mookie

Sorry instep_guy. In Ohio only the criminals carry concealed. Mookie From the other side of the state.

Can looks great. I've got to try it out myself. Thanks for sharing the tip.

Every week or so there's a post "How do I connect my GPS to my laptop?". You need one of these adapters. Ususally they run $25+. ComputerGeeks has this no name adapter for $12.50 + shipping. Can't vouch for this paticular cable but Computer Geeks is a trustworthy vendor with some pretty good deals. I'm on there emailing list and this was one of today's specials. mookie geocacher and bargain hunter *not affiliated with Computer Geeks, just a satisfied customer.

I use this one. but there's plenty of others to choose from. Not sure there's a real difference between them. I went with the cheapest I could find at the time and it works. Search this group for "usb serial" and you'll find similar threads if you need more info. mookie

must test avitar.

The second weekend of my geocaching career I was searching for a cache in a small suburban park. Place can’t be more than a mile and a half square. It has a lot of nice size trees with a lot of underbrush and a few small trails. I followed a trail up to the point where I had to break trail and bushwhack. GPS said I was about 50’ from the cache so I blindly followed it to ground zero. Between my lack of experience and poor gps reception, it took me a half hour of circling the same area until I found the cache. I excitedly signed the logbook and traded trinkets and re-hid the cache. I then started back in the direction I thought the trail was. After walking for several minutes and not finding a trail I knew I had gone the wrong direction. It was mid-morning with a heavy overcast and a light rain falling… Couldn’t tell where the sun was. It was at this point that the panic hit. Heart thumping, mind racing, I took off looking for the trail in the opposite direction. Still can’t find the trail. I look all around me and every direction looked the same. Panic sweeps over me again. I knew the trail was south and my car was west, but with no compass and no sun, I’m lost! After taking a deep breath and sitting down I realize I can walk any direction and hit either a road. Remember, this is a small park. Geez! There’s a 4 lane highway in one direction, a shopping mall another way, and a housing development another. Which ever way I choose I’ll find a road I know in less than 30 minutes! By now I’ve calmed down and I can kind of make out the direction of the sun through the clouds and I head south towards the trail. Less than 5 minutes later I find the trail and follow it back to my car. I feel really silly at this point and am glad that I’m alone. Now I always mark my car as a waypoint and carry a compass. No matter how small the park or how well I know the area. I always thought I had a good sense of direction (don’t we all) but if I had been in the wilderness, I could have been in trouble. Now I understand how people get lost. mookie

The second weekend of my geocaching career I was searching for a cache in a small suburban park. Place can’t be more than a mile and a half square. It has a lot of nice size trees with a lot of underbrush and a few small trails. I followed a trail up to the point where I had to break trail and bushwhack. GPS said I was about 50’ from the cache so I blindly followed it to ground zero. Between my lack of experience and poor gps reception, it took me a half hour of circling the same area until I found the cache. I excitedly signed the logbook and traded trinkets and re-hid the cache. I then started back in the direction I thought the trail was. After walking for several minutes and not finding a trail I knew I had gone the wrong direction. It was mid-morning with a heavy overcast and a light rain falling… Couldn’t tell where the sun was. It was at this point that the panic hit. Heart thumping, mind racing, I took off looking for the trail in the opposite direction. Still can’t find the trail. I look all around me and every direction looked the same. Panic sweeps over me again. I knew the trail was south and my car was west, but with no compass and no sun, I’m lost! After taking a deep breath and sitting down I realize I can walk any direction and hit either a road. Remember, this is a small park. Geez! There’s a 4 lane highway in one direction, a shopping mall another way, and a housing development another. Which ever way I choose I’ll find a road I know in less than 30 minutes! By now I’ve calmed down and I can kind of make out the direction of the sun through the clouds and I head south towards the trail. Less than 5 minutes later I find the trail and follow it back to my car. I feel really silly at this point and am glad that I’m alone. Now I always mark my car as a waypoint and carry a compass. No matter how small the park or how well I know the area. I always thought I had a good sense of direction (don’t we all) but if I had been in the wilderness, I could have been in trouble. Now I understand how people get lost. mookie

Hey Dru Morgan, didn't I see your pic in the newspaper the other day?

Hey Dru Morgan, didn't I see your pic in the newspaper the other day?

"Love it" meaning viewing the pocket queries on my Ipaq 3135(B&W display with 16mb memory). Seems like I've heard a lot of negative comments about MobiPocket but it works for me. Easy to install and easy to view the pocket query of my local caches. Beats the heck out of logging on everytime I go geocaching and printing out hard copies of planned caches. I paid around $130 a year ago for my Ipaq and I take it everytime I go caching. I'd be a little more hesitant about taking one of the new $500+ PDA's into the field. You should be able to find a palm or visor for less than $150, maybe less than $100. I'm not up on the current models so I can't recommend one.

I use this one from Hawking. Plugs into your usb port and creates a new serial port. Works great with my merigold. $22.57 shipped from buy.com

Another vote for a log book only cache. Although I’ve got less than 30 finds, I’ve pretty much given up trading items. Too much junk in caches. I usually bring something along just in case, but I never trade just for the sake of it. So 90% of the time I sign the log book and that’s it. Another benefit is that more people may hide caches if they don’t have the expense (no matter how small) or the effort in gathering the initial items to stock the cache.

I bought mine from buy.com for around $25 shipped 6 months ago. Search there and Amazon.com and you should be able to find one for less than $35. Mine is not a Belkin…some off brand, I’ll find out if you’d like the name. Also search here for numerous other threads for usb to serial and you’ll find lots more info. mookie

I have the same experience with my Meri-Gold. The first few caches I looked for, I excitedly quickened my pace as I neared ground zero. When I got there I would start looking around in vane. As I would re-check my GPS it would undoubtedly show I was now 20-50 feet PAST the cache. I use the 100 ft. alarm now so when it goes off, I slow my pace and walk slowly towards the cache. Or as others suggest, stop altogether when you get within 75-100 feet and let the GPS “catch up”

I have the same experience with my Meri-Gold. The first few caches I looked for, I excitedly quickened my pace as I neared ground zero. When I got there I would start looking around in vane. As I would re-check my GPS it would undoubtedly show I was now 20-50 feet PAST the cache. I use the 100 ft. alarm now so when it goes off, I slow my pace and walk slowly towards the cache. Or as others suggest, stop altogether when you get within 75-100 feet and let the GPS “catch up”

I’ve been using one for about 5 months with my Toshiba Laptop, Meridian Gold, and Easy GPS. Also worked with Expert GPS. Also use it with Delorme TOPO 4.0 I also use it with a radio scanner (police type scanner). The software that interfaces with the scanner is a little balky sometimes and I’ve got to plug everything together, turn on the scanner, and reboot the computer for the scanner to be recognized by the software. But with the GPS I can plug in the adapter while the computer is running and it instantly finds my GPS. Do a search in the forum and should find a couple of lengthy threads on the subject. It seems to get brought up every couple of weeks or so.

quote:Originally posted by travisl:My frownie face logs are, IMHO, some of my most interesting. A smilie means I found the cache. A frownie means I made some effort to go find the cache, but was unsuccessful. A note means I have something to say about the cache, unrelated to my searching for it (or a return visit, so it won't inflate my find count). Cache hider gave bad coordinates, and I couldn't find it? Frownie. Cache buried under three feet of snow? Frownie. Got distracted by a playground on the way to the cache, and then it got dark? Frownie. Visiting a boats-only cache on the chance a boat rental store will be nearby, and it wasn't? Frownie. Deterred by a madman ripping trim off of a car? Frownie. Tried to reach a cache by kite, and the kite broke? Frownie. _I take my family everywhere, but they always find their way back home._ *********************************************** ….but my gps says it’s right here…. and this has to be the correct tree stump, how many tree stumps could possibly be in a forest?…...and I’ve been looking for 10 minutes already and the kids are getting crabby….and I’ve got 15 other caches to hit this afternoon……well I’m logging it as a find! Fictitious Geocacher 872 found 0 not found (a perfect record!!!)

quote:Originally posted by travisl:My frownie face logs are, IMHO, some of my most interesting. A smilie means I found the cache. A frownie means I made some effort to go find the cache, but was unsuccessful. A note means I have something to say about the cache, unrelated to my searching for it (or a return visit, so it won't inflate my find count). Cache hider gave bad coordinates, and I couldn't find it? Frownie. Cache buried under three feet of snow? Frownie. Got distracted by a playground on the way to the cache, and then it got dark? Frownie. Visiting a boats-only cache on the chance a boat rental store will be nearby, and it wasn't? Frownie. Deterred by a madman ripping trim off of a car? Frownie. Tried to reach a cache by kite, and the kite broke? Frownie. _I take my family everywhere, but they always find their way back home._ *********************************************** ….but my gps says it’s right here…. and this has to be the correct tree stump, how many tree stumps could possibly be in a forest?…...and I’ve been looking for 10 minutes already and the kids are getting crabby….and I’ve got 15 other caches to hit this afternoon……well I’m logging it as a find! Fictitious Geocacher 872 found 0 not found (a perfect record!!!)

I think Markwell hit it deadon with his interpertation of Found, Not Found, and Note. I also like travisl comment "And I think people are more likely to read my logs if I ''frownie'' them than if I ''note'' them." When reading the online log of a cache I haven't been to, I always read the "not founds" throughly, usually a lot of good info and an indicator that cache is pretty tough. It is suprising to me how important cache count is to some people and that some folks refuse to break their "found" steak. Of course it's not so hard when you refuse to log a "not found". Oh well, it is an individual's game, so the rules or guidelines can be interpreted differently. Just remind me not to play golf with those folks Par, Again!

I think Markwell hit it deadon with his interpertation of Found, Not Found, and Note. I also like travisl comment "And I think people are more likely to read my logs if I ''frownie'' them than if I ''note'' them." When reading the online log of a cache I haven't been to, I always read the "not founds" throughly, usually a lot of good info and an indicator that cache is pretty tough. It is suprising to me how important cache count is to some people and that some folks refuse to break their "found" steak. Of course it's not so hard when you refuse to log a "not found". Oh well, it is an individual's game, so the rules or guidelines can be interpreted differently. Just remind me not to play golf with those folks Par, Again!

I've got a Toshiba laptop with three USB port and the usb to serial cable works fine. Plugged it in and it was recognized immediately by Win XP. I did need the driver on the supplied CD. After you plug it in, check to see what com port it was assigned. On my laptop, the com port will change based on what usb port I plug into. Some programs only recognize com 1-4 so you may have to try different usb ports. And as st_richardson suggested, try a search, you'll find numerous posts on this topic.

Yes, these adapter cables work for a lot of people. I use one with my meri-gold and Toshiba laptop. Just plug it in to the laptop and you’ve got a serial (com) port. I bought mine from buy.com for $22. There are several brands, most between $20-30. Do a search on this board for “serial and usb” and you’ll find quite a few posts on the subject. mookie

Sounds like a great first cache. I think books and documents in general are a nice find, especially if it pertains to the area. mookie

I've got no problem with toys, my kids love them. But trades need to be fair. I'm amazed to see cache logs that read something like "kids took maglite and wrist compass and left McToy and state quarter. Then they ususally follow that up with something lame like "we'll try to bring better trade items next time". Maybe most of these culprits are new cachers that weren't sure what to expect in the cache. Regardless, use a little common sense and sense of fairness when trading. The majority of these caches are the easy ones located 10 feet off the trail, 5 minutes from the parking lot. The more difficult caches tend to stay well stocked in comparison. I bring my kids (2yrs. and 5yrs) when I can and believe me, it's like Christmas morning when we open the cache container. By the time I get the log signed, the kids have got most of the cache contents in their arms. I then let them choose one item each and I choose the items we leave in trade. Gee, if I left it up to them, we would take the whole darn cache and leave a broken yo-yo. But that's where dad steps in. Yes I've had my kids throw a fit at the cache site because dad forgot the trade stuff and I refused to let them take something. Or maybe the stuff we brought isn't a fair trade for what they want. Guess what, they get over it and they're not too young to start learning about what is right. The thrill of the hunt and find is 95% of the fun for me. Finding something unique in the cache is also cool but seldom happens. The majority of the time when I cache alone, I take nothing and leave nothing. mookie, father of the year candidate

I've got no problem with toys, my kids love them. But trades need to be fair. I'm amazed to see cache logs that read something like "kids took maglite and wrist compass and left McToy and state quarter. Then they ususally follow that up with something lame like "we'll try to bring better trade items next time". Maybe most of these culprits are new cachers that weren't sure what to expect in the cache. Regardless, use a little common sense and sense of fairness when trading. The majority of these caches are the easy ones located 10 feet off the trail, 5 minutes from the parking lot. The more difficult caches tend to stay well stocked in comparison. I bring my kids (2yrs. and 5yrs) when I can and believe me, it's like Christmas morning when we open the cache container. By the time I get the log signed, the kids have got most of the cache contents in their arms. I then let them choose one item each and I choose the items we leave in trade. Gee, if I left it up to them, we would take the whole darn cache and leave a broken yo-yo. But that's where dad steps in. Yes I've had my kids throw a fit at the cache site because dad forgot the trade stuff and I refused to let them take something. Or maybe the stuff we brought isn't a fair trade for what they want. Guess what, they get over it and they're not too young to start learning about what is right. The thrill of the hunt and find is 95% of the fun for me. Finding something unique in the cache is also cool but seldom happens. The majority of the time when I cache alone, I take nothing and leave nothing. mookie, father of the year candidate