GeckoGeek

Another advantage to having a cable - you can update your firmware. Garmin has issued something like 4 versions in the past year.

Actually, I think it's always been there. The downside is that you have to fire up the desktop software before you can sync. But for those who hotsync, that's a very good tip. Thanks for pointing that out.

Whenever you loose the sats, it might be wise to look at your sats page and see where they are. Are there none near overhead? All out on the horizon? Perhaps hidden behind local hills? Or even all clustered in the same spot in the sky? All of these will give you troubles. At least that will give you some idea what's going on.

Needless to say because of your experience, your team kicked butt, right?

I know it's not what you asked, but you can download and display tracks in USAPhotoMap. Now, I've never done it with a "saved" track, just connected my GPS and fetched it. Can't argue about the price. A completely different product then GSAK, but something you should have on your machine alongside of it.

Actually, they did use what was available to them and all other surveyors. I don't think in their wildest dreams they'd ever think the general public would have any interest in this. The numbers are as accurate as they are because it fits their needs. It's not hard to approximate the number for our use. Just multiple meters by 3 to get a rough measurement in feet, and simply round off the heading and add/subtract the local declination. At least that will get you in the right area for searching rather then going nuts trying to figure out where it might be. Depending on your GPS, you may even be able to project that point and let your GPS guide you to the spot.

You mean like this from the original datasheet? PF1132 PF1132 PF1132|---------------------------------------------------------------------| PF1132| PID Reference Object Distance Geod. Az | PF1132| dddmmss.s | PF1132| PF1131 HAZEL AZ MK APPROX. 1.3 KM 1770305.4 | PF1132| HAZEL RM 2 21.029 METERS 22826 | PF1132| HAZEL RM 1 11.680 METERS 35856 | PF1132|---------------------------------------------------------------------| PF1132 This tells you precise distance and direction from the main station. Keep in mind the direction is to true north, not magnetic.

On what charge?

On test would be to find a way to short pins 2 and 3 of the serial cable together. This isn't easy, I'll leave it up to you to find a way Once shorted, fire up Hyperlink and set it to COM1. Whatever you type should show on the screen. Remove the short and what you type should NOT show on the screen.

What's interesting is that GR0578 is listed as a "triangulation station" even though the coordinates are SCALED. I'm suspecting a paperwork screw-up or the original triangulation station was also made into a real vertical bench mark and the dual paperwork came from that.

How good is your friend's English? Between most Japanese's exposure to English, the fact that any new word is usually based on the English counterpart, and the fact that most GPS interfaces are symbolic, I suspect that many Japanese might well get by with a English GPS unit if they could get the manual in Japanese. (How's that for a run-on sentense?) http://www.garmin.jp has a link to an unofficial Garmin site for information. Maps are a different story. I was poking around Japan about 6 moths ago. I did see Garmin GPS units in Akihabra (sp?), but the price was close to double the U.S. street price for a simple eTrex "yellow". If you buy a non-mapping unit, then the map won't be a problem.

The problem may be is you're comparing your GPS to another GPS. Who's to say which one is more accurate? Find a bench mark where the location is adjusted (very important) and then see how your GPS checks against the actual location.

Never had this happen to myself (I believe in learning from the mistakes of others), but just as sure as one should not take a wiz into the wind, don't take a wiz in tall grass or weeds. It will "trickle down" from leaf to leaf until it returns to the spot where it came.

As a suggestion, direct support to one of the forums and set back a bit to let helpful individuals get a chance to solve the problem for you. Then all you have to do is post a few "that's right" and tackle the ones that really area an issue.

I wonder if it's a data entry error when the pages were computerized. I forget when that was, but the last official recovery was back in 1971.

If I'm understanding your correctly, you've found the top broken off and the disk is still planted on the broken off piece. As such, the disk no longer marks a fixed position. With that understanding, the mark is clearly "destroyed". To log with NGS: Send a photo that clearly shows the disk's markings. Send it along with the PID and description to Deb.Brown@noaa.gov. To log with Geocahing, just log it like you would a normal cache. Most would say it's "destroyed" for geocaching purposes. Other's might say that since it's still a findable object, to log it as a find.

It all depends on WHY you want to connect it to a PDA. For most mapping needs, I'd say buy a better GPS and the maps you can upload to them. You'll be better off in the long run. If it's for doing "paperless caching" so you don't kill trees just to go caching in a forest, then most any cheap Palm and CacheMate (although some prefer Plucker) will do the job. It can be done with a Pocket PC, but not as cheaply.

She does visit. No It depends on what you want to do. If you just want to log to Geocaching, that's fine. If you want to submit an official report to NGS then you follow NGS rules. To log a mark as destroyed with NGS, it depends on if it's a "mark" such as a disk or a landmark such as a building. For buildings, simply take a photo and send it to Deb at NGS. For a disk, you must find the disk, but in a destroyed condition - meaning that it's no longer in it's proper position. Again, take a photo and send to Deb at NGS. Details can be found at the main benchmark page on Geocaching.

I have no issues against individual journalists, but I do have issues with the media. I did not intend to imply that they were "unpatriotic or are against the U.S. troops". I do think they are not giving us an accurate picture. Catherman's reply speaks better then anything I could post, so I'll let it rest there. This is not the forum.

You guys are doing a great job over there. Don't let the press worry you. I'm not buying any of their hand wringing. I would imagine that some form of benchmarks are used by all countries that are westernized at all. Otherwise they'd have to come up with their own method of knowing what belongs to who and all that stuff. Now if it's a country that doesn't practice any land rights or concepts of land ownership, then maybe not.

You mean you've never had the experience where your brain was saying one thing and your mouth was saying another? Or that you were carefully proofreading details on something and someone looking over your shoulder pointed out a glaring error? Keep in mind these records were transfered from paper to computer. Who knows what errors crept in at that time?

Dissect the old plug to see what all it contained and if it can be transplanted into a new home.

I think several people have reported finding descriptions that transposed directions. North for south, etc. That's not all that unusual. And perhaps yet another reason that NGS won't declare disks "destroyed" unless they can first be found.

If it's not the battery, I'm not sure what else it could be.

The cigarette lighter end usually hold the electronics to drop the voltage. Simply replacing it with a generic plug will fry your GPS.