Guest ScottJ Posted January 9, 2001 Share Posted January 9, 2001 Since we have the geocaching.com web site as a central geocache posting facility, has anyone ever considered assigning a unique, say, four-digit number to each cache posted? My thinking is this -- when I enter a cache into my GPS, I have to give it a 6-character name. (Thanks, Garmin.) Not many of the cache names currently out there will fit in 6 characters, and some caches just flat don't HAVE names, other than "Geocache by Jim Pate", etc. If we assigned every cache a number as it was posted, though, then folks could enter them in the GPS as, say, "GC2025". The number would be posted on the web site with the cache name. That way, I could print out the list of local caches with numbers, and when my GPS tells me I'm near "GC3321", I could refer to the list and see that it's the "Hog's Head Lantern Mantle Cache" right away. There'd be a direct link between the cache entry on the web site and the waypoint name. Starting all the numbers with GC, or something similar, would ensure that they all sort together in the GPS's waypoint list, making them easy to find and keep track of. A unique identifying number like this would also help if someone eventually automates the process of downloading cache coordinates into either GPS's or files -- there'd be a preset waypoint name. Comments? [This message has been edited by ScottJ (edited 01-09-2001).] Quote Link to comment
Guest makaio Posted January 9, 2001 Share Posted January 9, 2001 n Marsh cache is MTMRSH in my Garmin. Regardless of what they are called on the website, or what number they have, all that matters is that the name or number you give it makes sense to you. Heck, as long as the coords are correct, imho, the name is irrelevent Quote Link to comment
Guest makaio Posted January 9, 2001 Share Posted January 9, 2001 n Marsh cache is MTMRSH in my Garmin. Regardless of what they are called on the website, or what number they have, all that matters is that the name or number you give it makes sense to you. Heck, as long as the coords are correct, imho, the name is irrelevent Quote Link to comment
Guest Mike_Teague Posted January 10, 2001 Share Posted January 10, 2001 I used to keep my cache waypoints named with an S, the 2 letter state, and a 3 digit number.. i.e. SWA001 SOR002 etc. etc. I think mountain marsh was SWA004. keeps em all alphabetical when yer searchin in the GPS ... Quote Link to comment
Guest Guest Posted January 10, 2001 Share Posted January 10, 2001 Originally posted by ScottJ:My thinking is this -- when I enter a cache into my GPS, I have to give it a 6-character name. (Thanks, Garmin.) hip hip hooray for Garmin. ;-( Originally posted by ScottJ:If we assigned every cache a number as it was posted, though, then folks could enter them in the GPS as, say, "GC2025". sounds reasonable but there will only be 9999 possible caches under this scheme. I wopuld prefer to count in hex rather than decimal. Quote Link to comment
Guest jeremy Posted January 10, 2001 Share Posted January 10, 2001 Man. That's super smart. Hex it is. Added a "Waypoint entry:" on the cache detail page. It takes the cache ID and converts it to Hex, appending "GC" on the front of it. As long as we don't have more than 65,000 caches, we'll be ok with 6 digit names. Jeremy Quote Link to comment
Guest n7evj Posted February 8, 2001 Share Posted February 8, 2001 Okay, let's think big, here. If you combine the 26 letters of the alphabet with the 10 numbers, 4 places gives you a total of 1,679,616 unique ID's. THAT more than I'll ever find..... Mark Quote Link to comment
+cachew nut Posted February 14, 2003 Share Posted February 14, 2003 quote:Originally posted by jeremy:Man. That's super smart. Hex it is. Added a "Waypoint entry:" on the cache detail page. It takes the cache ID and converts it to Hex, appending "GC" on the front of it. As long as we don't have more than 65,000 caches, we'll be ok with 6 digit names. Jeremy I'd stay away from the "GC" in front of the number. Some time in the future it will come back to bite you. Quote Link to comment
Moun10Bike Posted February 14, 2003 Share Posted February 14, 2003 That's crazy talk! We'll never have more than 65,000 caches! Quote Link to comment
+Team GPSaxophone Posted February 14, 2003 Share Posted February 14, 2003 Um...isn't the GCxxxx already a unique numbering system for caches? Quote Link to comment
+Gloom Posted February 14, 2003 Share Posted February 14, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Team GPSaxophone:Um...isn't the GCxxxx already a unique numbering system for caches? Read the dates of the posts, the original thread was started in january of 2001, before the GC numbering system was in place. ---- Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together. Quote Link to comment
+ArkansasBugman Posted February 14, 2003 Share Posted February 14, 2003 As of today, there are 42359 active caches. Quote Link to comment
+Team GPSaxophone Posted February 15, 2003 Share Posted February 15, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Gloom:Read the dates of the posts, the original thread was started in january of 2001, before the GC numbering system was in place. Ah, yes... Now how did this post get Resurrected? Quote Link to comment
+Mopar Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 With the forums scrambling the old posts with the new, here is the old post at the root of our current problem with running out of waypoints! Shoulda listened to n7evj, Jeremy! Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon. Quote Link to comment
+Rygel Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 Man, this really confused me!! I was like what is this guy talking about? That's how we do it!! Then I checked the date. Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 Funny though. Back they they probably never envisioned 60,000+ caches. "An appeaser is one who keeps feeding a crocodile-hoping it will eat him last" -Winston Churchill Quote Link to comment
Dinoprophet Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 It's like some bizarre time warp. There's another thread on the front page that contains the origin of "You are the search engine". "Winter's just the curtain. Spring will take the bow" -- Richard Shindell, Spring Quote Link to comment
CacheNCarryMA Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 I don't know how they're ever gonna sort out the election mess in Florida. Does it really matter if Bush or Gore wins?!? ...oh, it's not really 2001 anymore? Nevermind. That's, like, so two years ago! Quote Link to comment
+The Leprechauns Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 One of the most interesting things about shuffling really old topics up to the front pages is how they illustrate that there's a lot of topics that have been discussed many times before! Hopefully more people will find the search feature in the new forums to be a more useful tool, and will look for prior discussions before starting a new thread. I'm a Markwell wannabe.... I like to see the history of the thinking on a subject before I form my own opinion. I'd rather see old threads bumped up to the top than to have opinions scattered amongst multiple threads. x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x I was formerly employed by the Department of Redundancy Department, but I don't work there anymore. Quote Link to comment
+mtn-man Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 HA, funny that the guy who suggested the GCxxxx number and the slogan that was finally adopted is a Georgia Geocacher! Way to go ScottJ! Quote Link to comment
+Team Mixster Posted March 30, 2003 Share Posted March 30, 2003 Well, I hid my fifth yesterday and the waypoint was GCEE9E, so we're getting close... Here it is: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=61086 Quote Link to comment
+beatnik Posted March 30, 2003 Share Posted March 30, 2003 quote:Originally posted by BrianSnat:Funny though. Back they they probably never envisioned 60,000+ caches. 640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, 1981 beatnik Quote Link to comment
+Markwell Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Actually, Cachew Nut found this thread and replied to it just recently, which may explain why it's at the top. But his and Moun10Bike's replies aren't here. From my memory... Cachew Nut: You might want to rethink that "GC" in the beginning. It might come back to bite you. Moun10Bike: 65,000 caches? That's crazy talk. Markwell Chicago Geocaching Quote Link to comment
+cachew nut Posted March 31, 2003 Share Posted March 31, 2003 Yeah right, quit trying to blame me for everything Quote Link to comment
+Team Mixster Posted April 12, 2003 Share Posted April 12, 2003 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=63121 GCF691 Has the question of what comes after 'GC' already been answered? -Mixster Quote Link to comment
+GOT GPS? Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 GD? GE would give another 65535 caches, but the Server would automatically add 65535 to the GC list to give you a range of 65536 to 131072 I believe Quote Link to comment
+GOT GPS? Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 Less than 2318 caches left on the GC numbering system So the next one should be GD or GE Also old Caches that never had any Found logs could be resusitated. Quote Link to comment
flat_lander Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 I'll post this again here even though I posted it another similar thread... Keep leading GC... For the rest go to... *Drum Roll*... heptadecimal. "No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible." -George Burns Quote Link to comment
+Lil Devil Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 The new numbering system can be found here. Lil Devil Quote Link to comment
+jtice Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 I have an etrex Vista, and it lets me have 10 digit names,,, altthough i have to shorten them and be creative. I see how a main numbering system would be nice,,, BUT ,,, I dont like naming things with numbers, i cant tell what they are without looking them up. I recomend u do what I do: format all your cache names as such: C-VALFAL , C-RIVER , C-PARK2, etc. That way you can keep all your caches together when viewd in alphibetical order,, and know what the waypoint is by the "C" I do the same for benchmarks. ::: B-JX1800, etc. Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted April 14, 2003 Share Posted April 14, 2003 quote:Originally posted by jtice: I recomend u do what I do: format all your cache names as such: C-VALFAL , C-RIVER , C-PARK2, etc. Sounds like a good job for a computer. GPSBabel can automatically give your waypoints sensible names based on the unit it's talking to. It knows how to preserve trailing digits, drop vowels, and so on to make somthing that's readable, but still guaranteed to be unique. I do believe that Spinner and Watcher have similar facilities, but I don't know if they allow direct upload to your receiver... Quote Link to comment
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