Monday, November 24, 2003
How To Get Booty With Your Pocket PC
Posted by Philip Colmer in "SOFTWARE" @ 10:06 AM
There are two things that really appeal to me: gadgets and gratification. Geocaching satisfies both vices, and has the (grudgingly fortunate) side effect of throwing in a bit of exercise and the great outdoors in the bargain. Read on to find out more about geocaching and how you can do it too!
This article is an introduction to geocaching. For me, geocaching is a double-dog dare. The first dog is the fact that the search requires using my gadgetry. Pooch number two is the fact that the gadgets will get me to the general vicinity of something hidden, daring me to find it.
To get an idea of how big a draw the find is for me, picture a normal dog bone. Now imagine that the bone has been hollowed out, and the hollow has been filled with bacon. Now drill holes in the bone so the bacon scent can waft out, and then hide the bone someplace sneaky. If we continue with the dog analogy, the Pocket PC + GPS + software is the nose. I'm the dog, and I'll find that bone or I'll die trying.
So You're a Dog. What's Geocaching?
Simply put, geocaching is using technology to find treasure (or caches). The concept of finding buried treasure is not a new one. Pirates were saying "Arrr" at maps marked with Xs centuries ago, and scavenger hunts have always been popular.
Figure 1: NOT a geocacher
The current "sport" of geocaching is a convergence of several different technologies and past-times. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?
Letterboxing
Letterboxing started back in 1854, when an Englishman named James Perrot stuck his calling card in a bottle and hid it under a pile of rocks on the shore of Cranmere Pool in Dartmoor. He did this mainly to prove that he'd been there and, given the harsh, boggy terrain, it was certainly something of an accomplishment. Other walkers in the area heard about it, and started placing their calling cards in the bottle to prove that they'd been there too.
Figure 2: Artist's depiction of the first letterboxer
The idea spread and now has adherents in many different countries and continents. Unfortunately for gadget freaks, letterboxing is just about as old school as it gets. Using maps, clues and a compass, letterboxers ferret out the location of letterboxes in pursuit of rubber stamps placed in the boxes. When a letterbox is found, the finder inks the stamp and stamps their personal letterboxing book as a trophy.
While getting the stamp is certainly the end result, I think that most letterboxers would agree that the real reward is the journey to reach the letterbox, as they are usually placed in interesting locations one would normally never see.
The Satellite Age
Fast forward a century to the launch of Sputnik in 1957. Scientists tracking the orbit of the satellite realized that a person on earth could determine their exact location if they could obtain a signal from the satellite and if they knew the exact orbit of the satellite.
After several earlier attempts using a small number of satellites, the U.S. government launched the first four satellites of the Navstar constellation in 1978. Today, the Navstar group of satellites consists of 24 satellites, each of which circle the globe every 11 hours and 58 minutes.
Each Navstar satellite contains an extremely precise atomic clock, which is used to sync the satellite with a ground based receiver. Since the exact orbit of the satellite is known, a ground based receiver, if accurate enough, can triangulate its position based on the positions of several different satellites.
Global Positioning System (GPS) For the Masses
At first, Global Positioning System technology was used exclusively for military purposes, but on May 1st, 2000, The Clinton Administration ordered that the satellite signal be unscrambled to provide greater accuracy for civilian purposes.
Prior to this order, accuracy was limited to about 90 meters - now it's good to about 10 meters. This is important because it means that much smaller objects can be located with a higher degree of accuracy. This is pretty much a requirement when one is attempting to find an ammo box buried under a pile of rocks on the side of a mountain somewhere.
On May 3rd, a mere TWO DAYS after the GPS signal was de-scrambled, a man named Dave Ulmer hid a bucket stuffed with goodies in the Portland, Oregon area. Mike Teague found the first container, and started a web page to track the locations of the containers and their contents so that others could find them as well.
That early site evolved into the current geocaching.com site, which now lists over 70,000 caches in 186 countries.
There is now a plaque at the site of the first cache location - you can find information here if you're in the area and would like to visit.
Required Items for Successful Geocaching
If you want to geocache with your Pocket PC, you'll need at least two things. A GPS receiver (either CF or bluetooth), and a mapping program to plot the location of the cache. I use an Axim X5 Advanced, a Haicomm 303MMF CF GPS card, and Maptech's Outdoor Navigator Software.
When you have the necessary gear, the first thing to do is to visit geocaching.com. Once there, enter your zip code, state or country, and see the caches that are hidden in your local area. Each cache has specific latitude and longitude coordinates. There are several different types of coordinates, based on the type that was used by the creators of the topographical maps you're using.
There's a Cache in my Area. Now What?
Now that you've located a cache you want to find, you'll need to get the cache details in a portable form. For most people, that means making a printout of the cache page. This is fine if you only want to hit a few caches, but becomes annoying (and heavy) if there are a number of caches in the area.
Fortunately, as proud owners of Pocket PCs, we have a few options open to us that aren't available to the typical geocacher with a monochrome Garmin. For example, my wife and I recently went to Mammoth Lakes, CA for vacation. Before leaving, I located 46 different caches within a 20 mile radius of our cabin. I wanted an easy way to access specific information, including hints and satellite photos. I decided that the best way to do this would be to create an HTML page that would be readable in Pocket Internet Explorer. It wasn't very hard to do, and as it turned out, it was extremely useful to me to have the cache information in this format when I was out in the middle of nowhere.
(If you're feeling intrepid, you can see what the page looks like and grab the code here).
Finding a Cache
First of all, be safe. If you're going to hit a cache 20 miles from nowhere, pack accordingly and tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back.
Second, pack accordingly. Pay attention to the description of the area the cache is located in. If it says there's water nearby, bring bug spray, perhaps an Aquapac ... that sort of thing.
The GPS will get you very close to the cache location, but will not find it for you. You'll need to use your wits and look for clues. Where would you hide a cache in this location? Are there any slightly odd looking piles of stones or branches? Any crevices or hollows that look suspicious? Check them out.
Figure 3: Piles of rocks are usually a dead giveaway
If all else fails, you can always read the hint ... if you want to be a big fat cheater, that is!
Figure 4: Eureka! Big Fat Cheater found the cache
Cache containers can be just about anything, but they're usually either Tupperware containers or ammo boxes. Some people even leave "micro caches", hidden in film canisters. If you think it's hard to find an ammo box, wait until you try to bag a micro cache! Very challenging, but fun.
So there you are at the cache. Go on, open it up! You'll find lots of stuff inside. The contents of any cache are as diverse as the people that have visited it. We’ve found everything from incense to stuffed animals to pocket knives and carbiners.
Figure 5: The inside of a cache
This brings me to one of the more important rules of geocaching: if you take something, you should leave something. Try to leave something that YOU would like to find, i.e. not the pack of gum in your pocket. Plan ahead, and take something nice with you when you leave.
Figure 6: At this cache, we took a marble and left some mini suncatchers
If there's nothing you want, or if the find itself is reward enough for you, feel free to take nothing and leave nothing (TNLN in geocacher-speak).
Other Stuff You Should Do
Each cache usually has a log book. If your cache has one, sign it so the owners of the cache know you've been there, what you think of the place or the trip, if you saw anything interesting along the way, etc.
Some caches also have a camera, so you might want to take a picture of yourself; these will end up in a photo album in the cache when developed.
When you're done, hide the cache again in the same location. If you can, try to hide it better than you found it - you don't want a non-geocacher (i.e. Muggle) to find the cache - they tend to steal them.
When you get back home, make sure you log your find on geocaching.com. This gives you credit for the find, and lets the cache owner know that someone has visited the cache.
If you didn't find the cache, make sure you log that as well so the owner can check to see if it's been stolen.
So now you know all about geocaching. What are you waiting for? Go out and find a cache!
Pat Logsdon is a freelance writer/journalist.
This article is an introduction to geocaching. For me, geocaching is a double-dog dare. The first dog is the fact that the search requires using my gadgetry. Pooch number two is the fact that the gadgets will get me to the general vicinity of something hidden, daring me to find it.
To get an idea of how big a draw the find is for me, picture a normal dog bone. Now imagine that the bone has been hollowed out, and the hollow has been filled with bacon. Now drill holes in the bone so the bacon scent can waft out, and then hide the bone someplace sneaky. If we continue with the dog analogy, the Pocket PC + GPS + software is the nose. I'm the dog, and I'll find that bone or I'll die trying.
So You're a Dog. What's Geocaching?
Simply put, geocaching is using technology to find treasure (or caches). The concept of finding buried treasure is not a new one. Pirates were saying "Arrr" at maps marked with Xs centuries ago, and scavenger hunts have always been popular.
Figure 1: NOT a geocacher
The current "sport" of geocaching is a convergence of several different technologies and past-times. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?
Letterboxing
Letterboxing started back in 1854, when an Englishman named James Perrot stuck his calling card in a bottle and hid it under a pile of rocks on the shore of Cranmere Pool in Dartmoor. He did this mainly to prove that he'd been there and, given the harsh, boggy terrain, it was certainly something of an accomplishment. Other walkers in the area heard about it, and started placing their calling cards in the bottle to prove that they'd been there too.
Figure 2: Artist's depiction of the first letterboxer
The idea spread and now has adherents in many different countries and continents. Unfortunately for gadget freaks, letterboxing is just about as old school as it gets. Using maps, clues and a compass, letterboxers ferret out the location of letterboxes in pursuit of rubber stamps placed in the boxes. When a letterbox is found, the finder inks the stamp and stamps their personal letterboxing book as a trophy.
While getting the stamp is certainly the end result, I think that most letterboxers would agree that the real reward is the journey to reach the letterbox, as they are usually placed in interesting locations one would normally never see.
The Satellite Age
Fast forward a century to the launch of Sputnik in 1957. Scientists tracking the orbit of the satellite realized that a person on earth could determine their exact location if they could obtain a signal from the satellite and if they knew the exact orbit of the satellite.
After several earlier attempts using a small number of satellites, the U.S. government launched the first four satellites of the Navstar constellation in 1978. Today, the Navstar group of satellites consists of 24 satellites, each of which circle the globe every 11 hours and 58 minutes.
Each Navstar satellite contains an extremely precise atomic clock, which is used to sync the satellite with a ground based receiver. Since the exact orbit of the satellite is known, a ground based receiver, if accurate enough, can triangulate its position based on the positions of several different satellites.
Global Positioning System (GPS) For the Masses
At first, Global Positioning System technology was used exclusively for military purposes, but on May 1st, 2000, The Clinton Administration ordered that the satellite signal be unscrambled to provide greater accuracy for civilian purposes.
Prior to this order, accuracy was limited to about 90 meters - now it's good to about 10 meters. This is important because it means that much smaller objects can be located with a higher degree of accuracy. This is pretty much a requirement when one is attempting to find an ammo box buried under a pile of rocks on the side of a mountain somewhere.
On May 3rd, a mere TWO DAYS after the GPS signal was de-scrambled, a man named Dave Ulmer hid a bucket stuffed with goodies in the Portland, Oregon area. Mike Teague found the first container, and started a web page to track the locations of the containers and their contents so that others could find them as well.
That early site evolved into the current geocaching.com site, which now lists over 70,000 caches in 186 countries.
There is now a plaque at the site of the first cache location - you can find information here if you're in the area and would like to visit.
Required Items for Successful Geocaching
If you want to geocache with your Pocket PC, you'll need at least two things. A GPS receiver (either CF or bluetooth), and a mapping program to plot the location of the cache. I use an Axim X5 Advanced, a Haicomm 303MMF CF GPS card, and Maptech's Outdoor Navigator Software.
When you have the necessary gear, the first thing to do is to visit geocaching.com. Once there, enter your zip code, state or country, and see the caches that are hidden in your local area. Each cache has specific latitude and longitude coordinates. There are several different types of coordinates, based on the type that was used by the creators of the topographical maps you're using.
There's a Cache in my Area. Now What?
Now that you've located a cache you want to find, you'll need to get the cache details in a portable form. For most people, that means making a printout of the cache page. This is fine if you only want to hit a few caches, but becomes annoying (and heavy) if there are a number of caches in the area.
Fortunately, as proud owners of Pocket PCs, we have a few options open to us that aren't available to the typical geocacher with a monochrome Garmin. For example, my wife and I recently went to Mammoth Lakes, CA for vacation. Before leaving, I located 46 different caches within a 20 mile radius of our cabin. I wanted an easy way to access specific information, including hints and satellite photos. I decided that the best way to do this would be to create an HTML page that would be readable in Pocket Internet Explorer. It wasn't very hard to do, and as it turned out, it was extremely useful to me to have the cache information in this format when I was out in the middle of nowhere.
(If you're feeling intrepid, you can see what the page looks like and grab the code here).
Finding a Cache
First of all, be safe. If you're going to hit a cache 20 miles from nowhere, pack accordingly and tell someone where you're going and when you'll be back.
Second, pack accordingly. Pay attention to the description of the area the cache is located in. If it says there's water nearby, bring bug spray, perhaps an Aquapac ... that sort of thing.
The GPS will get you very close to the cache location, but will not find it for you. You'll need to use your wits and look for clues. Where would you hide a cache in this location? Are there any slightly odd looking piles of stones or branches? Any crevices or hollows that look suspicious? Check them out.
Figure 3: Piles of rocks are usually a dead giveaway
If all else fails, you can always read the hint ... if you want to be a big fat cheater, that is!
Figure 4: Eureka! Big Fat Cheater found the cache
Cache containers can be just about anything, but they're usually either Tupperware containers or ammo boxes. Some people even leave "micro caches", hidden in film canisters. If you think it's hard to find an ammo box, wait until you try to bag a micro cache! Very challenging, but fun.
So there you are at the cache. Go on, open it up! You'll find lots of stuff inside. The contents of any cache are as diverse as the people that have visited it. We’ve found everything from incense to stuffed animals to pocket knives and carbiners.
Figure 5: The inside of a cache
This brings me to one of the more important rules of geocaching: if you take something, you should leave something. Try to leave something that YOU would like to find, i.e. not the pack of gum in your pocket. Plan ahead, and take something nice with you when you leave.
Figure 6: At this cache, we took a marble and left some mini suncatchers
If there's nothing you want, or if the find itself is reward enough for you, feel free to take nothing and leave nothing (TNLN in geocacher-speak).
Other Stuff You Should Do
Each cache usually has a log book. If your cache has one, sign it so the owners of the cache know you've been there, what you think of the place or the trip, if you saw anything interesting along the way, etc.
Some caches also have a camera, so you might want to take a picture of yourself; these will end up in a photo album in the cache when developed.
When you're done, hide the cache again in the same location. If you can, try to hide it better than you found it - you don't want a non-geocacher (i.e. Muggle) to find the cache - they tend to steal them.
When you get back home, make sure you log your find on geocaching.com. This gives you credit for the find, and lets the cache owner know that someone has visited the cache.
If you didn't find the cache, make sure you log that as well so the owner can check to see if it's been stolen.
So now you know all about geocaching. What are you waiting for? Go out and find a cache!
Pat Logsdon is a freelance writer/journalist.
