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Audio caches

This page is for players and hiders. It explains the audio cache: a cache whose clue is something you hear, such as a recorded message, a tone sequence or Morse code.

What it is

An audio cache gives you a sound to work out. The sound sits in the cache's Media section, or in a stage of the Stages section. Solving it tells you where to go or what comes next.

How you find it

  1. Open the cache and play the clip under Media or under a stage.
  2. Work out what it tells you: a position, a word, a frequency. Morse code or PSK31 decodes to text with the PSK31 + CW decoders tool, which you install from the registry under Shack → Tools (CW and PSK31 by ear, Digimode decoders).
  3. If the cache has stages, tap Reveal next stage on an audio stage once you have the answer. The next stage's position and clue appear.
  4. Go to the spot and log the find.

The stages work as on a multi-stage cache. An audio stage shows its clip and clue while it is locked: they are the puzzle. It opens when you ask, and the game does not check your answer. Any other stage shows its clue only once you unlock it. Audio stages unlock only online.

What "found" means

The same as a traditional cache: you were at the cache's pin when you logged. The game checks your position against the pin, within 150 m plus your phone's accuracy. It does not check that you solved the clip. With stages, the last stage takes the pin's place and must be unlocked first, as on a multi-stage cache.

How it is logged and verified

Log it like any cache: ✓ Log a find, Couldn't find it or Add a note, in the app or from your radio. A find can reach Radio-verified, Location-verified or Logged. See Traditional caches for the rules.

What a hider sets

Hide the cache as usual and pick Audio under Type. See Traditional caches for the fields.

Then add the sound:

  • In the Media section: open your cache and pick an audio file under Media. A sound is at most 3 MB, a few minutes long. Anyone who opens the cache can play it.
  • As a stage clue: an audio stage carries one clip of up to 3 MB. Open your cache, tap Edit, add an audio stage under Stages, save the stages, then pick the clip (Edit your cache).

Without stages, an audio cache plays like a traditional cache with a clip in its gallery.

Example

AC-1234 · Listen to the tower · Audio · Difficulty 3.0 · Terrain 1.5. The Media section holds a 40-second clip of Morse code. It spells the last digits of the coordinates near JN76. OE8APR-7 decodes it, walks to the spot, finds the container and logs a Location-verified find.

Tips

  • Use headphones outdoors. Wind and traffic mask quiet clips.
  • Play the clip at home before you set out. You can solve it at your desk and save the walk for the find.
  • As a hider, keep clips short and loud enough to hear on a phone speaker.

Map marker

A pin in sand yellow with a musical note (♪). The Phosphor theme shows the same note.

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