Merlin-K

Very happy with the feel of my 67. A lot less happy with the software. Having problems downloading pocket queries and maps. Getting frustrated. And the Garmin response was "it's new software, there are always bugs"

I have the same problem. I have gone into settings and try to correct in the authorisation section but it doesn't seem to want to connect.

The map isn't showing on the GPS to enable it. How do I get a second code? When I go on mygarmin then it says the map is unlocked. I can't see how to get another code (or how to add an unlock code on the montana) Opensourcemap seems an option but I am finding it hard to understand how to put Oss on the Garmin.

I have just purchased a Montana 600 to replace my Oregon 450. I am having major problems with downloading maps on to it. I have a Garmin Benelux topo map. This has been unlocked and worked fine on the Oregon. I have tried to transfer it on to the Montana using Basecamp but when I turn on the Montana it doesn't show the map. If I now open Basecamp and open Topomap Benelux under maps then I get the correct map showing on the computer. Next step is to connect the Montana with a USB, right click on internal storage and then click "Install maps on the Montana". Mapinstall opens, as it should. It lists the device in the device box but then it gives me the message "The device already has your latest maps fully installed". So disconnect and turn on Montana. Click on map settings. Click on map information. No sign of the topomap for me to be able to enable it. Any suggestions as to move forward would be appreciated at this point.

I am currently on a work trip in New Jersey. Thinking ahead I made a pocket query search for the area. I then downloaded the GPX files into the GPX folder on my Oregon 450. All well and good I thought. Arriving in New Jersey I fired up the Oregon, looked for a geocache and found the nearest one was over 3000 miles away, in other words from my home pocket query. Ah, that's a pain. I then thought I would have a look in waypoints. And lo and behold, 500 waypoints around me. But all with the symbol P in a circle (I assume the Oregon symbol for parking)rather than a trad, multi, puzzle or whatever symbol. So it appears the data is in the Oregon but the Oregon doesn't recognise them as geocaches. Which means I can't access all the infomration about them - a real pain for earthcaches. My computer laptop won't talk to my Oregon (this may be a block on the computer or to do with the USB to mini USB cable that I have) so I can't upload a new set of data. Anyone got any bright ideas how I can make the Oregon recognise the files as geocaches?

Hi and welcome to Geocaching Most events have the instructions of what is expected in the cache description. A flash mob tends to be a brief meeting of geocachers (10-30 minutes. It is a chance to say hello, meet some fellow cachers and then get on with the day. Events tend to be longer and often have new caches associated with them. To claim an event then you log it as with other caches, just "attended" rather than "found". Hope that helps a bit.

I added some more detail to the cache description, and explained more to the reviewer, and it has been allowed. I wasn't trying to have a go at the reviewer, they do a great job, I was simply rather surprised at the reason given. As I had been climbing up a tram stop earlier in the day, next to a cross-roads with traffic lights, I think it probably seemed stranger. A lot of threads on here talk about how to be stealthy so that in itself didn't seem a reason. As to why it was placed there - well not simply to make a difficult cache to reach. It was placed opposite a Freemasons Hall, and I was considering doing a series of these. So I needed to find somewhere that was close and suitable. I thought the tree was. As it is, around here we have a major fight to get FTFs normally (a race I take part in) - this one hasn't been hit yet, so maybe there is a problem with it!

I have just had a cache temporarily rejected. The reason given was: "I'm reviewing your cache and have a slight problem with it. In such a public place, and alongside a busy road, is it realistic to expect people to climb a tree to find a cache? Please picture how this would look to people in the vicinity." This cache is placed in a tree about a foot higher than I can reach. It is next to a busy road. To get the cache you will either need a leg up or the trunk of the tree has a nobble sticking out that you can stand on. I was surprised by the reason given for the rejection. I have had to employ stealth for many a cache. Surely sometimes that is the challenge. Today I had to clamber up an old tram stop - I put on a yellow hi-viz jacket so I looked like I was surveying the structure. OK, reject if it is somewhere that could be considered a terrorist target, but this is in a park. I managed to place it there without being spotted. I have found 256 caches and placed 15 so I have a bit of experience, certainly I have tried to find ones that are more exposed. Is this really a violation of rules?

I have recently been at some county shows and picked up a nice deal on some necklaces and pendants. My idea was to leave them as swag in some caches. Would you take and wear jewellery that you found in a cache? Would it help if it was in a bag with a note saying that it was new and hadn't been worn?

I find looking for sales at county shows and at some trinket shops can be worth while. I have a number of welsh love spoons, pretty keychains, as well as some nice jewellery that I will leave in secure and dry caches. Some of these items turn into my trackables. Attitudes to sigitems is slightly harder. I believe that they are seperate from swag, in the same way that trackables are seperate. Sigitems can be collected, and don't have to be swapped out. I make my own sigitems and they have slight variations in colours used although the design remains the same, just so people could collect different ones if they wanted. Personally I don't collect sigitems of others. The temptation is very VERY strong, but it would just be another collection to add to the masonic jewels, the geocoins, the pathtags etc etc.

I am certainly not going to do any work on it while it belongs to someone else. The reason I would like to adopt it is because of its location. Visiting it takes cachers somewhere they wouldn't have gone before and reveals on old canal route, now disused, as well as the reason behind the title. Having found this one I think it would be a nice start to a series creating a pleasant walk. Does the 0.1 mile rule still apply if a cache is archived?

Can anyone shed any light on how to go about adopting a cache. We have a nice cache nearby, All The Fun of the Fair, but sadly it is rapidly dying (or already dead). I can't get a reply from the owners by email. I would like to adopt do that the cache can continue, but I don't know the procedure. All advice gratefully received.

The Leicestershire cache also appear to be knocked out at the moment. To be fair the owner has had surgery and has updated the cache page with info.

This is good news, as I want to do this quest. It leaves me with one problem, which is that I recently did the Battle of Tewkesbury one but there were no LQ numbers to collect anywhere on the log or the cache.

My first cache went live toaday. It was found within an hour or so, which wasn't too surprising. It wasn't supposed to be a tough one. But the finder has left a few trackables (I had one in their to start it off). I like to see trackables, and I like to collect the icons. So I was wondering what protocol dictates. Is it bad form to grab trackables placed in your own caches - it feels wrong to me somehow. But then, what about simply going and "discovering" them - would that be bad form. Is using your own caches in order to see other trackables "cheating"?

They almost sound like sigitems to me! Signature items are a confusing area. DIfficult to sometimes know if you have found a sigitem, and difficult to know what you do with them. Sigitems are generally considered collectible rather than tradeable. And they don't have to be left for the cache owner. Some cache owners do like to collect them but others aren't bothered. There are topics dedicated to sigitems, the making of them, protocols for leaving them etc. My avatar is one version of my (very) handmade sigitem.

Both these systems are supposed to improve GPS accuracy. So why are they not automatically set to "on" as a default on an enabled unit? What is the drawback of having them turned on and Di they really provide as much benefit as the hype suggests?

Yes, I do realise that the GPS won't take me exactly there. I didn't explain myself well. I spend my time tellin my daughter that when she is using the etrex :-) I can still be 20-40 feet away and start to get wild fluctuation. This means I don't know whether to go forward or turn right or even take a few steps backward. The overall circle probably has more like a 80 foot diameter. I'll have to see how it goes, but it "feels" distinctly less accurate than it did a week ago.

I'll try turning off the WAAS. But why would the WAAS reduce accuracy. I thought it was there ot improve accuracy (but then couldn't figure why it is an option to have it on)

This was with a few different caches, so nothing that was with all of them. Tried the etrex at one and it seemed more accurate. I think that's when I started to wonder if there was a problem!

About three weeks ago I bought a Garmin GPSmap 60CSX. And up until a few days ago I would have said it was fantastic, it knocked the socks off my Etrex. The last three days though have not been good. Suddenly it seems all over the place. I can stand in one place and it will change it's mind repeatedly about where the co-ordinates are, but as much as 90 degrees or even more. Distance as well, by around 40 feet. One mintue you are on GZ, the next you are 40 foot off and it's in yet another direction. This is without tree cover. Is it me, is it the weather, or do I have a defective GPS. How do I find out if I have a defective GPS? Any advice gratefully received.

No GPS unit will ever be 100% accurate. Depending on where you are and on the weather then you can be a significant distance off. Trees and cloud cover will make a difference. Ground Zero (GZ) according to your GPS is your starting point. Then you need to start looking around for what might make a good hiding place. This then comes with experience because you need to start to understand just what can be hidden. It can be worth standing still for a few minutes and letting your unit acclimatise in order to get a more accurate reading. Plus, in the early stages, look at the hint so you have an idea of exactly what you might be looking for. They probably haven't all been muggled. Part of the game is learning to look and imagine.

That was the answer I needed. Yes, having others discover them is a nice idea which I hadnt thought of. And it would also be nice to have the icons. So activate and enjoy it is. (Nothing wrong with dreaming that one day they will be worth a fortune though :-))

It's a personal preference I suppose. I was leaning towards activating them - my Masonic jewels aren't pristine after all - but I was wondering what the norm is. Value does come in to it. I might not be collecting because of their worth but something that is one of 25 will certainly be rare in fifty years time. I am aware of these antique programmes when they look at an old toy and say how much it would be worth if it was still in the pack. But then I have never understood why people collect wine and don't drink it - a three hundred year old bottle of wine is worthless to me if you can't drink it!

I tend to just use the field notes option. That way I can quickly record thoughts on things about the cache that I will want in my final log. There might be something about the cache itself but then later I might want a note on a certain field on the walk back etc. I can then composethese into the final log once I am sitting at my computer and can also upload images at the same time.