E = Mc2

Anyone know if there will be an announcement as to who won the Jeep, or will we have to send in a SASE and wait until February to find out?

An idea here: set up a booth at the next public event in one of your local parks! Get the local cachers to bring their GPS'rs and post it on BC.com as an event cache. You might even attract a few new cachers while you're at it. We have one park that the naturalist has actually ASKED us to place caches in! Truth be told, you'll probably be hard pressed to get many to attend even if you provide food. (now beer, OTOH...) If you are trying to get permission to place caches, try using the aforementioned brochure, and practice your presentation before you do it. If you are worried about running afoul of local law enforcement while caching, don't try to hide what you are doing, but explain what you are up to. Unless you are on private property, what are they going to do to you?

Too bad you're loking for micro-sized waterproof containers. One of our local (ammo can) caches has been under water for more than three years and is still dry inside. A suggestion for those O-rings: coat them with petroleum jelly. Not only will they seal more easily, they'll last longer, too.

Tomorrow is the big day! I wonder, will they let me choose what color my new Jeep comes in? I'm thinking Solar Yellow, but there are other nice colors, too.

dang it!

Just in case anyone is interested, Kentucky's personalized plate checker site is here. I'm leaning toward NO-TLG8, or GOT-GPS, myself.

Along those same lines, I'd like to know why the order of the icons in my profile keeps changing. One day, regular caches are on top. The next, it's lcoationless... Are they updated according to most recent logs?

Another "feature" they added makes the backlight come on (and stay on until you manually turn it off) every time the unit 'alarms'... So, when you take the DC cable off the back (or lose lock, or get withing x feet), the backlight comes on and runs down your batteries that much more quickly. Changing the backlight timer has no effect. It stays on unless you physically turn it off.

That's what Magellan considers a "feature". Well, it's a feature I could definitely do without. What's really ----ing me off about it is that changing the light timer has no effect. The light stays on until you manually turn it off. If I turn the light on myself, it goes off as it should, but when the #$%^*@ alarm goes off, the light stays on. As the unit already burns through batteries more quickly than my others, it is quite the annoyance. I'm using rechargeables, but really! I did change the"Lawyer" screen using the information I got in the Meridian FAQ when I updated my firmware though; so now it shows my name, address, telephone #, email address, and GC.com ID when you power the unit up.

If money is no object... I would recommend either the Magellan Meridian Platinum (Meriplat) or Garmin 60cs. Both are excellent units, and I find that they very often agree on location, down to within 5 feet usually... Quite accurate. The tradeoffs are this: The MeriPlat has a monochrome screen. The 60cs does not accept any kind of memory cards for additional mapping. As I travel for a living, the street level mapping is a concern. I carry a 128MB SD card in my Meriplat, and that covers all of SC, TN, KY, WV, OH, and IN. It also covers most of AL, GA, NC, VA, and IL, and parts of PA, MI, MO, and AR... That's a lot of maps (with TOPO and Points Of Interest)! The 60CS has other features which compensate for the lack of expandability, such as the PDA and Geocache functions. As I carry a PDA in the field for geocaching, I don't need those features on the GPSr. If a color screen is a necessity, and you don't feel like dealing with an electronic compass (they have to be calibrated), then Meridian Color (MeriColor) should also be high on your list. The MeriColor doesn't have the magnetic (electronic) compass, nor the barometer or thermometer that the Meriplat has, but they function identically otherwise. Aside from the color screen, the MeriColor is basically a MeriGold. The MeriColor's display resolution isn't as high as the 60cs, but it is a great unit with upgradable mapping. I haven't used any of Garmin's map products, so I can't compare them. I am given to understand, though that many of their map products only give you one region for free, or must be re-registered (or something like that) every time you change the map. With the Mapsend software I use (Topo), I can change maps at will, or even carry multiple maps on different cards. Changing the SD card only takes a minute... All told, take the time to research your available options, decide what you need in a GPSr, and actually hold the various receivers before you figure out which receiver you want. Then, shop around. Prices vary widely between the various merchants, so you can get a deal now and then (I bought 3 SporTrak Pros for a total of $475 at Wal-Mart!). Take a look around at some of the combination packs now available, too. You can get it all in one package!

That makes one of us. I can't stand having to wait for the maps to load in order to get off the map page when it first locks on. Of course, I'm the kind of person who's looking for a way to overclock the processor... Now that I have a Plat (I've had it for a week or so) I have to wonder about something. It seems to me that I keep having to turn the backlight off, and I don't remember turning it on.

A local cache, Beware the Deep, is a 7.62 ammo can, and has been under water for several years... Still dry on the inside.

Thanks for the information. That's really odd in that the newer firmware update for the Green/yellow is (semi)available from someplace other than Magellan. At least it is to me anyway. The revision that Magellan has up on their site is 4.02 for the Merigreen. As far as keeping a lock, it took mine several minutes to acquire one after updating the firmware last time. After all, you are re-writing the operating system (so to speak) of the receiver.

Nope. Not a bit! I have both the MeriGreen and MeriPlat, and they are both far more accurate than some of the other receivers I've used/seen. About the only other hand-held receiver that compares is the 60 series from Garmin... Accuracy, mind you. The 60c has more features (except for SD expandability) than my Meri's. but I don't need them... YET BTW, Welcome to the addiction!!!

Which particular model of Meridian is the update for? My Meriplat is running 5.(something or other) already, but the firmware for my Merigreen is only 4.(something or other)... I wish they'd put the firmware revision number on the page so you don't have to download it just to see what they're up to.

So YOU are the one who snapped that one up! I wanted it, but was at work. I ended up spending 205 for my "like new" Meriplat that has model airplane cement all over the case, and the picture on the auction was altered to hide that fact... Needless to say the seller got a piece of my mind. Advice is to keep looking. These things get listed every day, and you never know when you might score. I've seen some idiots that will pay more for a used item than what you can buy it for just about anywhere else. I've also scored some really neat stuff for a heck of a lot less than retail. One lava lamp I bought, the seller screwed up the shipping amount on. He ended up owing more for the shipping than what I paid him in the first place. Another thing you might consider is intentionally buying a unit listed as non-functional. Garmin will fix just about anything of theirs for a set fee no matter what is wrong with it even if it is out-of-warranty. I'm not too certain how much Magellan charges, but I saw two broken eTrex's go for less than $20 for the pair. Garmin charges $59 including shipping to refurb them...

Testing, one... two...

I just picked up a Meridian Platinum on eBay for $205 w/shipping. I've already got the Mapsend software, though, so that would push the total up, but the basemap is decent anyway. Quad antenna, 16MB basemap, 3-axis compass, barometer, thermometer, and near-unlimited mapping with the SD cards! Basically, a 60c without the color screen, but with SD card expandability!

Of course, there's no "Contrast" button. You have to be able to see the screen in order to know when you get to the contrast adjustment page. No help, I know... Perhaps Magellan could fix it, or if you are wanting to fix it yourself, try operning the case and see if the screen is dislodged from the connector somehow. On second thought, contact Magellan and send it in. <don't do this>Maybe you should try dropping it so it lands on the other side? </don't do this>

It appears that there is a problem with the "Load Balancer" and that the individual servers are fine. If you are still having trouble, you might want to drop them an email at webmster@thalesnavigation.com . Too bad I have to go to work tomorrow (and that means I'll be AFK for two days) and can't participate in the one near here!

Is anyone else still having problems with the Magellan "Cache Her if You Can" promotion? I just got off the phone with them, and they are really trying to work the bugs out. If you are having problems, I'd like to know, as would they. I hope it's just not me!

A quick search doesn't yield any pictures associated with the article, but here's the article from the magazine.

I'm fairly certain you have the option of logging that bug out of your cache so that others don't see it as being there. Ooops. You can, as the cache owner that it was last seen in, "Mark the Bug as Missing" by clicking the bug icon on your cache page. Perhaps if you put a note that it's no longer in the cache but someone hasn't logged it into their possesion, they'll finally get the hint. At least others won't be looking for it to be there. PS Are you sure they're not twins?

I'm all for that!!!! Same here. Another vote for dropping the post counter. Add my name to that list. Maybe it will cut down on some of the friction.

I'd like to see AS pinned so as to avoid having this constant barrage of attacks on it in the forums. It's not about the post count. I, for one could care less about my post count. Now my find count on the other hand...