P4C: Photo Projects

An enjoyable way to improve your photography skills is participation in a photo project. There are two common projects within the Geocaching community -- the "12 of 12" and "Project 365." The 12 of 12 was started back in January 2006 by Chad Darnell as means to document a day in his life and he invited readers of his blog to join in. The goal was to have the submissions show how different people from all over the world live the same day in twelve photos on the twelfth day of each month. When done traditionally you'll end up with a little photo diary of your day to share with others. This year is the last for Chad Darnell's listings, but the project lives on in many other locations. We in the Geocaching community have our own version twice each year at Geocaching12of12.com. Each month many Geocachers participate and submit their sets to the Podcacher forums. I try to participate in this project when I can and it's a great exercise as well as being entertaining to look back at your previous sets to see what you were doing in the past. The March 12 of 12 is coming up shortly so perhaps you want to try pulling out that camera (cameraphones are especially good for this one as you always have it with you) and grabbing twelve photos of your day. The Geocaching 12 of 12 site has some good information on what to do (you just won't be able to submit your set to the Geocaching 12 of 12 site as that's not till June). You'll find it can be quite challenging to get all those images, but with practice you'll find that it gets easier to do better sets and those skills transfer well into creating both single and series of images.

September 12 of 12: Geocaching 12 of 12 by Darryl Wattenberg

Project 365 is a bigger commitment but a bigger reward. As you've likely figured out already this project aims to create a single image each day to represent your day. The first version I know of was done by Jamie Livingston through Polaroid photos. The result is an amazing and touching story of the final years in the life of this man who was taken by cancer in 1997. In the digital age it's become a much easier and less costly project which many have taken on. For 2010 Sonny of the Podcacher Podcast began his and invited Geocachers to do their own sets. The challenge with the Project 365 is to select one photo which best represents each day and to collect them into a group. This again gives to you an excuse and a mission to get out shooting. If you're looking to try your hand at a photo each day check out Photojojo's article and pick your day to start.

Either of these project or the many others out there will give you the chance to work on your photography skills. While it's important to push yourself to improve your skills but make sure that you have fun at it. When you're done have a look back though and you'll probably see an improvement in your images as well as a few things you'd forgotten from years back.

P4C: Photography4Cachers Series

With this post I'm kicking off the "Photography4Cachers" series on this blog and the Geocaching Podcast. The concept came from several requests that I host a session at "Cachercon 2010" on photo tips, tricks, and some basic skills for Geocachers. I prepared that talk as a back-up session which wasn't used (fortunately all the scheduled hosts were able to give their talks). Even before the conference I worked with Xpunkx of the Geocaching Podcast on planning out a series of short packages for that show, tied to a series of blog posts on our "DarrylW4 & Firefly03" blog, reposting to the Geocaching Podcast's blog. In many cases I'll have a single topic spread over several articles to allow individual concepts time to be practiced and quickly digested. These articles will drop each Tuesday morning, then the recorded audio segments will be played on that evening's recording of the Geocaching Podcast. You'll be able to hear me talking about the topic, then browse over here for any supporting images or a full refresher. The articles will be short and aim to be easy to digest covering information Geocachers will want for taking and posting photos. The first several have been written up and prepped for release and many more are planned. Please drop me an e-mail if you have questions on any of these topics though and I'll work on answering those either directly or through an answers article later in the series. We have yet to determine how long or how much to cover in this series and your input will help shape the future of "Photography4Cachers." Make sure to get your camera ready and join us next week as we kick off the first of the articles.

MotionX GPS Lite 9.4

MotionX just seems to rank out these updates. Tonight's take them to version 9.4 with bug fixes and optimizations. I haven't even tried version 9 yet.

-- Posted From My iPhone

Looking back at Cachercon 2010

This past Saturday marked the first Cachercon 2010 event (GC2158P) I (xpunkx) got to Troy on Friday night. I woke up early Saturday and headed over to the venue. There was already lots and lots of people that were there and setting up. We had little over an hour before the doors opened at 10:00 am. There was still lots of checking that needed to be done.  At 10 the doors opened and there were lots of people that came into the room. Now i was starting to get nervous, I talk every week on the podcast in front of lots of people but i am sitting in my studio and dont see them face to face. We have only done a live show like this one other time and there were not this many people.

Eleven O’Clock rolled around and it was time to start the Geocaching Podcast. Montu is on the line check, our interview guest was online check and the music is rolling. We are recording and it is going great we talked with Sascha of tb-rescue.com. we talked about the The Frustromantic Box and how much fun it would be to make it. Then we brought up the hot topic of the cache that was placed on the International Space Station This brought up lots of audience questions which was great. The audio from the show will be on this website later today. If you want to check out some other pictures from the podcast check out our facebook page. After the podcast we had other great sessions going on.  I got to speak again later on in the day this time i was talking about Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK). My presentation will but available to our plus members as a video once it is edited.

One of the main highlights for me was HeadHardHat talking about geocaching in the media. At the end of his presentation he told us that coming soon there will be a prime time television show about geocaching called TreasureCache and best of all HeadHardHat is the host.

We ended up with a total of 132 people. over all it was a great event and we hope that we get to go to it again next year. Everyone I talked to had a blast and wants to have it again next year. Big shout out goes to Darrylw4 and the Motor City Cache Machine Crew for putting this event on.

It was good to meet all of our listeners out there. Thanks for stopping by

MotionX GPS Lite Version 9.3

I stopped posting updates a while back about updates to MotionX GPS Lite simply because they were happening so frequently. They're still rolling them out though and just released today is version 9.3. I've not had the chance to open it up though since version 9 was released so I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

-- Posted From My iPhone

Geocaching Buddy Version 4.1 Released

Checking for updates this morning I found one from BtStSoft for their Geocaching Buddy. This doesn't look to offer much that I'm interested aside from the preloading of images.

GSM vs. CDMA

It occurred to my after yesterday’s post that I should mention something about the difference between GSM and CDMA as that is an important driver in the decision on which wireless carrier to use. I’ll keep this short as it is a complex topic, but aside from compatibility issues (GSM is common in Europe, CDMA in Asia, the U.S. is mixed) there’s a functional difference for smartphone users. Most CDMA devices are not able to use their high-speed data network (EVDO) while talking on the phone. The GSM devices with HSDPA permit data and voice as long as the device is on the high-speed network. So if you’re frequently phoning a friend while looking up cache information, look for a 3G GSM carrier (AT&T or T-Mobile in the U.S.). If you’re not concerned about concurrent data and voice, look at the CDMA carriers (Sprint and Verizon in the U.S.) as they tend to have better connection quality than does GSM. I tend not to be talking and using data but after having the luxury of using both at the same time it will be hard to go back to just one or the other.

GSAK and the PN-40 for Event Hosts

One of the best things about GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) is the ability it gives event hosts to prepare and load their new caches into a variety of GPSRs for the attendees. Version 7.6.2 of GSAK now supports the DeLorme Earthmate PN-20/30/40/40 SE broadening that range of supported units. I’ve done some quick tests with my PN-40 in prep for a New Year’s Day event I’ll be attending and it looks to be pretty easy. The first thing you’ll need is the DeLorme USB cable, which of course you could ask the attendees to bring, but the cable is available for $12.95USD direct from DeLorme. With that and a few quick changes to GSAK’s set-up you’ll be able to load your new caches into the PN-40.

The first set is to go into the GPS Setup (from the menu; GPS -> Setup…) and select the “Delorme” brand, then the model. Click “OK” and move on.

Then go to the Send Waypoints dialog (from the menu; GPS -> Send waypoints…) and click the “Change Symbols” button. From the “General” tab pick the “Cache Type Only” and click on the “Save” button.

That’s all there is to the set-up. Simply connect the DeLorme Earthmate PN series GPSR to the computer through the USB cable and click the “Send” icon.

Hopefully this will give the event hosts an easy way to load-up the new caches and the DeLorme users a quicker means to get caches into their GPSR.

One Week With My iPhone 3GS

I've had me new iPhone 3GS for a week now and have really come to like it. The biggest thing has been the better performance for basic things. Gone are the problems I saw introduced with 2.2.1 where I was unable to answer or disconnect calls in a timely manner. (Though only missed one call this way, wasn't that the argument Apple used for controlling Apps so tightly?) Where the 3G would pause for a half-second, the 3GS rips right through without a hiccup. Even typing is responsive enough that i can write this entire post on the 3GS comfortably. Especially the new 3.0 Copy-and-Paste process is much faster and more useful. I don't find myself using the Voice Control as I'd expected though. Voice dialing had been a staple of my phone usage on the dumb phones, but here I've grown accustom to jumping into the phone or contact app to do everything so it just isn't ever used. The camera is a surprise though. The tap to autofocus and meter function really makes the camera much more useful. Giving me the power to select the point at which it meters gives me the ability to capture backlit subjects and have them be visible. More surprising though is the quality of the video. Much like the stills from the 3G, I find myself shooting little videos for the instant send capability sending them directly via e-mail or through Tweet Reel. We even used it at the office to submit silly videos to EternalMoonwalk with results rivaling many consumer cameras I've recently used. As for Geocaching I made five finds last Saturday with nothing most than the 3GS. It works as well as the 3G did, just switching screens is a little quicker. The Geocaching app doesn't yet support the compass but iGeoCacher released an update Sunday with support and I look forward to giving that a shot. The one disappointment has been the new screen coating. While it's better it doesn't jeep the screen as free from finger prints as I'd like an it's still difficult to read through the glare in the sun. I'll be adding the anti-glare screen protector to mine very soon. As for the reported heat issues I have noticed them when either radio (3G or WiFi) is running for more than a couple minutes of heavy use, but it's amplified when charging. The battery at the same time. Having only been briefly on the 3G with the 3.0 software I can't really speak to the battery life though. The 3GS does not last as long as the 3G did under 2.2, but under 3.0 even the 3G lost time of usage.i wouldn't have been likely to do the upgrade if my 3G would have behaved itself after rebuilding it, but between the home button not responding and not being permitted to terminate a call for five seconds or more, I really felt I had to do something. Overall it's been a worthy upgrade and I don't have a moment's regret over spending the extra $182 for an unsubsidized phone (I'm only nine months into my contract). I find myself using the iPhone now when I would have grabbed the laptop before and never really pickup the netbook.
I will mention though that I'm still not pleased with many iPhone limitations and will be taking a hard look on about a year at the Palm Pre and Google Android phones. Hopefully both will have more options and better support before then and if so I'm likely to move from the iPhone to one of those. As annoying and costly ad AT&T is though I might stick with them for the 3G GSM service since it allows use of the phone and data as the same time. My understanding is that CDMA (which is what SprintPCS and Verizon use) is not capable of running both services without duplicating radios - one for each. My three big complaints with Apple an the iPhone are the single carrier, lack of background tasks (not even multitasking, just back polling functions are all I need), and their total control over the App store. Who knows though - in a year they might fix those things too.

-- Posted From My iPhone

My Look at the Geomate Jr.

Listen for my short review of the Geomate Jr. on Podcacher Show 218. Also listen to the Geocaching Podcast episode 106 for an interview with Warren of Apisphere and further discussion on the new unit.

Probably the most difficult part of looking at the new Geomate Jr. by Apisphere, Inc. is determining where the product fits. This is a GPSR find only traditional geocaches -- nothing else. It is not a GPSR for avid Geocachers. It may work well for casual Geocachers. Very likely it could fit well into the hands of younger children while caching with their parents. Perhaps someone with only a GPS enabled phone would try one as a higher performance GPSR supplementing their phone when out caching. The Geomate Jr. is probably best though for couples or families just starting out with Geocaching. Really the $70USD unit doesn't seem to have an obvious fit yet it is very compelling.

The goal was to create a simple, inexpensive GPSR for Geocaching which would be ready to use out of the box. The team at Apisphere has succeeded in that task (though you have to buy the batteries separately before you can power on the Geomate Jr.). The nearly quarter million geocaches preloaded into the device are filtered to be family friendly traditional caches available to all Geocachers.

Chipset:		SIRFstar III
Preloaded Coverage:		United States
Cache Capacity:		250,000
User Waypoints:		1 (marked only, not set numerically)
LCD Display:		Compass (pointers at 22.5°) Geocache Difficulty Geocache Terrain Geocache Size Found Geocache 12 Characters on 3 Rows (5 large in center of compass, 5 small in the lower right of the compass, 2 small in the lower left of the compass) Current Display Mode GPS Signal Quality Low Battery
Buttons:		Power Left (Next) Right (Page)
Power:		2 x AAA batteries
Connection:		Proprietary Update Kit
Weight:		3.2oz
Dimensions:		1.9in x 3.7in x 1in
Resistance:		Splash proof

Someone walking out of a store with the Geomate Jr. and a pair of AAA batteries needs only to read the short foldout included, insert the batteries, power-up the GPSR, then hit the trail for the cache nearest their location. The two button interface gives quick and easy access to all you need from the limited functions the unit can perform. Pressing the left button displays the next closest cache in the list. Press and hold that button to point to the "HOME" location saved in the unit. To mark a "HOME" location, press and hold both buttons at the same time. Press the right button to cycle through the display modes -- Geocaching, GC Code, Navigation, and Found List. To mark the cache found, press and hold the right button. To refresh the list of the 20 closest caches cycle the power (turn it off then back on). While in the Geocaching display mode the arrows of the compass indicate the direction to walk while the large numbers in the center count the distance in either miles or feet. The GC Code will display the geocache's waypoint ID from Geocaching.com minus the leading "GC" (i.e. GC1DASP is displayed as 1DASP). The Navigation mode displays the heading, latitude, longitude, elevation, and satelites being tracked (the left button is used to cycle through information). The Found List is sorted to show the most recent found geocache first in the list. Displayed is the waypoint and the date of the find. That's pretty much all there is to using the Geomate Jr., there's not much more.

Preloaded into the Geomate Jr. is a database of filtered geocaches. Since the user can't enter additional waypoints, nor do they see a cache description, it seems logical that the database would have only traditional caches. I questioned Apisphere about how that initial database is created and received this response:

"...we have applied filtering that is designed to create a family-friendly list as well as maximize longevity of the database - to try to create as favorable as possible out-of-box experience. We filter the list based on things like age of geocache (we only include caches that have been in existence for a certain period of time), time since last found (if the cache hasn't been found for awhile, we don't include) and also difficultly (we don't include the hard to find or get to caches). In addition to this, every time we build a new batch of units, we always create and load a new database...."

Obviously that means any caches placed after that database was created will not be available. The bigger problem is that geocaches archived or disabled following database creation will still be available in that unit. All of this can be updated through the coming Update Kit at less than $25 scheduled to start shipping in June. That kit consists of a special cable and software allowing the user to update the entire U.S. database or select regions to load for more complete listings. In order to keep the cost of the unit low, this cable includes the controller to talk with the GPSR eliminating the need for the USB controller in the Geomate Jr. (rather than paying for that chip with each GPSR you can use one kit to upgrade many units). As that kit has not shipped yet I was unable to test it. My opinion is that it will be a very important piece for anyone looking to Geocaching beyond the first week of owning their GPSR. Apishere would like to have upgrade stations available in retail outlet refreshing the caches at the store. This large database is both the best asset and the biggest liability of the Geomate Jr.

With all this firmly committed to memory (and a copy of the User Guide PDF on my iPhone) we went out caching for a day. Our goal that day was to hit four specific virtual geocaches and any other geocaches we might encounter along the way. I was very happy with the performance of the Geomate Jr. as it guided us to caches with roughly the same accuracy of the Oregon 300. The screen is very readable in bright light, though under dark conditions it suffers having no backlight. We went to the iPhone for descriptions and hints on a couple of the caches, but none of the caches in the Geomate Jr. we attempted had been archived or disabled. Over half of the traditional caches we attempted were not in the preloaded database. I quickly realized that in most cases I would not have been able to find these caches off just the compass. The maps on the Nuvi 205T 265T, iPhone 3G, GPSMap 60CSx, or Oregon 300 were key to determining a means to access the cache and without those maps I might have spent hours hunting for just the right road to get to the parking lot. The workflow I settled into was to use the 60CSX and Nuvi 205T 265T to find the caches along the route, then once parked I'd power cycle the Geomate Jr. to check for the cache in that unit. If it was in the unit, I'd hunt with only the Geomate Jr. while Firefly03 used the Oregon 300. I found it distracting to see the caches we had marked found continue to show in the list of closest caches (they are marked as found with a little smily under the waypoint or distance). Many times the Geomate Jr. was all we needed to find the container. Other times we needs a little hint from the paperless on the Oregon 300 or from the iPhone Geocaching App. Never was guidance of the Geomate Jr. the problem in not finding a cache, only the lack of information prevented us from finding some caches with only the Geomate Jr.

The bottom line is that I'm not really sure to whom I would recommend this unit. Once the update kit becomes available it is a nice GPSR for the children in the Caching Family provided mutli- or unknown caches will not be on the menu. The Geomate Jr. would be an excellent fit for group users (i.e. park systems, schools, scouts) but without an option to load non-published or private caches it might not work for many groups who use those caches for training. It's best fit seems to be were it bundled up with the update kit, batteries, and a short book about how to Geocache. I could see giving someone such a kit to geomuggles so they could go out that day and while in the field learn to Geocache. Then when they get home they could set-up an account, log their finds, update their unit, and plan for their next trip. Perhaps such a kit could even be made available within a park system allowing the park's guests to pick-up a kit while already in the park. My goal in picking up the Geomate Jr. was to have a GPSR for the kids (our nieces and nephews) when we go out for full family geocaching. It is a good fit for them, but being that we can't enter in private caches (i.e. caches at events) or cache stages (my nephew enjoys multi-caches in the woods) I'm likely to look for sales or used eTrex H series units. When I start thinking about that I wonder if it might not be a better investment anyhow as it would give them experience which could be transferred to a more advanced unit as they look to move up. So I'm still at a loss, but hopefully it will become much more clear with the release of that Update Kit in June.

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