Lose something?

[verbious]

If you recently lost something related to geo caching, (something like a GPS) in the Elizabeth/Mckeesport PA area please get in touch with me here. I would like to make an effort to return this item, but there is no Home coordinate or any other identifying information in it other than a million caches in the Western PA area.

[+kunarion]

If you recently lost something related to geo caching, (something like a GPS) in the Elizabeth/Mckeesport PA area please get in touch with me here. I would like to make an effort to return this item, but there is no Home coordinate or any other identifying information in it other than a million caches in the Western PA area.

If it has a "visits" text file (a Garmin has "geocache_visits.txt" file), you may be able to narrow it down. You can more or less read that file in Notepad.

 

Also, Pocket Queries are done for an area based on a central point. Maybe it would be useful to find the central point on that GPSr.

 

And, check the GPX file dates. See which files are the most recent.

Edited July 21, 2013 by kunarion

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

hmmmm.... methinks the OP is in reality a non-cacher and likely does not know how to obtain that data from the unit.

 

@ OP -- does the opening screen of the unit (as you turn it on) display a name at all? If not, an owner/user name MAY be accessible through the Main Menu of the unit.

[+kunarion]

hmmmm.... methinks the OP is in reality a non-cacher and likely does not know how to obtain that data from the unit.

Even many cachers don't know that .

 

One other thing to look for is a Track. My GPSr is saving my "Current Track" all the time by default (so you can plainly see me wandering around with no idea what I'm doing ), and the areas with the heaviest Track density are major clues.

 

My GPSr has selectable background images, so I edited mine to include my name and phone number on the margin. And I edited the display name file that Gitchee-Gummee mentioned. Otherwise, all you get are those data points.

 

I would guess that people could save an "OWNER.TXT" file on most any GPSr, even if there are no provisions for displaying it. People should probably look into that.

 

I also have an address label inside the battery cover.

Edited July 21, 2013 by kunarion

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

I also have an address label inside the battery cover.

Have seen (and done) this before. It is an excellent idea for those that may read this and haven't yet done it!

 

Hint...hint...hint.

[verbious]

Thanks so much for the replies! You are correct sir. I am not a cacher. I do know what geo caching is, and I do know that the unit is a gps. I was just trying to fish for someone that may have lost it and not get someone trying to say that it was theirs but it really isn't. You just can't trust people nowadays. Although if i cant figure out how to return this unit, I might be! No identification of any on the unit itself. The last Track was 412 miles long.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Your attempts are admirable... and they may yet pay off.

If you would simply place a "Watch Topic" (near the upper right of this page), you needn't visit daily to see if somebody wants to claim it. You will be notified by email each and every time somebody adds a post to the topic -- then you can come and take a look.

There will be a link to your post directly on your public profile page ("See Forum Posts for this User"). No need to search it out.

 

Should nobody ever claim it, do stop back and remove that "Watch Topic" eventually, as it will stay active forever. You could end up getting emails in... like 5 years down the road.

[verbious]

Is there a record somewhere of FOUND caches? The owner has found several, some very, very close to my house. He has also found quite a few pretty far away. If I could find a list of people that found a certain cache, perhaps that person has a user ID on here.

[+kunarion]

If I could find a list of people that found a certain cache, perhaps that person has a user ID on here.

If you have the cache numbers (which start with "GC"), type one into the search box here:

http://www.geocaching.com/

 

And at the bottom of each cache page is a list of finders, starting with the most recent. See if there's a recurring name at the various caches. Click the name, and you can see the list of their found caches.

 

There may be gaps. If I lost my GPSr, I may not remember all the caches I found on the trip. I don't write them down anymore since the GPSr remembers which ones they were.

Edited July 21, 2013 by kunarion

[verbious]

HA! I think I may have identified the owner. I matched up the log I found in the GPS, using the GC ID, and found enough entries on the website that match the days on the GPS log. Email sent via this forum.

[+kunarion]

HA! I think I may have identified the owner. I matched up the log I found in the GPS, using the GC ID, and found enough entries on the website that match the days on the GPS log. Email sent via this forum.

Cool!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

HA! I think I may have identified the owner. I matched up the log I found in the GPS, using the GC ID, and found enough entries on the website that match the days on the GPS log. Email sent via this forum.

That is indeed COOL. If you don't hear from them fairly soon, don't despair (this email system ain't all it is cracked up to be). Somebody here CAN get ahold of them. So.... do keep us advised.

[verbious]

Well ladies and gentlemen, I have a winner. I will be putting the GPS unit in the mail tomorrow.

 

Thanks for all the tips and support!

[+briansnat]

What a nice story.

[+Michaelcycle]

Well ladies and gentlemen, I have a winner. I will be putting the GPS unit in the mail tomorrow.

 

Thanks for all the tips and support!

Thank you for going to this effort! You sound like the kind of person that the geocaching community would be happy to have join. It's a lot of fun.

[verbious]

Thank you for your kind words. I know that if I lost a $200 + GPS, I would consider it gone forever. Since the GPS showed up in the road and I realized what it was, it rekindled my interest in what geocaching is all about. I went for a run the other day on the Great Allegheny Trail, to Dead Mans Hollow and found a cache during my run. Later that day, I took my youngest son with me and we found 3 more. It is a really cool hobby. I have been doing some reading on the proper GC etiquette along with the rules. Gonna go hunt for a few more caches today. I found some that haven't been visited in more than a year according to the online log.