I know what you are thinking....."not another blog from that guy again" LOL Well this is something completely different from my usual R/C related blogs from the past. This blog is my Geocaching adventures under the username of Gecko Cacher or "Geck" as RVTraveller calls me.
For those who have no idea what Geocaching is all about it simply is a game of hunting for hidden treasures "caches" worldwide using a GPS. Currently there are 935,939 caches located around the world and most of you probably have one very near to where you live and yet you don’t know it exists!
Geocaching started on May 3, 2000 the day after the US Government stopped selective availability of the Global Positioning Satellites. One such GPS user, Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, wanted to test the accuracy of the GPS system by hiding a navigational target in the woods. He called the idea the "Great American GPS Stash Hunt" and posted it in an Internet GPS users' group. The idea was simple: Hide a container out in the woods and note the coordinates with a GPS unit.
The finder would then have to locate the container with only the use of his or her GPS receiver. The rules for the finder were simple: "Take some stuff, leave some stuff." On May 3rd he placed his own container, a black bucket, in the woods near Beaver Creek, Oregon, near Portland. Along with a logbook and pencil, he left various prize items including videos, books, software, and a slingshot. He shared the waypoint of his "stash" with the online community on sci.geo.satellite-nav:
N 45° 17.460 W 122° 24.800
And the rest is history! Geocaching has become a fantastic hobby, a great way to meet people, see unbelievable sights (even in your own neighbourhood) and to some an obsession. For more about Geocaching please visit the Geocaching.com website. You never know….you just might get hooked yourself!
My GPS - Garmin Vista C
For those who have no idea what Geocaching is all about it simply is a game of hunting for hidden treasures "caches" worldwide using a GPS. Currently there are 935,939 caches located around the world and most of you probably have one very near to where you live and yet you don’t know it exists!
Geocaching started on May 3, 2000 the day after the US Government stopped selective availability of the Global Positioning Satellites. One such GPS user, Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, wanted to test the accuracy of the GPS system by hiding a navigational target in the woods. He called the idea the "Great American GPS Stash Hunt" and posted it in an Internet GPS users' group. The idea was simple: Hide a container out in the woods and note the coordinates with a GPS unit.
The finder would then have to locate the container with only the use of his or her GPS receiver. The rules for the finder were simple: "Take some stuff, leave some stuff." On May 3rd he placed his own container, a black bucket, in the woods near Beaver Creek, Oregon, near Portland. Along with a logbook and pencil, he left various prize items including videos, books, software, and a slingshot. He shared the waypoint of his "stash" with the online community on sci.geo.satellite-nav:
N 45° 17.460 W 122° 24.800
And the rest is history! Geocaching has become a fantastic hobby, a great way to meet people, see unbelievable sights (even in your own neighbourhood) and to some an obsession. For more about Geocaching please visit the Geocaching.com website. You never know….you just might get hooked yourself!
My GPS - Garmin Vista C
Yesterday I received my recently exchanged Garmin Vista C GPS after the screen on my original GPS became too scratched to see the display properly. Here you can see that the GPS has locked onto 12 satellites and is ready for action.
GPS units specifically used for Geocaching can be purchased anywhere from $100 to $700 depending on what features you would like to have like mapping capability, removable data storage cards, camera etc. However you don’t need a top end GPS to get started. In fact RVTraveller (my Geowife) and I started with a marine GPS that we have for our boat and simply plotted the Geocache coordinates (from Geocaching.com) manually into the GPS. This way we got to experience Geocaching without spending any money at all!
Anyway that’s all for now. I hope you will check out my blog from time to time, as there will be great Geocaching adventures posted on a regular basis.
Gecko
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