Geocaching - Our Hands-on Overview
Geocaching is a fast-growing leisure activity, and one that uses tech to get you out in the fresh air. Pete and Carl get out of the studio to see what the craze is all about.
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Listen to FrequencyCast Show 67 - Geocaching Explored
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GeoCaching Focus Transcript:
For Show 67, Carl and Peter explore the world of Geocaching. Here's the transcript of our feature:
Carl:
So it's Focus time, and this one is led by an email we've had from Adam Child. He says, "Any chance of reviewing the best tech to support Geocaching? I've been really impressed with this craze, which works all over the globe."
Pete:
Ah yes - geocaching, that lovely hobby.
Carl:
Yes, and he is currently using an iPhone 4 with the Groundspeak app.
Pete:
So there's bound to be a few listeners out there not that aware of what geocaching is, and to be honest, Carl, you weren't either, were you?
Carl:
I wasn't, until you took me out.
Pete:
So we went out and about, on behalf of FrequencyCast, to find out what geocaching was all about.
We're sitting in a car. It's not a particularly nice day outside, but we're going to do some experimentation. What we're going to do is look for our first-ever geocache.
Carl:
Okay, so we're going to find some money?
Pete:
iPhone 4 in front of me here ... I'm going to open up an app called Geocaching. Okay, I've fired this up - just show me what we can see there?
Carl:
Right, we've got a map, and there's a little blue blob - is that us?
Pete:
Yes, it is, yep.
Carl:
And a green arrowy thing, like a teardrop really - what does that do?
Pete:
Right, that looks to be - what, about a third of a mile away from where we are now?
Carl:
I'm guessing so, yeah.
Pete:
What we're going to do is, we're going to drive as close as we can to that little green drop.
Carl:
Where is it, then?
Pete:
Now, looking at my screen here, we are 76 feet away in that direction - compass heading 83. Walk this way.
Carl:
I'm following.
Pete:
So what we're looking at now is our little blue dot saying where we are. We're moving towards a green dot. Following the geolocation - 54 feet away, 50 feet away.
Carl:
Are we nearly there yet?
Pete:
By that park bench, I reckon - do you agree?
Pete:
Okay, yeah.
Pete:
So we've navigated to within a foot of where we need to be. So there's its grid co-ordinates, and here it says, "It was hidden on the 23rd May 2010, last found on 7th August", and let's have a look at it. So it's a nanocache, stealth required, and the hint is, "Arthur Fowler has one, but not here."
Carl:
EastEnders - Arthur Fowler?
Pete:
Right, let's have a hunt around then, shall we? We've been here for what - 20 minutes, Carl?
Carl:
At least - I'm getting old!
Pete:
The clue was, "Arthur Fowler has one, but not here." Now, we were a bit stumped. We did a bit of Wikipedia-ing, just because neither of us follow EastEnders, and Arthur Fowler had a bench in Albert Square named after him, and we have a park bench where we are. However, we can't find anything, can we?
Carl:
No, we can't.
Pete:
We're going to have to give up on this one, aren't we?
Carl:
Yeah, we'll do another one. Let me just explain - this has been good fun. You look up the clues, you found out about the park bench, but more importantly, when you're here, you can actually work out whether or not you're in the right place by looking at previous people's comments.
Pete:
And there's little clues along the way. We've clearly failed on this one. There is, of course, the other possibility, that someone has nicked it.
Carl:
Well, yeah.
Pete:
We'll stroll this way back to the car, and we'll see where we can find the next one.
Right, so what we're looking for now is something of an unknown size, difficulty one, and we are 286 feet away from it in that direction.
Carl:
Let's get out of the car.
Pete:
So we're actually on a slipway by the seaside - I don't know if you can hear the waves in the background there, and I can't find this cache at all, can you?
Carl:
Nope.
Pete:
Right, onto the next place?
Carl:
Yep - let's try another one.
Pete:
Right, now this is fun. We're actually in a bush, in a park, and we can actually see the bag. It's up in a tree - neither of us are brave enough to climb up there and get it.
Carl:
Well, you can't climb it - it's a bush!
Pete:
Carl is now poking it with a large stick.
Carl:
Well, I thought we'd found it then. I thought we'd got it, what with that car seat, whatever it was.
Pete:
Yeah, I think that was a spectator's seat someone had lobbed into a bush, so I think we were barking up the wrong tree there.
Carl:
That was my line - well, I don't know about you, the third time a treat, yeah? - not here.
Pete:
Well, here we are, on the search, after three failed attempts for a geocache. We're going to record a fourth go. I'm not so confident on this one, are you?
Carl:
I thought it was going to be third time lucky, but clearly not. Let's try fourth time lucky, then?
Pete:
Well, we're very close. What we're looking for is something called the Secret Garden. According to this, we're 13 feet away. Now, just for the benefit of our listeners, what was our clue, Carl?
Carl:
"Where fraud meets a Greek island" - I didn't get this.
Pete:
No, I did - I think fraud is a con, and a Greek island, Crete - concrete.
Carl:
Oh, you're so clever!
Pete:
Now, we're in some bushes here ...
Carl:
Hold on - let me get hold of a sharp stick. Oh look - I've found it!
Pete:
Where?
Carl:
Nah, not really!
Pete:
So we're by a fence, a big metal fence, and there is a large lump of concrete buried into the ground, with a tree growing out of the top of it.
Carl:
Covered in poison ivy.
Pete:
I'm not seeing a lot here. You check that side, I'll check over here. Ah - ah! Aha! - look! There's a little bit of wooden board, and here, Geocaching.com. It says here, www.geocaching.com: contents harmless (that's presumably to avoid the bomb squad). Shall we have a look?
Carl:
Yeah, definitely. I'm glad someone's done it right. I was starting to give up on this whole game.
Pete:
Right, here we go. So this is a very well sealed Tupperware box. Ooh - now, what have we got in here? This is interesting. In here we have a Virgin Atlantic pen, a facewipe and an eyemask, okay. And inside this carrier bag, we have a candle, a plastic giraffe, two AA batteries, one match and a key-ring ... hang on - and a fake £20 note, "Don't be fooled - Jesus is the real thing".
Carl:
Someone's having a lot of fun here!
Pete:
This looks like an ATM receipt - oh no, Geocaching - "Congratulations, you've found it. It's part of a worldwide game loved by GPS users on the hunt. Please don't vandalise the container - the real fun is finding it and recording a visit. Go ahead and take something if you like, but also leave something too, and tell us you found it." Ah, so this is the log book. "This was placed January 2009, G4UYG" - oh, he sounds like an amateur radio person - hello. Oh look - there's pages and pages of people that have found this. "Took the brain, left LED torch"; "Left Virgin Atlantic goodie bag" - right, so that was Haz and Joe, thank you very much.
Carl:
Nice one, Haz and Jo. When was that - what date?
Pete:
27th of the 9th, '09.
Carl:
That was a long time ago.
Pete:
There's loads there - how many would you say there are here?
Carl:
There's got to be at least 30.
Pete:
These abbreviations keep coming up - TFTC.
Carl:
Yeah - what does that mean?
Pete:
"Thanks for the cache".
Carl:
Oh, nice!
Pete:
I had to look that one up. Now, this is what we're going to leave as our return present. Can you describe what I have in my hand here?
Carl:
Yep, it's a memory stick.
Pete:
Now, what I have done is, I've recorded a special, hello from FrequencyCast. The plan is, we're going to leave this in this one, and see if it does the rounds a bit. If you happen to be one of our listeners and find it, it's got a code number on it, a five digit code - email us that code, and tell us you've found our cache. We'll love you forever.
Carl:
I'm going to write a message in the book.
Pete:
And if you want to hear the full version of our experiments, lasting about - what was it, 15 minutes, Carl?
Carl:
Fourteen twenty-eight, I think.
Bonus Material: Our full Geocaching Field Recording (15 mins) |
Pete:
Go to the show notes for today's show - it's all there. So Carl, we tried geotagging for the first time. Now, be honest - what did you think?
Carl:
Well, I thought, forget the old days of orienteering - the old compass and the map, treasure hunts; this is the future. It was totally awesome. I mean, what can you say? - the ultimate world-class wide game, really.
Pete:
You actually really got into it - is this something you could take up, do you think?
Carl:
Yeah, I think I could. It reminds me of the old days when you used to go camping, all those outdoor activities - scouting, wide games, or things like that. But this would actually be cool over your bored lunch hour. You could do this in the city, couldn't you?
Pete:
And that is the beauty of it, because most people out there have got a smartphone which has GPS, that actually can lead you to almost where these thingies are, and of course, once you've got the app open, you can see photos, plus of course those clues that give you a bit of a nudge in the right direction to find these things.
Carl:
Yeah, a really cool activity as well for young families as well as older couples, or even bored teens. Actually, I'm trying to think of someone that wouldn't enjoy having a go at this.
Pete:
Having said that, the first couple of times weren't terribly successful. I think once we found our first one, though, we kind of got the hang of it, and since we recorded that piece, we found, what, two more?
Carl:
Yeah, is it two more now? - yeah, I believe so.
Pete:
So it's just important to talk very briefly about the containers that are out there. The smallest one we found was a nanocontainer, which was about - how big was a nano, Carl?
Carl:
Well, it's a small metal cylinder. It's kind of like about the size of a bullet really, wasn't it?
Geocache Nano Container
Pete:
And inside that, there's a tiny roll of paper where you can write your log information. Then you've got what are called microcaches, which are about the size of a film capsule, and then as you go slightly larger, you've got things like Tupperware boxes, and even old ammunition boxes some people are using for these caches. So there's something in the order of 1.2 million of these things out there in the world, and apparently there are 220 countries taking part, and there are tens of millions of people out there trying this.
Carl:
So Pete, what's the tech spec? If I'm interested in doing this, and I'm not into my technology, as we know, how do I go about it?
Pete:
Well, if you already own a smartphone, such as one of the Android phones or an iPhone, then you've actually got pretty much all you need already. It's already got GPS built in. It's already got the internet connection built in. You need to go to geocaching.com, create yourself a free account, and you can start. If you don't want to lug a smartphone around with you, you can get yourself a portable hand-held device. There's a picture of one here - this is the Garmin eTrex - a quick description?
Carl:
Well, it looks like an electronic compass to me.
The Garmin eTrex - Under £65 at Amazon
Pete:
That's exactly what this is. It's a small hand-held device that can navigate you to within a few feet of these geocaches, and these things cost around about £65, and that's pretty much all you need to get yourself started. Now Carl, what did we learn when we were out and about geocaching?
Carl:
Well, I must admit, dressing appropriately would be a good idea. Don't do this in your best clothes, but do do it in your jeans and your combats. Kit yourself up with a few tools - maybe a penknife, a torch, a pen; obviously a phone, just in case you get lost; obviously a good pair of shoes, because you might be rooting around in the undergrowth, and of course finally, the most important thing - a sense of adventure.
Pete:
Well said - get yourself involved.
Carl:
It sounds good to me.
Pete:
I also want to mention this little device here - this thing here is called a Garmin Chirp.
Carl:
Chirp? - what does it do? - is it like a little bird?
Pete:
Better than that. Some people are hiding these in geocaches, and certain wireless-enabled Garmin navigator devices actually use these things as beacons, so they transmit a signal. With a suitable device, you can home in on them. They store the hints, they show where the co-ordinates are, and it will confirm to anyone looking where the cache actually is, and it keeps a tally of visitors. So this is the newer kind of tech, where you can go out and home in on the nearest cache.
Carl:
Fantastic, and of course we're going to be taking part in this as well, aren't we, Pete?
Pete:
As a little bit of an experiment, we are going to be seeding the UK with five USB memory sticks with some rather special audio on. Attached to these are going to be these things - how would you describe these?
Carl:
Dawg tags!
Pete:
Yes, these things are called travel bugs, and each one of these has its own web page up on the Geocaching.com website, so you can actually see where these have travelled round the world. If you happen to find a FrequencyCast one of these, let us know where you found it, and the bug number.
Carl:
I'm just going - I'll be back in a minute. I'm just going to put some in the studio car park.
The FrequencyCast Geocache Travel Bug. Can you find it?
Pete:
While he goes and digs up the tarmac, we did have a tip in from Ian Hall, who says, when it comes to geocaching, don't trust caches that have been set using a smartphone, as the GPS isn't accurate enough. There you go. Take a look at our website, where we'll put up some geocaching tips and photos.
Transcript continues: Show 67 Transcript Part 2
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