ergomaniac

You might also want to look into using the custom icons that match the symbols used on the cache pages. GSAK will allow you to configure your icon setup so that you get multi's, traditionals, mystery etc. with the corresponding symbols. You can even have a symbol with a green check mark to indicate a found cache and another with a red X on the cache symbol to indicate a cache that is currently unavailable. It takes a bit of configuring but once you get it setup, it just works! You can do this with waypoints or POI's, just search this forum, there have been some really good instructions given for setting this up. It's really an advantage being able to see the type of cache at a glance rather than just a gold chest. As for the found caches, there is a special pocket query that you can run once a week that will give you your found caches. I run this query and load it into GSAK to keep my "founds" up to date. Some "founds" will not show up in standard queries if they have been archived after you have found them, so this is an easy way to get an up to date list. You can manually set your finds in GSAK but that seems like work to me!

That cable is the expensive way to go... all you need is your GPS and PDA cables and a null modem connector (like this http://www.mobileplanet.com/p.aspx?i=121390 ) to join the cables. I picked up my connector for $4. I don't know if GPX Spinner and Plucker would allow you to transfer waypoints from your PDA to your GPS, I've never used them. Cachemate is cheap and works well with the Palm IIIxe. The advantage is that you can load cache coordinates and info onto your PDA for thousands of caches and can download waypoints from your PDA to the GPS. My old yellow Etrex only held 500 points which was a problem when I travelled around out of my local area. With Cachemate I can load up cache info from several areas and carry them with me and bulk load the GPS as needed. Saves a lot of time compared to keying coords for individual caches.

I can connect my Map60cx, Sportrak Color and Sportrak Map to my Palm IIIxe and transfer coords via a serial connection. I bought the IIIxe (cheap) off of ebay specifically because it has the old serial connection and use it exclusively for caching. The only thing required other than the serial cables is a null modem connector to connect the two serial cables (same idea as a cross-over cable between two PC's). I'm sure there are others that could explain the technical reason why USB won't work but from what I've read it sounds like USB on the PDA's can't support the two way conversation that is required by Cachemate to upload and download coords. I have to agree with BaldEd, that now that Garmin has worked out most of the problems with loading caches as POI's, I've used the PDA transfer alot less. I still use it with the Magellan's and I also like using the Cachemate search function with coords it's grabbed from the GPS... not really necessary but saves typing and is just plain cool! I am actually finding that the "POI Clutter" on the GPS screen is starting to annoy me and I'm now going back to good old waypoint loads on my 60cx. I still carry 2400+ caches as POI's but generally leave them turned "off" and use the 1000 caches that I've loaded as standard waypoints... maybe a topic for another forum thread sometime.

You didn't mention what software you are using to store coords in your Palm. I use Cachemate and can transfer coords to my Garmin and Magellan GPS's but I don't believe there is a Cachemate plugin for Lowrance. You also have to use a serial connection to communicate between the Palm and GPS. USB doesn't support this kind of communication. I don't know anything about the Lowrance you mentioned but if it uses USB you may be out of luck.

I would expect this to be the case with the 60cs and the 60csx because they both have the quad helix antennae which I believe, has a better ability to pick up signals that are lower on the horizon (which is not necessarily a good thing if you want accuracy). My original observation was regarding the different accuracy that ericlink reported between the Legend cx and the 60 cx. The Legend cx has a patch antennae that looks directly overhead and presumably would get less signal bounce than the super sensitive Quad Helix/SIRF combination. I've noticed that under moderate tree cover, the Venture cx (patch antennae) will often have a better accuracy reading than my 60cx. It does however, struggle to maintain it's lock under heavy tree cover. There is certainly no question that the SIRF receiver will behave much better under a thick canopy or in city canyons... that's why we paid the big bucks for them! (I also agree that when caching it's a keen (trained) eye that scores the most caches not the GPS accuracy!)

Perhaps the cache was placed with a 60cx, which doesn't mean it's more accurate, it's just taking you back to where the 60cx determines the coords to be. I have a 60cx and my son has a venture cx (identical GPS to the Legend) and on some caches he is closer and others I am closer. Some older caches were placed with GPS's that were really bad at holding a signal under tree cover. The drift on the older units would be significant so neither of your GPS's will read the location accurately. The best way to test them is to find a known survey monument where you have a clear sky view and see how they do. I've done this several times with our GPS's and they are both amazingly accurate. I've actually observed that the sensitivity of the SIRF chip (combined with the quad helix antennae) can add a bit of error when I'm under heavy tree cover. My theory is that the unit is able to pick up really poor signals from under the canopy and unfortunately, uses these signals as part of the calculation. I've found that the Venture (with the patch antennae) is often more accurate under these circumstance (if it can get a signal that is...) because it is looking almost straight up and doesn't pick up the weaker signals. I'd be interested in hearing if other "SIRF" users have observered this behaviour or is it just my imagination?

I use GSAK but I've been looking at Geobuddy software as well. It looks like a nicely integrated package but seems to be specifically designed to use the USGS mapping which is a bit of a draw-back for those of us in Canada... For USA users it sounds really good. http://www.geobuddy.com/ If any U.S. cachers are using Geobuddy, maybe they can pass on some comments.

One of my sons uses the Sportrak Color and the other uses the Venture CX. My sons are quite competitive when they are Geocaching together but I think the GPS performance would have to be called a draw. Both hold a signal reasonably well under heavy tree cover however, the Sportrak definitely suffers from the Magellan slingshot affect (sends you past the cache and then corrects). I like many of the features on the Sportrak (the electronic (3 axis) compass is hard to beat) but I prefer the Venture's color screen and data card. If you have to re-invest in the mapping software to go with the Venture I would think it would be a pricey upgrade. If budget is a concern and if the Sportrak is pretty well meeting your needs, I'd be inclined to keep it until it breaks or until you have the $$ to move up to one of Garmin's SIRF models.

I agree that the 20 track limit is really annoying! I've not created track "maps" yet because like you, I don't want to have to reload all of my mapping every time I update my track files. I had hoped that Garmin would figure out how to store the tracks to the card (and allow us to use them...) but I've given up hope. I suspect I will be creating track maps in the near future. One thing that I do occassionally is join unrelated tracks together with a straight line so that multiple tracks are turned into a single track (using the Mapsource editing tools). It can get messy on your GPS screen if you don't plan it out well but if you are careful it works and you can get many more tracks into the GPS. As for "why so many tracks?"... When I hike in a new area I will load all of the tracks that I have already "walked" in the area I am heading into and I will also digitize a trail network in Ozi Explorer of all of the tracks that I "haven't walked yet (if I can find a good trail map). When you digitize the tracks in Ozi, the number of tracks can add up pretty quickly! When I'm using the tracks (in the GPS), I color the Ozi tracks differently than the ones that I've actually walked so that I can easily know which tracks are "real" and which ones are digitized.

You didn't mention which Legend you own... I own a 60cx and my son owns a Venture cx (identical to the Legend cx in a different color) and we've compared them in many situations. The 60cx certainly acquires a signal faster and is more reliable under heavy tree cover (I can hold a signal while it's on my belt clip). The Venture cx has been really good as well but you definitely have to keep it pointed skyward to maintain a signal and under very heavy (and wet) forest cover it will struggle a bit. If you are currently using the old blue Legend, you will see a dramatic improvement if you purchased either of these CX units. I use my 60cx for backpacking so the GPS's ability to hold a signal is the most important thing to me. If I just used my GPS for Geocaching or auto-routing the Legend CX would probably have been my choice (I like the small size and the price of the Venture CX is hard to beat!).

I have a 60cx and an older Palm that "can" communicate with each other via Cachemate and a serial connection. While I think it's cool to be able to transfer cache coords to the GPS, I've actually never used the feature in the field! The same GPX file that I load on my Palm (2200+ caches) will also load as POI's on my GPS so I'm not sure why I would ever need to transfer cache locations from the PDA? I do occasionally upload my current position to the PDA (I'm too lazy to type and also just like to do it because I can...) but if this is the only functionality that you really need, I would suggest buying a old serial Palm off of ebay for $10 rather than buy pricey BT technology.

I have the 60cx and my son has the venture cx and we have compared tracks many times. The 60cx definitely puts down more track points over the same distance and we have attributed that to the Sirf receiver... but that is only a guess. The settings are set exactly the same on the track config page. My son has now set his track setting (on the Venture cx) to put down a point for a given distance rather than "auto" because he thought auto gave too sparse of a track. The 60cx seems to put down a pretty good track while set on auto so I have left mine on that setting. I don't worry about the active log "percentage full" because I log my tracks to the card and you can load an unlimited number of track points to the GPX file on the card (as long as you leave room on your card).

The "Moral High-Ground" is a slippery slope... Any of you stone tossers ever "borrow" software? Is all of your music legal? Have you ever photo copied a book without the author's permission? My most recent Microsoft software came with a faulty CD... I contacted Microsoft and they expedited a new CD to me. To my surprise, they included a new license key with the CD... is it mine to sell? Microsoft obviously knew what they were doing when they sent it out. Will I sell it? No not my thing... however, if I buy a second PC I suspect I will install it and I'm sure I'll still be able to sleep at night.

Four handhelds (one for each member of the family) and a Roadmate for the car... I like the voice prompt and larger screen in the car.

That's why we carry a hardcopy map and a compass as well as a GPS when we go trekking... I had the same email problem with Garmin support (no response). They eventually sent me a new (refurbished?) 60cx which has been great. I only had two weeks left on my warranty so the breakdown was well timed. No complaints about the service once contact was made.

Garmin recommends both brands: http://www.garmin.com/support/faqs/faq.jsp...age=Mainwebpage

I've had the same problem with the zipped files... I only request GPX now and have never had the problem with GPX. I'm not sure why the zipped files occasionally get filtered but it's good to hear that it's not just me.

If the question was how do you transfer waypoints from your TX to your Legend via USB, the short answer is you can't. This isn't supported with USB but it is supported with a serial connection on older PDA's (I can do it with my old Palm IIIxe).

Oddly enough they've added the text display for POI's to the User Waypoints setup... Works great! Mapsetup--> Text --> User Waypoints = None Setting them to "small" looks good for mine but nice to be able to shut them off as well.

I think you have probably got your navigation page set to the "course pointer" instead of bearing. Go to the navigation page (the compass) and select menu and then select "bearing pointer". The course pointer is for on water navigation.

Download POI Loader from Garmin's site. That's the only way you will get thousands of caches on your GPS. Search this forum for instructions on how to load POI's onto your GPS. Lots of good explanations of how to load the POIs with different icons, a large note field and custom names. I have over 2000 caches loaded on my GPSMap60cx and have used scaled down icons to represent the various cache types (GSAK is required to locate the cache types and prep the names and notes). I scale down the various cache icons because the POI icons can't be made transparent and tend to obliterate a bit more detail than the traditional waypoints do. Unfortunately, the POI's are similar to the waypoints... they are either on or off (you pick the display scale) so other than creating smaller icons, I don't believe you can eliminate the clutter. One annoying "feature" with the POIs is that they won't display past a certain scale (800 ft. I believe), so the clutter might not be an issue if you zoom out far enough.

From the horse's mouth... http://www.garmin.com/support/faqs/faq.jsp...age=Mainwebpage

Lots of past discussions about paperless caching on this forum... The quick answer is GSAK... the rest of the formula is a subscription (premium membership) to Geocaching.com so that you can create pocket queries. Import the pocket queries into GSAK and export to a format that you can upload to your PDA.

Do you have Palm Hotsync Manager running on your task bar? I've had a similar problem and shutting down Hotsync Manager resolved it for me.

I'd give G7ToWin a try. It can export routes to Mapsource format and is pretty straight forward. I have used it with a Magellan Sportrak Map so I assume it will read your Magellan routes directly from your GPS and the conversion will be easy from there. You can download G7ToWin from: http://www.gpsinformation.org/ronh/