mblitch

Agreed, I'd just play with it for kicks and giggles without expecting much. If you have nothing to lose, then go for it, otherwise get Garmin involved.

I may recommend adding to the FAQ some info concerning geotagging and how to get the auto-routing capability from Metroguide (vs City Navigator) software. Geotagging is getting a lot more popular, especially for places such as Flickr and Google Earth related sites. You can easily upload your track as well as pictures taken along the way. I came across a great write-up that goes through the necessary steps. http://hikesandbikes.blogspot.com/2006/10/...-blog-post.html The MetroWizz program for using Metroguide for auto-routing is quite easy to use, but it would be nice to have a mention of it so others can take advantage of the hack. The knowledge of both of these things has aided me greatly in getting enjoyment out of using the GPS.

I use my 76Cs for exactly these purposes. I do a lot of kayaking, driving and hiking. Get whatever cheap version of Metroguide that you want/can and then use the free Metrowizz (google it) program to eneble auto routing in your unit. I wouldn't recommend the S version. My guess is that the sensor packages reduces battery life and not of extreme use to many (carry a compass if needed), The GPs will give you relative altitude enough on its own and direction when you are moving. I have an altimeter/barometer/compass watch anyway when I am outside. The only think that when hiking, it definitely isn't 'ultralight' friendly. However that is one concession that I do tend to make for the navigation aspects as well as geotagging all my photos. Check out some of my recent blog entires for a rip last week for an example of the geotagging. http://mikeblitch.blogspot.com

Definitely a busted LCD display. I have an old GPS76S that died and would be willing to give away the screen. I took the unit apart to figure out what was wrong and found a little bit of corrosion inside (probably from when I was kayaking, though it didn't get dropped. Garmin would have wanted over $100 to take a look at it and I found them used on eBay for ~$80. I decided to just upgrade to 76Cx anyway and am glad I did. The auto-routing with Metroguide (using the awesome and free MetroWizz program) is great! Not to mention the ability to add nearly unlimited POI and such.

Maybe there should be a cheaper option for shipping: Drop into nearest cache with directions to carry TB to cache closest to purchaser.

Umm, I'd just go with 'this is my money and I will spend on things that I enjoy if I should so choose'. If you are afraid of your wife's reponse, then maybe you should question the relationship.

the memory to which you refer isn't like the system memory (i.e. RAM) that is in a computer, it is mostly just storage. The bottleneck tend to be the processor. I had a GPSMAP76S for a couple of years before recently upgrading to the 76Cx. The enitre maps scrolls very quickly with only a minimum of redrawing (typically only noticed with a lot of infor such as high detail 24k topo maps. Just the speed increase along was worth the frustration to me, especially when navigating.

Do the pre-loaded cards have to be 'unlocked' for the particular unit's unique ID? I'd like to be able to purchase a pre-loaded card when I travel, for example New Zealand, and the resell it later with little to no loss.

Thank you all. I am very impressed with the interest in assisting others and appreciate the time you all have been willing to spend to offer aid. This, I believe, will help me better enjoy the time spent traveling and hopefully expose me to more hidden or informatiove spots that I might have otherwise missed.

I'm going to be doing quite a bit of traveling soon and want to visit as many NPS (National Park Service) run sites as possible. Most sites have passport stamps for each location and there is a large group (http://groups.msn.com/NationalParkCancellationStampsPassporttoAmerica) of people that go out and collect them, as we do caches or benchmarks. They have a good website and members there contribute to and update a master list of sites that include descriptions, locations, etc. Their master map is a Google Earth overlay (http://filer.case.edu/jxg9/MasterList/MasterMap07-04-24.kmz) that will show the location of all the locations with a passport stamp. I would like to take this file and convert it to GPX as well as a POI file to be used on my Garmin 76Cx unit. With a GPX, I can open the file with Mapsource, delete all the unwanted spots and just upload the waypoints for locations that I plan to be near. I would like to make a POI with which I can upload the entire list (since that only takes up the space on the expandable card on which I have plenty) and be alerted (by proximity alarm) whenever I am nearby any stamp location. I've tried GPSBabel, GPSies convert (http://www.gpsies.com/upload.do?uploadMode=convert), and anything else and cannot get it to convert. When using GPSBabel, I get this message when trying to convert to GPX or POI: gpsbabel.exe -p "" -w -i kml -f "C:\[file location]\MasterMap07-04-24.kmz" -o garmin_poi -F "np stamps poi" XML Reader:Parse error at 1: not well-formed (invalid token) or gpsbabel.exe -p "" -w -i kml -f "C:\[file location]\MasterMap07-04-24.kmz" -o gpx -F "np stamps .gpx" XML Reader:Parse error at 1: not well-formed (invalid token) Any ideas on how to get the formats I want in order to aid my stamp quest? While I am at it, are there tutorials on how to create any GE overlays? I intend to have my GPS on as much as possible for my trip and want to upload my daily tracks to my blog so friends and family can track my location. Eventually I'd like to geotag photos taken along the way that I can add to the overlay to show particularly nice spots. Any freeware geotagging software recommendations? I am aware of Robogeo and even GPicSync, however I have not yet messed with it.

http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/724936/ In nutshell, purchase 1GB microSD at Office Depot for ~$20 and send in two different $11 rebates. You'll end up making a few cents, even after postage. I picked up a couple and have different names and addresses that can be used, so now can store plenty of maps.

Unfortunately, this is not possible. I was afraid of this. I wonder why they intentionally made it so large. I'd prefer having a lot of information on the screen and still have map space rather than have my speed setting viewable from 10 feet away. I appreciate the help and was hoping It was just something I overlooked.

I am playing with my new Garmin 76Cx and there are two things I haven't figured out. When using the map, the data field boxes are quite large. Just 4 data boxes take up half the screen while on my old GPSMAP 76S they were much more manageable (i.e. could have 2-3 data fields per row and several rows only took up 20-30% of the screen). Since my eyesight is still quite good, how can I reduce the data filed sizes to something considerably smaller (such as even half the size). I have the software 3.3 for the 76Cx. I don't need the data fields to be large enough to read from the back of a 20' RV when it will typically be no more than 2' away. I like the Geocache function of the GPs, especially if I want to do a quick search for caches when I'm out and about. I usually use GSAK and have it set so that different caches have different icons (e.g. multi-cache = amusement park, micro= controlled area, etc). If I search for geocaches, all that come up are those that are traditional. Is there a way to associate withing the GPSr itself several icons to mean geocache. I'm guess that this will be a negative, but thought I would ask. I suppose I'll just have to have everything set as geocache and geocache found icons so they will be properly listed and will just have to look in my Palm device (using cachemate) to determine the kind of cache it may be.

Thank you for the link. I already found some good reports for Metrowizzz http://www.geodude.nl/gps/modules/smartsec...em.php?itemid=2

Thanks for the hint. That seems to be just the kind of thing for which I am searching.

Thank you for the insight. I'm doing some google and forum searching now for the hack information.

Backstory: I had a 76S die on me during a kayaking trip (though never could figure out why since it was never dropped in water. It was working one night and wouldn't work the next morning or since.) Anyway, a call to Garmin found that they wanted $140 to diagnose/repair plus shipping there the unit. A scan of eBay shows they can be bought used for almost half that. While looking around and researching I became interested in the 76C and 76Cx due to more memory, USB transfer, custom POI (a minor interest, but not huge), better reception, etc. Questions: I want to avoid purchasing new software, even it has new features or details unless they are incredibly significant, so what I want to know is with my current software, will I have the ability to upload the Metroguide North America data to allow me the same capabilities that I had with the with the old 76S? If I cannot use my old software, then I'll just get a replacement 76S instead of a newer unit. This is one reason I hate the unlocking aspects and so far refused to buy products that require unlocking, if the unit dies, I just cannot put it on a new one without hassles. I do not want to purchase new software and am happy with the detail of my 'Metroguide North America v6'. I also currently use the 'National Parks' maps, 'Topo', and even 'Roads and Recreation' on occasion. Based on this chart (http://www.gpsnow.com/gmmstbl.htm) it seems that the 76C or the 76Cx will not allow me to upload maps from my current Metroguide products to the 76C or 76Cx. I am unsure though, if this just lists it because Metroguide doesn't allow for GPSr auto-routing or if it literally will not accept the maps from this product.

Thanks for the info. those look like just the kind of interesting spots I'd like to check out. I very much appreciate the assistance.

Geocachers tend to know a lot of the truly great and unique sites. There may not always be a cache there, but sometimes they are scouting an area for one or came across a great spot. I will be leaving San Diego around July 9th and will be heading all around the state to do some hiking and leaving San Fran on the 27. I'm checking out some caches along the way of my travels (SD -> Joshua Tree -> King's Canyon -> Yosemite -> Lassen National Park -> Redwood national park). I am extremely flexible on drive and location. I want to know if anyone has recommendations of any particularly unique or interesting sites along the way. I'd love to check out some extremely deserted ghost town, cliffs with a view of some massive aircraft graveyard to explore, or huge abandoned industrial area for some urban spelunking. Anything that is typically out of the ordinary. I'll have my laptop, GPS (duh) and limited net access, car camping (so out of the way stuff is fine) so I can get around pretty well, but just need some recommendations. Where have you been that made you think 'wow, this is totally incredible'?

What about programs that are not locked. I have the Garmin Topo, Mapsource, and National Parks programs. None of them required me to us any unlock codes. Before upgrading I want to be sure that I can still download whatever I need to the new 60CX without having to buy a new program and wanted to be sure Garmin didn't slip in some new locking 'features' to close down programs that I've been using and require me to purchase new ones.

Skip the coming across it.. why no stories about partaking in some outdoor loving? My GF and I love the great, secluded outdoors.

The main features I enjoy as a premium member is the opportunity to paperless cache and automated info transfer. When cacheing, I'll download a bunch of caches in the lcation I may be into my GPS using a pocket query, and send to my unit using GSAK. Then I'll export the date to a cacehmate file to upload to my PDA. I have all the descriptions, hints, and even past logs to help locate the cache. I like finding bechmarks as well, however I haven't determined a good way to go about this. The benchmark coordinates can easily be downloaded to the GPS using the .loc files, however the descriptions are lacking. I want to be able to use .gpx to import the info into cachemate or other such program so that I have a portable database. It just isn't worth the cost and time to print of many of them. Using just the coordinates is problomatic since one wouldn't know if it is a survey marker, water tower, etc. Are there any plans to provide for thisin the future or is there something I might have missed?

The words 'Do Not Keep Me' should definitely be bolded. Ignore the please and thank you aspects. Instead of Groundspeak.com address, there should be a url (like geocaching.com/track) that has the main rules prominently list. Groundspeak is great, but navigating a web forum can be confusing and time consuming for a lot of people. A single URL that has the rules/info and means for logging would be best. Besides the general 'this is a geocache' page that is laminated and attached to my cache, I have a rule sheet regarding TBs to people can be informed as to how they are used before even grabbing them from my cache.

I own a cache that has had a bug sitting for quite a while. I've been to the cache as has others and there is no sugn of the bug. It seems that I don't have the ability to kill the bug. I contacted the TB owner, and it seems they don't have the tag number any more and cannot even move it themselves. I got this message from them "I'm sorry, I've been trying but it doesn't let me post that his whereabouts is unknown, and I can't pick him up myself because I don't know the tag number (my extras got lost during a camping trip). If you know how to pick him up without a number or how to change his location, let me know. otherwise I'm going to contact gc.com and see if they know how." Any ideas how to get the bug removed so others do not try to visit the cache only to try to pick up a phantom bug? I've selected the 'report a bug missing', but not sure if that just triggers and email to the owner or if a certain number of requests are needed for anything to happen.

Thanks for the info. I hope someday geocaching.com will integrate a google search feature as I tried to find data, but turned up little.