It was midnight as Taz, the black Lab, and I walked a dirt road to within 650 feet of the SOG target. We had about 100 feet of open meadow before we got to the woods. There were massive amounts of sticker-ivy growing over itself all along the edge of the trees. We...okay, Taz, found a "tunnel" through the briar patch that we could crawl through. I'm thinking this is a coyote path.

Once into the tree cover, the ivy thinned out and it was easy going all the way to the recovery area. We were walking pretty fast so I overshot ground zero by about 50 feet before my GPSr caught up. After letting it settle down, I started working my way back. With the tree cover, I figured it probably didn't make it to the ground. I found the box hanging at eye level with the parachute caught in the tree above. I had to convince a few paper wasps that this was not going to be their winter home.Besides a bonus check with a recovery fee for the FTF Texas SOG, he also got a few things for his caching partner, Taz, as well. I climbed up, untangled the 'chute and lowered it to the ground with my snake hook. This was a situation where waypointing your car and using the GPSr's "bread crumb" trail were essential. Unlike geocaching, there is no, "Oh, there's the trail" after you make the find.

And so went the "first ever" FTF TEXAS SOG (First to Find Texas SkySite® On Ground) for SS Recovery Service LLC (SSRS), as recounted by Michael M., a member of The Texas Geocaching Association of Dallas, Texas. Besides a bonus check with a recovery fee for the FTF Texas SOG, he also got a few things for his caching partner, Taz, as well.

Now, I know you're asking "what's a SkySite and who the heck is SSRS and I'm all ears about this check thing. You mean you pay me to use my geocaching skills?"

Okay, to start, let me give you a little background. A SkySite is a balloon-launched, communications device/repeater that "flies" at between 80,000 and 100,000 feet above the earth. They are launched by Space Data Corp as part of their "Constellation of SkySite Platforms".

Space Data has developed and deployed a balloon-borne wireless network that enables the delivery of wireless services in geographies and locations that are not served or are poorly served by existing wireless technologies and service providers. The company was founded in 1997 and is led by a team of technology professionals with years of experience operating and designing complex communications hardware and software networks.

Through its SkySite Network, Space Data provides reliable, affordable communications in rural and remote areas. Companies in industries ranging from energy to utilities to transportation have suffered from lost profits and poor productivity due to an inability to the get data they need to run their remote operations safely and efficiently. Space Data has created the network and the subscriber equipment needed to quickly and affordably gather operational data from both fixed and moving assets, no matter how remote the location.

Space Data's SkySite Network has been designed to deliver low to medium-rate two-way data communications across wide areas. The network is thus able to support such applications as SCADA communications, telemetry, GPS-based location tracking and messaging. Space Data focuses on delivering these services and applications to industries and customers who operate in environments where critical assets and personnel are outside the range of traditional communications.The next "skeptics hat" I put on was one of an environmentally-concerned enthusiast of the outdoors. Space Data's initial market focus is on the energy and transportation industries where assets such as oil and gas wells, pipelines, service fleets and personnel are remotely located or travel to remote locations.

I first met Space Data (SD) two years ago at a venture capitol conference in Phoenix, Arizona where I was attending to market my other business, Phillips Media Services, a video production company, to companies that would hopefully find some venture capitol.

After making my pitch to SD about using me for their future video production needs, I put on my "skeptical hat" and started to grill them about their product. Being a private pilot, my first question was, "what's the FAA got to say about you launching balloons"? I soon found out that if it weighs less than six pounds, the FAA does not control those flights, as they do not pose any significant danger to aircraft. A SkySite weighs between 1200-2000 grams, or about 3+ pounds.

The next "skeptics hat" I put on was one of an environmentally-concerned enthusiast of the outdoors. The next question was "Okay, what's the EPA got to say about you littering the countryside with these SkySites?" It was their next response that got this geocacher's ears burning. They said "You know, that's one issue we are working on now. We know where each one lands due to the gps tracking, but it is not cost effective for us to have employees in 50 states waiting for these to land. Someone mentioned geocaching to us, but we really don't know anything about it."

I was like a little kid in grade school who knew the answer and was jumping out of my seat. I then explained the sport of geocaching to SD and when I had finished, they asked if I was interested in starting a business to recover SkySites. That conversation took place in December of 2002 and here I am today, sending out geocachers on missions to recover SkySites around the United States.

As of today, SD is launching SkySites from seven locations in the US. They include Chandler, Arizona (headquarters, both SD's and mine); Sweetwater, Corsicana, Wharton, and Odessa Texas; Searcy, Arkansas; and Piedmont, Oklahoma. There are between one to three launches per day from each location, every eight to twelve hours, from sites in the vicinity of the target coverage area. An onboard processor on each SkySite Platform controls its rise to an altitude of 80,000 to 100,000 feet. At that altitude, a coverage circle of 350 miles in diameter can be achieved, and is above most all of the "weather".

When the SkySite is moving out of its coverage area, SD first launches another SkySite to cover that area and then sends a signal to the first SkySite. It then detaches from the biodegradable balloon and falls back to earth on a bright orange parachute. Once on the ground, the SkySite sends its final GPS location back up to the next SkySite flying overhead.

SD then transmits SOG (SkySite On Ground) location data to SSRS and I post the "approximate" location data on the website. Qualified "agents" visit the SSRS website and choose any of the SOGs for which they wish to attempt recoveries. To be qualified, you must submit a signed ICA/ROC (Independent Contractor's Agreement / Rules Of Conduct) to SSRS, which are available on the SSRS website.

Now for the $$$money$$$ part. SSRS offers a recovery fee to qualified agents of between $25-$50 or more per SkySite for successful recoveries. Once I have those documents in my files, you choose a SOG on a "first come, first served" basis and I send you back the exact coordinates of each SOG. You then have 48 hours of "no competition recovery time", to achieve your mission. Meaning, you are the only one with those exact set of coordinates for 48 hours. You must report back in within that time frame (unless prior arrangements have been made) or the SOG goes back up for grabs.

SSRS is coordinating recovery of SkySites in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana. Other states will be added as Space Data's customers base grows.

Now, there have been some complaints with the SSRS system because it takes away the competitive aspect of geocaching and the FTF race. Since SSRS is offering a bounty on each recovered SkySite, we felt it would be unfair to someone who agreed to recover a SkySite, only to find they have been beaten to the SOG upon arrival at its expected location.

In the future, we will have some special promotions on which we are trying to work out the details that might include a true, FTF-type SOG recovery and other things, as well. The emphasis right now is to recovery any SOG as fast as we can.

Now for the $$$money$$$ part. SSRS offers a recovery fee to qualified agents of between $25-$50 or more per SkySite for successful recoveries. Most of the time, the recovery is pro-rated, meaning that a recovery within the first week of posting receives 100% of the fee and decreases after that. It's all spelled out in the ICA.

SSRS wants to be sure the recovery process is a safe, "eco-friendly" and law-abiding process. Some common sense rules are spelled out in the ROC that include things like not entering private property without permission. We have found that, when a property owner has been contacted about a SOG on their property, most all have been extremely helpful and accommodating in granting access. We have even had some property owners get so excited about a SOG recovery on their property that they have accompanied the SSRS agents during the recovery.

Here is a photograph of a family of excited landowners, Alex and Debbie Baugh and family, of Mountain Home, Arkansas. The FTF Arkansas SOG they're holding was recovered by Bob and Linda Shaffer, aka cachecrazies, SSRS agents, also from Mountain Home and members of the Arkansas Geocachers Association.

SSRS and the SkySite Recovery Program is just barely one month old as this publication goes live on the internet. I have dealt with "hundreds of emails" from people as far away as Michigan, offering the help of their states' geocaching associations (thanks, Mike Wunderlich, board member of the Michigan Geocaching Organization) for this program.

It has not been a smooth start outside of Arizona, where I am actually known and could attend some geocaching events to talk about the SkySite Recovery Program in person. The first push was in Texas, where I approached, via email, the forum owner and member of the Texas Geocaching Association, Will Nienke, aka 9Key, asking permission to post about the program on their forum.

It was touch and go at first, with a few people thinking it was a scam. Then Michael M., a member of that TGA group (whose story was the lead-in for this article), trusted me enough to give it a shot. He posted about his success on the TGA forum and the rest is history.

So, yes, you can finally use your geocaching skills to make a little money. And if you have a good dog story about a SOG recovery like Taz's above, there may be a little something in it for your four-legged friend, as well.