"Fear No Cache" Geocoin Club December 2008 Geocoin

This geocoin, along with another one owned by the Cane Master family, survived an exciting trip to outer space and back on a high altitude near-space balloon on April 11, 2014. It is believed to be one of only four geocoins to venture into space. Our thanks to N5VEI (the original owner of this coin), for awarding it to us for being the first to find (FTF) the space balloon it was launched on. Our mission for this coin is to keep it and carry around with us dipping it in and out of caches that we visit and letting folks log that they have discovered it at events and on group hunts. Here is its story:

First the back story:

As licensed amateur radio operators, CaneMaster and his son Sente have had plenty of experience using their radio direction finding equipment and skills to win amateur radio Fox Hunts (hidden transmitter hunts) and also to successfully track down the sources of intentional radio interference for the FCC.

For these reasons, in 2011 they were asked to join the chase and recovery team for Ridgeland, Mississippi’s Old Town Middle School’s first Balloon launch. As geocachers CaneMaster and Sente were not only interested in finding the balloon, but also in the challenge of being the FIRST chasers to find the balloon (FTF).

They combined their geocaching skills with their radio direction finding skills and they indeed were the first to find the balloon, along with two other amateur radio operators who accompanied them. The balloon had reach an altitude of 92,098 feet and landed in a wooded area near Livingston Alabama. CaneMaster called in the location coordinates over his radio and in a couple of hours the rest of the balloon chasers arrived at ground zero to recover its payload.

Due to illness CaneMaster and Sente were not able to participate in the 2012 Balloon Chase, but resumed in 2013 and they again were the first to find the balloon.

End of Back Story

Fast Forward to this coin's amazing adventure in space.

On April 11, 2014 the Science and Technology Club of Old Town Middles School in Ridgeland, Mississippi, under the direction of instructor Bill Richardson, launched its fourth annual near-space balloon. The payload of the balloon contained science experiments, an altimeter, cameras, an amateur radio which transmitted a voice beacon every few minutes, and an amateur radio using APRS technology which transmitted the balloon’s GPS coordinates every few minutes.

Bill, who is both a geocacher and an amateur radio operator, knew that the CaneMaster family were also geocachers. So as an extra incentive for them to be the first to find (FTF) the balloon he placed two geocoins in the balloon’s payload to be awarded to the first person to locate the balloon. He placed a rare (less than 200 made) special edition December, 2008 Geocoin Club coin known as the red “Fear No Cache” coin in the payload. He also placed a Mississippi 2006 geocoin in the payload.

The possibility of being awarded geocoins which had flown in space on a balloon they had to be the first to find proved to be a great motivator for the CaneMaster family.

Instead of hanging around at the launch site waiting for the balloon to take off before beginning the chase, CaneMaster and his sons, Sente and RockThrower got a head start by driving to the county where they thought the balloon might land. To get an idea of potential landing areas they used the weight of the balloon and its payload, the amount of gas the balloon was going to be filled with, its maximum expected altitude, and current weather forecasts to predict the balloon’s potential landing areas. Multiple predictions were made days before, and again on, the morning of the launch.

In prior years’ launches the balloons had reached altitudes greater than 90,000 feet before bursting and dropping back to earth. This year, due to a lighter payload the balloon went up faster and burst sooner at 64,000 feet. This meant that the balloon would most likely land in central Mississippi, instead of in Alabama as in previous years. And it did. It came down in the woods near highway 21 just south of Sebastopol, in Scott County, Mississippi, a good bit short of its projected target which was near Union, Mississippi, where CaneMaster and Sente were waiting for it.

Using their 2 meter band Amateur Radio, they could hear the recorded voice beacon transmitting on the 146.565 simplex frequency, but only while the balloon was high in the air, After it landed they lost the radio signal. They drove toward the last APRS coordinates (transmitted every 5 or 10 minutes) that had been transmitted while the balloon was falling and as they got closer they started hearing the voice beacon again, but the APRS beacon was no longer transmitting, most likely due to shock or damage when it landed. (APRS is a protocol for the transmission of GPS coordinates over amateur radio)

Based on the height and speed of travel and direction at its last beacon Sente calculated it's probably landing point. Cane Master and Sente drove back to the area where they had received the strongest signal of the voice beacon. They invited another amateur radio operator whom they were in radio contact with to join them on the hunt. When he arrived they searched together for the closest entry point into the woods.

They had parked their car near Hurricane Creek off highway 21 since that was the closest parking spot they could find. The coordinates Sente had calculated for the balloon’s probably landing location showed approximately 0.39 miles into the woods. They figured this would be an easy hike in the woods. Boy were they wrong!

CaneMaster typed the coordinates into his handheld Delorme P40 GPS receiver and the four of them began hiking toward ground zero. They soon discovered that they were going to be blocked by a deep creek full of water. A quick glance at google maps on a cell phone showed them exactly what they had gotten themselves into. The creek serpentined its way around the coordinates they were heading toward. And the rest of the area was a major swamp!

They scouted the area for a suitable creek crossing point while waiting for the school kids and their teachers, who arrived about an hour later. After they arrived CaneMaster and Sente led the entourage into the woods. They pretty much tripled that original 0.39 mile distance during their attempt to get around swollen creeks looking for a better route in.

Eventually CaneMaster decided there was no easy path and that they would just have to go through the deep creeks, briar patches, and cane brakes and so they proceeded on a path mostly straight toward the coordinates. As they hiked toward ground zero they realized that the balloon had gone down in the middle of a major swamp, swollen from the recent rain storms and completely enclosed by two deep creeks with numerous shallow other creeks running through out it.

They trudged through tons of mud, several knee and waist deep creek crossings, large briar patches, machete cutting their way through thick cane brakes and sloshing through the large boggy swamp.

Finally, at about 200 feet away according to CaneMaster’s GPS receiver, CaneMaster spotted the balloon in the tree tops ahead. He pointed it out to his sons, Sente and RockThrower, and told them not to tell the school kids and teachers following them, but to let them spot it on their own. He then turned around and told the kids and teachers that they were getting close and to start looking up in the trees. Within a few minutes one of the girls yelled out that she had spotted it. Almost as quickly several others yelled out that they saw it too.

The coordinates Sente had calculated were about 15 feet away from the tree which the balloon had landed in. Those coordinates were well within CaneMaster’s handheld GPS' Receiver's margin of error and the last SPOT satellite beacon had transmitted coordinates about 20 feet from the tree before it quit working. So Sente’s calculations were pretty much "spot on" to pun the word .

Since the coordinates took CaneMaster and Sente directly to the balloon they did not have to use amateur radios, their handheld direction finding antennas, signal attenuators, or any of their conventional RF Direction Finding skills to locate the balloon. But they did periodically use a hand held amateur radio and the body-shielding method of attenuation to see where the nulls (lack of radio signals) were and determine if the voice beacon (which was getting louder) was in fact in the direction the GPS coordinates were taking them. It was.

The balloon and its payload were resting on the tops of three very tall oak trees. Usually the Balloon Recovery Team has been able to retrieve the balloon and its payload by climbing the trees it is strung out in. However, the size and height of the trees made that impossible this time. So the land owner was contacted and he gave permission to cut down the trees. Unfortunately, the lightweight chainsaw the instructor brought was no match for the trees and the recovery attempt was postponed till the next morning so they could bring in a larger chain saw.

CaneMaster, Sente, RockThrower the others made the long hike back out the way they came in, through swamp, creeks, briars, mud and cane break. They were all soaking wet and pretty much covered with mud, but a good time was had by all, in spite of the arduous hike.

After cleaning up a little bit and rehydrating the CaneMaster family headed for home. As they drove off they could still hear the voice beacon on frequency 146.565 on their amateur radio. It was the recorded voice of an Olde Town Middle School girl giving out information about the balloon launch. As they started getting out of range they wondered how long the beacon battery would last.

Since the school’s team had not been able to recover the balloon on Friday, and subsequent efforts by others failed on Saturday, CaneMaster and Sente were asked to assist them in the recovery of the balloon's payload on Sunday afternoon. The school was very interested in recovering the payload because it contained expensive equipment and the science experiments that the Old Town Middle School students had placed on it.

The CaneMaster Family usually reserves Sundays for church and rest, but since major storms and rain were coming Sunday night and Monday, which would turn the swamp into a lake, and make the creeks completely impassable for weeks, they decided to help them out after church.

After all of the payloads were recovered and the still camera and video camera removed. There was a brief ceremony (captured on video) awarding CaneMaster and Sente the two Geocoins that had rode in space with the balloon, as their FTF award for being the first to find the balloon. After the ceremony everyone hauled all the gear back out to their trucks and headed back home.

The next day, CaneMaster was recuperating with sore muscles and dozens of cuts and scratches from blazing the way through the briar patches and making the arduous hike in and out of the swamp twice. However, Sente and RockThrower, having the advantage of youth, were not sore, nor tired, and were ready to go on another geocaching adventure!