ergomaniac

After 7 years of football followed by 30 years of Taekwondo, my knees are fairly well worn. I've tried Glucosamine but it didn't help me (I've had cartilage removed from both knees so maybe I don't have enough left to repair!). I've read that glucosamine definitely builds cartilage in animals but for some reason isn't that effective in humans. It has been suggested that it has an analgesic effect in humans which may explain the relief in swelling and pain (but Advil would do that and it's cheaper). I've found that strength training has really helped and I took up indoor rowing a few years ago and that seemed to make the biggest difference. I think that rowing is ideal for dodgy knees because you get the full range of knee motion without weight bearing (ie. squats are a known killer for cartilage). With rowing, the muscles still get an incredible workout (really helps with endurance) but without the load. I also cycle every day but I find it actually aggravates my knees and I usually stop riding a few weeks before a backpacking trip. Being a gram counter (not ultra-light yet but getting there... that's been the best thing for my knees), I've been a hold out on using trekking poles but this thread (and my nagging hiking buddies) have convinced me I'm just being stupid... my next trip will include poles!

I use Photoshop to convert PDF's to Jpeg format for using in OZI (that works best especially if the PDF map is very large). I've also just taken screen shots of smaller maps (from map viewers on the web where I can't download a file). I use MWSnap for the screen capture (it's free to download) and it lets you save in various formats.

Were you using Lithium batteries? They can cause problems with the CX models and Garmin has removed that battery choice from their latest firmware updates for the CX models. Use lower output batteries or partially discharge the Lithium batteries and see if that helps.

I've become a big fan of Cargo Pants for backpacking and geocaching (zip off legs and a million pockets... can't beat that!). Just make sure they have a good belt when you load up the pockets!!

I pack light so I avoid the luxury items however I do take a small nalgene bottle full of Cointreau with me. I like to add a few shots to my hot chocolate in the evening... it's a good way to "warmup" before hitting the sack!

I've tried various pads over the years and have settled on a Big Agnes insulated air core. It packs small, is relatively light and is "really" comfortable (I can actually "sleep in" which is a new backpacking experience for me!). I've heard they can be cold if you are a four season camper but I'm generally camping above freezing temps so I've not had that problem.

I'm just the opposite... my trail menu doesn't look anything like the menu at home. I find I'm far less picky about what I eat when I have to carry my food on my back! If I'm doing short ultra-light trips I will leave the stove behind and just eat cold food. I've replaced bagels with Wasa bread since they are a fraction of the weight and go well with PB and J. I've found that rehydrating the "Mr. Noodle" types of soups for 20 minutes in cold water and then adding the flavour packet makes quite a palitable cold soup. The noodles are also good in a wrap with jerky. On longer trips I take my stove and I like to have some "Side Kicks" pasta dishes and just add a bit of jerky at the end of the cooking cycle. Some of these pasta dishes only require water (and a bit of margarine but olive oil is a good substitute in warmer weather). Crystal light packets, Country Time Lemonade and Tang are good cold drinks and hot chocolate packs are good when I take my stove. Knorr soup mixes make a good stew base if you only use half the water and add dried veggies and jerky to fill it out. Granola and oatmeal are my staples for breakfast (again, depending on whether I carry a stove or not).

I've used a GPS for many years to get my boat home in the fog and to mark trails while backpacking. I had heard of geocaching but had no interest in it until my son took my GPS out one day to find a cache. He got hooked and now it's a family thing.... I do it because it's something my (grown up) kids will still do with me, so I figure that's a good thing. I probably wouldn't cache if not for the outings with my kids. The forum has been great for me because I'm a "techie" kind of guy and this is a great place to learn about the latest apps and gear in the GPS world.

My son has the Venture CX as well and my backpacking partner uses the Legend CX. Unfortunately, they both have had problems with reception when these units are on the belt clip. I'd like to hear how you make out with the HCx because I actually prefer the size of the etrex models. I went for the 60cx because it definitely hangs on to a signal better than the Legend/Venture CX. If the HCx works as well on the belt clip as my 60cx, I'll probably switch (I like the small size, bright screen and better battery life that you get from the etrex series).

I use a RAM mount that attaches my GPS very securely to my bike, my car and my boat . I only have to change the bottom attachment. The windshield mount is a removable twist suction cup and the boat and bike have permanent (bolt on) attachments.

I haven't seen many comments on this (yet) but there is one concern I would have regarding the HCX's. I wear my 60cx on the belt clip a good percentage of the time when I'm out hiking, fishing or geocaching. My understanding of the patch antennae on the etrex models is that it works best when held with the screen pointing "up". This is opposite to the quad helix antennae on my 60cx which is made to work best sitting upright (I suspect it was designed that way for in car auto-routing). It will be interesting to hear from some of the HCX users as to how these units perform when attached to your belt. I've had my 60cx lose it signal in some deep canyons (while on my belt) so I'm not sure that the HCX will perform as well since it wants to be facing skyward. The places that I walk often require two hands free so holding the GPS in front of me isn't always an option.

The limitation of 500 points is only for "saved" tracks so if you want to maintain the track points (up to 10,000 points) you can rename it to "Active Log" and it will replace your current active log. The problem with the Active Log is that the track will eventually get overwritten with the latest track info. The best option is to use a track editing tool to divide the track into several 500 point pieces and save them as named tracks (easy to do in Mapsource). This allows you to save a track of up to 10000 points (20 saved tracks of 500 points each). Filtering tracks is OK for tracks that don't twist and turn but it really doesn't matter what program you use to filter your data you will still be throwing away valuable track data.

I have the top one as well and it's rock solid. I've even bought an adapter for my Roadmate so that I can use the RAM mount instead of the one that came with it. I've also bought an adapter for my bike and my boat so it's been a really good choice for me.

I just discovered this behaviour recently as well and I think it should be considered a bug (it's dangerous!). My 60cx renamed a waypoint that I had uploaded to use for locating a specfic trail location. When I selected the waypoint by name I got the wrong point... not fun when your standing in the middle of a trail maze! Fortunately, "find nearest" helped me locate the new waypoint name but it was a bit of a surprise non-the-less. I find the "delete by symbol" option handy for clearing out the waypoints on my 60cx. I mark my own waypoints with a different symbol than I use for caches, so I can leave all of my waypoints on the GPS and refresh just the cache waypoints using GSAK. (I also keep a separate database of my own waypoints in GSAK for safe keeping)

Topo Canada is great for caching and when you eventually upgrade to colour (if you are truly hooked it's only a matter of time...) you will be able to load the Topo on any mapping GPS since Topo Canada doesn't require an unlock code. Topo Canada also does autorouting, so it's really handy for finding the best route to drive to the cache... although if you bought the B/W Legend you won't be able to use the autorouting on your GPS but you can use it in Mapsource and transfer the route to your GPS.

If you are looking at the Legend CX you should check out the Venture CX instead. If you plan on adding mapping, the 64 mb card that comes with the Legend will probably end up on a shelf anyway and that's the only difference between the two GPS's (the Venture is the same unit as the Legend but doesn't come with the media card or a USB cable... you have to supply those youself but the price difference allows you to buy a bigger card). I wouldn't go with the Magellan, the Venture is a really good GPS and Mapsource is far superior to Mapsend. We have two Magellan GPS's and Two Garmin's in the family and we are slowly replacing the Magellan's with Garmins. If nothing else, as mentioned by others above, buy a color screen!

The coordinates in your track will be used to calculate the route, not the index numbers. Remember that your GPS does all of it's calculations on a well known coordinate system (mapping grid) and it's a pretty simple algorithm that calculates the shortest route between "A" and "B" using the coordinates in your track.

Remember that there are two tracBack features, one on the main track menu page that deals with the active log. That one may use time stamps (I've not looked at it that closely, I just know that it works). What I've been discussing is the TracBack option that you get when you select a saved track. I edit all of my tracks and upload them to the GPS so none of my saved tracks retain their time stamps (some are created in OZI Explorer). The GPS simply uses the coordinates that are stored for the track, to find a route to your selected destination. If I have walked a trail that is a closed loop and have previously walked a sections of trail that joins into the loop, I just cut the loop where it meets the side trail and join them together. This allows me to save the entire segment as a new track and I can navigate the entire saved track. You could also navigate on the two tracks without joining them but you'd have to create the first TracBack to take you to where the side trail intersects the loop trail and then you'd have to select the side trail (the saved track for that trail) to create a new TracBack to the destination you want to go to on the side trail. I don't like doing this because I find it hard to identify the various saved tracks while they are on the GPS... it's much easier to just make a single new track on "the big screen" in mapsource.

You might also want to check and make sure that you are set to "Bearing Pointer" on your navigation page (on the compass page, select menu and you should see a selection for "Course Pointer" ... if you see "Bearing Pointer" select it, otherwise quit out of the menu.

But aren't you messing up the time sequence among the track points? Drawn tracks don't have a time stamp. How does app know "when" back is? Yes editing (joining) tracks removes all of the timestamps but the GPS doesn't use the timestamp to navigate on a TracBack it uses your current position and the coordinates that make up the track that you have selected. If you are not on the beginning of the track that you are going to navigate, you will get a straight line to the beginning of the track and then the route will follow the track to your destination. This generally isn't a problem when I create a routable track because I always make sure I have a trailhead marked at the start of the route (an actual point from my track log where I will be starting my hike). Then you just select your destination point (again, this must be a point on the track or you will get the straight line thing happening) and the GPS will take you there via the track.

First off, I will say that TracBack is a great feature but I find it really annoying to use on "saved" tracks. It seems it was really designed to get you home using the "active" log, and that TracBack feature works well. I use Mapsource to make a routable track. Here's what you have to do (I have assumed he already has a series of tracks he'd like to turn into a routable track). Bring your tracks into Mapsource and use the track edit tools (cut and join tracks) to create a "single" track that represents the entire route you would like to take. Make sure you "filter" the track before saving it so that you can control the reduction of track points down to the magic number of "500" max pts). Save the track and upload it to your GPS... you can now use the TracBack feature on the GPS by selecting the saved track (and press enter and then select TracBack). This will allow you to navigate the saved track. If you don't want to reduce the track to 500 points you can rename it to "active log" and upload it to the GPS and use the TracBack feature on the "main track page" to navigate the active log (remember though... that the active log points will eventually be overwritten). You "can" navigate multiple track logs with TracBack (without joining the track logs in Mapsource) but you will have to select each saved track in the appropriate order and make sure your destination is on the selected track (you will get a straight line route if you pick a point that's not on the selected track). When you reach the "first" destination you will have to select the next track and create another TracBack route to the next destination (on the selected track)... this is really a pain! It's much easier to prep them first in Mapsource!

I ran Vista Advisor on my old PC before buying a new PC and it informed me that I'd have to re-purchase $1000 worth of my slightly aging (but still very functional) software if I wanted to use Vista. I wiped the drive on the new PC the minute I got it home (to remove Vista) and installed XP and have been running happily ever since. My old Palm One software continues to run well with XP on the new PC.

Did you check to see if the "USB to serial" driver is installed? Check the "ports" under device manager and see if it lists anything other than the standard serial ports (if you have any). You should see a com port that mentions the specific driver (my USB to serial port lists as "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COM5)". If you don't see anything, you will have to re-install the driver. You should also be able to select that port under the setup/local option on your hot sync manager (mine shows up as COM5). As for adding a user, that is under Tools/users in the Palm One Desktop application.

In Mapsource, just right click the track you want to rename and select properties. The name will be highlighted at the top, just change it to Active Log. A word of warning, this will wipe out your current active log on your GPS and the uploaded track will slowly be overwritten with your latest wanderings. You are better off to do as Hiker2008 suggested and reduce the size of the track to 500 points in Mapsource and then load it as a saved track (right click the track, select properties and use the options available under the "Filter" button). You can also just cut your track into multiple pieces with the track editing tool if you don't want to generalize the track with a filter. (ie. a 1500 point track = three 500 pt tracks).

Since I'm in the same time zone as you I know any good advice (lies) I can offer will be to late for you by the time I post this (you said you were going out caching tonight), so the only advice I can give you is to try and hang onto the 60cx in the divorce settlement!