JeepCachr

I live in Hudsonville just west of GR. We pass through Newago most every weekend on the way to our place North of Baldwin. Like BZ said check out the Migo site and come to one of our events. Sunshine Gang and I are hosting an event in August, Age of Discovery Geocacher event, that we would love to see you at and I guarantee you'll get to meet lots of great cachers. There may be more events sooner or closer to you, check them out. Michigan Caching Events

This is true of all GPS's. Even the quad helix ones. Besides on long hikes it is not necessary to stare at the GPS screen the whole time. You should set that GPS aside and enjoy the scenery a little more. To answer the origanel question you can either get a newer GPS, as has been mentioned a couple times or get a unit with a external antanae.

Thats the exact reason that after being a long time Garmin user I purchasd a Explorist 600. The explorist can do a bunch of things the Garmin can't and I'm getting used to the menus. There is a Garmin way and a Magellan way. Not that either is better, just different.

I'm not familar with the mio 168. I see it uses an xScale processor, I'm not familar with those. What errors are you getting with GPS Sonar? Is GPX Sonar just not installing or is it installing and having errors running? Same questions about using GSAK to export to HTML, can you get GSAK to export to html and then view that html with your pc before sending it to your MIO?

Many of the newer higher capacity rechargeable batterys have longer run times than alkaline batterys. Your 60c manual is a couple years old now and out of date with current technology.

Plipey don't worry about those two. I'm not sure what IV-Warrior's problem is. No body in this thread said GSAK was the be all/do all for caching. What you want is a program called GPXSonar. Its free and can be found at- http://gpxsonar.homeip.net/default.aspx Its a lot like GSAK and can open your GPX files from your pocket querys or you can use GSAK to manipulate your querys and open them with GPXSonar on the pocketPC. Alternativly you can use GSAK to export indexed HTML pages which can be viewed on your PPC and not need to install any software in addition to GSAK. Let us know which method you'd prefer and we'll not argue about how great GSAK is and help you find the information you need.

Size and the fact that I never have to swap the battery or carry bulky chargers. Batterys charge right in the unit. Thats convenient to me. You guys can try to pick at me all you want but Magellans faq sums it up the best- Official Magellan Explorist Faq

Wow for that price I'd love to pick up another one. I love my 201 for biking and caching.

The explorist 600 will charge off USB so if your camera charges off USB then the battery box linked above is what you want.

I'll really be curious how much it costs to send it back to Garmin to replace that "superior" rechargeable battery in about 24 months! Sorry I should have used a smiley, the "superior" was supposed to be tongue in cheek. I was trying to tweak you rechargeable battery phobiacs. I doubt very much if I'll still have that unit when the battery goes bad or if it will bother me very much. I bet over the life of the unit I'd have spent more on disposable batterys than what the unit costs. The way the technology is evolving I'll be buying a new unit anyway. In what situation would you need to have a GPS on for days at a time? They aren't any hikers or hunters I know that would leave it on the whole time they are out. Thats what a compass and paper map are for. For the hardcore user a GPS is a luxury not a requirement. For geocachers and most GPS users I think the rechargeable is the way to go. For a small niche of GPS users its not. Why should I put up with the inconvience and expense of disposable batterys? I'm not bending to the GPS companys I'm pushing them to give me smaller, lighter, cheaper, and longer. I want rechargeable units and its one of the factors that had me buy a explorist 600 instead of a 60cs.

You could split it into geocache files of less than 200 per file.

Data cable isn't included with the 101 normally so I was suprised when you said you were getting it with it. I figured it was some kind of package deal. When you take that into consideration the price difference for the 201 is really tempting. Combined with the 201's better size and superior rechargeable battery.

You can throw a temper tantrum if you want its not going to change the direction of rechargeable battery devices. Have you even used the devices you rail against?

The yellow extrex is an excellent GPS. Its basic but for geocaching all you need is the basics. Usually you can turn around and sell it for most of what you payed for it when you decide to upgrade or its cheap enough to keep around and let the wife or the kids use when out caching with the family. The more expensive units aren't that much more accurate. They may be faster, they might get slightly better reception but most of what your paying for as you go up the upgrade ladder is bells and whistles. I have a foretrex 201 and a explorist 600, I think the foretrex is still my favorite because it does what I need it to do even though the 600 is fancy and color and has loads of memory.

Not good enough. And just how many hours can we expect from 3 AAAs? You want smaller, cheaper, and longer battery life. But it can't be the size of a tie tack and last for 30 hours, its just not possible. Everything is a trade off and you have to choose your compromise. I know I'm not going to convince you guys that rechargeable is better but step back for a second and look at your average cacher. A rechargeable unit is going to fit their needs. Most will never go out for more than a few hours. Most will like the convenience of a rechargeable battery. Look at todays GPS's most are not being made for the group you guys are in. When was the last time you were backpacking and wanted a color screen? Heck no, longer battery life is far important than high resolution color icons of gas stations.

I think ExpertGps can do what your asking for.

See above... The only point I agree with you rechargeable battery phobiacs is the sealed battery on the foretrex. It is unfortunate that its sealed. Magellan did it the right way on the explorist 600 with making it user swappable. Even better yet they are going to have an expanded back to hold 3 aaa's to swap out the rechargeable. I think that is the best in flexibility. Though if I had to choose one or the other I'd choose rechargeable. I'm not sure what your facts your basing your claims of longer running power of disposables. Seeing how long the aaa battery pack on the explorist 600 lasts compared to the origanel rechargeable is going to be interesting. Weight may not be significant but I think size is. Go compare the foretrex 101 and 201 side by side and tell me which one you would rather wear on your wrist. Again it will be intersting to see how explorist 600 and how much bigger the new back will have to be to accomadate the aaa's.

I use the gcxxxx code but drop the GC. This will help you but may not totally alleviate the problem. I'm not a big fan of smart names, GC codes are fast easy and required to be unique.

I like my foretrex 201 with bike mount for bicycling. The fields are customizable and can be made larger for better viewing while your riding. I prefer the horizontal screen and low profile on my handlebars. The rechargeable battery takes the bite out of using it all the time as a cycling computer.

I'm using GPX Sonar on an ipaq 4700 and recently it has started closing after I view a cache. I open a gpx file like normal then double click on a cache I went to see and it opens in pocket IE. When I do that it closes sonar, normally sonar should continue to run. If I reset the device it works like its supposed to but eventually will start closing every time I view a cache. It appears to do it whether I'm opening my 18mb statewide gpx file or my 3mb file of caches close to home.

Is there an easier way to filter out the first x number of caches without setting user flags and then filtering on that? Now that I have an explorist I need to create smaller files. I was surprised that when you export to the magellan format there is no option to only send x number of records.

You can make a paypal payment without a paypal account is what mrking is trying to say.

I would recomend bluetooth if your not likeing the cable mess. The problem with a PCMCIA slot one would be that the antenae would need to be somewhere that could get a good view of the satelites. That usually isn't where its convenient for the laptop to be used. If you plug an external antanae into it your back into a cable mess. I've got a Fortuna Bluetooh that I like very much.

Yet another misconception about modern rechargeable battery packs. I did not do any caching between the past Oct. and Feb. During that time I never got my foretrex out. I didn't fully charge it when I put it away in Oct. and when I did got it out in Feb. it still had most of a charge. Also you can put a cig lighter cord in your car and a spare AA charger battery pack in your caching bag if your worried about it running out on you. For most cachers thats more convenient than trying to find a place to buy batterys in the woods. I know I can't convince those people with rechargeable battery phobia that this is really a good thing. I just purchased a Magellan explorist 600 with rechargeable battery and I like it.

The Forerunner is a fitness (running, walking, jogging, etc) tool; and it's very good for that use, since it has features the Foretrex does not have. Sorry I should have clarified that. Do not get a forerunner for geocaching. Its lacking some basic features that you will miss. For fitness there is no other GPS like it and it does that incredibly well. If your primary use is for fitness and you want to also use if for geocaching, it will work. If your after a geocaching GPS go with the foretrex. My 201 with rechargeable battery is lighter than the 101. Its also a 1/3 of an inch slimmer. I prefer the smaller size, lighter weight, and I like the rechargeable battery. I carry a battery charging backup pack when I go where it might run out. Most of the objections to the rechargeable battery are always based on old rechargeable battery problems or myths. I've had mine for a year now and it has no noticeable loss in the length of battery life. Someday GPS users will realize what PDA's, camera's and cell phones already have and that is the benefits of a rechargeable battery.