BGunner01

I've been having the same problem. I dropped them an e-mail Sunday afternoon (5/22/05) and received the following prompt reply from their "webmaster".... "The problem is here. Our server got moved, but the ISP is now a week late getting broadband installed. Sorry! -jjf"

I'm a "premium" member who is having some difficulty this morning trying to utilize the MAP-IT feature in Groundspeak. All the maps call up fine, and they zoom, pan, etc. okay too. However, for some reason I can't get the "regular" cache SYMBOL to display on any map at any zoom level. I've tried using several combinations of check mark selections for various display options - including checking only the box for regular caches, but it doesn't work. The multi-cache and TB tag symbols display okay and the red check marks for Caches I've Found also display - it's just that darn little green treasure chest icon doesn't seem to work. I'd really appreciate it if anyone can offer a suggestion as to what I might be doing wrong? P.S. If I choose the "Identify" radio button instead of Pan or Zoom, caches will identify as usual, but if I de-select the radio button then I lose all indication that there is a regular cache in an area.

Exactly the one(s) I was looking for. A BIG thank you The Leprechauns and Great Scott!

Does anyone remember the name of the cache (a year or two ago) that had a pretty good sized check ($1000?) as a first finder prize? I recall it was out in the desert or somewhere like that and was hidden with a helicopter. My memory's fuzzy, but I want to use it as an "unusual prize" example for an in-house article our company newsletter is writing on GPS technology and geocaching. I've looked and searched using various key words but can't seem to locate it. Will greatly appreciate any info ..... Thanks!!

If the moderator deletes the entire post, that is completely OK. However, if the moderator modifies the wording (or the meaning) of someone else's post to his liking, now that is completely unacceptable. He can of course ask the poster for permission to publish a derivative work of the post and post it under his own name. Amen Boss!! Delete the post or modify the wording is irrelevant IMHO. The fact of the matter is that a general rule was not followed: “Foul Language and obscene images will not be tolerated. This site is family friendly, and all posts and posters must respect the integrity of the site.” Geesh – how much more succinct does it need to be!?

Someone has to bring up the obvious I guess. I'd first ask if you entered the coordinates by hand, and if you did are you positive they were entered correctly. Transposing a couple of digits can make a world of differnence - experience talking there.

Was pleasantly surprised recently to see how well my Wyoming sunrise photo turned out at the Goose Egg cache.

It's probably been discussed at length somewhere in the forums before, but I couldn't find it, so....I'll ask again anyway. Has consideration ever been given to expanding GC.com's cache search feature that would include an option to search "by direction" from a particular Zip Code? To this non-programmer, it seems like all the information is already in the system and all it would take is a few changes in the program to refine it to sort/display search results by one, several, or all of the 8 basic compass directions. For example, say I'm going on a trip next week to some city. I'll be approaching from the west - so I'd like to know all the caches that are NE, E, and SE of the city. It would be great to enter the city's Zip Code and then select NE, E, SE in a little window and get all the caches in those directions and at some radius (already a nice GC.com cache search feature) from the Zip Code. I think something similar to this can be done now (although I haven't done it very much) by downloading cache locations in the ".gpx" file format and then sorting caches by direction, but it would certainly be much easier/faster/convenient to be able to sort the caches "by direction" directly from the "Seek A Cache" page. Just a thought.....thanks to GC.com staff for all your hard work and maintaining a GREAT site!!

A new 60CS huh? .... Excellent Choice!! I recently upgraded from a Legend to a 60C and, as much as I hate to admit it, could not figure out how to get the "red direction arrow" to display on the compass page of my new unit. The compass dial would display, but not the red direction arrow. After a couple of days of playing with the unit, reading the directions over again, and thinking maybe my GPSR wasn't fuctioning correctly, I called Garmin. They quickly educated me that when a user wants to "find" a waypoint or geocache and activates the "GO TO" button, that a second little menu comes up requiring selection of either "FOLLOW ROAD" or "OFF ROAD". I was so enthralled with the autoroute feature of the unit that I always selected "FOLLOW ROAD" and stayed on the map page. I didn't realize that once I get to the general area of the cache, I needed to repeat the waypoint or geocache selection process and then select "OFF ROAD" to get the red arrow to display on the compass page like I was used to seeing on my other GPSRs. DOH !! I don't know if you were / are having that problem or not on your compass page, but I wanted to share the info because once you are in the general area of the cache, you want to use the compass page with directional arrow rather than zooming in on your map page. Hope this helps someone a little.....

I've been using my 60C for caching and navigating about a month and a half and I absolutely love it!! I, too, was quite anxious to receive it through the mail. As luck and not-so-good seller research would have it, I bought one through eBay from a fraudulent seller. That episode added about six weeks on to the original delivery time while I settled all the paperwork and purchased a second one from a reputable dealer. Thank goodness for PayPal's fraud policy! One thing I wanted to mention is the 60C's GREAT battery life. I upgraded from a Legend (which I still own and like very much). I compared the two units by starting out the day with a new, fully-charged set of 2100 mah NIMH batteries in both. The Legend only had about 1/2 to 2/3 the battery longevity of the 60C. The batteries last so good in the 60C that I actually run a whole day of caching without even turning it off or plugging it into the 12V. car adapter. Last month, I went from sunrise to sunset with the unit on all the time, and still had one "bar" of charge showing on the battery life indicator at the end of the day. That was with the WAAS enabled, but not using the backlight at all. I'm not familiar with how well other units do on battery life, but I think the battery life on the 60C is fantastic and well worth mention. Hope this helps a little....

Getting a general purpose topo (topographic) map is very easy and can be done directly from Geocaching.com. Simply look up the cache(s) that you are interested in finding and go to their respective cache description page. Scroll down the description page to the location map (on the right-hand side of the page) that has the little blue push pin showing the general cache location. Directly opposite the map (to the left) are several helpful links - and one of them will take you to TopoZone. Clicking on the Topozone link will bring up the correct topo map that even has a little red dot showing the cache location. The map is also "zoomable" and printable. Keep in mind that almost all road maps, satellite photos, etc. available on the net are seldom "current". Topo maps are almost always several years out of date, so never rely upon them fully. I have hunted several caches without a GPSR using topo maps, a compass and a little bit of orienteering - and you are correct that it is fun. I have concluded that it is equally challenging (often times more so) using my GPSR. Hope this information helps.....

I've been using my 60C for only a couple of weeks and a dozen or so caches over a 150+ mile route and I absolutely love it! I would mention one little ergonomic quirk that I don't care for however, and that is the lanyard. The one that comes with the unit is too small to go over your head so you can't wear the receiver around your neck - which is where I like to have mine when I'm caching. I traded with the lanyard on my yellow eTrex and now I'm happy except that the lanyard attachment point on the receiver case seems like an afterthought because when the GPSR is on the lanyard, it hangs antenna side up and at a goofy angle. It's probably a highly-engineered Garmin feature that greatly improves signal reception when hanging around one's neck. I guess I'm too used to the symmetry of the way my Yellow and Legend eTrex hang. I know, I know - that's about as trivial and insignificant of an item that a person could possibly think of, but I like my unit so much that's all I could come up with.

I encountered the same problem. Not originally being familiar with the USB problem, I contacted EasyGPS about the discrepancy and received the following reply from their Dan Foster: I really appreciated Mr. Foster's prompt reply and am looking forward to their future software upgrade. Unfortunately, I already use the serial port on my computer to download geocaches to my eTrex Legend and I don't really want to reach behind my computer and switch out cables every time I want to download to my 60C (which has a different type of connector). Anyone know if there is a RS-232 "splitter" cable so I can attach both my Legend cable and 60C cable simultaneously? Alternately, I guess I'll have to use the software that came with my 60C in order to be able to utilize USB – although it certainly isn't as quick and user friendly as EasyGPS.

Yes - Me too - thanks for all the quick responses! I think I'm all straightened out now (for the time being at least). If I win the auction for a new 60C, I think I'll upgrade to City Select V5.

Yes - Me too - thanks for all the quick responses! I think I'm all straightened out now (for the time being at least). If I win the auction, I think I'll upgrade to City Select V5.

I am currently using Garmin Mapsource Metroguide USA. I've downloaded all the software updates and for the last couple of years it has provided all the functionality that I really need. However, I'm considering upgrading to a new Garmin GPSMap 60C and when looking at the 60C website I notice they don't even list Metroguide USA as one of their recommended Mapsource products. They do recommend City Select North America V5 and it appears that maybe City Select is a replacement product for Metroguide. I've learned (primarily from these forums) that Metroguide will work if I purchase a 60C, but I'm wondering if maybe I should upgrade to City Select. I must admit that I can't readily see a big difference between Metrogiude USA and City Select North America. My questions are: 1. Are there any significant differences between the two products such that should I consider one over the other? 2. Is City Select ultimately a replacement product for Metroguide USA? Thanks a bunch for any insight you can offer ...

I think City Select is similar to Metroguide, and as I recall you unlock it the first time (for all of the regions) and then it stays unlocked.

Careful now ---- you might get hooked like the rest of us. Since your post(s) don't specifically mention a cache, it sounds like you may not know exactly which cache it is supposed to be. If you haven't done so already, go to the Geocaching.com (GCcom) main page and enter your zip code to see if you can find a cache in the descriptions that fits the general description/location of the stuff you found. Then you can use the street maps, topographic maps, aerial photos, etc. available on that page to specifically locate the cache's hiding place. Another possibility to help identify what cache you may have found is to look at an interactive map. Since you're new to Geocaching.com (and not a "premium" member) I don't think you can use the interactive map capabilities of GCcom. You might try Buxley's to see if you can narrow down the location and identify which cache it is. Keep zooming in until you find the area where you are located. Holding the point of your cursor temporarily on one of the little red dots will bring up the ID of the cache. Then if you click on the red dot, it should open up the appropriate cache description page on GCcom and you follow the same procedure as described above. Good Luck - Hope that you find which one it is and that maybe you'll join our ranks some day!

How to you get "there" through the MapQuest site though? It does appear that they have removed their path option (or else I'm just not seeing it).

In the photos that folks have been kind enough to include, I don't seem to see any power cords plugged into their GPSRs. Does this infer that most users place their receiver in the mounts without power cords? The power cord on both my yellow eTrex and on my Legend (and maybe on my new GPSMAP 60C if I win the auction) protrudes out from the top rear of the unit quite a bit. It seems like that would be a major consideration in the selection of what mount to purchase. Can anyone offer any insight on this? Thanks !!

LOL about your pegging the Geek-O-Meter if you wear your GPSR on top of your ball cap!! I second Cruzin's recommendation about using the standard Garmin carrying case. It's cheap and easy to do, and I've had very satisfactory results. I simply clip my eTrex (in its protective case) to the top of one of my backpack shoulder straps. It is positioned properly (pointed upward) to receive satellite signal and I can easily glance down to read it. When I need to remove my backpack, I unclip the GPSR and let it temporarily hang from the neck strap.

Was trying to find the second set of coordinates for a multi-cache I started last Fall but couldn't do it then becuase the river was too deep and icy to cross. Tried again a few weeks ago because the river is much lower now due to drought in the midwest. After wading across the river, while bushwhacking through thick, head-high brush on the island, my right foot slipped and jammed into an unseen hole, severely bending back my big toe and the one next to it. I limped back to the car but later in the day when my toe looked like a big purple plum I decided to go to the Urgent Care Clinic. X-rays showed that I had cracked a bone in my big toe. I haven't stopped caching but I am walking slower and uphill stints still get my toe a-throbbing. Adding insult to injury, I later found that the CACHE had been archived a week before I went looking. I learned from that incident not to rely on old cache printouts. Other than the usual insect bites and poison plants, that's my first and only painful injury while geocaching.

Yes I wish it would die (and I'm sure it will in a very short time). However, I'd swear the checkoff boxes weren't present when I was originally looking for them. After I posted this note, I rebooted and they appeared as I expected them to the first time. I should have rebooted BEFORE I posted, but my impatience again took over. My computer does odd things when I have DeLorme Street Atlas 2003 and Garmin MapSource open at the same time and try to maneuver on the net. Maybe I don't have enough resources available and all page contents don't load? I don't know.

DISREGARD!! I found the little boxes. Stoopid me, I just didn't look hard enough. Too bad I couldn't delete the message.