mpilchfamily

Shall I start a topic to protest about that too? MrsB Then i'll start a topic to protest against topics that protest other topics. LOL

It's not about the numbers. Its all about the thrill of the hunt. Problem with the numbers is anyone can log caches even if they haven't found them. There are some who do allot of fake logging to get the higher numbers and it causes all sorts of problems. As mentioned FTFs are not something that is tracked.Its a side game people play so there are no official rules and no way to contest who was first to find. Often COs will credit the FTF on the cache page but thats as far as it goes.

Return it while you can . As i understand it the unit is almost useless without the sit supporting it and supply updates with fresh caches. It is still fine for beguines but sooner or later the caches supplied on it will either be all found or won't exist anymore. To upload Pocket Queries you need to have a premium membership to even perform a PQ search. At that point your pretty much into the sport and its time to get a good hand held unit anyway. A great starter unit would be any of from Garmin's eTrex line. The newest editions to the line are the eTrex 10, 20 and 30. If you go with any other eTrex be sure to get one that hase the H designator in the name. Such as the eTrex Legend H. For one the H means you get a high sesitive GPSr. Meaning you won't have as much touble keeing a good signal when under tree cover as you would with the same model that doesn't have the H. Also on most of the H model you'll have a USB interface to connect the unit to your PC for uploading caches. The none H models use a Serial connection and require an Serial to USB adapter if your PC doesn't have a serial port. Or you can get a cable that has the adapter integrated. You can find allot of the older eTrex models for under $100 used. But if you want to keep it inexpensive and ready for you to move up to a premium membership so you can use paperless caching (having all the cache data on the unit with you)then spend the $120 on the eTrex 10.

If this is a cache you want to have published by Sunday it may not make it through the review proses on time. Especially if there are any issues with the cache that need to be resolved before it can be published.

Close the app and try it again. If you get the same thing then try shutting the phone all the way off and back on again. If that doesn't work then delete the app and reinstall in on the phone.

Welcome to the addiction! If you want to meet up with a local then posting in the appropriate regional forum may help. http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=23

IMHO the problem with the Explorist GC is its inability to have updated maps. From the start i've found it handy to have a decent topo map on my units. Be fore i had a color unit and decent maps i would often find myself on the wrong side of a body of water from a cache. So having a good topo has helped.

Here is that link. http://www.geocaching.com/garmin/freetrial.aspx

When you use the reply button go ahead and enter your comments in rather then making it 2 different posts. FYI to take advantage of paperless caching you will need to get a premium membership. Otherwise the files you download will only contain the name and coords of the cache. Don't worry there is a link you can use after buying your Garmin unit and registering it to get a 30 day free trial membership. I forget the link, it will take some time to dig it up.

You can get a fairly decent point and shoot new for about $20 - $30.

The biggest difference in price between the Dakota 10 and 20 comes down to the Electronic compass. That alone accounts for about $80 of the added price. There is also the SD card reader on the 20 but thats only there to hold additional maps. While having an electronic compass is a nice feature its not a need. All hand held GPSr have a "compass" screen which points you in the direction of the cache and tells you how far you are from that point. But the units that don't have an electronic compass have to wait till you start walking in a direction before it can calculate which direction your heading in and update the pointer. On units with the compass it knows which way the unit is facing. I have a Dakota 10 and love it but it would be nice to have the compass. Though i carry a magnetic compass with me to avoid the hassle of walking in one direction only to find i need to go the opposite way. I purchased my Dakota 10 online. The thing that surprised me was its small size. If that may be an issue then you may want to look at the one of the Garmin Oregon series. The Oregon 450 has very similar specs to the Dakota 20 so that might be a better option. I don't know about you but for me Money is always an option which is why i got the Dakota 10 and not the 20. If the newer eTrex line had been out when i was looking to upgrade i might have gotten the eTrex 20. It too doesn't have the electronic compass but it has some newer features other units don't. Though one of the selling points for me on the Dakota was it's touch screen. I was getting tired of the button interface on my old eTrex Legend H. Not to mention the black and white screen and lack of paperless caching. The main reason why i didn't like the buttons was the cumbersome interface and the added difficulty presented when entering the coords to the next stage of a multi or puzzle cache. But overall i think the eTrex 20 would be another option for you to look at.

All great suggestions. I would love to see them implemented. But on the flip side that kind of in depth searching can be done through tools like GSAK as Totem mentioned.

The Oregon is the better choice IMHO for 2 reasons. For one its a Touch Screen interface and for two it has a much larger screen then the others. The Dakota 20 is basically a smaller version of the Oregon 450. I was kind of surprised by how small my Dakota 10 was when it arrived in the mail. Yes the eTrex 30 has some added features the others don't but i prefer the touch screen over the button interface. I also have an eTrex Legend H and hated entering in coords for multies and puzzles into that unit. The Touch Screen is so much easier to interact with, even if you are wearing heavy gloves since you can use the back of your pen or a stick to navigate the menus. The buttons can be a bit cumbersome.

Didn't a recent update give the official app the ability to figure out what caches haven't been found in a group or is that in an upcoming update?

oops!

Your not limited to Basecamp. You can use EasyGPS and GSAK as well. Then you can mange the files and send them back and forth from the device. Most people like using GSAK. Personally i use EasyGPS since its free. With GSAK there is a nag screen after the free trial period. But in both apps you can pull the gpx file off your unit and edit the content as you see fit then send it back to the unit where it will overwrite the old file. But i don't use the apps that much. Its much easier to run a new PQ, give it the same name as the existing file on the GPSr and brop it into the GPSr like its a thumb drive.

Don't know if it's still on the app store or not. But the free app was very limited and worked very differently from the paid app. So it really wasn't a good preview of what the full app has to offer.

Sounds like allot more trouble then entering the zip code of the location your at on the home page. Unless the browse field had a drop down menu offering the list of home locations to choose from.

Google Translate! Copy and paste it all over. http://translate.google.com/

Yes. As mentioned the touch screen units use Resistance touch screens. So anything can be placed over the screen as long as the screen can still detect the pressure from an object pressing on it. When it comes to the iPhone and other smart phones they use a capacitance touch screen so you have to use the right screen protectors for it otherwise it won't be able to detect the small electrical difference presented by a finger touching the screen.

No you don't need them all enabled and some won't show while others are enabled. The birds eye maps are overlays so they will show over whatever map you have enabled. But the rest are compeating with each other. The one at the top of the list is the one that you are seeing the rest are not showing up since the unit can only display 1 map at a time. So disable everything and look at one map at a time and decide which one you like the most.

What does weather have to do with it? The hand held units with a touch screen interface are just as water resistant as any with a button interface. Rain and moisture are not going to effect the touch screens. If they where capacitive touch screen that may be an issue but they are resistive touch screens.

What kind of response time are you expecting and with what kind of a response? Did you post an NA log that didn't get the response your where looking for? An NA log isn't a call to 911. If there is an urgent problem then a direct message to the reviewer or GS would probably be the best response. If there is an issue that needs next day attention then it big enough that higher authorities need to be involved. A land owner having an issue with a cache being placed on there property isn't one of those situations.

Basically what it comes down to is weather you want touch screen or button interface and weather you want the unit to hold 1000 caches or 2000 caches. Other then those 2 items both units have nearly the same specs. IMHO having a touch screen is much better then the button interface. I've used an eTrex legend and i currently use a Dakota 10. I like the Dakota touch interface allot better especially when i'm having to enter in coords for the next stage of a multi. Or when i want to add notes to my find to make the logging of the cache go easier when i use the Field Notes page. I can live with only holding 1000 caches since a PQ tops out at 1000 caches.

As long as you have permission from the library then yes.