CharlieP

Overall I have been pleased with my GPS 76. It maintains position lock even in heavy cover, and the big high-res screen is easy to read. One problem ... I was drying it off with a towel a few months ago and the nav button pulled off. So be very careful drying it with a cloth or towel, the buttons are held on by a thin membrane and will come right off. They wanted $80 to fix it, so I just glued the button back on with silicone glue to re-seal the unit. Luckily, I never use the nav button. FWIW, CharlieP

Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh!!! Slow is not the right word ... makes me think of that commercial on TV comparing the www to Chinese water torture. Funny thing is that is will do a search, but will time out on a simple cache page retrieval. CharlieP

I often think of this line when I encounter trashy behavior. ============================= I've been around that trashy behavior all my life. I'm gettin' tired of puttin' up with it. =================================== CharlieP

My first use of a GPSR was for documenting equipment locations (poles, transformers, etc.) for electric distribution system appraisals. I quickly discovered that it was also useful on my boat, for navigating, finding shipwrecks, and returning to other good diving and fishing locations. And then I discovered geocaching. FWIW, CharlieP

quote:Originally posted by BrianSnat:Great news and I'm extremely surprised. From time to time, something comes along that makes me question my antipathy towards bureaucrats. I agree, the posted policy looks like they listened to the comments and suggestions and reacted reasonably. I may even object the next time someone tells an Arkansas joke. FWIW, CharlieP

I would suggest you put the GPS to your ear and talk into it as if it were a cellphone. Talk in a loud and arrogant manner so that everyone in the area will hear, and know how important you are. I know that kind of obnoxious behaviour always causes me to want to leave. If that doesn't work, don't risk the cache, just come back later. FWIW, CharlieP

quote:Originally posted by Desert_Warrior:The only gripe I have with a long wooden walking stick it what do you do with it when you need both hands free? I found a reasonable solution to that problem by attaching a nylon cord loop to my wooden stick. I can loop the cord around my wrist and just let the stick hang when I need both hands. Probably not as much out of the way as a breakdown stick, but then it is much quicker to switch back and forth. I usually keep the loop around my wrist when hiking so that I can let go of the stick if I need to use that hand, without the stick taking off downslope or downstream. FWIW, CharlieP

quote:Originally posted by El Diablo:I registered...but when I try to log in it just takes me back to the same page?? If they can't even navigate me to the right page...how the hell are they going to navigate me to a cache?? This is the reason I use a Garmin!! Anyone else have this problem? I had the same problem, and I guess I will stick to my Garmin also. I hope the folks who do the Maggy web page do not write the GPS software. CharlieP

quote:Originally posted by RPaske:Interesting. Anyone know how to do this using Garmin gpsmap76? With my GPS 76 there is an easier way. Go to the map page, press menu, select Measure Distance, then just play with this function to learn how it works. It can be used to measure distances, project waypoints, or to determine bearings. Note that you press enter to reset the measuring reference to the pointer location, otherwise it uses the current location. You can also project waypoints by pressing menu from the waypoint page and selecting Project Location, but this limits you to .01 mile accuracy. FWIW, CharlieP

I changed my position on this, no pun intended. For the first year of caching, I was very reluctant to dispute a cache placer's posted coords. I would try to be tactful, say something like "my GPS put me 50 feet south of the cache, but the reception was not very good." Then I noticed that a newbie cacher would come along, not find the cache, get discouraged and never try again. That's not good. So now, if I think the position error is enough to be a problem for searchers, I will log my own coordinates, the log page even has a place for this. If the cache is a fairly easy find, and the coords are off 30 or 40 feet, I probably would not comment. But if it is really well hidden, then an error of 30 feet can be a real problem, and I would log my own coords. If the cache is well hidden, then the coords should be good, otherwise the surrounding landscape often begins to look like a mine field. FWIW, CharlieP

quote:Originally posted by nincehelser:I've never really understood their purpose. Why do people use them? George 1) Can save you from a nasty fall, especially on steep slopes. 2) Allows the use of your arms in climbing hills. 3) Makes a good probe for finding a covered cache. 4) Can be useful when meeting unfriendly dogs on the trail - usually you only need to show it to them - they understand its possible uses instinctively. 5) Wave it in front of you to clear spider webs, or push briars to the side. 6) I have a small camera tripod which attaches to the top of the stick to allow me to use it as a tall tripod by jamming the stick in soft groung or leaning it against a tree. I make my own sticks from long broom sticks. I sharpen one end to about a 1/4 inch point, and drill a hole near the rounded end for a nylon cord lanyard. FWIW, CharlieP

Perhaps the best solution to this problem is to avoid putting valuables or other things that dishonest people "crave" in caches. Collectable coins seem to be a particular problem. Personally, I like cache prizes that make good souvenirs, either unusual objects or things related to the cache theme. These things often have very little "hard cash" value. If we make stealing from caches worthwhile, it is our own fault. Having said all that, I think that multi-caches and more difficult caches are less likely to get plundered. Dishonest jerks are also usually lazy. CharlieP

Besides having to explain them to the kiddies, they have both political and religious connotations for some folks - a bad combination. FWIW, CharlieP

I have a GPS 76 and have done a cache that was similar to this one. My recommendation is to enter a waypoint for each of the given positions, then go to the map page, press menu and select "Measure Distance". Move the pointer to one of the waypoints, press enter to make that the measuring point, then use the cursor to move out on the correct bearing and place some waypoints on that bearing in the approximate area where you suspect the triangulation to converge, so you can see the bearing line from that point. Do the same thing two more times and look where the bearing lines converge, set a waypoint in the center and that should be the cache position. You will probably need to "play" a bit with the measure distance function to learn how it works, but I have found this to be an excellent feature of the GPS76. It also works well for projecting waypoints or for finding a position given bearing and distance. OH yeah, make sure you have the GPS set correctly for either true or magnetic bearings, as applicable. FWIW, CharlieP

quote:Originally posted by Landjaeger: I'll take a look at that 72. On my last search I could have sworn that I saw them for sale at Walmart for $219. I also See the magellan Meridians for sale for under $200. I guess I'll check them out and go from there. The GPS72 is not available until early November, the unit you saw for $219 was probably the GPS76, which is very similar. The GPS76 has a higher resolution display, and comes with the PC connection cord, otherwise they appear to be the same. The street price of the GPS72 will be in the $150 to $160 range, a lot of GPS for the buck. But if you were going to buy the PC cord retail for $40, it might be worth the additional $ to get the GPS76 with the high res display. I have a GPS76 and have been *extremely* pleased with it, the antenna will maintain a sat lock in heavy tree cover and the unit's large display makes it very easy to use. FWIW, CharlieP

I have a Garmin GPS76 and it usually locks on the WAAS satellite #35, which is to the southeast, maybe 40 degrees or so above the horizon. As long as there are no major obstructions to the southeast it locks on #35 and indicates the use of the differential info with D's in the signal strength bar for each satellite. I read somewhere that there is a differential station (or whatever they call them) near Hampton, GA which is just south of the airport, so WAAS should work well around Atlanta. In an open area, the GPS76 has indicated an accuracy (EPE) as low as 8 feet, but 12 to 20 feet is more common. It seems to be more accurate with the WAAS enabled, especially in open areas. Take your GPS into an open area, get #35 locked, and let the unit download all the info it needs for the WAAS computations. This can take a while. FWIW, CharlieP

You should get more time than that. MY GPS 76 will go about 10 to 12 hours on fully charged 1300 mah NiMH AA's. Consider that NiMH cells lose charge quickly after charging, about 5% to 10% in the first day and then another 2% to 5% a day depending on temperature. So if you charge the cells and then let them sit in your GPS in your hot car for several days, you have probably lost half the charge. Another possibility is that the charger is not fully charging the cells, Some fast chargers may not fully charge the cells because they mayt be set so that the cells are not overcharged and overheated. This can be overcome by simply trickle charging the cells up to full capacity. Another thing to keep in mind is that new cells, or cells that have been stored a long time, may not perform at full capacity until they have been through 3 or 4 full discharge cycles. FWIW, CharlieP

The answer to your question depends on the latitude. The number of feet in a degree of longitude varies with the latitude, becoming a smaller distance as you approach the poles. An approximation of feet in .001 minute of longitude can be made by this formula: cosine(latitiude) x 6 feet. In Wyoming its about 4.5 feet. Latitude is easier, its about 6 feet per .001 minute everywhere. FWIW, CharlieP

If the GPSR supports UTM coordinates that may work better for you than using .00 degrees. The basic unit in UTM is a meter, which is much more precise than the 60 feet precision you get with .00 minutes. There are many conversion programs available to convert from UTM to LL and LL to UTM. FWIW, CharlieP [This message was edited by CharlieP on September 29, 2002 at 07:54 PM.]

If the GPSR supports UTM coordinates that may work better for you than using .00 degrees. The basic unit in UTM is a meter, which is much more precise than the 60 feet precision you get with .00 minutes. There are many conversion programs available to convert from UTM to LL and LL to UTM. FWIW, CharlieP [This message was edited by CharlieP on September 29, 2002 at 07:54 PM.]

My GPS76 projects waypoints in 00000.00 miles, this was improved from 00000.0 miles in one of the 8 firmware upgrades in the last year. But I usually use the "MEASURE DISTANCE" function on the map page to project a point, if the distance is less than 528 feet it will display the offset distance in 000.0 feet. This can be especially useful when you place a cache in a spot with poor reception, but good reception is available in an open area nearby. Just pace off the distance to the open area, take a bearing back to the cache location, and use the measure distance function on the GPS to project the position back to the cache. I just noticed a few days ago that the GPS76 firmware has been updated to ver 2.09, which includes geocache icons and some marine icons I also recommended to Garmin a few months ago in an e-mail. These people actually listen to their customers!! How refreshing, now if Garmin would just diversify into the airline business. FWIW, CharlieP

Check to see that you are using the right datum. The geocaching.com site puts the coords in WGS84, but other sources, especially older ones, may be NAD27. Just a guess, CharlieP

Just one ... and it *was* an e-trex. The guy who lost it had reported the loss on the cache page, so I e-mailed him and he came to claim it. The whole story is posted here, July 5-6, 2001: Cache the Hooch It felt good to return the GPS, I could put myself in the other guy's boots, that had to be a bummer of a cache hunt. FWIW, CharlieP

Some folks like to hunt them, others like to hide them, some go both ways My ratio is now 130 to 1 and I offer no apologies. Here in the Metro Atlanta area there are plenty of caches to hunt, and if anything, a shortage of dedicated hunters. There are several great caches in the area that have not been visited for months. Under those circumstances, I think we need more hunters, not more hiders. Stressing numbers and ratios may also result in a lot of poorly planned and poorly maintained caches. And for me at least, this is not a competitive sport. FWIW, CharlieP

Some folks like to hunt them, others like to hide them, some go both ways My ratio is now 130 to 1 and I offer no apologies. Here in the Metro Atlanta area there are plenty of caches to hunt, and if anything, a shortage of dedicated hunters. There are several great caches in the area that have not been visited for months. Under those circumstances, I think we need more hunters, not more hiders. Stressing numbers and ratios may also result in a lot of poorly planned and poorly maintained caches. And for me at least, this is not a competitive sport. FWIW, CharlieP