LennyTheLizard

Debsuh, Welcome to geocaching. I live in Perry County, Missouri. There is a small group called SEMOG (Southeast Missouri Geocachers). It's not very large or organized yet, but hopefully it will grow bigger in the near future. So far, there have only been a few group events, but maybe if we can gather more participants, the events will become more frequent. Many of the SEMOG group also cache in Southern Illinois.

I just did a search on Consumer Reports. Their information was mostly based on digital camera use, but could be applicable to GPSr as well. They found that the best battery was dependent on the application (e.g. high draw frequent use (camera, GPSr, etc) requires a different battery than , low draw infrequent use (remote control, smoke detector etc.) These are the important facts that I gathered: 1. The best disposable battery for frequently used electronics is Lithium (Energizer e2) 2. The best battery in general for frequently used electronics is NiMH rechargeables. Unfortunately, they would not pick a particular brand as the best. By comparison for 100 digital pictures: Disposable Alkaline cost = $2.20 Disposable Lithium cost = $1.40 Rechargeable NiMH = $0.015 due to the fact that the NiMH can be recharged 100's of times. Even though one set will not likely last as long as a disposable battery, they recommend keeping several batteries that are always "at the ready".

Go to and you can look at the PDA's there. You will need to get a GPSr module to insert in the PDA, so you want to make sure that the PDA has available GPSr modules. Then you need to get EasyGPS or GSAK along with Cachemate. Search for Mobipocket or Paperless to find more about these programs. I'm not a real expert, but this is my recommendation. I currently use an "all-in-one" solution (Garmin Ique 3600). It is basically a PDA with built in GPS receiver. While it has many useful features, I would recommend two seperate devices. I just ordered a seperate GPSr and am considering which "cheap" PDA to buy. The PDA are not really rugged, not waterproof, and from my experience - short battery life. I just purchased a a Vista HCx to load TOPO maps for geocaching and kayaking, and plan to purchase a cheap PDA ~$20 for my geocache descriptions. This can be left in a pocket, backpack, or drybag, until very near to cache location.

There has been a lot of discussion on this in the past, it really comes down to how much you travel (such as with work) and personal preference. I use the 1 Gb card, but only because they were so much cheaper as compared to the 2 Gb cards, but that has all changed now. Due to being able to buy a 2 Gb card for less than $20 now, I'd go with 2 Gb memory card. Switching between cards is not difficult but why do it if you can keep from it? Personally, I'd load most of the U.S. in CN NT maps and just leave out the states you know you probably won't be going to and pick and choose the U.S. Topo maps for the areas that you think you may visit and do the same for Blue Chart. Be sure to leave some available memory for POI files and also for storing Track Logs to the memory card. I just purchased a Vista HCx (has not arrived yet). I currently use a Garmin PDA/GPS system. I am looking to have something more rugged (take it in my kayak) and longer battery life. I'm interested in the multiple maps info. If I understand this correct, I can use both my City Navigator maps (needed for routing?) and the TOPO maps. Can these be viewed at the same time (overlayed)? If not, how difficult is it to switch from one mapset to the other?

I currently use a Garmin Ique3600 (PDA / GPS) with Cachemate for geocaching. It works pretty good, but the battery life is terrible, not waterproof (no kayak trips), and the occasional lock-ups are starting to drive me a little crazy. I can't see giving up paperless caching, but I'm looking for a new water-proof handheld. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Garmin Vista HCx. I thought I read something about being able to download the cache description, old logs, etc. into the new handhelds. And I believe I even read you can mark them found. Is this true? How difficult is it? Can you enter information about the find for use later, like what your trade items were or travel bug info?

I just wanted to put in my two cents, and that's about all it's worth. Here is how I do it, but I realize that my equipment is different than most. I have a Garmin Ique 3600, which is a Palm OS version PDA (handheld computer) that also has GPS built in. There is only one device. Every week, I get 2 Pocket Queries downloaded from geocaching.com. One of them finds the 250 geocaches closest to my home coordinates that I have not found yet, and the other finds 100 geocaches nearest to my father-in-law's house that I haven't found. We visit there at least twice per month. I use Cachemate for geocaching. The program comes with everything I need. I know some people use GSAK, but I've never had a need for it. I use CMConvert (comes with Cachemate) to load the pocket query cache into my PDA. With one button I can export all the geocache locations in cachemate into my Garmin address books under a "cache" category. Now, while driving around in the car, with the map showing, I can see when I'm near to a geocache, and get driving directions right to it. Then I switch back to the Cachemate program and have a compass style arrow that tells me how to get to the cache, and I can get all the cache descriptions, logs, hints, etc. For finding caches near a certain point, I can just zoom and scroll to the location on the map, and "look around" to see if there are any caches. Or, you can select one cache near the point of interest, and do a Cachemate search for nearest cache. It will give you a list of all the caches around the first cache in order of the closest to the farthest. I imagine using a seperate GPS and pDA would still work similar. I think there is a huge advantage to having a PDA, especially, if you're out and about and weren't planning on caching, you already have all the info on hand. It may take a few hours to learn how to use the programs, but these forums are an excellent source of help. As far as carrying an extra device, don't you have to carry around a sheet of paper for every cache in order to tell you the description or hint on how to find the cache? The PDA can eliminate all the paper!!! Sorry for being so long-winded

I've only hidden a couple caches, and my method is a little crude. I just stand right at the cache and mark a waypoint. Walk away from the cache about 10-15 yards, then walk back to it and mark another point. Walk a different direction each time (5-10 times). Then at home just use a calculator to average all your points. That should get you pretty close.

I'm trying to help my father-in-law get started with paperless caching. I have a Garmin Ique 3600 (Palm OS) and I use Cachemate for all my caching needs. He uses a Garmin Ique M3 (Pocket PC OS), and also has Cachemate but the "other" version. In my version, when the software shows the cache list, I just hit the little Ex button. This downloads all the caches into the Ique's contact list, which in turn displays all the geocaches on the map. Then, while driving around, you can see that a geocache is nearby. He wants to do the same scenario, but I can't figure out how to display all the geocaches on the map. I can figure out how to display 1 geocache on the map at a time but this doesn't help my cause much. By the way, if the right peopel are listening, please update the Palm version of Cachemate with the new features of Pocket PC (Travel Bug inventory, DNF category, Voice notes attached to logs, etc.) And is there a way to export your logs directly from the Ique onto the geocache.com site, without retyping? Sorry for the longwinded question!

Check out a program called CacheMate from Smittyware.com. I use the version for Palm PDAs and I really like it. There's a few quirks but if you search for cachemate on this forum you can solve most of them. I recently installed the pocketPC version for a friend of mine, and it seems to be very similar. Also, you can try it for free (10 caches I think), and if you purchase it is very cheap (I think less than $10).

Riversurfer, I also use an Ique 3600 with Cachemate and Wayque. Wayque is sort of a simplified address book. It allows you to quickly select a group of "addresses" or "caches" where you can delete them all, change all their waypoint marker, turn them on/off on the map, and even route to them. It will also figure out the best route between several waypoints. This is handy when your on a geocaching trip, and you want to find several of them. Wayque will help you calculate the best route. I usually map one of my buttons directly to wayque, because it's much easier and quicker to find the addresses than it is in address book.

Hello, I've been geocaching for around 1 year now. My scenario goes something like this. I usually run 2 pocket queries once per week. I download 200 geocaches centered on my home location, and 100 caches centered on my parents house (we visit often). Each week I use Cachemate to HotSync our Garmin Ique 3600. This is supposed to update all the "exisiting" information with any new information, and I don't lose any of my changes, logs, etc. While out traveling, we will see that we are close to a cache, and then just make a little detour and try to find the cache. Unfortunately, I have been running into a lot of caches that are archived (no longer there). Is there anyway that Cachemate can highlight or delete the archived caches out of the PDA? My guess is that after the caches are archived, they just no longer update. Has anyone else found a cure for this problem? Thanks

I'm not sure this is the right place to ask this question, but it's worth a try. I'm using a Garmin Ique 3600 for geocaching and driving directions. Cachemate works great. Imagine the situation. I'm out driving around, go to cachemate, and find the nearest geocache to my present location. This is very easy. Once I find the cache I want to go to, the Nav function works fine for telling me which direction the cache is and how far away. Wouldn't it be great if you could route to the waypoint (on roads) directly to the cache from within Cachemate. Is this possible? What I usually have to do is load all my cachemate waypoints into the address book. Once I find the nearest cache, I have to open the address book, search for the waypoint, select it, then select route to. Once I am near the waypoint on road, I switch back to cachemate, then select CacheNav to get me to the cache (on foot). Does anyone know a "more appropriate" thread or forum to ask this question? Thanks for any help, oppinions, or ideas.

Alright, I tried the advice you guys gave me and it worked out much better. Thanks!!! I just changed the coordinates of the cache at each stage as LostInTheFog recommended. This works great. I just downloaded GSAK, but haven't tried it out yet.

Maeglin, Thanks for the help and for the application!!! It's a little tedious to jump back and forth from the waypoint I created, to the original Cache page to read descriptions, hints etc. Is there a way that I can take 1 cache file and copy it say 5 times with a different name. e.g. Cache 1 - Stop 1, Cache 1 - Stop2, Cache 1 - Stop 3 etc. So that I could just change the waypoint information each time and then not have to go back to the previous cache page? Also, say I'm leaving out on a cache hunt. I select the cache and map to it. Then the ique tells me how to "drive" to it. When I arrive, is there a way to go directly back to cachemate and the file that I was looking at, so I can Navigate to the same point with CacheNav after I am close enough? or do I have to go back through launcher and re-find the cache everytime? 2. By the way. On my earlier post about finding caches nearest to route. I found that if you have Birdwatch installed you can have an alarm sound if there is a cache within x distance of where you are travelling. Not exactly what I was looking for, but it will work. You have to have the caches exported to your address book for it to work.

Hey everyone, I've been reading up on a lot of posts the past two weeks. I actually have a few questions. I just bought an ique 3600, and have also just found my first couple caches this week. I guess you can say, that I'm going paperless right from the start. 1. During my second hunt, it was a multi-cache, I went right to the first waypoint, no problem (using Cachemate & CacheNav). Then there was a clue to find the next waypoint. My question is what is the easiest way to route to the next waypoint? Can I do it directly in CacheNav or in CacheMate? 2. I am planning a trip for Father's Day this weekend. Is there a way to find Nearest Geocaches to my route? 3. Also, is there any place to download pre-made scripts for Fast Finger? For example, I would like to have seperate menus for route to a place, geocaching, find food, with a menu with several food options, etc. However, I'm not sure I understand how to program all this?