[Topo maps and a venture HC]

Use the map selection tool (looks like an irregular trapezoid or something) to select the segments you want.

The named segments will appear in the maps tab on the left.

Upload.

[can't open GDB file]

I wanted to reinstall my Garmin software yesterday. So I did. For some reason, if I click on a GDB files (track file) it doesn't want to open with Mapsource. Now I right click on file to do the "Open With" thing and Mapsource doesn't come up on the recommended list. I go find it in c:\Mapsource and select the Mapsource.exe file and it like I clicked on nothing.

 

Any PC wizards know WTH is going on??

 

I don't know what caused Mapsource to disappear from the "open with" dialog, but that is likely the source of the problem. Since it doesn't show up as a possibility, the association between the .gdb extension and the mapsource executable cannot stay mapped.

 

You may have to uninstall/reinstall unless Garmin has a better idea. A registry correcting untility might be able to fix the problem. I use TuneUp Utilities on my one remaining WinDoze box (all the rest are linux variants).

[Do GPS units wear out?]

Hmmm. Let's try the "secret master reset", as we appear to have little to lose.

 

This is achieved by

 

simultaneously holding down the "Page, "Enter" and "Find" buttons while powering up. You have to hold all buttons in for about (5 to 7 seconds? 10 seconds? until reboot?), and you DON'T get the warning message, but when the machine finally restarts, it is fully reset.

 

It may take many minutes (or another .5 hour outside again) to get good lock again but a google search suggests this has worked for others in a similar situation. Others have suggested that leaving WAAS off on this model can help it avoid this problem situation in the future, but nothing is confirmed.

[Garmin GPSmap 60csx questions/issues]

I think that saving a track strips out time (and maybe speed) information.

[Do GPS units wear out?]

Try with fresh batts, and leave it outside on the back porch or something for a while. It may be able to get all the data it needs.

 

The satellite constellation changes all the time, so you will be able to see different numbers of birds at any given time.

[GPS Help]

5' with confidence is, IMO, not practical in the consumer market.

 

Here is some reading that might illustrate how accuracy is measured.

[Garmin 60csx waypoint names]

If you ever use EasyGPS you'll find this functionality is available under:

Edit | Preferences | Geocaching

 

Note that using the GC* waypoint name may actually be easier to read on some units.

[GPS advice]

Experienced cachers could find caches with any GPS.

 

I think you will get more feedback if you tell us in what ways your current GPSr is seriously inadequate.

[Garmin - Incorrect nearest POI's]

POI are frequently out of date.

 

It is common for folks to download peer-maintained POI from website then leverage the Garmin POI Loader tool to get them in the GPS.

[FTF?]

The PQ terms/conditions, for example, include:

 

Licensee shall not sell, rent, lease, sublicense, lend, assign, time-share, or transfer, in whole or in part, or provide access to the Data, Related Materials, any updates, or Licensee's rights under this Agreement to any third party whatsoever.

...

Licensee shall not remarket, resell, and/or redistribute the Data or any derived portion(s) of the Data in its digital form to any third party whatsoever.

 

Not my rules, and I'm not trying to make anybody do or not do anything.

[FTF?]

Or ofcourse you could have obtaind the co-ords from a premium member.

 

I am pretty sure that redistribution of PQs or other premium member data is disallowed.

[STAR Ratings]

Here's one explanation.

[Routing a Trip...Membership Question]

Top right button on the Pocket Query page.

 

Time's running out; I hope you can squeak out a caches-along-a-route PQ before then.

[Maybe I stink at this?]

I like the idea about going out with other experienced cachers...are there any mentor groups or a place where mentors and mentees can sign up? (It totally need a mentor...so add me right on there).

 

There are geographically-organized formus here, too. Here is the one for New England, including CT. You could hook up with a group and see how others do it.

[garmin help?]

so is it as simple as entering the cache long and lat into the gps??

 

Yes, but if you have the cable you just go "click" and it crams a few hundred (or whatever) cache coordinates into your GPS while you drink a cool, tasty beverage of your choice. That's why I recommended the cable. Otherwise you are entering lat/long, which is slow and errorprone.

[FTF?]

Can you be FTF if you're not a premium member? The way it makes it sound is that premium members get the new updates and stuff, can a non-premium member be FTF?

 

Yes, but the likelihood of you getting to a FTF before a paying member is unlikely because the info can be automagically mailed to them. And there are people who live for FTF, will call in sick to work, etc.

 

There are even caches that are not published to non-premium, although they are not common and if you wandered across it you could sign the log FTF and then sign GC whenever the cache was opened to the public.

[garmin help?]

im after a CHEAP hand held gps unit to work along side my iphone my question is do models like the garmin etrex venture, summit and legend any good with caching??? the reason i ask is ive been watching a few on ebay and poeple are listing them as great for geocaching BUT i check the full spec on the garmin website and every one is listed as NOT been geocache and GPS game friendly

 

Basically any handheld will work, though having a PC cable will make your caching life much easier.

 

What they mean is the other GPSs don't have a dedicated Geocaching mode like the new ones (ie, you found that one, and it shows you the next). But we cached for years and years without Geocaching mode so it's not any kind of requirement.

 

I'd say it's like having cruise control on your car. The car is doing the exact same thing only automating one step of the process.

But you can drive a car without cruise control, right?

[Maybe I stink at this?]

So yesterday was our first time out. We were looking for two and we found both.

 

Today I set out with more and failed to find all 4! They were all 2 or less in difficulty and none of the logs showed others having trouble... how can I not find four in a row?

 

There are experienced cachers that can easily log more than 4 Did Not Finds in a row. Don't ask me how I know this...

 

:-)

 

I would say that brand new cachers might want to collect a few 1s before getting discouraged with 2s. There are 2s that give me fits... remember it's the cache hider that rates the difficulty, not the other finders. And the hider knows where s/he put it!

[Need help with first find...]

Don't get discouraged. Your caching sense will develop very quickly after you've found a few.

 

Take your time, approach from different angles, relax.

 

Where would I be if I were a cache?

[Garmin Geko 201 n00b]

Mark a waypoint (ie, where you are now), then edit that waypoint.

[Is there a bad geocache container to use?]

Are ammo cans mainly used for "deep woods" hiding?

 

Usually. They can be a little loud to open, too. But lots of room inside, and usually watertight if the seal is ok.

[Downloading Caches to GPSmap60CSx]

My Desktop crashed and I had to go to my laptop. Down loaded Garmin Comm. and everything looked good, but when I download Caches, they show up in my Waypoints listing, not in my Cache listing.

 

Make sure that your GPSr knows what icons are associated with unfound/found caches. It will see that icon on the waypoint and know it is a cache.

[Can I load all caches in a state to a Oregon 300?]

I was just reading the thread on the Geomate Jr and how it comes pre-loaded with 250,000 cache's. I figured there should be a way to do this on the fancy Oregon 300, does anyone know if there is a limit to the number of cache's I could load onto it? Like if I go to the website with a premium subscription or something could I load all cache's from an entire state into it?

 

I don't know how many caches are in your state. The problem will probably be getting all the caches from GC rather than getting them into the Oregon. I think the PQ limit is 500 caches. I suppose you could run multiple PQs and try to get them all, but I have not seen any kind of "give me all caches in a state" functionality.

 

The Oregon 300 holds, IIRC, 1000 waypoints internally. I think the Oregon series can also pull waypoints off SD; if not, you could do them as custom POI on the SD. Having the data on the SD may lose "Geocaching function" bells/whistles but they would still be navigable.

[eTrex Venture HC]

As the others have noted, the basemap is highly simplified (and therefore somewhat inaccurate at many points), and Lock To Road is your friend if you are running a commercial map.

[Basemap Upgrade on GARMIN GPSmap 60CSx ?]

You can download a free world wide base map here:

[url=https://buy.garmin.com/shop/store/downloadsUpdates.jsp?product=010-11034-00&cID=138&pID=11413]https://buy.garmin.com

 

I didn't mention it (as I didn't think it would be newer than the OP's existing basemap of North America) but I run the world basemap as well in my 60cx. Looks great; it's amazing how much gets crammed into a (relatively) small file.