Sue and Bernie

We were not able to get there this time round but, as ex-Londoners, Sue & I would be keen to get in on the next time round - where do you flag up these meets? We've also seen both our youngsters re-locate down to the Greenwich area, so that's our crash-pad sorted out! Strange how things go round, we've slowly drifted out of the Smoke and into the Sticks and as soon as they can - the kids flock back to our stomping ground. Weird or what? ...next time round - when we spot the event.

John & Carol, This is how we tend to use the Palm and software: We download a different PQ each day (56k modem still in the sticks), each one is centred either on our home or the homes of family & friends. We generate a new PQ if we are going on holiday or if Bernie is working away. As each PQ arrives, We load it into GSAK. This basically gives us a personalised version of the GC.com DB on the hard drive, building up data over each week. When we go a-caching, we usually "user select" a handful of caches in GSAK in seconds and quickly upload them to the Palm, Vista C and SP3 (for the car). This takes only a couple of minutes - and while that's happening, we print out the map for the area we're attacking. If we are going away for a visit away from home, we use GSAK to select a big pile or area of caches and pump the whole lot of them into the 3 units in very short order. To keep the level of clutter down, we normally clear out all the "not found" caches from all three boxes by block deleting them after each outing ready for the next fresh upload of caches. This also makes the subsequent uploads to the Palm much quicker than co-ordinating with existing data. ...but you'll find you own best way too...

Ah! An interesting topic that we can relate to. We think that over-indulgence is the root cause of the affliction. Sue & I have never bothered about "the numbers", we never really understood this fixation when in one area of the country you could litereally fall over them by the bucketload whereas in others they were 20 miles apart. We've cracked just over 100 in 4 years... and I can remember something about every one of the caches we have visited. They all had some memorable point for us. We have always used caching to take us to new areas, delighting in the little spots that others have guided us to. Our leisurely consumption of caches in East Anglia (and around other family locations) has endlessly surprised us in our own (and our families) backyard. Generally, we find that the umpteen stage multi-caches that drag you round rarely used "secret" footpaths - preferably to secluded pubs, give us the most pleasure compared to the "5-minute-stroll-from-the-car" outing. We recently spent a day finding 7 caches round Woodbridge during a slow trip down to visit Sue's Dad. Sue observed at the end of the day that the memories were all mixed up and, in essence, we experienced a milder form of the same "cache-fatigue" mention above. In the end it is always whatever floats your particular boat - for us, we are gonna go back to "doing" a couple at a time, preferably involving a big cycle ride or long walk, relishing each outing on its own. That, we believe, is the key to keeping your interest fresh... moderation in all things eh?

We followed and are still with the cheap 'n cheerful route that Fangsy has advocated. The hi-powered colour PDA with the OS maps and GPS tracking are the Rolls-Royce (and price) solution. I'd love one but when we sat down and really look at what we wanted it to do, the Palm IIIxe with registered copies of GSAK and Cachemate provided the paperless solution we were after for a very low outlay. Since I personally prefer a paper map when walking about (like NFJB does too), having OS maps on the PDA would be an expensively acquired additional facility. So....instead of flashing out on a hi-end PDA, we bought a hi-end GPS, a Vista C. ...and as an aside, Sue & I have found the organiser functions of the Palm to be superb. There are now 3 Palm IIIxe active in the immediate family, each with battery powered modems (£3) and excellent Palm folding keyboards (£4 brand-new). All of these items were bought via eBay. I have no doubt that in the future, we too will opt to fork out for the RR option. Until then, we are extremely pleased with our current paperless solution.

Thank you BillD - it was the having to be on the web bit that was throwing me! Sorry about the big pic folks, I didn't realise it would come across that large. Ta!

OK, here we go: ...and hopefully it worked!

...and you must remember to buy a dictionary too... Sorry, couldn't resist! ...but you could help me by telling me how you include the pictures in the posting. Each time I have tried, it has failed. Ta!

I bought an old Palm IIIxe for a few pounds on eBay after a tedious time with mounds of paper in the cab of our hire vehicle while working and caching during a visit to Yorkshire (thank you Harrogate Hunters). It is the dogs for paperless caching and, being old hat, you can get all the bits for it dirt cheap. Since buying it, I have picked up a battery powered modem for £3 and a brand-new, shrink-wrapped Palm folding keyboard for a £4! The combo is brilliant! It is B & W so no super maps but the mass of UP-TO-DATE information you can get into it is super. I upload on a Friday for the weekend - no more fruitless searching for archeived caches.

I know of one cache placed on MOD property: South Cyprus Stash by Helodriver (GCE878) ...because I found it while working on the base area earlier this summer.

Sue & I use bikes by preference. Now we have cleared the local area around Norwich, we do sling them on the back of the car and drive towards the caches to bring them within range (25 miles each way is about our limit). We use a Vista C mounted on the handlebars and usually follow pre-defined routes plotted on the PC. The Vista C does auto-route so if we do go off down a likely looking shortcut, it can easily route us back to the car if neccessary. Oddly enough, we got the GPS to enable us to cycle long routes without having to repeatedly stop and consult the maps. We found geo-geeking and ended up using the caches and GPS to give us a destination to cycle to! ...the wheel turns full circle.

It all depends on what gadgets you want to fork out for! Usually I print out paper maps for the area we intend to go caching in using Memory-Map on the home PC. We use a Streetpilot 3 in the car in conjuction with a handheld Vista for the legwork. We bulk download caches into the SP3, the Vista and into Cachemate (in old Palm IIIxe). The SP3 gets us close to the cache via the roads, the Vista does the closing in and Cachemate deals the paperwork. We often use the "direct-line" approach on holiday where we do not have detailed maps available. More exciting at the time but very inefficient!

This cache was found to contain a rearview mirror! When we got home and logged the cache, we found the story (dated June 18) - and it was a hoot... Not far from John O'Groats (Not) - GCH7MM ...definately worth a read.

When we leave home for pastures new, Sue always grabs the mobile and I grab the Vista! We do the same when we go on holiday or anywhere new. We have got used to driving afield with the bikes strapped to the car then dumping the car somewhere convenient and cycling on to a cache or two. Hours later, we return to the car and travel home. While we always know roughly where we dumped it, we often return cross-county using tracks and footpaths. Sometimes we have to spiral our way back due to the route being closed or non-existant but we have always trusted the Vista to get us right back to the spot. ...and of course we now have two (JIC).

Glorious in Norwich too...

Make it hard but make sure the clue helps. We regularly travel many miles to a single cache, usually by bike, having exhausted the immediate Norfolk wilderness for 30 miles about us. If we fail to find the cache by searching about, we use the clue - that's what it is for. There is nothing more irritating than de-cyphering "You don't need one!" when actually you do!

Sorry LG, we may be missing something - how are the waypoints updated? Surely they're fixed? We understand the nearest waypoint/cache bit, my old Vista would automatically list them in that order anyway. The new Vista C has geo-geeking specific functions, as soon as you click that a cache is found, it logs it in the calendar in the GPS (its a real dead-basic organiser) and lines up the next nearest. We tend to use the Palm simply as a database/notebook enabling us to go paperless (except maps). Get a Vista C - it costs the same as 10 of the cables!

LG has put it succinctly! To use the proper mapping features, you do need a hi-spec, colour screen PDA whether it is a Palm or Pocket PC. For simple database functions, the unfashionable B&W PDAs are an excellent choice. Me! I plough our spare cash into hi-spec GPS rather than a PDA and I make do with old-fashioned printed maps. I use the v. cheap Palm IIIxe, these can be picked up for £20 on ebay or about £30 on eBuyer. Having got one just for paperless caching (using the excellent GSAK/Cachemate combo), I now find myself using the bloody thing for all the organiser functions too! It has become indispensable. Damnation! Even picked up a proper battery powered keyboard (£1.99) for it since I can type. Now I am even using a USB infra-red thingy to beam any notes I've typed to the desktop of a PC (with XP) ...and now I've even picked up a battery powered modem (£3 on ebay, brand new) and, when visiting the family luddites who do not have a PC, I can use it to pick up my email. So! you have to make your choice and pay your money...

Oops! Double post...

When I looked at this, I determined that there was little point in having a cable to connect the Palm to your GPS - especially when it costs more than my Palm IIIxe did! As I understand it, the only additional functionality the cable affords is to enable the current position to be passed direct to the Palm. Then the Palm can display the nearest cache! (and/or a crude display on the Palm). Therefore, in reality, all the cable has done is to save you actually enterring the current location! ...so I did not go for the cable but to make the "Nearest Cache..." search of Cachemate more user-friendly, I maintain a memo list of all the locations that form the starting points - family, friends, holidays etc. These match my Pocket Query searches. It is then a simple matter to use the Palm's copy and paste functions to put these co-ords into Cachemate. When out in the field, the next use of "Nearest Cache..." appears with the last used co-ords already inserted. These are then easily updated to the current location. Mine you, my new Vista C automatically brings up the next nearest cache when the current one is marked as found...

Pharisee, I've put a few comments down about the Vista C in another thread. Those comments would generally apply to the Legend too. The colour screen is a great improvement naturally. Inclusion of sounds and alerts are very useful. Garmin have tidied up a lot of the other features too. The geocaching specific modes are good. To fully exploit these new units, you have to feed them with City Select or City Navigator data. If you already have a spare "unlock" available (as I did), then these new eTrex units are a viable upgrade. We now effectively have a mini StreetPilot 3 on the handlebar of the pushbikes, auto-routing to cache locations and pinging loudly at every turn. The 24 MB of our Vista C holds Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent and East Sussex - note London area omitted. Map changes are quick using USB but I suspect that the 8 MB memory of the Legend C would be restrictive in the amout of data you can have loaded.

We have had a Vista for over 3 years. It spends most of its operating time nailed to the handlebars of my bike. It has never exhibited any of the symptoms described above - and it has had quite a pummelling! ...back to Garmin with 'em - as soon as possible, you have bad ones...

I keep a memo on my Palm specifically to maintain a list of the co-ordinates of my regular "centre points" such and family and friends. A quick cut from the memo and paste into Cachemate brings up the nearest caches. I did consider getting a lead to connect the GPS to the Palm but since the cable would cost more than the Palm, I decided that this low tech solution would suffice.

Another 4 hours out on the bikes today, cycling from Southwold down to Sizewell and back to catch another couple of caches. Vista C is still going strong on the same pair of NiMH installed yesturday. That's a good 10 hrs continuous use so far with the battery indicator on the last segment (of 4 - or maybe 5). Garmin seem to have got a good grip on battery power consumption at last. Note that this is with the electronic compass working throughout. This function was permanently off on the "old" Vista. I have not worked out how to turn it off on the new job! The other big improvement in operation that I have notice is the much improved performance in tree cover. It performed brilliantly yesterday in the very dense woods finding the locations for "Not Far from John O'Groats" (CGH7MM) and again today at "Sizewell Belts Walk" (GCH82X) where the cache location is in the trees.

I went blind-caching during a recent trip to Cyprus. No maps, just downloaded the cache datasheet to the Palm and the co-ords into the Vista. Off went Steve and I (Sue back home in the UK - working trip actually) in a borrowed car. Was it exciting? Yep! and hairy at times as we found ourselves traversing mountain tops and driving along mountain goat trails where the edges were washed away and there was no edge to the drop. We certainly saw a bit of the real Cyprus - but we won't do that again!

...the final bill came in in at £277.20 - obviously the pound sterling has fallen in value against the euro since we last went on holiday! Still good value, the Vista C is certainly a step up in technology. The custom geocache mode is handy, immediately you click on a cache as being found, the unit looks up the next nearest. ...off to play again today.