jollybgood

So I guess what the "officer" is saying is that EVERY time we see officers gathered, we should stop our cars, get out and see what is going on. Yeah right! Then he'll whine that people shouldn't rubberneck and should move along so they can do their job more effectively. Can't have it both ways Barney! I suspect what happened is he drove back by and someone pointed out to the police "That's the GUY!!""

Yeah but how many times does a small town sherriff get to blow stuff up? Funny that this happened near Hartford City. The town is famous among other things for the incident where a judge sentenced a guy (I forget his crime -- I think he had a U.S. Flag hanging in the back of his van) to standing in on the courthouse grounds holding a flag for X number of days/hours. Was a really controversal event years ago. They were also famous for having a Triple-X Adult drive-in theatre just outside of town. Teens used to park in the cemetery behind the theatre and get an eye-ful Closed up years ago -- still hard to believe it ever existed.

Probably should have labled this link as a SPOILER, since it shows the cache container LOL!! I guess so. I've logged a LOT of Kid Crazy's caches. THey're some of the better caches in Indiana -- many having to do with trains or rail road history. If he says he had the owner's permission I'm inclined to believe him.

This link from my hometown paper has a photo of the blown up cache. http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps/pbcs.../410270306/1002

Sorry if this has been posted. I have caches in the area so it could affect me. Strange stuff... http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps/pbcs.../410270306/1002

To be honest I consider the 60CS to be the COLOR GPS V. I mean it's got everything the GPSV has and more. Never cared for the Detour feature of the V -- really didn't work for me. As far as the Landscape mode, I'll have to admit that was a BIG DEAL for me when first getting my 60CS. Now it's hard to remember why? Don't miss it all.

The Garmin GPSV is a classic. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for it. Served me long and well. Hated to let it go. But the truth is I could think of a dozen things I'd want to improve/change about it. My current favorite GPS is my 60CS. I simply can't rave about his little gem enough. It's like a GPSV on steroids. Just can't go wrong with this one. If you asked me how to improve it I'd be hard pressed to come up with anything. Except maybe for more memory. But that's always the case. Fortuantely I have Most of northern Illinois and Indiana loaded in the darn thing and haven't had to load/tinker with my maps in the four months since i've had it. (gotta love Metroguide's small sized routable mapsets).

Find a store where you can put your hands on some working demos of various makes/models. Hold them in your palm. Play with the buttons and view the menus and so forth. As someone else posted peference when it comes to a GPS is very subjective and differs from person to person. I love the feel/look of Garmin uinits as well as their intuitive interface. My Magellan-loving buddy feels the exact same about his GPS. We argue all the time about which is best. The truth is it's all personal preference. We both find the caches about the same time with the same ease. So it's not so much about one functioning better then the other. I really think it comes down to bells and whistles, look and feel.

<<and it only works where Nextel has network coverage. >> Heh...., well it's not really a GPS then is it? ;D Strike this one from my wish list. The TV ads looked promising. I'm kind a glad it's not as good as it sounds. I don't need any new gadgets right now.

And vice versa. My digital camera specifically says DON'T use alkalines, to use NiMH.....I'd imagine the higher voltage of the alkalines would fry the camera that was designed for the lower voltage of NiMH batteries. FYI most Garmin units have a menu item that allows you to specify which type of batteries you have installed.

USB/Serial adapters work amazingly well. Everybody seems to have their own favorite brand. I had a Kennsington adaptor which I found problematic. I now use the Iogear. The trick with the iogear adapter is to install the window drivers (assuming you're using VPC) otherwise install the mac drivers. I like the Iogear because it's smaller and a bit more streamlined than some of the others which can be large and blocky. Again everyone has their favorite. Belkin is mentioned a lot. On the Garmin 60CS I've found a few tricks make things go smoother. For some reason if I plug in the adapter before I launch VPC it won't work. I have to launch VPC, bring up windows and THEN plug in the adapter.

Horrendous? you've been hurt haven't you? Seriously, this isn't the case at all in my opinon. I LOVE VPC. As long as you have a processor that's over 800 mhtz or faster and adequate RAM to back it up it's a realtively painless/smooth experience. I'm no poweruser for example and managed to get things running with relative ease. No you're not going to be playing Doom3 via VPC but that's not what the product is for. I know people love to bash VPC and it gets a bad rap but it is emulator after all. I think a lot of people expect too much from it. It's never going to fully replace a PC. But if all you want to do is accomplish things like loading maps into your unit, using windows browsers or running windows based productivity software so you can trade files with your PC-using clients -- it's great. Having the convience of being able to run Windows 2000 on my powerbook and run Mapsource as well as TOPO 3D and other mapping/gps programs has been incredibly useful. Espeically with OSX where you can launch VPC from the dock and drop/drag files as you wish. Admittedly if you have an older Mac you're going to find VPC less than thrilling. But on my 886 dual processor G4 desktop and my 1.5 mghtz powerbook I find running everything in Windows 2000 much better than using the mac applications available out there. Espeically since there's only ONE way to upload maps to a Garmin unit -- through windows. I haven't found the need to jump to a G5 yet so that's not an issue with me. Hopefully by the time I need to upgrade there will be other solutions. Anyway, to the original poster in answer to your question a LOT of mac users own GPS units and have found solutions for making them work with your mac. I only telling you what works for me.

I signed up to this board to find that out about the USB only models. Crud. Anyone have any proficiency in writting USB drivers on Mac? I wrote Garmin (both email & snail mail) and they have not responded. Customer service isn't priority one I guess. I know Linux has drivers for Garmin, has anyone been able to get them to work with the USB only models? All I want is my data and to not HAVE to use a windows box. PLEASE help!? I'll be your friend. Honest. Or if you have any other ideas for who I could talk to at Garmin, I WILL. ---- Sorry about being all desperate.... It would just be nice for a company to actually listen to customers. Maybe even respond. Don't give up hope just yet. VPC7 was JUST released and there have been some early reports of users getting Garmin USB devices to communicate through VPC. At least on a G4. G5's and VPC still seems to have some problems to work out.

No GPS that I know of is directly compatible with the Mac. You usually need a third party program (many which are free) to connect any GPS to your Mac and exchange waypoints and so forth. For loading Maps you'll need to use Virtual PC and a USB/Serial adapter. I've been using VPC on my powerbook for 3 years to work with my GPSV (and now my Garmin 60cs). It's become second nature. So yes, you can use virtually any GPS with your Mac. There will just be some added expense to pick up VPC and a good adapter. (which you should be able to get on ebay for less than 100 bucks unless you want to get the new version 7 which was just released).

I agree. The brand can make all the difference in the world. I use PowerX batteries exclusively because of the excellent guarantee/replacment program along with the MAHA charger. I still have my first pair of PowerX batteries (about 3 years old) and they still hold a decent charge.

I managed to hook up my GPS and PDA by using a serial cradle (pda) and using a 9 pin null modem to connect it to the serial cable for my GPS. On the GPS 60 I had to change the communication protocol from Garmin to NMES or whatever it's called (don't have my GPS with me at the moment). Here's a great link that gives you a lot of information on doing what you're asking; http://www.mdgps.org/modules.php?name=pocketcaching

Kewl -- CNN just ran a spot on Geocaching.com/ I'm sure they'll be rerunning it through out the day.

I'd like to see a utillity that would turn on proximity alerts for EVERY waypoint in my 60CS. (rather than having to set them manually). It would be nice for those long distance road trips. Evertime I passed within .5 miles of a cache a message would flash alerting me that there's a cache in the area.

Then why are there 400 threads² complaining that some 6000+ find cacher didn't sign the logbook at 30 of those 6000 caches? Why do people jump at the chance to constantly point out a few cachers who have photoshopped some virtual or locationless cache verifications? Why do we have endless discussion if it's ok to log a find on a missing cache if you are pretty sure you found the right spot? Why is there one thread a week about how important it is to log your DNFs, and how fake finds hurt other cachers? Sure it's a game. Games are played by rules. You don't want to play Monopoly with someone who keeps slipping $500 bills from the bank, do you? ² totally made up number. Yeah it's a game is right. But it's solitaire. Not monopoly. If people cheat at Monopoly they get called on it. If they cheat at Solitaire who cares? I mean there are no winners in geocaching (other than the fun of it). It's not a zero sum game. No cash prizes for the guy with the most. Just not something that causes me to lose any sleep or sends me rushing to the keyboard to vent. I can't remember the last time I bothered checking anyone elsse's cache count. I think all the posts about cache counts are pretty silly. But that's just me. Everyone comes to the 'game' for their own reasons and gets something different out of it. My brother has probably logged 100 caches in the field but has never once filed a log online. I just refuse to let the next guy's attitude about cache numbers and find counts get in the way of enjoying my hobby. To read some of the posts on these forums the outsider might be left with the impression geocaching isn't any fun at all. ;D Have fun folks. Don't let a few people's annoying habits get under your skin. I understand the DNF and fake find issue and the problems they cause. Debate as you wish. I got no problems with that. Just doesn't bother me personally.

I've never had a GPS die on me. Had my GPSV for 3 years. Sold it recently to get a 60CS. Hopefully this one will last another 3 years.

Why not? People play by their own rules. It's their cache, let them do what they please. Maybe you shouldn't let it bother you. Exactly. I don't do this myself but I now people who do. Cache counts don't meant squat except to the person who bother's logging them. If Joe Cacher has a 1000 finds logged and 800 are bogus it's no skin off my nose. It's not like we hang out at the bar and boast about our Cache counts. If his life feels somehow more complete because he padded his cache count that's fine. he probably doesn't realize I could care less. Cache counts mean different things to different people. I know folks who log additional finds when they go back to a cache they've been to to retrieve a Travel Bug. It might be annoying to others but again -- it's not hurting anyone.

Gee, sounds like someone has PDA-envy. Not at all. Tools like a PDA simply help me do MORE of what I love doing. Doing it the OLD way I was able to do around 5 caches a day and usually ended up discovering I didn't have a vital clue once I was several klicks out in a the middle of the woods with no way to find the cache. Now I can do ten even twenty a day if I have a mind to. Not thatt I'm not THAT into cache counts. But I do like spending a full day caching when i get out. Having a PDA simply allows me to have EVERY cache report for EVERY waypoint in my GPS. Especially nice for those Cache-by-impulse moments when you're driving in an area you hadn't planned on or if you find yourself with an hour or so of free time to kill (such as the wife doing a little shopping). Simply pull out your GPS. Find the nearest cache and look up the cache report on your PDA. I love being able to do caches on the fly. Certainly doesn't take the fun out of it. Nor is it some sort of cheat as was implied. I suppose you could print out a ream of cache reports and lug those around but that seams silly if you can store them all in your pda.

I don't have an iQue personally but I stumbled across this website which I'm told gives some very good (and detailed) info on making your Mac and iQue talk to each other. I'm posting it here incase somebody has need for it. http://www.lycestra.com/iQueDoc/

Metroguide 4 will autoroute on the 60CS. ;D I prefer MG4 to City Select because there are more water and RR details. Something very useful where I live. If you care more about Points of Interest and current business info City Select is the way to go. But in my opinion if you are primiarlly interested in small details for Geocaching you might want to check out MG4. case in point. I was recently looking for a cache near Naperville, IL. MG4 clearly showed a stream between ME and the cache. City Select showed no stream at all. Might not seem like a big deal but it saved me a mile and half of walking to the nearest bridge and back. Every mapset boils down to give and tack. For every POI crammed onto the CD something else has to give. With City Select details like cemetery roads, rail roads and water features have been dropped or diminished. At least where I live. The majority of the small lakes in my area don't appear in city select.

Any chance you had it hooked up to the Cig lighter and unplugged it? I believe the default setting is for the unit to shout off in 10 seconds once it loses power. If not it sounds like you may have a unit with a loose battery compartment.