CachingCentral

From Albany, GA:

Hahira– A new, high tech game of chance for families, uses satellites and determination to find a modest reward.

You probably have never heard of Geocaching, but more and more people do it, and they can’t wait to match wits with people who love the game, too.

A family outing for the Jarrells frequently includes a walk on the wild side as high tech thrill seekers. “The thrill of the hunt,” says Ricky Jarrell, as he walks through a wooded area hunting for a box, an illusive container, called a cache.

“Saying it’s behind me,” says Ricky as he looks at his handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. It takes more than an electronic box. They must use their collective wisdom. “Sometimes I go one way and he goes another,” says Sandy Jarrell, Ricky wife and veteran Geocacher herself. “Often it was between us.”

“Some are easy. Some are hard, very hard,” adds Ricky as he walked as far as three miles to find a special container. They have help, notes from a web site about the treasure’s location and their GPS receiver. The modern day treasure hunters, like the Jarrells, use the military’s global positioning system, that group of satellites, always in operation.”

Full story…

I upgraded the site from WordPress 1.2 to WordPress 1.5. For those using a RSS reader, it might appear as the most recent posts are new. Sorry for that but I didn’t see away around it for now. Hopefully, future upgrades won’t cause issues with the RSS feed.

A long article from a New Zealand paper on geocaching covering the basics…

Geocacher Fred Ford hardly goes anywhere without his GPS receiver. Even for the interview for this feature at the Nelson Mail, he can tell you exactly what his longitude and latitude position is (in this instance, 41 degrees 16.351 minutes south, 170 degrees 16.920 minutes east).

GPS (global positioning systems) receivers are a high-tech gadget with a multitude of uses. Fred used one as an off-shore diver in the United States; it has also helped him find an ATM in Los Angeles and a steakhouse in Texas. Among its many other uses is as a travel guide in cars.

Full story…

A very anti geocaching article that shows a one sided view (aren’t most articles?) of one man’s impression of the sport and the negative impact it has had on the area he previously enjoyed.

I don’t want to give my thoughts on it until you read the article. I would love to hear your feedback on the views expressed by this article’s author. And it’s not just geocaching the other loathes, but any activity which will bring people to his spot (sacred or not, it’s out there for everyone).

The full article by Michael Donnelly is quite the read.

Fans of the Garmin Rino will receive a boost with the announcement that Garmin will be incorporating GMRS into the previous FRS only units. GMRS boosts the range of the radios. A FCC license is supposed to be obtained before using the GMRS channels, though I don’t know many folks (ok I don’t know anyone) that obtained the license for their existing FRS/GMRS radios.

From the press release:
All new Rino 110, 120, and 130 radios will be shipped with this function, and users who already own Rinos can download a free software upgrade that allows them to capitalize on this newly approved feature.

So it appears (if I’m reading the press release correctly) if you already have one of the above units, you can upgrade to GMRS via software.

Full press release…

A ban is planned in the proposed 32,000-acre wilderness for the growing sport that involves searching for planted items
MATTHEW PREUSCH

BEND — Robert Speik ducks under barbed wire, crosses a patch of rabbitbrush and climbs a protrusion of lava rock in the Badlands to look for a box of trinkets.

After a mile’s hike, he finds the stash underneath a boulder and surveys the contents — dog biscuits, stickers, a toy frog, a shot glass and other items — but the real reward is the view of the Cascade Range to the west from atop the lava.

“This is just such a magical place to come out and wander around in,” he says.

But soon the 77-year-old Speik may not be able to go on his modern-day treasure hunts anymore in the Badlands. He’s among a new wave of outdoors enthusiasts known as geocachers who use satellite-guided navigation and the Internet to find hidden “caches” all over the country.

This spring, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, citing potential environmental harm, plans to ban geocaching in the Badlands, a 32,000-acre proposed wilderness about 15 miles east of Bend.

The sport has become one of the fastest-growing activities on public lands, pushing managers from the bureau down to city park groundskeepers to develop rules to handle the phenomenon.

Full story…

Stumbled upon a really neat accessory that some Garmin owners might be interested in. It’s a car charger with built in Bluetooth. If you have a PC or other bluetooth device that you’d like your existing Garmin GPS to be able to communicate with, this can provide power to the GPS as well as transmit the coords to your bluetooth device.

Supports Garmin 60C, 60CS, 72, 76, 89, 90, 92, 176, 196, 295, GPS II, II+, III, III+, V and Street Pilots with the model at Bluetooth Car Charger

Supports Trex family GPS receiver, eMap, and Geko 201/301 with the model at Bluetooth Car Charger

PCWorld has a review of the new Garmin iQue M5 titled GPS Meets Pocket PC . Unlike the previous Garmin PDA units that were Palm based, this is their first Windows Mobile (PocketPC) based GPS unit.

It comes at a hefty price (lists for $750) but if you need both units it might be a good buy. The Garmin site lists the expected rechargable battery life at 5-7 hours, so it might not work well for a marathon day out caching. Comes with 64MB on the unit and a SD slot for more memory to support maps.

The product page on the Garmin site is at http://www.garmin.com/products/iQueM5/.

BY JUSTIN RAY

An advanced Global Positioning System satellite built to transmit additional navigation signals to benefit military and civilian users around the world has arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to begin a three-month campaign leading to launch.

A Boeing Delta 2 rocket will haul the satellite into space during a launch tentatively targeted for May 20. The liftoff date could be moved up if an earlier slot can be negotiated on the Cape manifest.

Carrying the re-titled name GPS 2R-M, for Modernized, these upcoming satellites increase the power for existing signals and offer two new military signals as well as a second civilian signal.

The improvements will provide greater accuracy, added resistance to interference and enhanced performance for all users, according to the Air Force. The advancements for the military will provide warfighters with a more robust jam-resistant signal and enable better targeting of GPS-guided weapons in hostile environments, while the new civilian signal removes ionospheric errors and improves accuracy, officials say.

Once circling the Earth, ground controllers will perform a multi-month test program to examine the new 2R-M satellite’s performance and users’ reception before proceeding with the next launch. If all goes well, the 2R-M2 satellite could lift off in October, with the next following behind in December or January.

Full story…

Oy Frontbase Ltd. has released Frontbase GPS for Windows, an easy-to-use application that makes it simple to transfer data between your Garmin GPS and PC.

By downloading data from your Garmin GPS to your PC, you can ensure that the data is safe and secure. It’s simple to download data to a text file, Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, or to the Windows clipboard.

It’s very easy to collect large amounts of GPS data on your PC, and simply upload the information to your Garmin GPS.

Frontbase GPS is completely flexible in handling your data. The program can download and upload waypoints, routes, or tracks.

Full news release..

Editor’s note: I’m not sure what this offers beyond something free like GPSBabel, so if someone knows, maybe they can post a comment.