piper28

Because it sounds like the OP has an "upgrade" disk, not a full version. For an upgrade disk to work you need to have purchased a previous full version. Garmin give these upgrade disk out for free and you need to purchase an unlock later for $75, or if you purchased an older version of maps after the newer version is released, they will sometimes give you a free unlock. Actually, I *think* Motorcycle Mama's question there was about my issues with Garmin, not the OP's. But yeah, what I have is the update disc (latest one), and just can't get their system to give me a way to update to it. Shows my old versions fine, but where it says I should have a spot to click on to purchase the upgrade, I don't have one. (And I'm averaging about a week for email responses, at least that's how long it took for the first one, haven't gotten a response to my second one, which is why I don't recommend emailing them.) I do vaguely recall having better luck getting timely responses to emails back when I first bought the unit I'm using, so maybe this time around is a fluke.

That's never a good idea unless you're told to get out. Makes the cops nervous. Nervous cops can make for a bad time.

And from what I'm experiencing, their email support leaves something to be desired. Takes quite a while to get a response, and that response isn't always that great. (I'm having issues unlocking the latest version myself, can't even get a spot that lets me purchase the upgrade, even though I have the disc in my hands. The whole MyGarmin part of their website is harder to use than what they used to have for unlocking.)

There's been quite a few threads on the form factor of the 60 vs the 76 units over the years. Feature wise they're basically the same, so it largely just comes down to what's more comfortable. My general interpretation of how it seems to break down is that those that hold the unit in the palm of their hands seem to prefer the 76 style, while those that hold it across their fingers tend to prefer the 60 style. But that's just my personal observation. The real answer is go to a store that carries both, pick them up and hold them in your hand, and decide which feels more comfortable. It doesn't seem to take people long to discover a preference.

Had to break for dinner to wait for the cop sitting in his speed trap to get the Q for this one: Royal Flush: A 315 - OL0289 J 315 - OL0306 K 315 - OL0307 Q 315 - OL0321 T 315 - OL0326 No bonus Four of a kind: A 105 - NE0799 A 159 - NF0908 A 317 RESET - OL0621 A 95 - OK0438 5 point bonus for DNF on A 159 courtesy of a tapeworm Full House: C 172 - NF0930 C 317 - OL0368 C 95 - OK0441 P 167 - NF0412 P 177 RESET - AB7415 5 point bonus for old (C 172, P 167) Flush: D 176 - NF0839 E 176 - NF0838 F 176 - NF0837 L 176 - NF0831 M 176 - NF0832 5 point bonus for old (all are 1948) Straight: U 103 - NF0102 (Preapproved by 2oldfarts) V 86 - OK0115 W 104 - NE0794 X 86 - OK0124 Y 159 - NF0934 5 point bonus for old (all) Three of a kind: B 110 - OK0136 B 159 - NF0909 B 172 - NF0931 5 point bonus for old (all) Two pair: D 172 - NF0929 D 95 - OK0442 M 168 - NF0389 M 317 - OL0382 5 point bonus for old (all but M 317)

Don't tell your friends! Oh, pshaw. Someone built a nice two-track access road along the tracks - just for benchmark hunters, I presume - that allows one to drive to a few hundred yards from the mark. Could drive all the way with the Jeep my wife wouldn't let me buy, rather than the sedan we purchased.... Bah, I didn't find the two track. If I had, I'd probably have considered it. I find two-tracks to be strangely hard to resist, and I was in the jeep . I was running later than I'd planned that day too because I spent longer than I'd planned at an auction, and my primary goal for the day was the royal flush, so I didn't want to spend a long time looking for it.

That was intentional. Now find this one. I'd been BM'ing for about a month when I looked for NF0908 - I should probably go back and check all my previous DNF's! I think I was following you that day, do you by chance log to the NGS as JAW (I think that was the initials I kept running into that day). I'd used archived data sheets to plan my route, and then updated sheets for when I was actually doing the looking, and in between there were a bunch of logs by this JAW guy on a lot of these marks. Could be worse though. I found this one while driving by at speed (I hadn't originally had it on my list to look for), and the power squadron hadn't found it last. I know the power squadron sometimes has a bad rap on finds, but like I said, this one I could see from the car as I drove by it. NF0839 Now I know I've been following a tapeworm. Several of the marks I found yesterday he's visited very recently, and one I didn't look for but really wanted for that straight flush he actually visited the day before. (He must be a little more brave than I am about heading along railroad tracks too, since that pesky B 95 I really wanted didn't look like I could get anywhere near it via road, and was quite a ways down the tracks.

The whole order the update disc and unlock it process has really gone downhill since Garmin added this My Garmin nonsense. And I can't get the stupid update disc to unlock, because it comes back and says something along the lines of this update disc not matching any software in my account. Now I'm stuck waiting for a response from Garmin about it. Previous unlocks worked far better.

Hmm, I'm guessing it's something like finding a benchmark monumented closest to the year or birth of one of the 2oldfarts. Or oldest benchmark, or, well, I haven't a clue.

Yeah, but I'm glad we're not playing video poker with those odds, because man do they suck. An 8/5 machine that shorts you on the four of a kind, straight flush, and royal flush. And I thought the odds on some of the machines around here (like windsor) were bad.

Keeping it out of the logging thread... That's the problem I'm having with them too. Depressing part is there's a set that are new enough and close to home that they'd probably be there, but they're too new for the database here. (Then again, I vaguely remember looking for the T in that line before and only finding the witness post). If the weather holds up the way it looks like it's supposed to for this coming weekend I think I'm heading up to try some along the Saginaw Bay area where there's a couple lines that have possibilities. It's being disguised as a Benchmarking/Fall Colour Tour to make it more acceptable to the wife.

Bleh, talk about a lousy day looking for benchmarks Saturday. Debated before leaving swinging by the Harbor freight store to pick up the cheapo metal detector they had on sale with coupon, but ended up not doing it. Get to the first disk I was looking for and of course wished I had. Right where I'd expect the disk to be I find that the soil is pretty loose and kinda looks like a trench has been dug through to install a fiber optic line. Of course, the real depressing part is this was the T in a line I had identified as one of my best chances for that Royal. (Course, I ended up not finding another that would have been needed to, so ultimately it didn't matter). Did end up discovering a WWII sub in Muskegon that I hadn't known about, so that was kinda interesting. Man that Royal is going to be tough.

Depending on the neighborhood around here, that could get you shot. (Ugh, I've got a couple of neighbors that have people that drop by that feel that's an acceptable way of getting their attention, regardless of what time it is.)

Technically.. that's kinda hard now, ain't it? All you need is a whole pile of chopsticks to tape together to push the doorbell from the sidewalk. Should I cancel my "rock through the window" idea? Depends on how good your aim is.

Technically.. that's kinda hard now, ain't it? All you need is a whole pile of chopsticks to tape together to push the doorbell from the sidewalk.

Hmm, I've never seen the screw top type. I always seem to run into the hinged lid ones when I don't have a screwdriver on me though. (And for the record, ball point pens do not make a good tool for opening them).

That was intentional. Now find this one. I'd been BM'ing for about a month when I looked for NF0908 - I should probably go back and check all my previous DNF's! I think I was following you that day, do you by chance log to the NGS as JAW (I think that was the initials I kept running into that day). I'd used archived data sheets to plan my route, and then updated sheets for when I was actually doing the looking, and in between there were a bunch of logs by this JAW guy on a lot of these marks. Could be worse though. I found this one while driving by at speed (I hadn't originally had it on my list to look for), and the power squadron hadn't found it last. I know the power squadron sometimes has a bad rap on finds, but like I said, this one I could see from the car as I drove by it. NF0839

Since you're in favour of public humiliation, how bout this one: NF0908 Disk was right where it said it was, just under a thin layer or dirt (I found it by scraping with my foot where I'd paced off where it should be).

Heh, most of the "lines" in Michigan seem to be anything but lines, and lots don't go for the whole alphabet. We seem to have a lot that start in the middle and continue to some other random middle point. And heck, some will even put the letters out of order (although the PID's will be in order). What I love is I get a pop-up that tells me that I have no PM's .

Hmm, I don't think I ever got around to logging that one. My picture is at a pretty low angle so it's hard to read the disk, but it's definitely one I photoed on my western trip. There's also one in the Mammoth springs area that I literally almost killed myself tripping over because I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking. Looks like it's PY0160 - Y 8 with around 68 finds or so. Both of these I found without really intending to. And while I haven't done a whole lot of benchmark hunting, these were really the reason I started looking into it. My first real looking for benchmarks was the following year looking for a few in the Death Valley area.

I'm guessing I should have brought something like cornstarch along with me on the benchmarking trips, because now that I'm starting to look at some of the photos I took, there's definitely a couple that are going to be pretty questionable as to whether 2oldfarts will be able to read them. (Although with one of them, even cornstarch wouldn't have helped, the disk is mangled enough that you can't make out the last number in the stamping ).

While it may not be real clear in my photos, the piece with the impression is no longer on the main part of the post that remains, and is broken off. There were a bunch of broken pieces of post, and even what was left of the main post was no longer standing quite straight. I suppose it might be possible to take the various pieces and reassemble them and possibly get the disk impression in a possibly useful point. Based on my previous visit to the site, there's no doubt in my mind this is the remains of the benchmark that was there. It was a pretty frequently visited and obvious benchmark while the geocache was still in the area. I'll try emailing Deb about it, although now I'm wishing I had taken a couple more photos of the area.

Ok, I know the general rule is that if you don't have the disc there you can't really qualify it for being destroyed, but I'm wondering about this one: OK0126 In this picture you can clearly see the remains of the impression of where the disc is. There was no evidence of the disc being there anymore. The area matches up with the description, and is well away from any other benchmark. And finally, while I hadn't logged it before, like many others I'd actually visited this mark in the past when there was a nearby geocache that referenced it being nearby, and know from personal experience that this is where the benchmark was. Thoughts? (Oh, and I'm referring to logging it as destroyed with the NGS, not for here, for here I'm perfectly content to log it destroyed.)

Cool, most of the ones I found today (err, yesterday now?) were 1934. That royal flush is looking pretty pesky though. Found a lot of lines in the area that seem to be missing one of those key letters. I'm sure they did it just to spite me.

So, for the age bonus, does this only apply if the benchmark hasn't been found since back then? Or was monumented back then, but has more recent finds? If the latter, at least I picked up some old ones today, although I haven't figured out how I'm going to use them yet .