unforum

[Russell]

Ooh hey setters, long time no see, shame we missed each other =( gogoggo collect the shard!

[setters393]

I will but I think I need to catch up - so will be reading this non-stop & solving the TSR puzzles & trying to work out how to use my ipaq. I spent about an hour today walking in circles trying to get in calibrated.

I'm aiming for the end of the week if we're really lucky

[Pied Piper]

Welcome! Glad you are able to join us! My memory is so bad (especially with names), I can't remember if I've gotten to game with you before, but looking forward to it.

Yes, yes, welcome, welcome, but as---

[carmenmiranda]

Yay, setters! Too bad we didn't get to see you, but there will almost certainly be other opportunities.

Excellent news about the Gloucester shard! There's another one south of Bristol, but it's about as far south as Gloucester is north, so there it remains.

I'm loving this iPAQ, and am not sure how they are going to get it back from me. The mscape games are next to impossible, as their positioning isn't exact.

[natas]

Good luck with the remaining shards guys. I have to be back at work tonight. I'll be back in 4 weeks and checking in periodically. Piper, in response to your PM, if you'd send me a PM every week keeping me up to date, that would be great so i don't have to read through a zillion pages to get caught up. That way, if I'm not able to get online, I can just read my inbox when I get back home. Thanks.

[setters393]

omg - carmenmiranda, I am so pleased that you said that. I thought it was just me being simple... I'll give the mscape games another go when I've caught up.

I'll do my best with both the local shards - south & north

fingers crossed

[Pied Piper]

[carmenmiranda]

There really isn't any trick to the mscape games. The problem is that the two we have so far are based on the idea of wandering around until the GPS tells you something along the lines of, "You are now standing in Location 1." Then, you move on to a second part of the game, where you have to go back to those original locations while avoiding some other locations.

The problem is that the GPS is still a little wonky. So, for example, you think you're standing in Location 1, and then suddenly, it tells you you're in Location 2, but you haven't moved. As these things improve, the games will improve, but for right now, you're stuck with a bit of trial and error.

When I was playing the game, because of those problems, at first I thought, okay, so maybe I don't get the rules. But it is actually that--wander around until it tells you you're in Spot 1, and then remember where Spot 1 is.

If you keep at it, eventually you'll win the game, but don't be terribly surprised if it doesn't happen the first time.

[Jabba]

the tip with using any sort of GPS device is you have to let it "settle" before it is accurate. When you first turn on your device it will have a few satellites and that means as you move around (worse if there is any sort of tree cover) the GPS reading jumps around a lot. the longer you leave it on (a few minutes should do it) the more satellites it will lock onto and give you a far more accurate and reliable reading as you move about.

hope this helps.

[nitefoll]

@Carmen

What GPS software does your PDA have installed?

I used my TomTom for exact GPS coordinates but this was quite tricky as TomTom kept trying to place me onto a main road. It would have been handier to have some O/S map software or similar.

[carmenmiranda]

We started out with the GPS on my phone, which is the standard Nokia N95 GPS. It's really good, in the sense that you can input coordinates and it will even give you an arrow pointing in the direction you need to take. It also has the map option, and navigation, so as far as interfaces go, it's absolutely perfect for any kind of geocaching-type excursion.

The problem with it is that, although it finds your location with 4 satellites, it only narrows it down to within 30-40 meters, which isn't terrible, but for geocaching purposes, it means you have a wider area to look at.

Then we met up with the lovely Agent Jo (she's great, by the way) who gave us the iPAQs, which we decided to use to find the second location.

Hilariously, we used the TomTom software on that, which, as you pointed out, would try to find the nearest road. So we found ourselves at the bottom of a cliff. Seriously. The shard, of course, was at the top of the cliff. The 200-foot cliff.

Did I mention the cliff?

So I would say, overall, the best course ended up being: 1. Look at the Google map, and plan your journey from that. 2. Once you are parked near the location, use the GPS tool of your choice to get yourself there or nearly there, depending on the accuracy of your GPS. 3. Look for obvious places.

But for the mscape games, definitely follow Jabba's advice, but be aware that they might be a bit tricky, so don't get frustrated and think you're not "getting it." It's just the nature of the beast.

[Jediwannabe]

My personal recommendation for a GPS device for geocaching, is the Garmin eTrex.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=6403

It doesn't have any maps of roads that it'll try and stick you too, but it is super rugged, extremely accurate, completely waterproof, and has an impressive 22 hours battery life on nothing more than a couple of AA's.

Even more impressive, is the fact that you can pick one up off eBay for less than £40

[Jabba]

one of the best pieces of software IMHO for a windows based PDA/Phone is BeeLineGPS. It was originally made by a Geocacher as at the time there weren't any dedicated programs for caching. It pretty much acts like a proper hand held GPS like a Garmin etrex (which I recommend as well). You can download it for a free 30 day trial, which should get you through to the end of TSR. I attached some screenies to give you an idea of what it looks like.

[setters393]

well, I'm all caught up & am going to give the gloucester one a go tomorrow afternoon

fingers crossed...

[nitefoll]

Hurrah setters, good luck, oh and remember your tape player!