Thursday, November 04, 2010

Chirping?

In case you haven't heard, Garmin has come out with a new geocaching device called Chirp. And tonight I received my first inquiry from a geocacher about it. My response, based on guidance from Groundspeak (the company that operates Geoaching.com):

Any caches that use a Chirp (or any future similar device) should use the new "beacon" attribute. If you put a Chirp in a traditional cache and geocachers have an alternative method to find it without using the Chirp, then it's OK to be published.  If for some reason you absolutely don't want to provide an alternative means of finding it, it must be listed as a "mystery" cache with the beacon attribute. Your cache description may mention the "Chirp"as long as the text doesn't go on and on with overtones of advertising, marketing, or promotion.