Sue and Bernie

I have this lot up and running, I believe that all you need to do is use the "Export Data to PDA" under the "PDA" menu. This sticks a file onto your PDA and MemoryMap displays it. I also use the enhanced icons from Lordelph so get these displayed on my Ipaq... If it all gets too difficult, Sue and I have just moved near you (to Dereham) and could assist you in person.

...and we're in the middle of a house move so we're out of the frame for a couple of weeks. Anyone need some cardboard boxes?

Dave, You're right! I wonder where I got the wrong number from. I get the same result in GSAK using that ID number now. now to try the export thing. Thank you. B ...back to some packing...

Would some-one kindly remind me how one gets this ID Number. I did it once before but although GSAK recognises our single cache (using our name), I've obviously got the wrong ID number set in the XSL thing because when I used that in GSAK, it no longer "found" our cache. ...and before anyone feels the urge to drop a sarky comment about our solitary cache , Bernie has finally left the RAF so we're gypsies no longer, we move to our our new home next week and, courtesy of the closure of dear old RAF Coltishall, we have a fine collection of ammo boxes to start putting out some more.

A lad after my own heart! Good man! I love that site too - and the people at the other end wonder why you don't care about being on hold for 25 mins not realising that they're paying for the priviledge!

I managed to leave my glasses at this one: (GCG256) Strathspy No 5 ...but it was £1.50 to park and a good 4 mile walk. Found another way (public footpath) into the park and avoided a repeat parking fee and reduced the walk. Bah!

We have to confess that we don't usually don't read the cache page before setting out. We usually decide where to go caching using the improved download from GSAK to Memory-Map. We can then see on the map where there is a clump of uncharted traditional caches and head for the area. We prefer rural locations that involve a good bike ride or long walks with a traditional cache at the end and for the same reason tend to avoid urban and micros. We do mop them up later but only when we run out of reachable alternatives. We regularly cycle 30 - 40 miles on a round trip to a single cache. I normally update my Ipaq (Gpsonar) and GPS unit (Vista Cx) each weekend from GSAK with the cache details in the Ipaq, co-ords in the Vista. We then use the Vista to guide us to the cache whether by car, bike or walking. When we get to the location, we search for the cache. If we don't find it, then we consult the cache page and the clue. Yes! this slap-dash way of caching has resulted in some classic upcocks (pitching up without a neccessary graphic, swap or leaving things when told not to, driving up roads one shouldn't) but on the other hand, it does enable us to go on the spur of the moment either when at home, visiting others or when Bernie is away travelling on business.

Another solution is to buy an upgrade to City Navigator, you will get a fresh set of unlock codes (2 off), one to use with an existing Garmin unit, the other to use with a replacement. I own a StreetPilot 2610 which came with CN 7. I used the second unlock with a Vista C. When CN8 came round, I took the opportunity to sell off the Vista C with the original CN7 discs, kept a copy for myself to use with the CN8 upgrade disc. This was with Garmin's blessing, the ownership of the Vista C and user codes were formally transferred. I then bought a Vista Cx and used the new codes for the CN8 upgrade to enable the software with the Streetpilot and the new Vista CX. Garmin are quite good sometimes...

I re-cal my compass every time I take my Vista Cx out. If I do not, the direction arrow is accurate but on the map screen, I find I am travelling across the screen with my breadcrumb trail diagonal instead of travelling up all the time. Once I recalibrate, the map screen falls into line with the bearing pointer, both show "UP" for straight ahead.

If you are a Pocket PC/TomTom user (as I am), you may find the POI-Warner/POI Handler useful. POI-Warner is a programme that integrates with TT and gives a time-related warning of the upcoming danger spot that is being protected by the Safety camera. This is superior to the simple distance-related warning provided by TT. The programme cost me €12 to register. POI Handler is a POI database located in Holland. Cost €12 per year. My Ipaq updates daily on first connection. The site has POIs for all sorts of other things all over Europe. Like the other sites, it is a live database that collates input from the users. Waypoints can be added to and removed from the database via the PPC while on the road. On the next synchronisation, the changes are uploaded to the database and everyone else gets updated. I have found the advance warning this combo provides to be invaluable.

As we placed the subject multi, I can confirm that I did carry out the suggested "garden" test before using the brand-new specimen jars. I reason that if they were designed to keep liquid in... However, each micro is place in a location that protects the specimen from direct sunlight. The location that might suffer such exposure is protected within a larger opaque plastic container that also makes it easier to find (some cachers reported difficulty in spotting it). We too got our specimen jars gratis from a dispensary...

City Navigator Europe software is not available as a standalone product in Europe, CN USA is not available over there - it is only available supplied with hardware. The Americans can buy CN Europe and we can buy CN USA over here. This is called marketing - and it's very expensive to boot! I have a SP 2160 with CN 8 Europe. I have used the second "unlock" available with this software to enable it to work with my Vista Cx. This give me full auto-routing with the Vista Cx on our pushbikes. While the Vista is excellent at directing the car about (I use it when I am away on business leaving the 2610 behind for Sue), but it is pretty dire on the bike. Selecting "Bicycle" and "Shortest route" in the settings appear to have no influence on the way the unit does its stuff. The Vista will still try to send you round the map, 3-sides-of-a-square or 2-sides-of-a-triangle to get you back to a major road. I have sent an email and diagram of the track from our recent 50 mile bike cycle. Straighest point between two waypoints on the Vista is a bloody long way off the optimum - even after I twigged and started to cut corners across the map.

I (Bernie) visited Newcastle recently on an overnight business trip and made a quick dash round some of the caches about my hotel near the Life Centre for a spare hour or so before dinner. I went for a brisk walk round and visited 4 (or maybe 5) micros near my location and found most of them completely swamped by passers-by. I did find one in a secluded spot near the Casino but just gave up on the remainder. I quite enjoy the searching, hunting and finding bit of geo-geeking but hate having to avoid the Great British Public and making a spectacle of myself. However, I did really enjoy my quick wander round the landmarks, guided by the cache locations, up and down the steps around the Castle. ...but in the end, the lure of a couple of cold beers pulled, the frustration and my impatience hunting urban micros during social hours pushed and I turned off my GPS and retired with my solitary "I was there" find.

Ditto! There are going to be a lot, no - 32 sets, of disappointed people when they try to use their "new" software and find they need codes to unlock the software...

...bearing in mind that if you install this update, you will need to register it with Garmin and pay for a set of uplock codes in order to be able to use the software with your Garmin GPS unit. It is also worth knowing that when you do this, you get two new unlocks for the update. If you use City Navigator software with two units, in my case in the car (Streetpilot 2610) and with a handheld (Vista Cx), then this is an ideal time to upgrade your hardware too. I was using CN V7 with a Vista C - with Garmin's blessing, I sold that off with the original CN V7 software and bought a Vista Cx as a replacement. CN V7 is the end of the line as far as the Vista C with its limited 24mmb of internal memory is concerned. The "x" series, with their microSD cards, are a long overdue improvement. This sold-off combo is now registered with Garmin under the new owner's name.

I have no comments about the topo software but can bore for Britain about City Navigator software.... Garmin City Navigator Europe (CN) is only supplied with hardware sold in Europe. Similarly, CN USA is only supplied with hardware in the US and so on. We can buy CN USA here along with any other CN version (other than Europe) - it is very expensive but Garmin will sell the software separately to add to your local CN software provided with your hardware. This is called marketing! Without being unlocked the software will not autoroute and does not display fully on some units. CN software must be unlocked to the internal serial number of the unit you intend to use it with. Garmin will allow you to unlock the software to two different Garmin units - I have my CN Europe V8 unlocked to work with a Streetpilot 2610 (that came with CN) and a Vista Cx handheld unit. ...so avoid buying City Navigator unless you get it with unused codes or get the hardware with it - and if you buy hardware with CN, make sure you have the second unlock available with the software.

Have you updated the software? I used to have a SP 3 deluxe and I recall it held 500 waypoints. Just been to Garmin's site to confirm: StreetPilot III specs... ...so I suspect you are using an old software version in the SP.

One thing you might need to look at is how long the battery will last when out in the field powering the screen and GPS. I personally use a HP Ipaq PPC phone - and it eats the power. I use a separate bluetooth GPS in the car and in the field but only use the PPC to consult the maps on Memory-Map infrequently. I use a Vista Cx for caching proper...

So is it for certain that the City Navigator North America v8 is going to be large map segments? It’s hard for me to trust you on this when it hasn’t been released. This kind of reminds me of my 16 year-old daughter that likes to use the phrase “just trust me”. ...then you should read more and see more and check your facts before going into print. I live in the UK - City Navigator Europe V8 has been out for some time. To assist you in learning to exercise some constraint before making such comments: Garmin City Navigator Europe V8 Have a nice day!

I often use my Vista Cx (with City Nav V8 installed) to autoroute the car to a cache location and at the same time, have my Ipaq displaying UK Ordnance Survey maps to see exactly where we are. This may seem daft but the UK is laced this way and that by public rights of way, bridle ways and footpaths all over the place going from one village to the next, between the churches and to access common land. Often, these paths traverse privately owned land and fields - but everyone has the right to use them - even when they cross railways and motorways. Even Madonna and the Beckhams have to put up with people marching past their mansions on PROW. These routes are often the only way to a cache location. Garmin's software does not know about them and you need the good old OS maps to show you exactly where they are (and where they go). The Ipaq with Memory-Map gives you a real-time, moving map display centred on your current location - Brilliant!

No :-( I had taken them home and logged them. I then moved them to a different part of the country, dropped them off somewhere nice and took pretty photos of them. Then I returned home to log them and they had been grabbed... physically from the cache and virtually from my inventory. A class act! That's a new one on me! That can only be an inexperienced person at work. A polite email and grab them back again, log them in properly to the cache and then invited the impetuous "grabber" to post a note and collect them again. How irritating!!....

...clearly I have failed to make myself clear! When we pick up TBs, we do not drop them off again until we have got to a computer and logged them. Sometime this means waiting until we return home from a trip... but no-one else can "grab" them while they are with us, the travel bug er!... travels. Once we have the blighters logged them into our inventory, we then put them out next time we go caching and set them on their way. No problem with impetuous "grabbers"! TBs can only be "grabbed" when then grabber has the coin/TB and can see the code/registration number on the item. If they cannot see it, they cannot grab it. Resist the urge to immediately drop the TB/Coin like a hot potatoe into the next, nearest cache and instead take it on a trip with you. After all, that is the point... Enjoy...

I have just wrote a big blurb about this on the "wtb: City Navigator" thread. Having owned Garmin units and software for many years, I can bore for Britain on the subject. Want routable software in your Vista/Legend C/Cx - buy a unit that comes with the City Nav software included, use the second unlock - sell the kit off if it is no use to you. Today, you need to buy a Cx handheld to have the use of the microSD memory card. This is a long overdue move by Garmin and enables you to use a string of high capacity cards to hold your map data. This is absolutely essential for City Nav V8 (and future) because of the large "map tile" size. If you do not know what I'm banging on about - just trust me!

You need to understand the kit before you put yourself out on a limb like this! I'll provide you with City Nav V8 discs (3x CDR) for $25 - but they will be totally useless to you. I'll even provide you with the original City Nav discs for $50 - I'll keep the CDRs and again, the original discs will be totally useless to you. Garmin's City Navigator software has to be unlocked to work with a Garmin GPS Unit. The software is completely unprotected and the discs can be easily copied onto CDR - the programme will install on your PC and look okay but, unless you have the code to unlock it - tying it irreversably to the internal serial number of the specific GPS unit - you are STUFFED! The map detail will not appear on your GPS unit. Garmin will allow the software to be unlocked to work with a second Garmin GPS unit. Personally, I have a Streetpilot 2610 which came with City Nav - I have used the second unlock to enable the software to work with my Vista C handheld unit - brilliant! Each time you purchase an upgrade, you get two new unlocks - ideal times to upgrade your hardware. We started with a Streetpilot 3 and mono Vista, over the years we have moved up to a SP 2610 and Vista Cx. Both units are fitted with large, changeable standard memory cards to provide extensive internal mapping. So, if you are determined to give your money away for some unusable software, on original discs or CDR, feel free to contact me - I love easy cash!

We don't suffer this problem - when we pick up TBs we keep them with us until we can log them and only then do we drop them into another cache. All this grabbing malarkey only happens when you just hop a TB from one local cache to another, particularly on the temporary visit. Just hold 'em till you can log them, resist the temptation to drop them like hot potatoes and bingo! - sorted!