Cache Hustler

Alright, thanks for the info. I will shoot their CS department an email.

I think its a great choice! If you don't believe me, read my post: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=161224

Bump. No help from anyone?? C'mon, someone's gotta know...

I have used EasyGPS to load my first .gpx file into my new Venture Cx. When I open the .gpx file in EasyGPS, the entire decrypted hint is in the "Comment" field. When I send it to my GPSr, I only get a partial hint. It seems like the "Note" field in the GPSr is limited to a certain number of characters although it appears there is more room in the actual box. Is this the norm? Is there a way to fit more of the hint in there? I figured I could use EasyGPS to edit the hint of each waypoint to making shorter by just putting the pertinent words in it, but I was hoping for something easy/quicker. Thanks.

I just got started in caching, and in fact have only went out one day at four attempts (two finds). On the second cache of the day, and my first DNF, the location was at a dead end road with a guardrail at the end. (BTW, off topic, but is this a common type of locale? Two out of the four were at a place like this.) Anyways, the area was littered with discarded condoms. Now for the record, I am a cop in Oakland, CA, which is about as bad a place as you can get (at least in the U.S.!) and you can't walk ten feet without finding old condoms, syringes, crack wrappers and so forth. So the items didn't necessarily bother me, but I had my eight year old and three year old kids with me to help search. Needless to say, I didn't let them search that area and the experience definitely tarnished my introduction to geocaching. Also, the cache location was not in the ghetto in Oakland, which I can understand would have limited "clean" cache locations, but was in a small, newer bedroom community out in the 'burbs. It just appears that this particular dead end is a common "make-out point." I had chalked it up to bad luck, but after seeing this post I am wondering if people need to use a little more common sense and be aware of the surroundings when hiding caches. I have definitely gotten the impression that this is intended to be a family hobby and that needs to be considered not only for swag but for cache locations as well.

I'm out in Brentwood. I saw the Benicia event on the calendar but unfortunately I'm all booked up this weekend. I do plan on trying to make it out to one of the local events in the near future though!

Like I said, I got a lot of help from some good people on here and just wanted to compile the information in one place. I'm glad it was helpful! I got my unit after writing that post, I think it was sitting on my front porch while I was actually writing it! I'm going to try and find some benchmarks soon to test the accuracy. I'm hoping for, and expecting, good marks!

Let me start by saying that this is only my opinion. I have some experience with GPS, but next to no experience in geocaching. The only reason I bother posting this is that I am an avid researcher and I am confident in what I chose to buy and thought that if I laid everything out in one post, it may be helpful to those that don't like to spend huge amounts of time researching. Now to cut to the chase, I chose the Venture Cx and here's how I came to that decision: On the topic of Magellan (or others) versus Garmin, I chose Garmin for two main reasons. I have some military and law enforcement experience with GPS, and it has always been Garmin brand products. So I figured if it was good enough for the government, then it should work for caching. Now I know some people will argue about how goverment equipment goes to the lowest bidder, and so forth, but that is for another post. Basically, Garmin is a (thee?) industry leader. My second reason for choosing Garmin was it's history of superior customer service compared with the second place industry leader...Magellan. Again, people will argue that Magellan's customer service issues are going to be a thing of the past, but I'm going with the proven track record here. Now as far as which Garmin model to choose, I started by knowing that I wanted a mapping model. Although you can geocache without this feature, it is much easier with it and it also adds more functionality to the GPSr. That narrowed my focus to the eTrex and GPSMAP 60 series (the GPSMAP 76 series, which is similar in features to the 60 series, is geared towards marine applications-but could easily be used for caching). I also decided that I wanted a color display. After having the opportunity to use a gray-scale and a color model, it was apparent that orienting yourself was easier on the color display. Plus it just plain looks cooler! That narrowed the field to the eTrex Venture Cx, Legend Cx, and Vista Cx; and the GPSMAP 60Cx and 60CSx. Now to the primary differences between the models in the eTrex series and those in the GPSMAP series. The biggest difference is that the GPSMAP series will give you better reception and signal lock. This is NOT usually due to the different types of antennae. The eTrex uses a "patch antenna" and the GPSMAP uses a "quad-helix" antenna. These antennae themselves are actually capable of receiving signals equally well if used correctly (eTrex should be in a horizontal position). What accounts for the difference in reception is that the eTrex series use a proprietary Garmin chipset to interpret the signals obtained by the antenna and the GPSMAP series uses the superior SiRF Star III chipset. Read this Wikipedia link for more info on the differences: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SiRFstar_III There is also a difference in the form factor. The GPSMAP series is approximatley 50% heavier and is larger. Personally the eTrex series fits better in my hand and the thumbstick makes it easier to use. The other big difference between the eTrex and GPSMAP series is price. For an explanation, see the explanation of the primary difference Honestly, if it the GPSMAPs weren't so much more, my decision would have been a lot harder. Now I had it narrowed to those in the eTrex series. These three units are identical with a couple of exceptions. See https://buy.garmin.com/shop/compare.do?cID=...pareProduct=326 The Vista Cx has a built in altimeter and compass, the other two don't. Besides this, the features and capabilities of these three eTrex units are the same. In the end, after consulting with several knowledgeable and helpful people in this forum, I decided I didn't need those features of the Vista Cx. Here is the link to the post that helped me decide: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=160861 Now I'm left with the Venture Cx and the Legend Cx. Again, these units are actually identical and the difference is in the package contents. The Legend Cx comes with a 64MB microSD card and the USB cable to connect to your computer. The Venture Cx has neither of these. Again, after consulting with others, I decided I would be using more memory than the 64MB that the Legend Cx comes with, so no need to spend the extra money on something I was going to toss and upgrade anyways. See http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=160808&hl= I also determined that the USB cable was of the kind that is commonly used with digital cameras, recorders,etc. I happened to have an extra one, so again, why spend the extra money. So that left me with the Venture Cx. I searched around on the net and was able to find this GPSr for $168 out the door (or delivered to my door actually). I also got a SanDisk 2GB microSD card for $24 plus shipping. All in all, I'm happy with that ~$200 package BTW, the link to the previous posts show that it was posted by "ehuesman". After I became the proud owner of a cool new GPSr, I wanted an equally cool new username Thanks to all of you who helped me in my quest to decide and I hope this is able to help someone else.