Team MJDJ Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 As a neophyte "Cacher" I have a few questions that could not be answered through the FAQ's. First of all...Is it possible to enjoy this "sport" without a GPS? It seems that many of the caches I have looked at are quite specific regarding their locations...at least the ones near to me, anyway! Secondly...this "EasyGPS Software"....*^$%@#&! Why can't I download the proper waypoint co-ordinates from the GeoCaching site? All I ever get is some stupid "index.htm" file instead of a USEFUL *.loc file!!!! I AM a Geocaching.com member, complete with validated address and all that but whenever I click on the "download EasyGPS co-ordinates" I get nothing but crap... Any help would be appreciated! Tx! Quote Link to comment
+georgeandmary Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 If you can find it without the gps then go for it. george Pedal until your legs cramp up and then pedal some more. Quote Link to comment
+rayt333 Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 Yes this can be done as long as you have the proper maps that you can use to plot the coordinates and then use the maps to locate the correct spot. This may be more difficult if you just plan on using the clues and hints to find the spot. Also if you are a member then go into the Pocket query page and setup a query (up to five) and they will mail the proper files on the days you want them mailed to you. Quote Link to comment
+Mopar Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by MarcG:As a neophyte "Cacher" I have a few questions that could not be answered through the FAQ's. First of all...Is it possible to enjoy this "sport" without a GPS? It seems that many of the caches I have looked at are quite specific regarding their locations...at least the ones near to me, anyway! Go for it! There are some cachers here (Web-ling, WaldenRun) who have hundreds of finds without a GPS. Just need to be good with maps and compass. Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon. Quote Link to comment
+Prime Suspect Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by MarcG: Secondly...this "EasyGPS Software"....*^$%@#&! Why can't I download the proper waypoint co-ordinates from the GeoCaching site? All I ever get is some stupid "index.htm" file instead of a USEFUL *.loc file!!!! I AM a Geocaching.com member, complete with validated address and all that but whenever I click on the "download EasyGPS co-ordinates" I get nothing but crap... What browser are you using? Quote Link to comment
Team MJDJ Posted February 10, 2003 Author Share Posted February 10, 2003 Thanks for the answers, I am STILL having trouble downloading the EasyGPS co-ordinates. I am using IE 5.5 Whenever I click the "Download to EasyGPS for Groundspeak" all I get is a file called "Cache Details.aspx.html"... WHY...i ask....WHY!? Quote Link to comment
+Poindexter Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 For downloading, when you click to download, in the pop-up window select "open this file from its current location". Then you'll get another pop-up window, select "save this file to disk". Name the file and it will save as .loc which you can then open in easygps. Quote Link to comment
+Maclir Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 >I am using IE 5.5 Why? IE 5.5 is full of bugs, doesn't support the current HTML and CSS standards, and has security holes in it. Upgrade to IE 6.0 SP1 from the Microsoft.com site. It may not solve your EasyGPS downloading problem, but it may prevent other more serious problems. Quote Link to comment
+Planet Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 You can do this without a GPS. As Mopar mentioned WaldenRun does not use a GPS and has found to date 588 caches. See this page: WaldenRun's find list As for Easy GPS, read the above post that explains how to open it. Cache you later, Planet "You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'" - Dave Barry Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Whenever I use EasyGPS I click on download, then I get "Open from it's present location or save" then I get it again. Both times I say open from it's present location. That loads the file right into Easygps then I immediatly download the waypoints into my GPS which is the point of having easygps. If I don't happen to want to do that immediatly I save from within Easygps. Wherever you go there you are. Quote Link to comment
The_Brownies Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 You already know that you can go cache hunting without a GPS. But we all forget Geocaching is simply an offshute of the old sport of Letter Boxing and there are just a couple of these caches out there. Of course you will need your own stamp and log book. But other than that, the concept is the same minus all the trinkets. Quote Link to comment
Team MJDJ Posted February 11, 2003 Author Share Posted February 11, 2003 Thanks all! I've got it working now..."Open file from its location" then "Save to..." and it works! As for the IE 6, I had it at one time and found it to be a typical MicroSoft "upgrade"; bloated, cumbersome and resource-hungry. I use IE 5.5 because it has the 128 bit encryption needed for on-line banking and such, otherwise I would use 5.0! I stay current with all of the Security Updates and such... Thanks again! Quote Link to comment
+CoronaKid Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 quote:I use IE 5.5 because it has the 128 bit encryption needed for on-line banking and such, otherwise I would use 5.0! I stay current with all of the Security Updates and such... Thanks again! Huh? IE 6 has 128 bit encryption as well. It's pretty much the standard now. --CoronaKid Quote Link to comment
+Poindexter Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 CoronaKid: Read his post again. He uses 5.5 because 5.0 doesn't have 128 bit encryption. He doesn't want to use 6 because it's overkill for what he wants. Jeez!!! Some of you guys...... Quote Link to comment
+Bill D (wwh) Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 I found my first six caches without a GPSr, and I know a lot of others started without one as well. But you're totally dependent on the clue, unless it's in an area where there are only one or two hiding places. Some clues are great, some are useless. Last week I accidentally left my GPSr at the house of friends I was staying with. Since then I've tried three caches and only found one of them. One failure was just stupidity on my part - I thought I'd remembered the map accurately and didn't bother to get it out to check. It turned out I was searching about three hundred yards from the cache! The other one had a clue that the cache was in a holly tree. Fine, I thought. But when I got there I found about thirty holly trees in the area, all of them full of possible hiding places! I ran out of time. Hopefully I'll have my GPSr back on Friday... Bill Quote Link to comment
+canadazuuk Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 I know a guy who did his first 20 caches without a GPS I've only done it a couple times myself gee whiz, locationless caches have nearly nothing to do with GPS, if people didn't want to eat bandwidth up, you could log these all day and night, with the 'honor method' Quote Link to comment
+ScottJ Posted February 18, 2003 Share Posted February 18, 2003 In a previous life, I was once a GSAR (Ground Search and Rescue) ground team leader with the Civil Air Patrol. GSAR consists largely of having a command authority point to a spot or area on a topo map or aeronautical chart, going to that spot, and reporting back on what you find there. Sound a lot like geocaching? It is, although in the case of GSAR, a find is not ALWAYS a happy occasion, although one hopes it is. GSAR is a lot different now that GPS receivers have made navigation so easy. We didn't have them when I was doing GSAR, so a good map, a very good compass, and some strong navigational skills were the only way of finding a spot accurately. On a good day, I like to think we were about as accurate as a GPS under heavy tree cover. I can offer a few pieces of advice. 1) Use a good-quality compass. At MINIMUM I recommend a Silva Ranger or equivalent. It should have a clear base for orienting on the map, a scale marked in minimal 2 degree increments, and a viscous damped vial. The very best one I've found is the Brunton Eclipse, (not the GPS Eclipse) which is marked in 1 degree increments, is well damped, and has a sighting mirror and protective cover. 2) Learn and know the effects of declination and local magnetic variation. This is the easiest way to lose accuracy, when transferring bearings from map to compass. (In some areas the variation is 25 degrees or more, eh, Seattle people?) 3) Use good maps. USGS topos are great in the continental US -- use the largest scale practical to increase your accuracy. A good map scale is not a bad investment if you want to measure distances accurately. Many people find it easiest to work in UTM coordinates rather than standard DD MM.MMM lat/lon -- the math is simpler, and the coordinates relate directly to meters of distance. 4) Learn your pace length -- you're not going to have a surveyor's tape, so this is the most accurate means available to measure distance overland. Remember, you pace usually shortens uphill and lengthens downhill.) There's no better way to learn than by doing it. Nowadays you don't even risk much, just keep the GPS in your pocket as a backup and go lose yourself! Good luck. -- Scott Johnson (ScottJ) Quote Link to comment
+Bjorn74 Posted February 22, 2003 Share Posted February 22, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Team MJDJ:Thanks all! I've got it working now..."Open file from its location" then "Save to..." and it works! As for the IE 6, I had it at one time and found it to be a typical MicroSoft "upgrade"; bloated, cumbersome and resource-hungry. I use IE 5.5 because it has the 128 bit encryption needed for on-line banking and such, otherwise I would use 5.0! I stay current with all of the Security Updates and such... Thanks again! Try Mozilla. I use it to open all of my caches for a day in their own tabs and save the hassle of having gobs of windows open. Plus, it's always evolving based on user desires and needs. Open Source is very cool. Quote Link to comment
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