gnjeepn

Actually you can load 2 1000 cache queries for a total of 2000 caches.

I have had ours for about 5yrs. Works great however the only issues I have with it is the automatic zoom can't be shut off. Once in a while it's nice to be able to control that. I have contacted Garmin about this and have been told there is nothing they can do unless they get enough people complaining about it. Also you can save tracks but if you download them to your computer and want to reload them to the 550 you have to convert them to a route. Which if you do a lot of off roading can be a pain. We do a lot of mapping for our 4x4 club and use both the nuvi and our Dakota 20. I tend to rely on the Dakota more. They both work great for caching.

When they first started the favorite points I went through all we had done up to that point and awarded points accordingly. Since then I continue to award points to caches that I feel the CO put the effort into and was a quallity hide. Problem is in our area and even areas we travel to the quallity is deminishing. I refuse to give a favorite point to a ho-hum caches. In fact if I do a park-n-grab or similar and it is lame I only write TFTH and nothing else.

same problem here - unable to log in - worked fine an hour ago Was able to finally log in from the front main page log in screen ONLY. Whats up with that?

I can't log in either have tried resetting my password and that doesn't work.

We started out using our Nuvi 550. It is paperless geocaching friendly right out of the box plus came with city navigator. It also has Wherigo installed if you care to get into that form of caching. The unit is waterproof which is good for us because quite frequently we are out driving around with the top down on the Jeep. Kind of awkward to hike with and the battery won't last real long for that type of activity. But we used it exclusively for both caching and navigating for a little over a year before we decided to get a dedicated handheld for caching and hiking. We still use the Nuvi to get us to where we park for a cache and sometimes will use it for info about a cache because the screen sometimes is easier to read than our handheld for the cache description or info needed for a mystery cache.

When we were still kind of new to the game we knocked one off a bridge into the river bellow. It was a magnetic key holder hidden under the hand rail. We were looking and feeling all over and all of a sudden it came loose and down it went. We contacted the owner to let them know what happened and offer to reimburse them for the cost of the cache. They responded with you aren't the first ones to do this and to not worry about it. They then replaced the cache with a magnetic with a ring attached that they tied with a small wire to the bridge so it didn't happen again.

http://www.markwell.us/pq.htm is probably the best tutorial on pocket queries. Save the pocket query zip file to your computer. Then unzip the file. Plug your Nuvi into the computer. Access mass storage and open the unzipped query and copy and paste to the gpx file on the nuvi.

Looks like you are from the Wayland area. There are often events in Grand Rapids where you can meet other cachers in the area. You might also check the Kalamazoo or Holland areas as well. You can search to see if there are any coming up near you. After doing a quick search this is the next event that is coming up in GR GC39A6J. You can search for events periodically to see what is coming up. We are starting to get into the busy season for events in the Grand Rapids area. MiGO is another good source to find other cachers to go out with.

Once you have the pocket queries downloaded you need to unzip the files. Once they are unzipped plug your gps into your computer. Go to my computer, select the drive that represents your gps, select gpx files they copy and paste the unzipped file to the gpx folder. This is the way I do it. There are other ways but this works easiest for us. In order to remove the files you will need to use your computer and go through the procedures I listed to get to where you put the file on your gps and just delete the query. Hope this helps.

Since the latest upgrade to the web site you can also change the coordinates on puzzle/mystery caches on the cache page. So when you download the caches the coordinates are correct. There is a pencil symbol next to the fake coordinates on the cache page. Click on the pencil and a box opens that you can enter the correct coordinates. Kind of handy for those of us who pre-solve puzzles before we go after the cache.

We started mainly for the exercise. But we have found that it has given us much more. We have found some awesome parks and scenic locations that we never knew existed. Many very close to home. We have come to enjoy some of the challenges that many CO's put out there. We also enjoy the uniqueness of many caches that we find. But probably the best is the new friends we have met through Geocaching. Geocachers tend to be the nicest most helpful people we know.

If you have the time any of the Two Happy Hikers multi caches are great.

[url=http://http://www.mi-geocaching.org/] Most of us hang out on http://www.mi-geocaching.org/ MIGO site.

Gander Mountain has the Dakota 20 bundle for $199 as of today's ad in the paper.

I don't use any special program. I just download the zip file then unzip it. I then plug my Dakota in and open the gpx file on the Dakota and drag and drop the unzipped file. Done and it takes no time at all. No special programs needed.

You might want to try here Migo. There are quite a few from the GR area on here. Aslo there are quite a few local events that you might want to check out. Just do a search for upcoming event caches near you. I know there are a couple of cachers that put on a pot luck once a month.

First since you are a premium member you need to create a pocket query. Once you have done that you need to download it to your computer and then unzip the file. You may have to play around a bit with the query to get what you want. Don't be too restrictive of what you are looking for or you could end up with a query that has no caches. Also don't forget to check the day you want it to run. Next plug your nuvi into the computer and let the computer recognize it. The way I transfer the query file is go to my computer, select the drive that represents the nuvi. Then I open the file with the query and copy and paste it into the gpx file on my nuvi. Your nuvi 550 DOES have a micro SD slot. It is not under the battery but along side the battery along side where the battery contacts are towards the center or bottom of the nuvi. We have the 550 which is what we started with. We have switch to a dakota 20. We still use the nuvi but just in the Jeep. When we get to the cache area we switch to the dakota. It's easier to carry, appears to be more accurate and the battery last longer.

As far as I know Mapsource doesn't come with the Dakota. It didn't come with mine anyway. I already had Mapsource from a previous Garmin Gps purchase. As mpilchfamily stated you can download basecamp from Garmin and GPSFileDepot has instructions how to upload and install maps on your dakota using basecamp. Here is the link to Basecamp download page. BasecampThis is a free download.

Unless you set the unit to lock on road it will show you off a little bit. No road maps are perfect hence the reason you are showing off. Most road units are preset to lock on road. The hand held units generally are not. If you want to set it to lock on road go to settings, routing and select lock on road from the menu. Personally I would leave it not locked as the unit is more accurate for geocaching and other purposes.

You might try looking here Migo

Perhaps a note to the reviewer expressing your concerns. They may not be aware of the situation with the location of the cache. That way at least you don't wind up being the bad guy for posting a NA log.

I had that problem too. Then I calibrated the screen and haven't had an issue since. Ok, kindly explain what you mean by that. I'm very challenged when it comes to the finer points of technology, and always welcome help from my fellow cachers! Thanks. If you go into settings then select display and on the bottom of the menu there is a button that says begin screen calibration. This will bring up some prompts that have like a bullseye that you touch. There will be a few that pop up and they move to different locations on the screen after you touch them. Since I did this with ours I haven't had any problems.

i have a oregon 550 i didn't know that it will only load 200,i load individually from cache page so if i load more then 200 they won't be seen? or won't load. Sorry This is with the nuvi 550. Not sure if the Oregon works the same or not. Our Dakota 20 works completely different as to how many files we can load and seems less restrictive. I think the Oregon is similar to the Dakota.

This is a bummer. Just had the same issue. Since it was such a nice day thought we would go grab some caches. Guess I'll set the query to 500 so at least I can download it from my e-mail. Hope that works.