Major Catastrophe

Well if money isn't an object, you could try Krugerrands or Canadian Maple Leaf coins. (Since I thought of this for you, I'd appreciate a couple weeks advance notice before the cache goes public. It's only fair.) When the current round of fun and games started in the Middle East, I bought a few decks of the infamous Iraq playing cards. I included them in some caches, not specifically as FTF items but they always went fast. Some cachers who have access to button/badge making equipment have made nice buttons for first finders. I even managed to find one. Once.

That is definitely the coolest GPS-thingy I've ever seen. And one I will never be able to afford (sniff!) At least, not on my own... I'm now accepting donations to cover the cost of obtaining one of those things for myself to play with. And if you send me all of your bank and credit card numbers plus all of your passwords and any other helpful personal identifiers, I will cut you in for 25% of the geocaches my uncle found! Really! My geocaching uncle found 3,768,281 members-only geocaches, but was unable to log them because the crummy Nigerian internet cafe he used was always clogged up with some kind of business-related emails that other people kept sending out. Besides he couldn't afford to become a member (he lost all of his money to a 419 scam.)

Magellan SporTrak Map. I use both MapSend Topo for uploading detail maps to the GPS, plus I have a cable to connect the SporTrak directly to my PDA so I can use GPS-aware apps there. The biggest drawback (perhaps the only real one) to the SporTrak is its lack of support for SD cards, which will be a must-have if I replace. In the meantime, I get around some of that by having G7toCE on my PDA, which lets me upload and download waypoints to the GPS. So I can get around the 500 waypoint limit while in the field, although I have no portable way to upload more detail maps. I'm completely convinced that all GPSRs are, under the skin, the same.

I have no particular objection to you putting CDs in caches. However, I'll have to just leave 'em alone, as there's no chance of me ever opening it on my computer. Sorry, but that's how things are these days.

I have just over 100 finds, only 3 hides. But that's probably for the best, because most of my hides are too darn tough for mere mortals to find.

The key is "email." You don't download GPX files, they are sent to you. Make sure the geocaching website has a REAL email address for you. If you want the PQs emailed to a different addy, you have to enter it in each query as you set it up. Then make sure your queries are scheduled to run. The GPX files will magically appear in your inbox.

Daphne: it's your cache, so your rulez apply. (I just felt a need to add my $0.02 worth before the mods lock the thread.)

There you are! And it'll get easier as you practice and learn to think like a geocacher. Sometimes the hides are so obvious to the trained eye that you don't even need a GPS. Which doesn't explain why I recently spent an hour digging in brambles for a cache that wasn't there, but that's another story.

Forget about whether or not it is useful. Buy color because it's COOL. It's what you want, anyhow, or you never would have asked.

I have tried a few PDA-based applications, using both Compact Flash GPSr and a cable to connect to a handheld GPSr. My conclusion is that the best GPS solution for geocaching is a stand-alone, handheld GPSr from Magellan, Garmin, et al. PDAs and Pocket PCs are indeed much more fragile than typical GPS receivers, which are quite rugged. Looking at the PDA screen while wandering among the boulders is almost a sure recipe for disaster. So I use a SporTrak for searching, and keep the PPC safe in its case unless standing still. Since my Pocket PC cost 2-3X what I paid for my GPSr, I'll risk the one that is (1) more rugged, and (2) cheaper to replace if I drop it off a cliff.

I don't own one, but have "road tested" the GM-270 Ultra CF with an Ipaq 2410. It worked just fine using the Pharaos Ostia mapping program, so I don't see any reason why it won't do the same with any other program. Keep in mind, that all GPS receivers provide essentially the same data, and they also all communicate using standard protocols (NMEA) so that external devices can use the GPS receiver's output. The GM-270 has a jack for an external antenna, which I did not try but would certainly be a useful tool, and unusual in such an inexpensive unit.

What version of Windows is your 3635 running? IINM, GPXSonar requires at least Win2002 to run.

I've got just the ST Map, but FWIW: if I were buying another Magellan, it would be a Meridian so I could use SD cards.

And, if you don't have the latest version of Mapsource, GSAK can export a file for Mapsource to read.

You can get a regular serial cable for your IPAQ. For some you can even get dedicated cables that have the IPAQ connector on one end and the GPS connector on the other. A cheaper and more versatile solution is to plug the two cables together. For the 3850 you can either get a cable that connects to the bottom of the IPAQ or if you have the Compact Flash cradle you can get a CF serial port card. Once you have the physical connection, all you need is the G7toCE program from HERE. The program is bit weird to set up (leastways it seems weird to me) but works well once you get it going. I have used G7toCE with an IPAQ model 3765 and now a 2410 using a CF serial card. In both cases I've used it with a Magellan ST GPS.

Wrong question. And the answer is, get with the program and send Clyde some dough. I keep getting amazed by what GSAK can do; it's worth a lot more than the small investment asked.

Magellan SporTrak Map. I also have a serial cable for my IPAQ so I can connect the SporTrak directly to the IPAQ. That allows me to use the GPS with color map software on the IPAQ, and also to upload and download waypoints from the GPS while in the field. Software on the IPAQ includes GPX Sonar and G7toCE. Can't upload new detail maps from the IPAQ tho...

Oops, forgot to mention: the RUNPGM line invokes a batch file that simply does an XCOPY of the GPX file into the ActiveSync folder for each of the IPAQs. Hope this helps.

I export the GPX file to a separate folder on my PC, then copy it to both my IPAQ and my wife's. I've just started using macros to do all this, so I can now connect my GPS to the PC cable, and run a GSAK macro that reads in all my Pocket Queries, filters the result as needed, and exports a GPX file. Since I like using the smart names both on the IPAQ and on the GPS, I reload the new GPX file before sending to the GPS. Here's a sample macro (thanks to Clyde for helping with the error condition:)

I've been using GSAK for about a year, but just started using macros to do the nuts and bolts stuff. A minor problem that I've run into when doing things manually, now can cause my macros to break. Specifically, when sending waypoints to the GPS, it occasionally returns a communication error with the GPS. However, it seems to work just fine if I simply repeat the attempt to send. This error msg happens once in a while, always on the first attempt to send waypoints to the GPS. This has also occurred with previous versions of GSAK. Is there a way to get around this in the macro language, such as retrying the command on error? Or interrogating the GPS before attempting the send? I'm running Win2000Pro, GSAK 5.6 (has the correct Babel engine.) GPS is Mag SporTrak Map. The GPS connection to the PC is via a USB-to-serial adapter, set up as Comm 4.

We stumbled on a couple of huts while caching last weekend, and I remembered that I'd seen the locationless cache. We took photos, got coords, now to see if the cache owner lets us claim one hut apiece... Thanks, Corp of Discovery!

I think I remember seeing a locationless cache that was for old quonset huts, but can't find it. Did I wait too long? Or does anyone know the name of the cache? I hate to think I wasted all that digital film for nothing...

NiMH, no question. About 4 charges is all it takes to match the cost of alkies, after that they're practically free. But it gets better. I bought a charger that came with 10 batteries (6 AA and 4 AAA) then the company recalled the charger and gave a refund. Best of all, all they wanted back was the charger itself; I got to keep the batteries. So I used the full refund of my original purchase, to buy another (different) charger with even more batteries! Sometimes I guess recalls can be a good thing... -- All the way to the bank!

A GPS w/ 8MB is fine for geocaching, but might be a bit small for road trips. FWIW, I can get about 1/4 of Oregon into my Sportrak Map, a bit more if I turn off the topo and POIs and only upload roads. Really, the most important thing to remember when geocaching, is where you parked the car...