alandb

Premium membership will give you Pocket Queries, which is the best way to load geocaches to your device. Birdseye is satellite imagery that can display on top of the map. You can download the area that you will be geocaching or hiking in and it gives a nice visual reference for the area. For example if you are searching for a specific geocache, you might be able to see on the satellite image that it is near the center of a large tree, or on a specific lamp post in the parking lot.

Yeah, if you can, I would cancel the T, get a 550 and save the $100.Use the savings to buy a premium membership to Geocaching.com and Birds Eye subscription. You will still have money left in your pocket.

I agree with most of the comments made by gelfling6, but my experience is a little different so I will add my comments about using the nuvi for geocaching. I have a couple of handheld units (Garmin Oregon and Lowrance SIerra) as well as two nuvi's (755T and 855). The handhelds are preferred, but when my kids and grandson all go geocaching we each like to have a GPS so we put the nuvi's in service. There is a new GSAK macro for the nuvi named Nuvi_GPX_by_CT.Gsk that replaces the one referenced by gelfling6 and works well with the current version of GSAK. It generates GPX files that are installed on the nuvi with POI Loader and works well with both my nuvi's. It gives you most of the functions of paperless geocaching (cache name, full description, D/T ratings, size, recent logs, hint). Of course, the nuvi does not support logging and field note upload so you have to keep track of that manually. The GSAK forum and download info for the macro is here: http://gsak.net/boar...=0 . After navigating to the parking spot, I change the nuvi System Usage Mode from Automotive to Pedestrian and the Navigation Route Preference from Fastest to Off Road. Also, make sure you have the preference set to show the trip log so you can see your track as you hike to the cache (and follow it back to the car). Select the geocache on your nuvi through the Extras > Custom POI menu. then press GO. This gives you the strait line path from your curent location to the geocache. At this point, I press the top green bar on the navigation screen, then select the geocache from the list. On my nuvi's this gives a close-up map on the left side of the screen and the distance to the cache on the right side. I zoom the map all the way in and as I hike toward the cache watch the distance decrease. With this method I am usually able to get within 10 to 30 feet of the cache and have found the nuvi accuracy to be comparable to the handhelds. When you get that close, it is time to put the GPS away and start the search the old fashioned way. While the battery life of the nuvi is problematic, both of my nuvi's have newish batteries and I can easily get 2 to 2 1/2 hours with full screen brightness. That does bring up another problem with the nuvi. Since they do not have transreflective screens, they are hard to see in bright conditions. You have to use 100% screen brightness and shading to see the screen. In this regard, my 855 is superior to the 755T as it has a brighter backlight. The nuvi definitely has its limitations and does not give as good of a caching experience as a handheld. The main thing I miss is the compass screen with the pointer to the cache. But if you use it right, the nuvi will take you to the cache.

I agree with you splashy about the extra cost of the T model. When I got mine about a year ago, I was able to get the T model refurbished for a little less than a new non-T 550 (on Amazon). The only 550 refurb I could find at the time was the 550T. You do get about 3GB additional internal storage with the 550T over the 550. But I would not pay extra for the T because with cheap micro SD cards the additional internal storage is not needed.

I also have a 550T. Hopefully you will like your Oregon as much as I do mine. It is an excellent choice for caching IMO. That said, I think you will find the on-board 100K Topo map pretty worthless (at least I did). The 100K Topo map is not very accurate, often showing your position off by a few hundred feet. Also it is not street routable. But don't worry, as there are lots of maps available for Garmin units including many good free maps. What came with the car package? Does it include a City Navigator map? If not, you might want to try the free Open Street Maps ( http://wiki.openstre...Garmin/Download ). For Topo and trail maps, take a look at GPS File Depot ( http://www.gpsfiledepot.com ). I also like the Garmin Birdseye satellite imagery (not free) which transparently overlays the other enabled maps. As far as the micro SD card, in addition to waypoints and geocaches, you can store maps and BirdsEye Imagery. Also you can direct the JPG files from the Oregon's camera to the SD card instead of internal storage. I have an 8 GB card in my Oregon, and I use it for all the maps mentioned above, geocaches and waypoints (GPX files), BirdsEye images, and pictures. I removed the Topo map that came with the 550, so I have plenty of internal storage as well. If space gets tight on my SD card, I may move the Open Street Map NA or the BirdsEye images to the internal storage.

Yup! Thanks sussamb .. fixed it.

It sounds like you may be getting some unintended screen presses .... maybe if your Oregon is bouncing around in your pocket on on a lanyard? If you touch the map, it creates a pushpin at the touched location, and it is only a couple more presses to create a waypoint, or in some profiles to get another "Go" for the push pin. One thing you can do to prevent this is push the power button once, then select "Lock screen". Now when you press the screen, it will alert you that the screen is locked instead of accepting the screen press. To unlock, you have to press the power button again and press "Unlock".

How are you getting the geocaches on the 550 (pocket query or some other method)? Are you using the Geocaching profile on the 550? What are the steps you go through when you "select a geocache and press go"?

I bought my Oregon 550T factory refurbished. It had the full manufacturers warranty, was boxed with all the accessories, film on the screen, etc. It was just like new, and you would not be able to tell it from a new one except the box was plain white. The new units were selling (online prices) for about $75 more than I paid. I would not hesitate to buy another refurb.

For the Lowrance Endura, run a Pocket Query to create a GPX file of the caches you want, download and unzip it, then copy the GPX file into the \GPX folder of the internal storage volume of the Endura (don't use a SD card). When you disconnect and reboot the Endura, give it a minute to index the GPX file and you should be good to go.GSAK is not needed.

Another good choice is the Oregon 450 refurb available directly from Garmin's eBay store for $199.

Note that the Oregon 300 is a discontinued device while the Dakota 20 is not.

I had the same experience with my Oregon 550T. I replaced the pre-installed Garmin 100K Topo with Open Street Map USA, and now the map locations are very accurate.

The 100K topo maps that come with the Oregon T models can be off by that much. Install another map (Open Street Maps or a map from GPSFileDepot) and see if you still get the same position errors.

I watch my DNF's. If I see other people are logging finds or if the CO performs maintenance, I may go back and search again.

Actually, POI Loader will process .WAV files. On Mac computers, this support is native. On Windows computers, you need to install a sound utility program named SOX.EXE version 14.0.1. SOX.EXE must be installed in the folder where POI Loader is installed (normally C:\Program Files (X86)\Garmin). Note that the SOX.EXE version must be this older version. The newer versions will not work. SOX.EXE is free. You should be able to find it with a little googling.

The compass on my Oregon 550 works beautifully; the one on my Lowrance Sierra ... not so much.

I read that too. But I don't think it will help lilbeardy much in Minnesota

I think both the Etrex 20 and Oregon 450 are good units, but like kentwoodkrew, I would go with the Oregon 450 over the Etrex 20 to get the electronic compass.

It supports Garmin's BirdsEye satellite imagery.

You can pick up a new Garmin Oregon 550 online for $244 (Amazon) or a factory refurb Oregon 450 for $199 (Garmin's eBay store). These are both excellent buy's IMO. The two units are the same except the 550 has a camera.

Instead of using the attachment on the email, go back to the geocaching.com website, Your Profile > Your Pocket Queries > Pocket Queries ready for download. Download the file from there, unzip, and copy the .GPX files into the \Garmin\GPX folder (either the internal storage or the micro SD card of your Oregon 450).

You have dug up a really old thread here, but just to clarify ... As Motorcycle Mama stated in post #11 above, Garmin maps preinstalled on SD card are locked to the card they are purchased on. You can copy the files off to another card or flash drive, but the copied maps will not work on the Garmin device or the computer.

No, the files from geocaching.com will work fine on your Oregon. Since you are a Premium member, just run a Pocket Query, download and unzip, then copy the .GPX files into the \Garmin\gpx folder of the unit or micro SD card.

Look in your Owner's manual starting on page 58. The manual can be found here: http://www8.garmin.c...ct=010-00560-00 . It looks to me on this model that the USB storage mode is only for the SD card and not the unit memory. Edited to correct link.