Red Iguana

I have a eXporist 200 and I looked it over to see if I could see anyway to repair without taking it apart. I guess you have the batteries in right? If you cleaned the battery compartment the only thing I can see is that the acid may have leaked through the body at the battery contact points. Its worth a look to open it. Sorry I couldn't be more help. Many thanks. I had scoured the internet for similiar problems and found a posting on a "fix-it" type site where the poster had indicated how the battery case springs actually just made contact to the pins that go through the back and to the board, instead of a solid wire. I took a look at that and did see some corrosion in the area. I took off the back and soaked it overnight in a solution of water and baking soda. That did the trick. Thanks again for the input. Hank

A friend passed along a relatively unused eXplorist 100 for me to contribute to a family who boys I have gotten interested in geocaching. Unfortunately my friend had left the unit in his glove box the last 3 years w/o removing the batteries. They did corrode and leak but it does not appear that the leakage went into the body. Anyways, it will not power up after cleaning the terminals and installing fresh batteries. I thought I might inquire about other possible resolutions before opening the body. I realize the 100 barely passes for a gps and has little value, but this family is not in the position to buy a gps, I'm not in the position to be able to buy them one, and the boys would make do with 100 until they could get something better. Any advice or possible resolutions? Thanks much

Some of the function buttons on my unit are either not working at all, or are intermittent. Has anyone experienced similar problems, and if so, did you find a fix? Specifically, the escape (x) button does not work at all, and the in and out buttons intermittent, as is the down toggle feature. I have sent Magellan two e-mails, but no response. Thanks

That is exactly the type of support that I had come to expect from them. I am glad to see that someone is getting positive treatment. I don't want to just PooPoo them, as I have great regard for the previous service they gave me.

I know this has been addressed previously, but allow me to vent anew please! I had previously posted good quality customer service with Magellan. Heck, actually GREAT service! Yesterday though, sealed the deal for me. I will not attempt to attain support from them again. They have created such a horrible disconnect between the promotion and sale of their products, to the "after the sale" that I am astounded how a company could possibly take such a negatively implosive step! What happened? Is anyone at all from their company actually "minding the store" and monitoring the results of their outsourcing? I think not, as they still have not even ironed out the chasm of internal record keeping. Heck, I bought my last GPS'r directly from Magellan, and registered it immediately. Customer support swears that I do not even exist . Luckily, there is a wealth of knowledge on this board, and also aftermarket vendors to support the operational needs of the equipment. I know I cannot possibly make another purchase from this company, even though I tend to like their products. I'd love to pick up a data cable from PC-mobile, as that was yesterday's issue...2nd cable flaking on data transfer in just the first year... I think the multi use set up, data/recharge, and the Y connection is a impractical design. Anyways, I'm traveling, so it makes mail order a bit more challenging. Anyone hear of acceptable data cables in retail outlets? I will keep looking. In the meantime, I will just have to use a card reader for my PQ's and maps. Anything, just to avoid going through another phone call with Magellan. I nearly shed tears yesterday, it was so bad! Not again!! Shame on you Magellan!

DING,DING,DING! We have a winner! I just love this response, and fits my opinion to a T, even though I don't really go after FTF's. I used to sail in regatta's, part of the beercan fleet. Our motto was simple "Last one to the fridge/cooler gets no beer". That was the only racing any of us really cared about. Same attitude here. Red

Greetings. This would definitely be a parrothead only topic. For Buffett's northen California show, I invited a parrothead family to their first concert. A very creative bunch, we converted my Volkswagen camper van into "Finagan", with plywood dorsal and hinged tail fins. The tail fin has a windshield wiper motor to drive it, with a remote and has two bubble machines mounted on it. We had an absolute ball driving through San Francisco (golden gate bridge, golden gate park, ocean beach) on our way to the the show near San Jose. Our karma banks are overflowing with the 1,000's of smiles we generated that day. We even were videotaped and flashed on the stage screen . Anyways, we hatched the idea of sending these ready to mount fins around with Travel Bug dogtags to other cachers/parrothheads who are going to attend their local show. I have always guessed that Bubba caches, seems like a perfect fit to his adventurous lifestyle. Plus, I do know that he purchased a vanagan camper not too long ago... Anyways. The dorsal fin mounted on Yakima roof racks and the tail on a strap on style rear mount bike rack. Would be easy enough to convert to other vehicle applications. They are plywood and very well made. the dorsal jas guy wires for stabilization and we had no issues, even at highway speeds. We'd build the crate to ship and pay the freight to the next stop. Ultimately, they would come back here to us, for the rumored October return show. p-mail me of you think you may be interested in this venture. plenty of pictures available upon request. "Fins Up", "Happy Caching". Red

My worst fear is to run into someone who is packing heat in fear!

Thanks for the feed back from all. I suppose I will just watch and keep my fingers crossed. Red

Is this normal for other users? When I depres the power button to start up, I get a momentary scren screen of bar code looking vertical lines. It then goes directly to the "checking media" screen. Thanks

Trails.com. POI's and links. Sorry for asking what is probably in inane question, but... Just loaded 3d. Al the listings for this software promote the trails.com link. I see the x's. All I can find in the Mageelan documentation is "click the link". I see no link. I see the listing "alcatrez gardens" in the lower screen and that is it. I see no reference whatsoever for POI's in any of the manual and other doc's. Perhaps I am missing something? Any help on any of basic questions I am posting is greatly appreciated. I am quickly losing my faith in Magellan's customer service and at this point, they don't respond to e-mails and they have yet to follow up on promises made in phone conversations. Thanks

Well, I handled this in reverse order, I do believe. I went right to the survey, plugged along just fine, until it went into the area of getting too personal. It may be "SOP" anymore to ask for level of education, income, etc., and that information seems to have become too readily accessable (thanks to OUR government selling it off for one!#$%^), but it turns me off. None of your d@#$^ business, is my position. And so, I opted out and came here. Having read this thread, I'm sorry I did not look for the end-around for that area of the survey and complete it. I have nothing but compliments to Groundspeak and geocaching.com. I am in my second year of premium membership, and I think it is worth every penny. I had not previously received any unsolicited e-mail that was tracable back to them, and overall I believe they have the best interest of the hobby/sport in mind. I am guessing that boomerang helped design the survey and they kept the standard language in (the stuff that turns me off). Jeremy, if you want insight into what I like about caching and my general caching habits, I'll be glad to share. Let's just not too personal is all. Red Iguana

Thanks for the response Embra. I suppose I will go with the 3d software purchase. I was not doing pocket quiries, so I will try that route. Not a whole lot of detail in the manual to work with. Saw your webpage on eXplorists. Much more detail. Thanks so much for that.

Hi all Looking for a little assistance for a tech challenged cacher. I recently upgraded my sportrak to an explorist 400. Magellan was generous enough to offer the upgrade on a 2+ year old unit for $95, because I kept having problems with the battery case stripping out. Anyways, I sit here with both the streets and topo software being useless. I know that I can shop for the topo 3d for much less than the $150 magellan wants, but: I noted that the mapsend manager has a file conversion mode. After getting all giddy about the ability to convert the maps into eXplorist format, I see the print at the bottom saying "nope"! Is there anything out there that does convert the maps, w/o buying something, or is this a hopeless cause? BTW. I am within my 30 day return period still. The other offer made was another sportrak unit w/o warranty. There are a lot of plus/minuses with the eXplorist, and the geocaching manager seems to add very little to the plus side. What were they thinking when they did not allow editing of cache files? And, I cannot do a typical file download from geocahing w/o losing hints, difficulty and terrain from the file Red

For the third time, I am experiencing a problem with the retaining screw for the battery compartment. The screw or female receiver strips out, so that the battery sleeve will not make firm contact. The last two times I have been able to return the unit to Magellan for no charge repair. Before I look at doing this one more time, I wanted to see if anyone else has dealt with this issue. I use due care whenever I change batteries and only snug the screw, but to no avail. Help! Happy caching

Parrothead. Off to see the lizard. Caching seemed to fit right in with this mindset.

I like this topic, as it emphasizes what I love about caching. I have cached San Francisco, so I guess that I can say I have used the sport to see notable spots, but that is not the attraction to me. I love to explore new and out of the way places, away from the crowds, thank you. I bought my GPS to give me a security blanket in striking out to the backcountry solo. I first tried caching to hone my GPS skills. I have, in the last year, graduated to a VW Vanagon Westy camper, to make my exploring a year-round. I love to point myself in a general direction, and let the caches that look interesting lead the way. Geocaching.com is the best travel guide you would want to find.

Yeah, I've got to weigh in on this topic. I don't know that there will be a concensus on what etiquite is proper, unless a solid set of rules are developed by Groundspeak. Being a moderate, I'd hate to see that I have set two tb's loose. In both cases, they have ended up at "trading parties". Once that happens, it seems that we are doomed! It's a game of "where's Waldo", just to figure who is in possession! From there, getting the bug released back into the field is a whole new challenge. I find that the holder has so many durn bugs in possession, they have no clue as to individual goals. In both cases, the holder seemed irratated when I made an inquiry. A whole new problem for me is that my latest bug does not want to be flown. This was decided after its release, and was noted on the website. It is racing another bug, and my bug would had finished in just a few days, cross country. We wanted it to be a nice even paced race. Maybe a "traditional travel bug" classification would be useful ( no trade parties, hoarding; professionals not welcome type theme). Just my $.02.

I would like to thank everyone for all of the information you have provided. Now I know that I can just expand my NI-MH battery inventory that I have for my camera, and be all set. Red Iguana

I am betting that if I were not lazy and tech-challenged, I would answer this question myself... What advice is there out there in regards to batteries. I have a Magllen ST pro. Can I use rechargables. I understand the more I ratchet through screens and edit waypoints, the more the drain. I have not found threads yet on this subjec, but certainly, there must be something. Any advice. Please be nice... Red Iguana

I too have found their customer support to be more than satisfactory. Recently, I found a thread here in regards to cracks in the cases of the Sportrack series. I e-mailed them, and have recieved not only e-mail replies, but also phone calls. I only have bulges in mine, but they assured me they are aware of the problem and that they would correct the problem if it becomes neccessary, free of charge, even though the unit is already out of warranty. Previously, I have found them to be just as responsive. To me, customer service means everything! So far, so good. I am interested in knowing about the Topo software and updates though. I must say that so far, I am less than impressed with the detail contained in this software!

Thanks for the info. I went there and have ordered a copy. And, to boot, starting October 1st, they have added a $20 Magellan mail in rebate offer!

No cracks, but bulges at 3 screws. Bought my ST Pro 3/03. D/C 4702. I will monitor. I'm with you, if this is a manufacturing defect (materials), they should address the problem w/o charge. I am actually surfing through the posts on another topic regarding my unit. Perhaps I will find something, but will also note here. I am finding that the battery compartment screw is going further to reach its "home" position than when it was new. This concerns me as much as the bulges do. I don't get into the threads very often, and if anyone has any information to enlighten me on this issue, I would be greatful for an e-mail (HankSpringer@aol.com). I intend to e-mail Magellan on both issues. I prefer to think they care about their cutomers and will address in this manner unless they indicate otherwise. Red Iguana

After a w/e of caching in areas heavily infested with poison oak, I took my usual precautions, and thought that I would share this tip that I picked up from a hiking guidebook, on what to do if you come in contact. Since the rash is caused by the oils from the plant, and you have six to eight hours before the oil starts working its magic on you, try a shower or washup with Dawn dish soap. Cannot say with certainty this works, but the author is reputable, and I have not had a breakout since starting this precaution. NOTE: Please do not taint the waters in the field! Red Iguana