ImpalaBob

I guess the obvious questions are: Did you enable WAAS? It is not the default on a 60C .... not sure of the x series. After enabling, did you let it sit in a good location for 30 minutes to load a new almanac with the WAAS data in it? ImpalaBob

NO HINTS FOR YOU! Hey now, don't go postal on me! ImpalaBob

First .... I'm not positive about this. I think the nearest feature of cachemate works off of algorithims referencing the coordinates. We use a Palm and a 60C and have never hooked them together .... but the Treo may be quite different. ImpalaBob

NEVER start any traveler ..... bug or geocoin ..... that will make you upset if it becomes lost or confiscated. I've gotten a nice geocoin as a FTF prize. Those who are new to the game may not know their value. ImpalaBob

2 Palms can cause some interesting hotsync issues if not managed correctly. If you have a SD card writer, or a USB stick that takes insertable SD cards (Iomega makes one) you can create a directory called cachemate on the SD card and place the converted .pdb file in that directory for Cachemates use on the Palm without having to hotsync. ImpalaBob

Look at ..... Groundspeak Forums > Geocaching Adventures > The Hunt / The Unusual Here you will find some interesting cache containers and other cool stuff. ImpalaBob

Simply put .... The 60CS is not designed to give you hints .... other than what can be placed in the 30 character maximum "comment" field. Sure .... it looks like a nice big space for data .... but NOOOOOOO .... Garmin has limited it to 30 characters. Buy a cheap Palm PDA with at least 2 MB of memory on your favorite auction site ..... or maybe a Palm Zire 72 .... get cachemate from Smittyware for $8 and you will be on your way to paperless caching with all the cache information at your fingertips. If you want minimized paper useage .... try wap.geocaching.com for your printouts instead of the regular geocaching web site. ImpalaBob

Most of us cacheaholics want to tell you how an experienced cacher would handle this. As someone who is just starting, you may want to try the cheap and easy route first. Not everyone wants to do a 500 waypoint pocket querey. If this sport/hobby catches on you will want cachemate and possibly GSAK as well. For right now if you are only downloading a few caches for a days hunting, and want more detail to refer to on your PDA while caching. try the wireless access geocaching.com web site and copy the text out to a text file that you can transfer to the PDA. This is the cheap and simple route for the cacher that is only doing a few caches. ImpalaBob "You will be assimilated eventually into a fanatical geocacher!"

Just put a plactic wire tie, or other looping device thru the vent and clip to it using the Garmin belt clip you already have. My wife carries her Garmin 60C on a neck lanyard with a 3 inch diameter key ring on the hook. She attaches the GPS using the Garmin belt clip and it works great. ImpalaBob

It sounds to me that you do not have the units correctly set .... degrees, minutes, seconds / degrees, minutes, decimal minutes. ImpalaBob

When in Autozoom it picks the zoom level based on how far to the next turn. Zooms in when it needs to show you more detail then back out for the long drive. As stated it can be turned off. ImpalaBob

Well ..... The backlight does have a time out feature that turns it off after a set time period of inactivity. I believe there is a setting for the time period. I just tap the power button quickly and it comes back on .... no need to power off and on. The backlight feature is also tied into the clock ..... knowing when dusk is to come alive. Using the external power input while driving at night the unit stays in backlight mode continuously. This is explained fairly well in the manual. ImpalaBob

Become a Premium Member and you can use pocket queries in gpx format. Cachemate from smittyware.com for $8 will convert the gpx file to a database for use on the Palm.

GPX files are an output option for Premium Members doing pocket queries. GPX files contain a lot more information than LOC files. This additional information is used in GSAK and Cachemate utility programs. ImpalaBob

Hold the flashlight up at the side of your head so the fire tacks reflect back to your eyes. Every night cache I have done has been on good trails until the final. Your best bet is to go out with some experienced night cachers to learn the routine. Always mark the parking spot .... it might be a lot shorter walk out then the way you came in. ImpalaBob

Koikeeper and I just did a run of Nano caches. I must have added strips to 20% of them because the cache owners were told the logs were full but did not replace them in over 2 weeks. On one the thin strip was wet, falling apart, and unsignable .... and unreadable also ..... and I had no replacement strip with me ..... and YES we logged it as found. In principle .... maybe we were wrong ..... but if you can not maintain your cache within a reasonable time after being told it needs maintenance .... that's not my fault. I found it, I held it in my hand, I'm logging it! I carry replacement log sheets with me for just this reason .... but ran out due to poor owner maintenance. ImpalaBob

Koikeeper and I own 2 Garmin Map 60C units with City Select N/A mapping software and are very happy with them. We like the shape and feel of the 60 series over the 76 series. ImpalaBob

On our Tungsten E .... we store pictures, MP3s, take notes at the cache site as to where the hide was found, log it as found so the notes can be hotsynced out. We always update PQs and PDA right before a big caching day so we avoid going to a disabled cache. Read it well so you get in parking coordinates when needed. Reading past logs is helpful when we can not find it .... as well as hints. ImpalaBob

Good luck with the Duracell Rechargeables! I use Powerex 2500s and they claim they average 2570 to 2600. ImpalaBob

It only effects routing when you zoom in real close .... looks like I'm off roading once in a while. ImpalaBob

Sbell111 ... No problem.....(are those silver oak clusters Lt Col.?) You guys are saturated with caches around Nashville ..... way more than Allentown, PA. Were planning a caching vacation there to boost our numbers and visit family. No perfect answers or way out of this situation. ImpalaBob

We have 2 60C units and the latest non-beta firmware. We use City Select 6.0 and autoroute all the time switching from follow road to off road with no map freeze ups. I have the unit prompt for follow road/off road and prompt for shortest distance/fastest time. I did experience some non-tracking off road until I disabled the "lock on road" feature. I would suggest you disable "lock on road" and see if it makes a difference. Secret Start-up Codes can be found here to do a unit reset .... which also might be needed. You will loose settings and waypoints .... so save them off prior to resetting. ImpalaBob

I wish my friend and fellow cacher good luck as he sorts through this unfortunate event. He is very well loved by our caching community. We all look forward to his hides. Some of the above comments are way out of line .... I'd attribute that to a healthy sense of worry or fear. I can not fault the PenDot worker for doing his job .... Reporting suspicious activity. Advising LEO in a large city would be a daunting task. Proper labeling of container with contact information might have difussed the situation early before the Bomb Squad got involved. You just have to see the advantages of a see-into container. He did no more or less than most of us do .... it just turned out bad this time. Every one of us takes a risk when we open a closed container .... and to those of us who have gone through military booby-trap training we know all to well how easily death can be disguised. I hope every one stays calm and works together to resolve an unfortunate turn of events. ImpalaBob

This is a "pinned" link on the topic.. If this is not helpful, try and post in the Geographic Groups by Region/State section (in the area of your proposed route) and ask for some assistance. ImpalaBob

Here is one for York County which may be even closer to you. ImpalaBob