Well, as you can see I have a variety of interests, only a few of which are mentioned here. I have been involved in Amateur Radio for about 12 years. I enjoy a little of all of it. I have played with the digital modes alot and maintain a couple of Telpac nodes and digipeaters in the Southeast Texas area. I also enjoy voice "Ragchewing" as well as a little DXing and Emergency Communications. At present I am the District Emergency Coordinator (DEC) for ARES District 9 and the District Radio Officer (DRO) for RACES District 22, as well as Regional Radio Officer (RRO) for RACES Region 2. I have been into geocaching for about two years. This is a hobby where you, or others can hide things and post the coordinates on the internet, so others can find them using a GPS. Geocaching.com is the main website if you are interested. I also just recently bought a 2003 Anniversary Edition Harley Davidson Road King Classic. I am really enjoying it and want to get into some distance riding.
If you up around the dallas area and you find some geocaches that have a clear plexiglass coin with a S&C on it... its one I planted or one I visited or taken from one I visited. You should also lookinto the FreeMasons Riding Club!!!
It can be fun for sure. I do hate the small camo film cartridges buried under a rock inside the edge of a swampy area in August however!!! I still remember finding my first one, in a crook of a tree in a cemetery. And then there was the smart ass that got a big rubber rat, hollowed out the back and put a small canister in it. Hid it under a HUGE bush you had to craw under to get to. Liked to have scared the crap out of me!
You guys really should think about marking your containers very carefully and clearly if you are geocaching in an urban setting. In today's hypersensitive age, an uninformed person finding an odd tube or box bolted to a park bench/water fountain/road sign could result in the bomb squad getting called out... Just a thought.
Only three classes of licenses therefore three exams. Code was reduced to 5 wpm exam for general and extra class; however, I hear there is no longer a morse code requirement.
You can do it with a fairly inexpensive GPS. I used an Etrex Venture for quite a while. I wanted one with bells and whistles so I bought a 60CSX, but aside from having a couple of features that are designed for geocaching, I am not sure it does much, if any better than the Etrex. I would start off with that, then if you really get into it, go for something with color and features.
I just bought the Garmin etrex Venture HC on Amazon for $134 shipped. Now I have to wait all week for it to get here since I went cheap and chose to use slow-boat shipping. Question for you, Mason 296, did you buy upgraded topo maps for your Venture?
Mine was the old etrex venture. It didn't have enough memory to support detailed maps. It only showed waypoints. By the way, you should be proud of your police department. Several of them volunteered to come down here and work after Ike hit. Police and dispatchers. They are good people. Brian
