Re: GCZMBD - Los Angeles County Quadrangle Challenge

Hi there,

Would like to see a checker for the existing Los Angeles County Quadrangle Challenge

It would be the same basic checker as is currently used for the Santa Barbara County Quad Challenge

I thought of using a Clone tag, but since I don't really understand how those work, I figured submitting a request here in the forum would be the safer approach.

No, it's not my cache, but I and others would be much more likely to work towards completing this challenge were a checker to be made available.

Thanks

There is a kmz file which needs converting into a json which I can do but this will take a couple of days.
Then the file needs uploading to the main system at PGC HQ so you can expect something after the next weekend

Sounds good; thanks.

Can you get in touch with the CO and ask him what to do with the quad "Cobblestone Mountain" because this quad has no cache within the boundaries. also the cachers who found a cache in that quad have used the WGS boundary in stead of the NAD boundary which are the coordinates for the quads

The eastern boundary in WGS84 is -118.75091 and the cache which is claimed is at -118.75017 so east of the boundary in quad "Whitaker Peak"

Most cachers has used the WGS coordinates in stead of the NAD coordinates

Please advice

I'm going to have to profess some ignorance here, as I've never heard of an NAD Boundary, but I'm guessing it's a different earth reference model.

Since there is currently no checker, I can see where a cache in Whitaker Peak that was close enough to the NAD boundary may well have appeared to be in the NGS84 Cobblestone Mountain quad, and that Craig may have allowed it, as his manual verification process is to ask for a bookmark list of what caches they were using to qualify for various quads.

In any event, following is a snippet of an email from the CO a couple of days ago:

Quote
GeoCraig
Mon, Feb 3, 8:50 PM (19 hours ago)

to me, Ken, Glen
I didn't find any active caches in Cobblestone. You can pass on it or you can place a new cache there.

Glad to know there are still some adventurous geocachers willing to work on this challenge.

Craig

So, I suppose the answer is omit Cobblestone Mountain. But a question that arises is one of how big of a deal would it be to update the checker in the future if a cache were to appear there?

Ok, I will make this an optional quad on the map but my major concern is that cachers do not understand the difference between the two coordination systems.

OK, that sounds good.
Is there a link you could send that explains the difference between NAD and WGS84, and when one might be used over the other?

A quick read on the subject you can do on https://gisgeography.com/geodetic-datums-nad27-nad83-wgs84/

Here is the link to the checker https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCZMBD/48748

Cobblestone Mountain is optional and is shown in yellow on the poly

Please test and reply



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2020 05:19PM by vogelbird. (view changes)

Looks good. RCKen and I will explore the possibility of placing a couple in Cobblestone Mountain over the weekend. If successful, this can go from optional to mandatory. Will confirm which route to take NLT Monday.

OK, I will leave this thread on awaiting feedback until I hear from you

Ken and I went out today to see if we could get a couple placed for Cobblestone Mountain, heading into the Sespe Creek gorge through Osito Canyon from the Frenchmans Flat trail head. We had both done some serious studying of topo maps and such and had identified a couple of spots that looked promising that wouldn't violate the Sespe Wilderness boundary.

And while things had looked good on paper, we regretfully had to conclude that there was no way to place any that wouldn't require others to risk life and limb. Water flowing through the gorge was already too deep and swift to safely navigate, and just getting to that point required us to go through deep mud that showed us that the water had been even higher. We then searched for places that might allow a crossing to the bluffs on the northern side, but there just flat out were none.

So, to make a long story short, please drop the Cobblestone Mountain quad entirely from the checker. Other than that, it's good to go.

OK but I will keep it as optional because removal will require uploading a new json and when it is optional it can always be changed in the config without the need for uploading a new json again.

Understood. Thanks for all your efforts in putting this together; not having to do all the bookkeeping for this one should encourage more folks to tackle it.

I do have one remaining question. I've seen some challenges in which the CO can receive credit for a quad without having a Find in that quadrant if they are the owner of a cache in that quadrant. Does this checker allow for that?

I have switched to a different script to allow for owners to be accepted
Here is the new link https://project-gc.com/Challenges/GCZMBD/48797



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/2020 04:41PM by vogelbird. (view changes)

Fantastic, Thanks.

I'm a bit curious. Before I qualified for this challenge, running the checker would produce a sample log listing all my qualifying caches as well as showing which quads I still required. Now that I have completed them all, running the checker simply says I qualify, but does not provide a sample log. Is this by design?

It is still there above the map (Example log) but when you meet the requirements you must open the example log further