GPS ~ Iridium

Phone MOTOROLA-9500 Data Kit for MOTOROLA-9505

I wonder if you are aware that within a few mils of your house there could be dozens, perhaps hundreds, of hidden treasures waiting to be found if you only know where to find them. These treasures could be hidden in a nearby forest or on a local beach or in a prking lot or at the end of a mountain climb or even in a railroad locomotive. Some are easy to find, while others are surprisingly difficult to locate. Yet finding them is always an adventure. This is the world of "geocaching" and this brief article will explain how to discover it.

Geocaching is the popular treasure hunting game in which players hide containers called "geocaches" (or simply "caches") around the world and other players try to find them using the geographic coordinates and clues published on a web site. The game was invented in May 2000 after the UUSA ended the "selective availability" of the Global Positioning system, which instantly multiplied the accuracy of tens of thousands of GPS receivers.

Now there are over 380,000 active caches worldwide. Caches have been hidden in almost every country - there are even 18 caches in Antarctica. Where I live in Canada, over 450 caches can be found within 25 miles of my house!

You need only three things to go geocaching:

• 1. A username at the official geocaching web site.
• 2. A GPS receiver.
• 3. A sene of adventure.

Geocaching Membership and GPS Receiver

A basic membership at www.geocaching.com is free. The web site provides information and resources for beginners as well as access to the geocache database. Tha database gives you the geographic coordinates (typically latitude andlongitude), descriptions, hints and logs for all the registered caches. You can search the database for caches near a specified location, or by country, state, postal coce, etc. The database also maintains a record of the caches you find.

You don't need a fancy GPS receiver. However, it should be a battery-powered, hand-held unit that let's you enter your destination as geographic coordinates. But mostly, geocaching calls for a sense of adventure and a knack for puzzles. It can take you to new places or help you see faviliar places in new ways. Caches may be very secluded or in public places and finding them might involve hiking, climbing or looking rather suspicious. Cackhes come in various sizes, but all are well hidden or disguised to reduce the chance of being found by "muggles: (non-geocachers). Your GPS receiver may guide you to within 30 feet of the cache, but actually finding the cache will depend on your intellect, persistence and powers of observation. The activity can be ejoyed by children and is very well suited to families and scouting groups.

Caches Types

Caches come in different types. The traditional cache is a waterproof container holding a logbook, pen or pencil and a number of small objects. The objects seldom have any real monetary value; they are usually trinkets, toys, tokens or artifacts. However, they will generally have some interest value to the finder. So, when you find a traditional cache, the customary practice is to write your username and date in the logbook and exchange one of the objects for something of similar or higher value that you brought, so there will be some "swag" for the next person to find.

Objects can travel from cache to cache over great distances. A "travel bug" is and object , such as a small stuffed toy, that has a registred number tag attached to it, making it trackable, The web site maintains the description, photo, travel history and current location of the travel bugs. Some travel bugs have special destinations or other objectives. So when you pick up a travel bug, your task is to help move it closer to achieving its goal.

Probably the most challenging cache types are the "multi-cache" and the "micro-cache". In a multi-cache, the first cache contains the coordinates of either the final cache or the next cache in a series. The final cache could be located some distance from the initial coordinates. Some multi-caches are designed to provide aguided tour of an area, while others require the geocacher to calculate the final coordinates from clues found along the way.

Micro-caches are small container holding only a logbook and a pen or pencil. Because they are so small, micro-caches can be easily concealed in unexpected places. For example, a micro-cache could be hidden in a plant in the lobby of an office building where hundreds of unsupecting people would pass it every day. A micro-cache could be placed in a magnetic keyholder affixed to a light post in a parking lot and no one would suspect it was there.

My girlfriend and I enjoy geocaching because it provides an interesting and challenging way to explore oru local countryside and get plenty of exercise and fresh air in the process. I thing you will enjoy it too.

Caches Type

There are many types of caches. Some are easy enough to be called "drive-bys," "park 'n' grabs" ("PNGs"), or "cache and dash." Others are very difficult, including staged multi-caches there are even examples of caches underwater 50 feet (15 m) up a tree, after long offroad drives, on high mountain peaks, on the Antarctic continent, and above the Arctic Circle. Different geocaching websites choose to list different variations as per their own policies (e.g., Geocaching.com does not list new Webcam, Virtual, Locationless, or Moving geocaches). Variations of geocaches include:

Traditional

This is the basic cache type. It is a container with a log book (at minimum) found at its listed set of coordinates and usually trade items.

Night Cache

These traditional caches can only be found at night and involve following a series of reflectors with a flashlight to the final cache location.

Event Cache

This is a gathering organised and attended by geocachers. Physical caches placed at events are often temporarily placed for the event date only. The Geocaching events category contains some famous annual Geocaching events.

Cache-In Trash-Out (CITO) Events

This is a variation on event caching. Geocachers gather to clean up the trash in the area to improve the environment as a coordinated activity.

Letterbox Hybrid

A letterbox hybrid cache is a combination of a geocache and a letterbox in the same container. A letterbox has a rubber stamp and a logbook instead of tradable items. Letterboxers carry their own stamp with them, to stamp the letterbox's log book and inversely stamp their personal log book with the letterbox stamp. The hybrid cache contains the important materials for this and may or may not include trade items. Whether the letterbox hybrid contains trade items is up to the owner.

Locationless/Reverse

This variation is similar to a scavenger hunt. A description is given for something to find, such as a one-room schoolhouse, and the finder locates an example of this object. The finder records the location using their GPS handheld receiver and often takes a picture at the location showing the named object and his or her GPS receiver. Typically others are not allowed to log that same location as a find.

Moving/Traveling

Similar to a traditional geocache, this variation is found at a listed set of coordinates. The finder uses the log book, trades trinkets, and then hides the cache in a different location. By updating this new location on the listing, the finder essentially becomes the hider, and the next finder continues the cycle.

Multi-cache

This cache consists of multiple caches. These caches are one or more intermediate points containing the coordinates for the next or final cache, that contains the log book and trade items.

Mystery/puzzle-based

This cache requires one to discover information in order to find the cache. Generally it includes a false set of coordinates within a mile or a couple of kilometers of the cache, and a puzzle must be solved in order to determine the final cache location. In other cases the given location is correct, but the name of the location or other features found there are themselves a puzzle leading to the final cache. Alternatively, additional information is necessary to access the cache (such as a padlock combination) or there are special requirements for logging the find on-line.

Offset

This cache is similar to the multi-cache except that the initial coordinates are for a location containing information that encodes the final cache coordinates. An example would be to direct the finder to a plaque where the digits of a date on the plaque correspond to coordinates of the final cache.

Virtual

Caches of this nature are coordinates for a location that does not contain the traditional box, log book, or trade items. Instead, the location contains some other described object. Validation for finding a virtual cache generally requires you to email the cache hider with information such as a date or a name on a plaque, or to post a picture of yourself at the site with GPS receiver in hand.

Earthcache

Organized and maintained by the Geological Society of America, the EarthCache program is a subset of geocaching in which the "treasure" a cacher finds is not a physical container with trinkets, but an educational lesson of the Earth. The important requirement for an EarthCache to be approved and published is that the cache listing must contain educational information about the earth science of the cache area, and an interactive educational task which directly engages the cacher in that geology. EarthCaches are submitted at www.earthcache.org, and transferred to Groundspeak’s geocaching.com during the review process. The EarthCache program is funded by Groundspeak, National Geographic, Subaru, and the National Park Service.

Webcam

Similar to a virtual cache; there is no container, log book, or trade items for this cache type. Instead, the coordinates are for a location with a public webcam. Instead of signing a log book, the finder is often required to capture their image from the webcam for verification of the find.

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