janandsteve

With reference to a post you made on 24 February 2011 - 04:28 PM, in a topic that is now locked ( hence I cannot quote in the normal manner ) with title: 'Is this a new thin end of the wedge? Bristol area' and with reference to an email, to which I never received a reply..... 'The advice in the Topic that you can not condone, happened to be formulated after the UK Reviewers carefully discussed it. One of those Reviewers being a Serving Police Officer. Deci' .... maybe the reviewer to which you refer may be a good starting point for your proposal document?.....

You may find this useful to get a rough guide to Public Rights of Way: http://www.getamap.ordnancesurveyleisure.co.uk/ Select 'leisure' to display 50k/25k maps Not too sure if you have to pay anything to start route planning?? I dont sub to the above and it looks like I cannot find any coord. You need the coords as a rough guide so that caches can be spaced out on the route - final coords are confimed on site with you GPS once you have placed the cache. There are a variety of tools for route planning..... 1) MemoryMap 2) Basecamp - but you need an underlaying map segment - Old version of Mobile Atlas Creator? 3) If you have a Garmin GPS, then the Discoverer OS maps are good.

Roll up logs in 35mm containers - Why do people make the effort to roll it back up with front page at the front? Why not just roll it up and leave it on the page of the last signature? That way it makes it easier to find where to sign and makes signatures go in date order. Takes ages to unroll and find the random page where people have signed.... it would also make things easier for those that find a cache, retrieve, sign and put back all in under half a second...that way those people can get back on their 20mph 'leisurely walk', per my previous post on this thread..... ;-))

Claiming to have done a circular in record time, when some simple maths confirms otherwise...... many examples available..... How long does it take to get off the path, FIND the well hidden cache, remove the log, write your name, roll log back up, seal container, rehide it WELL, return to the path and then be on your way?.... even if you agree that this would be an amazing THREE mins, I have read many claims that people have been round an 'X' mile circuit in 'Y' hrs, with 'Z' caches and if you factor in the amazing THREE mins stop per find, the calculated speed of these cachers is often an incredible 15+ mph.... and they claim they enjoyed the 'leisurely walk'.....Get upto 5-10min stop at each cache and some of these people are literally flying around.....then if you factor in some lunch......I bet some people break the sound barrier...... Makes me smile everytime..... :-))

It's called Field Notes. It doesnt automatically log your finds. You upload the geocaching visits txt file to GC and GC will display your logs on screen. You then need to manually alter / expand the onscreen notes that you orignially entered on your unit and then manually click on upload to log you find with the website. Nothing happens 'automatic'. No they dont. Nothing gets deleted. You have to phyically delete the geocaching txt file from your GPS using Windows Explorer - that is if you want to - but I find it easier to start with a clean sheet and a new PQ for each geocaching trip. No you dont. No plug in required. Have a look here: http://garminoregon.wikispaces.com/Geocaching and specifically GC11.) Now that I've found some caches how do I use fieldnotes to log my caches?

I have the Garmin 62s, and I have noticed that when I find caches, it takes a while for them to display on the map screen as the smiley face, although they do no longer appear on the nearest cache list, so the unit does know that they have been found. Is it just that they do not appear on your map, or do they also appear on the closest cache list - suggesting your unit has not found them? As always, Garmin notified, but still no response..... I guess they are too busy with all the new handhelds coming onto the market....

Can you please expand on this further? What do you mean by 'automatically' - isnt it a 'manual' thing when you find caches and select the found it button? How does the unit delete the geocache_visit text file? Isnt this a 'manual' thing also by the user deleting it with Windows Explorer?

I agree with previous posters re the built in basemap - it is useless - the only use I can think of is if you are flying on holiday and want to know the approx location of where you are.... I have the Garmin 62s - I am becoming more happy with the unit as time goes on, although it is still not 'perfect' and does have a few issues with even the latest software release - see my other posts on what those issues are. Living in the UK, I purchased the full Discoverer 50k maps for my 62s - exactly the same scale and detail of the paper landranger maps - in fact you can zoom in further with the 62s maps, just like using a mag glass on the paper map! I would recomm you purchase some discoverer product with your 62s - maybe just the Scottish ones? or maybe a bundle? or maybe a package of the 62s with some maps? They are not cheap, but are the landranger series in digital form. They may be cheaper on one of those auction sites :-) Heres a good website to show you some further info on the Discoverer series of maps... http://gbr.garmin.com/on-the-trail/maps/recreational-maps.html#gb_discoverer There are some free sources of maps on the internet, but I dont have much experience, with the exception of Mobile Atlas Creator ( MOBAC ) - if you can get hold of version 1.8 of this software, it will actually give you FREE OS 25k maps of any UK area you specify - equivalent to the OS Explorer series - as well as all the overhead satellite images; the latest software release of MOBAC has blocked the use of these maps, due to some licencing issues, which is why I recomm you go with some Discoverer product - that way at least you can get full access to your maps all the time - MOBAC would only allow a small area to be downloaded at any one time, so for every caching/walking trip you would have to download a new area and load that to your 62s. Hope this helps you a little with your purchase.

EDIT: Post deleted. I have read the MOBAC forums and answered my own Question..... :-)

Putting the gpxs on the SD card is no good for preloaded/purchased original map cards from Garmin... and yes you are right they also dont show up in Basecamp either.... Garmin told me a few months ago they are working on a solution.

GE elevation data is inaccurate here in the UK - not sure how accurate it is at your location...... See our previous discussions here esp post #19: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=268993&st=0&p=4627137&fromsearch=1entry4627137

That's always been like that, the proximity alert is not based on distance but rather on ETA. Speed while walking is highly variable (esp. from a GPS's POV), thus so is the ETA. I take your point re eta and speed, but the alert for a waypoint within a route beeps at a fixed distance - so why doesnt it beep at a fixed distance for a geocache? To be honest I always thought it beeped at approx 50ft before..... or thereabouts.... What kind of log type is that supposed to be? 'Unattempted' is the last option at the bottom from the log attempt screen. 'Unattempted' on the 62s = 'write note' on gc.com If I am out and want to not declare a find, or a DNF or needs maint, I select this option...... eg Location busy, dont have time to wait and search, cache prob still there, so I just want to write a note for the website - its not really a DNF because I didnt attempt it.

1) gc.com need to add the log type to the site, then I'm sure it would work. 2-7) Agreed and I'll rewrite and add to my emailed "list" Very happy with this release though... the next beta will fix the erratic crashes I have, I hope. 'Unattempted' on the 62s = 'write note' on gc.com so I agree Garmin and GC.com need to get their heads together on this one. Functionality is there on both but maybe they both need to call it the same thing. Thanks for the support on the other issues - the more emails they get, the quicker their fix should be. If the points I have raised in my original post matter to you, then please email the beta team - if the issues dont effect or bother you, please do not tell us by replying to this post - just ignore it and carry on. Maybe they have a priority system based on the 'popularity' of the problem...... but if its wrong for even just one person they should fix it......

Further to my trip yesterday, I noted the following issues with the latest 3.0 software....... 1) Geocache proximity alert - great the beep is back and the screen is now clear.... but the proximity alarm seems to go off at random - sometimes at 100ft, other times at 12ft....... frustrating.... I appreciate that it does go off before the cache, but the randomness is an issue. Beeps at waypoints within a route are spot on, so I cannot see it been an issue with the software been 'busy' while navigating. 2) 62s with GB 50k Discoverer maps - While doing a search all poi, first attempt=hour glass constant, 2nd attempt=hour glass for 5secs then the screen just faded and the unit turned off. The strange thing here was the screen fading and not immediate switch off. Loads of other issues still not fixed... 1) 'unattempted' note still not uploading to GC.com 2) KMZ files - increase 100 limit and make switchable ( I know its a marketing issue on the limit to force Birdseye sales, but switchable would be nice ) 3) Prob with chirp clue lost when press Go to navigate 4) Blue route pins not customisable ( ok in basecamp with registry edit ) 5) Active route page doesnt show next waypoint unless you scroll down loads of pages after a few miles into a route - the next waypoint marker should be mid screen - I'm no longer interested in waypoints from 5 miles back showing at the top of the screen - I want to see when the next geocache is coming up.... 6) Sunset times out, so is sunrise, moonrise and moonset. 7) Battery indicator is useless - all bars drop within last hour. Beta team informed by email of the 'new' ones and a reminder sent about the old.

Agree - another email sent to bring it to the top of their pile

On what facts do you base this assumption? The 62s is an outdoor mapping unit that has geocaching as one of its functions and is not a dedicated geocaching unit - as you know. I use mine for general walking, car navigation ( yes I do have a bulit in unit as well in the car ) for boating as well as geocaching.... I'm sure others do too..... This comment is a little narrow minded - its a general mapping gps, not a dedicated geocaching unit. Garmin will take into consideration the needs of all the user base and not the exclusive needs of geocachers - that would limit their Customer base. I love it and I was one of those that asked Garmin to bring it back in a future release - and they did! Fantastic. I could not agree with you more on this point - geocachers are indeed only one of the 'computer forum groups' and are only one of the type of users that use this 62s unit. We dont want a computer forum group 'messing up stuff for those who actually use the devices' for other uses other than geocaching. ( I appreciate you do 1000+ caches per day ) Like I have said before and what I asked Garmin to do when I requested the facility back - the sensible thing here is for Garmin to listen to users needs, and while I do appreciate some users find the proximity alarm annoying, the solution is for Garmin to make this facility switchable - on for those that like it, switch it off if you dont..... then we both would be happy, right?

Thats another good example - and one I forgot to add to my previous post ( its a while since I setup my profiles ) - and one that will change the 'order' of the displayed icons. Anything that is added to a page seq does remove itself from the icon list, thus rearranging the remaining icons. I have a similar setup, but I have never seen the 'profile change' icon move from my top left.... something strange is happening....

Thanks for the kind words I might not know all the answers, but I always try and help if I can. Yep - good point. With my PQs I always adjust the 'distance' to give me between 990-999 caches - that way if you do any of those 'multis' where you have to enter the 'next stage' coords, it will be ok - I read somewhere - prob on here - ( but I have never checked it ) that if you had 1000 caches in a gpx, it wont let you do the next stage as it would go over the 1000 limit - I think it suggested the next stage would appear as an 'additional cache' - I'm prob totally wrong..... Another reason I limit to under 1000 caches with the distance is so I can reorder the columns when I preview the query - before I was running a PQ with 1000miles radius and when I did a reorder for the caches that were new in the chosen PQ, it was bringing back caches that were in the Netherlands - thats a plane ride away for me......maybe this would help someone too......

I would suggest that you do a complete factory reset before starting any of the suggestions, to make sure nothing funny is happening. This 'indexing' problem happened to me but early on in the revisions; it has been ok for the last few versions of software. As you have got the latest version, it suggests something else is happening...... make sure you have emptied the garmin/gpx folder of all gpx files and start afresh, loading the gpx files your require. There is a known prob with loading and removing gpx files from the 62s....... heres a simple procedure to get around it.... a) Connect 62s to pc. Delete all gpx files from garmin/gpx directory. c) Unplug from pc d) restart 62s and allow to boot to map screen. e) Reconnect 62s to pc f) download the gpx files to garmin/gpx directory using windows explorer. g) unplug 62s from pc. h) restart 62s and allow to boot to map screen. i) Reconnect 62s to pc j) Now create routes etc using whatever software you want to use eg Basecamp. GC.com blame Garmin format, Garmin blame GC.com format..... and we have to live with it.....dont get me started again... :-) As others have suggested, a few meters out is acceptable - the 'accuracy' depends on how accurate the cache owners gps was at the time of placing - that may have been out by 30ft to start with. The 62s is great under trees compared to my old 2002 etrex model. I have had 12ft accuracy under trees, which is fantastic - remember that the cache owner may have had 50-60ft accuracy when setting the cache, so that will affect where the actual cache is located. Maybe problems with its Almanac - see here http://gps.about.com/od/glossary/g/GPS_Almanac.htm Start with a factory reset, make sure you have latest beta installed...... then leave it outside for 30mins or so to collect the new Almanac. My 62s starts 'instantly', but if have had to wait it was due to a new version of software installation. I am a little bit stuck on this one - maybe that factory reset will sort it? I cannot think of any reason why the filter would not work; I have never had any trouble with filters. I dont think you have mentioned what map product you are using. Make sure you have a 'copy' of it - eg if it has been installed from eg Mobile Atlas Creator, save a copy on your pc - then delete the file from the custom maps folder on the gps. If you have a map product on SD card - remove it before you do the factory reset. Introduce the map product after you have established that you can load gpx files ok from GC.com. Try the factory reset and then try the above.... If that fails, I have had some good feedback from the Garmin beta team email: 62-78Beta@garmin.com If they cannot help you and you still are having trouble, it maybe a prob with the actual 62s unit and it may need replacing - but Im sure the beta team will advise you before you have to do this..... Hope this helps a little.....

Never had an issue with menus changing. They do across different profiles I use - but that is how I have set them. Some items may 'vanish' and thus the position of the remaining icons on the actual screen will be different, if thats what you mean...?? Eg of why this may happen - caches on gps, icon for geocaching is present. If no caches loaded, the geocaching icon vanishes..... also, if you have a route on the gps, the route icon will be present ( if you have chosen it to be ) but if you dont have a route loaded, that icon will vanish - the result is that the other icons will move their positions on the screen....... I have never had an issue with this from right back to ver 2.50, which is what my 62s was shipped with....

Garmin Basecamp is the freebie - great for working with gpx cache files and great for planning a route for the gps - even if you dont have a Garmin it can export gpx route files for another import somewhere else. The maps can be got free with Mobile Atlas Creator..... Memory Map is another that uses 25k maps here in the UK. Hope this helps a little....

One of these? These need constant adjustment for the current ambient pressure ( 'weather' ) referenced to sea level pressure - thats why aircraft that use them call ATC to get the current reading, then adjust the instrument to compensate.... so unless you have a method of getting the current ambient pressure outside your truck, referenced to sea level pressure, this instrument is not for you.....

We did 22 caches yesterday, and Im 99.9% sure that the proximity alarm failed on one particular cache - in fact we walked past it approx 150ft.....you have got me wondering now........ :-)

Fieldnotes are fine here for 2.95beta - straight from 62s to GC.com. Your post reads as though you did say 1 days caching, then upgraded the software, then did another 2 days caching, before you uploaded the geocache_visits.txt file... am I understanding that correctly? If this was the case, maybe the geocache_visits.txt file didnt like the software transition for some reason. Once you have got all the info from your current geocache_visits.txt file, delete it and try again on the next caching trip. If all 3 days were with the upgraded software, I havent a clue what the prob is - sorry.

janandsteve, I don't have current access to a marine GPSr or marine charts (BlueChart or similar), nor a current set of official tide tables for Australia, so I am working somewhat off memory. However, in the not-too-distant past, I have programmed computer applications to generate tide tables from the official published data using Excel, Mathcad, C_++, etc, so I have some knowledge of the sorts of algorithms that are used. In Australia, the "official" tide charts are the Australian National Tide Tables (ANTT): http://www.hydro.gov.au/prodserv/antt.htm This does not necessarily mean that ANTT is the most sophisticated mathematical tide model around; just that it is the national standard. In the ANTT, as well as the annual day-by-day tabulations of high and low tide predictions, you are given a set of parameters for each port so that you can program your own tide predictions at any time of any day. Some of these parameters are permanent (unchanged from edition to edition), while others are valid for only one year, and are updated in the ANTT each year. I assume this takes into account factors such as additional historical data, more sophisticated analysis of the historical data, morphological changes (tidal effects of recent dredging, seawall construction, etc), and so on. The ANTT provides a couple of different algorithms, which allow you to use more or fewer terms in your predictions. Properly programmed, you will get very similar (but not necessarily identical) predictions as the published tables, depending on which algorithm you use, and how many terms you carry in your calculations. In general, you need to update some of the terms every year, to keep your algorithm totally aligned with the latest copy of the ANTT. If you don't update these parameters every year, you will still get "reasonable" tide predictions, but they will gradually "drift" from the current published ANTT tables. I would suspect that if you buy new BlueChart maps, and compare with older revisions, you will find very similar but not identical tide predictions. I think that ALL of the tide parameters are embedded in the BlueChart data, and probably none are "hard-wired" into the GPSr. You should get identical predictions for any Garmin device running the same version of BlueChart, but you could get different results if you use different versions of BlueChart. For example, you can load the BlueCharts in Garmin MapSource on your PC and get your tide predictions that way - most PCs have no GPS unit or sunrise / sunset function. With respect to why the 62s gets different results - it could be just that a different version of BlueChart is loaded, or it could be a different algorithm (with more or fewer terms, using the same or different tide data model), or it could just be a programming bug - I don't know which! However, 30 minute deviation for the time of high / low tide strongly suggests tide parameters which are badly out-of-date, or else a significant programming bug. Hope this helps! Hi Julian Thank you for the detailed explanation - much appreciated. I now have a better understanding of how the parameters work. I'm still perplexed to the discrepancy with the 62s.... I have loaded Bluchart into Garmins Homeport software and crossed ref the tide data to http://www.pol.ac.uk/ntslf/tidalp.html. My 'raw' data from Bluechart ties in quite accurately with that site, sugesting that my version of Bluechart is indeed ok with the parameters. Some times are bang on, others are upto 6mins out, but I now understand that this may be due to a different numbers of parameters used - the more parameters used the more 'accurate' the prediction....... but this only adds more fuel to the fire with regards to how the 62s behaves - it looks like it has the right parameters, but does not handle then well.... or maybe only 1 or 2 parameters are downloaded to the 62s from the many used in bluechart on the pc????? Who knows...... maybe because its not a dedicated marine unit - my friends Garmin chartplotter seems fine. Why 'claim' to be an 'all rounder' when the 62s cannot handle it?..... Its good at accuracy ( to 8ft ) and ok with geocaching, but outside of that it is somewhat of a toy. I tried the calculator earlier and that has an error on it too, would you believe..... I typed in 3 x 3 and it gave me the answer of 8.75 - close enough I thought, so no big issue..... ( Joke, before anyone tries to check! ) Maybe Garmin should broaden their horizons to maximise sales and offer this unit for sale in 'Toys-r-Us'... food for thought. Thanks again for the explanation. Steve