jeffbouldin

I have a Delorme PN-30 and find it very usable. Maybe smaller than the Oregon, but not smaller then the 60 series or the Etrax series.

I'm not addicted. I can always stop after just one more!

I have a BB and use both Blackstar Navigation and Cacheberry. BS is free and Cacheberry is $10. I also own a Delorme PN-30. The BB GPSr is fine in an open area but you get in the woods or around tall buildings and you loose sat lock alot. The PN-30 (and any other hand held GPSR with a high sensitivity chip) retains the signal much better and is more accurate. As for the apps. Blackstar is free, and as such it has a very utilitarian interface. It does work great. One of the nicest things it will do is take a lock and pull a search page on the closest GC.com caches. You still have to go into those cache pages individually and download the gpx file to get it on your phone. It also integrates with a service called bcaching.com. Cacheberry is $10 and has a nicer interface. I use BS to access the info but Cacheberry to utilize the info. My opinion (and we all know what that is worth!) is that if you have the money to get a decent used GPSr (should be able to for under $100) you would be happier. If that is too much then get all opf those ap[ps and choose the one you like best and save for a GPSr.

The specs say 10,000. And if the preloaded ones are not in the area you will cache in then go ahead and delete them. You can run a PQ and put them back when you get in that area.

Also, what phone do you have? If you have a smartphone (Blackberry, Android, iPhone, WinMo) there are apps you can download that will use the phones GPSr to let you hunt caches. Not as accurate in dense trees or buildings but better than nothing. Also the GPSr will drain the battery quickly.

Try posting to Greater East TN Geocachers. They are a very friendly bunch.

We have some great cache owners up here and most caches in the flood areas have been checked, replaced, or archived. Feel free to drop me an email through my profile.

He did! He stopped at dawn. Now a person with a problem would have kept going!

Download either Blackstar Navigator or Cacheberry, download the GPX file of the cache you want and load it into the app you choose, either one will then have an option to display the cache in Google Maps app on your BB. I personally have both of those apps on my 8330 since both do things better than the other.

I am not familiar with that app, but I can explain the field note feature. Many devices or apps can add information to a text file, this is done in a format dictated by geocaching.com. There will be some way to transfer that text file to your computer. On my Delorme it ask me what type of connection I want to establish when I plug it into my USB port on the computer I select internal and it loads as a drive so I can drag and drop the fieldnote.txt file. In the Cacheberry app on my BB I email it to my email account and download it to my computer. Log into your geocacing account and go to the My Profile page (the page that shows all of your recent finds), look on the right and choose Access Your Filednotes. You will see a list of devices to get the notes from, pick on of the links (except the Trimble Geocache Navigator). It doesn't matter which one they all do the same thing (except the Trimble Geocache Navigator). Click Choose File, browse to where you saved the file and select it. Now click upload file. After it is uploaded you can go to a page that will show you list of fieldnotes, you can click on compose log, make any changes and submit log. Or you can delete any notes you don't want to post (say you double enter a cache, etc). I would go to the app designers website and look in his manual for the instructions on getting fieldnotes out of that app. Fieldnotes is a great tool. I don't actually do much note taking with it (the Delorme has a clunky interface for entering text) but I do use it to mark all of the caches I find in the order found and add my log after I've uploaded the file to my geocaching account.

If you get past your slow start and problems you will find that these are great units. I started with a 210 then moved to a 500. My mother started with a 400. I found over 2000 caches with mine before upgrading to a Delorme. Here is a secret that most people who have spent big money on expensive GPSrs with expensive map packages don't want out....... Now keep this quiet.......... just between you and me........... most cachers are wasting their money on maps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Most cachers don't need them!!!!!!!! I had the basemap on my 210 and 500. If I got off a major highway I had a blank screen with just an arrow and a line to the cache. And it worked, well most of the time. There were the times that the cache was missing (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!). I now have a Delorm PN-30 with topo and street maps. They are nice but my find count hasn't increased over what I was getting with the eXplorist. I have a Garmin Nuvi 205W that I use for street routing. What you need to do is pick a cache or 3, load them into your GPSr, check Google Maps to drive to the closest parking, hit Goto and pick the closest cache and follow the arrow. When you get 20-30 feet away quit looking at the screen and start looking for the cache. You'll find many that way and you'll DNF many that way (they're missing, that's your story and your sticking to it!). Get some experience under your belt and figure out what is important to you, then upgrade to an expensive GPSr with and expensive map package and we won't let anyone know that you don't really need it!!! As for loading them. When you plug the eXplorist into your computer it should load up just like a thumb drive. You will need to use Mapsend Lite or GSAK to convert the .loc or .gpx file from Geocaching.com to a .gs file that the eXplorist can read. You the drag and drop the .gs file into the Geocaching folder on the eXplorist. You the load that file in your Active Map screen and you'll see them on your screen. One trick, the eXplorist can only handle 200 waypoints in each file. You can put as many files on the unit that the memory can hold.

I do almost all of my searching from that map.

I started with an Explorist 210 then moved to an Explorist 500. They are great units for starting caching, but you will not get full cache info. You will get Name, GC number, type, coords, date placed, last found date, D\T, and hint. Carry your iPhone for all of the other info and use the eXplorist for the hunt. To set it up correctly, Hit .Menu, hit Preferences, hit map units and make sure the coord system is set to Lat\Lon and map datum is WGS84. This unit doesn't do automobile routing so it should already be set to direct line routing. I don't get on here all of the time so feel free to email me through my profile if you have any other questions.

Go to hide and seek a cache, at the bottom of the first box is a link that says search using Google maps, once there at the top right is a search box, type in Rough and Ready Creek Oregon and it will zoom to that part of the map and let you see the caches in the area.

I do............You grew up in an old cemetery?! Coooolllllll!!!!! heh:) so dude - where you from? your sense of humor is about the same as mine Smyrna, TN. Sometimes things just hit me funny.

I do............You grew up in an old cemetery?! Coooolllllll!!!!!

Go into the menu scroll to Options and enter, go to Units and enter, change to Imperial (feet/miles). I've used it on a couple of parking lot FTFs but it will never replace the Delorme. It loses lock quite a bit and seems to bounce a lot. T o be fair, I have a Curve and cannot say whether the Storm is the same, worse, or better. But my experience is that most phone GPSrs are about the same. However, if you cannot afford anything else at this time then go for it.

No experience with the GC other than the reviews. I did move from an eXplorist 500 to a PN-30. I love it. With the latest firmware you can load up to 1000 geocaches with all info including logs and hints. If you upgrade to the 2.7 firmware you can also load as many gpx files on the SD card an switch between them like you can with the eXplorist. 2.7 was officially released for Delorme's professional mapping software but many of us have started using it for caching. The learning curve on this unit was involved, but once I figured it out it works great. Ver 2.8, which is due out in a month or so, will be the release for cachers. The word is in addition to the multiple files it will take gpx files directly from GC. With the PN-30 or 40 you also get Topo and Street maps. You can also subscribe to a service that lets you download other maps and satellite images. I also found the PN-30 to work a lot like the eXplorist. But, if you don't need extra maps and want a unit that is plug and play right now than I think the eXplorist GC looks real nice.

So since you have to trade equal or better, just what did you leave? I'm sure you logged Signed log. Took Husband left ?. It better not have been a McToy! Just what would that say about your fiancée?

Click on your name at the top right corner. On Your Profile page look down the right side to Premium Features. In that box is Build Pocket Queries. Play around with it a bit before you need one.

All of my hides are in cities. I have never had it take more than a day or two. The last one was published 3 minutes after I submitted it. The trick is to know and follow the guidelines. When I am placing it I try to look for things that might give a reviewer (who only has Google Maps to guide him) a question, I then address these in either the listing or in the reviewer note. Some of mine have not been approved on the first look, but I always respond to the reviewers questions or suggestions quickly.

To expand on what was mentioned. If you signed up for a premium membership (you can sign up for 3 months for $10 to try it out) one of the features you get is called Pocket Queries. PQs (shortened because my typing is horrid) allow you to specify an area that you wish to cover and have GC.com generate a file with all of the coords, hints, 5 logs, description, etc. You can than use the software that came with your GPSr or another (such as GSAK or EasyGPS) to load this into your GPSr.These files can now contain 1000 caches. One feature of PQs is called Caches Along a Route. Using a special Google Map on the site you specify a route you want to take. You can then tell it to generate a file of up to 1000 caches within 6 miles of your route. The PQ feature by itself is worth every penny of the $30-$40 a year cost of a Premium Membership. But, if you have an IPhone and don't plan on doing more than a cache every so often, just learn how to hand enter the coords into your GPSr.

I am NOT teaching that sex ed class!!!!!

I live up the road in Smyrna, TN (just outside of Nashville). Haven't cached a lot in Chattanooga but have been there quite a bit over the years. It is a neat little big town with a lot of character. The only cache I can think of off the top of my head is Stolen Waters Earthcache just NW of town. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...3f-2e1ccff09b08 Join the local club forums and post there. They will give you a list a mile long and probably throw an event for you. They love having an excuse for an event! www.getgc.org

Now you've got me thinking of the Caddyshack II scene where Bill molded plastique into little animal shapes. Perhaps Johnny Public should fear gophers? After all, they could be bombs! Bunnies too! Sorry CR I'm going to have to ask you to turn in your guy card. Bill Murray blowing up the golf course with plastic explosives molded to look like gophers was in the first Caddyshack.