scvmeat

Thanks for the response! I tried this and all matched up perfectly until step 10. I don't have "interface" under Device Set Up. I do have "Connect to Computer..." and tried changing "When Connected" to "Open Internal Drive." At that point, I would only get a Windows message that it can't read the drive and it wants me to format. I could not access my device as a mounted drive. I tried the same process you gave me, but this time changed "When Connected" to "Open SD Card," and I get the same result. Now, I have rebooted the computer multiple times and attempted this a few times and can't seem to get past this roadblock. I am planning on calling DeLorme tonight, but was hoping to get it resolved before then on my own or with help. Any other ideas? Thanks again for all your information and suggestions! Dimitri

Hello Geocaching Community! I am seriously frustrated with my PN-40. I decided to update my PN-40's firmware to 2.9 from 2.6 last night. I followed the instructions and all seemed well. The problem comes in when I try to load caches. I am running Win7 Home Premium 64 Bit. I have, in the past loaded gpx files from my pocket queries by directly loading onto my SD card, using GSAK 8 and most recently using Cache Register. I can now do none of these. I have scoured the GSAK, DeLorme and GC.com forums and I either suck at searching and can't find anything, or there isn't much on this. I need some help please. When I try to manually drag and drop the GPX file in windows explorer, I get an I/O error, or a message to format my SD card. When using Cache Register, either the sync button does nothing, or I get an error that the device is busy. If I try GSAK 8, I hit send to GPS and I just get the "Sending waypoints" window with the status bar that just keeps going and going and going, without ever completing. Keep in mind that I have rebooted the computer between attempts and reset the PN-40. I made sure that Cache Register wasn't running live or in the background when attempting GSAK or the manual drag and drop. I am at a loss and very frustrated. Can anyone offer some help or advice? I am sorry if this is in the wrong forum or if there is a thread that covers this, but I could not find one.

Perfect! I just renewed my premium membership, THEN I saw what happened with the maps. I don't blame GS for doing what they did, but I was kinda bummed out. This work around worked perfectly for me in FireFox and Chrome! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Sadly, GSAK is not available for Mac. You can run Bootcamp, Parallels or VMware on your Mac to load Windows (most/all of these only work with the Intel-based Macs). I'm debating getting a Mac myself and I'm faced with losing GSAK and FindStatGen. I'm currently looking at MacCaching and I'm not impressed...very weak feature set compared to GSAK. If anyone knows of a Mac solution that compares to GSAK, I'm anxious to know about it too! I am a long time Mac user and I use GSAK running windows in VMWare..the only thing I need or use windows for. MacCaching is OK, but GSAK is the way to go. You know what they say...once you go Mac, you never go back! Take the plunge, and don't try to use your Mac like Windows. Welcome to the Mac community!

I have a Vista HCx (year 3 now) and it is a rock solid GPSr with a ton of functionality AND free maps on the web. gpsfiledepot.com While it is not paperless, it can do mostly everything else you could want. I also just got the Delorme PN-40 which is paperless and awesome, but I don't think Delorme has a lot to offer map wise overseas. Go Vista HCx!!!

I expect that fendermallot is referring to dense evergreen canopy! Good problem to have IMHO!

Just curious what makes the Legend impossible to use in Oregon? I have a Garmin Vista HCx that I love, but no paperless and no touchscreen. I just got a PN-40, which I think is the best bang for the buck along with the MapLibrary subscription (sub $30). I picked up my 40 from Amazon for $199 new. You need to check back frequently as their promos change regularly. The PN-40 gives you paperless, but no touchscreen. I honestly think that you will be more than pleased with any of the units you are considering. Like someone else said, the Garmin people love their Garmins, and the Delorme people love their Delormes. The Enduras started out rocky but are supposedly greatly improved with each firmware revision. In any case, eat up the info, and just take the dive. You will be happy with any of the options!

Let it run down lower. You're only getting at best 50% of the life out of those batteries. The device will warn you when they really are low. The power kit from DeLorme, with the Li-Ion battery pack, should get you 10+ hours of usage on a full charge. Haha!!! That is what I thought! I was being a little trigger happy on pulling the old batteries out. I will eagerly await the low power warning! So, once I get the warning using the Delorme Li-Ion battery pack, how long should it take to recharge?

People have been asking DeLorme for projection since the PN-20. It may be coming in the PN-60, but if it does, it's not yet known if it will find its way into a firmware release compatible with the 40. Assuming that you have the battery type set correctly and you aren't running the backlight on full brightness continuously, I suspect that there's a problem with your unit. Even on alkalines, you should be getting 5-6 hours at least. You may want to call DeLorme & ask. I heard about projection possibly coming to the 60, and am hoping that it makes its way to the 40! As for the battery issue, I need to test my PN-40 a little more precisely. I have let it get down to 2 bars on the battery meter and have swapped batteries for fear of it going dead, even though I carry spares with me. I do have the correct battery type set, so I suspect that, with the new power kit I got from Delorme and me actually letting the batteries wear down enough, I may see 6 to 8 hours, which is perfectly acceptable to me.

I thought I would give some very general, not overly technical observations on my experience so far with the PN-40 my wife got me for Christmas this year in comparison to my Vista HCx that I have had for a couple years. Here is some background. I love geocaching, but am not a numbers person. With life happening and 3 young kids, I get out as much as I can, but not nearly as much as I would like. I love technology and am pretty savvy with gadgets and computers. My Vista HCx was my first GPSr, but with all the paperless options out there these days, I knew a new unit was in my future. So, after reading a lot of reviews, opinions and discussions here and elsewhere, and knowing what kind of budget I was on, I opted to go with the Delorme PN-40. I opened it up Christmas morning and was super excited. I am not going to go through the specifics, nor will I be giving a review. This is just a collection of my observations and thoughts on the PN-40 vs. the Vista HCx. The first thing I noted was how the PN-40 fit in my hand. I will say that I never appreciated the feel of my Vista until I had to work with the PN-40. The PN-40 is bulkier/chunkier. I also now GET why Garmin chose the button set up they did in conjunction with the screen being placed on the bottom part of the unit. It makes it a lot easier to securely hold the Vista and get through the menus; I don't feel the need to shift the unit in my hand to get through the menus as I do with the PN-40. This is not to say that the PN-40 isn't comfortable. It is, but the feel and ergonomics go to the Vista. I can't compare to other handheld units, but if you get the PN-40 as your first unit, it will be a non-issue. Both units feel very solid and rugged. I will say that I would be more anxious if I dropped the PN-40 as the Vista seems a little more solid, but have no doubt they would both be OK. I have not really ever done any testing that exposed either to water, but I am confident they would both be fine. One other plus for the Vista in my book is that it is much easier and faster to take off the battery and memory card compartment cover. That is not to say that it is at all difficult to do, but the Vista has one locking ring that only requires 1/4 turn to open or lock down. The PN-40 has 2 that each require many turns to open and close. Not that big of a deal though. The screens seem even to me in terms of brightness with and without backlighting, color, and readability. I haven't compared actual screen resolutions. They both get high marks from me in full sun and cloud readability. On to menu navigation and usability. I think that both are fairly intuitive. I know that the PN-40 came to me a lot quicker than the Vista. I am not sure if that is because I was a total newb with my Vista, or because the PN is just more intuitive. Bottom line is that they both get the job done in different ways with different controls. I would give an edge to the PN for a newer user. I still find the Vista easier to use on the trail, mainly due to the ergonomics that I went into above. As for finding the cache, I have used both since I got the PN and will say that they have mostly been in agreement and brought me right to GZ. I would rate it a tie. My biggest problem with the PN-40 is that it lacks the ability to project a waypoint and does not have a Sight 'N Go function that I can figure out. Point to the Vista. Paperless...no competition. The Vista doesn't have it. The built in Geocaching functions on the PN-40 are more robust even before we get into paperless. When you add in paperless, the PN wins big here in a very important category to me. Maps...in my mind, the PN-40 is the far better bang for the buck. You get Topo USA 8.0, all the topos for North America, $40 to try Delorme's MapLibrary and a free 30 day trial to GC.com's Premium Membership. Maybe the new Garmins are offering something close, but I don't think they are. I already had a premium membership, but I did buy a year's subscription to the Delorme MapLibrary for $23.99 from Amazon which is an incredible deal compared to Garmin's (although I know that Garmin now has a sub service too). Topo 8 is a full featured, very powerful piece of software, and although there is a learning curve, there is great documentation and lots of great tutorials that makes it easy. Big win for the PN...or is it? I have just discovered all the free maps that exist for my Vista. Wow! Free! Great maps! Free! Aerial photgraphy? No. Have I found all the options available on the Delorme Library? No. Big win for the PN? Not as big as I thought it would be. I must say I don't like the proprietary USB connector the PN-40 uses. The exposed connectors on the back? I am skeptical. I have a dozen cables at home from various devices that work fine for my Vista. If I lose my PN cable, I am out some $$$. That being said, nothing bad to report thus far. Battery life...PN-40 is a battery hog. Regular alkalines give me about 2 - 3 hours of use. I am not into all the battery saving options people recommend. I don't do it on the Vista and I get 8 to 12 hours of use on regular alkalines. I just got the power kit for the PN, but haven't been able to test it yet. I realize this has turned into a sort of review, and probably sounds like I am hating on the PN-40. Actually, I am really pleased with the unit and excited to use it as my primary unit. I must say, that I REALLY want to just put the Vista away for a backup, or let my kids use it when the family is out, but now with the free maps on the Vista, it makes me realize what a great GPSr it really is. I want to love the PN-40. I don't. I really, really, really like it. I would have no problems recommending it to anyone. For me, the only reason right now, that I choose the PN-40 is because of it being paperless. It is a fine unit. I still think the best bang for the buck...unless you find a great deal on a used Vista HCx and hook yourself up with the free maps on the web. Paperless wins it for me. But how about the Vista HCx!!! It will stay in my geocaching toolbox until it dies! (with my PN-40). Hope someone finds this useful and/or entertaining. Not looking to get flamed here!

Download a copy of the user's manual for the Vista c, a discontinued unit. The functions of the Vista c and the Vista HCx are identical. The older manual is much more comprehensive. Wow...You are right! The Vista C manual is SOOOO much better than the one I got with my Vista HCx. Thanks for posting!

So I saw this link... http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php I went there and it gave me the option of downloading free, reoutable maps for use with my Garmin Vista HCx. I selected the tiles I needed and submitted the request, got the email and downloaded the file for RoadTrip, which I have on my Mac. Problem is, I am lost on how to actually get this whole thing to work, and I have been unsuccessful in searching for the information I need to make this work. Does anybody here have any idea? Thanks in advance for all the help, and please let me know if there is any other information you need to help me. Thanks!

Ummm...really? Wow. Let's try to keep it to geocaching.

The rules are in place to help keep Geocaching on the up and up with the communities they are placed in, and to, in my mind, keep it a legit activity. There are tons of challenging caches out there, just take a look at the difficulty and terrain ratings. 4 and up should suit you well. Other than that, I'll defer to the others on here...

Got Topo USA 8 with my new PN-40. I am trying to learn to use this to get some useful custom maps to my PN, but I am not sure what I need to do to get trail maps for state parks and gamelands. Can anyone offer up some help? I would love to get most of PA if possible. Thanks again for everyone's help!

The requests are in on the DeLorme forums, but the capability is not yet built in. No word on whether this is part of the firmware update currently in development either. So I guess I should learn to do it with a good 'ol compass, huh? Time to start searching!

I looked through the manual and the online resources on the DeLorme site and wikis, and I am unable to find this. I am sure I am overlooking something, but I can't figure out how to get my PN-40 to project a waypoint. Maybe I am not using the correct verbiage, but any help is greatly appreciated! So far, so good with my PN-40!!!

It depends. Those who are fortunate to be in areas that have the Hi Res City imagery available swear by it. I'm not much of a fan of parking lot caches but if you have an image on the 40 that clearly shows what lamp post or bush the cache is hidden at, that would definately come in handy. If however, you tend to cache more in the woods, the aerial imagery can be hit and miss. The color imagery seems to be exclusively taken during the spring and summer months when foilage is most full so the image on the 40 is pretty much just a bunch of green tree tops. It has come in handy for me a few times though when I was in a clearing with just a few trees. It's also nice for recording your tracks along trails and then creating a map with the trail layered over the imagery. I'll add take baby steps first. Downloading the imagery can be a daunting task. I posted a video link in another thread Pax started on how to do this. I'll also be posting another link when I have the video created and uploaded on how to transfer the imagery to the PN. Hopefully this will be accomplished today or tomorrow. I have to redo the entire thing to bring it down to a manageable size. I'll take a look at the videos! Thanks again for all the great info!

Thanks for this quick tutorial! All the PN-40 Christmas gift newbies appreciate it! It finally stopped raining here, so I should be able to get out and get a cache or 2 today!!!

Wow! Thanks for the great responses!!! I managed to do the drag and drop of my PQ right into Topo 8 and it worked quite well! I can't wait to spend more time with Topo 8 to really see what it can do! I also updated my version of GSAK and tried it and it worked fine as well. I think I may stick with GSAK on my Windows machine and purchase CR for my Mac. As a Mac user, I know how passionate Mac users can be regarding their OS and hardware of choice, even though it may not always be obvious to others who haven't spent enough time to learn the beauty of the OS. It kinda seems that the DeLorme crew is very similar, which is why I really want to get into my PN-40 and the software as soon as I can! Does anyone think I should really worry about the aerial maps? They look cool, but I don't know how useful it will be for caching. Thanks again!

OK...so I got a PN-40 for Christmas from Santa this year! I am really quite excited as I have been eyeing this unit up for months now. I have been using my trusty Garmin Vista HCx and of course it is a bit different than my new PN-40. I am hoping to get some direction from the PN-40 owners in this forum. I did do some searching, but never seemed to be able to find what I needed (sorry...I know some of you will be able to find this stuff with your searching skills!) So... Is Cache Register the easiest way to get my PQs on my PN-40? If I purchase CR, can I download a copy for my PC and Mac, or do I have to purchase a version for each? Is there a free (fairly simple) way to get my PQs on my PN-40? I need to get my paperless on!!! Topo USA 8.0...ummm...I am not a technophobe, but what is the best way to get started on this? I think that it is a very powerful tool, but don't quite know where to start. I think that about does it for this round of questions. Sorry if I annoy anyone with this post as I am sure these questions were all asked before. Looking forward to the assistance!!!

OK...so, I must not be thinking, but just to save anyone else the trouble...Dick's website is NOT, I repeat, IS NOT www.dicks.com. I realized it right after I hit "enter." Glad I wasn't at work!!! www.disksportinggoods.com

I am currently using a Garmin Vista HCx that I got a couple years ago, and have used a bunch of the programs on my Mac with no problems. I do use GSAK in Windows for my Nuvi macro and paperless caching. I am fairly sure that the wife and kids are getting me a PN-40 (the Oregons are a little expensive for us) for Christmas, which I intend on digging into on my Mac. I will post some feedback on Cache Register for Mac as soon as I get it and have a chance to play with it. It seems that the decent Mac Geocaching programs suffer from limited updates and not enough functionality when compared to GSAK. I am sure that I use less than 1% of the features in GSAK, but I am addicted to my macros for my Nuvi! I need my Nuvi for constantly having visibility to caches close by when I am driving, and no handheld, outdoor GPSr is on par with a Nuvi (or other dedicated road GPS units) for routing in a car. Let's hear from some other, more experienced Mac users...I know you are out there!!!

Did you get the Dakota to replace the Pn-40? How would you compare the 2? Sorry if this is listed in a thread somewhere else. With GPS units, like just about any other electronic device, expect a string of better units to temp you for years, and years to come. I bought my first GPS unit in 1995, my Pn-40 was number 14 if memory serves me right, and my Dakota 20 was the 15th. There are still quite a few features I'd like to see in future units, so I'm sure the trend will continue for the forseable future. To the New PN-40 owner, congratulations, and remember, always carry spare batteries... I'm sure you'll be so focused on the GPS for awhile that you forget to take in your surroundings. As a result, it'd be easy to get lost if the batteries died on you.

Great first impressions! It definitely makes me more secure in my decision to buy a PN-40! I am not looking to buy until October or November, but does any one know if we will be seeing a PN-50 by then???