infosponge

I've often though of what it would be like to use a Palm as a navigational instrument instead of just holding the database of cache pages like I do now, but I just don't see it being rugged enough to take the (ab)use that my Meridian does. If there was reasonably-priced rugged handheld that could run QNX or Linux...I'd have that sucker running some customized geocaching software faster than you could say "TNLN"...but...I haven't seen one yet. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

I have a Palm Vx, which I carry in my backpack. I load all the cache pages for areas I'll be visiting using: 1. GC.com membership "pocket query" to get a GPX file 2. GPX Spinner to generate HTML pages 3. Plucker to convert the HTML pages to a browsable database on the Palm. Works great and you can fit a TON of cache pages in the memory of a Palm V. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

There's quite a few caves and sinks in the Withlacoochee State Forest in Citrus/Hernando county. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

I've had a Meridian Green for about a year and a half now and can't say enough good things about how flexible and cost effective it is. I got my wife one too when you could get them for $99 at Outpost.com a while back...too good of a deal to pass up. I recently had the unit get water damaged and while I'm waiting for it to come back from being repaired I decided to get a new Platinum since I was able to pick one up for ~$230. The compass is a nice feature. The bigger base map isn't that big of a deal to me since I use MapSend Topo and a 128Mb SD card anyway. BUT...the cool thing is that I was able to load the Marine basemap onto the unit so I have the combo of topo data and the extra info from the Marine basemap, which is handy for my area. When I got the unit I immediately upgraded from V3.12 to v4.06 and then flashed the Marine basemap from the SD card...very easy to do. As long as you clear the memory when you're supposed to the basemap/firmware updates usually go very smoothly. The NA Land basemap is ~14Mb and the NA Marine is ~15Mb. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

I'm running 4.06 on my Meridian Platinum and 4.02 on our two base Meridian's (green). V3.12 is a nice stable release, but the extra features of 4.02/4.06 are worth it, IMHO (especially the POS->DEST line on the map display). http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

I have both a RAM mount for my kayak and the Magellan suction cup mount for my Jeep (Cherokee Country) and the Magellan bike mount for my mountain bike. The RAM mounts are nice and solid and very adjustable...BUT...I would never use them in an automotive situation because you can't beat the Magellan mount due to the power cable situation. It's nice to just click it in and out of the mount and know you have power while driving. In an unpowered bike/kayak situation...the RAM mount is great and it at least gives the illusion of offering more protection to the GPS. I will probably get another mounting base to replace the Magellan mount on my bike at some point. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

The Meridians have been out for what, about 18-20 months now, in various forms. I have no inside knowledge, but just from looking at what's there I'm guessing they're going to milk them for a while longer before rolling out something new. There's not a whole lot that's come along to incorporate into a new design except maybe USB interfacing and higher-resolution displays and faster processors. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

OK, I've always been one of those who says "don't worry about the water-tightness of the battery compartment", since over the course of a year and a half my Meridian has had plenty of opportunities to test that theory and has always survived water exposure with no problems. Until last weekend. I was geocaching in our tandem kayak, the one without the GPS mount, so the Meridian sits in the cup holder. Sometimes it picks up a few inches of water. To make a long story short, the GPS got fried. I let it dry for a few days but still no improvement. Today I took a look, and there was significant amounts of corrosion in two places on the circuit board. It looked like the water entered from the battery compartment seal. It also looked like salt water corrosion, which means the water was from a different trip, so it had been happening slowly over time. The GPS will boot now, but the display is streaky and pretty much unusable. A lot of the corrosion was around the connector where the display joins the main board, so that's not too suprising. So...forget what I said about it being water resistant...don't trust that battery door seal. You may get lucky for 18 months, but eventually it may bite you. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

Make sure you check "the other site" for new caches if you're in the Tampa, Florida area. Many of us our no longer using geocaching.com for new caches. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

That cache should be archived since nobody takes care of it. We did that one on a really hot day with the whole family and what a dissapointment that it was just a goopy mess. Geocaching should not be organized littering. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

There's a yahoo group called "mapsend_format" which has been able to understand much of what goes on in that file and others and could probably help you out. Technically, I'm one of those "someone"s, but I'm not working on that part of the problem right now.

I PDA isn't rugged enough to take the kind of outdoor abuse I put my Meridian through. I carry a Palm V in a hardshell case in my backpack with a database of cache info, but I woudln't want to use it as a handheld GPS.

If you can find the MapSend Topo 4.x update (check the yahoo magellan meridian group) it will write the images directly to the card writer for you. Plus the interface seems faster/better. No change in the map data, but it's an improvement anyway. Don't ask me why Magellan hasn't posted it on the magellangps.com site...I guess they just want people to get fed up and buy Garmin GPS's instead. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

Just a reminder, since there's some that may not have heard yet, there is a Tampa area on-line community at TampaBayGeocaching.com http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

I have the GIS option pack and use it to make trail maps. Works great! I export the track and even the downloaded maps into Manifold GIS. Couldn't be easier! http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

I would definitely at least go to 3.12 to get the best mix of new features and proven stability/performance. I'm curently running 4.03 as of last night, but I would not suggest that upgrade to a novice because it might involve re-flashing the basemap as well. I'm hoping to be able to field test 4.03 on thursday & will have a better idea then if this will be my new preferred version. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

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I have it, and use it for exporting data to Manifold. I've used it to: - export waypoints to a shapefile for import to Manifold - export GPS track to a shapefile for import to Manifold - export downloaded maps to a TIFF for import to manifold. This requires an extra step after import in order to tell Manifold what UTM Zone the map is for, but that's a quickie. You can see an example of a map I've made using my GPS and Manifold here: http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com/doc/north_anclote_river_nature_park So far I've been happy with how it works. Let me know if you have any specific questions. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

Magellan has issued a statement confirming that this is EGNOS related and is working on a patch. See the Yahoo magellan_meridian group for more info. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

quote:Originally posted by Criminal:No, I just have too many friends in the hood. I'd rather they came home. Amen. The'd come home a lot faster if we didn't send 'em there in the first place. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

No offense was meant towards our friends to the North. (Hey, my in-laws are from NB) A long time ago there was some article in the Wall Street Journal interviewing some Canadian government minister of somethingorother. I can't remember the context, but he was bragging that some new piece of equipment (some ship or something) was "pretty good by Canadian standards." and lo an behold it just sounded REALLY funny and it became the standard running joke around our office for many months: someone: "That was a good lunch." someone else: "...by Canadian standards." someone: "We fixed all the critical bugs." someone else: "...by Canadian standards." You get the idea. I guess it should probably be just "...by Newfie standards". quote:Originally posted by infosponge:That's pretty good resolution by Canadian standards! http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

That's pretty good resolution by Canadian standards! http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

Folks who say that the naked body (usually their own) is ugly/revolting/unnatural/etc. probably haven't seen enough naked people in their lives. If you spend enough time around nudists you realize how ugly and unnatural clothing is. But this is probably off topic for geocaching. quote:Originally posted by MaxEntropy:Folks who say things like that have never seen my naked body. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

This really BITES. So now I have a choice, use WAAS and suffer random shutdowns, or don't use WAAS. No way to tell it to ignore EGNOS...like it's supposed to. I own three Magellan units, but between this problem and all the crap with 4.02 that still hasn't been fixed I'm about ready to go shopping for a Garmin... The only thing stopping me is that Garmin doesn't use industry standard memory cards and seems to nickle-and-dime people for maps with unlock codes. What's worse...a GPS you can't use, or a GPS that costs more money to use? Sigh. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com

Here in Florida, I see AOR-E (PRN 120) and AOR-W (PRN 122) as WAAS birds. Since AOR-E is EGNOS...