Live Wire and Hi-Flier Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Just found this great site today but I have a couple questions. On the opening page, type in your zip code and it takes you to a page where you can see some of the caches in your area...one of the columns above is D/T...I assume it means Date/Time?? OK, now I am all psyched about preparing my first cache but I don't understand the latitude-longitude thing. I assume it's used to zero in on a location if you have one of those finders, but what if I don't have that equipment? I am sure I can still participate but then what if I want to hide a cache? Do I need to know that L/L info for posting my cache? Hope someone can set me straight on this and thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment
+PeachyPA Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Welcome to this obsession! D/T means difficulty/terrain, that is, how hard the actual cache is to find (or how well it is hidden), and how hard the surroundings are to navigate, such as a regular fairly flat rail trail would be a one star, and a very steep and rocky slope may be a four or five. My first six caches were found without a GPS unit. I studied the different maps that were available for each one and zeroed in on the caches. After six caches, I borrowed a GPS unit and my total is 25 so far. That is since April 2003. I would suggest trying to find ten to fifteen caches before you place one. That way you get a feel for what is expected of a good hide. Good luck and have fun! PeachyPA Quilter, Cacher, Cubmaster Quote Link to comment
Keystone Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Welcome to geocaching! I am one of the forum moderators for the "Getting Started" forum. Part of my volunteer job is to help out new folks like yourself. I am also one of the people who review new caches before they are published on the website. One of the requirements for hiding a cache is that you measure its exact latitude and longitude coordinates, which are then published for everyone else to go hunt down. While it is very possible to FIND a geocache without a GPS receiver -- many have done this, and some have found hundreds -- you shouldn't HIDE a geocache without first getting a GPSr. A basic unit or a used one will cost you less than $100. |x*x-x|x*x-x|x*x-x|x*x-x|x*x-x|x*x-x|x*x-x| Keystone Approver, Geocaching.com Admin "Eschewing Entropy and Ensuring Enthalpy in the Groundspeak Forums" Quote Link to comment
+AGREATSCOT Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Hello Hi-Flyer, Welcome to Geocaching! I am also a newbie, one cache by myself, half a dozen following along with some friends. The D/T stands for difficulty/Terrain. 1/1 is easy physically challenged accessable: 5/5 would need rapelling, ice climbing, etc to find. The Lat/Lon is for other Geocachers to find it. So, yes I guess you do need a GPSr (GPS receiver) to create a cache. You can look for caches without a GPSr but that is real challenging, Topo maps, online maps and especially Microsoft Terra Server - aerial photos or similar to find. It is suggested that you find 10 or so caches before you hide one. Be sure to read Read first Perhaps you can meet another geocacher in your area to set the Lon/Lat for your caches until you get a GPSr? Good luck, Peter AKA Agreatscot Geocachers do it with coordinates! Quote Link to comment
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