Blue_Stone
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Posts posted by Blue_Stone
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Read this for a comparison of the 60 & 62. (The 78 is basiclly, internally, the same as a 62).
Read Parts I, II, III, & 5.
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As you can with the latest Garmins ... some will load up to 5000 geocaches and 200 gpx files, ample surely?
The problem with having that many all at once on the 62S is that for some of us, the search, filter, and select functions STINK!! Its frustrating to find what you need quickly, and to move around the menus, and sometimes different screens you shouldnt have to. And it takes my Garmin a couple solid minutes to boot up and load them all...and I dont even have anything but the basemap (disabled) and a small map of northwestern PA & western NY on it...I could be wrong, but I can only imagine how long it might take to load up more/bigger maps.
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Not to stray too far off topic, but, Magellan should never have stopped making them. They should have just ironed out a few of the bugs and improved processor speed as it became available.
Best units ever
ABSOLUTELY!!
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That really irritates me. I used to, and now do again, use a MeriCol (Magellan Meridian Color). It has a limit of 200 waypoints, BUT you can have as many files of 200 waypoints each on the card and then load and unload then as you need. 200 is a bit limiting but my next holiday is going to be over 6 weeks 2000 caches just does not cut it either.
Why do the manufacturers assume that you want to load every cache on the card, this really slows booting the unit which is not that quick in the first place.
[/can of worms]
Actually the limit is 500, but you are limited to only having NOTES with only 200 of them. (I'm assuming you have a shorthand of cache info that you put in the waypoint notes?...lol)
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Have you checked to see exactly where in the GPS it saves the file when you "Send to GPS"?
I know on my 62, there is a folder called "Geocaches", and one called "Waypoints".... I think I had a similar problem and ended up sending 2000 geocaches from GSAK to the wrong folder, because they all showed up as waypoints in the GPS. I'm still new to this whole Garmin "thing"
, so this could be just a shot in the dark. -
Have a read (I wish I had before I pulled the trigger on a 62S): http://freegeographytools.com/2011/still-looking-for-a-good-fieldwork-handheld-gps-a-review-of-the-garmin-62s-part-i
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Nevermind.... Figured it out....Have to set up a separate notification, using JUST my phone email.... [
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Awesome, Thanx!
I set my phone up both ways.
I AM wanting to know if there is a way to change which notifications GC sends to my phone, though.
For instance, I have my Primary email set to recieve Publish, Archive, Log, Bookmark, Watchlist notifications....
At the same time, can I set my PHONE email to only receive Publish notifications?
I get a ton of notifications daily on my regular email (that I check on my laptop), which is not a problem....
But if I get all those on my phone, that will EAT up minutes......
Anyone know if this is possible to set up?
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You mean on the scroll bar that pops up when you press either the "Page" or "Quit" buttons?
I would download and install Garmin's Webupdater, and go ahead and do a firmware update. It seems quick and easy enough, and seems a lot safer than updating the firmware on a lot of older units.
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I've only had my 62s for a couple weeks, with maybe 15hrs of use on it total.
Theres a TON of things I dont like about it....and 95% of them are with the user interface.
Here's a good review that I wish I had read BEFORE deciding on the 62, (ESPECIALLY Part 3): http://freegeographytools.com/2011/still-looking-for-a-good-fieldwork-handheld-gps-a-review-of-the-garmin-62s-part-i
One of the major things I dont like off the top of my head, is the Name search function. You can search caches or waypoints by name, but the search is based on "CONTAINS letter", instead of "BEGINS with letter"...
ie if I have 2000 caches on it, and I want to find one that is called Especially SupercalafragilisticExpealodocious, the first letter you would put in is "E", thinking it will narrow down your list immediately to just caches that start with "e"...
WRONG!!...It gives you a list, in no order whatsoever, other than ALL the caches that CONTAIN, the letter "E"....Well, "E" is the most used letter in the alphabet....So you end up basically spelling out at least half if not more of the specific cache your looking for...
I guess I must be in a REAL small minority of people who find the menus and interface illogical, and un-intuitive, and frustrating enough to have already thought about throwing it off a cliff several times already. Just about all the reviews and forum posts I've read, people seem to LOVE the interface, and find it easy to use....Makes me think I'm the only sane one who owns one of these...lol
It may be a great unit as far as form factor, hardware, reception, tons of functions and bells and whistles, but if its SOOO frustrating to use any of it, it's almost a deal killer. I'm still on the fence about selling it and switching to a PN-60, or possibly an Endura. I'm REALLY trying to like my 62, but doing the simplest thing with it, that used to take about 1/2 a second, and only a couple button presses with my old units, much less being able to FIND the correct menu/page, has been frustrating as heck.
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Hmm...Symbol search may be USEABLE for you and your ham transmitters, but NOT very USEABLE when you have a couple thousand geocaches that use at most 4 or 5 unique symbols....AND they did NOT add the symbol search to "Geocaches", ONLY for "Waypoints"....Which I guess makes sense, since you can just use a filter for caches, that will do that.
I'm sorry, but I still think it's idiotic to have a name search by "CONTAINS letter", instead of "BEGINS with letter"......
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Hmmm...Symbol filtering....whooppee......Now how about adding a USEABLE search "By Name" function, where you dont have to practically type the whole name of the cache you're looking for?
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I tried to reply right after you posted, but the site is SLLLLLOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW for me. The maps are REALLY bad....
Anyway, I waited and waited, and finally got to try the CTRL-select, and it worked.
Didnt even think to try that before.And yeah, I find it hard to believe they added hundreds of Countries in the Country list, but NOT the US....
Thanx A-Team!
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I know of people that have over 6 months worth of regular geocaches they have to catch up on.
Amateurs!
I'm almost 2 years behind and I know someone who is over 5 years behind.
We know each other, Lil Devil?....
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OK, I live in the corner of a state, that butts up against another state and another country. I have been doing PQs just using a 100mi radius, which overlaps all three.
Now I want to EXCLUDE the overlap into the other country, and just want my state, and one or two others near me.
How do I do this? I thought I could just select "United States" as country, but its not in the drop down list?.. ???? ...
SO then I thought, however unlikely, MAYBE I could select more than one state in the State drop down list....But it wont even let me select MY state... ??
I know the site has been running REALLLL slow for me today, so I dont know if that has had any effect on me being able to select things in the drop down list...???
I'm sure there HAS to be someone out there living along the Canadian or Mexican borders who knows how to do this...PLEASE HELP!!..
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Oopps...I guess me & nggrfan posted nearly the same time... lol
and he pointed out a step I forgot...You have to unzip the PQ 1st to extract the gpx file. I'm sure your unit wont know what to do with a .zip file...
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Hello all, Can someone tell me what to do to get my successfully created pocket query from my pc to my garmin etrex 10? The instructions on this web site are useless. If there are instructional video sites just send me the link, but I'd rather just have it explained to me like I was a three year old.
Thanks
Well, since no one answered yet, I'll give it a shot.
I have a 62s, so I dont know if this will work for the etrex. I also use GSAK to do all this for me, but I've used this method a couple of times as well:
1) Hook up the GPS to comp, and let the GPS go into Mass Storage Mode.
2) Using Explorer (how you view folders on your computer), go into your GPS folder. (Should show up as a new drive in Explorer, and should have ETREX 10 in the name of it)
3) Go into it and open the Garmin folder, then open the GPX folder.
4) then copy your geocaching GPX file here, and make sure it is named "Geocaches.gpx"
5) You should be done.
By the way, I beleive this works for waypoints also...You would just make sure the file name you copy would be "Waypoints.gpx"...I guess that's how the unit knows whther to load them as geocaches or waypoints.
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IMHO, the Meridians were the last good line put out by Magellan....They went downhill after that. The Color was the top of that line. I have two myself.
I do have to say I find it funny how Magellan users generally seem to have a problem with the Garmin interfaces. I find them "playskool"-ly...Like they made them so idiot proof, that its confusing...lol And Garmin owners say the Magellan interface is NOT intuitive...lol
Anyway, the Meridians are a solid and accurate unit. I find they do however, seem to settle into ground zero a little slower than any newer units, but they WILL eventually get you there. There IS an effect we call the "rubberband effect" though. You'll find that the unit may tell you you have about 200-250ft to go to get to GZ, but then all of a sudden it will change direction, and tell you you have PASSED GZ by 200-250ft. When I am first approaching GZ, I will slow down walking, or even stop for a minute when the unit says I have 250ft to go....This gives it a chance to settle in, and will save you from overshooting GZ.
There is a lot of good info out there about the interface, and the "hidden menus".
As to needing a serial to usb cable to connect it to a computer, you dont really need this, unless you are using the NMEA stream for "live" tracking on a computer.
As far as loading waypoints or maps, all you need is one of the Mapsend software products (for waypoints AND maps), or for just loading waypoints you can use GSAK, or any other program that will export waypoints to Mapsend SD card format. You just pull the SD card, put it in the reader on your computer, load the maps or waypoints, and pop it back in. No cable needed to hook directly to the unit. I've been using Mapsend Topo for maps, and GSAK for waypoints. I havent used my cable for years, and dont miss it. You can even upgrade or re-flash the firmware from SD card, if needed.
It IS possible to use auto-routing for automotive use with the Direct Route software; it works, but remember these are older units and software, and its kind of primitive compared to today's auto-routing.
If your unit ever bricks on you, there is one common hardware cause (battery contacts), easily fixed; or the firmware sometimes chokes and the unit appears dead to the world. There is excellent info out there on how to easily fix this also. just follow the directions to the "Tee". I've been using several Meridian units, including 3 or 4 Greens, a Gold, and 3 Color units, for almost 10 yrs. I've NEVER had one fail that I couldnt fix, (because of the two issues above.) Never had to send one in for service. Also, since these are discontinued models, expect little to NO customer service from Magellan, other than them trying to sell you a newer model.
I hope this helps a little.
Good luck with the unit.
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I read through most of this thread...Good stuff!
I've been grabbing sticks for the past few years, but have only sanded and urethaned two, from the same sapling.
I'm partial to our regional version of ironwood, American hornbeam. Its pretty heavy for a hiking stick, especially the 2" to 3" diameters I like.
Anyway, Not only am I partial to just horbeam, I'm partial to beaver-chewed hornbeam. [
]I usually check along/around beaver dams for sticks. (If I pull from a dam, its ALWAYS an abandoned one). I have found several lying in shallow swamps, from floating just beneath the surface, to being covered by several inches of REALLY powerful septic-smelling muck. Most had the bark long gone, were slimy, and beaver-chewed.
The part that REALLY caught my attention on several was the mottled red & brown colorations in the wood. I assumed its minerals, or bacteria working the tannins in the wood, or inner bark. Unfortunately, the colorations usually fade and disappear within a couple of days.
What REALLY surprised me, though, is even though these sticks have been soaking in water for months or possibly a year or more, they seem to dry and season much quicker and nicer than fresh cut or downed stick I come across, with little to NO cracking!
I was wondering if anyone might know why this is?
So, I have a couple dozen sticks I hope to get creative with.
Below is my first attempt at a couple of these beaver-chewed, swamp-soaked sticks. I made both as a donation last year for the raffle at our 9th annual Letchworth Fall Gathering Event.
Oh, and for a grip, I went with a piece of of deer skin leather from my friend Paleoman52, baseball-stitched with some nylon cord. He also donated use of his Dremel and the arrowhead which he knapped himself. I used a 4 1/2" anglegrinder to make the platforms for the lettering and arrowhead. I also used the edge of it to "notch" the edges of the platforms. (Amazing what nice colorations you can get from a grinding wheel spinning much too fast..lol)
I used the Dremel to carve out the "seat" for the arrowhead and the lettering. I then went over the lettering with a woodburner and then black Sharpie. I used a stain a little on the beaver-chews to bring out the individual teeth marks more. I then used the rubber crutch tips at WallyWorld for the bottoms.
On the bottom of the adult one, you can see one large remaining spot of coloration from when it was soaking in the swamp. That spot still had outer bark VERY loosely attached.
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I know this is an old thread, but I also tried installing Topo 3D on my Win7 machine, by using Properties->Compatibility, etc..
After about 4 failures, I said the heck with it, I'll give it one more try...Only this time I'll select XP SP2 mode (instead of SP3, which I was trying)...
Well, what do you know?... It installed on the 1st try using XP SP2 (vs SP3) mode..
Hopefully this will save someone some time and hair pulling in the future.
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Ok...I guess after thinking about this a little bit, I figured it out.
This will affect those of you who log your Finds as Notes.
When I started caching, I was logging my finds as Finds....Then for one reason or another, I went back and changed all my Find logs to Notes, and started logging all my finds as Notes from that point on.
The Favorites points system is set up so you cannot log a cache with a Found log, delete that log, and relog it trying to get Fave points.
So because I had already once upon a time logged my first caches as Finds, then changed them to Notes, and am now changing them back to Finds, the system is not giving me the Fave points I should get on them.
Oh well... I guess its just best to log your finds truly, right from the beginning, and Dam those people who judge you on your Find count.
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Did you change at least 10 Notes to Finds?
No...Only did 2...Was afraid I might make the situation worse by doing more.
BEFORE doing these two, I was told I needed 10 more finds for another point...AFTER doing these two, it STILL said I needed 10 more finds.
I even tried logging out, closing my browser, logging back in, and re-doing one of the two I tried the first time.
Another thing I should have mentioned, before trying the two caches I mentioned above, I logged several caches as Found under this account, that I had originally logged Notes on under another GC account. I also backdated THOSE logs, and those worked fine towards Fave points.
I'm guessing maybe if you've logged ANY kind of log on a cache already, previous to the implementation of the Favorites update, it doesnt count?
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Hey all,
Over the years, for various reasons, I was logging Finds as Notes instead of Found Logs. With the new Favorites system, I thought it might be time to go back and get my caching history straightened out, and change all my Notes to Found Logs.
I changed a couple from "Note" to "Found", and noticed, it doesnt add toward my Favorites Points. So then I completely deleted the log, and resubmitted a new "Found" log, backdating it with the original found date. But that didnt work either..
I realise there may be restrictions built in to the system to keep people from abusing the Favorites thing, but I assure you I am not trying to do anything nefarious, or to "cheat" the system. I just want to change my logs to show my true caching history, and to get the total Favorites Points I should have, to use on what I think are my true Favorite caches.
Anyone else notice this issue, and is there any way to fix it so I can do this?
Thanx!
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you need to complete the "user lookup" procedure first. enter (at least part of) the username, click GO. then pick the right user from the dropdown list and select "pick user". then you can submit the request.
Hmm... The User Lookup link isnt working for me either. I tried that, but didnt work. Then I put in the user's name manually...Neither works.
I thought it might be Firefox blocking a script, but it didnt work when I tried IE & Opera either.
, so this could be just a shot in the dark.
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Considering replacing old GPSMAP 60CSX with GPSAP 62 or 78 series
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
Read this for a comparison of the 60 & 62. (The 78 is basiclly, internally, the same as a 62).
Read Parts I, II, III, & 5.