RageWizards

I thought they were silly at first but noticed I had experienced a decent workout playing nibbons. Now I use it to get in a good running work out. I have a hard time running just for the sake of the exercise. Playing nibbons in a good field makes for a fun and challenging work out in which the time really flies as I focus on beating my latest high score. On Mondays I take my son to his drum lesson and I go to a nice sized open field next to the parking lot and get in a good half hour of sprinting, walking and jogging as I gather flags and avoid the skulls. Very much like playing a period of soccer. I've noticed on small or medium field settings, I can walk rapidly and keep ahead of the faster skull and have some time to catch my breath. On the large field setting, I cannot allow much walking as the skulls move faster to cover the field. On the other hand, the smaller the field setting, the more precise my position has to be. I absolutley cannot score a flag on the run on the small field setting. On the large field setting it is much easier. I plan to use this game as a tool to get in shape for orienteering this fall. I use a field near my house that has a good elevation change. Running in the grass over elevation changes while holding the gps is much like the requirements of orienteering. Yeah, yeah, I know...I need to get a life.

I've cut descriptions and pasted them into an e-mail that I then sent to my Blackberry. No syncing up anything.

OK, Ok. I found BMGPX and downloaded it. Took a bit of head scratching to find out how to run it. The results were impressive when I opened the resulting file in GE. What fun!

I have noticed that at times I can power up my Garmin Legend C and get quick acquisition and other times from the the same location, I can power up and it takes several minutes. Why is this? I can understand being 100 miles from the last point I powered up but why the differences from my front yard? (yes, a newbie question)

I'm on the learning curve! Based on the feedback, I've now figured out how to open .loc files in GE. I've also downloaded GPS Trackmaker as well as the North America map. I've experimented converting files but now am not sure about the differences. I've converted LOC waypoint files to GPX, KML, and whatever the file type was that I needed to see the waypoints in Mapsource. I have Easy GPS, GSAK, and now GPS Track maker. My head is spinning and I am a little nauseated. (just kidding, its the tequila). From a practical perspective, how do I best use these tools and the file types? Rockhounders, what is BMGPX? I did get the NGS file for Johnson County, Kansas and would love to get it into file for use in the above mentioned programs, esp. GE. And since I am fortunate to have the help, is there a way to sort out the older BM's from those more recent? Can you tell by the PID? My county file or Geocache searches a littered with BM's set along the interstate system and these are of little interest to me and probably fairly dangerous to locate. Thanks for the help Trailblazer and Rockhounds. I found my first BM this week and as of yesterday, made it four for the week.

Overland Park. Hit n'miss cacher. Started in PA about six years ago. Find few, then do something else for awhile. Kinda makes me a perpetual newbie.

I started out as TeamNOGPS several years ago. I learned of the sport, had no GPS, but wanted to rise to the challenge using Photomap USA, Topozone, and a compass. Each rural find was real accomplishment. I hid a cache in the same manner, painstakingly plotting the coordinates, as well as providing good hints. Guess what? Because I noted that the coordinates were scaled and welcomed any corrections by the finders, the reviewer archived the cache. I was so flamed I couldn't enjoy it again for a long time. Just recently back at it but with GPS now. I'm just getting into benchmarks and find the irony of locating scaled BM's amusing. PS: That cache probably still sits at the edge of lovely little boulder field south of Lebanon.

I like using the KML file which allows display of geocaches in Google Earth. Can anyone guide me to one that will display BM's?

That is exactly what it feels like! Some days you want to be a kid and other days you need to feel more grown up. It is good to be able to play both ways.

Thanks so much for the advice and dirrection on handling the logging and reporting. There is a good deal more to learn than geocaching, but more rewarding.

Bad, bad typing. It was JE0836, Johnson County, Kansas. Sorry.

I located my first benchmark today! (JE0386) It had not been logged in the Geocaching site. Now having logged it, what else should I do? Should I also log it on the Waymarking site? Should I report it to NGS? How descriptive should I be in logging a benchmark? I could be very descriptive in how to locate the BM, but would that be spoiling it for others, as in a geocache? I have just recently begun to lurk around this forum, and read the benchmarking FAQ's. I know just enough to be a little dangerous I guess. I do plan to return and photograph the mark. Any advice would be appreciated so that I make the most of this new pastime and do it right.

After downloading the file, open Google Earth. From the File Menu, select Open. Locate the network KML file you downloaded and select it. That should do it. Zoom in on an area and allow some time for the cache layer to update.

I just received a Legend C as a gift. It was not bundled with any Mapsource software other than the Waypoint Manager. I quickly determined I wanted more detailed maps so I went to the Garmin website to find out what is available. It seems the only non-Topo title for North America that is listed for this unit is the City Select software. For some reason, although it is listed and described on the website, you cannot order it and there is no explanation. I contacted Garmin customer support and got an e-mail directing me to dealers. The local Best Buys donot have it in stock and the Best Buy website says this title is sold out. Is there an explanation for this? I found that I can get this software on Ebay, but I also saw that Metroguide v4 is noted on Ebay by a seller as being compatible with the Legend C. I also noted on Garmin's website a comment about limited mapping memory when using City Navigator, but this package is not listed as compatible with the unit in their look-up feature. It does list Navigator for areas outside North America but for North America, only City Select is shown. I find this all confusing and would appreciate some help from more experienced users. Can anyone comment for on what Mapsource software is compatible, what they use, what is best?