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pppingme

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Posts posted by pppingme

  1. They don't have to put out millions of containers to create caches. Maybe they are going to focus more on Wherigo, virtual and chirp type caches.

    GS owns a "patent" on Wherigo (although could probably be challenged pretty easily, different discussion), and its clear that Garmin and gs are on the outs with each other. I don't expect to see any further Wherigo development happening between Garmin and GS.

     

    I also think Garmin is a much smarter company than gs and it wouldn't surprise me to see them come up with some type of Wherigo alternative, that will probably end up being better.

  2. If Garmin had just added the ability to do Wherigo caches, I'd buy one today.

    I'm not sure at this point if you'll ever see any further Wherigo support by Garmin, including a client showing up on new units.

     

    Garmin and GS are obviously struggling in their relationship.

     

    The current client is the same one that was initially released, there has been no development, bug fixes, or any advancement of the client at all since day one.

     

    Since GS holds a "patent" on Wherigo, it would be up to GS to support the development, Garmin can't go any further without GS support, further, since GS has effectively snuffed Garmin, Garmin has no incentive to develop any further.

     

    Garmin is most likely restricted by the patent and licensing restrictions imposed by GS, so its unlikely that a client would show up on any other GPS without further negotiations between Garmin and GS, which is unlikely to happen at this point.

  3. If anything, its the 62 that's unproven.

     

    For all purposes, the new 62's have more in common with the Oregon's (and Colorado's), than they do with the 60's. The only real feature that carries forward from the older 60's is the Quad Helix antenna, oh, and the case.

     

    Despite the touch screen, the Oregon's have been shown to be incredibly durable and tough. I've dropped mine many times, gotten it plenty wet, had it fall off the car, and it still works just fine, similar reports from others.

     

    The 62 is a marketing item, designed to cover the well received features of the Oregon's, and the popularity of the 60's. Its nothing more than an Oregon with the loss of the touch screen and the gain of the antenna (which the Colorado also had).

     

    The Colorado is no longer marketed, because it fell between the cracks, people either wanted the long time massively popular 60, or the touch screen on the Oregon, there just was no in-between market. The 62 hits the market that the Colorado missed.

     

    The 60 was considered the real work horse of geocaching (and other field uses), and the 62, essentially a repackaged Oregon minus the touch screen, is riding on that reputation.

  4. my theory is that it doesn't depend on how many new caches/waypoints are being loaded, but rather on how many are already loaded and will thus be deleted/updated.

    Strogly agree, I believe this is a very strong factor, and is basically proven by the fact that if the unit is booted without any caches, the next load will always boot up without any problems, regardless of size (assuming your not over 2k or 5k caches and 200 files).

  5. what's the difference between first deleting the file and then putting a new one, and just overwriting the old file?
    To my understanding of the OS and file handling, absolutely nothing. I report that only because some have said that if they first delete the old file before adding the new one, it has some positive result..

    The key in deleting the files first is to allow the unit to boot without any caches loaded, without the boot, it makes no difference if you overwrite vs delete and create.

     

    Once the unit "reads" the caches, they are stored internally and the .gpx file is never touched again, that is unless the unit detects a difference in the .gpx file upon boot (like a new date, etc).

  6. .Today when I was out caching I discovered while I had the caches, I did not have any cache description and it would lock up each time I tried to access the description. I thought I had the caches loaded correctly but did not..

    The times I've heard about it locking up when you look at the details for a particular cache (assuming it didn't lock up when you first loaded the .gpx files to the unit) have always been traced back to a particular cache, and that cache will consistently cause problems. There may be certain characters that it doesn't like or some other data in the description or something it doesn't like. I don't have any caches in my area (that I know of) that have ever caused this issue, but I've seen it mentioned before and has always come down to a particular cache.

  7. I would recommend against the approach of just touching the file again to get it to reload (or simply pulling batteries and rebooting).

    Garmin tracks the date/time stamp of files upon loading (thus the reason it won't attempt to reload a file by just booting the unit again, their real goal seems to be to optimize boot time). If the file has a new time stamp (i.e. you've "touched" the file), the unit will try to reload it. Although I generally reload the same file again, its not a requirement based on Garmin's logic for deciding if a file needs to be reloaded or not, a new time stamp is all that's required.

     

    Since this issue seems to have as much to do with expunging the old file (to repeat, I've never seen it happen when there were no .gpx files on the unit to start with), just forcing a reload of the new file is all that's needed, and Garmin's logic forces this with a simple touch.

     

    For those that are unfamiliar, "touch" is a utility that has been around since the beginning on most unix systems, who's only purpose is to update the date/time stamp on a file (and to create a zero byte file if it doesn't already exist). When people refer to "touching" a file, they simply mean to force an update of the time stamp.

  8. This seems to be a long standing issue with no clear answer. 200's, 300's, 400's and even the newer x50 units are all affected.

     

    The two work arounds seem to be, 1st, as you've done, either touch or reload the file, and it will boot just fine the 2nd attempt, or, clear any .gpx files (just caches, not tracks, etc) off the unit and let it boot without any caches, then the next load will work.

     

    It seems to boil down to this, if you already have a "larger" file on the unit, and you replace it with another "larger" file, the unit will hang on the first boot after loading the newer file. From my testing, it seems that both conditions have to exist. I've seen the unit hang after loading smaller files when a larger file was already on the unit, but have never seen a large file hang it if the unit was cleared first. I've also never seen it hang twice in a row after reloading or touching the new file.

     

    There seems to be speculation that this is a gsak issue, BUT, it has been confirmed to happen with two pq's loaded directly to the unit.

     

    There doesn't seem to be much difference between different versions of firmware (although the earliest versions of the firmware didn't seem to be able to recover at all without clearing the file first).

     

    "Larger" seems to be anything much over 8 to 10 meg. Testing by other users varies on both ends of this.

     

    A file with 1900 caches and 6 logs will be in the ballpark range of 11 or 12meg.

  9. Sweet, I like it.

     

    Step1-I'm curious how its implemented, I didn't think any constant or automated activities were allowed on these "hertz". This might be the toughest for some cachers, as these "hertz" really aren't that well known, but the equipment based on them is.

     

    Step2-This could be a couple different things, but as stated before, the CO seems to give a hint to which in another post, so I've got a good idea.

     

    Step4-Oh wow, everyone should get this one. I was thinking of doing a cache based on this step alone, with a "helper" based on step1 if I happen to be around.

     

    If I'm getting the gist and I'm right, none of this would be proprietary equipment, and most likely almost every cacher probably already owns what they need. Too bad its 560 miles away from me.

  10. You can drop a pq file on your nuvi, but here's some things to consider:

     

    (disclaimer: almost none of these comments applies to the nuvi 500 series of "geocaching friendly" units)

     

    1-Once a gpx file is put on a nuvi, there are only two ways to remove it, individually delete all 500 waypoints one at a time (they show up as favorites), or factory default the nuvi.

     

    2-All that the nuvi will pull out of the gpx file is the coordinates and name, you won't get full caching information like descriptions or logs

     

    3-Most of the nuvi models max out at 500 waypoints, some support 1000

     

    4-There is no means of "marking" caches as found on the gps.

     

    5-Nuvi's have a short battery life (3 hours), aren't water resistant, have a fragile screen, and aren't really "rugitized" like any of garmin's hand held units.

     

    As for the waypoint file names in a PQ, the file with the smaller name is the main file with coordinates listed on the cache page, descriptions, logs, etc. The file with the -wpts in the name is "additional waypoints" that you see on some caches, these could be parking suggestions, trailhead locations, steps of a multi or puzzle, and things like that.

     

    My advice, if your on a budget, get a unit like an etrex (around 100 new, not a "paperless" model), if you have a few dollars, get one of the paperless models like a dakota, oregon, or one of the newer 62's.

  11. By the end of the hike I wasn’t signing the log sheets anymore, and in most cases, I soon as I saw the cache I marked it as found and moved on to the next..

    There has to be a line, if not, what comes next?

     

    Trail caching? I know there were 3 caches along that trail I just walked.

     

    Drive by caching? I was driving down the street and I knew there was a cache near by.

     

    Fly over caching? I flew over the state of Kansas, so I logged all of them online.

     

    Vacation caching? I visited California, so I just logged all the caches in the state.

     

    Most people generally agree that the log book is the line.

     

    The only time I've ever skipped signing the log is when there was a physical problem with the log itself, and I generally collect other evidence (like a snapshot of the open container if I have my cell cam).

  12. There was no "password" option. Perhaps it recognizes its programmer?

    Once programmed the first time, its "locked" to the gps that programmed it. That gps can factory default the chirp (its a menu option on the gps) if the owner wants to redeploy or give/sell it, but it does not appear at this time that there is any other way to default or clear the chirp.

     

    Since the unit has an expected life of a year off a cr2032 battery, its probably safe to assume it has some type of non-volatile memory, so pulling the battery for an extended time won't clear it. I didn't see any indication of a reset button or method (unless I missed it?).

     

    I would think that Garmin would make these things un-appealing to steal or tamper with (changing the data stored in them), and eliminating any way to reset them or change the stored data would fit that agenda.

  13. I recommend making all caches "Premium Member Only" caches.

    ...

    geocachers who have had their caches stolen could view the audit log for the muggled caches to see if there are any suspicious geocaching names who could be the potential cache thief.

    Wrong... Any PM can get full info about a cache, and anyone (PM and non PM) can get coordinates (even for PM caches), all without ever seeing the cache page, thus never showing up on the "audit" log.

     

    Full cache descriptions show up in PQ's, no page visit needed.

     

    Anyone (PM and non-PM) can "tweak" a url such as this to "home in" on the coordinates for any cache, including PM caches.

     

    Anyone (PM and non-PM) can log a cache (via field notes).

     

    All of this can be done without ever visiting the cache page.

     

    There is also a way to "scrape" the gc/google maps for coordinates.

     

    I rarely see the cache pages of any of the caches that I find. I also have info for every cache within so many miles of me, and I've not been to any of their pages (PQ's).

  14. Today we received an email saying someone found our disabled cache. Upon looking at the person's profile, it says this cacher is a "banned member."

     

    How in the world do you get banned from geocaching? It is such a fabulous hobby that we wish we had more time to enjoy!

    Don't know if you noticed, but one big hint, the person has over 3000 finds, yet the account is only 2 days old, not bad for a new cacher pretty obvious its all fake.

  15. In all likelihood, you are looking at a database error.

     

    In fact, if the person who appears to have taken your avatar corrects theirs, yours may change to theirs.

     

    This is because the key relations in the database have probably become corrupted. It happens.

     

    When the database regenerates tonight, the problem will most likely go away. I agree with the previous poster. This geocacher appears to be above board and not likely to have done this of their own volition.

     

    If I am right, this will not be an issue tomorrow.

     

    $ 0.02

    Nope, I would disagree with this. The images locations are clearly different. I have to agree the image is stolen.

     

    The person also updated the image on their profile page, a completely different setting and database, and its the same image.

     

    If some kind of "key corruption" happened, I think you'd see more than one image swapped, you'd see a lot more issues.

     

    Also, there's nothing done that "regenerates" the database every night. This would be a several hour deal at the minimum.

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