On May 2, 2000 – with only one day of advance notice to the public – the United States Government threw the proverbial “blue switch” to remove “selective availability” from the global GPS system, and to thereby make more accurate GPS readings available to all users. The next day, as Geocaching.com relates, Dave Ulmer hid what became the first geocache in the world. This cache is intended to honor the 22nd anniversary of global availability of high-accuracy GPS signals, and thus the advent of geocaching.
The GPS system was originally developed by the U.S. Department of Defense as a military system, and the accuracy for non-military uses was constrained by a system called “selective availability,” which significantly reduced civilian GPS accuracy. On May 1st, 2000, the White House announced that selective availability would be deactivated effective the next day. The U.S. Government later released information and data illustrating the impact of the removal of selective availability on GPS accuracy:
How could the White House decison of May 1 be implemented so quickly? Perhaps because the Blue Switch is located just outside the Capital Beltway....
This Cache
Be gentle with the cache and its host. Please restore the cache and host as you found them.
There is no writing implement provided at ground zero. If you do not have a functioning pen or pencil with you so you can sign the log, do not seek this cache and do not claim a find.
This cache is off of the light-blue blazed trail in a lesser-used portion of Cabin John Regional Park. While the cache itself will not be difficult to find once at ground zero, it is not close to the trail and will require some bushwacking on sloping terrain that will be more challenging in the summer months (but see the hint to minimize bushwhacking).
And notwithstanding the removal of selective availability (and the overall improvement of GPS accuracy since 2000), you will likely encounter GPS bounce as you near ground zero. We averaged 12 readings from 3 different GPS devices, and think the coordinates are pretty good – but we invite feedback!
Note for anyone seeking a “first to find”: For this cache, the cache owner will recognize two types of FTF claims: (a) first, the normal FTF by a cacher who finds the cache, signs the paper log, and then posts an online “Found it” log on this page, noting the FTF (or if more than one cacher is present, co-FTFs), and (b) second, the more unusual approach of a cacher who finds and signs the paper log but chooses not to post a “Found it” log on this page. Both types of claims are welcome, and in the CO’s view (because an online log entry is a basic element of logging a geocache find), the first type of FTFer should post a FTF “Found it” log on this page regardless of whether a different cacher has taken the second approach.
*** Congrats to IMOAnnma for FTF ***
