Mileage & Coordinates

[Buggy5151]

How in the World do you find something like this?

 

Satellite A at location n29 55.9859 w095 37.6549 is 5 miles from cache

Satellite B at location n29 58.5939 w095 33.6440 is 6 miles from cache

Satellite C at location n29 53.3760 w095 25.6256 is 8 miles from cache

 

Can you be the GPSr and complete the calculations for the cache coordinates? Bring your own pen.

[+Stunod]

You can either plot the circles on a map, or do the math to solve for the intesection of the three circles.

[Buggy5151]

How do I do that ?

[+IVxIV]

This might be nitpicking, but "satellites" are about 12,000 miles up in space.. & spaced apart quite abit. So they don't have a whole lot of stuff "5 to 10 miles" away from themselves

[+Markwell]

It's a puzzle cache. Figuring out how to do the math is part of finding the cache. Isn't it Stunod?

 

By "Satellites," I presume the cache is using known landmarks and you're supposed to figure it out from that. I also assume that this cache is more than just the level 1.5 on difficulty...

 

I figured out the approximate coordinates, but 5, 6 and 8 miles is really hard to pinpoint down something like this. Still just with the mapping program alone, I got it down to about a 150 foot radius.

 

edited for bed spelingk

Edited December 16, 2004 by Markwell

[+Markwell]

And... here's the cache. Since I probably won't be finding it, I looked at the encrypted hint. With the approximation of coordinates I got, and with the encrypted hint, I think I would probably be able to find the cache without difficulty.

Edited December 16, 2004 by Markwell

[+top pin]

This is a great puzzle cache if you ask me though maybe worded incorrectly with the term satellite being used.

This is the basis of how your gps works and probably should be understood by all.

Here's a link from THOTS beginning geocaching page that is the best description of how gps works that I've ever seen. Be sure to get to the second page to see the diagrams on how this works. Its exactly what your puzzle is trying to let you figure out......

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gps1.htm

Good luck

Edited December 17, 2004 by top pin

[Buggy5151]

I really don't un der stand this?

But, I'm trying.

 

How do you do calculations on something like this ?

[+Harry Dolphin]

The last one of these I did, the distances were not too far apart. I set A, B and C in my GPS, and wandered about until I found a spot 992 feet from one, 127 feet from the second, and 145 feet from the first. Didn't find the cache on the first try....

I've got another of these nearby that I intend to try. This one is measured in miles. I'll find the 'satellites', and plot out the circles on a map, locate a point near the intersection, and check the GPS, and clue, until I find it! [] or not.

[+Olar]

I really don't un der stand this?

But, I'm trying.

 

How do you do calculations on something like this ?

One great feature of Microsoft's Streets & Trips is to draw circles out to a specific radius. Using those coords and radius (distance to cache) the 3 resulting circles all intersected at one spot. Using the location finder and placing the cursor on that spot gives a set of coords. Accuracy?? See Markwell's post.

To a mathematician this method probably ranks right up there with counting fingers. What can I tell you - I flunked math.

 

Cheers, Olar

[+Thot]

. . though maybe worded incorrectly with the term satellite being used.

It's make believe. He's really saying "Pretend there's a satellite at . . . etc.

[+Markwell]

One great feature of Microsoft's Streets & Trips is to draw circles out to a specific radius.  Using those coords and radius (distance to cache) the 3 resulting circles all intersected at one spot.

That's how I did it quickly. I also have a spreadsheet that does it mathematically, but I'm reluctant to share. After all, isn't that spoiling the hunt and degrading those that have already found it.

 

The No Name Cache? Oh yea, I found that one. All you have to do is look for the bush that looks like Shirley Basse and it's 20 feet to the north west in the tree stump.

[+Sputnik 57]

Markwell is politely (and correctly) saying that it is generally considered bad form to ask for help with a specific cache puzzle in the forums. You have gotten some good tips. You may want to do a google search on finding intersecting circles.

[+wolfe359]

After all, isn't that spoiling the hunt and degrading those that have already found it.

 

I don't know. This is the getting started section, after all. It seems to me that answering this question would go a long way toward helping a new member understand whats going on. Also, the whole "satelite" thing.. well, imagine a line from the satelite to the center of the planet. It doesn't really matter what alltitude the satelite is at, does it?

[Buggy5151]

Thanks for all the great helping hands on this.

I,m a newbie and just trying to learn how to use my Gpsr.

And to all the other help,I wasn't asking where the Cache was,I was asking

how to calculate the distance,so I could find the Cache myself!

[+KJ&MShelly]

You could try the program called GeoCaching Combo. It contains a plotting program the would give the average of the three coordinates.

[+Markwell]

Averaging the three coordinates wouldn't do it. Notice that they're not the same distance from the cache.

 

And to all the other help,I wasn't asking where the Cache was,I was asking how to calculate the distance,so I could find the Cache myself!

 

The cache hider has made figuring out the puzzle part of finding the cache. Look back to my analogy in blue.

 

Here's another scenario:

 

We have another cache around here that uses morse code for the clues. Cacher A doesn't know morse code, but he finds a website that will help him. He sits down and listens to the wav file and painstakingly translating those blips and blops into characters, and thus coordinates.

 

Cacher B has been a ham radio operator for 20 years. He could do this same cache in his sleep. He sits down in 5 minutes and listens to the wav file and gets it right away and goes out and finds it.

 

A new cacher in town, Cacher C wants to find this cache, but instead of figuring out the morse code, he just e-mails Cacher B for the answer.

 

While it's really up to Cacher B whether to help out or not, Cacher A worked really hard on the cache, and it doesn't seem fair to just be able to e-mail someone for the answer.

[+Markwell]

Further clarification on why averaging the coordinates wouldn't work.

 

The average of the 3 green dots would NOT be where the cache is.

[+Thot]

You could try the program called GeoCaching Combo.  It contains a plotting program the would give the average of the three coordinates.

Thanks for the plug for my Geocaching Combo, but I don’t think averaging coordinates will solve this problem. Take a hypothetical situation where “satellites” A & B are side-by-side and C is 10 miles from them. Now assume the instructions say the cache location is 9 miles from A, 9 miles from B and 1 mile from C. If you average the three locations you will get a location that’s 6 plus miles from C and 3 plus miles from A & B.

 

edit: Markwell beat me to it.

Edited December 17, 2004 by Thot

[+KJ&MShelly]

Markwell is right. Been out of school too long, tried to rely on electronics rather than my mind.

[+blindleader]

COMPSYS21 from the FAA web site is a program I thought would come in handy for caches like this. Boy was I wrong!...

 

I snipped the rant about broken puzzles. I just wanted to link a program that does great circle intersections.

 

Here are a couple more tools that might come in handy too:

Geographic/UTM converter,

Great Circle Calculator

Edited December 17, 2004 by blindleader

[+reveritt]

You can either plot the circles on a map, or do the math to solve for the intesection of the three circles.

Solving mathematically would be very difficult, and would involve a lot of spherigal trig, and (I think) transcendental equations. I would do it graphically--that is, with a map and a compass.

[+Stunod]

You can either plot the circles on a map, or do the math to solve for the intesection of the three circles.

Solving mathematically would be very difficult, and would involve a lot of spherigal trig, and (I think) transcendental equations. I would do it graphically--that is, with a map and a compass.

Assuming the "satellites" are all on the same plane, the math isn't that tough. You know the center point and the radius of each circle, solve for the intersection.

[+Markwell]

I did a Google search for solving for intersections of circles and came up with a page with an explanation of the math in one of the first 25 hits.

[Buggy5151]

Just wanted to say,thanks again, for all the help and great web-sites to read about

Geccaching. It's a very exciting hobby and love reading all about it !