Cherokeecacher

As others have already stated, you REALY need to load your detail maps onto a SD card. Yes you can bring bad mojo into your GPSr when you start tinkering with rewriting the base maps. I have heard horror stories from people trying to do a simple replacement of the North America base map with a European base map, and losing everything. I also suggest going here and joining the yahoo user group for the meridians. It is quick and free, then go to the “files section” and download MeridianFAQv2_0.pdf Magellan Meridian FAQ, version 2.0. There is great info in this file that is not covered in the user guide.

For downloading waypoints to my meridian Gold, I use GSAK. Here is the thread and here is the web page. There are others, but I like this one. The "SD card programmer" they refer to is just a SD card reader/writer. I do not know why they just do not say it in the same terminology they are labeled as in the stores. For your other questions, go here for the yahoo meridian user group. It takes just a moment to join for free, then go to the files section and download "MeridianFAQv2_0.pdf" . There is great information in this file. Hope this helps.

Bug and insect season is already here in my area, and around the corner for others in the U.S.A., so I thought I would share this information on the best repellants I have ever used. This link explains what chemicals and extracts from plants are used and there effectiveness. This link explains How Deet Insect Repellents Work This link takes you to the on-line store. However, we purchased the “West Nile Virus Protection Pack” at Academy for $9.99 and Oshman’s had it for $14.99. They have great Sun Blocks too. Spend some time on their site and you will find a product that will repel the insects that bother you in your area. I hope this information gives you more enjoyable caching this Spring, Summer, and Fall.

C.E. forgot to tell you that these boots are also great when you need to swim across an alligator infested lake while caching.

I will be surprised if any of the color units have cracks. They have a different case design than the other ones. You can rest easy.

you can find the meriGold for $199.99 online here. This gets you a lot more growing room for the same money you planned on spending for a "middle of the price line" unit. The big plus is expandable memory and being able to us a SD card reader/writer to download maps. Can take 2 minutes instead of 2 hours VS PC cable. 16 MB built in base map too. Just my $0.02

go to meridian user group , join, then download and read the FAQ in the files section. Or click on the link at the bottom of any of robertlipe's posts.

They moved the page Sneaky They are

On a side note, http://www.rtr.ca/geo#start and http://gdbclub.org/cgi-bin/gc/mobile.cgi are both low bandwidth addresses that will allow you to look at GC.com cache listings from a web-enabled cell phone. Try them out and see what you think.

Are there any military surplus stores in your area? That is where most people get them. If not you should be able to search the web for military surplus store

You should be able to find the answer to this one and many more questionsHere

If I understand you correctly, you can inter a street address on this site here, and then look in the address bar of your browser and see the Lat.& Long. If you are starting with a lat. & Long, and want to be able to put that info in, and pull up a map, then is then site you need here . Hope this is what you are asking for.

Good news and bad news. I found a great pouch at the Army Surplus store, BUT it does not have a manufacturers tag or model number. The pouch was only $9.99US and I did have to buy a 2 pack of Velcro straps that attach it to my Camelback, and that was only $2.99US. These are not just pieces of Velcro; they are straps with Velcro on the ends to secure them after wrapping them around something. It is sturdier than it sounds.

Might as well add to the confusion I had a S.T. Pro; I loved its size and the short learning curve. However, I quickly decided to return it and get the Meridian Gold. Two main reasons for this. 1) I learned of the “stress crack” issue (which they may have fixed by now) on the S.T. series. 2) After reading about the use of SD cards and SD card reader/writers with the Meridian series, I decided to change. Now that I have had my MeriGold for a while, I am glad I made the decision I did. When I first started looking at GPSr’s, I did not realize how much I would need to be loading and switching between map regions. Using the SD cards, I can pre-load ALL the map regions I will need for a trip onto the SD card in the comfort of my home, before I leave on my trip. When I am out and about and need a different region, it now only takes a minute max to make the switch. Using the SD card reader/writer also cuts the download time from one hour+, for a large region, to only a few minutes. I also found the Meridian Gold was about the same price as the S.T. Pro, used the same features, has a bigger screen, and expandable memory. More options for about the same money, that decision was easier than I thought it would be.

The very first prototype WAS made from medical equipment. So this is not too far fetched. I like SBPhishy's reply back on topic. BAD Cherokeecacher, bad. I am actually headed to my local bike shop right now. They say they have the CammelBak Cell phone pouch. I will take my MeriGold, and see if it fits. I am also heading to the local Army Surplus store, and will see if any of their "add on" pouches will work. I have needed to do this for a while, and my trip is next week. I will post any useful info when I return. Edited to correctly spell my name

Place your mouse over your "my computer" icon and right click. Click on properties Click on the "Hardware" tab About halfway down the window, on the right hand side, you will see a button called "Device manager" Click on that and see how many COM ports your computer/OS recognizes I cannot remember if/how to change these settings. Make sure you are logged in as the primary user of XP, with "administrator" privileges. Is this where you are trying to go? If not, sorry I took up your time. Edited ****BEFORE you change ANYTHING in the device manager****** go to Start-all programs- system tools-accessories-click on “system restore. You will want to follow the “wizard” and create a restore point before you change any settings. If you accidentally mess something up, follow the same steps as above, but click select “restore system to an earlier time” then choose the restore point you just created.

I think this topice was Double posted by mistake. maybee a Mod. will stop by and merge them.

Try GSAK. Download here One of the mane things I like about it is the tech support from the creator, whom you can contact here, along with other knowledgeable users. ClydeE and the gang are quick and eager to help. Hope this helps you out.

Cherokeecacher Deletes answer to Jennifers "question". 2 other people had already answered it while I was posting

NOT all uf us. Throwing gas on the fire and running Now to get back on topic. I like my MeriGold, I have never used a Garmin product so I will not comment on their abilities. The big factor for me was the SD cards. On a side Off-topic note: Yes the manufacturer is a French company, as stated earlier they employ lots of Americans here in the States, and I will not boycott American Labor.

This was not one that went missing, but definitely damaged. Poor Travel Bug This is what he used to look like here.

WoW. That's alot of paper. I actually have not printed or counted the pages from the web site. The web site I gave may print more pages than the PDF version I have on my hard drive. The PDF prints 30 pages, still a bunch of paper. You can click on the yahoo group link on the front page, join the group, and you will find the PDF in the files section. Joining the group has also helped me overcome some situations with my MeriGold. I run into a problem I see if it is covered in the FAQ, if not, with the click of my mouse I can get feedback from a number of experienced Meridian users.

For other questions that MAY come-up later, you might find the answer faster Here. This is full of great information, and a lot of it, you will not hear from Magellan. I printed 2 copies. One for the house and the other stays in the Cachemobile.

Hehe, not trying to be a grammar Nazi. It's just one of those fortunate spelling errors that make for a chuckle or two... And for the record, I botched my own post as well. Yes thank goodness that was one of those errors that brought a laugh. After you pointed it out, I ROFLMAO I have misspelled one or two words before, while in a hurry, that were not exactly nice words after I misspelled them.

Wouldn't gentle presuasion be a better route? Anyway, one thing I keep hearing complaints about news articles is that they always seem to indicate that geocaches are buried[/b]. You may wanna add that to the method woo2 espouses. I've never been to an event cache before, but I would think local/national/regional social relationships might be a good angle. And ditto to the general info above. (IMHO, from a n00b) Oops. Spelling error fixed now. Thanks for the "eyes".