rstefano52
-
Posts
151 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by rstefano52
-
-
This probably isn't the cheapest solution but I just recently started paperless caching and it's great! I got a Sony Clie PEG-NR70V off of eBay, for the car I have a Magellan 4000 to get me close to parking, and finally I use a Garmin eTrex Vista HCSx to get me to GZ. I use GSAK and Cachemate (for the Clie and Garmin) for the software. The Magellan has a POI loader that I use in conjunction with GSAK. The Magellan and the Garmin were the most expensive items but we also use the Magellan for non-geocaching travel.
-
I know that I shouldn't let it bother me and since I have only been caching since April, I suppose that I shouldn't expect it but I SURE would like ONE FTF! I don't think I'm going to get any more than that for a very long time but that first one sure is taking a long time in coming! It's even harder when people try to help like trying to get caches published when they know that you'll be close by! I think the only time that I will have a good chance at one will be when I am REALLY retired in about 10-12 years.
-
Just out of curiosity - is there an easy way to "monitor" the numbers of my friends? I very often see congratulations posted and I don't know how people find out without actually going to view each person's profile. Is there a way to set up a notification when a milestone is reached?
-
Congratulations Marc - WOW - 800 - can 1000 be too far away?
-
Way to go Billy - 1000 is just around the corner! Congratulations and Happy caching.
-
25 a week! And I'm just happy if I can get FIVE! Oh well - I'm still going to be happy if I just get five but I've been going over that mark when I get a chance to go out. Congratulations Marc. You'll be at 1000 before you know it! Happy Caching.
-
To think that just a few short months ago, you and I were considering "playing checkers" together -
- Congratulations buddy - and may you find many more thousands! Happy caching. -
Northeast PA in Hazleton.
Now WHO could this be??? "JGSTEF" sounds awfully familiar to me - could it be the guy who got me addicted to this game??? I don't know if this counts but I USED to live in Northeastern PA but now I'm transplanted to NJ. I will be going back to PA when there's no more life in this old body!
-
I really don't want to blow my own horn but for what it's worth - I reached my 200th find over the weekend. I was out caching with my brother - who introduced me to this sport and we made sure that I was going to hit my 200th cache while we were out no Saturday. It was a good feeling and I hope to get more as time goes on. Naturally, I didn't stop and just yesterday, I have picked up 5 more so I'm on my way to the next milestone. This Thursday, I will be traveling to Salt Lake City to be with my wife at her nurse's convention - I hope to add a few SLC caches to my list of finds.
A funny thing happened over the weekend that I thought I would share and give you all something to think about. Without getting "preachy", when I was in church over the weekend the theme of the sermon had to do with how much effort we put into going after "perishable crowns" when we should be putting more effort into going after the "unperishable crown"! I will leave it at that but it's something to think about as we all go after these milestones!
-
I just started paperless caching and so far it's great! My brother had a Sony Clie NR70V so I checked on eBay and got one there. It's old technology and only has a small amount of memory (it has a memory stick but I'm not sure that the Cachemate data gets stored there). Anyway, as I said, I use Cachemate along with GSAK and it works just fine. I think that I have over 1000 waypoints in the Clie which is more than my Garmin GPS will hold so I'm covered. I also use a Magellan 4000 to give me on-road directions (via custom POI's) to cache locations when I'm alone. That way I don't have to be watching the tiny Garmin screen when I'm driving. I love these gadgets!
-
Yeah - I haven't been out for about 2.5 weeks and I'm starting to get the DT's! My Garmin has been returned for replacement/repair and my "partners" haven't been available. I can't wait until Saturday when I get to go out with my brother! Maybe I'll be able to pick up a few more in PA.
-
Just a quick comment - I have several notifications set up for geocaches in a few local areas of interest and I have been seen tons of logs stating that there has been a lot of "bounce" when trying to locate a cache! This is mostly occuring in the Northeast (NJ, PA, NY). I have not been looking in other areas of the country. My own GPS is back at Garmin for another reason so I don't have any first hand experience to offer. The last time that I used it (about two weeks ago), I noticed that it was in fact bouncing but I thought that was due to some of the other problems that I was having.
-
I suggest that you look at the Vista eTrex mini reviews in another part of this forum. There is a lot of discussion going on about the pro's and con's of the HCx series. I just sent mine back (I purchase it in late July) because of a power on problem. Garmin seemed to be good about supplying the RMA number and I hope to have my unit back by the end of this week if all goes well. I understand that they very often just send another unit - I won't know about that until I get mine back.
As far as it's operation, it took some time to get used to it. I had a Garmin 60 CS before that. The HCx was definitely more sensitive and seemed to provide a better accuracy - especially in dense tree cover. I liked that because many of the caches that I go after are in wooded areas with dense tree cover. Before I sent it back, I did notice that I started to have a lot of signal bounce - especially when using the compass. I didn't play with it enough to find out if something else was wrong or if this was just my imagination. I'm still relatively new to using a GPS so I'm learning as time goes on.
One thing that I especially liked about the unit was using it for on-road travel. I purchased the US maps on an SD chip and when I asked it to take me to a certain location, it did a pretty good job - it was even pretty quick at recalculating the route if I deviated at all.
I'm sure that you will get a lot of other opinions about this so I will be anxious to see what others have to say.
Good luck and happy caching (when you start).
-
I don't know if this counts, but my wife is an ER Nurse (now an educator) and very active in local, state, and national organizations. Because of me, she has added Geocaching to her list of hobbies. She doesn't have her own screen name but has helped me find quite a few of the caches that I have found to date (about 150). She does enjoy spending the time with me but doesn't always like communing with nature! Congratulations to all of the medical personnel out there who find the time to "use multi-billion dollar satellites to find tupper-ware containers"!
-
I calibrated the compass but there was no difference. Like I previously stated, the arrow points in the wrong direction when caching.
I still think it's probably a compass calibration Issue, have you tried turning off the electronic compass and see if it still has the issue? you can turn off the electronic compass by holding down the Quit button(upper right button).
Just like a real compass the electronic compass is effected by any magnetic field. so I always turn it off in the car, on my bike, and always calibrate it outdoors. The other day when riding my bike I had my vistaCX in the handlebar mount and I noticed the compass arrow on the map screen was turned the wrong way even when I was moving. Sure enough the electronic compass was on next to the metal handlebars, that was enough to pull it out of whack.
This is really weird! I did not have this problem before Sunday. When my son and I went out caching - I noticed this exact same behavior with the compass! Fortunately or unfortunately, I have returned my unit to Garmin for another issue (power on problem) and I don't know if they will attempt a repair or a replacement. I didn't get too upset about the compass because I knew that I was probably going to be sending it back. Now I won't know until I get the unit back whether this is a common anomaly or some new thing that has cropped up. I'll post a reply when I get the unit back.
-
Well OK. Looks like the auto resetting of the WAAS is a problem we all have, but my on/off/on problem is just a screw up with my unit. So I'll try the "hard reset" suggestion, and if that doesn't help I guess it's off to Garmin.
Be sure & let us know if a hard reset fixes your power problem.
so it looks like this is the only MAJOR problem with the HCX? if so, do you think it would be okay to purchase the unit and just get the download for the patch when they fix the problem? i just don't want to buy a unit with a problem that will have me send the unit in to get fixed when i can just buy a fixed unit.
The power problem that 'captain454' is having may very well be isolated to his unit only. I have yet to hear of anyone else having the same problem but I'm just going by the info on these boards. If this problem were widespread, you'd definitely be hearing about it here. If the problem he's having is corrected by a hard-reset, then it would be a total non-issue.
Regardless of the problem 'captain454' is having with his unit, I would not hesitate to order an HCx if I did not already own one. That's just my opinion...
Edit: looks like while I was posting, the captain's problem was solved by the hard-reset.
I just got the HCX a few days ago. And while I am happy with it I also have the power/on/off problem. But mine is primarily being unable to poweroff. The unit locks up and emits a continuous tone. I have to take the battery out to stop it. But it'll start up okay. I'll try the hard-reset to see it it makes a difference, but it is a real pain right now. It was fine for a while.
I hate to beat a dead horse but the power on/off problem is NOT isolated. I have had it since I got my unit in late July and the "hard reset" did absolutely nothing. I have not tried the firmware update yet because I'm afraid of really messing it up! In addition, my son's friend got his at the same time that I did and he is also having the problem. I have seen this mentioned elsewhere in the forums so it is NOT isolated. I have contacted Garmin again by email so I'm waiting to hear what they have to say. This is my second attempt - the first resulted in them telling me to try the hard reset.
-
I'm sorry to hear that you have this problem while on a trip. I, too, am having the power on problem and I still haven't had a chance to call Garmin. I'm reluctant to give up the device but I'm sure that's what they are going to ask me to do - return it and possibly send me a new one. Anyway, the only way that I've been able to correct this, is try turning it on, remove and replace only one battery, and then turn it back on again. I've found that I have to hold the power button in for quite a while (seems like an eternity) but it eventually turns back on. I don't know if this will help but it's all that I can offer from my experience.
-
Congratulations! Only 100 more to go to the next LANDMARK!
-
Well OK. Looks like the auto resetting of the WAAS is a problem we all have, but my on/off/on problem is just a screw up with my unit. So I'll try the "hard reset" suggestion, and if that doesn't help I guess it's off to Garmin.
Be sure & let us know if a hard reset fixes your power problem.
so it looks like this is the only MAJOR problem with the HCX? if so, do you think it would be okay to purchase the unit and just get the download for the patch when they fix the problem? i just don't want to buy a unit with a problem that will have me send the unit in to get fixed when i can just buy a fixed unit.
The power problem that 'captain454' is having may very well be isolated to his unit only. I have yet to hear of anyone else having the same problem but I'm just going by the info on these boards. If this problem were widespread, you'd definitely be hearing about it here. If the problem he's having is corrected by a hard-reset, then it would be a total non-issue.
Regardless of the problem 'captain454' is having with his unit, I would not hesitate to order an HCx if I did not already own one. That's just my opinion...
Edit: looks like while I was posting, the captain's problem was solved by the hard-reset.
Sorry to burst your bubble but as of today, I am still having the power on problem. In addition, my son's friend is also having it (he got his unit at the same time and same place as I did - they were ordered together). When I try to do a "hard reset", I get absolutely nothing but a blank screen!
-
A guy in europa had also the power-on-bug. - He solved this problem by HARD RESET.
"The newer etrex units (venture, legend, and vista) with the "Click Stick" use different keys to accomplish these tasks but the idea is the same. Holding the click stick down and then powering up will enter the test screen while holding the "page" key down and the "click stick" down and then powering up will reset the unit. You will be prompted with an "are you sure?" message. On these units holding down the "find" button in addition to the others will avoid the "are you sure" message. Hold the buttons for 5 seconds to clear the unit."
http://www.gpsinformation.org/dale/secret.htm
PAGE + ENTER (click stick) + POWER ON
If anyone has the power-on-bug and can also solve it by hard-reset - please give a feedback.
I've tried this multiple times (after being instructed to do so by Garmin Support) and absolutely nothing happens. All I get is sore fingers and a blank screen!
-
I have one other issue with it but I won't post that here until I contact Garmin - I have to find out if this is specific to my device or a global problem.
You could share it with us. Those with the same unit will be able to check if it happens for them also. Garmin is pretty slow to answer and more important, they often deny at 1st any problem. Again 2 days ago I called for another question and asked at the same time for any news about the WAAS problem and the personne was not aware of any problem. I politly told him to ask coworkers around because I knew a few was aware of the problem.
My other "problem" is discussed elsewhere in this forum but I'll throw it out here too. I cannot seem to get my unit to turn on without pulling out one of the batteries and then replacing it. I tried to contact Garmin via their web site but it didn't seem like the message went through. Then I got a note yesterday from their support people suggesting that I "reset" the unit using the ENTER-PAGE-POWER buttons but when I press all three of these (no small feat) - nothing happens. According to support, I am supposed to receive a message asking me if I want to proceed. I receive nothing but a blank screen. I guess I should try to talk to a person but I get home from work very late and I don't have time to spend on the phone.
-
OK,
So I just received by eTrex Vista HCx from TVNAV as well, so here's my 2 cents. The GPS it's replacing is an eTrex Vista Cx, so that will be my basis of comparison.
First off, the rear cover is almost identical to the one included on my old Cx, I think they're both metal, and they both weight in at the same 1.1 oz. However, the new HCx cover is a *much* tighter fit, my guess is that this makes it substantially more water resistant. The little twisty metal loop you use to tighten it into place is larger, and allows you to put MUCH more torque on it when closing.
Reception: Yeah, it's a lot better. Hard to measure exactly how much better, I'd say 3x at least, based solely on running them side by side and comparing the size of the reception bars. However, in actual real world use, I'd say the reception is almost infinitely better, since I've taken both units through several heavy cover areas and I never could get the HCx to lose reception, but the old Cx lost signal several times. So in terms of total "downtime" the HCx is infinitely better. Finally, when it's switched on (which can be a pain, see below), the satellite aquisition time is so fast I can't even see it, it's almost instantaneous.
There does seem to be something quirky about the way the HCx tracks movement, at least at low speeds.... sometimes it doesn't respond to turns fast enough, it's almost as if it's trying to guess ahead on where you're going, but then sometimes it doesn't seem to do this, sorry I can't explain it well enough, I'll have to do a more detailed comparison today.
The interface/menus are identical with the only exception being that you can now program what color (both during the day and night) you want your routing path to be (the default is still purple).
Speed: Yep, the HCx is also quite a bit faster, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3x faster when it comes to calculating long, complicated routes. Scrolling across the map seems a lot better too.
Problems: Yes, there are some big bugs I've discovered already. The first is that the WAAS setting returns to disabled every time I turn my unit off and restart. Also, I've never been able to get the thing to turn on when powered by the USB/external power cord. At this point, I can't seem to ever get it to turn on without first pulling the batteries and restarting, so this is a serious problem. I don't know if the "I can't shut off my GPS and restart it without taking out the batteries" problem is caused by some strange combination of settings on my unit or what, because there's no way they would have shipped a GPS you can't turn on, and I know it did turn on the first time I threw batteries in it and started it up... who knows what's going on? Hopefully is a firmware fix that will come down the pipe soon.
Other than the massive on/off bug, I'd say this is by far the best handheld GPS I've ever seen or used. This GPS takes all the features we liked from the old Vista C/Cx, and adds a much improved antenna and faster processor.
I, too, am having a problem with turning the unit on. Each time I want to do so, I have to pull out at least one of the batteries. Then it turns on and works with no problems that I can see. I've tried to contact Garmin over the Internet and their reply was to reset the unit using the Enter-Page-Power buttons. I tried this and nothing happens.
-
So TVNAV has them already hey. I pre-ordered a Legend HCX from there. Hopefully will see it soon. Will post back with first impressions.
I'm still having trouble adding replies to these forums but I just got my eTrex Vista HCx last week (from PCNation) and so far it seems to work just fine in dense tree cover. I was out with my son on Sunday and it didn't lose the signal once and I didn't even have WAAS enabled! I can only compare it to my former 60 CS which used to lose the signal in my driveway! I have one other issue with it but I won't post that here until I contact Garmin - I have to find out if this is specific to my device or a global problem.
-
I hope that I'm not messing this up but THANKS for the post! I didn't even realize this was here until it was pointed out to me. I want to thank all my "friends" who helped me along the way - I could not have reached this goal without their help and patience.
- Congratulations buddy - and may you find many more thousands! Happy caching.
Congratulations! Only 100 more to go to the next LANDMARK!
IMSpider reaches 2400+ after 372 days of caching
in Northeast
Posted
And to think that just yesterday, you and I were "PLAYING CHECKERS"! I hope that I get to actually meet you in person some day! I know that it would be a very long time before I could ever catch up to you and that "other guy" but I think BOTH of you deserve a lot of congratulations. Even though Geocaching is a bit of a "game" this "game" takes a lot of effort both MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY and anyone who can reach a number past a 1000 has to be admired. CONGRATULATIONS SPIDER and thanks ever so much for all of the help that you have provided in the past. As Sonny & Sandy say: "Keep on cachin!"