Mineral2

I would hope that the site is maintained by more than one person... :-/

... or to start a new thread.

If you have a 66s, you'd be better served using Basecamp for managing tracks, waypoints, and routes, and just loading geocaching .gpx files directly if you're not managing a big collection. Otherwise, use GSAK to produce a .ggz file for you.

Are you saying that you carry a laptop into the field with you? Or just on longer trips away from home?

It's relatively old, but modern in the sense that it belongs to the "second wave" of Garmin GPS technology in which Garmin finally adopted a true USB protocol and opened the devices up to act as mass storage devices and developed the software for paperless geocaching and full GPX file support.

I printed many a pages on my old dot matrix printer, so I guess there's no need to get a wireless laserjet that prints clear pages at over 20 pages per minute. I'll just get a serial to usb converter and keep using that old printer from the mid-90's. That old Gateway 2000 running Windows 95 got me through middle school. I wrote many papers on that thing. No need to modernize. My Motorola Droid X still makes phone calls. No need to modernize. Just because you've found 11,000 caches over the past 12 years doesn't mean there is room to improve equipment and workflow to make the process more efficient. I could still load all of my cache coordinates by hand and print out paper with the description, generating landfill waste, or I can load 10's of thousands of caches with all of the information in mere minutes. Do I need 10's of thousands of caches on my device? No, but then I'm ready for a spontaneous caching trip to anywhere within a 250 mile radius of home. You can choose to live in the [distant] past if you want, but when your outdated technology doesn't quite work with modern hardware and software, you can't complain when those of us living in the present (or recent past) point out that these problems don't exist for the rest of us. *and yes, the gpsmap 60 (c,s,x) is the distant past by technology standards.

I'm just going to repeat my point of view, which may be unpopular with the OP, but... the gpsMap 60[csx] is wildly outdated. It's time for a new(er) GPS (a gpsMap 62 would do the trick, even) where none of the considerations of the old 60 series is a problem. No need for EasyGPS or other special software - GPX files can be downloaded directly to the GPS. No need to print any descriptions or logs as these newer units are truly paperless. No need to pick and choose as the new models (gpsMap 64 and newer) can hold unlimited geocaches. No need to remember which geocaches you found because you can upload a field notes / drafts file from the GPS to geocaching.com. The newest generation can access geocaching live directly. Onboard memory is large enough to store better maps. Screens are better. Access to more satellites. It's time to modernize.

One of the greatest disparities between the website user experience and the App user experience is the way trackables are handled. On the website, when I create a cache log, I have the option to select trackables in my possession and either drop them in the cache or have them visit the cache. It's convenient and efficient. I would like to see that same convenience come to the Apps instead of having to visit each trackable and create a visit or drop log for each cache I find.

This is news to me. What functionality do these maps have that older GPS units won't be able to take advantage of?

If you look at the map, you'll find that there are tons of hides in the Kirlkland parks. Your problem might be finding a spot that isn't blocked by the .1 mile rule.

I'll have you know that a lot of people geocached just fine without a basemap during the early days of geocaching. Having trails is a luxury. Having details such as roads, water features, and even elevation contours certainly makes caching easier (IE, you can know if you're on the right side of the river), but not essential. So if you find that trails aren't available at your state parks, it's not the end of the world. The custom map ability at http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ has been down for a while and who knows when the server problems will be fixed. Until then, there are several other options for OSM maps in various flavors including: garmin.opentopomap.org extract.bbbike.org Edit: Ok, I just installed a map and contours from https://garmin.opentopomap.org. I think this might be a new addition to the site. This combination is everything I've dreamed of from OSM and OTM. I think I've found my new default.

OSM stands for Open Street Maps. Generally, they do include trails, but keep in mind that OpenStreetMap is a user-generated project, so trails are only existent in places where people have added them to the map. These tend to be routable, though Garmin has disabled automotive routing on OSM maps on their newer GPS devices. I'm not sure if that's just for their TopoActive maps or all OSM based maps. It depends on the usage. City Navigator maps are designed for automotive navigation. They are routable (roads, not trails) and contain useful waypoints for business and places of interest. They do not contain topographic detail or trail data. The topo maps that Garmin sells are decent, but expensive in my opinion. You do get routable roads and trails, but are limited to a state or region for each purchase. There are free topo maps that you can download from gpsfiledepot.com which are plenty detailed and good. Some include trail data, some don't, but you can often find transparent trail overlays that will draw on top of the map. These free maps tend not to be routable, so you're just using them as a background to help you reference your position. Yes. You can keep many maps on the unit and switch back and forth. You can even enable two at once for the same area to have access to the data from both, but visually, one will draw on top of the other, so be mindful (City Navigator tends to draw on top of topo maps, so you lose that topo detail). You will need cell signal if you want to use the connected features such as GCLive while out in the field. If you are going out of cell service, you can pre-load your data ahead of time and the main functions of the GPS are all available offline. About maps: When you buy a map from Garmin, you generally have two options: Buy the map pre-installed on an SD card, or download it. If you buy a map on an SD card, it is locked to that card. Simply install the card into your GPS device and if you buy a new one, you can transfer it over. Of course, that limits you to using that SD card as there is only one slot. Alternatively, you can download maps directly from garmin and then install them on your GPS (or a SD card installed on your GPS). Either way, that map becomes locked to that specific unit's serial number. Garmin is pretty good about letting you transfer maps you purchased to another device if you have to have it replaced under warranty. But otherwise, you need to purchase a new map with each GPS unit that you buy. Free maps are unlocked and therefore can be installed on as many devices as you like. The Oregon 750t comes with a pre-installed 100k topo map of the entire US. It's not routable, but it's detailed enough for most use. You can always install the free topo maps if you need more contour detail.

puzzles shouldn't break because you're not asking users to solve for coordinates using their GPS *in the field.* You have to enter coordinates for the final in the DD MM.MMM format on the website, and so those coordinates are what your puzzle is going to revolve around.

The silicone cover shouldn't be the reason. I would start by disabling multi-gnss and using the GPS satellites only. Then report back.

It's not about the Microsoft employees being geocachers, it's about geocachers refusing to give up their outdated equipment. I get that these old GPS receivers still connect to the satellites and will still provide you with a position, but their interface with the computer is a combination of outdated/unsupported (Garmin no longer uses its proprietary serial interface, magellan no longer makes handheld GPS devices.) and being insecure (the communicator plugins were built on a outdated platform). Since Garmin now uses a universal USB interface with mass storage mode, there is no need for them to invest in re-building a communicator plugin when you can just save files directly to the device as if it were a hard drive. As much as I hate to say this, maybe it's time to retire the magellan (definitely time to retire that eTrex Vista) and either switch to using a cell phone or a "modern" Garmin GPS (ie, something released in the last 12 years which has USB mass storage mode, GPX file support, and paperless caching). These devices don't even need special software or drivers to be installed.

This sounds like a post for the Andorid App topic rather than GPS..

Yes. Archived tracks do get hidden on the device. It's a good practice to save your tracks after each trip. Saved tracks are available to be transferred.

It's only tracks you need to recover? And (hopefully) only a few of them? If you have a second GPS or a friend with a GPS, you can send the tracks to another device wirelessly and then get your tracks from that device to back up in basecamp. Then you can play around with the USB port and attempt to fix it. It's quite annoying that Garmin didn't retroactively go back and make the Bluetooth on these devices compatible with smartphones and computers either for direct file access or to be compatible with the Garmin Explore app.

If I'm reading your query correctly, the answer is no. You would still have to buy and install maps for the location where you are traveling. These units come with maps that cover the entire US, so traveling from Wisconsin to California shouldn't be a problem. But if you travel internationally, you will need to install maps. For non-Garmin maps, you'll certainly need a computer to install them. I can't say for certain whether your updates to the pre-installed TopoActive or City Navigator maps can be performed directly from the device.

You can use GCLH II to customize links. It can also be set to hide your owned and found caches (separately) on the map by default.

If you're not going with one of the bike-specific models, I suggest an Oregon as a multi-purpose bike computer and not an eTrex. The screen is larger and the touch screen makes it easier to fiddle with while you are riding.

Start by attending an event cache. It's one of the best ways to meet local cachers and make caching friends.

Photos should be in JPEG format and put into the /Garmin/JPEG folder on your device or SD card. You can also import your photo into Basecamp to geotag it and then drag it up to your GPS or SD card where Basecamp will install it in the correct location.

Pocket queries still work as they always have. And you can download lists in bulk as a single gpx file. You don't even need EasyGPS. Just put the GPX files directly into the GPX folder on your device or device's SD card. If you're using one of those ancient devices that don't support GPX files and mount in USB mass storage mode to access the folders, I suggest an upgrade.

I just clip mine to my backpack's shoulder strap, or to my belt loop when geocaching. There's really no need to carry an extra case. Keep a screen protector on it, otherwise these things are quite durable on their own.