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Woodstramp

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Everything posted by Woodstramp

  1. Cowboy, I'll have you know that tar paper works quite well in floorboards.....you just have to make sure you get enough dirt on the business side to keep it from sticking to your brogans. OP, I'm one of those Luddites who has a GPS with electronic compass, but turns that new-fangled gadget off.
  2. One(not on your list) is the Delorme. I know for a fact that the PN-20 I have is water tite. Had a spill on a Seadoo a while back.
  3. I meant supplying power to the unit when serial connected, instead of charging. Also, I have an old serial port Legend and it is like mphilch says....data only...no power supply. I found this out when I got the Legend. Did not have a cable so I built one with an old serial mouse cord and a pFranc Etrex connector. There are four connections on one of those old Etrexs. I only used 0-v (ground reference), TX and RX. +(power) was not used. Anyway, it was recognized as soon as it was connected to the PC with Mapsource running. I transfer data between MS and the Legend a good bit. You won't hear a mount up sound like with a USB device. The only way to tell is seeing if MS can recognize the GPS.
  4. Those units were not designed to charge from the computer cable.... only data transfer wiring. If you still have a computer with a serial port I would load Mapsource, connect the unit and see if MS can regognize your Etrex.
  5. 39steps, I've seen that feature one my Delorme softwares (Topo and Streets) but have never used it. Never even used my Topo-loaded laptop as a mobile device either, but will as soon as I get a car charger for the laptop.
  6. Sounds like a neat idea, but I am confused. Are these folks going to cache solo or in groups. I would think that mixed groups would be more workable. I think that it would work if you had a blind person (who had no other disability) working with say, a well sighted person who had limb difficulties. Play off each other's stregnths for the hunt. Saw a young lady in a wheelchair on the tube a while back. Some sort of palsy disability. She could operate her chair fine...and had a handheld GPS fixed near the control. BTW, I saw a cool GPS thing on TV for blind folks. It was hanging about the guy's belt. The thing had a few manual controls and records waypoints and voice notes. He and some others were "geocoding" waypoints around town. He'd "record" a WP and say: "Jo's Coffee Shop...Good coffee cakes....good service...bus stop near." I wasn't paying that much attention, but I think the device could also recognize requests from the user. If I recall, they were bulding a data base for local blind users. Seems to me you could load a geocaching .gpx into something like that.
  7. If you can find it you might try what is called vacuum seal grease. Looks like thick petroleum jelly. It is also very inert as far as rubber and plastics go.
  8. I have one of those old 2000 models. Bought it for like $20. Just curious.....anyone know what that unit retailed for back when first introduced?
  9. Just some observations about cell phones vs. a handheld GPS... Just bought a Virgin Mobile "LG Optimus V" Android. I've only cached with it twice. No new finds, just used it to check against local GPS finds I've already made to see how close it zeroes out at GZ...something I do with any handheld that comes my way. It worked as well any GPS I've tested in the same way. Note...was using the unmentionable geocaching app. That thing rocks. The main thing that impresses the most so far is how fast this thing aquires a sat-lock. Four times in a row it has even beaten my wonderful 60csx. Note that I also had the GPS function disabled prior to engaging the Google maps app on the Phone. Blam...it locks in my house....Blam....it locks as I leave the house. The Google Navigate app is amazing. Can even "tell" it to go to an adress and it just works. Amazing. Read here once that there is an Android app that can make a smart phone like a handheld (set waypoints/see coords, etc). Soon as I can set WP's with the phone I'll further test it against the 60csx.
  10. Congrats on reviving the 500. I think you are the first actual person to unbrick one that had lost it's basemap. You need to see if you can recall step by step what exactly you did and post it here. As to Magellan support..... They abandonned the Explorist lines a long time ago. I've long said that Groundspeak IS magellan's best tech support.
  11. Jean, Seldom is right. "Tile" area are sent to your GPS from Basecamp. These will be like chunks of wallpaper with trails in that area drawn on them. I'm more used to using Mapsource with my older Garmins. In MS there is a maptool icon. You click that, highlight (tiles turn pink) and then you connect your GPS and send the data over. I've just started messing with Basecamp and I think the process is just the opposite. You have to connect the GPS and then Basecamp allows you to highlight tile areas so that you can send to the GPS. You have a new Garmin, so someone with more experience with the BC/newer Garmins will have to help you from there.
  12. When you say " I open the map" do you mean the My Trails file you downloaded or do you mean you can't see the trails in Basecamp when you open it? Remember that Mapsource and Basecamp are like blank slates that you have to populate with maps. Kind of like hanging wallpaper in your house. The My Trails download from GPSfiledepot should be opened after download. I think that map set has a self installer (meaning it will install itself on Basecamp or Mapsource after you first open/run it. Also, as mentioned earlier, the MT map info will not be visible unless zoomed in a good bit. MT info will not be able to be seen everywhere on the map screen like a topo or street map. Only in places were trails were recorded.
  13. Jean, sussamb is right that you should have Basecamp. It's geared towards the new Garmins like you Etrex. To load it go here: http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=4435 Also, seeing how you have a snazzy new mapping capable GPS, detail maps will only enhance your your use of it....particularly if you cache out away from town (or even in town for that matter). GPSfiledepot has nice free ones. You asked earlier what a topo map is. Topo maps show a lot of usefull info (terrain changes/water features/roads). Say you were using a nonmapping GPS and it tells you that the cache is 500 that way. 250 feet into the hunt you encounter a creek that you can't cross. A glance at a topo map will show you ways around obstacles. I assume you are in the US. What state do you live in? Let me know and I'll find a direct link (at GPSfiledepo)t to a good topo for your area that you will be able to load for Basecamp and then to your Etrex.
  14. Most of the Garmin handhelds can go to that screen if you power it up while depressing `OK` ,or `Enter`, or push in the joystick.
  15. Not exactly sure but an Astro is very simular to the 60 models as far as form goes..... I do know that my 60csx does not have an option to use lithiums. I`ve read the initial peak voltage of a fresh pair of lithiums can damage this unit. Is there an option in your Astro for lithiums?
  16. I remember your trying to set this up for a kid or something. Sorry about the new troubles. Also sorry to tell you that the thing is probably toast. It has lost it's basemap. Explorists are prone to this. It might be salvagable if you can find a copy of a 500's basemap and if you can get the thing to file transfer with the PC at start up. If you can get the PC to see it's internal memory, then you can drag in the new basemap file and it will probably work.
  17. Jim, See post 15 in this old thread. I pasted one of my old self-tutorials there. http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=228114&st=0&p=4020746&hl=woodstramp explorist easygps&fromsearch=1entry4020746 That is the way I used to load Explorists. Maybe that will help.
  18. Sorry, was rather tired last night. Missed the H. The H is a gooodie from what I hear.
  19. As a former Magellan user.....NO! No on the Legend, too. Serial port, small memory and crappy reception under trees. If you have $100 burning a hole in your pocket, I'd suggest the new Etrex 10. No memory for maps, but it is a USB unit and is already set up for full paperless. They sell new for just over $100 US.
  20. I'd be interested in how you folks have found unexpected, non-caching related, uses for your GPS units. Personally, I came to caching while researching online about a handheld that I bought for fishing, hunting and hiking. Since that time I've found that I use a GPS for a good bit more and that I use it way more than I would have ever thought. Examples: I'm a history buff, whether it's US, World or family history. Handhelds are great for marking this kind of stuff. I catalog and digitize family pics and include location notes with corresponding pics. That way, future family members can see who was in the pic, but can also see where....and find these places. Guess you call it backwards geocoding. An example here: My kids have never been to the family farm where thier grandmother was born. I find it on something like Acmemapper or Google Earth and now they can just drive to the farm one day just using the pic and notes. They recall me talking about a great swimming hole in Texas, they will be able to take thier kids there too one day. Also, I know the counties around here like the back of my hand, but I still use a Nuvi car unit just about every day. It's not that I don't know the area, it's that these road routing units are great for time management while doing every day commutes. For instance....I am on the way to work...forgot I need an auto part, hammer or whatever....just do a Goto to work...estimated ETA....Nuvi tells me I can get to work with 30 minutes to spare....add an auto parts dealer or Lowes in as a via and goof off time at that store can easily be seen. I am rarely late for work. Another observation. I can't remember how many (non-GPS using) folks have told me that using these things will make your brain lazy and make you forget how to even get around without one. Mentioned earlier that I know my areas like the back of my hand. I'd say that GPS has made me even more situationally aware that before. Would like to hear other unintended uses you may have found.
  21. The nuviphone, I think it was called. Garmin added "phone guts" to a car nav type unit. Personally, I would have liked to have seen them marry a rugged handheld and a phone. But, I guess that would not happen now. It would be even more expensive and still would not appeal to most customers.
  22. The local Bass Pro Shop has had all three (10-20-30) for a couple of weeks.
  23. I think if GPS receiver manufacturers continue to make more rugged and dependable battery sippers, then they will have a client base who spends time in wilderness. A smartphone may be evolving into the electronic version of the Swiss Army knife, but when you need a good hatchet for camp, you need a hatchet.
  24. Can't speak on the Dakota's accuracy, but the Delorme Pn's I've used (-20 and -40) were extremely accurate. I'd offer "scary accurate" on the PN-40. I imagine the -60 is as good as the -40. The PN-40 I borrowed was even more accurate at setting WP's than even my 60csx in the testing I did. My main criticisms with Delorme GPS units is battery life, plus, the PN-20 I have is buggy (all of the sudden,while in use, the WP list gets corrupted on occasion). Even with several calls to Delorme (under warranty) offered no fix...only master reset instructions/lost data and promises of "We're aware of the problem....working on it". The one issue I had with thier topo software (which I love, BTW) was never resolved either. Have to do a work-around to transfer map cuts to the unit. I can say that of the several Garmin products I own that there have been zero issues.
  25. I too would be curious about how fast it works with Garmin (and free) vector topos. I assume the slow draw rates are with raster maps.
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