Team DeLorme

The auction is for the color pictured: the silver coin. The silver coins are the same as the copper coins, only differing in color. Just like the copper, there were only 250 silver coins made. The coin is not activated and becomes the property of the owner. Mike McKenney Team DeLorme

Just a quick note for all those people who have been trying hard to get their hands on one of our elusive DeLorme Eartha 3-D coins... We've donated one to our local geocaching club who is doing a fundraiser for the Catch-A-Dream Foundation to send a sick child and their family on an outdoor adventure. You can learn more about it at our blog. If you're just looking for a link to the silent auction, here you go! I'm hoping it helps the Maine GeoRally hit their goal. Happy caching... Chip Noble Team DeLorme

Just a quick note for any DeLorme Earthmate PN-Series GPS users out there... We've released the Mac version of the Cache Register widget, version 2.0. It is available as a free download at our support site here: http://support.delorme.com/questions.php?questionid=114 The Windows version will be available soon. New with Cache Register 2.0 - connect your PN-Series GPS and sync all of your Pocket Queries directly from Geocaching.com's website to your device, in one step. Use the Sync checkbox for each PQ to pick and choose which files to transfer. Be sure to let us know if you have any questions. Check the DeLorme forum for Cache Register too, there are already threads going with customer discussion... http://forum.delorme.com/viewforum.php?f=151. Happy Caching! Chip Noble Team DeLorme

Cache Register 2.0 will be a free update to existing Cache Register owners. There's no price change for people looking to buy it now, just new functionality that will sync all of your pocket queries to the device at once rather than a single file at a time. Development is happening right now, I don't have a release date but PN-60s are being purchased as we speak so we'll be updating the plug-in on Geocaching.com's site to support the PN-60 as well as releasing the Cache Register update as soon as we're done testing. I'd measure in weeks not months. Thanks for all the questions, we hope you all enjoy the new functionality. Chip Noble Team DeLorme

Sorry for the delay in responding here, I was in Vail, CO for the Teva Mountain Games and then took a long weekend to ride the Trek Across Maine. To clarify, nothing has changed since we first announced our plans for a 2.8 firmware revision to the PN-30 and PN-40, it will be available as a download through Topo North America 9.0 and as a download through the updated Cache Register, version 2.0. Caleb was talking about the delivery of our firmware update as part of the new Topo North America product and just lost track of the Cache Register application that will also offer the update for Mac and PC. We're updating that desktop widget right now so that it will have the same Pocket Query Sync features that we have in Topo North America 9.0, just connect the PN and press Sync to move all of your pocket queries from the GC.com server to your device. I'll be putting together more information about Topo North America 9.0, the Earthmate PN-60w & SPOT Communictor, and all the exciting features we've managed to roll in for our hardcore geocachers. I'm going to be doing a seminar at GeoWoodstock VIII in Washington too so if you're attending be sure to stop in and ask your questions. I'll drop a hint here that we're going to be using the new Earthmate PN-60w & SPOT Communicator to release a new version of the Eartha 3-D geocoin too. Keep an eye on our blog for more details... Thanks, Chip Noble Team DeLorme

We'll be pushing an updated Cache Register version to existing Cache Register customers and it will include the 2.8 firmware. We'll add the 2.8 firmware to the install that is being sold to new Cache Register customers. That will let all existing and new users of Cache Register get the latest firmware for their PN-30/40. This new firmware will allow people to drop GPX files onto the SD card for their PN-30/40 devices and open them in the Geocaches page to take advantage of paperless caching and GPX file management for waypoints, geocaches, and tracks. To get the latest detailed maps including our paper Atlas & Gazetteer descriptions you will need to pay the upgrade price for Topo USA 9.0. There are lots of good road and trail updates so I think it will be worth it, even for those that can't use the Sync feature. We're aware that there are many useful 3rd party applications out there for GPS data management. We'll be reaching out to help development using our new PN exchange protocol. We're excited to see several programs supporting the DeLorme PN-Series devices and want to help our users that are looking for options like the Mac support mentioned here. Check out our blog for more details on what we're working on. http://blog.delorme.com/2010/01/06/delorme...-communication/ There are lots of questions out there so I've tried to bring some of the answers into one location. I'll have to link this thread back in... the geocaching community definitely pushes our products with great questions, suggestions, and critical feedback. It's very much appreciated. Chip Noble Team DeLorme

Wbtaylor, a few notes on your post: -The Li-Ion battery should be giving you six to eight hours of battery life depending on use and power saving settings. Half an hour per charge sounds like you've got a bad battery. Send me an e-mail with your contact information. -Our Cache Register program is being updated for Snow Leopard, is that the operating system you are having trouble with? The application should be working correctly on other Mac OS versions. I realize you've talked with our Tech Support department and weren't able to get things going so I'm guessing that was covered. Let me know if you have any other questions or if you haven't received your refund, I can help with both. -We are working on a firmware update that will let you load geocaches directly to your PN-40. Check out the following blog post for more details. DeLorme Blog - Firmware Updates. -You can choose the "Upload Field Notes" option on the PN Geocaching page to send your find log to the geocaching.com site now, check the menu option for more details. I hope this helps with your questions. My apologies for not picking up on this thread sooner. With the firmware update and some other exciting projects going on here at DeLorme we've been pretty busy. All good things for you and your new Earthmate PN-40. Send me an e-mail if you have any other questions. Chip Noble Product & Design Manager DeLorme

Not so long ago it was Garmin vs. Magellan. Delorme has come a log ways in a short time. The Arial maps are a great thing on a GPS. Garmin should take some notes here. Better still would be an alpha blended arial with topo. That's about as good as a map gets (ignoring routing). best of all would be that alpha blended topo map with roads so you can have it all on one map screen. But that's in my world. Different folks have different uses for maps and so we get the variety. Thanks! We've all been working very hard to create quality products. We appreciate people taking notice. As a matter of point, you can overlay our vector topo, street, and POI data on any raster imagery on the Earthmate PN-series GPS devices. Screenshots available here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bjdanz/PN40Scr...feat=directlink I hope that this helps! -Brian -Team DeLorme

With the release of firmware version 2.5 (the geocaching update) the comment field was increased from 800 characters to 15,000. Be sure that you have the latest firmware (currently 2.6.xxxx) and that should help. If you already are up to date... well, sometimes there's no accounting for prolific cache placers. You could use Cache Register to prioritize the fields, edit the description in Topo USA before sending it to the GPS, or use GSAK to customize the .gpx file. I hope that this helps! -Brian -Team DeLorme

Unfortunately, there are no Brick and Mortar retailers that offer the full power travel kit at this time, sorry. If your trip happens to be passing our HQ in southern Maine you could get one here... A temporary solution would be to purchase the 12v in car adapter in order to keep your standard batteries fresh for longer. I hope this helps! -Brian -Team DeLorme

You've got it, Lee. It's the cutting of the map packages, regardless of what the data is, that ties the map package to the PN-series GPS unit. Glad I could help. -Brian

Lee, I'll try to answer this simply, but it's not a simple answer... The Pro and Editor versions of Xmap will allow you to transfer and view map packages on multiple PN-series devices provided that those devices were registered in the software before said map package was created. Eg: you buy 3 PN's and Xmap Pro, you have the 3 PN's registered in the software, you create a map package. That map package will be viewable by all 3 of those PN's. It will not be viewable by a 4th PN that wasn't registered in the software before the map package was created. The Enterprise version of Xmap creates a "skeleton key" when a map package is created that allows it to be viewed on any PN-series unit, regardless of it's relationship to the software. I hope that this helps! -Brian

Thanks Moose Mob! I will be at CES this year and will be sure to put together a similar geocache outing for you and any other Las Vegas cachers that are interested. Keep an eye out for a post like this when CES rolls around. Thanks AD0OR for posting this on the UTAG site, I look forward to caching with you during our visit to Utah. Feel free to point people in my direction if they have any questions about either day's cache run. Chip Noble Team DeLorme

We're going to be in Salt Lake City for the Outdoor Retailer trade show next week and we were wondering if any geocachers would like to join us for a little cache run on Sunday, 7/19 in Park City or Wednesday, 7/22 in Salt Lake City. There are more details on our blog but we'll be giving out Eartha geocoins and would love to meet some local cachers while we're visiting Utah! http://blog.delorme.com/2009/07/13/geocach...h-team-delorme/ Let me know if you'd like to come out and show some folks from Maine around... Take care, Chip Noble Team DeLorme

Salt Lake City for Outdoor Retailer and some geocaching on the side. Come by for a geocoin... I'll search my desk for one of the 3D coins, there might be one in hiding. It would also be a good chance to try out a PN-40 in the field... more info on this at the DeLorme blog when I get a chance! Chip DeLorme

Sorry, just Park City and Salt Lake City this time... Chip Noble Team DeLorme

A quick note to let any of you holding a DeLorme Eartha 3-D geocoin know that we're going to adopt them out. Send me an adoption request and we'll turn ownership over to you. Initially we were looking to see where these coins ended up, but now we're hoping more people will log them if they can claim ownership. All have been released but only a few have been logged... Be patient if it takes a little time to turn around the requests, I'm headed to Utah for Outdoor Retailer and might fall behind on the e-mail! A side note, I'll be geocaching and giving out DeLorme geocoins in Park City on 7/19 and again in Salt Lake City on 7/22. Check our blog for more info and come on out to join us! Thanks, Chip Noble Team DeLorme

... and a blog post: http://blog.delorme.com/2009/05/31/cache-register-demo/ Post your questions! Thanks, Chip Noble Team DeLorme

Cache Register development is complete, we are doing final testing to make sure our release goes smoothly. If I was a gambling man I'd say it will be available next week... I've learned my lesson with timelines though, so I won't take that risk. Hopefully that gives more information for those that like to read between the lines. I'll be giving demos of the Cache Register and the PN-40 geocaching firmware at GeoWoodstock VII on Saturday if anyone wants to stop by and check it out. I've got a new geocoin to give away and a second coin to trade if anyone's interested... look for the DeLorme booth during your travels. Chip Noble Team DeLorme

A minor detail... make sure that you've chosen the "Open a Recent Project File" radio button and selected the saved project file before you check the "Hide dialog and use current Project Option at startup" box. This will always open to the project file you picked. You can use the Help>Welcome Screen option to change this setting later. Let us know if you have any other questions... Chip Noble Team DeLorme

On the opening welcome screen, lower left corner, there is a check box that if you deselect will automatically open to your last file. Hope this helps. -- Caleb

Lee Rimar: We released documentation for the DeLBin Exchange protocol used by Topo but it was considered too difficult to implement. Our engineers have been working on an updated protocol for the Send to GPS and Cache Register projects but haven't had any free time to document since we're still in development with those projects. It's a good request, just a matter of scheduling... OpenTrackRacer: Both suggestions are on our feature request list from your last contact. We focused our effort on pre-cutting the maps for the PN from Topo USA's NetLink tab but do appreciate the suggestion to allow someone to pick a larger coverage area and have NetLink "do the right thing." Logansackett: Specific link to answers here: http://forum.delorme.com/viewtopic.php?t=1...sc&start=16. Thanks for pointing us in the right direction Pax42! Thanks, Chip Noble Team DeLorme

Ramblin Ramsey's, this is high on my list too. It's important for all of our customers, not just geocachers. We've been working on the GC.com Initiative since we released in October but now that 1.6 and 2.5 are wrapping up we're looking at the road map again. Until the planning is finished I can't answer your question but I can say that we're looking closely at it. Lee Rimar, you recall the forum threads surrounding my initial timeline for the Geocaching.com Initiative, yes? There are plenty of people that get upset by schedules given with the best information at the time... those schedules always change as unknowns are researched during the development process. People are making purchase decisions based on forum information so I'm trying harder to hold off until we've worked our way through the process. Topo USA will go gold in a week or so, the firmware is finished, Cache Register is in beta, those are the products and features I'll talk about in public. I have had several discussions with the development team about 3rd party support and will share more when our plan is ready. As I said about GPS data on the SD card, we have received the message loud and clear; geocachers are looking for GSAK support. So I hope this helps, even though I avoided specifics... let me know if you have questions about what we are doing right now, much easier to talk about in a public forum... Chip Noble Team DeLorme

Wow... six pages of posts has to be a record for us on the Groundspeak forums. We were at DeLorme until 10 tonight working on the gold candidate for Topo USA 8.0. You can imagine that we've been paying close attention to these forums and are working hard to turn around some opinions on the ease of use of our Serious Tool software! We'll be releasing our gold candidate for the PN-20 and PN-40 firmware with the Topo USA 8.0 package. Cache Register is being beta tested as we speak and will be available as soon as Groundspeak completes their update and we incorporate that functionality. Here's my short list from tonight's testing... -PN firmware will add Difficulty/Terrain and Size to Geocache Details page before viewing comments. A PN View Hint... menu option will also make it easier to pull up that specific information. -Topo USA 8.0 will have an option to "Include PN maps" when downloading imagery and will prepare the maps to send to the GPS. Only use the Handheld Export tab if you want to make a custom map with your own trails, roads, or points of interest. -Topo USA 8.0 also has much improved waypoint and track management. We heard from lots of you that wanted to select groups of waypoints... not just one and not every single one... and send them to the GPS. -Topo USA 8.0 now has support for all the Geocaching.com cache symbols as well as the 15,000 character limit that our Send to GPS plug-in and Cache Register widget have. -For the serious tools out there you can bring Topo USA with you on your netbook or laptop and get a heads-up, 3D display powered by your PN device. -The Cache Register is working for both Mac and PC, sending imported pocket queries to the device. One of our hardcore geocaching beta testers posted how he is using GSAK to manage his pocket queries and output a special set of caches which he sends to the PN through Cache Register. We're implementing the latest from Groundspeak to let users sync their pocket queries directly from GC.com. I'll put together a blog post with screenshots to help people see that we're working hard to address the concerns about the usability of our Topo USA program. It's a very powerful program but we want to make sure the GPS features and MapLibrary options are easier to work with in this new version. I think all of the people that have already contributed to this thread have spoken to the PN-40 questions quite nicely. We did address a low power issue with the 2.5 firmware that was causing the device to lock if batteries were drawn too low. We've worked hard to help with any other issues related to power or WAAS or transfer rates and believe the 2.5 firmware update will go a long way toward resolving many of the heated topics that appeared in this thread. I know I referenced GSAK above... Rockin Roddy was right; we are planning to help 3rd party apps with communication to and from the device. I've learned my lesson about timelines but it is definitely something we know people are after. We appreciate all the patience people are showing as we work to roll out new geocaching features. I'm very glad to see that everyone acknowledged the points being made on both sides of this thread. Here at DeLorme we know what we have done well and we know what we still need to work on. I've been following this thread and sharing it with others at the office for a while now and am glad that it has reached a level where I'm more comfortable contributing. So long as everyone is treating each other with respect I'll pitch in where I can... If anyone is looking to talk in more detail they are welcome to e-mail or even better pay Team DeLorme a visit at our CITO event here at DeLorme headquarters on May 2nd or stop by our booth at GeoWoodstock. I'll give you a personal tour of the PN-40 geocaching firmware and the Cache Register widget. There are rumors of a new geocoin as well... Take care, Chip Noble Team DeLorme www.delorme.com\geocaching

DeLorme will be releasing Topo USA 8.0 in mid-to-late May and it will include street-level detail for Canada as well as major roads for Mexico. Our Canadian maps show many lakes as well but these are not topographic maps -- not the same as the topo detail we provide in the U.S. No contour intervals. But the route connectivity will be there so someone can route from Mexico City to a street address in Calgary if they want -- all this right out of the PN-Series GPS device package -- nothing extra to buy. We have several world map projects underway and I don't think many people here know that DeLorme is providing a new world base map to the U.S. government and this base map was recently touted by the head of ESRI as the new world standard. That's because it is both seamless of the entire world and also GPS accurate unlike others out there. But to be clear, this base map is not available for PN users yet -- instead we are offering our previous edition, which is still helpful when overseas. But the promise of a better one in the future is there. People who already own a PN-Series GPS or Topo USA will receive emails from us when the product is shipping and will be able to save considerably off the list price as they have in the past. Topo USA 8.0 will also include many other improvements for PN-Series GPS users. More details to follow in the coming weeks. Our Cache Register widget is on track for late April (in fact I believe a beta release for this upcoming weekend). Just check our forums. Lots going on here with more to come. Stay tuned. -- Caleb Thanks, TotemLake! That's good info indeed. Now the last thing standing between myself and a pn-40 is the detail of the world basemap. My Garmin shows hydrography, which is suprisingly detailed (ie many small and obscure lakes are both present and named), in Canada. But I will research the DeLorme forums for that info - I don't want to distract this thread in numerous directions