Jeep4two

Wow - Weak and Weenie in the same post. . . You been talking to my wife?? Seriously though. Logging DNF's isn't an ALERT to the CO that maintenance is needed. I walked away from the cache in question due to the approaching storm (severe weather threat in my area that day, widow makers hanging in the trees from winter ice storms, hung trees from Ike last year). If getting out of a dangerous situation and not wanting to get doused when inappropriately clothed makes me a weak weenie - so be it. (As a side note - The log in question for me was posted as a 'note' not a DNF - I had it confused with another cache that day - but I still stand my my opinion of the DNF feature of the site).

Exactly right. It's a limitation in the firmware/software. There's no real difference in the platform between most of these units. Honestly I wonder if there is any difference in the 300, 400, 500, 550 at all (with the obvious exception of the camera - which could be plugged into an interface that's on the circuit board of all models). The 200 has a different amount of built in memory so it may actually be a different board (also is missing electronic compass and barometric altimeter). I'm speculating based on the fact that it is almost always less expensive to have a single circuit board manufactured and control the features in software for various models. Somewhat Off Topic: I wonder if anyone will ever make custom software for these units?

I subscribe to the Log it you hunted it. It helps the CO know whats going on with their cache. Even the DNFs are fund to read. Knight2000 mentioned he'd log one if he hunted for 30 seconds and a storm blew up he'd log a DNF. I recently had that very thing happen. While looking for the final stage of a multi I started hearing thunder. I was a 1/2 mile from the trail head, alone and unprepared for any rain. I started back to the Geotruck and logged a DNF that night. Another reason to log DNF's is to help you remember those caches you hunted and didn't find. When you get better you may want to revisit those missed hunts.

Now that my friend is a very good question. . . I had one recently that was close to a dumpster too. I just about left but was glad I didn't. It was a modified PB jar glued under a PVC fence post cap. Took me a while to get head in the game. . . but when I found it I was impressed with the creativity of the hide. There was however a whole fence row - and while this one was under a tree to help with stealth there were other trees not so close to the dumpster.

If I arrive at a cache and get close to GZ and find it's a dump, or makes me uncomfortable I'll just leave. There may be reasons to spend time sifting through trash and hanging out in unpleasant place but getting another tick on the cache counter isn't one of them. RE your log: I would personally have noted the condition of the cache site in my DNF log. If I found that a hider was known for that type of hide I'd likely stop searching for theirs.

It is entirely possible that high volumes of traffic could very well have been the cause of the outage. Just glad someone's on the ball to keep things up and running. The outage was fairly short all things considered.

I have really fallen for the touch screen interface of the Oregon. It's proving to be more than accurate enough for my needs (Geocaching, hiking, auto navigation). It's so easy to use and navigate the features, entering text while caching, manage files/maps. Just love it. I can't speak to the others

Same thought I had. Been my track record lately. I got my Oregon 2 weeks before the REI special (although I only paid $50 more - I could have used the $50). I just bought my IS about 2 weeks ago.

I had already reported. Yep - using NiMH batts - who could afford to spend the cash on alkalines and spend any time at all in the field.

That's the exact thought I had when I was taking that picture. Before (on 2.97) I would have EPE readings of 8 feet but the GPS would show 14 feet away from the benchmark. 2.98 shows 20 ft EPE but shows 2 feet from marker. I'm trying a cache at lunch. Hopefully the accuracy is as good on this cache location

Yep - use the attributes. You can even select attributes in your Pocket Query to require that it have the kid friendly attribute and build a set of caches that are already approved. Keep in mind that 'kid friendly' is subjective.

Managed to stop by a triangulation benchmark on the way home from lunch yesterday. Oregon 400t read 2 Feet when sitting on top of the disk. I also had a hike under heavy tree cover yesterday and the tracklog looked great. I'll also toss in that I checked 2.97 off this benchmark 3 times and got readings ranging from 10-15 feet all three times.

I'm quite sure that the EULA specifies that you can load it for devices that you own. Copyright laws and EULA's often overlook the consequences of the data loaded to a portable device once it leaves the owners hands, however I would think that the law would be interpreted to mean you can load it on your devices, but when they are no longer yours then the data should be removed. That said - how you personally interpret the EULA and copyright in general is up to you. The legality of the situation isn't likely to ever be an issue so it really falls back to your personal guiding values to help add contrast to those types of gray areas.

Managed to stop by a triangulation benchmark on the way home from lunch yesterday. Oregon 400t read 2 Feet when sitting on top of the disk. I also had a hike under heavy tree cover yesterday and the tracklog looked great.

I have had my Oregon 400T shut down a few times when nearing a cache. The unit beeps but then the screen is blank and I have to turn the unit back on. This happened with the prior updates including 2.97. I now have 2.98 installed but haven't geocached since the update. I have the battery saver mode turned on. I have 2.98 installed - and had this happen this morning. Approaching a cache while my Oregon 400t was in Recreational mode (which I have enabled the Battery Save). When it beeped, I looked down to see the white screen. A few taps of the screen and I remembered this thread and did a power cycle. This is a real bummer since you are always closing in on the cache and a power cycle throws your accuracy off making you have to wait a minute or two for the fix to settle back in. So confirmed still a problem in 2.98

Seems to me that it might be cheaper to just pick one up on eBay. FedEx overnight or express shipping will approach the cost of the unit just for one way - not to mention the return trip.

If you are leaning toward Garmin and you have flexibility in your budget there really are only two to consider. StarBrand's Mid-High (60CSx) or High End (Oregon 300, 400, 500, 550). All you really have to do is pick your price point and decide whether interface is more important (Oregon rocks) or whether you have to have the greatest accuracy (The 60CSx still stands as the champ here). I personally opted to upgrade from my eTrex Legend to the Oregon over the 60CSx for the features, integrated topo map (I got the 400t) and promise of continued development of the units software. I've not been let down yet (example: Today after loading the new 2.98 beta release of the software I hit a benchmark to check accuracy - it dialed in at 2 ft when the unit was lying on top of the benchmark disk - and tested on a local geocache, was litterally on top of it when it showed 1 ft to location). Needless to say I'm happy with its performance, feature set, and interface.

Check the National Parks that interest you. I think that most National Parks forbid placement of Geocaches and as a result will typically have a number of virtual caches. I recently took a look at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and there are quite a few in that area if you are interested in a non-urban vacation. The Smokies are great this time of year as well - not too crowded (Fall is their peak season) and everything is just getting nice and green with lots of wildflowers on the trails. Even the occasional black bear to be seen in the area.

Sure - TPTB can ban their account. Not likely to do anything more than make it more difficult for people to contact them and ultimately prevent them from ever wanting to get back into caching. Things happen - BlueDeuce has the right idea... a few casual e-mails being polite will get much further than anything else.

No API, no external/public access to the site db. Scraping forbidden in the TOS.

Here's one I found on a Google search. I'm sure there are other brands out there. Think cycle enthusiast - you'll find some simple GPS devices designed for that market segment that can do what you want to do. Just remember the accuracy of any of these consumer grade units won't be on par with mapping systems - of course an $80 cycle GPS wouldn't be expected to perform like a $10,000 GIS setup. http://www.holux.com/JCore/en/products/pro...ent.jsp?pno=349

Received the obligatory 'Thanks' and 'we've forwarded your feature request to our engineers' e-mail today.

I'm not a fan of playground caches because of view the overzealous officers and parents may take. Any person without a child in a park near a playground is automatically placed in the 'pedophile' flie (Sorry - couldn't resist the play on words). Seriously however - I'd rather not be on the wrong end of one of those folks whose primary interestest in protecting their children. In their mind we are out of place and threatening their children regardless of whether we are just reading the paper or poking a hiking pole around the base of a tree. I'll always pass. Along similar lines this example: This is just one example of misguided legislation and law enforcement. Normal everyday citizens have lost their freedom and end up in very unfair situations in the name of 'keeping pedophiles out of the park'. Seriously? The pedophile problem in our nation is not going to be resolved by silly laws like this. They simply promote a false sense of security and cause complacency and a lack of vigilance.

Yep - I've had my 400t for nearly a month now. Never had anything like that happen. My unit arrived with 2.80 software installed. I used it for a while then got on the beta train and have run 2.97b and now on 2.98b. Hit several WP's today with 2.98b and just the usual beep, press OK and continue. Update to the latest, even non-beta version if you don't want to run beta software, to make sure you don't just have a minor software issue.

I thought about approaching the screen protector in the same way. I did read that Zagg stands by their product and the warranty (LIFETIME, of the device). I figured, $13.00 and I'm good for the life of my unit. Should be no need to replace it, but if it does get a permanent scratch in the protector, if it lifts, delaminates, or is otherwise not right I can get a replacement. I've used other brands on older Palm devices in the past and wasn't impressed (easily scratched, lifted easily, poor installation, etc..). Other than my own screw up (one tiny speck of dust) the Invisible Shield is perfectly in place and doing a great job for me. So if you don't mind having the potential for recurring removal and reinstallation you can save a few bucks on the front end. I would rather bank on never needing to replace it - I've seen so many success stories on iPhones and other touch screen devices that I just couldn't go any other direction (a lot of these user stories were not just for the screen protector, but the full device cover and it's ability to keep their device in pristine condition without a bulky sleeve, cover or other pouch). My only complaint so far with the Invisible Shield? The excessive packaging. It arrives in a padded bubble envelope in a large DVD case sized (a little bigger) cardboard box. That's a lot of waste and trash for something that could have gone in a standard letter envelope.