Kohavis

I also have a Venture HC and feel the same way about it. It's my first GPSr so I don't have experience with other units to compare it to, but for my needs it's like it was custom-designed for me. One thing - if you're running unit software version 2.7 there is a slight bug with the odometer not reporting accurate distances. It doesn't agree with the distance reported by autotrack after a hike. It's sometimes as much as 15% off on the high side. Unit software version 2.8 fixes this. You can install a little app in Windows called Garmin Web Updater that lets you connect your unit, check for updates, then download the update to your unit, all in one very easy process. Here's the link: http://www8.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp Once you've installed Web Updater, connect your unit with the USB cable, turn it on, and start the program. It'll walk you through it

If you're in geocaching just for the numbers, then yes, multis aren't very time-effective. If you're in it for the hunt and the enjoyment, then multis are fun and a nice break from traditionals.

Once you have your image uploaded to a place like Photobucket, it will have links underneath the file thumbnail, usually e-mail, direct link (URL) and IMG code. For a forum like this, copy the IMG code and just paste into your post. IMG code starts out with "". If you copy just the URL (like linking from another web page, then you'll need to use the INSERT IMAGE button on the top of the reply text screen. That adds the necessary IMG tags to the URL for display here. Click it and it'll ask for the URL. Paste and then click "OK":

Welcome to the addiction! Good pic of the family. It looks like fun was had by all

Micros get me frustrated like little else. Especially those *&^#@% forest nano hides Every time I'm standing there dumbly gazing at a clearing full of deadfall and stumps, reading the cache description that says "Its bark is worse than its bite" or a hint that says "Don't get too stumped", I shake my head, feeling my blood pressure rise, begin to enter into my own personal Tourette's sufferer impression, muttering curses about the cache owner's questionable lineage and allegiances with unholy hellspawn, swearing that NEXT time I'm filtering out anything smaller than a Samsonite Overnighter!!!! But I keep ....searching for them ....every single outing .......they are caches, after all. And I LOVE hunting caches Maybe the forest haystack hides make me appreciate and enjoy the forest ammo box hides that much more

That's the big question. A single-use film camera is about 6 bucks at Walgreen's. I found a small digital camera with a USB interface for $3.99 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00...mp;linkCode=asm Problem is, it doesn't use removable flash memory so I'd have to lug a laptop out to the woods to download the pics, instead of grabbing the full card and swapping in a fresh one. Intriguing idea, but my gut instinct is that it'd walk off pretty fast, I'm sorry to say

I'll echo what sportside said. I also have the Venture HC and I love it! It does everything I need it to do for geocaching, doesn't have a lot of "gee whiz" stuff that I don't need, is reliable, small, light, and rugged. I spent $127/free shipping for mine in early September and so far I've been very glad I got it

I don't know about the waypoints on the unit, but there are different flavors of USB ports on laptops that are slightly different than desktop ports. If I were you I would: 1. Disable power saving on the laptop's USB ports. 2. Make sure that the laptop has a powered USB interface - one that provides power along with the data signals. In the past some haven't been equipped with it. You can verify this by connecting the GPSr to the PC, turning it on, then briefly pressing the power button to bring up the backlight slider and the battery indicator. It should show an icon for an electric plug instead of the battery charge bars If it doesn't, the USB interface may be the cause of the problems.

I get that a lot. I attribute it to the fact that I'm dumber than a bag of hammers. Another of my favorite sayings. Here's another - "About as sharp as a bag of wet hair" I feel really bad now about a cache I DNF-ed yesterday. I posted in the log something to the effect "Looked around and, if it's camo-ed, it's well-camo-ed!". Well, the CO, being the caring, conscientious cacher that he is, went to the site expecting to replace it after reading my log ..the very next day Well ...you guessed it. The cache is still there, in its original place, even after they built a sewage treatment plant nearby and seemed to have disturbed the area. "Wet hair" doesn't come close to describing how dumb I feel now ...

Tell ya what - you get 210 jammed into that power run and I'm THERE!!

One last post before I let this topic sink into oblivion. The firmware update fixed the discrepancy!! I'm using ver. 2.8 of the unit firmware now and all is good. I did a cache hunt hike yesterday. The autotrack for the trip reported 5.7 miles and the odometer reported 5.69 So if you're having the same issue, try updating the firmware from Garmin

<Checks Orbitz for cheap flights to Richardson>

So did I today. I had an appointment across town so my wife suggested I check caches in the area. I'm not as stoked about urban hides as I used to be since I discovered the wonderful world of forest caches and hikes, but I want to keep my skills sharp. I didn't feel bad at all about it. Why should I? I got out of the house, walked around on a beautiful, crisp fall day, saw a neighborhood that was new to me, and got home by lunch time. I found one and came up empty on the other. I always assume it's been muggled if I can't't find it, but someone always comes along after me a day or two later and says "Quick find. TFTC!"

Count your blessings

Good luck. I'm too far away, but I hope you have success finding someone. The more people who hear about geocaching, the better the sport will be. Exposure is a good thing

Cache spammer?

I don't want to make taking a pic a requirement for getting credit for the find. Some people just do NOT want to take their own pic. Making it a requirement would cut down on the traffic, I'd suspect. I could see it if false logging was a big problem, but it isn't here That might be a better way to go than adding it to the gallery. I have my own dedicated server and I could easily whip up a webpage for the cache. Thanks for the idea The camera is only 2 months old, has never gotten wet or very hot, and has only 4 exposures (out of 27) from the first cache. Why toss it? I'll just take the first four pics and add them to the archived cache's page, and the rest on the current cache's page As stated above, the camera has had an easy life for the 2 months it's been in the other cache. No reason to toss it. Well, thanks everyone for the feedback. It sounds like it's a generally popular idea, and that I shouldn't be discouraged by a few local cachers who won't join in the fun. I hid the new cache yesterday with the camera in it. It's " Kohavis Kanopy" - GC1HDVR. There was a 1am FTF on it, and the cacher took his pic. Maybe that's a good omen Here's the cache page: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...00-1c4ff20ea04f

West side of Albuquerque - 972 in a 15 mile radius from my house.

You'll quickly learn how important this one is I was out on a short cache run and my pen ran out. I had no spare in the car and had to make a quick run to Staples and buy a handful. Now I have two in my backpack and several in the car.

Welcome to the obsession. It sounds like you got an incredible deal on that Legend. Used ones are going for $60 - 80 on E-bay. It's a good, basic unit to get started with. Enjoy!

You're welcome. And I'm glad you accepted my criticism in the spirit it was given - as a small tidbit of feedback you can use as you see fit. Not a slam at all. In fact, I'm impressed that you tackled such a project, and I'm sure that the system will give some interesting numbers with time. I love numbers and statistics myself. I'm not a "numbers" cacher - I don't care how many finds I have. It's not why I do it. But your system intrigued me because it factors in several different aspects of the game. Good luck to you!

That's good for them. But like sataraid1 said, it is important because it helps the CO know when the cache may need maintenance. A good "Found It" with no mention of the cache condition tells him that all is well. Maybe not so important with a cache that gets a find every day, but there are plenty out there that may get a log entry once a month or less.

I'm with you there, WhiteUrkel. Although logging isn't THE most fun part of caching for me, it ranks right up there I love walking through the woods with my GPSr in hand, enjoying the solitude and the birds chirping in the trees .......and that guy over to the left who is flashing me???!?!? EEEWWWWW!!!

Mine will get developed. No problem there. I don't "plant 'em and forget 'em"

I agree. Writing the logs is a big part of the fun. Sometimes I just sit at home and write 'Found' logs for caches in Germany that I've never even looked for.