japtkd

Beffums and I have talked quite a bit about doing a BOB run. We would take you up on this one, except that she's going to be out of town next weekend and we're also in the process of closing on a house. Ah well, life happens, eh?

Has anyone looked at the upcoming weather forecast? Looks like we're finally getting to spring. Time to really go hunt (and hopefully hide ) some caches. What do you think? I know there's a bunch of cachers in Evansvile, but noone (myself and Beffums included) seems to have hidden any caches in the past couple of weeks. If everyone would just hide 2-3 caches in the next month, imagine how many new caches would be in Evansville. Just a thought...

I found that you can use Excel to generate a series of log sheets and adjust the column size to fit the cache container. I even preprint a label on mine. You fill the first cell of a column with your label and shift the text orientation so it reads from top to bottom. Then outline the borders of the cell. Be sure to use print preview to check the size of your worksheet so you don't waste a bunch of paper and ink, but it should be pretty easy to do. As for rolling, I just fold the log in half and roll from there.

I guess you'll have to count me and Beffums out for a trip to the vault. Realisticly I won't be able to leave work until 4:00 at the earliest. It takes me at least a half hour to get home and would be about 2 hours for us to get to Jeffersonville. That'd put us at 7:30 EST at the absolute earliest and we'll likely not get there until more like 9. Have fun at the cache and we'll see you on Saturday morning.

Like I mentioned before, while I have not used my TX/BT338 combo a lot for caching, it does seem to hold a lot of promise. At the very least, it is a very convient package for navigating into the vicinity of a cache. Cachemate/cachenav also allows for very easy access to a virtually unlimited number of caches.

The 35 issue seems to be happening with my BT338. I occassionally see the sat, but it never locks, nor does it get correctional data. I don't know that it's not a problem with the 338 as I only recently got it and have never been able to get a WAAS lock.

Any idea as to why WAAS 35 is not working? Also, is there anyway to set a BT338 to ignore EGNOS 33. I keep flipping between the two and have yet to get a WAAS lock. Thanks

I keep mine in a hardshell case and have a good screen protector. That's about it for now. I guess the situation I find myself in would dictate as to whether I would actively use the TX for cross country navigation/cache hunting or revert to using the Legend.

I just wanted to say how much fun I had meeting everyone on Saturday. Now if we can just get out of the deep freeze cycle so we can do some serious geocaching.

I've got the BT338 as well. It gets a 3D WAAS fix in my house (but so does my Magellan Platinum). I have had it in heavy tree cover and it never loses signal, even sitting on my belt so my body is supposedly blocking half the sky. The BT338 bluetooth means I don't have to have both hands filled or cables dangling around. Great unit!! Add Fugawi with topo maps which they sell and its a great off-road duo (I also have a T|X). JDandDD Did you use the demo software with the BT338 to change some settings to allow for a WAAS lock? I have yet to get a lock with the 338, but have also lost the ability to lock on with my trust Legend. Maybe they're still playing around with repositioning the sats.

I've recently started using a TX with Globalstat's BT338. It seems like a really capable unit and is much more sensitive that the Etrex Legend we've nearly worn out over 6 months of geocaching. I haven't gotten it into any heavy cover yet (being that it's winter and all), but I would image that it performs admirably under such conditions. Just be sure to have the capability of being able to charge both units at the same time in your car as both use internal battery packs.

So what kind of file size, on average, per cache are you looking at with this method? I'd imagine it's quite a bit larger the text PDB file for cachemate. Just curious.

Will this put the story about the cache as well as the hint and some of the logs? When I have tried to do this before on GSAK it only gave me the name and the coords. I would imagine this would be due to the format of the file you use. If you use cachemate on your Palm, you should go to file/export/cachemate PDB file in GSAK. That file format should capture virtually all of the information on the cache in a text format. Also for future consideration, there is a plugin for cachemate that will allow you to use a Bluetooth GPSr with cachemate so you can have a virtually unlimited number of caches available in your hand AND be able to navigate to them as well. BTW cachemate is only $8 for a permanent registration number, a very good deal IMHO. Any other ???s?

I use cachemate and GSAK for my setup. First, you'll need to be a premium member to be able to download pocket quarries. The pocket quarries are downloaded into GSAK on your computer. You then export the PQ into your PDA using the export function on GSAK (choose to export as a cachemate file). Sync your PDA and the PQ should then be available using cachemate. It's a pretty straightfoward setup once you run through it one time.

I've recently gotten my Globalsat 338 setup on a Palm TX and absolutely love it. Has anyone had a problem with the 338 obtaining a WAAS lock? Mine keeps flipping between sat 33 (this one is an EGNOS, correct?) and sat 35. I don't think I've gotten differential data from the unit yet. Any suggestions? Interestingly enough, our Etrex Legend has never spotted sat 33. Differences in sensitivity of the two units?

Hi Chris, Not that I'm trying to sell you on the 338, but fyi the US sub. of the company does sell battery packs for the unit. $18.99 plus shipping. http://www.usglobalsat.com/item.asp?itemid=54 Given your concern, I may well purchase a batt to put back for when the current one fails. Good Luck!

I've recently gotten my Globalsat 338 setup on a Palm TX and absolutely love it. Nervs mentioned an adversion to using a rechargable unit, but this one is supposed to have in the neighborhood of 15-17 hours of continuous battery life. Can anyone confirm this? Also, has anyone had a problem with the 338 obtaining a WAAS lock? Mine keeps flipping between sat 33 (this one is an EGNOS, correct?) and sat 35. I don't think I've gotten differential data from the unit yet. Any suggestions?

My wife and I have used a legend from day one of geocaching. It's a solid starters unit with only a couple of problems. First, no external antenna port, if you're going to be caching in heavy cover, that can be a detriment. However, there are reradiating external antennas available. Second, they only hold 1000 waypoints. This probably won't be an issue with you for a while, but if you start going on big caching trips and want to download all the waypoints for a particular area, it could be a problem. Computer interface isn't a problem, just get GSAK and use the included serial cable to download the waypoints. The only other very minor problem is using the joystick can be annoying with gloves on.

Beffums and I did The Falls of the Ohio (GC55E) in Louisville/Jeffersonville for our 200th. Of course this one is a way removed from your typical haunts from what caches I've seen that you've found. As a bonus, you could get well on your way to 200 with a visit to the greater Louisville area. That place is really saturated with caches. Have fun!

Thanks a bunch. I was already using Cachemate for paperless caching. It looks like the cachemate nav addon is perfectly suited for cache hunting. My wife is happy now that she'll get to use the GPSr more too and we'll definitely use the Garmin Etrex Legend for navigation to the general cache area.

Hi all, I just got a Globalsat BT338 to use with my Palm TX for geocaching, but it did not come with any sort of GPS software for the Palm. Any suggestions? I'm not necessarily looking for an extreme sophisicated mapping program. Just something that will emulate the basic functions of an Etrex Legend. Thanks!

well played

Everyone needs to remember the South Park episode with the ninja weapons. The GPSr cannot make clothes invisible, so you need to be naked for it to work!

Of course, depending on your GPSr, you should have a mapping function there. I always download the coords into my Etrex Legend, and if I'm not sure about the relative positions of some caches, I just go to the map. The only problem I've encountered with paperless caching is that my GPSr is limited to ONLY 1000 waypoints. You have to use filters to limit the waypoints downloaded into your GPSr to just the area you're planning on working on any given day. Also, no way that I know of to interface a PDA with a Legend.