mtbiker278

Sorry everyone who might have been interesting, but I've struck a dealer with my dad for the GPS unit. This unit is considered sold. Thanks, M

Well I'm planning on selling this now as a package. Again this is a Garmin GPSMAP-60 that has been used for about 6 months on trails and in the car. For the most part it looks brand new, aside from a couple of nicks. I'm including all that came with this unit (Clip, lanyard, USB cable, manual, Mapsource Waypoint manager, and the original box!) I'm also including Caty Navigator North America 2008 (Non-NT version). This software is already unlocked to the unit and won't work with any other unit, aside from the compatibility issues with newer units. When I purchased this GPS unit I paid about ~$170 , and about ~$80 for the maps. Considering the use, and that these two are already unlocked to each other, I'm going to set a price at $185 including shipping to the lower 48 states. If you can find a better deal let me know. Thanks for looking! -M

I have a Garmin GPSMAP-60 at the moment. I'm considering selling it to buy a newer GPS unit. I've used it for Geocaching, finding my way around , etc. It has plenty of basic features for someone just starting to geocache. Frankly my other hobbies have taken over (Rock climbing, and mt. biking), and I mainly use my GPS for road directions, and not getting lost on the trail. I'm looking to get an Etrex Vista HCx, although I doubt anyone will be willing to trade. For those that are interested I also have a copy of CityNav US (non-NT version) that can be used with the GPSMAP-60. I'll send both the GPS unit and software as a package. However, I'm not sure about the "locking" feature that Garmin has on the software(can someone else chime in?). Not sure on a price yet, just gauging interest. Thanks, -M

just so you know Sunday is the last day of their annual sale. After that it goes back up to $350.

REI is having a sale! WOO HOO! I saw a package that included a new Vista Hcx, 2008 US topo, and a case all for $259. Can really beat that. Enjoy!

only the higher end units have both an altimeter and electronic compass (Garmin vista Hcx, GPSMAP 60 Csx). Both retail for around $250-300 and up depending on availaility. I believe the Garmin Etrex H has all the basics for a low price (~$99). I currently use a Garmin GPSMAP 60C with maps loaded on it. When I get close to a cache I use a regular compass from about 30m out. I get the bearing from my GPS unit and just eyeball my target. Seems to work pretty well since the readings sometimes bounce a lot. I hope this helps!

Granted I'm still sort of new to the whole geocaching game I have had a couple encounters. my more recent excuses of what I was doing were: 1) College grad student doing an ecological study on the decay of trees, or a wildlife study (usually involves some BS) 2) Volunteer for the USGS surveying the area. 3) I'm lost 4) I've been backpacking for three days and I'm foraging for food. Generally I don't freak out or anything when I'm writing stuff down or circling aorund a tree. If someone approaches I'll leave the cache alone until they leave.

SHOWUSER=1435886

Hey how do you find your ID number again? <--- Prime example of the current influx of noob geocachers

Well I finally signed up for the premium membership and downloaded GSAK. I'm still trying to figure the program out, but I can definitely vouche for the print feautre. However, I will add that the format is a little weird in the print out. The hint is kind of squished, but I think I could fix it. If I took the HTML preview and imported that saved file into an excel spread sheet you should be able to adjust the format. Granted this is probably above what most people would do, but what else am I going to do with my time at work :-)

I have some Energizer 2200mAh batteries running in my GPSMAP 60. I also use a 15min. charger. So far they been lasting me about a week per charge. I don't really trust the battery indicator since there's almost no resolution on it. One tick below the max could mean anywhere from 75% to 50%. The main reason companies still develop alkaline batteries is that they can hold more charge than NiMH batteries. They're cheaper to produce (with the exception of newer Lithium non-rechargables), and they generally hold their charge better than NiMH over time. However, with newer lithium-polymer technology coming around (think newer hybrid battereis), evertually they will scale down to smaller sizes and voltages. Right now the smaller lithium-poly batteries are used in RC model packs with a higher voltage draw (3.7v per AA battery). For the average user you'll get the best value at this point in time out of a good 2500mAh NiMH battery IMO.

Wouldn't it be possible to use the track log to route a trail your on and overlay it to the map you have? All you would need to do is have your Track log cleared at the start of the trail, follow the trail for whatever distance, and then save the track log under whatever name you want. Then when you go home you can upload the track onto whatever Mapsource software you have (Including the waypoint manager) and your trail map would show up on the screen. Granted it wouldn't be 100% accurate, it would be close enough. You could even do as others have suggested and drop way points and using the averaging function to give the waypoints a little more accuracy. Edit: I just saw that you wanted to route the trail map... well I don't think you can do this with the above method, but if you're watching your GPS every so often it'll at least give you an idea of what direction to go. Assuming these trails have already been created.

I recently purchased a GPSMAP 60, essentially the same as the GPS 60 just with Mapping features. So far It's been working great for me. The Battery life is definitely good. I have mine running on 2200mAh NiMH batteries and haven't had to recharge after about a week with periodic use. It features a compass that will work while you are moving. Can tell you your elevation given you have good recption. The contrast on the screen is good, and can show quite a bit of detail. I'll be loading city navigator onto it shortly, so I'll let you know how it does with maps. Overall I'm pretty please with my purchase. Sure as hell was cheaper than getting a new Colorado, even with the added Map Software. I was able to find mine for $183 shipped. Use google's shopping feature.

True that I am not a premium memberat the moment, maybe at a later date. Currently I'm not really concerned with difficulty, or cahce type. Right now I stick to more Traditional caches. Lately I'l been cut and pasting Data into an Excel File that I can print out and take with me. I have a column for the Cache ID, Coords, and the hint. Not much else too it really. It takes some time to do, but not much more than looking at the cache online individually. Once I download the Cache to my GPS I copy all the info I want which I can cross reference when I'm actually at the cache. Just trying to save some time, trees, and effort.

Thanks ClydE and Crawil! That's some useful information. I'll have to download GSAK when I get a chance and play with it. I'm sure I'll figure something out soon enough that doesn't have me maunally entering data. Thanks again!

hahaha, well hopefully I don't have a son I don't know about being that I'm only 24. I gues I'll just have to coerce some of my friends into my new hobby...

well it's not so much that I'm use to using Excel, I can certainly learn another program without a problem. I just notice that there are limitations with what I have to work with at the time. Going completely paperless right now isn't really an option since I'm not going to buy another electronic gizmo to store all my cache info. If I am going to continue to use paper I'd rather use less of it and have more information on hand, hence the trying to fit everything into an excel sheet including hints which I can then print out and take with me. Think of it as an alternative for those who are still using paper, but want to condense their information

I wonder if you could cut and past the spreadsheet matrix into an excel file... hmm

I'm currently using a legal pad with hand written coords, hints, etc. Quite tedious, but it works for the most part. I'm looking for a way to streamline the whole process by having only a couple pages that have all the information I need to find a cache. That way I can print about 2 pages and have all the cache information I need. Once I go through a majority of the list I could update the file with more caches, remove the found caches, and print again, plus I can toss the old pages into th recycle bin at work when I'm done! :-) It looks liek it has a majority of the information, but no hints on the spreadsheet...

Does GSAK let you export to Excel?

I just started my geocaching efforts recently, and I'm already thinking of things to make the game a little easier. I didn't have the money to get a fancy new Garmin Colorado, but I did have enough to get the decent GPSMAP 60. However, it definitely lacking in the amount of information it can store in terms of clues and hints. I think the total characters it can save in the notes of a wayoint is about 30. Anyway, I was thinking since I can store everything on my GPSr, I figured I could at least condense the amount of paper I would be using. I started making an excel spread sheet with the Cache numbers, coords, and clues. For those who don't have Excel on their home computer you can download the Open source suite that has every single computer office application needed for FREE! Look on C-Net.com and they should have a link. Fortunately I have excel on my work laptop, plus I can print double sided from the office as well. Depending on the font I'm sure I can fit >200 caches on a page. The only other thing I can think of is having mapSoucre City Navigator loaded onto your unit so you wouldn't have to look up directions. My copy should be here Wed. Anyone else using a similar method?

Nalgene Cyrotubes!!! Well I guess I know what I'm making my cahces out of later on... I use those at work all the time! I figured I wasn't going to load the entire map on to my GPS. I use my computer regularly and loading maps on and off shouldn't be a problem. If I was going into the city I probably would only take the maps I needed. Although I have a feeling I'm more likely to be hiking/biking out in the woods. My dad has another Garmin GPS unit for his car. Any chance of being able to load it onto my unit?

Grettings all from Maryland! I'm yet another newbie that has stumbled onto the sport of geocaching. I found out while shopping in REI for a trail guide book and saw one on Geocaching. Semed like cool thing to do. Who doesn't like gigantic treasure hunts?!? Anyway, I had been thinking about getting a handheld GPS for hiking, cycling, running, etc. but I this pushed me over the edge. I recently purchased a new Garmin GPSMAP 60. I like that it was low budget, but still had a bunch of features, and the battery like is 28hrs(almost twice that of others). I soon as I had it running I started loading Geocache coordinates into my GPS. One thing I did notice is the base map is pretty generic. It has all major interstates, and some local roads, but there's no chance of getting turn by turn directions off of it. I started looking at some of the additional MapSource software that I could load, and I'm having a hard tome deciding. While the TOPO maps would be useful, they don't have the detail that I wanted for the streets. Any suggestions on which I should get? I'm leaning toward the City Navigator North America, but I'm looking for price a lot lower than the ~$135 listed on the Garmin site. One more thing, I've been searching the forum for idea about whata cahce would look like, or where to look for them once I get to the coordinates. Some of them have been pretty obvious, and others (particularly the nanos) seem down right evil and impossible. I feel like I should have bought a handheld metal detector or something. I guess I'll just have to figure it out over time. Thanks for the help, D