Update the FAQ?

[Guest Markwell]

While trying out the new forums mentioned here, I mused that the FAQs for Geocaching could probably stand an update.

 

Here a short list of the questions I've seen in the forums pretty frequently and a version of the answers...

 

What do those blue barrels mean?

Those are cache types. To get a full description of each type, click here. (Clicking on the barrel on the individual cache page works, too.)

 

MapBlast shows the coordinates in decimal format. How do I convert?

Take the integer (whole number) - positive is North and East, negative is South and West - and set it aside. The remaining decimals would be multiplied times sixty to get minutes. Example: the Sears Tower in Chicago is located at 41.878928° -87.636415°. For the latitude start with N41° (41.xxxxxx). Then take the remainder x 60 (0.878928 x 60 = 52.73568) and round to three decimals (52.736). Therefore the latitude for the Sears Tower in Chicago is N41° 52.736. Longitude would be W087° 38.185.

 

Why WGS-84 and HDD(D)° MM.MMM datum and format?

Because that's how most GPS receivers are set coming out of the box. Using this setting will be less likely to confuse new GPSR owners.

 

I enetered the coordinates for a new cache, but the map doesn't match up with the actual location. What am I doing wrong?

Most likely the coordinates are in the wrong format or datum. See above question on converting format and make sure your GPSR uses WGS-84. There is, however, a slight variation in the Topozone maps.

 

What are "signature items?"

Signature items are items that you personally put in every cache. It could be something quirky like a pin or a stupid little cracker jack compass or even a silver dollar. It is a way of marking that you've been to that particular cache for the next person who sees it.

 

What's a spoiler?

A spoiler is a person or comment that gives away too much information. Example: "I found this cache easily once I walked around the tree with the blue paint on it. It was hiding under the large flat green rock on the northeast side." Both the person logging this find and the log itself would be deemed "spoilers."

 

How are Waypoint Names Generated?

It's the number of the cache (deteremined by order posted) in hexadecimal format. Hexadecimal is used because a lot of GPSRs only allow for 6-letter waypoint names. Two of these spaces are used up by "GC," leaving 4 for unique identification. Hexadecimal allows for 65,536 unique identifers in these 4 spaces rather than the mere 10,000 that base 10 would allow.

 

I stole this from a forum where Moun10Bike answered better than anything I could - but it sounds a little complex for an FAQ answer. It might need to be simplified for FAQ to something along these lines:

 

"Each cache is assigned a number based on the order in which it is posted - e.g. Secret Lava Bed, the oldest active cache, is number 5. This number is translated into a code GC**** (GC5 for Secret Lava Bed) and this unique code is just another way of identifying the individual caches. It has six characters because most GPSRs only allow six characters per waypoint."

 

How do I make the "°" symbol when typing?

On PCs - hold down the Alt key and on the numeric keypad on the right of the keyboard, type 0176. When you release the Alt Key, a ° should be there.

On Macs - option shift 8

 

Anyone else got a question they see here a little too often?

 

[This message has been edited by Markwell (edited 08 August 2001).]

[Guest david.april]

Great start.

 

How about:

 

Q: Which GPS unit should I buy?

A: (provide links to some of the many discussions where people weigh in with their favorite features...)

 

Perhaps you could go through the archives of the gpsstash mailing list and sci.geo.satellite-nav newsgroup to pick up some more?

 

Dave

[Guest Peter Scholtz]

There are topics such as Panorama and Features Wish List which aren't appropriate for the general FAQ - how about an additional Technical FAQ?

 

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Peter Scholtz

www.biometrics.co.za

[Guest Markwell]

David - Personally, I think anytime someone utters the phrase "Which GPS?", they should directed to the "GPS Units and Software" discussion area. It would make sense not to have that topic locked in stone like an FAQ because the technology keeps advancing quickly. My opinion on FAQs is that this is information that doesn't readily change, and will be as relavent 2 years from now as it has been in the past.

 

Peter - I'm all for a techno-FAQ about the site, maybe some cursory HTML for those creative cache pages and of course the Pano stuff (which I still can't get to load the particular applet class).

 

However, I think the basic FAQ needs some updating to cover the questions that Neocachers keep asking over and over.

[Guest Markwell]

that these receivers are not all that accurate. There is considerable debate over the necessity of averaging when hiding a cache, but many have found that it does seem to increase the accuracy of their coordinates.

 

Some GPS receivers automatically average their position over time. The longer they sit still the more accurate they are. If that's the case, just let the GPSR sit long enough to get a good reading.

 

If your GPSR does not automatically average, here's the most commonly used method of manual averaging:

 

Take a reading of the cache's coordinates (write them down) and then walk away about 30-40 meters. Then walk back to the cache site and take another reading. How many times you do this will reflect on how many numbers you'll be averaging, and should correlate directly with how accurate your final numbers are. If you have a fair amount of time to spend at the cache site, you could also turn off the GPS receiver in between readings (while you are away from the cache). This will force the GPSR to reacquire the sattelites.

 

Once you have a sufficient number of readings, average the numbers separately, i.e. average all of the longitudes and use that number, and then all of the latitudes and use that number.

 

As a final test, turn off the GPSR, walk a good deal away from the cache, and walk back using the averaged number as a target on the GPSR. This should give you a good idea of what others will experience in searching for the cache.

 

Boy, that was too long

[Guest Markwell]

that these receivers are not all that accurate. There is considerable debate over the necessity of averaging when hiding a cache, but many have found that it does seem to increase the accuracy of their coordinates.

 

Some GPS receivers automatically average their position over time. The longer they sit still the more accurate they are. If that's the case, just let the GPSR sit long enough to get a good reading.

 

If your GPSR does not automatically average, here's the most commonly used method of manual averaging:

 

Take a reading of the cache's coordinates (write them down) and then walk away about 30-40 meters. Then walk back to the cache site and take another reading. How many times you do this will reflect on how many numbers you'll be averaging, and should correlate directly with how accurate your final numbers are. If you have a fair amount of time to spend at the cache site, you could also turn off the GPS receiver in between readings (while you are away from the cache). This will force the GPSR to reacquire the sattelites.

 

Once you have a sufficient number of readings, average the numbers separately, i.e. average all of the longitudes and use that number, and then all of the latitudes and use that number.

 

As a final test, turn off the GPSR, walk a good deal away from the cache, and walk back using the averaged number as a target on the GPSR. This should give you a good idea of what others will experience in searching for the cache.

 

Boy, that was too long

[Guest mookie]

oops, wrong thread.

 

mookie the newbie

 

[This message has been edited by mookie (edited 17 January 2002).]

[Guest Markwell]

Thanks for bumping it up though

 

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Markwell

My Geocache Page

Non omnes vagi perditi sunt

[Guest Markwell]

Thanks for bumping it up though

 

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

Markwell

My Geocache Page

Non omnes vagi perditi sunt

[Guest geospotter]

Please add something (to either the FAQ page or at the start of the forums) to the effect of "before you ask a question please do a search of the forums to see if it has already been asked/answered."

[Guest jdbyrnes]

quote:

---

Originally posted by geospotter:

Please add something (to either the FAQ page or at the start of the forums) to the effect of "before you ask a question please do a search of the forums to see if it has already been asked/answered."

---

 

Or the reverse, a note on the forum that says to read the FAQ before posting..

[Guest P38manCdn]

I think the present FAQ page is mostly technical concerning this web site.

 

I think what is need is a NEWBIE - README FIRST FAQ page that is a little more organized than the Getting Started postings. It should contain explanations and maybe links to the most asked or talked about theme posting.

 

Do you think this would reduce the number of repeated themes?

[Guest Markwell]

Currently there are 3 FAQs.

 

One is for the forums and is technical in nature.

 

There is also the Official Geocaching FAQ.

 

And finally, my Unofficial Update to the FAQ, although I'm having ISP problems at the moment.

 

I tried to gleen as many of the oft repeated questions to my FAQ as I could, but I know I'm missing a few. I've also got a few updates waiting offline to upload.

 

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Markwell

My Geocache Page

Non omnes vagi perditi sunt

[Guest khearn]

OK, here's a question from a newbie that I'm sure is an FAQ.

 

What do the difficulty/terrain rating mean?

 

I know it's 1-5 where 1 is easiest and 5 is hardest. And I looked at the page for logging a newly placed cache and found the link to the form that will tell you difficulty anf terrain values if you answer the questions.

That's great (really, it's a great page!) for converting *to* a number, but how about something that will convert a number into a rough description? How tough can I expect "2" terrain to be? Does a "4" difficulty mean to bring a shovel? I'm sure I can find plenty of discussions if I search through the forums, but this really should be covered in a FAQ.

 

Even something like:

 

Difficulty:

1: in plain sight

2: Hidden in a bush, under branches, etc, but there's really only one place it can be once you're close

...

5: Bring a shovel, metal detector and a bloodhound.

 

Terrain:

1: Wheelchair accessable.

2: Easy to get to, a toddler should be able to get to it.

...

5: You do have technical climbing gear/scuba certification, don't you?

 

I'm a newbie (found my first cache yesterday!), so I don't know what to expect numbers to mean, but I'm sure you folk could come up with appropriate values. I suspect you already have, but they should be easily available for newbies. Ideally there should be a link from the cache description pages.

 

Thanks,

 

Keith

 

Now I'm off to search the forums for the answers to my FAQ.

[Guest khearn]

OK, here's a question from a newbie that I'm sure is an FAQ.

 

What do the difficulty/terrain rating mean?

 

I know it's 1-5 where 1 is easiest and 5 is hardest. And I looked at the page for logging a newly placed cache and found the link to the form that will tell you difficulty anf terrain values if you answer the questions.

That's great (really, it's a great page!) for converting *to* a number, but how about something that will convert a number into a rough description? How tough can I expect "2" terrain to be? Does a "4" difficulty mean to bring a shovel? I'm sure I can find plenty of discussions if I search through the forums, but this really should be covered in a FAQ.

 

Even something like:

 

Difficulty:

1: in plain sight

2: Hidden in a bush, under branches, etc, but there's really only one place it can be once you're close

...

5: Bring a shovel, metal detector and a bloodhound.

 

Terrain:

1: Wheelchair accessable.

2: Easy to get to, a toddler should be able to get to it.

...

5: You do have technical climbing gear/scuba certification, don't you?

 

I'm a newbie (found my first cache yesterday!), so I don't know what to expect numbers to mean, but I'm sure you folk could come up with appropriate values. I suspect you already have, but they should be easily available for newbies. Ideally there should be a link from the cache description pages.

 

Thanks,

 

Keith

 

Now I'm off to search the forums for the answers to my FAQ.

[Guest Markwell]

od idea to link I will also link it and write out the text on my own Update to the FAQ.

 

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

Markwell

My Geocache Page

Non omnes vagi perditi sunt

[Guest ClayJar]

quote:

---

Originally posted by khearn:

...how about something that will convert a number into a rough description? How tough can I expect "2" terrain to be? Does a "4" difficulty mean to bring a shovel?

---

Basically, if you just hit "Rate cache" on the rating calculator, you can see the descriptions, but what's really supposed to happen is the hider gets the suggested rating from the calculator, and then they go on to describe it in words (i.e. you shouldn't need to look it up).

 

As for the shovel, no, you should definitely not need to bring a shovel, as buried caches are a very, very big no-no. Now, there are a very select few cases where a cache might legitimately be buried, but they are generally discouraged very strongly, as we don't want rangers thinking geocaching is a "buried treasure" game. (Some have and have actually banned geocaching because of that false impression .)

 

Oh, and the other thing is that star ratings tend to vary quite widely depending on region and hider. A cache that might rate a 2/3 in Utah might be interpreted as a 3.5/4 by a Louisiana cacher (it's flat around here).

 

[This message has been edited by ClayJar (edited 20 January 2002).]

[Guest MrHaywire]

Address for a lat long calculator

 

http://www.directionsmag.com/latlong.asp

 

MrHaywire & Co.

 

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"Remember you may have to grow old, but you don't have to mature."

[Guest jfitzpat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Markwell:

 

[snip]

 

 

I enetered the coordinates for a new cache, but the map doesn't match up with the actual location. What am I doing wrong?

Most likely the coordinates are in the wrong format or datum. See above question on converting format and make sure your GPSR uses WGS-84. There is, however, a slight variation in the Topozone maps.

---

 

I hate to nitpick, but the Topozone shift isn't nec. slight. Around LA is generally a city block or two. I offered to give an Active Server Component (w/source) for WGS-84 -> NAD-27 conversion, both in email and in another thread, but never heard back.

 

Also, the marker seems client side drawn when I access Topozone and it shifts around (both with IE 6 at home and IE 5.5 at work) another 20 yards or so. I sent a snippet of script to Topozone that should (theoretically) fix that shift, but again, never heard back.

 

I guess I'm just a bit more anal retentive about this stuff than most

 

-jjf

[Guest jfitzpat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Markwell:

 

[snip]

 

 

I enetered the coordinates for a new cache, but the map doesn't match up with the actual location. What am I doing wrong?

Most likely the coordinates are in the wrong format or datum. See above question on converting format and make sure your GPSR uses WGS-84. There is, however, a slight variation in the Topozone maps.

---

 

I hate to nitpick, but the Topozone shift isn't nec. slight. Around LA is generally a city block or two. I offered to give an Active Server Component (w/source) for WGS-84 -> NAD-27 conversion, both in email and in another thread, but never heard back.

 

Also, the marker seems client side drawn when I access Topozone and it shifts around (both with IE 6 at home and IE 5.5 at work) another 20 yards or so. I sent a snippet of script to Topozone that should (theoretically) fix that shift, but again, never heard back.

 

I guess I'm just a bit more anal retentive about this stuff than most

 

-jjf