gpsaccessories

I can say the last post is correct. The odometer, (and speedometer when you're at a steady speed) of your gps is much more accurate than the odometers in most cars. It's typical for a car to leave the factory with an odometer that's 5% off. Some makes and models of car can be 10% or more- and that's before wear and tear or aftermarket tires. I'm too fat and lazy to do much serious hiking- but definitely increasing your track points and maintaining good signal lock will increase your accuracy. -Ed www.gpsaccessories.com

Wacko is right- those gps geek antennas will do the job but they'll also draw down your batteries. the gpsaccessories antenna draws less than half as much power, and gives 33+dba of boost. Garmin factory antennas are outdated and overpriced. Trimble has pretty good OEM antennas, otherwise aftermarket is the way to go. GG- I've been testing all sorts of amplified antennas for 7 years in lots of situations and never seen anything like what you describe. I suppose it might be possible for ONE signal from ONE sat to bounce off a distant object, but your reciever uses more than that one signal, it'll see several birds through the trees and off the horizon in other directions. In a poor coverage area with a decent amp antenna you should expect strong signal from atleast 5-6 sats at any given time. Those stronger, consistent signals will be used to factor your location. The closest thing you should see in real life is if you are in a cave or tunnel, might pick up stray signals from both ends of the tunnel, and with no other info it'll factor a location that may be a few hundred feet off, but that isn't really a bad thing if you understand that a non amplified gps in the same situation would loose position entirely. -Ed

You guys have the right idea. The ram mounts are very good, the factory handlbar mounts do vibrate loose or transmit shock to the gps unit with any kind of rough use. Better yet try a Touratech mount- available in the us from cycoactive.com for about $85. Mine covered 7,000+ miles of north africas worst "roads" and never came loose, while factory mounts on the same trip broke into pieces. (my used touratech gps 3 mount is for sale $65- the clamps are a bit bent but still work and the mount itself kicks butt!) -Ed

You guys have the right idea. The ram mounts are very good, the factory handlbar mounts do vibrate loose or transmit shock to the gps unit with any kind of rough use. Better yet try a Touratech mount- available in the us from cycoactive.com for about $85. Mine covered 7,000+ miles of north africas worst "roads" and never came loose, while factory mounts on the same trip broke into pieces. (my used touratech gps 3 mount is for sale $65- the clamps are a bit bent but still work and the mount itself kicks butt!) -Ed

check out http://www.hoodmanusa.com/ They make teh stuff for dit cams and video cameras, but a lot of the lcd protectors will fit your gps screen. I've even seen their hoods and maginfiers mounted to GPS units. -Ed

Guys- Be extremely cautious with garmin handlebar mounts. They are OK for cruising on good roads with a 10 speed but they aren't up to the task for serious mountain biking or use on a motorcycle. I've seen 2 things happen- they vibrate loose and if you are lucky you stop in time to grab the gps which is now hanging upside down. Or if you manage to crank them down tight enough they transmit shock and vibration to the gps and damage the main board and the battery springs. I reccomend spending a few $ extra for something like a ram mount, or get real serious and use a touratech mount. -Ed

A special Offer for Geocachers from www.gpsaccessories.com Order a 3 or 5 meter A2 amplified antenna with MCX or BNC connector by july 15th and get free shipping within usa. To get the discount you must write " I'm a geocacher- give me free shipping" in the delivery notes section of the checkout page.

A laundry detergent bottle makes a good sharps container. It's usually a little thicker than a coke bottle, and I've never seen anyone collecting them for nickels.