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While I have no insight, it is probably from the same reason that we see cranes in Waukesha country where not that many years ago you’d never see one south of highway 64. Family has had places on lakes near Lake Tomahawk since the 40’s. Now there is more peace and quiet home in the city of Waukesha! So, even the wildlife is leaving the not so serene northwoods.
I’ll use this opportunity to ask if anyone knows a place in SE Wisconsin that has hiker’s vests? Looking for one to hold GPS, compass, camera, binoculars, cell phone, trading stuff and what not.
Swiss Tracker, you own your site so you are responsible for what is listed there. It would be your responsibility to ”approve” the caches listed on your site. You would be responsible to abide by existing laws and agreements with government agencies. As it is often said, ”ignorance of the law…”.
While WGA does not approve geocaches, some officers and board members do. WGA could be thought of as a lobby and advisor group. I won’t speak for the approvers, but I know they spend more time working than they wish necessary.
When I said that other sites can coexist, keep in mind that I doubt that already wary government agencies may not want to contend with other groups of geocaching activities.
Steve Bukosky
WaukeshaSpeaking as an officer of WGA, nobody ”owns” geocaching just as nobody owns, for example, deer hunting. However, in order to keep things orderly, government agencies create rules. WGA has stood out in taking the proactive initiative to minimze detrimental rules for Wisconsin geocachers.
While we by far associate with geocaching.com, I, for one, acknowledge that Navicache and other sites list coordinantes of stashes which are geocaches. Some are mirrors of caches listed on geocaching.com, some are unique. As long as they follow the rules and guidlines of government agencies, respect and avoid private property and use common sense, they can all coexist.
That being said, most, if not all, government agencies that are aware of geocaching, also recognize geocaching.com as the grandfathered leader in such activities. Being so, other sites, for the well being of all, should follow geocaching.com’s guidelines for location and content of caches and in the case of caches in Wisconsin, monitor and abide by the state and local rules that we post on the site. That means, as an example, that if you want to put a Swiss Perpetual cache in Madison, it would have to be done through us even if it is not to be listed on geocaching.com. Not doing so would likely end up with laws containing penalties for any kind of caching.
Steve Bukosky
Waukesha[This message has been edited by sbukosky (edited 09-18-2004).]
I was outside of Atlanta Georgia and had flown in the day before. Very fortunately I had rented a car as it was the only way to get home. As Atlanta was on the strike list, the airport was shut down, as were all others, and I could not get a phone call through to the rental company. Wednesday I ended up driving the car from Atlanta to Chicago to retrieve my car at O’Hare. Fortunately the rental company was still open at 3AM and dropped the $450 off site charge.
While I was in Atlanta, I was going to a school at Mitsubishi Electric. In the class room was a mural of the New York skyline with the WTC as the center of the photo. It was an emotional few days.
Terminal Node Controller? My packet set up was my Commodore 64 with a Spectronics TNC connected to my Heathkit 2mtr Xcvr. So yes, as I understand it, computer to TNC to tranceiver to an antenna that can reach the closest ham with a TNC. Then send a message with the routing and listen to or see the packet relay back and forth. Pretty neat. For more information, I’d google on TAPR (Tucson Arizona Packet radio) They were the pioneers for packet protecol.
Steve Bukosky
Waukesha[This message has been edited by sbukosky (edited 09-06-2004).]
Funny how the cache page is written depending on when the cache is placed. For example, Lowes Lake #1 Mikey’s Cache warns that a 4X4 or AWD is needed to negotiate to the parking lot. No snow, no problem and the warnings sound strange this time of year. As lover of cool and cold weather caching, I also would like to see some comment on if snow would make a cache futile to find.
What I do to help this is to first understand that most caches are ground level so snow will be a problem. Second, I check a couple maps that shows the snow depth around the state. I then head to the areas with the least snow.
Really, for the most part the snow can make finding a cache easier. Pay attention to the logs and try to do the ones that have had recent finds and little to no snow having fallen since then. Follow the tracks and you will see where the digging was done. Hard to cover that up!
Steve Bukosky
WaukeshaCollins has a rich history in both amateur radio and avionics.
I think more people might be interested in getting their ham license in this day because, we have a “no code” license. Yes, you can get a ham radio license and not have to learn or be tested on the morse code. You are restricted to VHF an higher frequencies but there is a world of activities up there.
One activity that blends with Geocaching is hidden transmitter hunting. This activity involves a fox, the transmitter, and the fox hunters, the searchers.
Some equipment for this activity can be purchased, but for many hams, there is the heritage of homebuilding. Most of my antennas and receiver devices were made from plans from books and magazines.
If anyone is interested in more information on this activity, do a google search on “foxhunting”. Legally, you do NOT have to have a license to be a foxhunter as long as you do not transmit. It is possible to partake using a simple “bearcat” scanner.
Before I got my ham license in the early 70’s, I belonged to a CB club and we had our own version of foxhunting. Heck, you could do it with FRS radios too. The possibilities are limited only by the imagination.
Steve N9BGH
Thanks. Right now it’s do a cache, ice the heel. But, improving.
Aw gee, I was hoping for an 80 meter CW net. How about doing EME? More in spirit with the technology. But seriously, I’d go for a net from time to time. .31.91 is a great system with wide coverage. Or, a packet net could allow all the hams in the state to participate, though it’d be kind of like using Microsoft messenger.
Steve N9BGH
Cacheseeker, be sure to post your idea on the geocaching.com discussion board. Many of us have requests for a check-off list better describing the cache environment. For example, I like to know if my caching companion, Kanook, is welcomed or not.
Until such things be come part of the cache creation page, there are some websites that provide icon code to give more details at a glance.
Steve Bukosky
WaukeshaEveryone has an opinion so might as well toss mine in. Getting WAAS lock can be tough. I’ve experimented with it in the woods and fields and find that if a can do a waypoint average with WAAS lock, I can come closer to that exact spot days later. So, I believe that if when placing a cache, if you can do a waypoint average using WAAS, that is where it is most useful. Otherwise for the hunters of the cache, use of WAAS is of small, if any, benefit.
I’m a person who likes accuracy. When the surveyor quality GPS come down to a reasonable price, I’ll buy one. Maybe we can have something like a Golfing ”closest to the tee” type of accuracy contest.
The GPS V is still a top of the line unit, in my opinion. I bought the latest GPSMAP60C and a side by side comparison showed the V ever bit as sensetive as the 60C. True, the 60C has some improvements but the V is still a top performer. Just be sure to use NiMh batteries with four spare ones along with you. Around ten hours use is what I’d average with mine.
I’m fortunate to sleep soundly most of the time. But I have stayed up late looking the lay of the land for some planned caches to do. And as far as night caching, I like to do that once in a while. With the daylight diminishing, some reflector type night hunts on relatively safe terrain would be most appreciated. SBBT has a couple in Waukesha’s Minooka Park. It could be an inspiration to other creative cachers.
If you’ve given the search a good try, DEFINITELY log a did not find. The cache owner can judge if a visit is needed to check up on things. Further If you find the coordinates are substantially off, be sure to log your coordinates, provided you are not giving away the location of an offset cache. In that case, you could list how much to add or subtract from the coordinates.
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