Geocaching?

fjon

Anyone else here into Geocaching?
Just started recently myself, and find it a great way to go out and about. It's a lot of fun too.

Geocaching is like a global treasure hunt. People hide caches, which are usually tupperware boxes, which contain a log book and a load of little goodies. They then post the GPS co-ordinates for the Geocache on www.geocaching.com . Anyone with a GPS receiver can then take those co-ordinates and go looking for the cache. When found, they take one of the goodies, leave one, and sign the log.

There are currently over 200 caches hidden all around Ireland, and I'm starting to tick off the ones I have found. Will probably never get them all, but I can sure try!

I'd recommend anyone who is even slightly curious to have a look at the website and try to get their hands on a cheap GPSr receiver. You can currently find some one eBay for around GBP60.

fjon

<sigh> This is why no one posts in these little-used forums

Evil Phil

Well in fairness geocaching doesn't have a huge following.

Evil Phil

Well it seems there are some geocaching events coming up. Geocaching Ireland has the details. They've also a forum so you may have more luck there

fjon

Evil Phil wrote:

Well it seems there are some geocaching events coming up. Geocaching Ireland has the details. They've also a forum so you may have more luck there

Cheers - have signed up to the geocachingireland forum, just seeing if I could get some more people interested by posting here!

trap4

I'm only learning about GPS now and would really appreciate pointers as regards what type of receivers are best and what the different features I should look out for are.

Kev

I started in August but haven't done any since November because of the weather and other things, Its good fun and I hope to start doing some again soon.

towel401

geocaching has a better following now. nearest cache used to be 18 miles away from me a couple of years ago now there's probably 10 within that range

dogmatix

This geocaching thingy sounds a little like orienteering for the 21st century - only not as active...

fergalr

This geocaching thingy sounds a little like orienteering for the 21st century - only not as active...

Well, doesn't seem to involve navigation, or running, so the orienteering parallel is questionable...
but sounds like fun

Tallon

I'm doing this, its great fun.
Reviving this thread

IrlJidel

Tallon wrote: »

I'm doing this, its great fun.
Reviving this thread

There's a fairly active forum on geocachingireland.

Bad timing though. Site is down for upgrades this weekend.

Tallon

IrlJidel wrote: »

There's a fairly active forum on geocachingireland.

Bad timing though. Site is down for upgrades this weekend.

Yep i know
Thanks

Just thought I'd keep this one alive

monkeyfudge

Just got into this recently too.

I love my little GPS receiver and the adventures he brings me on.

Found this lovely cache in Wicklow on Saturday:

Alun

Hmmm, nothing new .. something essentially the same, known as 'letterboxing', started over 150 years ago in Dartmoor in SW England, waaay before GPS had even been thought of ...

http://www.dartmoorletterboxing.org/history%20of%20Letterboxing.htm

Tallon

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Just got into this recently too.

I love my little GPS receiver and the adventures he brings me on.

Found this lovely cache in Wicklow on Saturday:

http://omg.wthax.org/cache.jpg

I really like the DOF on that photo
Good to see another man on-board

monkeyfudge

Haven't had much luck finding some of the microcaches around Dublin though.

The one in Dublin Castle was driving me nuts. Same for Guinness... just couldn't find it.

I did find the one at Christ Church though.

IrlJidel

monkeyfudge wrote: »

The one in Dublin Castle was driving me nuts. Same for Guinness... just couldn't find it.

I found it a few weeks ago. I work near there will check its still there at lunchtime.

Tallon

I havn't done any in dublin yet.
The one at the spire "stiffy on the liffey" is the easiest one ever

monkeyfudge

There's a a multipart one in the Stardust Park that's just about 200 metres from my office... must try and give it a go some lunch time.

I was thinking of doing my own series of ones set around the theme of haunted locations in Dublin.

IrlJidel

monkeyfudge wrote: »

I was thinking of doing my own series of ones set around the theme of haunted locations in Dublin.

PLUG: my friend wrote a book on Haunted Dublin you could use as a reference

monkeyfudge

IrlJidel wrote: »

PLUG: my friend wrote a book on Haunted Dublin you could use as a reference

Ah yes. I know it well. The blather guys were at our paranormal convention last year.

I think it could work out as a nice idea as I don't think there are any active ghost walks in Dublin at the moment. So it would a be a good way to introduce people to the paranormal history of the city.

Tallon

you have to find 50+ before you can create your own, I think

monkeyfudge

Tallon wrote: »

you have to find 50+ before you can create your own, I think

Really? Well 2 down so far... I better get to work.

IrlJidel

Tallon wrote: »

you have to find 50+ before you can create your own, I think

There's no such rule. See this thread on geocaching ireland.

However. it is prob best not to create one until you have found a few dozen so you can get a feel of what makes a good cache. Good rule of thumb is that a cacher should either have a nice walk or learn something new/interesting by visiting the site. Don't just stuff a box in a hedge just because you want to.

I found geocaching useful when I moved house into a new area I wasn't familiar with. It was a good way to get to know the local history and the local beauty spots.

Tallon

good job I put "I think" at the end

I'm going to create a couple at the weekend so

IrlJidel

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Haven't had much luck finding some of the microcaches around Dublin though.

The one in Dublin Castle was driving me nuts. Same for Guinness... just couldn't find it.

I did find the one at Christ Church though.

IrlJidel wrote: »

I found it a few weeks ago. I work near there will check its still there at lunchtime.

Just checked it and Guinness is still there. PM me if you want a hint.

t00116131

found first cache today, really enjoyed it, went looking yesterday and couldn't find it so I had to go back today... i think i just found a new activity!!!

Tallon

t00116131 wrote: »

found first cache today, really enjoyed it, went looking yesterday and couldn't find it so I had to go back today... i think i just found a new activity!!!

Good stuff

Sordini

Can anyone recommend a good cache in wicklow?
Just starting out

bada-bing

aw this sounds fun! would prefer if you didnt need a GPS though!

fergalr

bada-bing wrote: »

aw this sounds fun! would prefer if you didnt need a GPS though!

I'm sure you don't actually need one- just plot the coordinates on a map, and off you go- navigate to it the traditional way, if you feel so inclined.

foolelle

i knew buying a gps was a good idea, found my first today on sandymount strand not too far from my house so didnt take very long.
that said, i did spend 2 hours in sandymount green lookin for one, was very funny, it was around lunch time so the park was quite busy with sambo munchers watchin me lookin confused one minute, excited the next and clambering up trees shortly after. never found it in the end, quite annoying for such a small park. anyone with any clues to it can pm me id love to find it. Good activity though would totally endorse it.
Happy Hunting

PadraigL

We are in to it. Even done it in France and Italy on hols.... Great way to see places that you would never dream of going to..

foolelle

PadraigL wrote: »

We are in to it. Even done it in France and Italy on hols.... Great way to see places that you would never dream of going to..

yeah i see from the geocaching website that some people travel all over the world hunting caches, ive only gotten into it since i bought a garmin gps system and it has an app on it. its good fun though keeps me active when i dont have full days to get out on the hills. Started my hunting yesterday (wednesday) and found my 5th this evening, its a little addictive me thinks. any caches around dublin you'd recommend?

Qualitymark

Sordini wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good cache in wicklow?
Just starting out

On geocaching.com you can enter longitude-latitude coordinates and it'll find all the registered caches within something like 100km of them.

I entered 53.335627,-6.331977 (the point from which Packie, a collie puppy, went missing two days ago - see Animals and Pet Issues forum http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055413146&page=37, or search for Packie on the boards.ie front page) and got loads and loads.

(If you want to find longitude-latitude coordinates, go to Google Maps and find the point you want, then drag the page in so it's easy to centre it, double-click on that point, save the web address to a text editing app, look for the term +Ireland&ll= and copy the coordinates which are listed between there and &spn)

For example, I got those coordinates, for a road in Inchicore, from this link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Inchicore+Aluminium,+Dublin,+Ireland&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.546691,89.824219&ie=UTF8&hq=Inchicore+Aluminium,&hnear=Dublin,+Ireland&ll=53.335627,-6.331977&spn=0.001339,0.004023&z=17

By the way, I tried to register on the geocaching.com site and it won't let me - the site appears to have been hacked; pressing the Register link just gets you into the forum front page. (That's the Groundspeak forums I'm talking about.)

Qualitymark

Another by-the-way - there's a bunch of geocaching apps for the iPhone, including one by Groundspeak.

Qualitymark

Walked today in the Phoenix Park, and had my first try at finding a geocached item. Failed abysmally. I searched up and along all the stone walls of the steps mentioned, near the smaller of the two spires, but nope.

exaisle

Can anybody recommend a decent GPS for this? Obviously something not too heavy ;-)

Qualitymark

exaisle wrote: »

Can anybody recommend a decent GPS for this? Obviously something not too heavy ;-)

iPhone?

(Mind you, the maps on both iPhone and TomTom are nothing like as good as the Ordnance Survey maps - for an example look at the maps of Dublin Port.)

exaisle

Im considering a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSX.

Anybody got any views/reviews on that particular item?

Chris_5339762

Got one, fantastic bit of kit. Would recommend it. I'd perhaps get the model down, the 60CS version. AFAIK the only difference is that the 60CS does not have a built in pressure guage to measure height. It uses GPS info to determine your height which isnt quite as accurate. On the plus side, it'll show you your height in a plane, wheras the 60CSX will not - the pressure sensor will report the height that the cabin is pressurised to.

But yeah, I love the 60CSX. Get one if you can find it cheap enough.

monkeyfudge

I have the 60CSX as well.

Lovely little device and very rugged.

Find I have to re-calibrate the compass quite a bit though.

Alun

You should get a good price on it now as there is a new model to replace it just announced, the GPSMAP 62. See http://gpstracklog.com/2010/06/garmin-gpsmap-62-62s-and-62st-announced.html.

exaisle

That was quick! Thanks for the input so far.

I'm kinda happy to be one pace behind the cutting edge of technology, so I'm probably going to plump for the CSX version. I'm not that terribly bothered by the height I am in a plane but in certain circumstances one's correct altitude can be useful.

Any recommendations as to where the best price can be found? Let's keep it within Ireland or the UK....dont want to end up with a basemap of the south china sea....

E.

coolmoose

really interested in getting started in geocaching myself, have done a lot of reading on it...must bite the bullet soon and buy a GPS. looking at the 60CSX myself.

edit: i'm looking at the satmap active 10 with osi/osni 1:50k bundle too...anyone use one of these?

ScottStorm

exaisle wrote: »

That was quick! Thanks for the input so far.

I'm kinda happy to be one pace behind the cutting edge of technology, so I'm probably going to plump for the CSX version. I'm not that terribly bothered by the height I am in a plane but in certain circumstances one's correct altitude can be useful.

Any recommendations as to where the best price can be found? Let's keep it within Ireland or the UK....dont want to end up with a basemap of the south china sea....

E.

I got the 60cx from the us through ebay a few years ago, it came with an american basemap but the irish one is useless anyway. I think you will have to look around online as most of the stores only carry either the etrex series (which is great and worth considering) or the car sat navs.

exaisle

ScottStorm wrote: »

I got the 60cx from the us through ebay a few years ago, it came with an american basemap but the irish one is useless anyway. I think you will have to look around online as most of the stores only carry either the etrex series (which is great and worth considering) or the car sat navs.

Thanks Scott. I've invested in the 60CX from a certain online retailer (originally known for selling books). Now all I need is some decent maps.....

By the way...has anybody downloaded free maps from emerald-island.eu?

E

foolelle

exaisle wrote: »

By the way...has anybody downloaded free maps from emerald-island.eu?

E

yeah they work great on my Oregon, would recommend them

foolelle

Just wondering are any geocachers out there using the paid for service on geocaching.com? I can obviously see the list of extras you get when you pay but any feedback on if its actually worth it or not??

Cheers

RTT

Hi guys. I bought a garmin etrex h. Its fairly basic but has allowed me to find lots of caches and abroad too. Saw them on pixmania for €69. I paid close to €100 afew years back. I don't bother signing up for the premium, I just jot down the co-ordinates and enter them into my gps myself and away I go. Good fun for all the family and my dog loves it too!! You'd bbe surprised at how many caches you may walk past every day and not even know they are there!