Tom & Nan Dot Com

Aside from a few technical issues, we spent a few hours on the hunt today.  Searched for 10 and had 2 DNFs:

#1.  http://coord.info/GC1Z49A 
#2.  http://coord.info/GC23BTG
#3.  http://coord.info/GC1ZBQ4
#4.  http://coord.info/GC14PMW
#5.  http://coord.info/GC1DZ0P
#6.  http://coord.info/GC1FMQ4
#7.  http://coord.info/GC2JC2T
#8. http://coord.info/GC1DX14
#9.  http://coord.info/GC1JVQ2 
#10. http://coord.info/GC1JVQ7

Nan took a couple of pictures on her phone, I’m putting them here for everyone to look at…

Tom and Jordan at Little Marler Park Cache http://coord.info/GC14PMW

Tom signs the Little Marler Park Cache log http://coord.info/GC14PMW

Our first DNF today, HEar, See, Speak no Cache http://coord.info/GC2JC2T

By the way… these are actually the the first pictures of ME geocaching… The pictures we used to take on our adventures were of her… I forgot to bring the camera so I got to be the subject rather than the photog…

On our two did not finds… Hear, see, speak no cache is in a pretty busy area, There was too much traffic and we attracted some attention of Uptown Station Security.  This spot looks like it’s right on the edge of the uptown station grounds…  I explained what we were doing and he said to have fun and that he hopes we find whatever it is we were looking for… we gave up after a while and will look again someday soon.

The last one, Where Eagles Serve #2 was a busy spot too… There were a LOT of people playing frisbee golf today… must be a weekend . This cache was definitely an interesting location, but we didn’t stay too long because we didn’t want to get hit in the head by a frisbee disk; the area we suspect as GZ is slightly out of view from the tee-off area for the nearby “hole”. Speaking of holes there are a lot of potential hiding spots for this cache…

As far as going paperless, we did it.  We were out for about 3 and a half hours today.  There were a few technical issues when the netbook couldn’t browse Geocaching.com, but we did make attempts at more caches than we’re ever done in one day. We usually go after about 5 or 6 and then quit…

In our early days of geocaching we used a borrowed Garmin eTrex (the basic yellow one) and printed out a lot of paper… some of which we still have.  Last year I bought a Garmin Oregon 400C hand-held GPS.  We’ve used it Geocaching and on a couple of trips.  I also used it to do a little bit of benchmark hunting to see how well it works.

The Garmin Oregon 400C is a handheld GPS that has a color touch screen.  For us, gone are the days when you have to push the click-stick on the front of the eTrex Legend or push the two buttons very HARD on the side of the basic eTrex.  While those GPS Units are good units, they are not very “Nancy Friendly” because she tests her sugar and her fingers always hurt… so, the touch screen is a dream.

The second thing that’s important is having a Netbook.  A netbook is light, easy to carry, and has a long battery life. Netbooks generally have less power than a full laptop and definitely a lot less than a desktop; using a netbook for gaming isn’t going to yield good results unless the game you like is Geocaching.

On the notebook you want a copy of some geocaching software.  I like and have registered the Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK).  You can manage many gpx files and many databases.  My Garmin Oregon uses a gpx file called Current.gpx to store cache information internal on the GPS  unit.  I can manage that gpx file from within GSAK.  I keep a database of archived caches for informational purposes.  Other software that I’ve tried is Cache Magnet, EasyGPS, and GPX Spinner.  GSAK seems to fit my Geocaching methodology the best and seems to have the most flexibility.

If you want to do any benchmark hunting you need a copy of BMGPX.  It converts National Geodetic Survey (NGS) data files into GPX files for use in GPS units and other Geocaching related software.  There are a lot of benchmarks on the Geocaching site, almost all of them came from NGS data.  With GPX files and GSAK you can build a pretty extensive database of geodetic data.  A lot of the benchmarks in the database are lost or cannot be found easily. because of location… i.e. private or restricted property.

In order to take advantage of all of the great features on Geocaching.com, you will want to pony up $30 for the annual premium fee.  Being a paid member gives you access to pocket queries which are one of the most important features you’ll use from the site if you want to go paperless.  The pocket queries end up as zip files containing gpx files with all the info on the caches retrieved. You can place the info on your GPS; The newer GPS units can store the Cache Name, Description, some of the previous logs and other tidbits.

The final thing you need to go totally paperless is the ability to log on to Geocaching.com with  your netbook or cellular phone while you’re actually out Geocaching. It’s much easier to log the cache while your actually there than it is to do it later.  I’ve found that I sometimes don’t go back and log my finds later on.

I hope this helps some people or gives some ideas.  Enjoy!

Yesterday I received an email from a friend that goes WAAAYYYYY back to 1984 and my broadcast radio days, will see if we can catch up. and see how he’s doing.  Apparently he didn’t stay in California either…

Nan and I are planning on doing some Geocaching this weekend. 

Saw a really cool MMA movie last night called “Never Back Down”.  It’s about a young man who deals with some internal anger about his father’s death.  I’d give it a 4 on the Tom scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being really poor and 5 being the absolute movie ever filmed.

To all who monitor this space, I’m sorry for the long hiatis… work has kept me busy and Nan has enough to do with keeping the other site up to date.

Have a great Weekend.

Well we finally found a travel bug exchange cache that the Book Bug found inviting.  There were a lot of micro caches along the way yesterday.  The one in North Pole I intended to put him in seemed to have disappearing travel bugs.  So we decided to move on.  Book Bug is at the “Ladybug “Flies” Again Travel Bug Inn!” (GCPWQE) near Whitehorse Yukon.

Today started out nice but as we got into the mountains it got cooler and started to rain.  We’re back in Watson Lake, YT… about halfway down the ALCAN.  Tomorrow we expect to get to Dawson Creek, BC and we’ll get my phone while we’re there.

We didn’t take as many pictures today because we are in go-home mode and have seen most of what’s already along the highway.  We did a little bit of Geocaching here and visited the signpost forest again… there’s a geocache there… The geocache there was stocked full of Travel Bugs.  We’re moving one of them and a Geocoin… so now we have two bugs… “Manta’s Ray” and “RCMP Country Bear”.  The Geocoin is a Canadian Forces Geocachers coin.  The goals for both seem to be to stay in Canada so we’ll probably drop them elsewhere within Canada.

Here are some of today’s pictures

Stephanie from the Fort Walton Beach Library brought it to my attention that you have to be a member of Geocaching.com to view the map of where the book bug has been. You do not have to give personal information or pay to be a member, Nancy is a non-paid member and can view the maps.  I am a paid member in order to take advantage of the ability to use some of the advanced features the site makes available.

Well.  We’re about to start the trip.  Nan has the Book Bug and I’ve got most of the techie stuff done and we’re about to start packing…  Day 1 will take us to Marion, Illinois. 

Geocaching.  We’re planning on doing three Geocaches… We may visit a few more but we’ll see how timing works out.  The first Cache will be “Hey Good Looking” in Georgiana, Alabama.  We’ll make a decision on the next ones tomorrow.

Radio stuff. I plan on doing some work on 20 Meters in both the Extra and General portions of the band.  Look for me in the afternoon somewhere around 14.235 to 14.250. I may call CQ for a while depending on band conditions.  If I’m on after sunset look for me on 40 meters around 7.212 to 7.218.