Gc Benchmark Radius Searches

[+DBleess]

Has the 30mi radius search option been disabled for benchmarks?

 

I used to be able to append &dist=30 to a coordinte search url and it would give me a 30 mile radius listing.

 

Can I get it back?

 

Is there a new/revised way to do it now?

 

[+rogbarn]

Has the 30mi radius search option been disabled for benchmarks?

 

I used to be able to append &dist=30 to a coordinte search url and it would give me a 30 mile radius listing.

 

Can I get it back?

 

Is there a new/revised way to do it now?

 

It was lost when Jeremy updated the benchmarking section. It has been mentioned several times. Another example of something left over from those changes that we've been asking for with no response.

[Max Cacher]

No response does not mean they do not hear us, they do, as do they hear all the other request from the other areas, but they all have there hands full right now just trying to make the site better to login, if you can’t do that then what. We are at the bottom of the list right now for changes and updates but we are not forgotten about and our turn will come again as it did last time , please be understanding.

 

Tennessee Geocacher // Reviewer // Moderator

[+rogbarn]

No response does not mean they do not hear us, they do, as do they hear all the other request from the other areas, but they all have there hands full right now just trying to make the site better to login, if you can’t do that then what. We are at the bottom of the list right now for changes and updates but we are not forgotten about and our turn will come again as it did last time , please be understanding.

 

Tennessee Geocacher // Reviewer // Moderator

I wonder. On 2/12 at 1:38 PM, Jeremy posted that he had made significant changes to the benchmarking section and wanted feedback. At 2:28 PM I mentioned (among other things) that the distance parameter didn't work any more. It was also mentioned other times. See this forum topic.

I understand that there are more pressing problems right now. But once started, why couldn't the original job have been finished before moving on to the next one?

[Max Cacher]

My dad would always say you can’t beat a dead horse too much, but what good does it do, so lets move on and wait they will look over here again when its our turn they have seen all the request posted some are possible and some not. Unless we want to keep them away, you can get a lot more done with honey than with a hammer.

 

Just my personal thoughts

 

Tennessee Geocacher

[+DBleess]

Well, I'd say it probably doesn't hurt our cause to keep mentioning it in hopes of keeping the topic alive. I didn't find anything in my initial search so I started the new thread.

 

Jeremy et.al. needs to know that we still miss this capability and care about getting the feature back ASAP. If I go on vacation and want to hunt new marks, I want to see what's interesting and unfound in a decent travel radius.

 

What we have now is just too small to be useful. I have to run many of the smaller circles to get similar coverage and it is just too labor intensive to make it worthwhile.

 

Like anything else, if a change is popular enough then I'd say it is going to get more priority and attention than something that seems to gain little in the way of making the site's members happy.

 

It's also well worth mentioning as we post that I am (we are) premium paying members and something simple like this is a feature that is part of why we support the site with memberships and purchases of merchandise.

 

Making your interests be heard is part of the solution.

 

Which reminds me, I've got to go update a post about travel bug searches.

 

-Why is it so common for "upgrades" in the computer world to break good features?

[+Black Dog Trackers]

Getting a bigger, or variable, search would be nice, I agree. However, I'd MUCH rather plan benchmark searches with the map, as I described here.

 

Zoom to whatever level you want! Pan around from there, zoom in on a likely area, etc. No doubt there would have to be some limits, we don't want some user sucking up 700,000 benchmarks just to see how the U.S. map looks like with all of them plotted on it. Anyway, it would be efficient and cool.

 

On the limit point, I never even tried the 30 mile radius. In my area, there's 2,000 PIDs in the old 10 mile radius. 30 miles would've bogged everything down too much with no realistic value in searching it all right away. So the 30 mile radius trick is probably not as good as perhaps a 500 PID variable radius. That would take some more clever programming I suppose.

 

It is a valid point that we must wait our turn. Benchmarking is a small part of what the GC site is all about, we must admit. It's a side dish. We just received a big improvement last February. It won't be 'our' turn for awhile, I imagine.

 

We can have loads of fun benchmark hunting while we wait for the next benchmark area programming phase.

 

If you're planning a vacation or any benchmark hunting expedition, I suggest 3 things:

 

1. Use this site to find local high points, waterfalls, towns, craters, and all kinds of interesting places to start benchmark hunting. Type the coordinates into the Geocaching benchmark hunting search page.

 

2. Use an online map like triscape that will show latitude and longitude. Some show it with a mouseover, this one uses a right-click. You can punch in these coordinates into the benchmark hunting search page.

 

3. Use the GC map (the one that comes up with a benchmark PID. I 'ride the geocaches' by zooming out the map, panning with the map to an interesting looking area, and then zoom in on an area, click on "Identify" the get a list of the local geocaches, click on one, and click on "Nearest Benchmarks" on that geocache's page.

[+DBleess]

This is not the creation of any NEW or earthshattering function. They had it once before, and the function already exists with caches, I'm just asking that it be reextended back into benchmarks.

 

I already do what you (black dog trackers) are talking about...MANUALLY, OFFLINE, and in even more detail. I do this for *four* 60mi diameter circles around home.

 

I've got the offsite NOAA downloads. I need the GC data periodically every three months or so (plus the rare occasions I go "out of area") only for find log status changes and PDA updates. I've been doing my data update work on roughly one of the circles every three months as time and motivation allows.

 

I'm already permanently tracking around 2,600 marks in about a 60 mile radius.

 

I fold in status information from the find logs to let me know what is nearby and worth doing when I'm out after caches or other errands and trips.

 

I'm relatively hard-core, but I don't normally plan to go after marks. They are a convenient added bonus to wherever I may find myself in the area caching or otherwise.

 

With a laptop, I am freed from the need for the GC site once I have my data downloaded, installed, and relatively current which goes much faster on a 30mi diameter GC search. In three months around here, there are relatively few find logs so I can easily keep the "big" searches to a minimum. They had in the past normally taken less than 15 seconds.

 

For my data procedures, read my page to see what I do and how I do it. It's work, but the end result big picture is worth it.

 

http://members.cox.net/dmbleess/geocache/benchmarks.htm

 

These are sample images of the map final product:

 

http://members.cox.net/deleess/geocaching/4x30mi.jpg

http://members.cox.net/deleess/geocaching/zm4x30mi.jpg

 

Keep in mind, the Street Atlas software zooms right in to neighborhoodstreet/alley detail. This is functionality (and portability) that GC will be hard pressed to EVER get to.

 

With enough effort though, the hard core of us can get there now with some minor help and simply a RESTORATION of an old function.

 

FYI, this is an excerpt from my page that explains meanings of the symbols:

 

GPS Icon = = Street Atlas Icon = = Benchmark Type

 

Skull = = Green Star = = Normal Unfound

First Aid = = Yellow Square = = Special Find Problems

Dot / Circle with X * = = Red X = = Found / Documented

Deer = = Big Aqua Dot = = Mark removed / found monument

Camp = = Purple Triangle = = Needs Better Documentation

 

The * note and discrepancy is because EASY GPS 1.2.5 has a translation error in the code. The Circle With X doesn't upload to the GPS 48 properly so it sends as a Dot instead. When this is fixed, I will use the Circle with X instead.

[+DBleess]

Any chance the 30mi search can be reenabled yet? Or at least something bigger than what we have now? 10-15 miles? Any kind of reliable radius is better than nothing.

[evenfall]

DBleess,

 

Go here: http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/datasheet.prl

 

Click the Benchmark Button.

 

On the new page click the second option, Radial Search. Apply your center coordinate and radius and enter...

 

And you can use this functionality today. Plus the Data is up to date.

 

Enjoy.

 

Roger, Well Said. A response from Jeremy would be simply put, Good Business.

 

Rob

[+Raggs]

If all else fails, you can do what I do. I download from the national archives, trim it down to the county of interest. The results of the county I run through Watcher and then filter it with the limits I choose. I live in the San Dimas quadrant of California, so I filtered out all but San Dimas quadrant. 191 Benchmarks. I drop this into GSAK where I then transfer it to my palm which is running Cachemate for my benchmark hunting. I use the watcher results to download my GPS and I am off and running. We are only talking about 7 minutes North to South and East to West. Just a little bit less than 30 miles. After I finish the San Dimas Sector I go to Ontario and then to Baldwin Park, etc...

[Jeremy]

I re-added the dist=30 feature to the nearest page for benchmarks.

 

In the future, please submit requests to the Geocaching.com discussion forum since that is really the only area I read on a daily basis. Sorry I didn't implement this sooner.

[+PFF]

I've noticed something different, this evening. If you click a photo in the gallery, you get the log. However, you cannot get to the data sheet by clicking the link at the top of the page.

 

I discovered this a few minutes ago and thought I had made an error while uploading. However, I tested it on some other BM hunters' entries and got the same result.

 

-Paul-

[holograph]

I've noticed something different, this evening. If you click a photo in the gallery, you get the log. However, you cannot get to the data sheet by clicking the link at the top of the page.

 

I discovered this a few minutes ago and thought I had made an error while uploading. However, I tested it on some other BM hunters' entries and got the same result.

Yup, that's the same problem I noted in the HEY JEREMY thread. But if Jeremy rarely looks at this forum, I wonder how to properly get his attention? Email?

[evenfall]

Holograph,

 

Jeremy hasn't mentioned it in this forum until yesterday, but he has mentioned it in other forums that the only forum he reads daily or with regularity is this one:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=8

 

That is the Geocaching Website Forum.

 

He asks that people bring their problems and requests there.

 

He has also mentioned in the past that he is pretty selective about his daily email, so the forum post would still likely be the best bet.

 

Rob

Edited January 18, 2005 by evenfall

[ArtMan]

I've noticed something different, this evening.  If you click a photo in the gallery, you get the log. However, you cannot get to the data sheet by clicking the link at the top of the page.

Yes, there is something messed up with the coding. For example, the link http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=WRENTHAM CONG CH SPIRE should instead end with PID=AA0000, i.e. the actual PID, not the station designation.

 

-ArtMan-

[holograph]

I just reposted my message to the Geocaching.com website forum.

[+DBleess]

DBleess,

 

Go here:  http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/datasheet.prl

 

Click the Benchmark Button.

 

On the new page click the second option, Radial Search.  Apply your center coordinate and radius and enter...

 

And you can use this functionality today.  Plus the Data is up to date. 

 

Enjoy.

 

Roger, Well Said.  A response from Jeremy would be simply put, Good Business. 

 

Rob

 

I was already doing that and using ExpertGPS too.

 

The reason I wanted the GC equivalent was so I could see the ones that had been logged by the GC users. NGS NOAA doesn't track that...YET *evil grin*

 

Thanks Jeremy