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laurie

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Everything posted by laurie

  1. quote:Originally posted by xiaojie:Thanks to all for your help. I'll have to humbly admit that I have been reading the manual. Some pages multiple times. It just didn't seem to explain enough for me. All of the advertising I read about etrex's kept saying how easy they are to operate. I just couldn't get it. My dog is very happy with my having trouble though...a lot more walks (and longer ones) for her, while I tried the read-the-manual-and-actually-do-it routine. Thanks to the kind souls who gave me tips and term explanations. I've printed out all your responses and will give it another whirl. And to the nice person who knew what xiaojie meant, I used to be a linguist in the military. Thanks so much! Sorry the RTFM comment really comes from the concept of "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime." anyway... I read the Garmin manual and on page 14 of the basic etrex manual it does have a detailed description of how to enter a waypoint. For some reason all GPS units I have used/played with work this same way - and I find it a bit counter intutive. Basically you are looking for a waypoint entry screen, but you have to create a waypoint to get there, then edit it. Here are the steps as I understand them: 1) Press the PAGE button to page over to the MENU page. (Each click of the page button will change the view - keep doing this until the MENU screen shows) 2) Once the MENU screen is displayed, use the UP/DOWN buttons to move the cursor to the MARK item. The UP/DOWN buttons are on the side of the GPS and have and UP arrown and a DOWN arrow on them. 3) You will now have to update the Waypoint name and Lat/Lon (I can see where this is confusing - the manual is a bit obtuse) using the UP/DOWN buttons highlight the Waypoint name and press ENTER (button just below the UP/DOWN buttons). Using the UP/DOWN buttons change the waypoint name - use the enter key to assign each letter. 4) Do the same thing for the Lat/Lon field... Good luck! Laurie
  2. quote:Originally posted by Renegade Knight:I never have gotten what the compas does for you while caching since by the time my GPS goes wacko I'm closer than the GPS is accurate and it's time to look for the cache. Actually the compass is for when the batteries die in your GPS and you need to get out of where you are. Laurie
  3. RTFM. You need to read the manual that came with the etrex. Not only will that tell you how to enter in waypoints but all kinds of other neet things that you can do with the GPS. So the steps for Geocaching with a GPS should be: 1) Read The F* Manual to determine how to enter in coordinates. 2) Enter the coordinates into the GPS reciever 3) Drive, walk, bike, run, crawl, sail, paddle, whatever, to the spot where you can search for the cache. 4) Follow the gps (or not) to the spot where the cache should be located. 5) Search for the cache - many people find that using the Force really helps, in other words - if you see a really good hidding spot, pretty close to where your GPS says the cache should be located - chances are, that's where it is. NOTE: Never ever search for a cache without doing the following: make a goto for the location of your transportation, and BRING A COMPASS with you. But to enter in coordinates - usually you have to create a goto and then update the coordinates to the ones you want to use. Laurie
  4. laurie

    GPX is now live.

    Humm I should come out from hidding more often! I just had an oportunity to check out the GPX file that is created in the pocket query - looks like Jeremy covered all I could ever want in an html file. So, I will start work on a gpx2html converter for use with handheld devices and such. Should be pretty handy. Originally I was just going to tack it onto gpsbabel but I don't think it meets with their criteria for the format to be both an input and an output. Anyway - should have a beta by next weekend if anyone is interested, the only issue is that it will be OSX native, but written in ANSI C (should make it very portable - especially since all it is is a data parser using expate). OK - you may now all return to your regularly scheduled programs... I will post when I have a binary to download though (for the 5 people here using OSX that are comfortable with the terminal window, and typing on the command line). Laurie
  5. Mobipocket simply doesn't work on my Sony Clie pda (crashes every time). But I really like the pocket query idea - I know there is a Mobipocket to doc converter, but what I would prefer is just the html for me to convert. Not what I can get right now by scooping the geocaching website but the nice thing about the pocket queries is that they match up with the loc file you can have sent as well. If the file comes as a zipped html archive, I can then use any program I want to make the conversion - even set it up automatically if I so desire. Thanks! Laurie
  6. quote:Originally posted by Rocky Mtn Bear:Antennas - Both units use a Quadrafilar antenna. Is there any difference between the two units? Waypoint Averaging – Both units have way point averaging. Again is one unit's system better then the other? Does the Meridian store altitude with the waypoint? Orientation. - The Map76S must be held vertically for best reception. Does the same hold true for the Meridian since it uses the same kind of antenna? For some of the answers: Orientation - Both units have to be held Vertically to get the best reception, it is a function of the antenna design. Rule of thumb is: Quad Helix - vertical, Patch - horizontal. Now one big difference is the Compass - the 76S has a 2D compass (hold HORIZONTAL to get accurate reading) the Platinum has a 3D compass (it will figure out which end is up - so you can hold it VERTICAL to get an accurate reading). Personally, I think that is a pretty substantial difference... External antenna - The Platinum does not take an external antenna, the 76S does. Hope that helps... Laurie
  7. quote:Originally posted by SC-Yankee: For anyone interested I didn't log the missed cache as a "did not find" because the fault was mine. I thought the batteries were new and you know what the say about thought. Anyway we plan to go back after that missed one with fresh batteries. Just a thought - one thing that I have found works well (besides always having spare batteries) is that all my geocaching equipment (digital camera, gps, flashlight, headlamp) all use AA batteries. This way if I *oops* and the batteries run out on the GPS, I can take spares out of the equipment that I don't need at the time (usually the camera). Just something you may want to keep in mind when outfitting yourself for the great outdoors... Laurie
  8. quote:The technique that makes most sense to me, for a trail cache at least is to get one coord close (say N/S) and then work laterally (E/W) to close in for the find. Does this make sense? How do you folks do it? Actually all I do is use the GPS to get me within about 10-20 feet of the area, then just start looking at the places that *I* would hide a cache. I find this to be the most successful method as your GPS will only get you so close. Laurie
  9. quote:Originally posted by infosponge:I was thinking of doing a cache where the theme was AOL CD's...you know, those free CD-ROMs that seem to show up from every corner of the known universe. People who visit the cache could leave an AOL CD and feel free to take one (although I can't imagine why they would want to do that!) Actually this wouldn't be that bad an idea - have you heard of the No More AOL CD's project? Their mission is "To collect 1,000,000 unwanted AOL CDs from people like you. We'll then transport the 1,000,000 CDs in an armada of trucks or something and give them back to their rightful owners, AOL. We'll ask them to stop sending these unrequested, unwanted, and destined for landfill CDs." Just the vision of 1,000,000 CD's dumped on the lawns of AOL's Virginia complex makes me happy (heck I would hop on a train and watch the event if they got enough). SO - you could have a AOL CD cache (no cans of spam) and send the CD's to the project... Just a thought! Laurie
  10. quote:Originally posted by infosponge:I was thinking of doing a cache where the theme was AOL CD's...you know, those free CD-ROMs that seem to show up from every corner of the known universe. People who visit the cache could leave an AOL CD and feel free to take one (although I can't imagine why they would want to do that!) Actually this wouldn't be that bad an idea - have you heard of the No More AOL CD's project? Their mission is "To collect 1,000,000 unwanted AOL CDs from people like you. We'll then transport the 1,000,000 CDs in an armada of trucks or something and give them back to their rightful owners, AOL. We'll ask them to stop sending these unrequested, unwanted, and destined for landfill CDs." Just the vision of 1,000,000 CD's dumped on the lawns of AOL's Virginia complex makes me happy (heck I would hop on a train and watch the event if they got enough). SO - you could have a AOL CD cache (no cans of spam) and send the CD's to the project... Just a thought! Laurie
  11. quote:Originally posted by Web-ling:Let's all help poor Jamie out! Jamie could take up: + Quilting+ Shopping+ Jazzercise+ Early Childhood Education+ Nursing+ Home Economics+ Needlepoint+ Knitting Anyone else have suggestions for him? Geeze you would think you were trying to hook him up with some 60yo. Try: Dance - any form (Contra, Ballroom, Square Dancing, etc) lots of social interaction, more women then men. Theatre - very fun - also more women than men. Just a thought... Oh, not male. Laurie
  12. quote:Originally posted by Web-ling:Let's all help poor Jamie out! Jamie could take up: + Quilting+ Shopping+ Jazzercise+ Early Childhood Education+ Nursing+ Home Economics+ Needlepoint+ Knitting Anyone else have suggestions for him? Geeze you would think you were trying to hook him up with some 60yo. Try: Dance - any form (Contra, Ballroom, Square Dancing, etc) lots of social interaction, more women then men. Theatre - very fun - also more women than men. Just a thought... Oh, not male. Laurie
  13. OK - maybe I wasn't very clear. I have a Mac (an iBook if anyone cares) running VPC 5.0.2, the latest Keyspan USB drivers, and MapSend Streets. What I want to do is to load detail maps (from MapSend Streets) onto my Magellan 330. I do not care about using my Mac to navigate, I just want to use the Magellan 330. I do not have easy access to a Windows machine. Anyone get this to work? As stated, I have been able to upload/download waypoints using both the Mapsend software and EasyGPS. Thanks in advance. Laurie
  14. Well I did get stuck out once - was hot on the trail of the final leg in a multi-cache, you know the problem - check the time, making sure that you can get back out - then "just 10 min more" until it is dark. It also became the defining moment when I determined that my Garmin GPS (yellow) and I should part company. I am MUCH happier with my Magellan 330 - I "connect" better with it I now check for sunset before I get out, and have a definate "get out of the woods" time set that I keep to. Not that I am afraid of the dark but - why ask for trouble? (I also tend to cache alone so that may be part of it) Laurie
  15. Well I did get stuck out once - was hot on the trail of the final leg in a multi-cache, you know the problem - check the time, making sure that you can get back out - then "just 10 min more" until it is dark. It also became the defining moment when I determined that my Garmin GPS (yellow) and I should part company. I am MUCH happier with my Magellan 330 - I "connect" better with it I now check for sunset before I get out, and have a definate "get out of the woods" time set that I keep to. Not that I am afraid of the dark but - why ask for trouble? (I also tend to cache alone so that may be part of it) Laurie
  16. quote:Originally posted by Ranger Rick: Hello Thekeep and welcome to geocaching. Because of your two strikes at bat, I would double check you gps unit and make sure you are using the same coordinate datum that everyone else is. (That is, WGS84) If you are using the wrong datum, you may never find a cache even if it is on top of the ground because your coordinates would be off. Hope this helps. In addition you should keep the following in mind: 1) error is additive in the worse case - so your 20feet of error in your GPS added to the 20feet of error in the hider's GPS - makes a 40foot radius area that would have to be searched. 2) The cache will be hidden (not buried) so look for nice hiding spots - think "if I was hiding the cache where would I put it" That will narrow the search area quite a bit. 3) Some caches will be easy to find, others will be hard, and still others will require several attempts to find it. Laurie
  17. quote:Originally posted by macro: Anyone else notice? When you login into the main site you have an option to log into the forums at the same time...and it works like a charm! :/ The only problem I had was the odd situation where my login name for the forums was not the same as the geocaching website (I signed up for the forums before I signed up for the geocaching website)... So, after some emails and coordination - now both names match But my forum count is down to 0... Laurie
  18. quote:Originally posted by macro: Anyone else notice? When you login into the main site you have an option to log into the forums at the same time...and it works like a charm! :/ The only problem I had was the odd situation where my login name for the forums was not the same as the geocaching website (I signed up for the forums before I signed up for the geocaching website)... So, after some emails and coordination - now both names match But my forum count is down to 0... Laurie
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