Jeep4two

I'm moving to North Carolina - not only because it's a tremendously beautiful state, but they get 8 letters on their vanity plates!!!! (only get 6 in Ky) FYI: Kentuckians! TNLNSL is available! This could be yours!

OH - almost forgot - While not specifically geared toward Geocaching (but one of the key reasons I'm into it). My plate . . . I'm truly a gadget freak, and techie by trade.

Like JEEP meets Super Mario Brothers. . . . Go ChrysTendo!

The Pocket Query (PQ) will enable you to do what you want. Do you have a Garmin? If so if you have never registered it, do so on the Garmin site (My Garmin) even if its several years old. The come back here and get your 30 day trial premium membershiphttp://www.geocaching.com/garmin/freetrial.aspx Don't have an unregistered Garmin? NP - it's only $30 / year to become a premium member. Well worth it for the Pocket Queries alone, not to mention the subscription feature (alerts based on your specified criteria and others). If you aren't familiar with Pocket Queries - here's a quick summary. A pocket query will create GPX file (that you can load in google earth and create your map - or print online using the preview in google maps feature). The GPX file will also load all the cache coordinates to your GPS. The pocket query will allow you to specifiy the type (say, traditional) and size (say regular and large only) and specific radius of a particular set of coordinates or zip code (say 20 miles). You then have a query that gives you the caches that meet your criteria. You can just dump that out to your GPS and print map, or if you desire review the results, and eliminate those that you aren't interested in, or the opposite and choose those that you are and transfer each individually to your GPS. Bottom line - the Pocket Query is your friend and can really help streamline the process of selecting caches to hunt.

I picked up a set of Lenmar's with their 90 minute charger (standard 90 min 120vAC charger) when I bought a digital camera in 2006. I've had that set for a long time and have always been pleased with their performance in the camera and in my Legend GPS. I believe they were 2100mAh rated, or 2500mAh. I also just ordered a 20 battery bulk pack of the Lenmar 2500 mAh NiMH's. I didn't pay the premium for the low discharge since most of my devices eat up the batteries and I'm in a pretty good habit of topping off before leaving on a trip. I paid $38.00 for the back of 20 so it was a pretty good deal.

I'll say that the only thing that I don't like with the Invisible Shield (or most any other screen protector) is the tackiness. The Oregon's screen has a matte finish making your finger slide easily across it. The Zagg protector is smooth and a little tacky compared to the 'bare' screen. None the less - I like having it and suspect I'll get used to it. It's not like the problems tacky protectors cause when using a stylus. Another nice thing is the Invisible Shield comes with a lifetime replacement warranty. Not sure of the terms exactly. . . but for some reason that makes me feel better about the money I spent on it.

A) I'm a PC B ) I have spent time with the iPhone (and other Mac Products) C) I have an Oregon I have to say that if you want a dedicated GPS that's good for Geocaching, intuitive, easy to use, easy to integrate with multiple platforms (comms via mass storage to transfer files is pretty comaptible) then the Oregon is the way to go. Checkout the threads on the deals at REI combined with the rebate. Puts the Oregon 400t in the range of $350. A bit on the pricey side but a great all in one that is great for caching, and would be excellent for regular hiking or walking as well. If that exceeds your budget then maybe some other folks can make suggestions.

You should run with this one - the other was eaten . . . yummy

Keep in mind that the vines of poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac toxic to those that are allergic just as the leaves. These lovely plants don't lose their potency for a very long time either. I personally learned of my allergy to poison ivy while cutting up a downed tree in my yard. If had poison ivy vines all up the trunk (no leaves, just the vines). I cut it up with a chain saw, carried the pieces back to the woods and disposed. 24 hours later. . . . massive reaction on the underside of my forearms and between my fingers where I had pulled the vines off some of the logs. As a kid I wasn't allergic - apparently now I am. That was about 10 years ago - I found either some Ivy, Oak or Sumac last weekend while caching on a small part of one hand. A little annoying but no big deal. Dried up today

In 2001 I had seen a news story on the national news about Geocaching. At the time I worked for a local school district as a network administrator with two other techie folks (my boss and a peer). I shared and we browsed the website and talked a bit about the possibility of integrating this technology into the local curriculum. After some time we had a plan. We picked up some "Street Pilot" GPS units and Palm IIIc PDAs and started learning. Our first cache as "Tech Crew" was GC2A80, a quick micro log only that had been muggled before even the FTF. We found a stray log sheet and tried to salvage it too but it was in a location that was not very cache friendly and very muggle prone. Unfortunatley it wasn't a real earth shattering moment. The Crew consisted of 3 of us out for a quick find. Our 2nd find was more challenging and took 2 trips to locate. That cache had some cool 'home made' Geocaching.com lasercut stickers in it. I got one and it's still on the back window of my truck today (that find was on GC2B1C in Dec. 2001 - we were the FTF purely by luck). I recently went back to pick that one up again under my new user ID and found it had been moved quite a few feet from its original location. I had a number of years of inactivity due to the fact that the idea didn't catch on with our teachers, and I eventually moved on professionally. In addition I didn't get my own personal GPS until 2006. Long story short - my first find was fun, but the 2nd was still one of my favorites. People still strike up conversation about the Geocaching.com sticker on my trucks back window all the time. I'm back into this hobby big time now - I might even have formed some sort of addiction.

If you have GPX files you aren't sure about just copy them to your computer and load them in Google Earth. That will allow you to inspect them. If you find you don't need them (old tracks, glitches, outdated caches, whatever) you can just delete off your GPSr. If you want to hang on to them for a while, just add a .BAK to the end of the file name. To change the extension you'll need to make sure your computer is setup to show file extensions (or not hide extensions for known file types). See here: http://www.fileinfo.com/help/windows-show-extensions.html for windows XP or here: http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/e...3389da1033.mspx for Vista

Wow - cool, recycling centers. . . never thought of that but makes sense if you are in a more urban area - where I live there is no such thing which is truly a shame @ OP - Glad to be of help - hope you enjoy your eTrex. Good news - it's yellow, water resistant, durable and it will 'get you close'. Hang on - your are in for a true addiction. . . . .

Just FYI: REI (www.rei.com) has the Oregon 400t for $399.00 right now - and you qualify for the $50 Mail In Rebate making the Oregon 400t a $350 net cost - - - - hard to beat that price. The 60CSx is running around $300 for a new unit at retail (maybe less on eBay) making the REI deal stellar right now.

I'll be right back - I've got to go design my own kraushad style signage for my pickup and dig out my old coveralls and update the name patches on them. Material Location and Retrieval. . . . . Wow that's awesome!!!

I had something similar happen under the 2.8 software version. I saved a track at the end of a day of caching and cleared the current log. I took the default date name for the file and later when I went to look at the track on my unit (Oregon 400t) it wasn't there. I power cycled the unit a few times and then shrugged it off. Later when I hooked up in mass storage mode, there it was sitting nicely in the GPX folder. . . . go figure. I haven't tried what you are describing exactly. I'll see if I can duplicate some time.

How long do your batteries last? I've got the Oregon 400t. Last weekend I took it out with 2 sets of AA's. One set was a 2300Mah set, and the other was 2500Mah. I spent most of my time on the trail using the unit with the screen on full brightness (full backlight). I used 100% of the 2300Mah set of batteries, and about 50% of my 2500Mah set. This was a long day, about 10 hours of usage total including drive time between caches and the trip out, and home. Today I went out with a mini USB charger (like used with a motorola phone, or blackberry phone) and used the charger in the car for external power, and only used batteries when out of the car. Time spent in car is irrelevant since I used the charger - and we spent about 2 hours outside romping around. I didn't even knock the first power bar of my 2500mAh batteries today. The only major difference is that my out of car profile (Geocaching profile) is set to turn off the backlight (but not battery save) after 1 minute. I rarely need the backlight when outside but it helps a lot in the car. So - yes it does go through the batteries but if you are spending a lot of time in car on your caching journey, get a mini USB cable charger for your car (I think any standard mini USB phone charging cable would probably work - or get the official Garmin branded one if that makes you more comfortable). With that said - I'll still always plan on having at least two spare sets of AA NiMH 2300mAh or higher rated batteries when out caching - just in case. I also keep my eTrex Legend (much less power hungry) as a backup when out for a long day.

I'll second SkellyCA's recommendation. A used Garmin eTrex H on eBay can be had at or under $100. This unit has the high sensitivity receiver and will help you keep satellite lock under tree cover. If you decide later to upgrade and want to unload your old unit, you'll have less of a loss on a used one - another benefit. The PN-20 might be a good option for a little more money as well. I'm not familiar with the Delorme products, I've always used Garmin.

Spent the day out and about with 2.97b loaded on my Oregon 400t. I got good performance overall (about the same as 2.5, and 2.8). WAAS was working - and I had 6 finds that were all right on target. The only thing I'm noticing right now that is a negative is a bit of a slower switch between profiles. Before (on 2.8) the profile would switch over pretty quickly. Since upgrading to 2.97 I get an hourglass and it takes a bit longer. Map redraws for me are much quicker when panning whether using the preinstalled Topo 2008, 24K USGS Topos, or Metroguide MGNA v6 Routables. So glad that Garmin is so progressive with support on this unit.

You'll need to connect it to your computer using the USB cable and enter into Mass Storage Mode. Then browse to the X:\GARMIN\GPX folder (Where X: is the drive letter assigned to your garmin unit when plugged into your computer). In the GPX folder you'll see all the GPX files for the caches you've loaded. I'd recommend copying them to your computer as a backup first. Then start removing the ones you no longer need. It sounds like you are sending individual caches over in GPX format. Using Pocket Queries will allow you to have more caches stored in fewer GPX files. I think there's still a 2000 cache limit (or is it 2500). However a single Pocket Query query can contain up to 500 caches based on your search criteria (or more if you use GSAK to create your GPX).

Not sure I'd bother going up a tree... however I can see why some might like to... I'm just getting too old I'm Tequila - gimme a few miles with something to see along the way and I'm happy.

Last weekend (my first day out with my new Oregon 400t) I just created new waypoints when I needed to navigate to a 2nd leg (stage). Just go to your menu and select the Mark Waypoint, choose Save & Edit and edit the coordinates and give it an appropriate name (Say GCXXXX Stage 2, GCXXXX Stage 3, etc.).

Can't go wrong on eBay. Any of the eTrex series of Garmin's GPSr will work great. The yellow eTrex is fine (cheapest) but you could consider the Legend, Summit, Vista if you can get one for a price that fits your budget. It's a good thing to know that the Yellow eTrex and the Legend don't have an electronic compass. Some feel that's a valuable feature and is available on the Summit and Vista. These are older units, thus a good used market exists. One final consideration is whether you want a high sensitivity receiver. I think for a starter GPS you don't really have to have it. Just know what under heavy tree cover you'll suffer some reception problems. I just looked at eBay and found a few of the Yellow eTrex H models for under $100. You can get the older non H (high sensitivity) models most for under $100. My recommendation would be the eTrex Vista (some have sold for under $100 on eBay lately - but some went as high as $125 and didn't sell). Save that, you could go with the Summit. It has a few less features but still has electronic compass - easily attainable for under $100. Then - start saving, cause you'll love it so much you'll want to go paperless eventually which will require an upgrade. Enjoy the journey!

I'll defer the answer on loading more than 5 logs to someone else. I'm not sure aobut that one. However I wanted to chime in about being a Premium member. Remember that when you register your Garmin unit you can get a free 30 day trial. After registering at Garmin, go here: http://www.geocaching.com/garmin/freetrial.aspx You'll love Pocket Queries - they help streamline loading caches to your Oregon (or other device) making a day of caching that much more enjoyable.

What about the 500t peaks your interest? I've heard it's supposed to have a camera. I'm sure it will be a wonderful cam - probably as good as my 2Mp cell phone cam. Granted it will stamp coords in the EXIF but not sure that it's not gonna be worth much from the picture quality standpoint. Is there something else that the 500t is supposed to have over the 400t? I carry my DSLR for pics (or the smaller point and shoot). Never been fond of waiting and speculating about the 'up and coming' technology no matter what field you are talking about. I know that when I bought my Oregon 400t that it would be cheaper soon (2 weeks actually - todays REI special beats my deal by $65). I know that it will be technologically dated within months. All technology is like this. If you are saving to get to the point of making a purchase that's great. Most people today don't focus much on saving, more time spent fretting over the minimum payment on their credit card. I wouldn't hold my breath on the 500t however, especially if the camera is the only real update over the 400t. Just my 2 cents...

Your ratio is fine - and while I can relate to the frustration of a DNF (especially if you spend a lot of time searching GZ) it's not really a bad thing. If it's a micro - I shrug it off after about 2 or 3 minutes and move on. I was probably only trying it because it was 'on my path' or improperly coded and got inadvertently picked up on my PQ anyway. If it's a small/regular/large traditional I'm disappointed but hopefully it's in an place where I want to return. Now I have a reason to go back. If it's a puzzle/multi then I just know that I need to sharpen my skills and return later. Frustrating? Maybe a little but still no biggie. I try to always log DNF's and then monitor the cache to see others logs to know if it was 'just me' or if there was a problem with the cache. It's the journey that does it for me and my wife. The destination is a bonus.