Geocass&Andy750x

It's not just a Montana thing. You can't delete caches from Garmin GPS whilst out in the field. I suppose the best thing to suggest is just to mark them as 'found' to hide them? The way to do it is just what you said about plugging it into your computer. I've never really had a reason to delete caches in the field. The more the better! 12,000 with the Montana in fact!

Yeah, I saw that one... Crazy price! I'm hoping they'll appear in the UK sometime soon. Might contact the place that I got it from to see if they can get any in.

You should also find the manual on the actual Montana under the 'Documents' folder. I haven't been able to find a car mount that I can order so far, but if you find one anywhere let me know. To get around it I use one of these. Small, compact, and loud enough for the bloke to tell me where I'm going. I have mine set on 'James'. He seems very calm! Whilst fiddling with the settings the other day I found under the 'Routing' settings that you can change the sat nav route calculations from "Time" to "Distance". It was sending me on longer routes to caches simply because the longer distance was 60mph whereas the shorter distance was 30mph so therefore it thought it was the longer route. Garmin seem to be working hard on firmware updates. They're up to update v2.8 now. Mine arrived a few weeks ago with v2.6. It seems sometimes that the firmware updates can break more things than they fix, however it's possible to roll back to previous updates. If you get in that situation, drop me an email and I'll tell you how to do it - it's very simple. My Montana seems to routinely crash 2 times each day I take it caching (There have been 3 full days so far) That doesn't bother me too much though as it's happy as soon as I turn it back on. Can't say I've had any major problems with it yet though. For any little problems there are workarounds. It's a great bit of kit! I'll agree with you about still getting to grips with the extra options. There are A LOT of options! Have you looked at the 'Shortcuts' yet? They look like a great idea. Will just take a bit of fiddling to get the ones that I want. By the way - Did you notice in the manual the mention of "Adventures"? Sounds a bit like a 'to do list' of caches/waypoints. It's not currently available on our Montanas, but I emailed Garmin and they got back to me saying that they are still working on them and will release that feature in an update soon. Sounds good!

We have a church micro. It is a film can. It had a little magnet inside covered in gaffa tape to hold it in place and it was stuck to a road sign. Some logs mentioned it being in a "precarious" place and were impressed that it had stayed balanced. What do they mean? It was securely stuck with a magnet. I went and investigated and someone had actually sliced open the gaffa tape, stolen the magnet, then balanced the cannister on the road sign. You can't tell me it wasn't another cacher that did that! A muggle would have taken the whole thing. I covered a new magnet in Araldite and again covered it in gaffa tape then made the listing "Premium members only". Grrrr...

If you're going on a long trip and travelling over a few different countries, areas, counties, states, etc. perhaps over a few weeks/months I can see a big advantage in having that amount of Geocaches. Not something you'll take an advantage of often though!

Downgrading my unit from 2.7 to 2.6 seemed to nearly fix the problems I was having with automobile routing. Instead of working 1 out of 4 times it now seems to work 3 out of 4 times. Think I can live with that until version 2.8! I also noticed, in v2.7 If you search for an address, say enter in the postcode/zip code and hit GO the address doesn't appear in your recent finds list (waypoints and geocaches seem to though) However in v2.6 they do appear in the list. I've fired off an email to Garmin.

I'm quite surprised some of my logs haven't been deleted as I tend to be quite honest about what I think. It's usually places where there is a load of fly tipping that get me really moaning. There was an area that was absolutely covered in it with the cache hidden in a tyre (The CO obviously knew about the dumping) I found what looked like a dead dog in a bag on the road next to GZ I was so sad. The CO hasn't moved the cache though.

You're missing 'poshrule' from the top hiders list. 495 hides. Not all active, but the majority are.

I assume you have 2.6 and 2.5 as GCD files, as that is what you need to "downgrade". Make sure that the filename is gupdate.gcd (rename if required) and copy the file to the Montana Garmin folder. Turn on the Montana and follow the instructions.. Yep .GCD files. Many thanks, I'll give it a go!

I noticed today that my Montana also suffers from the routing algorithm problem. I can live with that though. Me and my Montana have come to an agreement: I'll stop swearing at it as long as it obeys my "workaround" so it'll navigate me properly. I route to a location, let it go for a few minutes, turn it off, turn it on again, go back to the map and it will pop up with the turns and correct directions like it's meant to. It will then start talking to me (It doesn't talk whilst it's not showing the correct navigation information) Other than that, used it again today. 2 crashes, but otherwise working pretty smoothly! Can anyone advise how to rollback firmware on it? I have copies of 2.6 and 2.5, just don't know how to do it! Cass

Thanks for the reply. Tried that but it doesn't appear. Switched all other maps off. Would I be right in thinking it's working ok for you? Just to convey the problems I'm having a little better here are some screenshots. What I see: (The screenshot is of a stationary car at the start point, but it happens if I try and route whilst moving too) What I should see/occasionally see/see after a crash:

Tried out the montana (v2.7) for the first time today to find 50-ish caches. Impressed with the battery life, it lasted all day. Geocaching went very well. Experienced just two crashes when i clicked "Show hint". Came back to normal after a restart. Has anyone tried using it as a sat nav? I'm not too happy with the way mine is working... 1) If it recalculates a route it doesn't just say "recalculating" and get on with it. It says "recalculating, recalculating, recalculating, recalculating..." over and over whilst doing it. 2) a more major problem: I switch to Automotive profile (or any profile really) and get it to act as a sat nav by recalculating along road (via city nav maps) The dashboard is set to Nuvi. Bottom left you get the ETA or whatever you want, bottom right you get speed, along the top bar it tells you where you're going. E.g. "Continue along Ravens Road" or whatever. In the top left you are meant to have an icon showing the next turn and how many miles until the next turn. This seems to just appear when it fancies. Sometimes it'll pop up as soon as I choose to navigate. Sometimes it will appear half way through driving to the destination, and three times it didn't appear, then crashed, then appeared when I turned it back on. Somethings definitely not right. Without this bit you just get "Continue along ..." instead of "At the roundabout take the 3rd exit" Is it just me? Does everyone else get the little "turn" icon in the top left and the accurate text along the top? It's kinda useless as a sat nav without that bit Cass

Ooh no, quite the opposite I don't regret a single penny spent. Coming from a tiny Dakota screen to the big montana is a big leap, and probably not so much of a big deal for those who have Oregons. The massive screen makes all the difference to me. It's about the size of a Nintendo DS Lite, flip it on the side and muggles will simply think I'm playing mario!!! I discovered last night that if you flip it on its side you also get a QWERTY keyboard. Makes field note typing a lot easier. Now to work out how to actually hack it and get Mario on it...

Totally agree... I really do think that "Power trails" are a US thing and a US term. I don't think it applies to the UK and some are confusing "Long circular Geocache walks" with power trails. The ET highway was and will be a power trail. The organisers admit it. ~1500 caches over ~90 miles driving. That is a TRUE power trail. 20 caches over 4 miles walking is not! Until the original ET series was archived, it also brought great tourism and money to the empty area where it was placed (along a highway in the Nevada desert). Many businesses (motels, restaurants, etc.) noticed a raise in profits when the series was created and slump in profits when the series was archived. The organisers are re-creating the series and the businesses are delighted. A fine example of Geocaching helping an area. Posh's trails are all in an area where there was pretty much nothing. When doing them we've stopped off at local shops, drunk and eaten at local pubs and I'm sure many other cachers have done too. I know of some cachers who have pitched tent or stayed for a few days in the area to do the caches. It's all good and the local businesses benefit from them in the area!

Sorry drsolly, but your story had me laughing so much there were tears rolling down my face. It's the way you tell 'em! Not laughing at your pain of course, it was just the bit about the electric motor sending you backwards! Hope you heal up soon. You've reminded me I need to get an Aquapac, good to hear that it's actually doing its job! Cass

Oh wow! Great finds! Wish we had known about those two, I've popped them in a bookmark list for if we ever head back that way. We went up Pen-Y-Fan instead. Crazy rain!!!

I'll add that I'm not 100% on the details of it as I haven't yet done that circuit so I'm just going by what others have told me. I do know that there was a problem and the CO got in touch with the landowner immediately to arrange a move. I was trying to give an example of the CO not just chucking caches everywhere and anywhere and actually caring about the location. If I placed a series that passed through a garden and found out that the owner was a little unhappy about the extra traffic then I'd happily readjust it, perhaps just as a gesture of good will.

But surely the whole point of a cache is to bring someone to an interesting location. If there's already a cache there why try and put another one? The cache finder has already experienced that "special" location. Possibly, usually, but there are some exceptions where there may be an obsticle in the way which may mean that a cacher would not see the "special" thing whilst finding a cache on a series despite it being within 500ft, or perhaps it's a puzzle that needs to placed in a very particular place. There are always exceptions, just saying that I'm sure if that's what some are worried about then you can always negotiate.

Not big and chunky, big and beautiful! You would indeed have a job getting it mounted on a bike though. Will get a chance to try it out for real this weekend. The screen is amazing and the extra information down the side is brilliant. Just a bit disappointed that I'm having a problem finding a car mount for it. They don't seem to have hit the UK yet. I shall rig it up on a universal mount and plug a mini speaker in instead though to get the sat nav features working for now. I do love my gadgets!

Are you saying that if there's a trail and I want to put a cache somewhere that's close to one of the caches then the power trail owner should move/remove one of their caches to make room for mine? I don't see why they should. I'd bet that if someone found a spot that you absolutely had to place a cache (And there are times when a certain spot is an absolute must!) and it was say 200ft from a poshrule cache then they could easily come to an arrangement with him to juggle the caches around a bit to make space. I'm sure posh wouldn't mind discussing it! The spots that the trails are on are places where there was very little there in way of caches in the first place. In fact, there was once very little around the Peterborough area in terms of series/trails. Cambridgeshire is the new Sussex?

I do love a good debate! I'm not sure how posh's caches got labelled as "Power trails" as they really aren't! From Cacheopedia "A trail with many closely spaced caches, each placed as close to its neighbors as the cache saturation guidelines allow.". Posh's trails certainly aren't anything like that. Sure, some are just over 528ft apart, but some are quarter mile apart, some are half mile apart, etc. Some run across crop fields where there is nowhere to hide a cache. Power trails are more of a US thing: 'Hang em High', Route 66, The ET Highway, etc. and usually run along a highway. Posh's cache series are simply nice circular walks. They get us out and about, they keep the footpaths open, and they give us some exercise! For anyone looking to visit the area, I'd highly recommend Sawtry Saunter - We saw loads of Red kites, wildlife, and pretty wild flowers all around the trail, and Polebrook Plunder was our second favourite - Which takes you along a lovely river.

There are some deals online for the 600 + 50K maps, although personally I get by with Open Street Maps (Free!), and creating my own Garmin Custom Maps for footpaths so mapping isn't a concern for me. With the 600 and 650 you will just get the basemap which has a few roads, not much else really. With the 650T you get the City Navigator maps which allow you to essentially use the Montana like a Nuvi. The Montana will speak to you with turn-by-turn directions. Was a bit disappointed there wasn't a lanyard in the Montana box, but there's the quick guide, cables, and charger. Think that was it... Oh and a Montana!

Which is absolutely fine, but IMO notes on the cache pages aren't the place to do it. The forum definitely is though!

Having exchanged many emails with poshrule and completed many of his circuits I thought I'd add my two pennies worth to this. Firstly, poshrule is a lovely chap. His hide locations and containers are very varied and none of his trails are simply a case of a big circuit of film cannisters. He thinks about his hiding places, he researches walks, and he's passionate about the places that he takes you. It's not a case of just putting every cache under a rock. There is variation! He also reads all of the logs people post, and if you take time to write decent ones then he will email you and thank you. Finally, despite placing so many caches recently, he doesn't shy away from maintaining them. If there are DNF's on his caches then he will go out and replace them, even if it's in the middle of a series and a long walk to just that one. He doesn't expect others to go and replace them for him. He is breaking no guidelines and is a fine example of a cache hider who actually cares about his caches! I also heard from a fellow cacher that there was a problem with a section of one of his walks where the footpath passed through someone's garden and they had noticed the extra walker traffic passing through. The cacher spoke to the man and told him the reason why then took the man's phone number and passed it on to poshrule. He archived those caches immediately, and phoned the man the next morning to apologise, explain, and then moved all of the caches to places that the man was happy with which didn't lead cachers through his garden. I've blogged about many caching expeditions on his series' and we've had some great adventures and taken some fabulous photos. He also takes time to read my blog entries and browse through the photos and always emails to say thank you for mentioning his series. Poshrule is breaking no guidelines with what he is doing. If you want to bag the caches on these series then you have to put the work into it, you have to do the long walks for it and it's very rewarding and great exercise! The bottom line is: If you don't like em, don't do em!!! Just put anything by poshrule on the ignore list and the job is done.

I'm a UK geocacher, feel free to add me!