jeffbouldin

To clear up something Sword Fern said, requiring cachers to post pictures is no longer allowed except for very rare occasions but it can not be required to include the cacher. The EC owner can ask you to post one, but if you do not wish to post a pic they cannot deny your find as long as you answer their questions posted on the cache page.

That means that you have 5 duplicate logs. At some point you have logged 1 or more caches multiple times. Use mygeocachingprofile.com or GSAK to identify which ones and delete the duplicate logs.

I started with an eXplorist 210 and moved to an eXplorist 500. They are great units, however they have been discontinued for 2-3 years. If you bought it thinking you were getting the latest thing, take it back. If you spent $150 or more (US)take it back. The eXplorist 500 comes with a basemap with major highways (at least in the US, not sure about Canada), you have to purchase additional maps. I never did and found over 2000 caches with those two. I now have a Delorme PN-30 with Topo maps and while they are nice I can't say that I'm a better cacher with them. To load caches onto the eXplorist 500 you will have to use the software that came with it to convert it to the format the eXplorist 500 can read. If you get one of the new eXplorist (GC, 510, 610, or 710) you can drag the file from geocaching.com straight to it with no other software. The GC is about $150 (US) and has a basemap of the world but cannot take any other maps. The 510 has a basemap and you can add more maps later. The 610 and 710 come with city or Topo maps already.

How long will you be in my town? We flew in Sunday morning and out again on Monday afternoon. I got some virtual caches downtown and one regular cache (the one on the footbridge). I also got a couple of the webcams out at Vandy (I was there for the campus tour with my daughter). I also had some business meetings set up. I was completely stumped by the Chet Atkins statue cache downtown. It was right behind my hotel, and I looked around half a dozen times but I had no luck at all with it. Super town. I will be back again. Glad you had a good time. Hopefully your daughter will come to Vandy and you'll get an excuse to visit again.

How long will you be in my town?

Welcome to the obsession. The Middle Alabama area has a bunch of very active cachers. Check out their club forum. http://x.r2designs.com/

On your list the Magellan eXplorist GC is the easiest to use. The 210 is a great unit, but discontinued. The Garmin's are good but older units. You can add maps to them (at least the HC and HCx, not sure about the H). However you have to run the pocket queries through another software to get them onto the unit, and you do not get full info. The eXplorist GC loads on your MAC or Windows PC as a drive and you drop the pocket query onto it and you have all the cache info. However you can not add anymore maps to it. This is not necessarily a bad thing. My PN-30 has Topo maps and it is nice, but I cached for years with an eXplorist 210 and 500 with no maps.

Welcome from Smyrna, TN. Join us at the local website www.mtgc.org. Also come meet us at some of the local events, the next planned club event is April 30. There are some other events around here coming up in the next month.

A few questions (PN-30 owner here) what version of Topo software and what firmware version on the PN-30?

I've got a bookmark list. http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=9e1e1d57-cde4-47d6-a3d6-90e062715789

This is the one south of Nashville. http://coord.info/GCTNTR I believe there are some up in Clarksville and out in Land Between the Lakes. I have not done the Filbert's Forest Follies yet, if you plan on coming down soon let me know. Drop me an email through my profile. Probably want to get it before it gets thick out there.

Welcome to Mid TN. There is a club in the Nashville area and one down in Knoxville, but the cachers up on the plateau never did organize one. Maybe you should start hosting some events to meet the local cachers and work on one. I'm in Smyrna and we have 2 night caches, the only other one I'm aware of is south of Nashville in the Lewisburg area. http://coord.info/GC2JMJV This one is a well done but easy one. http://coord.info/GC2JX3Y I haven't done this one yet but it gets rave reviews. A legandary cacher, JoGPS, had an amazing one here and Filbertv took that as the beginning and expanded it.

Going to have to put that on my todo list!

What is the GC #? I'm going to be in Huntsville in June.

I do.

www.gsak.net Awesome program does alot more than transfer files.

Just sent you an email. Hope you have a great time in our city.

The Memphis area has a very active group. Check out their forums at www.gowt.org. Great group of guys and gals that cache together alot.

Go to their site and sign up for the forums. Start posting. They also have events all of the time, try going to some and meeting the group.

Try checking out the local club. http://www.getgc.org/

I'm curious how someone could lose their job from caching. If someone is out caching on company time and he is cheating his employer, then he doesn't lose his job because he caches. He loses it because he is not honest and is stealing from the company. Once he is on his own time how can his company can't fire him for caching?

Keep an eye on Ebay and Craigslist. If you can find a Magellan eXplorist 210, 400, 500, 500LE, 600, or XL for about the $50-70 range it would be a great unit. I started with the 210 and went to the 500 before I went to a newer unit. I found 2000 caches with those units and still like some things about them better then my PN-30. Also post over in the Garage Sale forum, someone will have something in your price range.

My question is why does it matter when they log it? I live in Middle Tn where Geowoodstock 7 was held May 2009. I still have some logs coming in on my caches from then. No skin off my teeth. It doesn't keep me from finding caches. It doesn't keep me from enjoying hiking or going to events and hanging with the other cachers. So why should I care when others choose to put there found it or DNF on the cache page?

Not exactly LaFollette, but you will regret it if you don't make the trip for this one. One of JoGPS's greatest caches ever. For those who haven't heard of JoGPS, he has been caching since '01 and has invented many of the hides we take for granted. Also, he is the creator of GeoWoodstock. He is one of the greatest innovators of our sport. http://coord.info/GC21XAC Email me if you are going out there so I can give you my number. If you make the trip I want to make sure you find it.

Haven't done the abroad thing yet, but would definitely like to. Are there any GPS devices that would add the same kind of functionality that my iPhone gives me for 'spontaneous geocaching'? Or must I do all research prior to leaving home? It depends on how you define spontaneous. I have setup enough PQs to cover the whole state of Tennessee. Each week these are generated over three days and I download them into a program called GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife). I can then load 1000 caches into my Delorme PN-30. I can do this for different areas and save the files on my GPSr. Then when I'm out I load the file for the area I'm in. Delorme's Topo9 software can download the PQ files and transfer them to the PN-30 automatically. If you get the Magellan eXplorist GC you can download the PQs directly to it through your computer and it holds 10,000 caches. But you will spend more for these kinds of units. If you want something less expensive go with a used Garmin Extrex line (just make sure it has a H in the model name) or an older Magellan eXplorist. Use these for hiding and planned hikes and use your phone for quickies and keeping the cache info.