CheshireFrog

3 days is the expectation given on the submission page. What's the problem?

CacheMate does not load the web page onto your Palm, it loads the info from the cache into a database that can be searched and sorted. Plucker comes closer to what you're describing. You can do this, but again, CacheMate doesn't do it. Since you're springing for a powerful PDA you'd be better off loading a mapping program to the Palm, then just load the waypoints into that program.

I know! You climb the pylon on the far left in the picture, then you shoot the cache off of it's resting place on the pylon in the center. No, wait. That's dumb. If you can scale the right pylon, why not just climb the center one? Wait! I've got it! You climb the pyon on the far left in the picture...

I keep a pair of Cobra Li-6000's in my pack, but I don't very often need them. When caching alone in the mountains I keep one turned on and scanning, mostly just to listen to the chatter, but occasionally someone will ask if there's anyone listening, and we'll carry on a conversation.

I'm surprised to hear that so often. I've read the entire listing, as I did for the rest of the PUC series some time ago. At first I thought the danger associated with these caches was overstated, thinking to myself that Tyvek suits do nothing to shield the wearer from radiation, for instance, but I quickly realized that it's a mixture of trying to warn off the park-n-grab club and just plain fun. For the record, I believe there is a cache up there, and sooner or later I see myself attempting it. My work doesn't very often take me that far east, but someday...

Well, I wasn't sure before, but El Diablo's posts have made it obvious. Vinnie shot himself out of a cannon and landed directly on top of the pylon. The "technicians" he's talking about were obviously members of the 110th field artillery of the Maryland Army National Guard. I dismissed this idea at first, wondering how he got down from the pylon, until I realized he's still up there. He's posting from his laptop, and he's accelerated his posting rate because he knows the batteries will go dead soon. El Diablo's reference to retrieving the cache easier than it was placed can only mean that he's planning on studying under a yogi on a mountain top in Babaji, India for 30 years. Then he will simply levitate up to the top of the pylon and log the cache. Vinnie's hoping El Diablo will bring a pizza with him.

You're not able to use the CD format?

CacheMate will display the cache info, (coordinates, type and terrain), the text of the owner's description from the cache page, any hints given, (both encrypted and unencrypted) and the last five logs posted to the cache. It also has a page for you to post the time and date of your find on that cache, and an overview page that summarizes the cache info and attributes. It is possible to transfer waypoints to a GPS from a Palm or Pocket PC, but for most devices there's no ready-made solution. Older Palms tend to have serial interfaces, where newer GPSr's have USB, and it would require specially written software to effect the exchange. As more and more devices come with bluetooth we will probably see this implemented as the way to get the two to talk to each other. In any case, GSAK, the program I use to export files to my Palm, can send those same files directly to my GPS, so there's really no reason for me to want to transfer waypoints in the field anyway.

Turn off power management for the USB port in Windows on your laptop. Windows may be cutting power to the USB port after a period of no activity.

I would, without an FTF prize. and... If I were looking to leave a big FTF prize, $160 is outside what I'd be able to afford.

I use a Z22, and it works very well, with the caveat that the screen is hard to read in direct sunlight. The 24MB memory might seem a little skimpy by today's standards, but it's way more than enough for paperless caching. The first thing you need is a program to track the caches on your Palm. I use CacheMate, a small database manager for Palm. It is available as shareware, but it's severely limited until you register it. Fortunately it's not expensive, and well worth the asking price. Some people prefer viewing the actual info from the cache site on their Palm devices. The advantage to this is that some viewers will let you view the images on the site as well as the text. Next you'll need a program to create .pdb (Palm Data Base) files. I use GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army knife), which is shareware and will also need to be registered eventually, but fortunately it includes a free period with no crippling, so you can thouroughly try before you buy. Other options include EasyGPS. Once you have the software installed you will need to generate Pocket Queries. To do this you need to be a premium member of geocaching.com. To generate PQs, go to your profile page and click on "Bulild pocket queries in the list on the right. From here you will be able to define queries that will search for caches using criteria you define, such as zip code, type of cache, status, etc. You will also tell the site when you would like the queries delivered. You can receive queries every day, but only up to five per day, so keep this in mind. When the queries arrive in email you need to load them into GSAK, or whatever program you're using. The easiest way is to simply drag and drop the file onto the open program. You can sort and filter the caches using a whole range of options, but you will eventually settle on what info you'd like to see on the Palm. Once you do, select File>Export>Palm Database (.pdb) and the program will create a database file that will be loaded onto your Palm the next time you sync it. Once the sync is complete you just need to follow the on-screen prompts in CacheMate to complete the import. A couple of tips: you can create custom categories in CacheMate. If you do, be sure and name the export file the same as the folder name, and CacheMate will import to that folder. Otherwise you have to tell Cachemate what folder to put the data in. Also think about what kind of info you want. I sync Found, Not Found, DNF, Archived and Owned. Some people might prefer to separate the caches by Traditional, Multi, Puzzle, etc. You have a lot of flexibility here, so experiment and see what works best for you.

Definitely. If you've got space, keep it, unless someone else has a compelling need for it. You will eventually hear from someone who has busted the display on their 100/200/300, and you'll be their hero.

DNFs have the opposite effect on me. When I see a cache with a string of DNFs and a scattering of finds, I know that's a well placed cache, and it pushes me to go for it. I've done several caches that I might have overlooked specifically because they had high numbers of DNFs.

Sorry, but for your Legend Mapsource is your only choice. Word is that DeLorme will release their own GPSr soon, and it will be compatible with their Topo software, but so far nothing. Anyway, trust me, between the screen clutter and slow screen updates, 2:24K maps on the legend would be next to unusable,

Personally, I like it, and it would be a useful stat... BUT... I think there's still too many people who don't log their DNFs, so the numbers would be skewed... HOWEVER... Since nothing like it exists, there's nothing to compare it to, so we'd likely learn to interpret the numbers in a way that was meaningful to each of us individually... AND... It might encourage some people to improve their hides. So yeah, I'd be for it.

He's mixing periods in with his numbers. That's even tougher than fractions.

I hope to see some of that this Sunday when a friend of mine and I do your #1 series. Oh, and a belated welcome to Colorado.

Ahhh, who cares about apathy.

FTF on my second cache posted "I thought for sure that hike was going to kill me!! Some really great views when you get up there." Mission accomplished, on both counts.

Inappropriate: Hiding a cache by throwing it waaaaay up in the air. Rationale: Actually, this is a pretty effective hide, but only for very short periods of time. Also, the jury is still out on whther this constitutes a travelling cache, since the coords remain the same but the altitude changes.

Be prepared to move quick, then. The colors are here and gone before you know it.

You find a message in a bottle on the beach, pull out the message, sign it, and throw the bottle back into the surf.

SCHWEEEET!

Ditto.

Offended? No, I'm in complete agreement.