RangerRick

Hello Tres, I use 2 SP III's daily and have not had any lockups. If the above hints don't help you, Garmin has just released a new firmware update for the Streetpilot III. It is version 2.32 What do you have to lose? You can download it from their web site. Good Luck

I was thinking of setting a cache out that would contain only homemade items. No bombs or food items but things that may interest other geocachers. For example, one of my hobbies is woodworking and I make a lot of novelty items like fancy bowls, goblets, vases, writing pens, etc. Some of my items have Mother Of Pearl inlay. They are unique for sure and I thought I might enjoy finding things like these in some cache boxes. Maybe someone else makes necklaces, decals, bracelets, or puzzles. What do you think fellow geocachers

Hello LittleRed and welcome to geocaching. Our forum could probably help you more if we knew what your needs are. If you want an excellent unit for geocaching and mapping which will give you turn by turn directions with street names, etc, go for the Garmin GPS V. About $360.00 now on Ebay. On the other end of the scale, a simple yellow Etrex will only set you back about $110. at Walmart but it does not do much more than point you in the right direction. A lot depends on what you will expect to do with the unit and how much you are willing to pay for one. Good Luck

I bring almost everthing listed above plus an extra GPSr if I am going solo (just in case). Also, I always bring my walking stick. It helps when I hike in rough terrain and it is great for knocking ticks off branches. I sprayed about a 1 foot section of it with bright orange paint so I can find it easier when I place it down in the woods. My cell phone is a must and I also bring some granola bars and a mylar blanket. [This message was edited by Ranger Rick on May 11, 2002 at 05:06 AM.] [This message was edited by Ranger Rick on May 11, 2002 at 05:08 AM.]

GPS update for GPS V, version 2.03 is on the Garmin site now.

GPS update for GPS V, version 2.03 is on the Garmin site now.

Here in central Connecticut it is very rare not to have cell phone service.

If you don't know where you are going, you are lost!

quote:Originally posted by unclerojelio: quote:For the record, I also have 2 Streetpilot III's. Not rich, I just don't like getting lost. LOL If you don't know where you are going, you can never get lost. - Herb Cohen ... Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, ... http://www.arlut.utexas.edu/~banks/geocache.html If you don't know where you are going, you are lost!

quote:Originally posted by unclerojelio: quote:For the record, I also have 2 Streetpilot III's. Not rich, I just don't like getting lost. LOL If you don't know where you are going, you can never get lost. - Herb Cohen ... Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, ... http://www.arlut.utexas.edu/~banks/geocache.html If you don't know where you are going, you are lost!

quote:Originally posted by sbell111: Two GPSVs, you must be rich! For the record, I also have 2 Streetpilot III's. Not rich, I just don't like getting lost. LOL

Should be able to get the Garmin GPS V for about $385.00 US currency.

Hello visuvius and welcome. I have two of the GPS V's and I think they are about the best unit out there for geocaching. Let's make sure your settings are correct first. With your navigation screen visible on your unit, press "menu" once. Highlight "Setup Map" and press enter. Highlight "Map". Set the orientation to "Track Up"., Auto zoom on, and Lock on Road Off. Then press the quit button once and press the menu button twice and highlight "Setup" and press enter. Under the System tab, for the System mode, select "Normal". Under the Guidance tab, set Off-Route Recalculation to "automatic". Under the Routing tab, set Route Preference to "Off Road", and "Ask My Preference" to Yes. Under the Units tab, set "Distance and Speed" to Statute, and the Heading to True. the next tab is very important. Under the "Location" tab, set the Location Format to hddd°mm.mmm' and the Map Datum to WGS 84. Then under the Interface tab,set the "Format" to Garmin. Last, go to the GPS satellite screen and press the "Menu" button once. Make sure the second line down in the pop-up window says, "North Up". When north up is showing on this screen, your unit is set for "Track Up" which will keep the direction you are walking to the top of your navigation screen. Hope this helps and if I can be of any other assistance, you can send me an email. Good luck, Ranger Rick

quote:Originally posted by Team Squad51: WGS84 perchance? Thanks for the correction Team Squad. My mind was thinking one thing and my fingers were typing something else. Halldorr, the datum is WGS84 not WGS18.

quote:Originally posted by Team Squad51: WGS84 perchance? Thanks for the correction Team Squad. My mind was thinking one thing and my fingers were typing something else. Halldorr, the datum is WGS84 not WGS18.

Is it easy enough to remove the batteries for traveling?

Hello Halldorr, First, make sure your unit is set for the correct datum (wgs84). Second, always mark your car location when you exit it to find the cache. Third check yourself for ticks after the cache, head to toe. Fourth, bring extra batteries, water, a cell phone, and let someone know where you are going. Last, have fun. These are just some of the basics but I think they might help a beginner. P.S: What unit did you finally end up buying? Just curious. [This message was edited by Ranger Rick on April 19, 2002 at 01:14 PM.]

quote:Originally posted by halldorr: Helps if I add the URL http://www.radioshack.ca/eStore/category.aspx?language=en-CA&pagenum=1&category=GPS&catalog=RadioShack Hello Halldorr and welcome to geocaching. The url prices you show are very escalated. If you have that kind of money to spend, why don't you go for the Garmin GPS V for $385.00 from Black Wolf Enterprises? You won't be disappointed with that unit. I noticed you had the Streetpilot III as one of the choices. The Streetpilot III is excellent for driving directions because you can get to where you want to go just by listening to it, but it is too big and too heavy for geocaching. I have 2 of each of these units and I do use the GPS V for geocaching. Love it! By the way, I bought my Streetpilot III's on Ebay for about $640.00 each, but I was very patient to get those deals. My 2 cents

My Garmin Streetpilot III can page down the way you describe but my GPS V does not. That would lead me to believe that it is a software issue. Seeing Garmin knows how to make it work that way, maybe the next software update will fix it.

quote:Originally posted by The KGB: Why bother with formulas when you can just estimate? http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/avatar/46113_400.jpg _The KGB_ http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.asp?A=46113 Hello KGB, To answer your question, You need to know the formula to be able to estimate with any amount of precision. For example, if you needed to know how much vinyl sheeting you would to cover a 200' diameter skating rink you were building in your back yard. We will say that it costs 1 dollar per square foot so you don't want to buy any extra. Just guess how many sqare feet you would order.(That is, guess without using any formula) Pretty tough to do. Now, with the formula .8 x 40000, at least you can get a rough idea that it is 32,000 sq. ft. of material you need. Hope this helps

quote:Originally posted by The KGB: Why bother with formulas when you can just estimate? http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/avatar/46113_400.jpg _The KGB_ http://www.geocaching.com/profile/default.asp?A=46113 Hello KGB, To answer your question, You need to know the formula to be able to estimate with any amount of precision. For example, if you needed to know how much vinyl sheeting you would to cover a 200' diameter skating rink you were building in your back yard. We will say that it costs 1 dollar per square foot so you don't want to buy any extra. Just guess how many sqare feet you would order.(That is, guess without using any formula) Pretty tough to do. Now, with the formula .8 x 40000, at least you can get a rough idea that it is 32,000 sq. ft. of material you need. Hope this helps

quote:Originally posted by Jamie Z: RR, Although your formula is not incorrect, it's just an unsual form to state it in. I think we're all used to seeing the formula as (pi)®^2. Markwell, I'm sure you can figure it out, but I was curious about it myself, and the derivation of RR's formula is like this: (pi) * ®^2 = (pi) * (1/2 D)^2 = (pi) * 1/4 * (D)^2 = (3.1415...) * 1/4 * (D)^2 = (0.7854) * (D)^2 ... and I suppose you have more than 1000 posts if you want to get technical. Anyway, I'd prefer to have pi memorized than both pi _and_ 1/4 pi. Jamie Hello Jamie and thanks for your input. You saved me a lot typing when you explained the math involved in this formula. In my business, I am calculating areas constantly. Just to get me in the ball park and to easily calulate the area of a circle in my head, I round the .7854 to 8. Using this rounded off shortcut, the area of a 10 foot circle would be .8 x 10^2 or (.8 x 100 =80 sq. ft.) Just for estimating, I find this formula easier than trying to do the (pi x radius squared) in my head. But if I posted the .8 formula, I would be ridiculed right out of the forum. Thanks again Jamie. Also, a thanks to Markwell, I learned a lot from his posts als [This message was edited by Ranger Rick on April 19, 2002 at 01:28 PM.]

quote:Originally posted by Jamie Z: RR, Although your formula is not incorrect, it's just an unsual form to state it in. I think we're all used to seeing the formula as (pi)®^2. Markwell, I'm sure you can figure it out, but I was curious about it myself, and the derivation of RR's formula is like this: (pi) * ®^2 = (pi) * (1/2 D)^2 = (pi) * 1/4 * (D)^2 = (3.1415...) * 1/4 * (D)^2 = (0.7854) * (D)^2 ... and I suppose you have more than 1000 posts if you want to get technical. Anyway, I'd prefer to have pi memorized than both pi _and_ 1/4 pi. Jamie Hello Jamie and thanks for your input. You saved me a lot typing when you explained the math involved in this formula. In my business, I am calculating areas constantly. Just to get me in the ball park and to easily calulate the area of a circle in my head, I round the .7854 to 8. Using this rounded off shortcut, the area of a 10 foot circle would be .8 x 10^2 or (.8 x 100 =80 sq. ft.) Just for estimating, I find this formula easier than trying to do the (pi x radius squared) in my head. But if I posted the .8 formula, I would be ridiculed right out of the forum. Thanks again Jamie. Also, a thanks to Markwell, I learned a lot from his posts als [This message was edited by Ranger Rick on April 19, 2002 at 01:28 PM.]

quote:Originally posted by Markwell: Dagnabit. Fixed. But your formula is incorrect in your post. Markwell http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/marklent60544/myhomepage/Geocaching/markwellcachemain.htm Markwell, I have an engineering degree and I don't believe my formula for the area of a circle is incorrect. You can let me know what you think the formula is and I'll let you know where you are going wrong or you can email me if you would like to keep the lesson private

quote:Originally posted by Markwell: Dagnabit. Fixed. But your formula is incorrect in your post. Markwell http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/marklent60544/myhomepage/Geocaching/markwellcachemain.htm Markwell, I have an engineering degree and I don't believe my formula for the area of a circle is incorrect. You can let me know what you think the formula is and I'll let you know where you are going wrong or you can email me if you would like to keep the lesson private