chuckr30

You can find strong rare earth magnets in hard drives, they are at the base of the read/write head. I took apart 2 drives and found them. Be prepared to drill out the tiny screws, my tiny torx bit broke while undoing one screw so I had to drill out the rest of the screws. Magnets as strong as these WILL affect CRTs, this means TVs and computer monitors. But I'm not sure about LCDs which are used as flat screen computer monitors and in GPSr's. I would be careful and not take a chance. Magnets will affect magnetic media such as: 8 track tapes, audio casettes, VHS casettes, hard drives, floppy disks. They will NOT affect CDs (computer or audio, they are made the same way) or DVDs. I do not know about thumb drives or SD cards, flash cards. Again I would not take the chance.

I think the cheapest ammo can I have found is at www.cheaperthandirt.com for about $9. Our local army surplus is way expensive on everything.

I live in Kentwood, just south of Grand Rapids. But I used to work in Allegan at the Tech Center.

I cannot select multiple files in Easygps to open them (tried that) nor can I select multiple LOC files to send them to a GPS because each LOC file opens as its own tab in the Easygps interface. You are right. LOC files are XML. I was thinking of some other GPS file I viewed which was simply a single line of text. Perhaps it was a GPX file.

I do not think the 60csx floats. I bought a 76csx which does float. I thought the buttons on top would be a problem but it was no big deal. You can set the volume of the beep on one of the pages that contains a bunch of icons for settings. Look for "System", the volume might be there. If not, look under "Geocache" or "Waypoints" (as in, volume of sound to make when approaching a waypoint) or "Audio". Just keep looking in that settings page.

I have a Garmin 76csx. I use EasyGPS to load the free LOC files from geocaching.com. However, I often download 10 or more LOC files, and in Easygps I have to open each LOC file, then click Send to GPS. I believe these are text files. Can I concat multiple LOC files together then use EasyGPS to load all geocaches from one big LOC file? I have windows XP.

Northern water snake. Pretty common, will bite if cornered but not venomous. They usually just try to run away.

Ok, I just gotta know -- what kind of spider is this??? We sure don't have these things around in the Ozarks. Where did you find this thing? Jim This looks like a fisher spider. Go to www.bugguide.net and post the picture there under "ID request". Fisher spiders are usually quite large and are all over the US.

Do you mean has anyone built a GPS receiver? I don't know if someone has but it will cost more than one you could buy off the shelf, even if you count parts only. Plus it won't work as well as a retail version. There are many hints and tips the GPS companies use to improve reception and software that are patented that you won't know about and thus could not incorporate into your home built GPS.

I would not expect your digital maps that come with a GPS to be any more accurate than your paper maps. In an emergency situation, accuracy is key, as I'm sure you know. Thus you should look for a package (GPS and map software) that you can update yourself after you find a road that was not marked on a paper map. I would be very surprised if any digital street level map package would be significantly more accurate than a paper map. After all these maps are made by companies who have to make a profit, and searching for an hour to find that last "hidden" street is not going to make them much profit. I don't know how much growth is in your area but it took UPS and the pizza guys 6 years to find us at our new house because maps are not updated very much. House was built in 1996, they finally began to stop calling us to ask where we lived around 2002.

There is no way for you to buy the part and replace it yourself. The $125 is a fixed fee for any repair Garmin does and they will completely refurbish the unit. I put a piece of clear packing tape over the screen of my Garmin 76CSX, and the width fit perfectly. It will keep the screen from getting scratched.

I even used my Geko 201 on a plane. It worked fine if it was near the window, if not, it lost sat lock.

I forgot to ask. What is a "danger level" of distance that metal would affect a GPS compass? I always have coins in my coat pocket, which is about belt level. Plus I always have a pocket knife and car keys in my jeans pockets. So that would make those objects about 1-2 feet from my GPS.

Computer hard drives, often placed near the top of a computer tower case, have VERY powerful neodymium magnets in them. I took a hard drive apart and my son has trouble removing the magnet from the fridge! Do not get these magnets/hard drives near any electronics. Also, CRT monitors (not LCD) also emit some magnetic radiation.

I also bought a Belkin serial to USB adaptor for my camera around 2004. It did not work, it did not recognize my camera. After posting this problem on several forums one person mentioned that some serial to USB adaptors do not use all the pins, whereas your camera needs one or more of those disconnected pins. If you install the correct USB drivers for your GPS and it still does not work, it just might be the serial 2 USB adaptor.

Don't know about poison ivy prevention, but liquid Benedryl works great as a topical for me. But in general, wear jeans, or light pants if it's really hot, to protect your legs. They make light pants for joggers which are nylon.

I found it. Thanks! I also have to move the Google Earth cache stuff from Temporary Places to My Places. Then it should stay there. Just right click on the topmost "Geocaching Network KML" and click "Move to My Places".

Somebody had made a cache around here with just 6 older handheld videogames. They still worked, but I didn't want any of them and neither did my son. We just had fun finding the cache.

2 weeks ago I was able to view local caches on Google Earth, but now I can't remember how I got there. There does not seem to be any option saved in my GE options. Anyone know how to do this?

Why make a cache container when there are so many for free? I mean if you are looking for one that looks like a rock, it might be real hard for someone to find it. But I use the following for containers. They are all big enough for a logbook and a few items: large vitamin container, Glad containers, cappacino container. Anything plastic is good.

I noticed my geko 201 got great accuracy (15ft) in wide open areas, and even got a very quick sat lock on a large lake. But in any type of cover it got crappy reception, and tended to think I was still moving for the next 20 seconds, even though I had stopped. I think that is a software glitch, or bad software design. Anyway, in open areas my Garmin 76csx works great. I wonder if smog might affect signal reception... I do think cloud cover affects reception. On a cloudy winter day 2 days ago, my 76csx took a long time to get a lock.

I've heard from more than one martial art, and more than one sensei, that fighting is the last resort. Violence is the stupid and weak man's way of solving a problem. HOWEVER, they also say, if you are cornered by stupid and violent people (of which there are many), then KICK a**, do it once, and do it with finality.

Of course it's a civil right. And in most states you will be thrown in jail for exercising that right, especially with twists in the law that says you have to be cornered and trapped with no means of escape before you use a firearm. And so, in most states, using a firearm in self defense will still get you jail time. And I even think that's true for any type of weapon used in self-defense, if you hurt someone that's assault or battery, period.

I have a request for the search function at http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx. When we choose "default coords" as a search from choice, can the web page default to whatever we have entered as home coordinates? I like to search for only regular caches closest to my home coords. It seems this would be a simple thing to change, just get the coords from the user's data. Thanks!