In addition to being a Geocaching, I’m also a ham radio operator…my callsign in N9GSU.

These are two activities that go quite well with each other, and a lot of hams are cachers, and the other way around. Hams and cachers alike are fascinated by gadgetry, and we can never seem to have enough of them!

There are a number of was that caching and ham radio can go hand in hand….

• Attaching an APRS tracker to a travel bug
• Combing foxhunting and geocaching
• A HF or echolink worldwide Geocaching net

And the list goes on and on.  The American Radio Relay league (ARRL) is the ham’s voice in the world and I was pleased to see they’ve featured an article on Ham Radio and Geocaching on their website…you can find that article here.

Until next time,

73 de N9GSU

Seitdem ich nicht mehr in meiner kleinen geliebten Großstadt wohne, komme ich nicht mehr so oft zum GeoCachen. Nichts desto trotz packt mich doch dann und wann wieder die Cache-Leidenschaft . So startete ich, bei einigermaßem gutem Sonntagswetter, mein Cachemobil und fuhr zu meiner Mutter. Die ―, wie Ihr ja wisst, mittlerweile auch gerne zum Dosensuche geht.

Drei Objekte standen auf der Wunsch-Liste. Ein Cache speziell für Ladys, bliebt uns noch verwehrt … den loggen wir aber noch

Ein weiterer GeoCache möchte an oder unter einer Brücke geborgen werden, auch dieser blieb aufgrund des rutschigen Wetters und meiner “ängstlichen“ Frau Mama ebenfalls im Verborgenem.

So lag die ganze Hoffnung auf Cache Nummer drei. Der musste es aber sein! Was ist das denn sonst für eine Bilanz!?

Wir wussten nach was wir Ausschau halten und fingen zu suchen an. Das GPS dabei immer im Blickfeld, wurden wir von neugierigen Menschen (Muggels) beobachtet. Frau Muggel warf Glasflaschen in den dafür vorgesehen Behälter und Herr Muggel wartete im Wagen und beäugte uns neugierig…

Die Muggels, ― endlich weg, suchten wir intensiver nach dem kleinen Freund. Immer wieder zeigt der Satellittenempfänger auf einen Baum. Doch Blätterlos, wie er war, konnte man ihn gut einsehen und dort hing nichts im Verborgenen.

Gibts doch nicht, so meine Gedanken, der muss doch hier irgendwo sein….als ich fast entnervt aufgeben wollte, traf mich ein Geistesblitz und ich hatte ihn gefunden, den begehrten GeoCache. Juhu

GeoCaching Nanocache mit Schraubverschluss

― Und das war auch gut so, sonst hätte ich den für mich selten Cache-Behälter nicht bewundern können. Der Nano hatte die Größe eines doppelten Nanos mit Schraubdeckel. Bis jetzt kannte ich diese Cacheart nur, in der Größe meines eigenen Cache-Behältnisses, in dem maximal ein Logbuch Platz findet. Doch in diesem hier passten gut und gerne zwei kleine Büchlein. Nicht schlecht

So loggten wir ausgelassen und freuten uns über unsern Erfolg. Übrigens mein 76 GeoCache und immerhin der 4 meine lieben Frau Mama

At Traffic Circle to Nowhere GC1TNP9PB210046, originally uploaded by rkropp8.

 

Rob and Stacy

The Long Look for Rock Hugging Tree

My View at the Lunch Break

My Favorite Shrub

One of the Many Stream Crossings

Grinding Hole at the DNFed GC1FF37 Big Rock Matillija

My list of Finds for the day–a personal best 70 finds in one day:
Matilija Road Pullout
STOVE PIPE
No Dumping
Down Range
FUN WITH GUNS
Shellshock
Sooo Square!
Shell Shocked Too!
ICE NINE
R-OPS
Up A Shadey River
Red Rum
Creekside Sentinel
No Shrooms
v for victory
Pretty Coney Hide
CARIBOU F-1
No Climbing Necessary
CACHE STACHE
Caching My Breath
Traffic Circle to Nowhere
CONNECT THE DOTS
OVC, FMHG, or GBD?
Crazy Train
Sponge Bob Square Cache
Down on the Corner
Werewolves of London
Smoke on the Water
ROCKIN’ CONE
Puppy Dawg
Rock Hugging Tree
break on through [to the other side]
Luv’n the OVC
Sit and Log a Rest
Many Trees
this works fine
Dragon Tree
Deadwood Wedge
Cairn Above A Chasm
Matilija Blue Bison
Tumbling Gold
The End of Dead Oak
Matilija SPOR
Matilija Tree Cluster
Matilija Brothers Five
Stuck In The Middle With You
Matilija Split Oak
O-Tay!
Red Rocks Red Bison
How Far to 33?
A Decon for Matilija
I Have a Big Crush on You
Sandwiched In The Middle
I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up!
Hair Blown Back with Surprise
Lean Lanky Long Legged Lass
Pearl’s Cache
Probably not the last.
I’ll See Your Ha and Raise You a HA!
He Who Hesitates Loses
BlackBarry Log
Ha, one more!
4 More Crossings
Don’t Take This For Granite
Off the Beaten Path
Retaining Log
Sit a Spell
Tilted Tree
Piedras Amarillas
Gatekeeper Awakens

Das Herrliche Wetter heute mal genutzt um in Ruhe alle Reaktivlichter zu testen und Station 1 mal zu überarbeiten

Nachdem ich gestern zum 1. Mal ein Blogstöckchen zugeworfen bekommen habe, will ich diesen netten Blog-Brauch aufgreifen und schnappe mir bei Rubys Rudel ein Stöckchen zum Thema “Geocaching und der erste Fund”

Also, hier ist alles, was es über unsere Anfänge beim Geocachen zu wissen gibt:

1. Durch wen oder was bist du aufs Cachen aufmerksam geworden?

Das weiß ich nicht mehr so genau. Ich glaube, dass mich die GPS-Empfänger begeistert haben und ich nach einer Anwendung gesucht habe .

2. Welcher war dein erster Cache, die #1?

Es war der Cache GC110BG (LÖCHRIG). Dieser Cache ist in der Zwischenzeit archiviert, da er leider in einem Naturschutzgebiet lag und er nicht auf offiziellen Wegen zu erreichen war.

3. Wann hast du ihn gehoben und warst du alleine?

Wir haben ihn am 6.4.2007 (Karfreitag) gehoben. Nein ich war nicht alleine. Es waren meine beiden Söhne dabei.

4. Hast du einen GPSr benutzt? Wenn Ja, welchen?

Nein! Wir wollten erst mal sehen, ob uns das Hobby überhaupt Spaß macht und nicht gleich einen GPS-Empfänger kaufen (bin halt ein Schwabe). Dazu habe ich einen Cache gesucht, der mit Hilfe eines Google-Earth Bildes zu finden war: Er war in einer freistehenden Mauer versteckt.

5. War es dein erster Cacheversuch und wie lange hast du zum Finden gebraucht?

Klasse! Es hat uns soviel Spaß gemacht, dass wir bis heute (Stand 23.11.09) 640 Cache gehoben haben. Einer meiner Jungs hatte das Döschen ziemlich schnell gefunden. Das hat sich bis heute auch nicht geändert !

7. Zu guter letzt: Wem wirfst du das Stöckchen als nächstes zu?

Ich würde gerne 3 netten Tweetern & Geocachern dieses Stückchen zu werfen, weil ich sehr gerne Ihre Blogeinträge und Tweets lese und weil es mich auch interessiert, wie das mit dem 1. Mal so war. Also Achtung Stöckchen kommt geflogen an: Kleinenbroicher, friederix und tweet_adiction.

zum Falten finden wir das Wetter noch zu schön… Nun haben wir das Geocaching für uns entdeckt. Heute haben wir den zweiten Cache gefunden. Bei diesem Cache musste ein Rätsel inklusive Rechenaufgabe gelöst werden, um die Koordinaten zu erhalten. Wir sollten dringend Kopfrechnen üben, denn wir sind erst an den falschen Ort gelaufen. Beim Nachrechnen haben wir dann plötzlich neue Koordinaten erhalten, bei denen wir dann auch fündig geworden sind. Den Kindern hat es auch sehr gefallen, denn man musste unter anderem zwei Entfernungen messen um die Aufgabe zu lösen. Zum Glück waren wir für diesen Punkt des Rätsels gut vorbereitet und hatten ein Maßband dabei.

Wieder zu Hause haben die Kinder Bücher voll Geheimcodes geschrieben

Log: Sunday 22nd November 2009

I only found out about this new found craze yesterday, but decided, no matter what the weather, I was going to give it a bash today. 

I posted on Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter and found that a few friends and relatives would be keen to join me!  So at 2pm, the game was about to begin!  Woolley hats, scarfs, gloves and wellies to hand and a trusty rucksack with precious trinkets in to replace out treasure that we were going to find….

We met at Tesco Car Park in Towcester.  I had downloaded…yes wait for it….. geocaching app for my iPhone (yes there is an app for it!), and clicked on “find our nearest cache”.  Can you believe it, but the first cache was actually located in Tesco’s somewhere?  We hunted high and low, following the compass on the iphone….to no avail!   It was not in the bushes, it was not by the trolleys and we didn’t understand the clue which was “Opposites Attract”????  confused and a bit deflated, we decided to move onto the next cache box.

This one took us to the other side of the A43 and Uncle Billy ventured out on his own as it meant crossing a busy road.  He was only there about 5 mins when a hand appeared from the bushes and started waving at us from across the road… he had found the cache!  We were all excited and couldn’t wait for him to bring it over… Billy opened the cache (which was about the size of an Actimel bottle) and inside was a small log book and that was it.  Some disappointment for the kids, but the adults were fascinated… people from all over the country (and even the world) had found the same bottle and written in this dinky little log book – some even had their own unique stamps for such an occassion.

What were we going to write?  My friend Julie declared that our little gang was now called the “Tiffield Trampers” – and this is what we logged. 

Onto our 3rd and final cache.  This was fun and right down by the river.  It took us a while to find the little round click sandwich box, but there it was hidden under some leaves in a tree (at head height).  There were quite a few trinkets in this one – a toy dinosaur, a butterfly fridge magnet and various other trinkets.  The kids chose what they would like and we replaced them with our own little treasures.  Uncle Billy wrote in the log that the Tiffield Trampers had arrived and that was it for the day.

The whole thing took about 2hrs to complete.  We walked about 3 miles in total and had some fun and exercise at the same time.  I can’t wait to explore places that I have never been before.

So that was my Sunday afternoon.

When’s the next one???

I’ve found that most cachers are very service minded, and the cachers here in Indianapolis are no exception.  Yesterday, we did a CITO  (Cache in, Trash out) event at Round Hill Cemetery in Greenwood, Indiana.  About 25 cachers showed up to clean up the cemetery…and here are a few pictures of the event!

Happy Caching, everyone!

Offensichtlich ist die Vorletzte Station des Caches einem Dieb zum Opfer gefallen der den Cache Behälter (eine Munitionskiste) gut gebrauchen konnte.
Der Inhalt wurde zurückgelassen.

Vielen Dank!

Bis auf weiteres ist der Cache erstmal Disabled!

Last Sunday morning, before I dropped Gretchen and Laura off at the Orlando airport, Gretchen had a couple little side trips for us to accomplish.  We got up and had breakfast, went to the gift shop one last time, and took some photos of Laura at the hotel: Disney All-Stars Movies.

Disney All-Stars Movies, Love Bug themed buildings where we stayed

Laura saying goodbye to the pool at Disney All-Stars Movies

We were planning on meeting up with a friend of Gretchen’s who had recently moved to the area, but before doing so Gretchen wanted to stop off and find a geocache.  A WHAT? A geocache.

I had never heard of such a thing, but now that I have a little background, it’s fun and something I could see myself possibly doing again.  I asked my sister to spell it out for me, and here is what she wrote.

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online.

http://www.geocaching.com/
The above site is where you can search for caches and trackable items such as Goecoins and Travel Bugs. I located the one we went to using the Google map search function. Once I picked out the geocache to find, I entered the listed coordinates into the GPS which took us to the general area of the cache.  Normally, the cache is hidden and since the GPS is accurate to within 10-20 feet, you often need to look around a little bit to find it.  Some are easy to find and others more difficult.  There are almost 1 million active caches worldwide.  There is a lot more information on the website.

Gretchen had picked out a geocache that was really close to the airport with a lot of helpful hints from people on exactly where to find the geocache. Her GPS (shown below) brought us to the back side of an office building where we found a small boat sitting on a trailer.

Gretchen's GPS

Because of other geocacher’s discussion on the website, Gretchen knew that the geocache was actually in the boat, so it was a quick and easy find.

Laura finding the geocache in the boat

Inside the cache (that Tupperware box with the camouflage fabric on the cover) there were numerous trinkets, or rather Travel Bugs and Geocoins.  Gretchen had brought along one, so she dropped that one in and picked two out to take back to Minnesota and leave in a geocache somewhere else.  Inside there was also a log book; this spot had lots of activity, just the day before someone had dropped off 8 Travel Bugs and picked up 5.  Geocachers log the Travel Bugs and Geocoins on the website to track where they go.  Some of them have goals attached to them too, like “trying to make it to Maine.”  Here’s one of the Travel Bugs that she picked out, I’m sure it will be dropped off in a Minnesota State Park, as apparently they all participate in Geocaching. How Fun!

The Travel Bug from Orlando, soon to be dropped off in a MN State Park

Today has been a long day. We went to church, and then after the services Va had an Adventurer meeting. I helped her set up, and I cooked some mac-n-cheese for some of the refugee kids (and my own kids) that go to our church. They don’t usually bring food to a potluck, and that is entirely understandable.

The Adventurer meeting ended at about 3:00pm, and the fruit truck was due to arrive at 5:00. So rather than drive home (30 minutes) and then drive back (another 30 minutes), Jonathan, Beth, and I went geocaching. Va went on home, and David hung out at the church with his netbook surfing the web.

The geocache was on the other side of a pond that I am convinced was built to be an artificial wetland. We walked around it and about the time I decided we were at ground zero, Beth found the cache. Even before I had started looking! Then we hustled back to the church to wait for the truck.

It was a short wait. Beth wrote a few things in her blog while we waited. She had also written a little this morning which I found pretty funny.

When the truck arrived, Jonathan, David, and I were the only able-bodied people there. Several had told me that they had intended to help us unload, but none had yet arrived. I directed the truck to park in the back, and by the time he stopped the truck and opened the doors, people started to arrive. At first they came in a trickle, but then in a torrent! I didn’t count them all, but I feel confident in estimating the number at about 25, and that was just the people from our church. We were also the drop point for the church in Manchester, and they had plenty of people on hand as well.

The truck was unloaded in record time. I think this was the most people I have ever seen at a fruit-truck-unloading. We began sorting the fruit and dividing some of the crates (we sell half- and quarter-crates in addition to full ones). Va had printed out some mailing labels for me that had people’s names and their orders on them. Cheryl took on the task of applying the labels to the boxes, and pretty soon everyone who was there and who had ordered some fruit had gotten theirs.

And all the while this was going on, other church members were arriving and buying more. I had bought an extra 28 cases of fruit, and as of this writing, I have only 14 left unsold. We will take that to Sam’s Club Monday evening and try to sell the rest of it. I am quite confident that people will snap it up too, but that remains a matter of faith.

After all that was sorted out, Jonathan, David, Beth, and I headed over to Taco Bell and had some dinner. I was pretty tired by then. We had a nice time together though, and then we came on home. Penny was glad to see us (and very excited).

Tomorrow we have a Pathfinder meeting, and will (hopefully) have the rest of our customers come out then for their fruit. I will probably spend the morning raking the yard, as it needs it pretty desperately. The leaves are off the trees and the snow has not yet fallen. What better time for is there raking?

11/21/09

by PandaPirates5

D 1.5 T 1  Traditional, Regular

Just stopped by for one last geocache.  You know I can’t ever stop!  This was an easy off, easy back on the freeway, so that is good!

Geocaching Log:

We had a long day, we gave blood with friends, then took them out to see what geocaching was all about. We stopped by this one on our way back for one for just the two of us. I really like caches with trinkets and toys in them even though we don’t have kids. SL, TN, I left a Geo Kid pin for someone to have, and also a blue frog. TFTC!

11/21/09

by Wylbur

D 1.5 T 1  Traditional, Small

Liked the spot, and liked the arrow.  Fun times all around.

Geocaching Log:

Cute hide, we enjoyed this one. Took some friends out after giving blood to show them what geocaching was all about- we think they really enjoyed it. SL, T a button and a couple of other small trinkets, L a geo pin, a turtle, and another small toy in their place. TFTH!

11/21/09

by stargazette

D 2 T 2  Traditional, Regular

Great hide, and a cool, very tiny park.  Couldn’t believe we almost ran over a turkey.  WTF?

Geocaching Log:

Took some friends out after giving blood today. Wow, what a great, large sized cache in such a small area! WTG! SL, TN, L a lady bug and a penguin. On the way out, we almost hit a TURKEY! In the city! Wow! TFTC.

11/21/09

by St. Pauli Girl

D 1 T 1  Virtual Cache

Lucked out on this VC, as I didn’t even know one was there, but we visited it anyway.  I had the answer on one of our pictures, so basically we snagged a bonus geocache!  Go us!

High School Musical!

Geocaching Log:
Had a great time. We took some friends out on a geocaching trip after we all gave blood. They really seemed to enjoy it! (Emailing answer in a few seconds!) TFTV!

11/21/09

by meralgia

D 3  T 2.5  Traditional, Small

Wish I could go on inclines.  Hope my ankle gets better soon.  The camo on this one looked AWESOME!  What a great traditional geocache, just perfect!  Also, although Snow Hero is a better technical photographer, Baby Doll sometimes has more emotion in it.  (As in, I wouldn’t have covered our friend’s face with leaves, or if I did, I’d have taken another one…) 

Geocaching Log:

We went out caching to show some friends what it was all about after we all gave blood. They REALLY liked learning about geocaching, and this was a perfect find for them, the camo impressed all of us very much, nice work! They even mentioned how cool it was to see the Witch’s Tower up close, as they live in the cities but had never actually stopped at it. We really had a fun time at this stop, thank you so much! SL, TN, L a sticker for a kiddie. TFTC!

11/21/09

by Waterskippers

D 2 T 1.5  Traditional, Micro

Our 100th Cache!  And we didn’t bring the camera!  D’oh!    My best memory of this milestone is that we had friends with us to share it.  And J Funk found the cache on the ground where it was NOT supposed to be.  Probably wouldn’t have found this one without him.

Geocaching Log:

Our 100th find, go us! After giving blood and going out for lunch, we showed some friends what geocaching was all about. We found this guy on the ground, so I’m guessing the attachment didn’t work? We didn’t have anything to put it back well with, so might want to check it out, we did our best. Nice quiet park off the beaten path. SL, TFTC!

11/21/09

by meralgia

D 3.5, T 2  Traditional, Micro

What a great day to be out geocaching with friends!  I was surprised that anyone would even want to go along with us today, but they did!  Yay!  I really enjoyed this hide, got me thinking like a real geocacher- “Where would I put it?”  Those are always my favorites.

Geocaching Log:

Took a couple of friends out today to show them about geocaching after giving blood and eating lunch. (Yes, we’re just amazingly giving people…)

Baby Doll found this one, because I am awesome… I loved the hide, great place. It was a good intro for our pals so they could see what a great find in a sometimes busy area looks like. Not busy today, though, only us! SL, TFTH!!

11/13/09

by Jarrod88

D 2 T 1.5  Traditional, Regular

Now THIS one had some TBs in it!  A LOT of TBs!  Hooray!  We grabbed a couple to bring back to Minnesota with us!

Geocaching Log:

Our last day of our honeymoon in Florida, we went on a snorkel trip to see manatees. Tons of them, it was a real success. On the way back to Orlando, I had to grab a few TBs. We were at another TB hotel a few days earlier, and even though it said there were about 12 TBs there, there weren’t any… We were afraid we wouldn’t get to anymore geocaching, so we left our two TBs there, should have saved them for this spot, seems a bit safer. We SL, L a sail boat pin in honor of our boat trip/manatee journey. We also left a Geo Ninja pin for all of those stealthy cachers, and a DigiFish who has just spawned to start his trackable journey. We T 2 TBs to move to Minnesota. Hope they weren’t supposed to stay in the area. TFTC, fun for a Minnesotan to find one anywhere near palms, you know…

11/13/09

by IceCreamMan

D 1.5 T 1  Traditional, Micro

This one almost got away from us, but BD spotted it at the last minute!  We did see a manatee here, right near the cache, but we’d been swimming with them all day- more fun to see them up close!  Beautiful spot for a cache, though!

Baby Doll swimming with a manatee!

Geocaching Log:

We went on a Manatee Tour today for the last day of our honeymoon with Fun 2 Dive- it was amazing. I figured THIS would be the perfect geocache to grab to remember it by. We did also see a manatee while we were grabbing the cache, and he blew some air out to us in a salute for spotting it. Almost didn’t find it, which would have been a shame.

You guys have better hiding spots in Florida than we do in Minnesota- I also somehow ended up with these sappy smelling sticky things all over my pants, but they were soft. Awesome, because we only have prickly things like that where we’re from. I attached a photo of myself snorkeling with a manatee and taking it’s picture… SL, TFTC!!!

11/11/09

by Slith and t’sChillin- Team Dragon Racing

D 2 T 1  Virtual Cache

Beautiful spot in the park, NEVER would have found it were it not for geocaching.  It’s such a plus to the game of it.

Geocaching Log:
My friend, who isn’t from America, would have really enjoyed this… I liked seeing more of this exhibit, so thank you! We’ll be emailing you a picture when we get home- Disney charges us a lot of extra moola for this internet connection… So not cool! TFTV!

11/11/09

by JTeate

D 2 T 1  Virtual Cache

Well, we kinda sucked this one up.  I didn’t know what the fountain was called, which was one of the requirements.  I asked two employees who laughed in my face and said it was called “Fountain”.  It’s apparently called “The Fountain of Nations” but there’s no plaque and it’s not on any maps.  Oh well, I LOVE EPCOT!

Geocaching Log:
We spent 2 days in Epcot- my favorite place. Emailed you our answers, TFTV!!!