TheThreeDs

In our family, Mom has a Blackberry running Geocache Navigator, Dad has an iphone using the GC app and Son has a Geomate Jr. We think the Geomate is great and accurate. It gets better reception than the phones in the mountains. Not every cache that we hunt for is loaded in the Geomate (no mystery caches, multi caches, etc. and some excluded due to terrain/difficulty), but it works well for us the majority of the time. You definitely need the update cable or access to one to keep the cache data current. One of the screen choices that you can toggle to on the Geomate gives you the coordinates of your current position. We haven't placed a cache, but I would think you could write down the coordinates from the screen while at your cache location and be good to go.

I am using the trial version of Geocache Navigator on a BlackBerry Storm. Knowing that I wouldn't have cell service, I attempted to prepare for a recent trip. The Geocaching app for iphone allows you to load a cache and then select the option "save for offline use." I couldn't find any such option for GN. I called technical support and they said if I loaded the caches in before I left, some of them would be left in the phone's memory, dependent on the memory available. When I arrived in the mountains, I did have some of the cache descriptions. Others of the caches gave me the coordinates and attempted to access the internet to get the cache description and failed. Even for the caches for which I had the information, the GPS function was way off. It was telling me I was 17 miles from the cache when I was standing on it. I am guessing that the last time I had cell service was 17 miles from the cache. (My son's geomate jr. led us to the caches when the BlackBerry failed us.) Is there a way to use GN when you are in an area that doesn't have cell phone reception? Thanks in advance for any help anyone might offer. PS We're only a few weeks into our geocaching adventure and we are not premium members at this point.