Light beacon cache (to be found at night): classify as traditional or mystery/puzzle?

[+PanJanek123]

Hello!

I want to hide cache with flashing light beacon. The light will flash each 15 seconds Small LED with timer circuit and low-power timer, battery powered.

I want the map location to point not to exact cache position but nearby spot, where you have to go when it's dark, and look for red flashes.

The question is: How to classify when submitting? Traditional or mystery/puzzle (because map does not show exact location)?

[+GerandKat]

We wouldn't this concept as it is right now, but there are just a few modification to make it publishable.

 

How does that concept involves the use of exact gps coordinates, which is the key element of this hobby.

Starting point can be anywhere in a approx. 40m radius which means 5,000m² -> No GPS Usage.

Taht can be simply resolved with e.g:.

a container at a different starting location whith a description ("Go to ->coordinates<- look for a blinking light") <- Concept would be a multi around here

the final coordinates written in/on the light beacon, and the logbook at the new location <- would be a mystery around here

Listing coordinates are the same as the light beacon, and a description says that one can simplify the search by looking for a blinking LED <- would be a tradional around here.

 

[+JL_HSTRE]

Personally, I think all Night Caches should be Mystery/Unknown.

 

With a blinking light, be mindful of the battery life and also that the light is placed somewhere unlikely to be noticed by muggles. A blinking light will attract more attention that reflectors.

[+PanJanek123]

27 minutes ago, JL_HSTRE said:

Personally, I think all Night Caches should be Mystery/Unknown.

 

With a blinking light, be mindful of the battery life and also that the light is placed somewhere unlikely to be noticed by muggles. A blinking light will attract more attention that reflectors.

 

Yes, I'm designing special low-power circuit to last for one year on battery, and that is part of the fun!

Ofcourse, if, for some reason, the battery dies earlier I will replace it as part of cache ownership responsibility.

I'm going to carefully select hiding place, so that it won't attract muggles. The blinking red light is not very bright, the idea is to look for it specifically.

[+PanJanek123]

1 hour ago, GerandKat said:

We wouldn't this concept as it is right now, but there are just a few modification to make it publishable.

 

How does that concept involves the use of exact gps coordinates, which is the key element of this hobby.

Starting point can be anywhere in a approx. 40m radius which means 5,000m² -> No GPS Usage.

Taht can be simply resolved with e.g:.

a container at a different starting location whith a description ("Go to ->coordinates<- look for a blinking light") <- Concept would be a multi around here

the final coordinates written in/on the light beacon, and the logbook at the new location <- would be a mystery around here

Listing coordinates are the same as the light beacon, and a description says that one can simplify the search by looking for a blinking LED <- would be a tradional around here.

 

 

Do you mean that it can be cassified as traditional cache as long as the coordinates point within 40m of the actual container hidint point? 

The light beacon won't be bright and I was thinking even 20m radius of searching area around the map coordinates.

[geoawareUSA9]

I once found this night cache with a "reactive light" stage - when light shone on it, it lit up to reveal itself. It likely worked with some sort of light-detecting cell. I would think this better than having a flashing light going off all the time, both for battery life and for concealment. But I don't know excatly how it worked.

 

Perhaps its last owner @Schlauwiner could shed some light (pun intended).

[+PanJanek123]

1 hour ago, geoawareUSA9 said:

I once found this night cache with a "reactive light" stage - when light shone on it, it lit up to reveal itself. It likely worked with some sort of light-detecting cell. I would think this better than having a flashing light going off all the time, both for battery life and for concealment. But I don't know excatly how it worked.

 

Perhaps its last owner @Schlauwiner could shed some light (pun intended).

Yes, this is another idea, to use photocell to detect light to create reactive light, this is something I intend to make too!

[+kunarion]

8 hours ago, PanJanek123 said:

Hello!

I want to hide cache with flashing light beacon. The light will flash each 15 seconds Small LED with timer circuit and low-power timer, battery powered.

I want the map location to point not to exact cache position but nearby spot, where you have to go when it's dark, and look for red flashes.

The question is: How to classify when submitting? Traditional or mystery/puzzle (because map does not show exact location)?

 

Here's one that's similar to your idea:  https://coord.info/GCJ9XT

The blinking light is at the top of a tree.  The coordinates lead to a spot where you may see the light at a distance as you scan the forest.  The container is at the bottom of that tree.  I guess that one is a successful cache, but I couldn't find it.

 

The idea of that cache was that you hike to a particular elevated point on Stone Mountain, sit and wait til dark, then look around.  The cache description doesn't say what to look for, but it's a battery powered, blinking dim red light.  When it fails (as it had when I was there), you can see the distant city lights blinking though the trees in the distance, millions of lights.  And if the blinking light was working perfectly, same thing, but it's another blinking light, I guess.  The light is strapped to a tree, the container is at that same tree.

Next you have to survive the hike down in the dark from a slippery granite mountain.  So it's definitely advised to hunt it as a group, not alone.  It's listed as Mystery/Puzzle which is a good way to list the cache.

 

Edited January 11 by kunarion

[+GerandKat]

3 hours ago, PanJanek123 said:

within 40m of the actual container hidint point? 

No the cache needs to be right on the coordinates... 

[+igator210]

Here is another similar one. I did it years ago and it was a lot of fun:
https://coord.info/GC5Z437

[+arisoft]

Few weeks ago I found a traditional cache that has red battery powered flashing light. It was at coordinates but it took for a while to find the cache even I saw the light immediatelly

[+JL_HSTRE]

15 hours ago, PanJanek123 said:

Do you mean that it can be cassified as traditional cache as long as the coordinates point within 40m of the actual container hidint point? 

 

Coordinates being off by over 100 ft is not acceptable.

[+PanJanek123]

Ok, so for traditional cache, it's better to hide it at exact coordinates.

If I put it like 30m (150ft) away, shuld I submit it as mystery? There will be no puzzle like usually, where you have to calculate exact coordinates. Only instruction to look for blinking/reactive light at night.

[+CheekyBrit]

22 hours ago, GerandKat said:

No the cache needs to be right on the coordinates... 

You could have the coordinates correct but it is still far away in the Z axis - up the tree where the blinking light is...

Another option is to have earlier stages/waypoints that need accurate GPS, like the parking area with coordinates in a container to head you toward the light viewing spot. 
Better yet, an earlier stage could have padlock combination answers.

[+niraD]

7 hours ago, PanJanek123 said:

Ok, so for traditional cache, it's better to hide it at exact coordinates.

It isn't a matter of "better"; it is required for a traditional cache to be at the exact coordinates.

 

From the guidelines:

"A Traditional Cache consists of at least a container with a logbook and is located at the posted coordinates."

 

7 hours ago, PanJanek123 said:

If I put it like 30m (150ft) away, shuld I submit it as mystery? There will be no puzzle like usually, where you have to calculate exact coordinates. Only instruction to look for blinking/reactive light at night.

Mystery caches take many forms. They don't all have puzzles, although puzzle caches are what many people think of when they think of a mystery cache. See the Help Center article Mystery Caches for more info, including the last section that explains some of the key distinctions between a mystery cache and a multi-cache.

 

The key thing that still seems to be missing from your design is the use of accurate GPS coordinates for at least some of the cache hunt. See the Help Center article GPS usage, which includes explanations and examples of adequate and inadequate GPS usage.

 

It doesn't look like you've found many mystery caches or multi-caches. You might want to find a few more of each before trying to hide a cache of either type.

[+kunarion]

On 1/12/2024 at 3:50 AM, PanJanek123 said:

Ok, so for traditional cache, it's better to hide it at exact coordinates.

If I put it like 30m (150ft) away, shuld I submit it as mystery? There will be no puzzle like usually, where you have to calculate exact coordinates. Only instruction to look for blinking/reactive light at night.

 

That is what I've seen most commonly for similar caches. 

 

I had a "doorbell" cache, where you press a button and the wireless bell chimes 30 feet away.  And I was required to submit the hidden waypoint of the Final in addition to posting the starting "Cache Page" coordinates.  A Final cache box placed at a distance will be subject to cache separation guidelines.

 

Edited January 17 by kunarion

[+fuzziebear3]

Maybe you go to the area, see the blinking light, which blinks a pattern that gives you the coordinates?

Maybe you use GPS to go to a spot, where you use an alignment device there (like look through a box found there) to see the blinking light that is where the cache is?

 

 

[+GearHeadAZ]

I would think this would be a multi cache with a virtual first stage.

[+kunarion]

6 hours ago, fuzziebear3 said:

Maybe you go to the area, see the blinking light, which blinks a pattern that gives you the coordinates?

Maybe you use GPS to go to a spot, where you use an alignment device there (like look through a box found there) to see the blinking light that is where the cache is?

 

 

 

There's a cache local to me that flashes a code for coordinates.  It's very well designed, and the permanent mounting required explicit permission for placement.  And it's much cooler than a cache where you just look for a light.  The special circuitry requires regular maintenance.  It's quite fancy.

[+Wadcutter]

Sounds something like an off set cache where you go to a given set of coordinates to some object then given instructions to go some distance at such a degree.   I use to find those occasionally.