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Team BAHumbug

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Everything posted by Team BAHumbug

  1. This is a very interesting thread... I have pretty much given up on the 60CS altitude readings, as when I calibrated it at sea level (well, 2 feet above sea level) after two days (no battery change) at about 10' above sea level my unit read 119 ft BELOW sea level.
  2. Most of my favourite caches have come in Burnaby, which is a suburb right next to Vancouver. The ones I would put on the "must see" list are: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...a4-23d449f6f014 (While you are in the area, you could check out this one too: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...e8-5ba5aecb1dc4 ) http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...f8-f92ce4dda532 http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...&decrypt=y&log= The last one is in an area where you can also hit two others: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...4c-3a4c39a6599d http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...e1-b4d3f6010650 FYI, I notice a couple of them are flagged as having a "railway problem" - I have no idea what that might be about, save that the train doesn't run to either one of them! I hope you enjoy your trip up here!
  3. [ Mine too - She's much better at the "get the message across to EVERYBODY" than I am... (Findahappyplace! Findahappyplace! Findahappyplace!) It's another lesson in patience I am slowly learning. I'm up to nine on some of them... When I start getting four repeats of the same number I start to feel a little more confident. Naturally, the last point where co-ordinates are the most important is the hardest to get consistant readings from - go figure! Thanks all for your advice and words of encouragement.
  4. 16 hours, the last time... This has been done over a couple of weeks. Mostly during daylight hours. Nope, not in the US, and to top it off, the final point is on the north side of a hill... (And just to make life difficult, buildings on either side and tree cover! Woo-hoo!) Thanks, I'm pretty much there, I guess. Now just for the polishing of the documentation.
  5. This has certainly been a learning experience... As a new cacher, I have scrambled over hill and dale and dodged the odd cyclist in the pursuit of those elusive containers... Naturally, the idea of placing my own became a strong desire too. Then the fun REALLY began! The first instinct was to just "drop a box" and dump the co-ordinates on the web. Then after reading lots on the forums, I started to think "What is really fun?" - the most fun I have had has been on multi-caches. My desire swung in that direction. Two weeks ago the planning began. Where would be a good location? Where would be good places to get the clues? while I thought about it, I put the first box of goodies together. Two weeks later, that box is still sitting in the basement. The first day was spent eagerly running around getting co-ordinates of the three target sites, and scribbling the information from plaques contained at the first two sites to allow the deciphering of the third. That evening was spent "doing the math" and making sure things worked properly. The next day was a dry run (paper only) to make sure the directions were clear without asking further questions. It became clear a re-write of those directions was in order. Test. Repeat. Test again. Following that I went back using the gps to make sure everything would work smoothly. Oddly enough (and this will come of no surprise to anyone who has tried this before) - the co-ordinates were wrong! Up to 30 metres off in some cases! Back to the drawing board! Fast forward to today. After re-visiting all of the sites 7 or 8 times, morning, noon, and night I have gotten the co-ordinates down to the point where they are only 6 - 8 metres off. One or two more dry runs and it should be worth registering the cache on the web site. Things I have learned: 1) This is a lot harder than it looks! 2) GPS accuracy is an oxymoron. 3) GPSr's seem to work better at night than during the day. 4) Co-ordinates taken at night won't lead you to the same location in the day. 5) Two GPSrs held side by side can give different co-ordinates. In closing, I just wanted to give a very heartfelt thank you to all those people that have done this before, so I could grab my handy-dandy gps unit, and wander about until I could shreik "I found it!" I really do appreciate your efforts, it's been a lot of fun. Thanks again, and I hope that (when this is finally done) you can have some fun in return!
  6. It's probably buried in the waypoints somewhere. The only way the 60CS knows it is a geocache is by the icon you assign it. If you assign it the closed treasure-chest icon, it should show up under the geocache list. (I found the manual less than clear on that as well.)
  7. Still being relatively new at this, I always figure the fault in not finding it is mine. I have logged a number of DNFs, but not until after the second attempt with some serious searching going on. (With one exception, where I knew I wasn't going to get a second attempt.) Even after the logged DNF, I keep going back. I just don't log any of those succesive attempts. If I eventually find the cache, then I log a succesful find. (Is that wrong?) The only cache I have done that for so far was after my 9th attempt - showing I may not be bright, but I am determined!
  8. I dunno... I always feel conspicuous, like I'm wandering around in a raincoat and fedora, AKA Humprey Bogart. My wife is better at being unconcerned, but I always feel like I'm doing something illicit. When I do find the cache, rather than reading the log to see who else has been there I quickly scribble something in the log and quickly re-hide it, even on really remote hides, just in case someone might come along. Oh well, I guess it just adds to the thrill!
  9. FYI - the 60 CS showed up last night... Quite the toy! It's so much more complex than the Forerunner (not surprisingly!) so there will be a bit of a learning curve before I am fully up and running with it. I have to echo MrMac204 - I don't appear able to pick up WAAS signals here in Vancouver (or Burnaby for that matter.) No worries though - Waypoint averaging helps loads! Thanks again Vlad!
  10. Thanks! I'm looking forward to it! After reading more on WAAS, it appears that they are planning a third WAAS satellite as well, although it probably won't be up and running until 2006. (2007?) "The FAA has plans to launch a third satellite and locate it over the central U.S. to increase availability of the WAAS signal." http://www.geotips.com/geotip/geotip19.0.htm Also, the general announcement: http://www.ainonline.com/issues/04_03/04_0...awaaspg112.html
  11. Well Vlad, it took lesstime to justify than I thought. I even sold Mrs Bahumbug on the 60CS... THe order just went in. Thanks for your help!
  12. Thanks for the information and suggestion... I hadn't considered the 60CS (I stopped looking over a certain price point) but it certainly has ALL the toys... Might take me an extra day or two to justify the cost.
  13. I am in the final throes of a purchase decision over upgrading my current GPS (Forerunner 201). I bought the Forerunner for, well, running. I then got into geocaching and the units shortcomings in this area became obvious. The kind of geocaching I do is mostly parks, municipal and provincial. No serious hiking. I have read the reviews on www.gpsinformation.net and have narrowed my selection to two units, and I need some information not available on their site, and I was hoping that you could help me. The two I am considering are: Magellan SportTrak Color Garmin GPSMap 76S The primary reason the SportTrak rates so highly is gpsinformation.net's glowing praise over their accuracy and reception even under tree cover - a huge portion of where I would be using the units. What I don't like about them is that the WAAS cannot be disabled, without risking locking up the unit. My concern is that the reviews were done in Atlanta, where they have a clear view of both of the WAAS satellites. I do not know if my area can "see" those satellites. Another dislike is the relatively feeble availability of accurate, full-featured Canadian maps. I really like the features of the Garmin GPSMap 76S such as the 1000 waypoint capability, ability to turn off WAAS (should it be necessary), and better Canadian maps. However, I am concerned about the lower battery life and possible lack of accuracy (under trees?) when compared to the SportTrak models. My primary question is, north of the 49th parallel (I live in Vancouver, BC) is WAAS readily available? I have two friends with different eTrex models, and neither one has WAAS enabled due to their poor reception. (Both also fail miserably under tree cover.) I am assuming that is because of the eTrex's small patch antenna. And one general question : Can rechargeable NiCAD batteries be used in place of alkalines without damaging either of the units? In summary, for the type of use I am looking for (geocaching, under trees, in Canada) which would suit my needs better - the Magellan SportTrak Color or Garmin GPSMap 76S? I'd appreciate if anyone that has used either (or both!) units up here could let me know how they found them... Or (opening up a can of worms!) if there is a better choice in the same approximate price range... Thanks in advance!
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