, and see which caches are near me. That way I can look through multiple lists of different categories (I have lists for that trip, for caches on a global must do list, Jasmer, etc.). I feel if I lumped them in to one list, I'd be confused about which kind of cache I am looking at. This way, I can fairly easily see nearby caches by category. As long as I remember to do this. :laughing:

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Like The Jester, I use GSAK and have a master DB. From there, I can slice and dice to my hearts content. I have a set of personal goals, and maybe a list or two of caches that I want to make a point to go after. For each goal, I create a three character code. See below for a sample list. You will note that all of my codes end in HV, more on that later.

  • GHV - GeoTour/reward trail cache
  • 3HV - 360 degree goal
  • DHV - D/T challenge goal
  • AHV - GeoArt cache
  • WHV - Well traveled cacher goal

For any cache that meets one or more of my goals, I put the corresponding code in a user data field. I prepend that user data field to the cache description when I load the cache into my GPSr. Normally, when searching for the closet cache on my GPSr, I will see all of the caches I loaded. If I want, I can use the search function on the GPSr to show me the caches for a specific goal (by searching for the three character code), or any cache on any list by searching for HV. When I display the cache on my GPSr, the description will contain codes for all of the lists that a cache is in. I chose HV because that is a character combination that rarely appears together in a cache name, reducing the chance of a false positive when searching.

 

On a tangent, for mystery caches, when uploading the cache to my GPSr, I prepend a single character to the cache description based on whether or not the cache has corrected coordinates. That way, I can easy tell solved versus unsolved mystery caches when viewing a list of caches.

 

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22 minutes ago, Wet Pancake Touring Club said:

On a tangent, for mystery caches, when uploading the cache to my GPSr, I prepend a single character to the cache description based on whether or not the cache has corrected coordinates. That way, I can easy tell solved versus unsolved mystery caches when viewing a list of caches.

 

I only load mystery caches with corrected coordinates - then I don't have to worry about unsolved ones (those that are field puzzles or challenge caches get CC's of the listed co-ords).

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13 minutes ago, colleda said:

I have never use lists or bookmarks (did try it once). GSAK does all I need.

 

But can I use GSAK on my phone if that is what I cache with?

Or do I have to maintain another program on my PC, and then download the GSAK list to my GPSr?

I like the ability to use the map on a smart phone, basically the GeoCaching app.

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Just now, BG2015 said:

 

But can I use GSAK on my phone if that is what I cache with?

Or do I have to maintain another program on my PC, and then download the GSAK list to my GPSr?

I like the ability to use the map on a smart phone, basically the GeoCaching app.

I can't help you with that as I use a GPS for finding. I usually only use my phone when doing maintenance runs or looking for something on the fly in some foreign land. Someone else here will know.

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GSAK is windows based and does not work on a smartphone.  But, you can export your list of desired caches from GSAK to a bookmark List on Geocaching.com via the API.  (You can also transfer those caches directly from GSAK to a GPS.)  That List then appears in the official Geocaching App on your smartphone.

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1 hour ago, Keystone said:

GSAK is windows based and does not work on a smartphone.  But, you can export your list of desired caches from GSAK to a bookmark List on Geocaching.com via the API.  (You can also transfer those caches directly from GSAK to a GPS.)  That List then appears in the official Geocaching App on your smartphone.

 

Maybe what the OP actually needs is a list covering a certain area (such as Denver) that includes, for example, caches placed in the year 2000, and a way to differentiate them. 

 

So if GSAK were to make lists of each set, to the desired distance (the Denver area, for example),  the OP could then switch between lists to see the year 2000 caches, for example.  Just before a trip, set the destination in GSAK, and that area would be generated and made into "Lists".  Or into a single "Most Wanted" List that covers the area.  Load the Lists into the App.

 

It would be good to be able to combine them all onto the map with ordinary caches and have each set display its own icon (or at least have an icon for "Most Wanted" caches, to tell them apart from the rest).  But I don't think that The Official App has custom icons.  You could do it on a Garmin GPS, and possibly some other phone App.

 

Edited by kunarion
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A possible workflow in GSAK (it happens to be the one I use ):

 

1.  Load the entire area's caches into a GSAK database via pocket query or GSAK's "get caches" function through the API.  Exclude any caches you would never, ever search for.

2.  Filter the database for challenge caches.  Review them, and place a user checkmark for the ones you want to find.

3.  Filter the database for desired D/T ratings.  Review them, and place a user checkmark for the ones you want to find.

4.  Repeat this process for desired hidden dates, DeLorme pages, counties, favorite points, Wherigo caches or whatever else you'd enjoy finding.

5.  When finished, clear all filters and then filter for just the caches with user checkmarks. 

6.  You now have a list of the caches you want to find, whether it's because of challenge caches, D/T ratings, hidden dates, favorite points, etc.

7.  Export this GSAK filtered list to your GPS.

8.  Export the caches on the GSAK filtered list to a Geocaching.com List via the API.  You now have them on your smartphone, too.

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