sodajerk

Make sure you have an available com (serial) port on your pc. We could use a little more information like what kind of pc, windows version, etc. Is something new or did it all used to work together in the past?

In Texas, not only a web site, but I have a book with Historical Markers we take on trips. We can look up and read the markers without stopping. Always nice to know a little history of the area. I think it is called "The sign beside the road." or something like that. I guess we should start marking the coordinates in the book now.

Another lefty wishing you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Good looking wings.

When I hade an ice cream store, I looked all over for a left handed ice cream scoop, never found one. Oh well (raises left hand).

Inasmuch as we are gathering into two camps, like the donkeys and elephants, I throw my hat in the Magellen ring with my Sport Trac Pro. Also, paperless with spinner, plucker and Palm IIIC. That usually stirs up some more debates.

I got mine at Flying J Truck Stop

SporTrak Pro purchased July 03, code 2202. No cracks, yet.

A google search for Magellan Cable came up with this web page how to make your own. Cable I used the information to take a data cable and a power cable(12 volt lighter) and married them to a combo cable. I saw another site where he used part of an old credit card to make the GPS end. He used blobs of solder for the connections, instead of springs with the plastic credit card having a little flexibility in it. For the PC end, you could use parts from an old serial mouse. Good luck Jim

I do not connect my Palm to my gps. This is what works for me. 1. Get 500 waypoints of regular and multi catches within 30 miles of home in zip gpx pocket query. 2. Unzip to shared network drive on my lan 3. Using spinner and plucker, update a channel called "(date) regular" on my desktop computer. 4. Copy file from step 2 to my laptop, import into easy gps. 5. Upload the 500 waypoints to my Spor Trac Pro using laptop. 6. Get 500 waypoints of all other catches except regular and multi within 45 miles of my home. 7. Unzip to shared network drive on my lan. 8. Using spinner and plucker, update a channel called "(date) other" on my desktop computer. 9. Get all the reverse catches in the 50 states. It is a little less than 500. 10. Unzip to a shared network drive on my lan 11. Using spinner and plucker, update a channel called "(date) Reverse" on my desktop computer. 12. Hot Sync to my Palm IIIc. 13. Copy files in step 7 and 10 to my laptop. I now have 1500 catches on my Palm, 500 local waypoints on my gps and 1500 on the laptop to put into a mapping program, although I do not map the reverse catches. I do not need any special cables, the Hot Sync came with the Palm, and one came with my Sport Trak. My Palm, GPS, desktop and laptop all stay in sync. All I am missing is the 500 "other" on my gps, but it can only hold 500. Next time get one with a memory card. Like I said, works for me, your mileage may vary.

I have had my SporTrak Pro 6 months, no cracks, no problems (yet)

I have met other catchers on two different occasions. On the second occasion, the brother of the cache owner came with his family while we were looking. He even called his brother on his cell phone. There were 6 people, and 1 dog looking, but it was a DNF, his brother was no help on the phone.

I work accross the street from the School Book Depository Building, looks like I don't have far to go. There are 10 in Dallas. A lot of states do not have any, that does not seem very fair.

I also vote for the spinner and plucker software. I then use Easy GPS to send the waypoints to my Sport Trac then to my mapping software on the laptop. I can use the Palm notepad to record notes for trade items, condition, etc. The laptop stays in the car, the GPS and PDA go on the hunt. Plucker is not a memory hog, I can get 3 of the 500 catch pocket queries on my Palm IIIx with room to spare. Where I live a 25 mile radius takes up the 500 catch limit, then I specify another zip code to get a little further out then I keep a group of reverse caches to remind me to find a yellow jeep. Works for me.

There are a lot of parks and lakes in the twin cities. Sometime I wish we lived there, except for the cold. We were there to visit Grandma for Christmas. I did a PQ for Bloomington, and my son and I found a few, even in the snow. I have been married to a Minnesota gal for over 30 years and we have made many trips to see her family. (We live in Dallas) but this trip was informative because we got to see some neat parks we would have not otherwise explored. This was the first time for geocaching outside of Texas. If you get outside the cities, the density drops off quite a bit. Maybe try to hide some just a little further away.

With my Sport Trak, there is a little black box between the 12 volt plug and the connection to the GPS. It takes the 12 volts down to about 5 volts. I am sure there is a diode or filter or some curcit to smooth out any ripples. I had not seen transformers called wall warts , but it fits.

I have a Palm IIIx and a IIIc. I can get at least 3 of the 500 catch downloads using spinner and plucker. Usually have the 500 within 30 miles of home, all the reverse (locationess) in the US and 500 where we are heading on our next trip. Works for me. Download the desktop software from palmone.com. It is free.

I added a cigarette lighter socket to my desktop computer getting 12 v DC from the power supply. I use it to power my SportTrak or charge my Palm or run other 12 volt items. No problems. As long as your Wall Mart power supply is putting out a smooth 11 to 14 volts DC, it should not cause any damage.

The only one I have ever used is Spor Trak Pro. It has a compass. Works for me. Jim Texas Geocaching

You can try the fishing department for some tags like the plant tags. In Texas you have to identify any trout line or jug line with a gear tag. You can mark them with a ballpoint pen and they are waterproof, even designed to be under water. Jim Texas Geocaching

We found out about geocaching because we got lost while RVing. (Actually you can't get lost while you have your kitchen sink with you, but that is another topic for another forum. ) Anyway, back to the story, we were unsure of where we were and which direction to go, we never did find the campground we were looking for. The road was not well marked, it was dark, etc. After the vacation, I was researching those GPS things to see if we could have used one to help find our way and I discovered this web site. I sounded like fun. There happened to be a thread about Flying J having the Sport Trac Pro on sale, I got lucky. I have a laptop, got a Palm, joined as a preium member, and for our Christmas trip to Minnesota, I have started mapping potential caches to try to find. We will be staying with inlaws, so I will have internet access. As others have said, many private campgrounds have a phone line to connect your laptop. Look at theRV Forum under tech issues in the forum for several discussions about connecting while on the road. Works for us. Texas Geocaching Jim

9key in Texas got an ammo can lock on e-bay. I searched today and found none, but I have seen them in the past. Look at http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=96532 Sanity. I have not found one of the keys, but it is on my watch list. Jim

I second Mozilla. Been using it over two years. Jim

My Palm IIIx with 4 meg memory will hold more than the max 500 caches you get with a GPX download. It was less than 50.00 on e-bay with modem and cradle. Works for me.

Inasmuch as you have 80211b, then you must have a desktop or server. Connect the GPS to the desktop and transfer the files (waypoints) to the GPS via that machine. I have a desktop and laptop connected via lan cables. The gps connects to the serial on the laptop and the PDA connects to the serial on the desktop. Get the GPX file from geocatching (premium member), spin and pluck to the PDA on the desktop then use the same file in easygps on the laptop to upload waypoints into gps. PDA and gps now are synchronized. Works for me. You seem more computer savy than me, could you do something with the printer port? In the DOS days, we had a printer sharing network that converted parallel to serial, sent it down a telephone type wire then converted it back to parallel. A little box was on the parallel port of each computer. We only hade one laser printer in the office. Texas Geocaching Jim

The only one I have ever used is Sport Trak Pro. I have no problems with it, even updated the firmware from the Magellen site. The pro has a little more memory. Texas Geocaching