Curioddity

The cache description often contains critical information like "Stay out of the flowerbed" or "No climbing required" so yeah, you need that info anyway. I can cite several instances when I've arrived at a GZ to find trampled foliage and other damage that was clearly warned against in the description and the only plausible reason I can think of is people caching with coordinates only. Put another way, that "info" can not only help you find a cache, but it can also help you find it without giving geocaching a black eye. Pete

Did/do you own an Oregon? Curious Pete

An ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution motherboard, An Intel i7-975 Extreme 3.33GHz processor, and Windows 7 Ultimate (retail version). I somehow kept it a secret from myself so I was shocked! MapSource is going to fly! Pete

The only caches I keep on my Oregon are ones I haven't found. If I want to admire the ones I have found I can do it on my PC via the geocaching,com website. But to each their own, I guess. Pete

I finally got around to doing this with my nuvi 500 yesterday. I've known how for quite some time but spoken street names wasn't real high on my priority list, however I was updating the firmware from 3.40 to 3.50 anyway so what the heck. Anyway, I only added the two American English TTS files and the download and update was pretty quick via a DSL connection. The other voice files can be ignored unless, of course, you want your nuvi to speak in another language. And that brings up an interesting question: Does anyone know if there are any consequences for deleting the voice files I'll never use from the Garmin\Voice directory? Thanks Pete

I'm thinkin' about caching in a thong. I'd be so painful to look at that no muggle would, so I could cache with impunity. Pete

OEM documentation for the Oregon 400c: http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/2560_OwnersManual.pdf http://www8.garmin.com/manuals/2574_QuickReferenceGuide.pdf Pete

I happen to own a nuvi 500 and an Oregon 400t so I have plenty of hands-on experience with both. I typically use the nuvi in the car and the Oregon on the trail but I've swapped roles with them plenty of times; more often than not by using the Oregon in the car. But there are compromises involved with using the Oregon in the car or the nuvi on the trail: The primary problem with using the Oregon in the car is seeing the damned thing. There are times, typically when the sun is getting down near the horizon and streaming through the windshield, when it's just a lost cause. Even under ideal conditions, map details are too small to safely pay any kind of attention to in traffic because a quick glance doesn't work. Turn-by-turn navigation works quite well, though, provided you have City Navigator maps installed (which I do) but you have to do without the voice prompts. The biggest problem with using the nuvi on the trail is you basically have to hold it. Garmin should have provided a method to attach a neck strap or carabiner clip had they truly wanted to make the nuvi a dual-purpose device, but unfortunately this is a glaring omission. The compass is also a lot slower to respond and has a habit of getting "hung up" at walking speed when you get near GZ. In all fairness, this is a lot less of a problem now that I've established a good geosense, but it drove me nuts as a newbie. The bottom line is I wouldn't like it if I had to use my Oregon for in-traffic navigation or had to use my nuvi for finding geocaches on foot. They will both work in those roles, but there is simply too much compromise involved. That said, if I had to choose one or the other to use in both roles, I'd probably choose the nuvi simply because it's a lot safer to use in traffic. On a final note, I suggest getting the CD version of Garmin maps because you can use them on your desktop and laptop computers as well which I think is a huge advantage. About the only disadvantage is you can only use the CD version maps with one GPSr while you can move the flash card version of the maps from device to device. Pete

My opinion is: Who cares? Not about your question, knowschad, but whether the options reduce battery life. To me, the advantages of using those features outweigh the disadvantage of replacing the batteries a little more often by a substantial margin. I run WAAS and my compass constantly on my Oregon and my backlight is set to whatever the factory default is and I still haven't had to change my batteries during a day of caching provided I start the day with 'em fully-charged (Sanyo Eneloops). I'd feel the same way if the batteries didn't even last that long. Why some people are so obsessed with battery life is beyond me. I felt the same way about a past landlord I had. He was obsessed with saving energy. He had lots of money and a nice home, but that home was always cold and dark and he basically lived his life in the glow of a small desk lamp. The guy was well-to-do but he was living his life like a homeless person and I couldn't see the sense in that either. Pete

The newer version(s) of Google Earth have native GPX support, but the older versions didn't. Pete

In my mind, this is so wrong on so many levels. Pete

Hell, in 5-10 years we might all have wireless computer implants. Pete

I actually had the same problem when I first tried apply a BoxWave on my Oregon 400t, but I discovered why that was happening: The corners and edges of my screen weren't perfectly clean. While I was trying to wipe the screen clean, I was actually wiping dust motes into the corners and edges. So I removed the screen protector, rinsed it off with clear water, and blew all the water off with an aerosol duster. Then I carefully cleaned around the edges and corners of the screen with Q-tips dampened with rubbing alcohol and blew the screen off real good with the aerosol duster. Then I put the same screen protector back on and it layed down perfectly. Since then, I've applied BoxWave protectors to my nuvi. my iPod Touch, my Sprint Hero, and a couple of friends' GPSrs and all of those protectors layed down perfectly too. The BoxWave screen protectors (like many others) are hard plastic so anything on the screen that might prevent it from laying down completely will have a greater effect than with a soft plastic protector like the Zagg. But take the time to clean the screen carefully and completely and you won't experience any problems. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) the screen on the Oregon is recessed into the case so cleaning all the junk out of the edges and corners takes a little extra work. Pete

Been there, done that, got the shirt, and I have no idea why Zaggs are so popular. They're one of the hardest screen protectors to install, they have a rubbery feel and fingers don't slide around on them very well (only important for touch screen devices), and they have a bumpy texture which causes distorted reflections. Oh, and they're way too expensive. After a couple of miserable experiences with Zagg protectors on my cell phone and GPSr I switched to BoxWave protectors and I've never looked back. BoxWave makes both Crystal and Anti-Glare protectors which fit all popular consumer electronics devices (including GPSrs) and you'll never know how much better than Zagg they are until you try them. They're a snap to install, your finger won't drag on 'em, and the Crystal protector is truly invisible. That said, I prefer the Anti-Glare version on devices which are used outdoors. Pete

Holy cow! They charged these cells at 1C (2000mA) and terminated the charge cycle at a 10mV delta-V. They certainly weren't interested in long cell life at those rates. Pete

I've never done that with a powered plane because I don't rely on calculations. I use an EagleTree eLogger and get pre-flight and actual in-flight measurements and that takes any guesswork out of it. If you haven't already guessed, I fly electric aircraft that can make their own wind too. I have smoked a couple of big LiPo packs, though. The biggest was a 6S (22.2V) 4350mAh pack which I pushed to the published limit. Turns out that the published limit was, erm..., a tad optimistic to say the least. I got the pack out of the plane before it began "venting with flame" but I did considerable damage to the plane in the process. But the plane did eventually fly again and that would never have happened if the pack had gone off in it. And yeah, the crowd loved it. Do you think one of these will do? (I actually have the CBA II): I also have two of these: And two of these: And all three will do logged discharges at any load and to any final voltage that I program into them. The EOS0615i and Accu-cycle Elite are also fully programmable logging chargers and the CBA and EOS0615i will interface with a computer via a USB cable. Needless to say, I take my battery maintenance quite seriously. Pete

You can, but faster charging than 1/10 capacity might result in shortened battery life and lower maximum charge. I try to keep it to a minimum, and only for emergencies when I'm out of batteries. Modern NiMH cells will take charge rates of .25C to even .5C in stride if you can do it without getting them hot and the limiting factor is typically the delta-V (peak detect) setting, not the charge rate. This will be hard to explain without getting into painfully boring details but I'll try: Near the end of a charge cycle when NiMH cells are sneaking up on their fully-charged state, the cell voltage will peak before the cell is fully charged. Then the voltage will actually drop off a little as the cell reaches maximum charge. That voltage dropoff after the peak is called the delta-V and it's what a peak detect charger looks for to decide when the cells are fully charged. Once the peak and proper delta-V has been detected, the charger will either terminate the charge entirely or drop back to a maintenance charge rate. A typical delta-V setting for consumer-grade NiMH chargers will be around 5mV (.005V) per cell. Just for information purposes, a typical delta-V for NiCd cells will be 8-10mV (.008-.010V) and this is the primary difference between NiMH and NiCd charging algorithms. Consequently you can charge NiCd cells with a NiMH peak detect charger and the only consequence will be slightly undercharged cells, but you don't want to charge NiMH cells with a NiCd peak detect charger. Anyway, NiMH cells will generate the most heat during the dropoff after the peak and the heat is what does the damage to the cell chemistry. Manage the heat and you can charge at higher rates without significant consequences. This is where most of you are probably scratching your heads and wondering how you can "manage the heat" and the unfortunate answer is you have very limited means with consumer-grade chargers. About all you can do is reduce the charge rate until the cells don't get hot at the end of the charge cycle. Warm is unavoidable and not harmful, but hot kills NiMH cells. And that really is the crux of what I'm trying to explain. With peak detect chargers like the La Crosse and Maha models you can charge at higher rates if it doesn't overheat the cells. I use the Maha C-800S for my loose AA cells for my consumer electronics and it only has 2 rates: Regular and Soft. Regular gets the cells too hot, so I use Soft and my cells love me for it. Those of you with the La Crosse BC-9009 can experiment with several charge rates, but pay attention to cell temperature near the end of the charge cycle. I happen to make a regular habit of huckin' composite gliders worth [literally] thousands of dollars off of jagged coastal cliffs and they all have packs of NiMH cells in them to run the receiver and servos. My transmitters also have packs of NiMH cells in them and if only one of those cells in the plane or transmitter fails, the glider either goes in the ocean or makes a smoking dent in the ground. For those NiMH packs and the LiPo packs for my powered planes and helicopters I use some pretty specialized (and expensive) programmable chargers which give me complete control over every aspect of a charge cycle. With chargers like that I can "manage the heat" in several ways including reducing the delta-V setting to 3mV per cell and automatically taper the charge rate during the voltage dropoff after the peak. I can even use temperature probes and automatically vary the charge rate based on pack temperature. And I can safely charge NiMH packs at rates up to 1C with these chargers, but I do my best not to. I will if I have to, but that typically means I screwed up. Under normal conditions I charge my NiMH packs at .3 to .4C which means a 600mA to 800mA rate for AA Eneloops, and Eneloops are my battery of choice for transmitter and receiver packs. I've never lost or crashed a plane due to battery failure in the 2+ years I've been using them and I can't say that about any other brand that I've used. Excellent comparison of Low Self Discharge batteries: http://www.stefanv.com/electronics/low_self_discharge.html Pete Addendum: Please note that the information I shared in this post only applies to peak detect chargers which are generally going to be the "better" grade of aftermarket chargers. Standard chargers which come with most "store bought" rechargable batteries are typically constant current chargers and they are notorious for overcharging cells which reduces their life. A decent peak detect charger like the La Crosse or Maha isn't that expensive and it's a good investment if you want your rechargable batteries to last. rePete

I'm carrying a Sprint Hero now (Android) and I don't think I'd be interested in an official GS app if it was no better than the iPhone app. Let me 'splain a little: I'll never use my cell phone as a primary geocaching device. I have an Oregon 400t and a nuvi 500 which both work much better for that. The only reason I want a geocaching app in my phone for is to let me react to new cache notifications quickly from anywhere and with a minimum amount of digital calisthenics. New cache notifications get pushed to my phone via Gmail so my phone makes that "new cache" sound just seconds after the cache is published. GeoBeagle, which is a free Android app, allows me to go from notification to a compass arrow pointing to the cache in just 3 taps. No copy and paste or manually entering a GC code or coordinates required... Tap tap tap and I'm on my way. Add one more tap and I can even view the cache on a map or in satellite view. Tap again and I'm back to the compass rose. That's all I want out of a cellphone geocaching app and GeoBeagle on my Android device does it a lot quicker and easier than the official Groundspeak app on an iPhone. Pete

Just curious about something, Pat: Have you deleted anyone's log or done anything else that might make someone want to get even? Pete

There is no "one size fits all" response to being confronted by a muggle, but that "make a mad dash for my car and peel off" idea will almost always be the worst thing you can do. I had a pretty bad case of newbie nerves too when I started geocaching. The most effective ploy for me was to wear a big yellow Stanley tape measure on my belt which seemed to satisfy idle curiosity. At least that's what I thought, anyway, but as I became more comfortable with what I was doing I began leaving the props in the car and I saw no increase in confrontation or even suspicion without 'em. In retrospect, I think the props gave me a sense of confidence and the confidence let me be deliberate in my actions and it was actually being deliberate which satisfied the idle curiosity of others. It's a widely-understood fact that the best way to look suspicious is to make a conscious effort to not look suspicious. Nothing screams "look at me" like furtive behavior but it's amazing what you can get away with if you appear to be doing what you're supposed to be doing. Pete

There's a locked cache near here which requires that clues be found on 4 corners of an intersection. Those clues are the combination for the lock, but you're on your own to figure that out. Words can't describe how clever this cache really is despite it's simplicity. Check it out: Walk - Don't Walk (GC1J2WD) Pete

My typical caching strategy is to find the caches I search for. Kidding aside, I've always been a "clean out an area" kinda guy and I've also developed a "cache where I am" attitude. I discovered that I was missing out on a lot of wonderful surprises when I limited myself to caching in places which interested me, so I don't anymore. Oh I still go cache in places which interest me but I also cache in the places around and between 'em. Pete

Despite what I wrote in post #10, the 4-cell charger which now comes bundled with Eneloops is a pretty good bet. The La Crosse and Maha chargers mentioned in this thread are also good as long as you don't use them in fast-charge mode. I'm sure there are others, but I'm not familiar with 'em. Look for the words "peak detect" or "deltaV" and avoid chargers which charge depleated cells in less than 2 hours. Pete

Amen to that. Nearly every time I've had to fight my way to a cache I end up walking back out on a fairly well defined geopath. The bottom line is your GPSr won't always lead you in via the path of least resistance. Pete

It's kinda like the force that a Jedi Knight allegedly has, but a little more grounded. Kidding aside, a GPS can't find a cache. It can only lead you to where you need to start searching. Once you're there, the GPS can only serve as a distraction to the real task at hand which is using the tools you were born with to find the cache. Those tools (sight, smell, hearing, touch, and imagination) are widely known as your senses and once they're attuned to the evil things geocachers do to hide caches, they're also known as geosenses. Pete