JanniCash

Ever checked how much of that battery life is left in this sort of weather? The second image is the wonderfull scenic view from about 10m below the peak. I didn't take out the camera on the peak itself, the water droplets in the wind just hurt on impact, so I didn't stay long. My personal (unscientific) experience taken from the very camera that made these shots is that Li-Ion's at -10C or below drop to half their capacity and worse. So from your 17 hours for a fully charged new battery, I'd expect no more than 8 to last at the best. And you got to be very carefull with such a frozen thing. Although Li-Ion batteries do operate down to -20C (that's -4F for the imperial scouts here), they cannot be charged at that temperature. The high internal resistance of the battery will cause it to rapidly deteriorate. Worst case, a frozen Li-Ion can explode when attempted to charge ... which would take good care of your GPSr if it's done inside the unit. Meaning, the ever so often in these forums made claim "I just plug in the AA-USB-charger" isn't working in this situation. You have to rip out the Li-Ion first. For this sort of activity, NiCd's are better than NiMH's. But you should allways have a pack of non-rechargeble Lithium-photo batteries ($10 at Walmart for a 4pack). Jan Edited for speeling

The Vista-C is a Legend-C with altimeter and compass. If you're not a gadget-addict, you won't feel the difference. Jan

Indeed! Where do we come from? Where are we going? And if we get there, will we still get some beer? Jan

Ever heard of KISS? Keep it simple, stupid! Jan

Let's see ... the summary of what the Magelan owners will say is: Con: it's a Garmin Con: small memory Con: it's a Garmin Con: small screen Con: it's a Garmin Con: no memory slot Con: it's a Garmin Con: confusing menu Con: it's a Garmin Con: doesn't have a Li-Ion battery Con: it is still just a Garmin The entire Garmin owner camp will tell you: Pro: it's a Garmin Pro: the memory is way enough for geocaching and everyday use Pro: it's a Garmin Pro: good resolution, yet small and highly portable Pro: it's a Garmin Pro: can get AA's at every tourist trap Pro: it's a Garmin Pro: easy and intuitive menu Pro: after all, it's at least a Garmin The truth is ... somewhere in between, but you will figure that out soon anyway. I recently got the Vista-C instead. Did you miss that it is just about $20 more? I hope it's not too late Jan PS: I apologize to every Magelan owner who wrongly feels offended for no reason at all. I apologize to all loyal Garmin owners who wrongly feel offended too. I apologize to the Micro haters, Micro lovers, McToy ... er ... no.

There are over 500 caches within 25 miles of my home ... do I really have to pollute this area even more? I could easily give a number of lame excuses for zero hides, but to be honest I don't think I'd be a good cache maintainer. I have a track record on creating great new stuff and not maintaining it. This isn't as bad as it sounds for the stuff I normally do, but certainly would be bad for caches. I also try to look at it from a higher level ... the satellites perspective. Do I give more than I take in any public community? If so, what is wrong with taking more than giving in another? In the big picture, it naturally levels out and that is why I have no problem with zero hides. I myself have contributed thousands of hours (and counting) to something else that is freely available for everyone. Just enter my real name into google and yes, most of the 16,000 hits are good ones. Even on a more narrow view, this very forum uses open source software ... I am a contributing open source developer. So in my not so very humble opinion, one has to have very narrow tunnel vision to consider the find/hide ratio usefull for anything at all. Jan

I take back the "kludge" - sorry. What we (most probably) have here is a system that already had a log based email notification module. In order to reuse that (rather than reinventing the wheel), the new "published" log entry was used as a vehicle. I would agree that this is an acceptable solution that keeps the amount of code stirrup low enough to allow an on the fly application change without going through a full QA cycle. It produces something that is visible at the surface ... a wart. But doing it without that would probably cost a lot more effort now AND more code maintenance effort in the future. However, I would not agree that it is acceptable if there is a window where a cache owner can remove the log (as someone already proposed to do) before it has served its trigger purpose. But then again ... does anybody care if I agree or not? I don't think so. Jan

My 10 yo stepson can't let anything behind that has a lightbulb or glows. Jan

Knee long ... ah ... and all the girls that aren't olympic swimmers wear these?

Uh .... like there aren't any USB ports out in the woods. I know, 'cause I looked. I was thinking about dropping the Forest Service a note suggesting that they start installing powered USB ports in their forests, but somehow, I don't think they'll take me seriously. That would be a partial solution. Come on, think to the end, think big, the limit is the sky!!! If they would replace the darn satellites with some that have serious transmitter power, the GPS receivers could work more like good old diode radios on long wave ... powered entirely by the received waves. That would mean, that you don't even need ANY battery at all. Done right it would also take care of the annoying tree cover problems. Now ... which is the correct address where to file that suggestion? Jan

Yeah, well the feeling is mutual. I cringe at the site of Europeans in their micro-Speedos--especially ugly, wrinkled, hairy old men. Ugh! It's partly American prudery, and partly the fact that many, many people (men and women) simply do not look good in very revealing swimwear. I keep my ugly, hair, pasty white butt covered up, and I appreciate the courtesy in return. That is very true. For many people exposing less would be more. And it doesn't matter if it is old, hairy and wrinkled or fat, ugly and out of shape. I know, round is a shape and well built can still be attractive, but there is a point where it just isn't any more. I guess many Europeans should rethink if their "oh so emanzipated" beachwear is still aestetic and appropriate on a case by case base, while many Americans have to rethink if nudity or topless at the beach is really doing more harm to the moral of their children, than the constantly displayed violence and disrespect for human dignity on TV. I don't think that the display of nudity has caused any 12 year old to go postal and blast away some classmates and teachers yet. People unfortunately often try to force others to behave according to thier expectations, instead of rethinking if their expectations are reasonable ... and I don't exclude myself from that statement. So this important step towards world peace will not be accomplished tomorrow. Sheesh ... I guess I will have to just go on, enjoy my wife, return the pleasure and ignore the irritated looks on some peoples faces. Jan

Teach him to only kill things that he intends to eat ... oh, wait, you might not like the outcome of that either. Jan

Same experience here. Huge difference if the route is marked over a black road in pink on a yellowish background, or if it is marked over black road with dark grey on a light gray background. One question to ask is if someone who "doesn't see so well" can use any of the handheld units with their rather small high resolution screens for automotive navigation at all. I am happy that I can, since my glasses are 2.5+ (yes, I wear magnifying glasses all the time). So I allways use screen resolutions other people find hard to read. It really depends on what exactly "doesn't see so well" extends to and what the intended use beyond geocaching is. For someone who can't read a handheld while driving but who also wants to use GPS for automotive navigation, I would suggest getting a moderate small budget handheld unit for geocaching and stare on it a little longer. Save the money for a second, dashboard mounted unit that has turn-by-turn voice commands. If the intended use is for geocaching and other outdoor activities (except driving) alone, then go and get all the fun you can (and want to) afford in a unit small enough to carry around in the woods. Jan

In the past approvers have posted notes. If all you can do is say "Published" then this can't be used that way and the standard note would need to be used. In all honesty it's been some time since I've seen approvers do that with the note. Its totally automated. the reviewers don't do anything. We hit the list button on the cache and the system puts the note on the cache. By the time it gets there I'm on the next Cache to be reviewed. Its not a plot or a soapbox. It is automated and they all look the same. So all caches start with the same log message. Hmmm ... I must have missed something ... what was the purpose of that log message? Or is it more a wart caused by some rather kludgy implementation of the notification mechanism? Note: I have no clue how the notification itself is triggered. So I don't claim that it is implemented kludgy. But for a software engineer like me that sort of automated message containing literally zero usefull information looks and smells very much like a workaround for some other problem. Maybe ... hehe ... adding another note containing just the word Published will cause the system to send out another round of notifications? Jan

There ya go ... it's added. :mmraspberry: is the code to use for it from now on. I will leave the image on my server as long as I can to not harm the existing posts. Thanks Jeremy! Jan

No offense taken here. Keep in mind that children don't find nudity itself offending, abnormal or even worth to be paid attention to ... until they are taught to do so. I grew up in north Germany and nudists are pretty common at public beaches - me included whenever I find myself at a beach without swimwear. I don't do that in the States because it is not accepted here. I might even completely stop to use "normal" swimwear someday - the stuff you call speedo's ... maybe you don't know it, but most european folks cringe at the sight of Americans in their bulky bathing-sacks. Enough of that, if you didn't spoil your son yet, he'll be naturally more interested in yet another toy or flashlight/glowstick than some naked breast or other things your wife would get upset about. Jan PS: never take anything I write personal. I don't know you, so how can I intend to offend you?

That's right. I didn't want to sound anti-Garmin. I had a Legend for over 3 years (my stepson has it now) and upgraded to the Vista-C well knowing that I had to change the map set to the CitySelect, which restricts usage to 2 "Garmin"-GPSr's. A (non-free) update to a newer map set was overdue anyway, so I don't mind that I had to buy a new one. The base maps will get you through long distance highway and interstate "mile grinder" traveling. Nothing more, but nothing less either. For long distance with the Legend I used to load the detail maps at the destination and where I expected to get off the highway for fuel and food. Worked well for 3 years. I have the feeling that quite a few people buy these units before exactly knowing what they get. They don't do their research and when they find out that the unit itself isn't exactly what everyone is talking about without buying detailed maps, they are disappointed - partially because they maxed out their budget with the bare unit and now don't have the extra cash to fill in the gap. Jan

Not that I have too much caching experience, but judging by the few finds I have and the comments here ... let me see. The usual cache content tends to become used and slightly broken McToys and other stuff found at the bottom of a kids drawer, bottle caps, coins and all the stuff nobody ever would take for themself at the dollar store. If the same quality tendency applies to nude pics in the caches ... urgh. I don't know, but I would be less concerned about the nudity part. I myself am used to pictures like those posted on rotten.com, but other cachers might involuntarily leave parts of their breakfast as trade. [/sarcasm] Jan Edited for good example link - the downward spiral!

With Garmin, nothing is for free (as in free beer). Garmin uses a proprietary map format, so you can't load anything else. Jan

In addition to what's been said, the use case of GPSr devices can be a little different. Especially because of the satellite signal problems we all know about, the GPSr is most likely exposed to other temperature ranges than other electronics like cellphones, PDA's, Laptops. All battery chemistries (except for the dry-lithium) operate best at or around room temperature. And all of them decrease in cycle time when charged/discharged at temperatures significantly above or below that. So everyone who does geocaching in the winter, holding the GPSr in his glove-protected hand, will put the batteries in harms way. Not many people do geocaching when it gets really cold, so only a few here might have seen what happens to Li-Ion and NiMH batteries below -20C. They just turn into useless frozen material, incapable of powering an LED flashlight. So whatever experience someone has with whatever battery in his cellphone or PDA, I prefer to have some spare Lithium-Sulfur batteries in my backpack during those winter-mountain-hikes. Lithium-Sulfur are non-rechargable, long shelf-life, high energy density batteries that retain 50% of their capacity even if discharged at -40C. Jan

When I ordered my Vista-C last week from gpsnow, the diff was about $20. Next thing would be that the Legend-C costs more (but you will later on save the extra money due to the longer battery life). Jan

Do you use the left or the right rear view mirror? Jan

Don't use anything with suction cups in a Jeep with soft top - unless you like replacing stuff. Don't be afraid to drill holes into your dashboard and use torx with hole, 3-blade phillips or things even more exotic. Jan

I just got myself a Motorola SYN0847A for my new Vista-C. No long-distance experience with it yet. The SYN0847A is for sure one of the higher priced ones in this category. It has a self resetting fuse and the spiral cord seems to be made of very durable material. Somewhere I read that it has a pretty good power regulator. Jan

The Vista-C is in the $280 ballpark everywhere now. I got mine last Friday and payed $279. Added the City Select maps and 2nd day delivery so that I had it for the weekend camping trip. The price difference to the Legend-C is so little, that the reason to chose it can only be battery life. And I am not sure yet how much that differs between a Legend-C and a Vista-C with the compass turned off. Jan