shunra

Understanding that *any* handheld will work, I just bought this TI Amigo on e-bay, for $19.24, shipping included. I hope it's any good, at least for the beginning...

I'm also increasingly fed up with the paper work, and am willing to buy the cheapest PDA that will do the trick. I have never had a PDA before. Are there any models that I should absolutely avoid, even as a beginner's model?

I'm increasingly tempted to switch from paper to PDA myself. Assuming that I'll just need it for caching, is the cheapest PDA I can find good enough for caching?

Should I post a warning to the garage sale forum page?

I'm using a MAP76S. When I select a waypoint, I see, for instance, both the name (GCG5VO) and a 16 character comment (WHATGREASPOBCF13), which in this case is shorthand for 'WHAT GREAt SPOt - Bagley Creek, by Freadbear13'. I have the option of seeing just the icon on the map, or the icon with the 6 character name. I would be happy to be able to see the linger 16 character designation on the map instead.

Saddam's wife? I missed that one.

You may change your mind after you've spent an hour searching for a cache that was archived 2 week ago. Good point.

That's comforting! I delete caches as I find them, and just overwrite the existing waypoints with a new upload of the same query every now and then. Deleting existing waypoints is not necessary, except if you want to upload a different query and have no space left (a problem I apparently no longer have ). Besides that, i can just delete the geocache-type waypoints, rather than *all* the waypoints, and if there is a specific one I want to keep, I just turn it into something else, along with some other permanent waypoints (like 'home', etc.)

Ah, that explains it. I'm using version 3.60. Thanks! Yes, me too - I was!

sparsingly If you're going to spend your time on the forums correcting everyone else's spelling, at least use real words in your own posts. Hey, I'm a translator by profession. It's my job to invent new words!

Every time I see this MM header I think it's about 2000 finds... My own PTFR has just moved over 1 for the first time ever. A sad day for me. Should I shut up and go caching?

Same on my Garmin. I wonder if it's possible to make the name appear on the map, though.

Cache, not cashe. And I entirely diasagree. A Find is an implicit agreement between the hider and the finder. A claimed 'Find' is implicitly granted by the hider, unless the hider explicitly decides not to grant that Find, because, in his opinion, the terms were not met. As a cache owner, I retain the right to delete Finds which haven't been actually made, for instance, or which do not meet my requirements in the cache page, violate GC cachiquette, or merely just infringe on my personal good taste. That's my right. I'm the owner of my page. Finders are my guests. I'll entertain them, banter with them, and be the best host I could possibly immagine to be, but I will misbehaving guests will be asked to leave, or kicked out if they refuse. I would use this right sparsingly, though. If someone abused me (or my cache) on my own page, I'll reply in kind on the same page, and ask the person off-list to remove his comment, and offer to remove my response. I'd exercise my right to delete only if things got even worse, but this has never happened, so far.

I agree with you, Jamie. In other news, but I thought it kinda fits in here: while in russia, you maybe might run into problems when you, as a foreigner, illegally import a GPSr, in the USA you could turn up being a suspect terrorist when carrying around a Farmers' Almanac...: Almanacs May Be Tool For Terrorists, FBI Says So I hope none of you US geocachers is using such a farmers' almanac as a tool for geocaching Stefan Right on, lizard. I don't know how long it will take until GPSrs will be forbidden here in the US, for reason of public hysteria, eh, safety. FWIW, I would assume that civillian GPSr use in occupied Iraq is forbidden, too. Thinking of it, how does GC view all those caches placed by US soldiers in Iraq? Temporary caches are against the rules, as are vacation caches, if there isn't a local cacher willing to adopt the cache when the original hider leaves the place (Now I better don that camo shirt...)

Never mind camping on someone's property... I'd be happy with some right-of-way in the US, provided that one stays on trails, doesn't trample on crops, etc. Ah, the free world...

That's not 'of course'. It is equally possible that some existing waypoints get pushed out, according to the FIFO principle. FWIW, After having loaded 400 and then 200 into a unit with a capacity of 500, and having good reason to be sure that all 500 slots are occupied, I uploaded one single waypoint from a gpx file with just that one waypoint in it. And guess what? It was uploaded. This means that one of the pre-existing 500 must have been pushed out. But which one - that's the question. They do. I tested that first, by uploading the same waypoints, once from a GPX file (they got uploaded as geocaches), and once from a LOC file (they were all turned into unspecified waypoints).

Just did a check... I have 146 *unfound* caches within a 30 mile radius, as the crow flies, but for all but 9 of those I need to take at least one ferry, and most of the remaining require a considerable drive-around. This means that I don't have much opportunities for "caching during lunch break" (never mind that self-employed people tend not to have lunch breaks), and that I find most of my caches either on the fly (while traveling for some other reason), or during a special caching day-trip.

When new waypoints are loaded, what happens to the old ones? My Map76S has room for 500 waypoints. I uploaded 400 caches from pocket query A. A few caching days later, during which a few new caches appeared, the same PQ (A) produced 400 caches again. Upon uploading them, I noticed that the new ones were added, whereas old ones (including those which I had found in the meantime and were not part of the 2nd download) were still there (and I had to delete them manually). This means that a new download does not delete existing waypoints as such, which is good. I then uploaded 200 caches from another query (B ), which has some overlap with PQ-A, but certainly not as much as 100. What I cannot see now is: did the upload of the 200 lead to deletion of some of the original 400 caches, and if so, which ones of the 400? Or does uploading just stop when the 500 limit is reached (and if so, which of the 200 don't get uploaded?)

Two, actually: nrs. 4 and 9. The others have apparently been changed into regulars, and I don't see why the remaining two shouldn't go the same way. FWIW, as of this piont, I won't bother to click the Project APE checkmark in pocket queries anymore, if this is all there is...

Try 'accessible' and 'accessibility'

I understand the history part - plenty about that in the forums - but that was 2001, and now it's 2004... Wouldn't it make more sense just to turn them into regular caches? It's enough that the cache page itself states that they were originally planet APE caches, to the extent that that origin is still relevant ot anyone today.

Thanks for the tips. I'll have to check if they're available for rent in this area. I'm in Port Townsend...

Yikes. I've hiked Marmot Pass in the summer, and there's no way I'm going to try that in snowshoes! Oh well, so you see how inexperienced I am with snowshoes. I think it is one of the best hikes above the timber line in the Olympics, except, of coursem if you start out from Hurricane Ridge. No caches there, though, since it's a NP.

I have no prior experience with snow-shoeing, and would be happy to be initiated. I don't have gear, but I'll be happy to team up join if someone has a spare pair. On the Olympic side, I would be happy to snowshoe with you to the Marmot Pass cache. I also have designs on placing a cache in the Mt. Townsend area. If you'd like to do that together, I'm game! Lots of options

Thanks for that most personal welcome! I look forward to an opportunity for making it down to Bremerton, and I'll keep the Howe Farm caches in mind. I am well aware of the enormous advantages the 76S has over the Magellan Blazer 12, which I used before. Having started out with my 'career' with a B12, I don't stop marvelling at the versatility of the 76S. I'm still learning about it! If there is anything between Bremerton and the Hood Canal Bridge that you'd like to do this weekend, let me know. Chances are that I haven't done it yet, and perhaps we can team up. So far, most of my hikes have been solo Glad to be in touch!