Desert_Trailblazers

The mistake I tend to make when I use this feature is to hit the wrong "Reply" button. After using the +QUOTE feature as described above, don't use the REPLY button that's attached to a particular post, use the ADD REPLY button after the last post in the thread. --Larry Well, Larry, this didn't seem to work either, so now I'm starting to see that there really is a "trick" to this that is not that easily figured out!! However, you have given me an idea, so I'm going to try that next post! BlueDuece, I know you can delete any text out of the reply in the Preview Post, or use the HTML tags to edit the post, but these are "workarounds" and as a semi computer geek I get kinda crazy when I can't figure how to do something the "right" way... the way it was intended to work by the programmers. That +Quote button wouldn't be there if it wasn't meant to be used to only pull out some particular text to insert into a reply, and my guess is that a person should be able to highlight some particular text and just do a couple of key strokes to make this be the Quote. But %$#^&^ if this isn't being a pain in the tush to figure out! BTW, what programs are you using to modify the screen prints you are inserting into your replies, and also the drawings (arrows... vector images) that you use? This could be done with something like copy and paste from a Publisher or Word document, but just curious how you like to do it...

It's Saturday. I'm taking the day off from your questions. (Cracking myself up!) BlueDeuce, you are more than entitled, and I don't blame you if you take the rest of the year off from my questions! Thanks again for your help yesterday! NordicMan, I did exactly as you suggested, and as you can see it didn't work, so either we're missing a step, or the Universe just doesn't want me to be able to use this feature.

Okay, I admit it. I should be able to figure this out by myself. I've even been an IT (this is really embarrassing) for a large company before. But I can't figure out how to use the friggin' Quote feature for replies in the Forum! I've tried highlighting the text and clicking on this and that, and clicking on this and that and then highlighting the text and clicked some more, and after six months, I give... I'm calling "Uncle." Would some kind person, who will obviously have an IQ greater than my seemingly one of 80, please tell me the steps to pull a quote out from a reply on a thread, and only have that text show up in my reply? It will probably only take one reply to this, as I am convinced I am the only person who regularly visits the Forums who doesn't know how to do this, and I can tell you my reply in advance: DOH! Thank you

THANKS!!!

Exactly! The only thing is that it wasn't just on paper. You dropped the coin into the online cache page listing and retrieved it. That will show on the coin page. The next drop into the next cache listing it will show the mileage between the first cache to the second cache. uhmmm, Unfortunately now we'll have to talk about the fact that the system doesn't always update the mileage correctly. But there's a fix for that! Uhmmm, okaaaay... should we talk about it now or when it messes up?!

Okay, I think I understand now! lol! I think all of this will be more clear after we start making our first real drops. It is nice that one can go on the pages and edit these logs, so if we find that things didn't work out the way we wanted we can fix it. But your explanation is very good, and I really appreciate the details. Thanks for a great explanation! And, also, thanks for making me feel a little less dense! Now that I understand what I can post on the Forum, I will put an example here of what we have done, and then you all can see if I have done this right. One example, we "dipped" TB3CGAJ in cache #GC259EA "Water Works" which is in Scottsdale, Arizona. Basically, we signed the log at Water Works, added the activated coin to the cache contents "on paper" when we logged our find, then went to the coin page and retrieved it. Right now it is showing zero miles traveled, but if I understand what you are saying, when we actually leave it in the next cache, say in Indio, California, it will then show the mileage from the Scottsdale cache to the Indio cache. After that, it's on it's own for others to move along. I hope I'm getting this! Whew! Again, thanks for everyone's help!

No - your good to go now - but it won't show any mileage until you dip on the first cache of your vacation. Well, we will be leaving the coins in the caches at the next stops. That was kind of our idea - to have them all start out from different locations along the route to sort of commemorate the trip. But it sounds like we didn't even need to do anything before we leave home. We could have just activated the coins and then dropped them in the caches along the route, and it would show that mileage from our home coordinates to that cache (say 115 miles, for example.) Is this correct, and if it is, do you only dip coins when you want to keep them with you all them time and never leave them? Otherwise, I don't really see the reason to "dip" a coin. Sorry I'm feeling really dumb about this! These are the first trackables we have ever used and put out in the world! No - the mileage from your home coords to the first cache wll NOT be recorded ever. Only from the first cache they are in to all subsequent caches. People 'dip' caches for a lot of reasons but mainly as a way to record caching miles. Okay, let me see if I have this correct. Since I have dipped it in a cache in our local area, it will start the mileage from there. Right? But the problem is that in my trackables list, when I "retrieve the coin" it takes the previously posted mileage away! I know that I'm doing something wrong in how I'm logging a dip. Could anyone tell me the exact steps on how to dip? Thanks StarBrand for being patient with me...

No - your good to go now - but it won't show any mileage until you dip on the first cache of your vacation. Well, we will be leaving the coins in the caches at the next stops. That was kind of our idea - to have them all start out from different locations along the route to sort of commemorate the trip. But it sounds like we didn't even need to do anything before we leave home. We could have just activated the coins and then dropped them in the caches along the route, and it would show that mileage from our home coordinates to that cache (say 115 miles, for example.) Is this correct, and if it is, do you only dip coins when you want to keep them with you all them time and never leave them? Otherwise, I don't really see the reason to "dip" a coin. Sorry I'm feeling really dumb about this! These are the first trackables we have ever used and put out in the world!

Thanks for that info on the tracking number. There are two numbers associated with coins, and it has been confusing to me which is the one that is ok to have the general population see. Is it ok to post the TB#? So is what you are saying is that I would have to "dip" it in my area twice before we go on our trip?

Hubby and I have planned a trip and have created a route for geocaching along the way (about 500 miles.) We have 10 geocoins that we would like to place in the caches that we find along the way, but we would like to have the coins show up as starting from our home area. Also, the true mileage the coin has traveled would be more accurate if we dip it near our home so that the miles will be added to the culmulative further travels of the coin. What I have done so far is not working. We have found a local cache, signed the log, then at home done the following: When logging the find for that cache we added the coin as going into that cache, and then went right to the coin's page and logged that we retrieved it because, obviously, the coin isn't in the cache, plus we need the physical coin back to take with us on our trip. This will be the only "dip" we will make, and then once we leave the coins in the caches along the way they will head off on their respective missions. However, after doing this, what is happening is that the coin is showing up as back "in the hands of the owner" (which is right) BUT it is not showing any miles traveled from our home coordinates to the cache in our area. I can't figure out how to do a sequence of logs to make this work and have the miles traveled to show up for the coin, yet keep the coin. I know there is a way to do this, and have tried to find the exact method to "dip" but have only found discussions about the concept and not the literal process of how to log it. Any help? It would be really appreciated! Thanks!

The one thing you mentioned that kinda makes or breaks not upgrading our phone is that you said that you "can always load up caches on my cell phone from the website and input the data right into my GPS." Admittedly, the owner's manual that came with our Garmin Summit HC is worthless, but I have not found any way to load the info on the cache page to our GPS. I think you must have a higher-end GPS. Also, our current phones have virtually no browser capabilites. We do not have PDAs. If you know of a way to load the cache page info into the GPS that I don't know about, that would be great. I think I'm hijacking this forum, and better move to a tech forum about GPSs. Sorry!

I have read this entire thread and I haven't seen a definitive answer to our questions, so please forgive me if I missed something. If I did, it's because I'm not too familiar with this technology. My hubby and I currently do not have SmartPhones, and really don't need much more from a phone. HOWEVER, having said that, we do see the wonderful advantages of being able to use a cell phone for geocaching. At this time we are with (may I say this?) Verizon, so we can't get an iPhone. But we are both eligible for upgrades with pretty good discounts and there is a special we could get right now that would be a two-for-one Droid. We have looked at the Droid, and it is really, really amazing, but certainly does a lot more than we need. BUT, if we were to get a Droid, is there truly an app out there for use on it that would do all of the things that the app for the iPhone does? From what I have read, there isn't, and this is what everyone is waiting for, to be released. Am I correct? In the meantime though, could we use our Droid exclusively for caching and no longer need our Garmin Summit HC? Or would we need both to do everything? The idea of being able to find a nearby cache to go for, on the spur of the moment while out on an errand, would be really cool, but would we be able to see a google satellite map as well as the logs for the cache? Also, it would be nice to be able to log the find right there on the spot. We bumped into a cacher once who was using a Blackberry, but was he probably just going to Geocaching.com on his phone? I don't know if their browser is that powerful, but I think the Droid would be. We see these cachers finding 50, 70, 100 caches in one day! That seems impossible if burdened by printing out and downloading each cache ahead of time. Is this how they are doing that? As you can see, we have a lot of questions, but I guess to summarize, is there a good app for a Droid available now that is really good if we upgraded to this 3G phone? We haven't done a lot of caching, but are finally getting to a point where we will have a lot more time to devote to this sport, and we really love it! So, THANK YOU to any responses who could clear some of this up for us!

It would be a rare thing for a refurb unit to be any different than a comparably "firmwared" new unit in this regard. Most often, it's a problem with receiving a unit whose datum is not what the user expects, and the user not being aware that the configuration requires a change. Okay, this is already over my head! I think I need to call Garmin! Thanks for the info.

Sorry if I put this in an inappropriate thread. I was about to start a new thread about the reliability of refurbished units, but saw this thread and thought maybe I shouldn't start a new one when this one was already going. Should I start a new thread about potential problems with refurbished units? I just don't know enough about the technical side of a GPS to know if incorrect locations of coordinates could be a function of the GPS, even with great satellite reception.

We bought a brand new Garmin Summit HC on Amazon last October. About mid-January the power-on feature failed. We contacted Garmin, and personally I was disappointed to find out that after only three and a half months they would only send a refurbished unit. Nonetheless, we took it and have used the refurbished one for the last four weeks. On every outing the coordinates have been off by massive amounts - 15 to 20 feet. Although our satellite reception has been outstanding, is it possible that this could be a malfunction of the unit? Our last unit (the new one) was always spot on to the coordinates. Thank for any feedback.

I have made it quite easy to learn how to figure out how the FindStatGen macro works. It took me about 2 weeks to figure out everything on my own since there was no dedicated "How To" for it so after some people asking me how to do it, I did a very good How To guide on it. It constantly needs to be updated since things are always changing with it. But go HERE and click on the Create a GSAK Profile. It will take a few minutes the first time but like I said in the Guide, Don't skip ahead and don't Panic... WOW! I just gave a cursory look-see at your web page with the instructions, and first I would like to say a big THANK YOU! for all the time you have clearly put into this for fellow cachers. This was obviously a lot of work, and I'm sure many appreciate it! As for me, this is exactly what I was looking for. A step-by-step guide for creating the profile info. I have no problem spending time meticulously and patiently setting something up, so long as I know that at the end I will have something to show for it, and not just a wad of hair I've pulled out of my head! This looks great, and the best part is that now I think I can set it up quickly enough to play with it during the free period to see if I want to purchase it. The way my life runs, it would have expired before I had the time to figure it out! Thanks so much!

Thanks for the feedback and the help. Interesting insight...

Thanks! I'll look into them. I'm the same way... too many things I'd rather do, and not enough time in which to do them! Besides, it takes a few more than 29 finds to make those stats look very impressive That's why it's good to plan ahead! Then when you have something to show, the hard work is already done!

Thanks! I'll look into them. I'm the same way... too many things I'd rather do, and not enough time in which to do them!

Thanks! I guess I learned something else I wasn't even aware that I didn't know! (That's exactly what happened... it kept going to a "timed out" or "error" message.) Also, thanks for the extra input on the Macro. As for the necessary degrees, it seems that the more you have the less tinkering will be required!

I think that most of us do use the GSAK FindStatGen3 macro. I do. Most of us here use GSAK for many other things as well. It should not be locking up your computer. You really should take your question over to the great guys at the GSAK support forum. Well, at least I know the name of the Macro that I need to be looking for! Believe me, I have spent several hours looking over the support forums, but all of the topics and discussions seem to be oriented toward using GSAK for organizing caches, etc... not using it for statistics. Maybe I'm just being mentally lazy, but am I the only one who found this to be pretty complicated to set up?

I am always awed by those really cool charts and graphs that are shown on some cachers' profiles. They show their caching statistics by month, by region, FTF's, milestones, etc. So I thought I would try to put this on our profile. Looking at some other profiles, it looks like the nicest one is made by GSAK, and I have downloaded the trial of this software program twice. I have found two problems: 1. I am really only interested in keeping track of our finds and stats, but this software seems to do WAY more than just this. When it launches, I don't quickly see how to download our data onto our profile sheet, and I have read a lot of the FAQ's about it. It appears to be really complicated, and quite time consuming, and I'm pretty computer literate. 2. Both times I downloaded the software and tried to run it, it locked up my computer. Can anyone tell me their experiences with trying to use GSAK just for stats, and did you find that you needed a degree in Computer Sciences to make it work? I understand what a Macro is, but it looks like you have to set up a macro for every stat you want to keep. I just don't know if this is worth it for someone who doesn't have several days to devote to learning this software! Any feedback? Thanks!

So let me see if I have this right... If you are looking for a FTF, and are already there, it's considered cool for others to just start looking in the same place as you are, at the same time, even though you were there first? Alternatively, if you are looking for a FTF, and when you get to GZ there is someone already there, it's cool to intrude on their search, and it becomes best man/woman for himself/herself?

Have the solution to the puzzle spell out numbers. One, two, three... Like I said... DUH!! Thank you, thank you!

Oh, I'm SO glad that this thread came up, because it is a perfect example of something we are confused about. I KNOW we are being really dumb, and it is probably a very stupid question, but.... How do you take a puzzle like this and use it to create an answer that will give numerical coordinates? I mean, isn't that what the cacher needs to go on to either find the cache, or find the next point in a multi? I'm sure when this is answered we are going to go... DUH! Of course! But we have been wanting to do a puzzle cache and can't see how to do it where anything but numbers are the answers (to give the coordinates.) Did that make any sense? BTW, as someone already wrote, the example made this puzzle very easy. If you give the example, it might be only a 1 to 1.5 max. Maybe consider giving the key without the solution example? (Funny... we can solve the puzzles... just don't know what to do with them!)