Driddy

I ordered one of each, also, for the mini geocacher on the right side of the tree in my profile picture.

Today (11/30) only, Amazon is selling the Geomate Jr for $49.99 with free Supersaver shipping. For the past few weeks they have been selling it for $59, but this morning they discounted it further.

You may find the responses to a similar query I posted to be helpful: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...=261350&hl= The general recommendation: Geomate Jr.

What do you attach to the end of the pole?

I did not place this cache; it has been in existence for many years. I generally go caching with my 9-yr-old. I think I would kill her if she gave me a boost. I suppose I could try giving her a boost.

I am looking for suggestions on how to retrieve a hide-a-key from the underside of a bridge. The container is resting on a steel I-beam over a shallow creek and I am several feet too short to reach it. It would not be practical to carry a small ladder to the creek and building up a mound of rocks seems like a lot of work and not very friendly to the environment. I was thinking of attaching a plastic dust pan to the end of a stick with duct tape and then pushing the container onto the pan with a stick. Replacing the cache would be done in a similar manner. I would be quite interested in hearing alternative solutions. Thanks!

According to a number of active threads, most people were having this problem BEFORE the upgrade. I had no problems prior to the upgrade. This is pretty frustrating. Check the release notes in the site announcements. Now it's working. Go figure.

According to a number of active threads, most people were having this problem BEFORE the upgrade. I had no problems prior to the upgrade. This is pretty frustrating.

Following today's upgrade I am unable to upload photos. Is anyone else having this problem?

There are many caches that I don't consider family friendly yet I don't hear people calling for their elimination because they are not family friendly. For example, some T4-T5 caches would be too dangerous for children (or me, for that matter). Just as I would not take my children to seek a physically dangerous cache, I could simply elect not to take my kids to the parking lot of an adult bookstore. If I did not know that the cache was in an adult bookstore until I was pulling up, I might simply say, "I changed my mind" or "This doesn't look safe" or "This isn't an appropriate place for kids". I see it as no different than when we are watching tv or playing video games.

Today I tried to publish a cache that I have invested several hours in situating (multiple visits, creating some misdirection features, etc.) only to find out that it is too near the final coordinates of a multi cache for which the original coords are about 1 mile away. The cache that I am too close to is one that I have been working on (it is difficult) and I don't want to give up on it and ask the owner for the final coords. Realistically, I probably won't even be able to make another run at the multi until next summer because it seems necessary to wade in a creek that is running high and cold at this time of year. I understand the notion of limiting cache density, but applying the rules to intermediate and final stages of multis really makes life difficult for others who would like to place caches in the same general vicinity (in this case about 1 mile from the initial coords!). I am not being critical of my excellent local reviewer, but rather with the specifics of the rule.

Thanks, I never noticed that before; I always seem to hit Go without giving it much thought. That is somewhat helpful but I would still like to be able to switch to the vicinity of a POI as I am navigating toward it without having to cancel navigation and then search for the POI again -- that seems inefficient to me. I often find myself wanting to see the POI vicinity while I am navigating to it.

I have been using my Oregon 450 since June but there is still one thing that I want to do that I have not yet figure out: how can I get the map to immediately center on a POI (or cache)? As it stands now, if I want to look at some distant POI, I have to scroll the map from my current location to the POI. Is there a direct way to get to center the map on a POI? (By POI, I mean waypoint, POI, geocache, etc.).

Thanks for the input. I tried several solutions for making custom maps but they all seemed to complicated. I decided to give BirdsEye a whirl given that it only cost $27 (with 10% registration discount code). The slow download speed is not such a big deal because I almost always cache within 20 miles of home and it won't take more than 1-2 days to download the maps. I am underwhelmed by the imagery. It doesn't look to bad in Basecamp, but is pretty fuzzy on the 450. I do think it will be useful for finding parking lots in large parks, locating meadows, etc. I look forward to the day when Google-quality maps are easy to install and look good on a GPSr I own.

I would like to be able to view aerial imagery on my Oregon 450 and am trying to figure out the best way to go about doing this. I am primary interested for now in obtaining imagery for the Washington-Baltimore-Nova region. One obvious option is to purchase a subscription to Garmin's Birdseye imagery. However, I have read numerous complaints about very slow downloads and poor image quality relative to Google imagery. Are these concerns still valid or has the situation improved? Is there any easy way to download Google imagery, align it (or is register the term?) and transfer it to my GPSr? If so, can you point me in the right direction?

How was it known that the attachment mechanism wasn't there to throw you off from where the cache really is located? Were the previous several logs DNFs? I would be much more inclined to post a needs maintenance log if my failure to find was on the heels of several other DNFs -- and only if it happened to be a cache with a low difficulty rating. There are several caches that I have sought over the past few months that I am pretty sure are missing but I just posted DNFs and indicated in my log how long I searched, how many people were with me, etc. In some cases I have been wrong and other folks have found the caches after me. Had I logged "needs maintenance" the CO might well have made a needless trip to verify that the cache is there. In the other cases I will post a needs maintenance if several consecutive people DNF after me (provided they don't post a NM after me). Also, COs get an automatic e-mail whenever a log is posted (regardless of the type of log) so COs who prefer to check their caches at the first hint of trouble do have the information needed to do so.

I have found that if mine locks up while loading a new gpx file for the first time then I wind up with an unpredictable subset of the caches actually displaying on the GPSr. As the previous person indicated, the solution is to reload the GPX file onto the unit. I have gotten into the habit of verifying that a new GPX file has loaded properly (by spotchecking that caches I plan to seek are loaded) before i take the unit into the field.

Driving around figuring out where to park because parking coords were not posted. Caches with incorrect difficulty/terrain ratings (the tendency to give a cache a high difficulty rating if the terrain is difficult). Finding that the cache is in a trash-strewn locale. Unresponsive COs. Brambles! (until I wised up and bought lightweight but tough hiking pants)

Thanks everyone for the input. This pretty much confirms the direction in which I am leaning. I would also be interested in hearing from anyone who gave their pre-teen child a more sophisticated unit. How has it worked out?

My 9-year-old daughter is almost as obsessed with geocaching as I am. I already have an Oregon 450 so we have a full-featured GPSr to do the heavy lifting. We were recently in REI and she saw a Geomate Jr and told me she wants one for Christmas. It seems that when we are near gz she wants to be able to help locate gz and she wants to get feedback on her location rather than relying on me to point out when she has wandered off. I think she is also attracted to its simplicity and especially its small size (she is very petite). The tech lover in me makes me think that I should get her a more full featured unit (for about the price as a Geomate + cable + $20 one can buy an Etrex Venture HC) that she can grow into. However, more isn't necessarily better when it comes to technology and kids. An alternative plan would be to get the Geomate and then in a few years hand my 450 to her (a great excuse for me to upgrade). Any thoughts on this? I would especially be interested in hearing from parents who have purchased a unit for their child. A second issue -- is there something special about the cable for the Geomate or could one use an off-the-shelf cable? Thanks!

Oregon 450 T-Mobile Cliq (Android OS) I mainly use the Oregon but the Cliq comes in handy to check for the very latest logs or to bail me out if I have somehow messed up transferring a gpx file to the Oregon.

Oregon 450 T-Mobile Cliq (Android OS) I mainly use the Oregon but the Cliq comes in handy to check for the very latest logs or to bail me out if I have somehow messed up transferring a gpx file to the Oregon.

Ending a sentence with a preposition is not considered a problem by some sources. See the discussion at http://grammar.about.com/b/2008/03/26/prep...tences-with.htm.

Earlier this summer I fumbled a magnetic micro attached to the underside of the lip of storm sewer opening and the container fell into the drain and was lost. I fessed up and a few weeks later the CO actually went down in the sewer to look for it (!!) but it was lost for good and the cache has been archived. I felt terrible but the CO was gracious about it.

The problem with being a new cacher is...you don't know what you don't know. It takes experience to really learn how to search well and to learn how things are hidden. Also, a cacher writing a missing note is TRYING to be helpful to the Cache Owner. They MAY (probably) be wrong but they are trying to be helpful with their note. Agreed on all points.