Category Archives: Geocaching

Thoughts and observations about a fun activity using a GPS receiver and a sense of adventure.

Five tips for geocaching

Posted on 10 May 2013 | Leave a comment

Darren holding an ammo box (geocache) above his head.
I’ve been doing some spring cleaning on the computer and came across this article I wrote and recorded for my Geotalk podcast about five years ago. After reading it today I realised it still holds relevance, particularly for new geocachers. Continue reading →

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Uploading geocaches into Nuvi 1350

Posted on 19 January 2013 | 3 Comments

It’s taken me almost two years to work out the best way to upload geocaches into my Nuvi in-car GPS receiver, so that they will display while I drive. While it’s posible to add them as points of interest (POIs), the icons are very small and hard to see.

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Magellan eXplorist 610 review

Posted on 16 March 2012 | 2 Comments

About 18 months ago I was fortunate enough to be one of the first to test out the Magellan eXplorist GC. Overall I was thoroughly impressed with the unit and suggested that Magellan was back in the game. During the southern hemisphere summer I was given the opportunity to test out it’s bigger brother – the eXplorist 610.

The 610 is the ‘almost top of the line’ model in the eXplorist series – bettered only by the 710. It’s form is very similar to the GC and the rest of the series, albeit bigger and green.

It has a touch screen interface and three discrete buttons built into the outer edge of the casing. The top one for the power button, while the two on the left hand side are for the still camera and marking waypoints.

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Have a Geomate Jr? Don’t panic.

Posted on 27 January 2012 | 34 Comments

Geomate Jr and netbook with Geocaching.com displayedUPDATE: The Geomate Jr has been bought by Brand44 and you can use the update website again.

A few months ago I purchased a Geomate Jr GPS receiver for my son. It’s a great simple to use unit designed for kids. The interface is simple, but that was to ensure it was cheap and easy to use. At first I thought it was too simple, too cute. But having now used one, I’m impressed.

Unfortunately, Geomate Jr owners found out today that the company that now owns it (Airity) will no longer sell or support the unit. This is a BIG problem, as owners rely on the www.mygeomate.com website to download geocache list updates into their receiver. Without it, the list will become out of date quickly – archived geocache will still appear in the receiver and new ones (since 31 December 2011) can’t be added. Continue reading →

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Neongeo geocaching app review

Posted on 17 January 2012 | 4 Comments

I’ve been using Neongeo by Can-o-Worms for the past four months and it’s quickly become my tool of choice for geocaching in the suburbs.

It was the first Android app to take advantage of the Geocaching Live API, released by Groundspeak in mid-2011, and at less than half of the price of the Groundspeak app (AU$4.26), it’s a winner in my view.

The developer Mikko Sarvela from Helsinki is quite responsive to bug reports and feature requests, and although the updates were at one stage occurring almost everytime I switched my phone on, it’s slowed down to a more acceptable level.

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Geocaching in Springwood

Posted on 21 August 2010 | Leave a comment

Isaac takes the leadOne of Darren’s favourite pastimes is geocaching. This outdoor activity involves using a GPS receiver to find hidden geocaches – or treasures as Isaac likes to call them. We search on the internet for geocaches at interesting locations and use the GPS receiver to guide us to the location.

We enjoy doing this as a family because it gives us an opportunity to spend time together, in the outdoors. It also presents Isaac with an opportunity to explore the world around him.

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Magellan eXplorist GC review

Posted on 18 May 2010 | 14 Comments

In the early days of geocaching Magellan was one of the leading brands when it came to GPS receivers on the market. In recent times that popularity has fallen and despite the release of the all-in-one Triton series in 2008, the brand looked like disappearing altogether.

Therefore it’s great to see them launch a new GPS receiver that is not only great in looks and functionality, but is built with geocaching in mind.

The first impression I had of the eXplorist GC is small – in a good way. It fits snuggly in the hand, is light weight and very pleasing on the eye. The rubber grip and rounded edges makes it easy to grasp in your hand. A wide loop at the base allows you to loop through a thick, sturdy lanyard should you want to hand around your neck.

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Lowrance Endura Sierra review

Posted on 20 April 2010 | 1 Comment

After a year or two of dominance in the geocaching field, Garmin is finding some ‘old’ players are re-entering the handheld GPS receiver market. I was fortunate enough to test out Lowrance’s latest offering, the Endura Sierra.

When you take the Endura Sierra out of the box it is a good fit in the hand. The size is about right and there is adequate rubber grip on the sides and back. With batteries (2 x AA) the unit is a little heavier than other units of similar ilk, but it is well balanced. The space for the batteries is tight and it a few attempts to get the correct angle for closing the back panel.

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Recording Cachers of the Round Table

Posted on 6 November 2008 | Leave a comment
utterli-image
In front of the Chinese gardens and the city of Sydney.

Mobile post sent by SpindocBob using Utterli. reply-count Replies.  mp3

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Cache maintenance

Posted on 18 October 2008 | Leave a comment

After having dinner with PM Rudd on Thursday night, The Spindoctors decided Saturday was a good day to head out past Braidwood and check in on our cache.We left Canberra a little later than planned, and our stop in Bungendore was lengthened by a yummy sausage roll. Through Braidwood and onto Mongarlowe. Must admit we passed the turnoff and after realising that we were heading to Nerriga, turned around. Almost missed another turn in the hamlet of Budawang, but thanks to Nay’s super vision we turned onto the correct road.

Once at the parking spot, we gave Zac a bottle of milk to keep him happy, and then headed off. The day was fantastic – a little warm, but the breeze cooled us down.

A stop mid-way was interrupted by the ranger who told us that the fire tower had been vandalised last night and the communications tower for the emergency services was disconnected. Who would do such a thing? Stupid!

We continued climbing up the mountain, which was a decent slog. Finally after a little over two hours, we made it to the top. What a view! Unfortunately it was too hazy to see the ocean, but the Budawang National Park stretched out to the horizon. The castle and pigeon hut were as clear as a bell.

We placed Zac on a mat and we then all had a drink and a sandwich. I wandered off to find my cache. Man! I was evil. I think I found too many caches at the time that were like this. After ten minutes I located it, pleased that it hadn’t become geolitter (it wasn’t likely to be muggled). Unfortunately the contents of the cache had suffered from the ‘not-quite-weatherproof’ container.

I returned to find Nay and Zac fighting off a viscous army of black ants that had descended upon us. Even while I changed his nappy, they advanced upon us.

We quickly packed up, transferred the log book to the new cache container, took some pictures and then headed off to rehide the cache in an easier location.

Spotted somewhere less demanding, but still out of sight, marked the waypoint and placed the cache. As I emerged, Nay was talking to another walker. “Call of nature”, I told him.

The trip down was much easier than up and we returned to the car very satisfied to have completed our trek as a family. I was especially pleased that Nay not only made it through her first 12 km hike – up a hill and back – but did it well.

Here is some audio of us calling in from Mount Budawang

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