mpilchfamily

IMHO it comes down to the UI. Do you want buttons or a touch screen. On top of that the Montana holds more caches and is the newer unit so i would go with it.

I can't find anything that directly says the unit is a paperless unit but it does say it directly accepts gpx files. As a premium Member you have access to Pocket Queries. PQs allow you to do a fairly detailed search for caches and download a list of up to 1000 caches to your PC in a .gpx file. Which can then be dragged and dropped into the appropriate folder on your GPSr. Just plug your GPSr into your PC and open it like its an external drive. I don't know the file structure of the Lowrance units so i don't know what the correct folder will be called. On other brands its either labled GPX or Geocaching. So have a look at PQs. http://www.geocaching.com/pocket/default.aspx

Careful about relying on the notes section of the cache page. There have been issues where the notes are lost and people's hard work in solving a puzzle has been lost. Personally i keep track of my puzzle caches in a .gpx file through GSAK.

Try using Field notes. http://www.geocaching.com/my/fieldnotes.aspx All the caches you mark found will be available. All you have to do is finalize your log. Any notes you make about your find on the unit will be available as well.

You should contact Garmin about this. Sounds like the memory that holds the firmware may have been corrupted. There may not be a way to recover it. I'm sure Garmin will offer to fix it, or rather trade that one out for a refurbished one.

Don't load them as a POI. Just drop your .gpx files into the GPX folder on the unit just like you do with your other units. If the caches only show on the screen as a black dot then check for an update. They should show up as the geocaching treasure boxes.

The price will vary widely based on the design you use, if its going to be a GC trackable coin, number of colors and the finish. Which is why they need an image to give you a quote. If you do want them to be trackable it has to go through an approval proses with GC before the manufacture can start production. So it would be a good idea to figure out what you want made then go out looking for price quotes. BTW i have never had any coins made. I'm going off what i've read in the forums and else ware.

He's looking for options to get his old PDA going on the 64-bit OS for paperless caching or another paperless caching option. Depending on which palm the OP has there may not be an SD card slot. So he may have to go with another PDA that has an SD slot, buy a new GPSr with paperless caching or get an iPod Touch. Your best option would be to spend about $120 on the eTrex 10 so you have paperless caching. Its much like that 210 but has paperless caching.

Have you tried clearing out the geocaches and waypoints and loading a fresh set in? It could be a corrupted .GPX file causing the problem.

The GC isn't my first choice. Thats why i like a good unit with a touch screen. Easier to enter in information manually. Besides the GC can't hold additional maps and there are issues with the communicator software.

So you found a TB in a cache but it wasn't logged into the cache. No problem. Take the TB and log that you grabbed it from the last person who had it. Then log a note on the cache page for the cache you found it at and have the TB visit the cache. Not the TB has been logged at the cache you found it at and it's journey can continue.

I could be wrong but isn't GSAK uploading the caches to the same file name on the unit. So the old file gets overwritten by the new one. SO make sure when you are messing with the listings in GSAK you have all the cache you want in the file your about to transfer not just the new ones. Though there may be a setting to save the file under a different name.

He can add maps to the device if he wants but maps and waypoints are downloaded separately. Also the unit isn't capable of giving turn by turn. Some units give turn by turn driving directions but once you park and start actually looking for the cache there are no turn by turn directions. He will however have a compass pointing him in the direction of the cache and a distance to the cache on the compass screen. Assuming the serial to USB adapter is compatible with win7 he should be ready to install the Garmin communicator software. Which will allow him to use the send to GPS button on the cache page to download the cache coords to his unit.

Like any GPSr that supports paperless caching the unit isn't able to delete individual caches since it doesn't have a way of managing the .gpx file the caches are in. Maybe later down the road they will start putting in faster hardware to allow for manipulation of the .gpx files within the unit but for now its cost prohibitive. Also its not really necessary since marking the cache found takes it out of your way. Like wise if a cache has been found why would one need to pull it up again. At least thats the viewpoint of the programmers. Sure there are exceptions like you outlined or maybe you make it as found by accident. I do agree that there is a glitch in the firmware that a cache marked found isn't listed in the recently found listing. Both my eTrex Legend and Dakota 10 have had a problem with not showing all the recently found caches in the recently found menu. On the bright side Garmin has great customer support. So sending an email to either repairs or general questions will either give you a response telling you the correct address to send the complaint/recommendation to or tell you the issue is being looked at.

Contact the CO and see what happened to the TBs that where logged at the event. Chances are there was no container and the last person to have the Trackable still has it so you may want to send an email to them as well.

When you go to the cache page click on edit listing on the right hand side. The 3rd field down is where you can edit your title.

I use the compass all the time on my Dakota 10. As for which compass setup to use you'll just have to try out each one. I like to use the Geocaching Current profile for the compass page. This gives you all the basic info about the cache your heading to at the top of the compass page. That is if you have the most recent firmware update installed. You can see what the new firmware has changed to improve your caching experience here. http://garmin.blogs.com/softwareupdates/2011/09/improved-geocaching.html Tapping on that bar takes you to the geocaching menu where you can choose to log your find, look at the description and all of the other options.

Then why bring attention to it? While it may be fun for us to sit here and bash the idea and the site. Your just bringing it all more publicity that could get more people interested in the idea.

How are you loading the caches into the unit now? If you are using the Send To GPS button on the cache page that will load the cache as a Goecache. BUt as a PM its better to use a Pocket Querie. THis will give you up to 1000 caches in a single file. Then using a program like GSAK or EasyGPS you can open that file and have it sent to the GPS. Technically the Legend HCx is not a paperless unit but there is a way to get some of the paperless data on it but they won't be in the form of a Geocache.

Yes. Its your typical swivel belt clip. You will notice a piece of plastic peaking out from the top of the clip? That is the release button to remove the clip from the holder.

What GPSr do you have? Do you have a smart phone or iPod Touch? Any old PDAs lying around?

If your only real reason is for better accuracy then your out of luck. The iPhone 4 is pretty comparable with most hand held GPSr. But the Hand held do give you much better batty life and won't die if they get tossed around a bit of get wet. Fact is no GPSr will land you right on top of the cache. Once your within about 30 feet of GZ your GPSr has done all it can to get you to the cache. There will almost always be some bouncing around when your at or near GZ. Have a look at the Montana or Etrex 30. Overall i'd stick with a Garmin if you can. They have the best customer support and are the most favored brand among Geocachers.

By nature i'm a very fickle person. I may only have a mild bit of ADD but for some reason Geocaching has stuck with me. Often i'll latch onto in item or activity for a year at most. Most of the time it will only last about 6 months. But Geocaching has endured. So why has Geocaching become an enduring love in my life? Its very simple. Geocaching keeps me out and about. Every day is a new adventure. There is no end to the adventure since every hunt is different. Best of all this is a hobby that doesn't keep digging into my pocket. An initial start up cost is moderate and you don't need to keep dishing out more money to keep the hobby alive. It is the perfect hobby and there is no reason why anyone shouldn't try it at least once.

The way they have been loaded into the unit marks them as waypoints rather then geocaches. From now on use the GPX file button to download the cache to your PC. NOw plug your GPSr into your PC and open it up like its an external drive. Navigate to the Garmin/GPX folder and drop all of your downloaded GPX files into that folder. Alternately you could do a cache search, use the check boxes next to each cache to mark the ones you want and hit the download waypoints button at the bottom of the page. This will give you up to 20 caches per download in a .loc file. Next you will need a program like GSAK or EasyGPS to open that file and save it as a .gpx file. While in the program you can open and combine multiple .loc files into a single large .gpx file. Then place the file into the GPX folder like i mentioned above. Even better would be getting a premium membership and use Pocket Queries to download up to 1000 caches in a .gpx file that has all the descriptions, hints and recent logs included so you can look at them while your searching for the cache. If you purchased your unit brand new and have registered it on the Garmin web site there is a link you can use that will give you a free 30 day trial premium membership. Here is the link. http://www.geocaching.com/garmin/freetrial.aspx

When you do the search use the check boxes next to the caches you want then hit the Download Waypoints button at the bottom of the page. This will download the caches in a .loc file. Use a program like EasyGPS or GSAK to open that file and send the caches to your GPSr. This method allows you to download up to 20 caches at once. You can however load several .loc files into EasyGPS/GSAK at once and send them all to your GPSr at once. Alternately if you wanted to download up to 1000 caches at once and have the descriptions, hints and recent logs available (with the use of a GPSr that is able to do paperless caching). You do this with Pocket Queries and a Premium Membership.