Magellan Thales / Geocaching Adventures - Prizes!

June 27, 2003

Forgive me if this was posted somewhere else... I just ran across this page.

quote:
Santa Clara, Calif. (June 27, 2003) Starting June 27, 2003, and continuing throughout the summer, geocaching families across America will grab their Magellan GPS receivers and head to the outdoors for some hi-tech fun as they search for valuable 'lost' treasure. Magellan’s GPS Treasure Hunt, a national web-based geocaching contest sponsored by Thales (TAL-less) Navigation, a leading global provider of GPS navigation solutions, will lead participants on a journey to find famed explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s “lost treasures.” Thousands of families are expected to participate as the search moves from city to city in 25 states from June 27 through Labor Day.

...

Apparently Magellan is now embracing geocaching with their own geocaches and geocache prizes.

"Took McMeridian and left a plastic slinky..."

...

alex

2.5k · June 27, 2003

Don't bother, I plan on finding them all first.

June 27, 2003

Very cool. I hope one of them is halfway close to me.

June 27, 2003

Nothing in AR yet. First three are in CA, NY, and FL.

-Craig/TeamCNJC

... Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took off through the thorns, chest high, ...

1.3k · June 27, 2003

So far, it looks like the hints only get you within the right state. It will be a matter of hours from when they actually post hints to the cooredinates. I have an idea the coords will be pretty accurate, Thales makes some nice survey recievers. They likely used them to derive the coords for the containers.

"The fertilizer has hit the ventilator"

June 27, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by BloenCustoms:
So far, it looks like the hints only get you within the right state. It will be a matter of hours from when they actually post hints to the cooredinates. I have an idea the coords will be pretty accurate, Thales makes some nice survey recievers. They likely used them to derive the coords for the containers.

I just looked and the Florida one now has coordinates that weren't on there before. They seem to be good enough, yet no posted true "finds."

You'd think with a fresh color GPS (I'm guessing it's a certificate of some sort) in the cache, someone would have nabbed and logged it by now. I think I can be there in 14 hours.

Magellan *could* do a better job of explaining the game, though. I just hope I figure it out before one comes around here. Saw a Thales Navigation van at the local State Park a few weekends ago.

...

June 27, 2003

Okay, there has to be a catch here. I live directly across the state from the coordinates they give in FL. This is very tempting, I could be there in three hours, but why would they have to give clues if the coordinates take you right to it?

1.5k · June 27, 2003

They want family interaction, so making it relatively easy would be the way to go.

Brian

Team A.I.

June 27, 2003

cool,I see one listed in socal but no coordinates yet.Hopefully they will put one in norcal.

June 27, 2003

After looking at the contest, we were sure that it would take several weeks for cordinates to get posted. We were quite suprised to find the Florida coordinates on there when we got home from work at 8:30 PM today. We figured that there would be a rush on the cache, and since we were over 70 miles away, we desided to go but we thought that we were going for a hat (the runner-up prize). After gas, batterys and a food stop we continued onto the cache site. There was alot of bushwacking and spiders and it was dark, but we were the first to find (and we made it hard on ourselves, much less complicated to get out). Thanks to Infosponge and TampaBayGeocaching.com for the link to the contest.

Thanks,

Dannon and Jen

Doombot!

June 27, 2003

No Kidding?

CONGRATS! good job.

what did the cach container look like? how hard was the actual hide?

June 27, 2003

Cache container was small, but not micro and looked well done, like you would imagine it should look. (Yes, I'm being vauge.) It was an easy find (1/1.5 if it would have been daylight)...still can't belive we were first.

Doombot!

June 27, 2003

This is crazy, so which prize did you win again. The sporttrack color? do you get to pick? did you get anything else??

The Department of Redundancy Department

A geocache a day keeps the debtors away (cause your never home to take the call...)

June 28, 2003

Is this for real? What a plug for the game.

'Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain..

the.. Great..er..Oz has spoken.'

Frank Morgan, in MGM's The Wizard of Oz 1939

June 28, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Cheech Wizard:
Is this for real? What a plug for the game.

'Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain..

the.. Great..er..Oz has spoken.'

Frank Morgan, in MGM's The Wizard of Oz 1939

Look at their profile. I don't think anyone at Magellan registered here in Dec '01 just to setup a promo for this contest.

Now Feb '03.. Hmmm. Are you for real?

CK

--

Geocaching: The World's Finest Outdoor Geeking

"Oh, look at me. I'm off with my way cool friends to sniff floor wax." - Brian, 'My So-Called Life'

June 28, 2003

You know what would make this really cool, is if they required you to use something to get to the cache, like a....car maybe.

I hope they come to MN! I wonder if they'll notice I'm using a Garmin?

=====

It is the tale, not he who tells it."

June 28, 2003

Michigan, Anyone? Doesn't anybody ever come up here north of Detroit and Grand Rapids to Traverse City??? We have some of the most beautiful caching country around!

...Caching In on the Journey

{--Firefishe--}

---------------------------

The year is 2003.

The name is S.A. Brown.

BrowNAV (Brown Navigation)

---------------------------

June 28, 2003

Geeze.....the NY cache is on Long Island of all places...

As if everyone living out there couldnt afford to buy several of their own Color GPSr's...

I can understand locating it near NYC, due to the population, but you'ld they could have located it on the upstate side to give a bit more of the state a chance to find it....

Oh well, its still very cool that Magellan has done more than acknowledge that geocaching exists, they've started promoting it. Even though its probably in their own best interests to sell more consumer grade units.

Art

www.yankeetoys.org

www.BudBuilt.com

www.pirate4x4.com

June 28, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by pnew:
This is crazy, so which prize did you win again. The sporttrack color? do you get to pick? did you get anything else??

Don't know what prize will be, the scan is of a coupon that you send back to Magellan, then they send you one Grand Prize at random (there are 31 of them, per their web site.)

Thanks,

Doombot!

1.7k · June 28, 2003

Congratualtions Doombot, great show of iniative. I'll have to watch the Magellan page closer. I thought they would have dragged out the process a lot longer beofre posting the coordinates.

June 29, 2003

Why haven't they posted the CA coords yet? I think I broke my refresh button on my browser.

Ever notice how anyone that caches more than you do is a maniac, while anyone that caches less than you do is an idiot? -Dru Morgan

June 29, 2003

My guess is sometime Monday morning CA time(During Business hours). I think I've checked this about a million times too!

June 29, 2003

Just wish I didn't have to re-log in each time I refreshed the page.

June 29, 2003

From the contest site:

quote:
Magellan's GPS Treasure Hunt is open to legal residents of the 48 contiguous United States and the District of Columbia who have reached the age of majority in their state of residence.

Does this mean I can't play even if I fly down south for some fun?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have never been lost. Been awful confused for a few days, but never lost!

June 30, 2003

Anyone in Southern Cal looking for this? The coords are up, but nobody has posted it being found yet. Someone did post they were bushwhacking but couldn't find it.

Get out there and find it!

I'm predicting my neck of the woods will be next. They have 3 corners of the US, next will be Portland OR.

1.5k · June 30, 2003

Maybe the So. Cal'ers are looking for the BLING.

Brian

Team A.I.

June 30, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Brian - Team A.I.:
Maybe the So. Cal'ers are looking for the BLING.

Brian

Team A.I.

Nah, we were out there looking for it, but I don't think it was there. We had 7 people looking for nearly 3 hours and nada. Myself, DruMorgan, Ken (Ken & Jill), Geochasers and a few others couldn't come up with it. Between all of us we've got over 1300 finds. If it was there, it was REALLY well hidden!

"The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either." - Benjamin Franklin

July 1, 2003

Hate to say it, the Florida one was pretty easy. The web guy might have had a boo-boo when posting.

July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Doombot!:
Hate to say it, the Florida one was pretty easy. The web guy might have had a boo-boo when posting.

Yeah, that's what we were all thinking. I've tried to contact them but haven't heard anything back yet. I'm glad your experience was better than ours!

Here's what the area looks like...

July 1, 2003

I just left a voice mail with the PR department. I told them that about 50 geocachers will be out there tromping up the neighborhood with Magellan t-shirts on. When the neighbors call the police, and it hits the fan, everybody will tell them that Magellan told them to go there. I doubt seriously if Magellan got permission to hide a cache in that neighborhood, and this will be some bad press.

Ever notice how anyone that caches more than you do is a maniac, while anyone that caches less than you do is an idiot? -Dru Morgan

July 1, 2003

Well, they updated the coordinates which put it in someone's backyard. Even better! I checked back a few minutes later and now it's gone. They seem to have pulled the cache. Good idea. Better to stop this farce and start again with a whole new location!

"The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either." - Benjamin Franklin

July 1, 2003

Here is the latest.

The coords changed on Magellans site from N 33 35.36 to N 33 35.56

This puts them smack in someone's back yard.

I mentioned this on the Magellan forum on their site and they just pulled posting priveledges for 'regular maintenence' I think we got their attention.

Also, I spoke with Karen Carbonay (sp?) at Magellan, 408-615-5100, the Vice President in charge of this contest. She was very nice and had never heard anything about this confusion till I called her. She took my number and said after she finds out what the story is, she will call me.

Ever notice how anyone that caches more than you do is a maniac, while anyone that caches less than you do is an idiot? -Dru Morgan

3.1k · July 1, 2003

I hope they put one in my backyard! I"m moving soon, let the new people deal with the rest of you.

Well the mountain was so beautiful that this guy built a mall and a pizza shack

Yeah he built an ugly city because he wanted the mountain to love him back -- Dar Williams

July 1, 2003

Here's the latest from the website:

quote:
Notice to Geocaching contest participants in Southern California - We apologize for the inconvenience, but we have learned that the coordinates for the Moroccan treasure location are incorrect. The correct coordinates are being confirmed and will be posted as soon as they are available. In addition, we will reveal coordinates for a second and accurate treasure location in Southern California as well.

July 1, 2003

man, there goes my 'refresh' button again.

Ever notice how anyone that caches more than you do is a maniac, while anyone that caches less than you do is an idiot? -Dru Morgan

6.4k · July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Dru Morgan:
Here is the latest.

The coords changed on Magellans site from N 33 35.36 to N 33 35.56

This puts them smack in someone's back yard.

I mentioned this on the Magellan forum on their site and they just pulled posting priveledges for 'regular maintenence' I think we got their attention.

Also, I spoke with Karen Carbonay (sp?) at Magellan, 408-615-5100, the Vice President in charge of this contest. She was very nice and had never heard anything about this confusion till I called her. She took my number and said after she finds out what the story is, she will call me.

http://www.theheavenlyhost.com/dru/images/stealyourcache.gif Ever notice how anyone that caches more than you do is a maniac, while anyone that caches less than you do is an idiot? -http://www.theheavenlyhost.com/geocache

Maybe we can get someone at GARMIN to send Karen a little yellow Etrex? LOL!

Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon.

1.5k · July 1, 2003

Heh. <1/2 miles from a major freeway being the first hint. That narrows it down.

Brian

Team A.I.

[edit]

Interesting. It's about 1500' from I-5 in a park at the corner of Costeau St and Alicia Pkwy. In case nobody figured it out, I'm referring to the newly (re)placed Moroccan Treasure.

July 1, 2003

...pardon my ignorance,what datum are they using?

July 1, 2003

Just got off the phoen with Dru. He beat GeoChasers to it by about 10 seconds. Neither of them has a camera though.. hopefully some else who does will get there soon!

CK

--

Geocaching: The World's Finest Outdoor Geeking

"Oh, look at me. I'm off with my way cool friends to sniff floor wax." - Brian, 'My So-Called Life'

1.5k · July 1, 2003

Congrats Dru!

Looks like cache #4 was just posted in the last 15 minutes.

Destiny's Door - Just north of Santiago Oaks Regional Park.

Brian

Team A.I.

July 1, 2003

Watch out! It looks like they screwed up coords again! They have posted

N 33° 49.278 W 117° 45.78

But on the detailed map it shows as

33.4928/-117.4578

Come on Magellan! Get it right!

July 1, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by MedallionFamily:
Watch out! It looks like they screwed up coords again! They have posted

N 33° 49.278 W 117° 45.78

But on the detailed map it shows as

33.4928/-117.4578

Come on Magellan! Get it right!

Cache #4 just went offline. This is blowing up in their faces.

CK

--

Geocaching: The World's Finest Outdoor Geeking

"Oh, look at me. I'm off with my way cool friends to sniff floor wax." - Brian, 'My So-Called Life'

1.5k · July 1, 2003

Yeah, this doesn't look to be going so well for Magellan. I'm excited about the hunt, and look forward to an Arizona cache (or three), but they definitely could look to improve on how they do things.

Looks like double checking, verifying and re-verifying wasn't enough. :/

Y'know, Garmin could really capitalize on these snafus, by revealing a contest of their own and ensuring that ALL coordinates/clues are accurate at the time of posting. The marketing that Garmin could do it better would be priceless.

Brian

Team A.I.

July 1, 2003

Sounds like Magellan's Public Relations/Promotions Department needs someone from their Technical/Development Department to show them how to use their own product!

Visit the Mississippi Geocaching Forum at

http://pub98.ezboard.com/bgeocachingms

1.5k · July 1, 2003

NEVER let marketing in on a tech's job.

Brian

Team A.I.

1.5k · July 1, 2003

Looks like Moroccan Treasure was put back online. And Magellan finally noted which format the coordinates are SUPPOSED to be in.

quote:
**All Coordinates are in Deg° Min.Dec WGS-84

Brian

Team A.I.

July 1, 2003

Magellan seems more interested than Garmin in these sorts of events -- it's their logo on the CITO shirts, this contest is theirs, and the Sea to Sea Geocaching Challenge in the San Diego area recently was also Magellan-sponsored (and had three new color GPS vouchers involved). Don't see Garmin sponsoring anything geocaching-related. Makes me feel a bit left out, I'm a yellow eTrexer all the way... though I wouldn't say *no* to one of those new color Magellans if one fell in my lap...

1.5k · July 1, 2003

Quite true. However, Garmin was the first to truly support geocaching in the sense that they provided the Geocache Found/Not Found icons. I would like to see Garmin sponsor a contest like this as well.

Brian

Team A.I.

July 1, 2003

Dru you dog...

I knew we should have run those red lights...

And by 10 seconds...argh...

Congratulations to you and your lucky family!

Hey I haven't seen any posts by you...Could you have gone for two???

July 1, 2003

On the way home, I got the coordinates for the next one. I got to within .4 miles and decided that I didn't have the right shoes for the job. That second one is a hike. So, I called Ventura Kids, who was driving north from San Diego. Last call I got, he had the winning ticket in hand. I would have felt too greedy if I bogarted both CA prizes in one day. Congrats to VK, and CurlyKrakow, who told me about the contest, and all in #geocache who lent a hand on the cell phone. I am at a stop on the way home. Traffic is crazy. When I get all the way home, I'll post more and tell the story.

Ever notice how anyone that caches more than you do is a maniac, while anyone that caches less than you do is an idiot? -Dru Morgan

Magellan Thales / Geocaching Adventures - Prizes!

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