fishgeek

If you want pictures, Magellan says you have to use Vantage Point to upload geocaches to the GC. I tried it a few times and realized that I didn't need the the pictures enough to justify the additional hassle. I do not know if there are any work arounds. I just saved any pictures that I needed to my Nuvi and looked at them there.

Reminds me of a funny story heard at a recent event: A fellow geocacher told a muggle friend about his tens of thousands of finds. The muggle asked "Where do you keep them all?"

Shouldn't take 20 minutes. Should take more like 1. On Google Maps you can place "via" markers. Just put one near each end of the route. Voila. Or, just extend the route by a little bit and then add a via point where your original end point was. That should give you exactly what you originally intended. Thanks to Moun10bike for explaining what the issue is. It's really a simple workaround. Just take your end marker and move it a little ways down a side road just past where you want the route to end. That way, the turning point on the main road will then be the next-to-last node. It doesn't appear to be the problem here, but you also have to make sure that the PQ returns less caches than the limit (1000 in this case). If not, you have to decrease the length or width of the route. I believe that GS uses the date placed to determine the order that caches get added to the PQ list. The PQ will appear to cover the entire route, but newer caches will be missing.

When you enter the code word, it is logged. That can only be done from the web page found at the URL provided. There are no Field Notes and no Comments, just a Found It Message when logged. If you are getting the test page, you are on your own Lab Cache. You can only log it from a different account.

No. Can you expand on that "no"? Yes. I thought the most obvious difference was that usually caches can't be taken home. But as far as the end result, there's not much difference. THe fiunder found a box, and had to open it to claim the find. The lab cache just let them do it in the comfort of their own home. If you like. Not sure what your objective is. If it's to claim that one thing is exactly like a bunch of other things by ignoring the differences between them I reckon you'll succeed I'm just trying to figure out how the lab caches allow for great creativity in the cache creation process. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few things: 1.) I don't have to worry about proximity issues. 2.) I don't have to worry about the "no vacation caches" guideline. 3.) I don't have to worry about long term maintenance issues. 4. You can make the finder enter a business 5. You can make the finder interact with a person to get the code 6. You can have a creative "FTF Prize". I put candy in a plastic heart. The GC Blog video has an engagement ring. 7. You can pick who gets the Prize.

MICROSOFT EXPLORER - THE NUMBER ONE BROWSER FOR DOWNLOADING OTHER BROWSERS. Actually, it is nice to have the Send to GPS function working in case you want to add that one cache that just popped up without re-running the whole PQ. But, be aware that most GPSs have a limit on the number of GPX files that can be read by the unit. PQs are definitely the way to go for most of your geocaching needs. There are also programs like Garmin's Basecamp, EasyGPS, and GSAK that help with managing the caches on your GPS. They are worth a look. I tried Basecamp, but did not like it nearly as much as GSAK.

I placed one with a Valentines Day theme on Friday. My Significant Other found it on Saturday, with me tagging along. She is not a hard-corps geocacher, but she seemed to enjoy the experience. The main difficulty was getting the coords right, but a post in one of the other I<3GC threads cleared that up. It would be nice for the finder to be able to comment on the find and to see the comments as the owner.

That thread was taken over by three guys who are debating how many angels will fit on the lint in their belly buttons. It was at ten pages the last time I checked, and the I<3GC comments were hard to find. I will be seeing my Significant Other this weekend. I plan to set one out and will help her find it. I will definitely report back.

Mineral2, Thank you for this advice. I was all set for some out-of-town caching this weekend. Fired up the old Oregon 450 and No Geocaches on it. Laptop left at home. Luckily, I had seen this last week and had put the geocache file on the card. It only took a few minutes and I was up and running. You saved the day.

I'm not sure why I picked this name way back when. It might be because I didn't think that I would actually have to use it - I only signed on so that I could check something on the GPS Forum. It still fits, though, and everyone knows me by it. The name has nothing to do with fishing. I used to fish a lot, but you can count on one hand the times I have been since I started geocaching in December 2009.

I had the same problem, switching between my Meridian Gold and my 500. The only advice I have is to make any map that that you can possibly think that you may need for one unit before switching to the next. Anyways, the data on MapSend Topo has to be archaic by now. Unfortunately, the 500 decided that it did not want to talk to satellites any more, and the Merigold got put on the shelf. I just ordered a new Win7 CPU that has a serial port. I may have to pull it out and see how it compares to my "modern" units.

Really? Where did you read or hear that? According to the recent blog, "You’re only bound by your imagination, a Find Code and, of course, local laws, regulations and just common sense." For example, commercial lab caches will be allowed. Perhaps Jayme H will be so kind as to clarify this concern. Where in that blog post did you see that commercial caches would be allowed? I saw that you could lead someone to a theater and give them tickets. The imagination limit applies to all geocaches, as do local laws, etc.. Hopefully, the actual guidelines, when published, will prevent most of the anticipated stupidity.

I simply do not understand why one needs the gc.com site at all for such purposes. Cezanne Because. Because I love geocaching and my husband does not. Because my husband knows and accepts this. And because it would be a VERY cool idea if he did this for me. In a form I enjoy dearly. So the question wouldn't be why, but why not? Why not set up special I <3 geocaching cache just for me? And if he did, why/how does it affect you, way over there? Jes, thank you. You said that much more coherently than I would have. The only two arguments against Lab Caches that I hear here are the effect on statistics and the "Wild, Wild West" scenarios. They are only relaxing a few of the GEOCACHING rules (mainly proximity and longevity), not saying that anything goes. The extrapolations of caching behavior that I've seen on this thread are amazing. As far as statistics go, mine are already off by 5 and it does not bother me much. Being off by 6 will not bother me any more. Again, no one is making you participate.

I have two cameras, an old, semi-disposable Sanyo and a Kodak Z650 (also old). I carry the Sanyo most of the time because it is lighter and it would not be the end of the world if it fell in the creek.

I have a question. Since my Significant Other and I share one account, can I hide a Lab Cache and have her find it? Would that be seen as bad form? I believe that the one-finder limit has something to do with Valentines Day (per the <3 in the name). I plan on hiding something special and giving the link only to my SO, even if I have to create a sock-puppet account using a 30-day trial PM I have laying around. Also, if you don't like Lab Caches, you DO NOT have to hide or find one. As a matter of fact, you can ignore this whole thread.

That might be accurate if you're referring to an older 50 to a newer 50. But if you're referring to the 50 to some of the more expensive Nuvi's - they are different. The 50 is limited to what you can do with it. My sister-in-law bought a 50 and she has often asked me to show her how to do something on it. I own a 2450..... I just assumed that her 50 was similar in capabilities. The things that she wanted to know - wasn't available in the 50. I can't remember the details of it but I do remember, her menu choices were very limited. I couldn't even find a certain button/menu for what she was looking for. The 50LM will not allow you to delete your Favorite Waypoints as a group. You have to delete them one at a time, or reset the whole unit. I was spoiled by my 1450 LMT.

You can still drive 350 miles to get 29 really good caches in a day. You just have to be content with the knowledge that you're driving past thousands of not as good caches.

Have you tried Magellan Vantage Point? The Magellan site says that it is compatible with all of the eXplorists. I use it to manage maps and waypoints on my Triton. My eXplorist 500 crashed before I needed VP, so I'm not sure how it will work with your 400.

Also, there is a limit of 1,000 files (GPX or LOC) in the GC. If you load single cache files and do not clear them out periodically, it's not inconceivable that you could exceed that limit.

Since you're a Premium Member, I recommend using Pocket Queries instead of sending caches one at a time using Send to GPS, which does not send the waypoints (parking, trailheads, etc.). The easiest PQ can be done by scrolling and zooming on the map screen until you get the area and caches that you want. On the left-side pop out, there is a link to Save As Pocket Query. Download the PQ, unzip it, and copy the main file to the Geocaches directory of the GC and the "-wpts" file to the Waypoints directory. To get rid of the caches and waypoints, just delete the two files off the GC. Learning to do PQs on the Your Pocket Queries page is not too difficult. Just remember to preview them before you run them, since you can only run each one once per day. I also recommend getting rid of the GPX files that came on the unit. You can move them to an archive on your computer, or just delete them.

Me searching for a cache that's not there is definitely not a waste of time, with or without any false find logs. Me reading 165 Forum Posts on the matter probably is. False finds are bad and should be deleted, but they are not the end of the world. The cacher is responsible for what caches they seek and should do the appropriate investigation. When there is a find after a string of DNFs, it's probably a false log, a throw down, or a difficult cache - only one of which this forum approves. Everything else in this thread has been splitting gnat's hairs.

Just remember that if you delete those Lab Caches, you will NEVER be able to re-log them. I have 5 and they really mess up my stats, but I can live with that.

I'm in the "Better to have it and not need it" school of thought. And I still carry a lensatic compass in my caching bag. This Forum needs an "Are you sure that you want to reply to this?" popup for anything more than year old.

My phone apps do projections, and I find myself doing the same thing: I figure out roughly where the next waypoint is, and once I get there I refine my location by checking the distance and bearing to the previous waypoint. But I've also done projection-based multi-caches on my own, without GPS-based technology or even a compass. I knew which way north was, so I could figure out the approximate bearing. And I knew the length of my pace, so I could figure out the distance. That was good enough to get me within 20-30 feet of the cache. If I know the bearing and distance ahead of time, I will calculate the coords of the point and enter it into my GPS. I use the Forward function at: http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/TOOLS/Inv_Fwd/Inv_Fwd.html For shorter on-the-spot projections, I keep a compass in my caching bag. For longer ones, the projection function is on all my GPSs.

Plus, the "one at a time"/"Send to my GPS" method only sends the main cache info. It does not send the Child Waypoints (Parking, Trailheads, etc.).