louchem

Great choice on the Venture HC. I picked one up about 2 years ago as my first caching GPS and haven't looked back and haven't felt any need to upgrade. I personally think it is still the best value on the market for the features you get at that low of a price level. There may come a time when you want to go paperless (I just use CacheMate on my Windows smartphone) or you might want to load more maps (I just use the free Ibycus maps for my local area and change out when I travel) but for basic caching it is a great unit. Good luck with it!!

Me either, it was my book-loving wife who sent me the link originally. Apparantly, the author has had several NY Times Bestsellers and the original hard-cover version of the book was out late last year. The caching stuff is related to the marketing of the release of the book in paperback. Here is the direct link to the caching stuff http://www.bradmeltzer.com/pages/the-book-...s-geocache.aspx Somebody must have told them something, because when I went on the site yesterday there was no mention of GC.com but today there is a link to the cache.

Here is what I tried to post the first time Saw this information this morning and thought it was interesting http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/conte...sons_117546.asp So caching is being used as part of the marketing campaign for the book. Kinda neat I guess.

Yes, this is exactly the case with my Venture HC. Full four bars with fresh batteries and slowly drops to one bar as I use it. The battery life on these units is very good so you may not see a drop from four bars to three until after many hours of use. I would guess I get about 20 hours on a pair of Duracells. Also, the unit has a setting to tell it what kind of batteries you are using (standard or rechargeable) and I think this may affect how the system interprets remaining battery life. So, if you are using rechargeable batteries, make sure that the unit is set that way and maybe that will improve your battery indicator experience.

Well it's been over 6 months since the start of this thread and I just wanted to give everyone an update on my "Bravo3" Venture HC. I never heard anything more back from Garmin about the chipset update. At that point I kind of just gave up on it. I reverted my system back to the original software version 2.7 that it shipped with shortly after and have been using the system regularly ever since with no problems whatsoever. Accuracy has been really good for me and track logs have been right on time after time. I still have no idea what "Bravo3" stands for or really means but I've been extemely happy with my GPS.

Hmmm...I had not noticed any issues with alerts outside my radius, but now that you mention it I wonder if I missed anything inside my radius the last couple of weeks? I'll have to take a look. Thanks.

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Thanks for all your work on this, snowfreak. Sounds promising and I'm sure many of us in NYS are hoping you will be successful!

Very cool, Brian. I've been eyeing up the caches in BRF and plan to get out there when the weather gets a little better for some hunting. I noticed that you and WW were out there last week placing some new caches. I'll definately keep an eye out for this event!

Thanks for this info, Chrysalides. I thought about this very thing this morning, but had no idea how to intercept the traffic to get the info. I will pass it along to Garmin tech support and see if they will actually answer me ever again. Looking at the info in the XML request it looks as though it searches for two things to update. One is currently v2.9 on your unit (system software?) and the other is v2.0 (GPS SW?). Interesting...

The problem as I see it is I have no idea what my GPS SW version is. It seems in these "Bravo3" units (whatever it means...) that we cannot see that information like you guys with the Bravo2 versions. When you go to your software version screen you get software version, unit ID, and GPS SW version information. So you can check to see what chipset version you are running. On my device when I go to that screen I get info on software version and unit ID, but nothing about GPS SW version. Now to me knowing that I have the most up to date chipset is important because AFAIK that is really the nuts and bolts of the system relating to how the unit processes the data it receives from the satellites. The system software is more or less the GUI interface for how the unit displays the information to the user. All I know is that since I purchased the unit I have not been able to get the "additional downloads" portion of WebUpdater to connect. I have been able to upgrade my system software twice now, but I cannot know whether there is a GPS SW upgrade out there for my device.

Thanks for the heads up on v2.9 of the software. I was able to download and install that without a problem using WebUpdater just now. Again, I still have the problem of the "additional downloads" failing, so still no chance to grab any GPS SW updates. My software version screen now shows v2.90 but still no GPS SW version as before. And I now have software version 2.9 on the diagnostics screen along with Bravo version 3. Just a quick update on my correspondance with Garmin. I had a nice e-mail discussion with a service tech who tried to help me but could not solve my problem connecting for GPS SW updates. He passed me off to a software engineer who was not exactly very friendly, basically telling me there is nothing wrong with my device and just "go out and use it". My response to this was that I never said there was anything wrong with my device and I just want the connection to the server for GPS SW updates to work. That was 4 days ago and I haven't heard back. Needless to say I'd not too happy. It almost seems like Garmin changed something but doesn't want their consumers to find out about it. I like the unit and it seems to work well in my hands, but I feel we have a right to know what exactly is in the device we paid hard-earned money for as well as have direct access to any updates that are made available.

Thanks, Alun. I think it's obvious that there is something different in the newer Venture HC's but not sure exactly what the difference is just yet or how significant it is. Would be interesting to get an older one and a newer one side by side to check their performance and see if any differences in satellite aquisition or accuracy are observed. I've noticed that mine seems to have trouble picking up the WAAS signal, but even without the correction I am still getting accuracy readings of 10-13 ft in good conditions with excellent satellite reception. I'm not sure how that compares to an older model.

Okay here is what I get when I load up the Software version page from the System screen As you can see I only show the software version but nothing for the chipset version.

That's interesting. I do not get anything that indicates GPS SW Version on mine. I'll try and post a screenshot tonight. AlunS, can you run the diagnostics on your Venture HC and post a shot of that? How old is the unit? I just got mine 10 days ago. I'm wondering if there is something different about the newer shipping units.

I've encountered the same problem with my Venture HC. I've tried at least a dozen times in the last three months to update and the software updates, but the chipset won't. I contacted the Garmin technical support about it and they thought it was my firewall, but after letting them log on to my computer and shut off all the security programs, it still didn't update. They also checked the data transmission to and from my Venture to their website and said eveything is working fine. They now think the problem is that I already have the most recent update. I guess I'll have to wait for them to post an update to verify that. Phynd You can check the software versions installed by going to the System setup page, then press the Menu button and selecting Software Versions. I found that if I went to the System page and looked up Software version that it would only give me the system software version and my ID# but not the GPS chipset version. The only way I could figure out which GPS software version I was running was to boot the Venture up in diagnostics mode, which is where the screen that I showed in the above shot came from. To do this you need to start the GPS by holding down the joystick and pressing the on/off button on the right at the same time. Once the system flashes on you can then release the buttons and it should go right to the diagnostics page which gives you the information. This can be a little finicky though as the joystick has to be straight down with no side-to-side movement to work. It took me a couple of tries before I got it to work.

Well I think I figured out why the chipset update is failing. After some limited e-mail discussion with Garmin support and more searching through this forum I found how to show the diagnostics screen when starting up the unit. I was surprised to see that my unit has the 2.8 GPS software version already loaded out of the box (unless it did a firmware upgrade at the same time it did the software upgrade and just didn't tell me). Also, it says it is using Bravo version 3. I'm not all that familiar with the different chipsets, but I have yet to find any references to this Bravo version. The Garmin tech said I should have Chipset Type M2 (Regional) so maybe that is related to it being Bravo version 3. Anyway, interesting enough that I thought I should post it in case anyone was curious.

Thanks. I tried last night before bed and again this morning with the same results. I just can't figure out why it is failing yet I can connect to the server for the software update. Either my unit already has the updated chipset or there is something blocking communcation for that step. I've tried turning off my firewall and my anti-virus and reinstalling WebUpdater...not sure what else to try.

Does the Venture HC use Chipset Type M? I know someone in an earlier thread mentioned they updated their Venture HC with this chipset. I just purchased one and I am having a problem downloading the latest upgrade using WebUpdater. I was able to use WebUpdater to upgrade the system software to version 2.8 a couple of days ago, but when I try to advance to the "additional downloads" section to hopefully find the chipset upgrade I get an error connecting to the Garmin website: "There was a problem connecting to the Garmin website. Please try again later." But, WebUpdater seems to be connecting okay to check the version tags on itself and the software on the Venture because it tells me there are no new updates for those things. Same results for the last few days so I figure it's not a server problem on their end. I called Garmin tonight to try and get an answer but after waiting on hold for 30 minutes for software support and 5 minutes of fruitless conversation I was disconnected. Of course it was right around closing time for their support so when I tried to call back I just got the "we're closed now, call back tomorrow" message. During the short conversation I asked the tech if the Venture HC used the Type M chipset and he said he wasn't sure and he thought it might be the Type G chipset. But I never got a solid answer before getting disconnected. I've tried three different computers and two different networks and all with the exact same result. Is there any way to find out what chipset I have and what version is running? If I already have the latest chipset on the system would I get this connection error or would it tell me "no additional downloads available"? I've also tried contacting Garmin via e-mail about this issue, but their response has been at a snail's pace. So, I thought I would ask here where I figured I'd get much better support. Thanks!

Hi, WW...thanks for the information. I guess we are neighbors. Many of the caches that we've started out with the last few weeks have been placed by you and brian b, so it's great to get input from you guys. Thanks to both of you for your efforts to make this hobby a fulfilling one for people like me. Hopefully, down the line as I get more experienced at this I will consider placing some caches in the area as well.

I posted the link to this article in a different thread earlier today but this might be a good place to re-post it: http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazin...They-Will-Come/ And very nice pic, avgraphics!!

Thanks for the info on the group and the upcoming event!

We noticed that there is a nice grouping of caches in Stewart State Forest, but we figure we'll wait until after hunting season to bring the kids there. Schunemunk is a little out of our league for now. Definately a goal for the future though! So how hard is it to get a state permit for placing caches? Also, do you need individual permits for each park? Has this killed Harriman SP as a place for new caches? I think having a local group could be beneficial to help grow the hobby in our area. And more people interested likely means more caches for all of us in the long run. There was an article about Geochaching in Hudson Valley Magazine that was published last week: http://www.hvmag.com/Hudson-Valley-Magazin...They-Will-Come/ That's the kind of thing that hopefully gets people interested... --> QUOTE(brian b @ Oct 22 2008, 03:29 PM) 3685216[/snapback] Stewart State Forest is a great place to cache, especialy if you have a mountain bike. Black Rock Forest also has some excellent trails and quite a few caches along the way. Schunemunk Mountain offers some of the best views, but requires an all uphill climb to get to any sort of level hiking. But once up, the views are plentiful and the caches are well worth the effort. Just south is Harriman: this used to be a breeding ground of caches until New York came up with its ridiculous permit policy. There remains quite a few fine caches with some very nice hikes as well. Whispering Hills just outside of Montgomery has quite a few caches -- some requiring a bit of a hike, and some a mere walk. No great views, but anytime you are in the woods, the views are nice. There has been some talk about a geocaching organization, but nothing more than mere talk. We get together every once in awhile, shoot the breeze, but we always find each other at the local events.

I think I had read about geocaching on the net maybe around 2002 or so as hand-held GPS technology was becoming more available to the common consumer. I was peripherally aware of the hobby for several years and then when I got my first auto GPS last year I started looking up more specifics. We cached a little bit while on vacation in Maine last summer and really enjoyed it, but with two small kids it wasn't all that feasible for us on a regular basis. My kids just turned 7 & 3 and so we gave it another try about a month ago to see how they would do with it. We've kept the searching to fairly easy terrain so far and we are starting to get more into it. The kids love the "treasure hunt" concept so we've done our best to stick with traditional caches so far. As they get older hopefully we can start doing some more elaborate hunting and start placing caches as well. I love that it's something that we can all do together and it gets us outside to do it! I just purchased a new Garmin hand-held and it should arrive this week so I'm looking forward to expanding this hobby. Thanks, Groundspeak and GC.com!

Thanks for the responses. I will give the orignial owner some time to respond and then I will put together a new container to swap out after a couple of weeks. I think it would probably be best to clean it up before winter sets in here. Oh and thanks for the tip on seeing who the local reviewer is, Jim. I guess I would have figured that out on my own eventually...