gpsblake

I found this way to find benchmarks on firefox even easier I bookmarked the following two links http://www.geocaching.com/mark/details.aspx?PID=%s keyword: bench http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=%s keyword: usgs Then in the address bar, I merely type in either bench ab1234 to see the geocaching.com database or usgs ab1234 to see the Geodetic survey page on it. Substitute the real pid instead of ab1234 YOu can also do this in Internet Explorer if you download the Power Toys.

I don't know if this is true but I read somewhere that while you are tracking 7 or 8 satellites, your GPS only uses 4 of them at one time. The 3 strongest for a lat/long fix and then the 4th strongest for the elevation. Please correct me if I am wrong. The GPS will constantly change which 4 they use based on signal strength.

I bungee my GPS Legend to the light on my handlebars on my bike. Last year, a dog ran out in front of me while I was going down a hill around 22mph and I hit the dog. I had a pretty nasty crash, my bike was damaged, and my cellphone and GPS unit went flying off into the road landing about 40 feet away from me. Other than about 30 scrapes and bruises, I was okay. The cellphone was damaged. The GPS unit still works great.

I fully support this law as I have seen damage done to places where micro geocaches were located w/o the persmission of the owner. Since geocaching.com does not require anyone to submit proof that permission was gotten, I have no problem with a law that restricts geocaching in historical places w/o permission. If I get off work, I'll be there on May 31 to support the passage of this law.

I am against a law preventing geocaching in cemeteries, historic sites etc. I think we in geocaching.com can police ourselves. However, I am in favor of it being banned in those locations unless specific written permission is given as a geocaching.com rule. It was supposed to be a geocaching.com rule to get persmission from land owners to place caches but we know this rule is not enforced hardly at all. As I said in a previous posting, I saw footprints all over gravesites at one of the cemetery caches as people would tear up every little cranny trying to find the micros. What may appear to be a safe location for the owner to place a micro does not meant that searchers will know that. However, I strongly favor virtuals being in cemeteries and historic locations which will have minimal impact. People will still flock to log these virtuals, get an history education lesson, and not have to tear up the area looking for a micro. It might make the game a little easier but at least in my case, visiting sites is more important than tearing up an area trying to find a film canister. And remember, this was meant to be a game. Shame it has grown into much more than that. That aspect is what has pretty much turned me off of geocaching right now.

I have no problem with virtuals being in cemeteries. People don't have to search all over the area over turning stones and putting hands in every bush. You know you are looking for a certain gravesite and almost everyone would be respectful in those cases. Cheers,

As a South Carolina geocacher (not currently active though), I enjoyed visiting the history of the cemeteries. Reading the names, and imaging how rough life was 100 years ago when you see gravesite after gravesite of young children dying. You also can learn some history from visiting these gravesites. I also do not think there needs to be another law about geocaching. However..... But I agree about banning geocaching from cemeteries as a geocaching.com rule. I've seen damage done to the cemeteries by people walking all over them and seeing footprints everywhere and bushes distrubed and even destroyed. While the hider might think they are putting a micro in a good, safe spot, the problem is, to us finders, we have no idea where they put that micro more than likely. Since either their coordinates can be off by as much as 50 feet or ours can be off as much as 50 feet, that means a large search area. That can mean searching several dozen grave sites. One of the ones I found in a cemetery was located inside of a small brush. Only problem was that there were 20 or 30 small brushes that I had to search before I found it. Which means countless people sticking their hands inside bushes, picking up small bricks to see if they are hidden there etc. It seems that geocaching.com has archived all the cemetery caches in South Carolina. I agree with that action and I hope with that, this issue will come to a close and all parties will be satisfied. Cheers

That's actually what I do now. If I am geocaching and bicycling, I write down the mileage before I walk around geocaching, subtract out the walking distance to figure out the bicycling distance. It just would be a bit more fun to see my actual milage for the year as I am riding. It's no big deal, I didn't think it could be done. Cheers, Blake

I like to be able to change my Odometer settings on my Garmin Legend. The reason is I keep track of my bicycle mileage for the year and would be easier and more fun if I could always upload my current mileage to the Legend's Odometer so I can get a real time reading on it. Anyway of doing this? Cheers, Blake

Just a note. The cache is back up and available to be found according to the owner. The police got what they wanted and left the cache alone. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=gchd76

Thinking about, this can be a positive for the sport of geocaching in a way. The body appears to be from a missing person in 1992 and the finding of the body will bring closure for that person's family. So I view it has a positive. I was the last person to find that cache before the two college students found the body. They had to be going through some really rough overgrowth to reach the point where the body was. I thought about entering the heavy overgrowth when I first couldn't find the cache, but then decided to climb to the top of the cliffs which showed the trail of where the stash was located. What is amazing, this part of Hitchcock Woods is quite popular (lots of foottracks when I was there last week and lots of initials carved into the cliffs) and I am shocked that it took 12 years to find this body. Cheers, Blake

Aiken itself does have rich houses. But also the areas nearby Hitchcock Woods like Warrenville, Bath, Langley are very POOR areas of the county where plenty of trailers and section 8 apartments are located. This is just so weird, I was reading a book out of the cache right by a dead skelton. From the description read by the founder of the body, it appears to have been there for years. I'll post updates to this story if I get them.

Well, when I went to find this cache, I first searched the around the cliffs figuring the GPS was off by about 40 feet or so. After that failed, I climbed on top of the cliff where I saw a path that lead to the cache. From the article the body was in a dense thicket to the right. I did notice the sound of what sounded like a small mammal in the thicket they are referring to. Kind of errry because after I found the cache, I spent 15 minutes sitting right next to it reading a book that was in the cache.

HOLY COW, I was right at the area last Sunday where I found this cache. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...1-ECEF2643E236} I was the last one to find this cache before the skelton was discoverd by other geocachers. Amazing. Cheers, Blake

When I used the Etrex yellow, which there is nothing wrong with using by the way, what I used to do is simply print a sheet with all the geocaching coordinates I wanted to do that day. Then I inputed ONE of them. When I found the first cache, I would then input the second set of coordinates. In other words, just input one at a time, it only takes a minute to do when you are done finding your cache. It will also save your fingers from punching in 50 waypoints at one time. I would use notepad and cut and paste like this Cache number 1 GC1234 Wxx.xx.xxx Nxx.xxx.xxx The cache is a ammo box..... (notes you want) Cache number 2 GC 2343 Wxx.xx.xxx Nxx.xxx.xxx The cache is a micro located.......(notes you want) etc. etc. However if you thinking of buying a Yellow Etrex (100 bucks) AND the cable (est 30 bucks, can get a little cheaper from non-Garmin sources), just buy the Garmin Venture or even the Sportrak Map which will only cost a little bit more then the Yellow+cable, and give you a lot more options also including the data cable for download waypoints. But again, if you only afford or want to get the Yellow etrex, that will give you plenty of geocaching fun also! Cheers, Blake

Under 200 bucks. Unless you spend another 70+ bucks on mapping software, no unit basemap is going to help you with serious hiking. What you want probably is a unit that allows you to save multiple tracks and has a PC cable. My suggestion is the Etrex Legend. Small in size (a plus for hiking), allows you to save tracks, real nice resolution display, comes with PC cable, great for geocaching and the GPS atimeters in all the units are usually all you are going to need. The Magellan Sportrak has a bigger display but not as detailed resolution on the screen vs the Etrex Legend and weighs a few more ounces. Some report the antenna for the Sportrak are better but I hike with the Etrex line and don't have any serious problems. You won't go wrong with either the Etrex Legend or the Sportrak Map, both will accomplish what you want to do well. The only reason like the Legend over the Sportrak is the smaller size and the fact I owned the yellow etrex and the included cable works with my old yellow unit as well. You will find both Garmin owners are generally happy with their units and Magellan owners are happy with thiers.

You can always get a Geko 301 which is priced only a few bucks more than the Summit which has WAAS. Magellan offers no product within the price range of the Summit/Geko 301 that has an electronic magnetic compass. If mapping is not important, that is the route to go. If you want mapping and a electronic magnetic compass, then the Vista has both mapping and a compass.

I do a lot of hiking also so I understand the weight issue. The Vista will add an ounce or two over the Geko 301. That doesn't seem much to most people, but to a serious backpacker, an ounce or two can mean a lot over the course of time. The antenna's are basically identical for both the Geko and Etrex lines. You can get a Garmin 72 or Sportrak which has perhaps a better antenna but you also gain more ounces. One thing also to remember is using a GPSr with an electronic compass will cut down battery life by about 40 percent, so you will have to carry more batteries on a long backpacking trip = more weight. For example a Vista will average 12 hours battery life, the Legend 18 hours. Source: http://www.gpscentral.ca/products/garmin/a...ecomparison.htm Happy trails and Cheers, Blake

Identical for geocaching. The only difference is the the Legend has a base map and can upload maps and the Venture only has city points with no built in maps. As far as geocaching, both are totally identical, both come with the PC cable to download waypoints and both are just as accurate. But unless you are going to spend the 80 bucks of the mapsource software, you will only have a very basic map with the Legend. So it is a matter do you want to spend around 40 bucks more for the Legend over the Venture. No matter what, both will give you hours of geocaching fun so you can't go wrong with purchasing either unit! Cheers, Blake

What about the Geko 201 WAAS enabled at ecost for $109 shipped?? Yes, I kind of forgot about the Geko line. While I don't understand one bit why anyone would want the Geko 101 over the Etrex Yellow except for the smaller size, I can see where the Geko 201 has a place, it appears to be a good bargain for the low end price scale but the Geko line seems to be Garmin competing among itself as Magellan offers no small units. The two differences I see is Geko 201 has WAAS (if that means something to you, it doesn't to me) and a few games (cool if you are bored) But even the Geko 101 will give geocachers many hours of geocaching fun, so if that is all a person can afford, it will serve the purpose. I read your thread about Etrex vs Geko 201 with a 150 dollar budget. One other GPSr you might want to look at is the Garmin Venture. For 150 bucks online, you get an EXCELLENT resolution display, the PC CABLE, and although no mapping, it does come with cities and towns database built in. Another one in the 150 range is the Garmin 72 which is a larger unit. Happy Caching, Blake

I am not a marketing guru but I would suspect rather than drop the price of the Garmin V, they would simply discontinue it if sales fall off. But from what I read, the Garmin V comes with Mapsource CD while the 60c does not. I still like to see how the 60C is going to last 30 hours off 2 aa batteries, running on full color (which seems to me would take a lot more energy to run than a simple two color display). It seems Garmin is going to set it up this way 100 buck range - Etrex yellow or Geko (why buy the yellow Geko over a Etrex?) 150 buck range - Etrex Venture (if you can find it) or the 72 200 buck range - Etrex Legend or the 76 300 buck range - Etrex Vista, 76map 400 buck range - 60c 500 buck range - 60cs Buying a higher priced GPSr will give you more bells and whistles. But also remember, many a geocacher has had mega hours of fun (including me) with the basic yellow etrex. (I know own the Legend, I wanted a fancier toy). If the reviews from geocachers are good about the 60c, I might splurge on one in the summer. And like you said, many used units should be showing up on ebay or if the 60c is a flop (like the Magellan color units seem to be by reading what others say), those will be on ebay as well.

a lot of retailers sell the yellow etrex for $99.99 but for what you got you did get a good bargain as the Sportrak is worth the 30 bucks more than the yellow etrex. And you get the PC cable with the sportrak map, a basemap, and a larger display over the yellow. You did well. Have fun and enjoy your unit! Cheers, Blake

Easy to do at least 7 in one day. I was vacationing in Maryland. I found three in three states in under an hour. The way I figure it, Start in New Jersey (1), cross the Delaware Memorial bridge, get one in Delaware (2), drive another 20 miles, get one in Maryland(3).... drive to DC (4), then drive into Virginia(5) get one, head west, drive to West Virginia(6), get one.... then up I-81 to Pennsylvania(7). 7 states within 7 hours max. Probably on the same tank of gas. You could probably even get a New York cache if you add three hours of driving. Or a marathon could add a few New England states. All within daylight hours. I figure 8 to 10 hours at most, probably quicker if you cache and dash.

How were you able to find the cache quickly if it was 235 feet off? Hummm....... Again, all Etrex units will be just as accurate or inaccurate in your case. As many people as said, price does not buy accuracy. WAAS will help you in open areas but not geocaching as a rule unless the cache is completely in the open.

The 60c are not going to be competive with other GPSr's on the market with perhaps the color units from Magellan, so I expect no real price break in the Garmin's line of units. Did you see a price drop when Magellan came out with their color units? I hope I am wrong for the sake of the hobby, lower prices is better for us. But I just don't see it. What you might see is a rebate program increase for the Magellan Sportrak color and Meridian color units.