daetripper

I'm pretty brand new to caching and I'm already taking a break !!! I am not hooked on this crazy game. Like anything else, it's fun to a point. I can see how a person can make this their whole life for awhile. I'm just not going to do that. At first, I thought it was cool driving down the street knowing there was a cache there when all the "muggles" didn't have a clue. But, at the end of the day, it's only a game and you have to combine it with other hobbies and lifes adventures. I just recently went on a trip and didn't look for one single geocache. Quite relaxing actually.

The start up page message is a neat idea. If you happen to leave your gps on a park bench and an honest person finds it, they will know where to return it unless you are on vacation and not at home. If a dishonest person finds it, it's "stolen".

My V does fine with routing even when I go in and out of detailed map areas. It always finds a route. Sometimes when using the basemap only, it routes me out of the way instead of a direct route because it doesn't recognize that a shorter more direct or newer road is there. With detailed maps loaded, the V and 76CS are excellent tools to take you from point A to point B. Just remember the GPS can't tell if a road is closed or under construction or if an exit ramp is closed or moved etc. You still have to keep eyes opened and navigate to some extent.

Hi Rich, I did the same thing with my 76CS. I kept an eye on the falling barometer. It was indeed dramatic to watch it fall and rise. Proof positive of the power of the center of a hurricane. I'll have to admit, I'm very pleasantly surprised at how well the barometer works on these units!!

Welcome to the club I'm new myself with only a handfull of finds so far but I've not been looking too hard. LIke you, I'm very very shy around muggles and keep thinking I must look strange. It is a lot of fun.

Should work fine with the laptop. I don't believe that having the unit attatched to a laptop has a bearing on the calculations of the gps.

My backup GPSr's came about as I upgraded over the course of the past seven years. You kind of get attatched to your gps units and hate to sell them.

The manual does state that it is necessary to calibrate it with each battery change. Like you, I wish it didn't need this step but, it does. I really enjoy the 76cs however. It is the best handheld yet by Garmin.

But the question is: DO you have the Metroguide V5 maps loaded into the GPS for the ROUTE that you are trying to load? In other words, it will not dow what you are trying to do just using the basemap that came programed into the 60c. It needs to have the more detailed maps loaded in order to do it. Hope this helps.

I had a large stash of AA Alkaline batteries that serve me well. I have some rechargables as well but haven't used them "yet" in the GPS. I have bunny power. They keep going and going and then poof, they die.

I used to run a lot of external antenna's on my vehicles. Not so much with GPS but with two way radios. Basicly the same size coax/wires are involved. You have a couple of choices here. 1. Place the antenna on the roof of your car and just run the antenna in through the door and to the GPS unit. (this is if you plan on taking the antenna in and out and not using it as a perminant install.) 2. If you are installing the antenna perminantly, rather than installing it on the roof, I would suggest drilling a hole in the upper middle of your trunk, running the wire into the trunk and then into the passenger compartment. You should find some "holes" to run the cable in on either side of the trunk, past the back seat and then run the wire under the door jams up to the dashboard area. This makes a neat looking tidy installation and it will not leak providing the antenna you install comes with a rubber gasket and the hardware to tighten it securely. I was never a fan of drilling holes in my personal vehicles, preferring to use magnetic mount antenna's and just running the cable in through the door. 3. You can use the same mounting idea as in suggestion "2" only placing the antenna on the fender of the car near the hood and running the wire into the dash through the firewall. You can usually find some space to fit the wire using existing holes that have electrical wiring already running from the engine to the dash area. About breaking the seals. I never found it to be a problem in my vehicles running the cable in through the door. While it's true the cable will press the rubber gasket in as the closed door puts pressure on it. I've never noticed any problem with water leakage etc. In the end, it depends on the type of antenna you use and how and where you want to install it. Good luck with your choice.

New 76CS owner and don't understand how to load geocache information into the unit so the geocache compass and navigation screen will appear. I know I can enter the coordinates as a waypoint but I think and hope there is another way to do it from the computer. Help !!

New 76CS. I can find the Geocahce set up page but need someone to give me step by step directions on how to download geocache information so the geocache page with compass and direction will show up. SHould I just create a waypoint? I don't think the geocahce page will work that way. I'm confused. The manual doesn't cover this very clearly or at least I didn't see it covered. Thanks.

Hi, Do you have a west marine or boats USA store near you? If so, they carry GPS units as well. Just another place to think about where you can hold them in your hands. Today, I went and tested the 60cs and the 76cs side by side and held them in hand. The 60cs is indeed smaller than the 76cs, not by much but the shape lends it seem much smaller. More like a small cell phone. The 76cs is like holding a larger hand held calculator if that makes sense to you. The 76cs is a bit more awkward to me but I purchased the 76over the 60 because I need the extra memory to store more mapping information for traveling. The 60cs also is a more rounded shape on the bottom so it won't sit upright where the 76cs is more square and would lay on a dash etc more easily. Just my thoughts. they are both nice offerings from Garmin. Do you need more memory? If so the 76cs is the choice. If not, and you like a smaller GPS then go for the 60. If you can, go to a marine supply store and try one out. It's the only way to know for sure.

I primarily use the GPS V for almost all of my GPSing. However, I have an emap unit that I picked up a couple of years ago. I've only use it with the basemap it comes with therefore have only used it for very basic line of site navigation etc. My question is if I buy the memory cartridge for this unit and download maps into it will it be worth it. I no long have the manual so I'm wondering if the emap will do auto routing? I don't think it does. I'm tempted to not do anything and just save up for a newer unit like the 60cs. Anyone have an opinion if I put in the maps in the emap if I'll enjoy it more or if it would be worthwhile or would I just still use it as a back up. I guess I like the size of it for geocaching but wonder if sinking more money into the emap would be worthwhile when the newer units do a lot more.....Kind of answereing my own question here but wondering if anyone has a comment.?

Hi Night Stalker. The 60C with it's 56 meg of memory is three times the amount I currently have in the V. I can get by with the V in my area of Florida by loading just the maps in my local area. When I go on a trip, I load the maps at my destination as well as interesting areas along the way if they'll fit. If not, I have to bring the lap top along to upload new maps as I go along. This is a real pain and may be the ultimate reason to upgrade to the 76CS. I think I'd like the 60C or CS better and it might just be enough memory to work with. Just wonder why Garmin picked 56 meg of memory. Possibly size of the unit? I'll decide soon.

Thanks for all the great replies. Today I held a etrex vista in my hand and although it's small, I like the way if fit so easily in your hand and could just tell I'd really like the "C" version which the store I was in didn't have. The only problem again is only 24 or so mb of memory. NOT enough . You know, Garmin could solve this problem by giving us more memory. !!!! SO I guess the decision comes down to the 76CS or the 60CS. Other than the larger size, I think the 76CS wins because of the 115mb of memory. Hey, it floats too!!

Having had many electronic "gadgets", I can tell you without question I favor units that use AA batteries over a dedicated battery. On the quest for instance, let's say you are away from the power source and still want to use your gps........and it runs out of battery...... That's why I like AA's. Always easy to carry a few spares with you and theyre available everywhere. This is one reason I'm so impressed with the garmin line of GPS receivers. almost all of them run off of AA batteries which make life much easier on us.

S I have used and enjoyed my GPS V for two years now. Fantastic unit. I like the routing and rerouting when on trips. I would like more memory. So, I'm wondering if I'd like the new 60C or CS or the 76C or CS better. What are the main advantages/disadvantages between the 60 's and the 76's?? I know th 115 meg of memorty is attratctive but probably 56 meg is enough. Knowing that I use the GPS V and love it. Which unit would be a better choice for me? I also have a little emap that I take when doing some walking trips as it fits in my pocket quite nicely. I've never had a color display...