Georgia Geocachers Association
Meeting Minutes
March 13, 2004

Our March, 2004 meeting was held at North Macon Park. Just prior to the meeting, many members met at the nearby Nu-Way Restaurant for a pre-meet “geomunch.” Lots of fun and good food!

At the meeting, DaRebel had the role as Master of Ceremonies. He welcomed everyone and led the introductions as each attendee introduced him/her self around the room. There were 17 new members registered and 21 current members – 38 total. And a few youngsters who were a little too young to sign in!

First on the agenda was ~erik~, who presented a very understandable and helpful discussion of UTM versus Latitude & Longitude coordinate systems. UTM is extremely easy to use in some applications and is not complicated like lat/lon can be. Erik mentioned there are several good web sites that go more in depth on the subject than we had time for. DaRebel had hidden a “cache” using UTM cords, which Erik posted for a challenge to us all. More later on the results.

Then came the social break where much was discussed (a lot about “A Painful Introspection,” ~erik’s~ latest cache). Also, Btouch brought a bunch of ammo boxes -- uh, “cache containers” -- for the benefit of the sport, which were scarfed up in no time.

After the break CharlieP presented “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Batteries,” and he did it in only thirty minutes! Click HERE for a look at the handout in PDF format. Very informative and very useful information.

Next was the traditional drawing for door prizes. There was a plethora of excellent prizes, including several Travel Bugs, a beautiful, handmade walking stick, a nicely painted and decorated ammo can – uh, “cache container,” and a five gallon bucket of “Tar and Feathers” (which, justifiably, ~erik~ won)!

Amid good spirits we went outside to “find” the mystery UTM coords and cache. The winner of the gold dollar (the “cache”) was Snake1411 who was within two feet of the “cache.” Just about everyone was within range to have found the cache with a little scanning. It was a good practical exercise for shifting the GPSr to UTM and back. Oh, yes, remember to shift your unit back!

Off we all went to find caches or to start the trip home. Special thanks to Amazingracer (pronounced “Amazing Racer”) for securing the meeting spot, helping with the “geomunch” and hiding so many caches in the area. Thanks to ~erik~ and CharlieP for informative presentations, and thanks to DaRebel for being MC! How many folks noticed the new GGA Banner?

April’s meeting will be in Rome, GA, on April 10th. Make plans now to attend!
[edited to correct dumb date mistake! Thanks, Snake1411!]

[This message was edited by trailerman on March 16, 2004 at 09:46 PM.]

Just to get it out of the way....I care .

I didn't notice the GGA banner...sometimes us geocachers just aren't that observant as Erik has showed with his latest cache.

I guess I understand WHY April's meeting is on May 8th, but should it just be May's meeting?

quote:

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Originally posted by trailerman:
Georgia Geocachers Association
Meeting Minutes
March 13, 2004

Erik mentioned there are several good web sites that go more in depth on the subject than we had time for.

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And just where would those websites be?

A geocacher's nighmare: able to find hundreds of hidden boxes all over the world, yet can only find one sock when unloading the clothes dryer.

IIRC, Erik said to just google it.

Here's some that I found:

Map Tools - Using UTM
DMAP: UTM Grid Zones of the World
USGS - UTM Fact Sheet

The banner looks like this:

It's 8' x 2'.

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Ra! Ra! Ra!

I fixed the date information for the April meeting. Thanks, Snake1411 and Trez003. Dumb me! Dumb!

quote:

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April 10th, not May 8th!

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It's reassuring to know that the April meeting will not be held on May 8th, but actually in the month of April.


It's almost as reassuring as knowing that despite inflation and a weak economy a dollar will still get you four quarters like it always has.

~erik~

Out of curiosity, how long will it be before our Ids are given full member status and we can proudly call ourselves members of GGA?

Thanks

It takes slightly more than just attending a GGA meeting, you have to sign the attendance sheet.

Or should I say that like most caches to get credit for the find you must sign the log.

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Some of those that wander are lost!

Yes, I sign the yellow sheet. I was the second person to stand up after yjjohnston. I just want access to the super secret, members only section.

Sorry I did forget the next step and that is to email one of the Steering committee asking them to turn on access. I think mtn-man was the one that turned mine on. I don't have his real email address in front of me, nor is it a good idea to post email addresses on an open forum. But you can send an email via his geocaching.com profile at http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.aspx?A=3512 He probably needs your nick, the email address you put on the attendance sheet so he can know you are who you say you are.

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Some of those that wander are lost!

It's not normally necessary to email a SC member for access. We take the email address & info from the sign in sheets and use that to grant access. It's possible that your info was misread or old eyes failed.

Griff, if you'll PM, email, or whatever, me I'll double check the info we have on file for you and fix it.

Cool?

[edited to add]

Griff, you should be good to go now.

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Ra! Ra! Ra!

[This message was edited by DaRebel on March 18, 2004 at 07:47 PM.]

Cool, Thanks for the help. Had a lot fun at the meeting, hope to attend the one in May. I will be gone for Easter and can not attend April.

Thanks Again.

Any idea what time and specifically where the meeting will be? Forgive my ignorance.

A hamburger/hot dog lunch with all the trimmings at 1:00 PM, with the meeting taking place from 2:00 - 4:00 PM. Here's the link to the page. http://tinyurl.com/2asbr

Proud member of GGA, MTGC and GEOSET.

Plug

Not to throw a monkey wrench in the works, but it just might be possible to score two event smileys on April 10. Shameless plug.

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Ra! Ra! Ra!

I just want to say that I really learned a lot from CharlieP's presentation on batteries. I knew I'd been going through a lot of the alkaline AA's, but had never thought about rechargeables before. I guess I just figured they were too expensive.

Anyway, I got to looking for pricing on some of the NiMH battery/charger packs and thought I'd pass what I found along.

I found this on Steve's Digicam's website. It says,

quote:

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The Rayovac I-C3 15-Minute Rechargeable Battery System is the fastest NiMH battery and charger system on the planet - period! It comes in two models, the PS5 is a 2-cell charger and the PS6 which handles up to four AA or AAA cells. Rayovac's patent-pending I-C3 technology (In-Cell Charge Control) puts the control of recharging into the battery, instead of the charger. This breakthrough in Nickel Metal Hydride, NiMH, technology offers significant performance and convenience advantages over existing rechargeable and disposable battery systems. Regular NiMH and NiCd type cells can also be charged but their use turns the charger into a slow, overnight trickle charger. Only Rayovac I-C3 cells can be charged in 15 minutes or less. The chargers have a built in fan to keep the temperature manageable.

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Then on Wal-Mart's website, they have the I-C3 battery charger with two batteries for $27.83. Looks like I'll be making a trip to Wallyworld soon.

Thanks CharlieP for some useful information!