WDP

The amplified antenna I got for my V is truly a powered amplifier. The power comes from the BNC connector the orginal antenna is connected. In open terrority, the signal strength bars are pegged max for all available sats. I can even get 2 or 3 sats in the garage, try that with the orginal Garmin. The only down side is battery consumption increases. Figures provided by the manfactured say 20ma. but that on top of the V's hunger for power may provide less than enough time to get to the cache AND back. Take an extra set. WDP

The Garmin Portable Mount P/N 010-10306-00 MSR $35 is the best way to go. It has 4 bean bag legs that wrap to fit any place with a high traction rubber foam bottom that stays put. You already have the V car mount in the package, fits right in the Portable mount. Another item is the remote powered/amplified antenna with a 6 foot lead. Place a little foam traction tape on the bottom and throw it on the dash near the windshield and reception will not be a problem with any vehicle.These are available on Ebay for $19-$23 and work great in the car and caching in the woods. Mine goes car to car and there is a place to put it in all. WDP

Noticed a little (big) problem with the new 2.30 firmware release. A lot of the roads in this area are not included in the City Select mapping. When navigating to a point off the detail map, my V will get to the closest point on the mapped road and indicate total distance to the waypoint. If I travel past this indicated turn off to an unmapped road the V will recalculate every second and no amount of button pushing will stop the recalculate function. The only way out is to turn it off and then procede in off road after restarting the unit. Has anyone noticed this or figured out a way around it? Is there some way to automatically change to off road when I leave the mapped area? Thanks. WDP

Congrats, you have made a great choice. I bought mine soon after they hit the street 2 and half years ago.It is really nice in today's tech world that it still has not been outclassed or rendered obsolete in that time frame. CACHE ON. WDP

Is there some way to get a printout of the "Route Properties" page after calculating a route? None of the tool bar options work with the Properties page displayed. Copy/paste is a no go. Any one figure this out yet? Thanks in advance. WDP

Check with your local trash contractors, they have a haz-mat program to keep such items out of the landfills. They will take just about anything short of nuclear waste. They usually only run the drop off once or twice a year, plan your CITO a tad before to minamize stockpiling this stuff too long. GOOD JOB PEOPLE. WDP

The toughest parts of Geocaching is finding a suitable parking spot. and the last 50 feet. Many times I have walked up to the "spot" and then the GPSr says 50 feet that a way, then 50 feet this a way. Rule number 1, stay on the path, rule number 2, 50 feet or less, you are on your own. No magic here, just detective work. WDP

A couple of things to check under the main setup menus, 1. calculation method- you have 4 choices from the quickest to the best, each taking more time to recaculate. I have mine set to better. Next is what to avoid, u-turns, toll, or highways, make sure highways is not checked. Be sure Car is designated as vehicle type. Turn off WAAS, there is only so much accuracy needed to navigate roads and more takes longer to recalculate. Turn the interface to none, again to lower the work load on the processor.Turn off both anchor drag and proximity alarms.Use a remote amplified antenna to get as much sattelite info to the receiver as possible, saves processor time looking for more data. Check for the latest software, 2.12B, they fix bugs as they find them.If it gets slow, manually start a recalculation using the preferred route preference. Mine takes only 1 minute max to recalculate a route or off route missed turn. Hope this helps. Pete W [This message was edited by WDP on April 22, 2003 at 04:02 AM.]

Abandoned caches should not be removed. My first experence 2 years ago was an **abandoned** cache by the Cache Ninja. Swept away by the stream where he placed it 2 years before. I, with his permission replaced and moved it to higher ground and it is still active today with many visits. A not found is still a nice walk in the park, and cause to do a little detective work to locate the owner and replace/repair and help advance the sport for the users. Just my 2 cents. Pete W

Thanks, the main problem is setting up the telescope or camera to properly align to veiw Iridium flares. I think I will pick up a better compas that will do the mental part for me. The GPS is set for auto mag as most of the caches in the area are map, compass and GPS work outs, quite complicated, thank you Metzabad of Delaware!! WDP

I live in an area with a 13* west deviation. Now that I am into astromony, everything is set up referenced to true North. How do I convert my compass reading to a true reading?? Please keep it simple, add or subtract is tough enough.Thanks in advance. WDP

I have set my Garmin V for magnetic north. Some of the caches in this area use all navigation skills and tools, GPS, maps and compass. I take a laser range finder also, for those " walk 280 degrees for 397 feet" legs. Magnetic deviation in this area is 12 to 13 degrees caused by Iron Hill in Newark Delaware. GPS use is not affected, only the indicated heading derived from your movenent is altered. WDP

I have set my Garmin V for magnetic north. Some of the caches in this area use all navigation skills and tools, GPS, maps and compass. I take a laser range finder also, for those " walk 280 degrees for 397 feet" legs. Magnetic deviation in this area is 12 to 13 degrees caused by Iron Hill in Newark Delaware. GPS use is not affected, only the indicated heading derived from your movenent is altered. WDP

The Panasonic 1600MAH batts have greatly disappointed me. They are inferior to the Maha 1550's I have had for years and the standard Nex cells that don't even boast a MAH rating.Try some other brand and always keep a spare set when out in the "boons". WDP

The antenna is much easier to remove/install if the BNC male connector on the unit and the antenna female connector and the plastic locking tabs are lubricated with silicone spray from a car parts store. This will prevent long term wear and abrasion on the connectors and plastic alignment tabs. Does not affect the plastic parts or signal transmission to the unit. need to respray every few months. WDP

Depends how much travel directions you want. I have a Garmin V for Car navigation, with the turn by turn navigation it is very handy for road trips. I also bought a Magellan Map 330 for the kids to do the Geocaching. The map overlays are not nearly as good as the Garmin but the unit works better in heavy cover on the cache trails.The V is expensive but worth the extra bucks because you won't be looking for another one later. WDP