curt&jen
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Posts posted by curt&jen
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Just curious if anyone is using an external bluetooth GPS receiver connected to an iPhone, and if so how well it's working for geocaching.
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I've contacted AT&T and Verizon and neither of them will add any family tracking features to a prepaid phone. The service is only available on regular plans.
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Yeah in that case the SPOT tracker is probably more than I'm willing to pay. There is no way I would send a rented piece of equipment up in a weatehr balloon, lol. I'm hoping to get it back but who knows.
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Perhaps you could use a pre-paid phone with a pay as you go data plan, and a service like Google Latitude. But it might only work as the balloon was going up and when it comes back down, since it would likely be out of cell phone range otherwise.
Thanks that is a good start. It looks like you must have a smart phone that is capable of holding the app. I wonder if there are any smart phones that are also pay as you go.
It's ok if the signal only works near the ground. It would be cool to see locations all throughout the flight but the only critical location is where it lands.
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Why wouldn't you just use a SPoT tracker as they did?
I'm looking for a solution that doesn't involve a rate plan. The Spot tracker is $100/year.
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I know this is probably a weird topic but I'm tapping all resources I can think of to get answers.
I am interested in launching a camera via weather balloon, similar to what has been done by others in various places:
I have heard that you can get small GPS tracking devices that will transmit location at regular intervals. Most of the ones I've found online require a monthly fee, similar to a cell phone plan, but I've heard that you can use a pay-as-you-go kind of SIM card in a GPS tracker. This way I only pay for the times I actually use it.
Are there any tracking devices that will do this? If so, where and what kind of card to I need to find?
Thanks.
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We're a husband/wife team and still rookies at geocaching, but we're in the Tampa Bay Area and would like to see some events so we can attend one. Neither of us feel experienced enough to host one yet.
We'll join your new website and try to stay alert.
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As far as I know, the only way to load your own imagery (not downloaded through delorme) is to use Delorme's Xmap. Owners of PN-XX can contact Delorme directly and get it at the reduced price of $100.
Post this on the Delorme forums as well. There are some experts over there that may have a better answer for you.
I'm hoping there's a 'backdoor' way to do this, or if not, maybe there will be soon. I've looked at XMap and it will definitely get the job done, but for $200 (or even $100 since I've got a PN-40) I'd like to learn what else it can do before I buy it. For example, it will display ESRI shapefiles, but I'm not sure it can edit them.
I did post a sister thread in DeLorme's forums. Thanks for the feedback.
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Is there a plugin that will allow Mapwel to recognize a PN-40? Before buying my unit I thought you could use Mapwel to upload imagery of your choice to the PN-40, but now that I've downloaded the trial version I see in the Help contents a list of Garmin units that Mapwel supports, and nothing else.
Hopefully there's a way to do this....
I've got loads of current 2008 public imagery that I want to use on my PN-40. It's referenced and ready to go, in MrSID and GeoTIFF formats. I just need a way to get it onto the PN-40.
Thanks for your help.
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Good point. I never thought about it that way, but I'm sure there are plenty of turd caches that were inspired by other turds.
We made up for it last night with a nice trail hike. Four caches were spread along the route, That's more like it.
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To conclude this thread, I decided on a PN-40. I'm on day 2 of using it and so far it's been tremendous.
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I got my PN-40 yesterday, so I've owned it for all of 24 hours. So far it's been a very positive experience. With all the back and forth on this unit, I'm thinking about writing up an article after I've used it for the frist seven days.
Just some highlights:
- I've had nothing but fast and reliable locks, with a healthy dosage of WAAS
- Reception in the car is outstanding
- WAAS or not, it takes me right to the caches and zeros in. Way better than my eTrex Legend so far.
- Power has been fine. I'm eager to see how battery life turns out though.
All I can say at this point is that I don't have a lemon. Woo hoo!
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My wife and I just got back into caching after a long spell of not owning a working GPS unit. Today I went out to nab a few on my lunch break. As luck would have it I visited one of those sites where you leave wondering why anybody would look there and think "this is a great spot for a geocache".
My gps took me down a residential road to a dead end. The only place to put my car was clearly marked NO PARKING. I was within view of at least three homes, staring at a big pile of junk. Behind a guardrail there were downed limbs, several metal street sign posts just thrown back there, along with other random rubble. The whole place was infested with ants. I hadn't been looking for five minutes when a very suspicious old guy shuffled up behind me wanting to know what I was up to.
I never know what to say. It doesn't matter when there's a generational gap this large.
"Yeah I'm looking for a small container. It's an online activity of GPS fans and hikers who enjoy looking for hidden objects outdoors, called geocaching, and...."
"Eh? A geo-wutsit? You know you can't park here."
And I'm back in my car. Not worth it. Not even close.
Sometimes it's potluck with semi-urban caches. But good grief, sometimes you wonder what the appeal is with some of these locations.
I know we've all been there, just felt like venting. Better luck next time!
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geeyo,
If it helps, I got very interested in this unit awhile back and ran this thread before deciding to buy one:
http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=224464
There's a lot to read but maybe it'll be helpful.
As you can see, this is a touchy subject for some reason. Personally I could care less who believes what (or who). You can see from all the varied testimonials that DeLorme's PN-40 is like a box of chocolates so to speak. I believe the PN-40 is an awesome product, but still in the throes of QC that seems a bit sub-par. I ordered a PN-40 last week and I'm fully prepared for the possibility of getting a crapper, but I'm optimistic that it'll be just fine. Either way DeLorme seems to be on the side of their customers.
This is just my humble opinion, but the questions about the PN-40 have been answered. The real question is whether taking a gamble on a potentially awesome and new GPS unit is worthwhile to you. Fortunately in this case there shouldn't be any surprises for anyone who's done a little homework on this forum.
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Or you could use the geocaching.com app...
Absolutely. $10 and you're done. Granted, it's intended for use with an iPhone, but the only fuctionality you'll lack with a Touch is being able to browse for caches online while in the field.
If you get the GC app for your Touch, you'll have the same benefit as a GPS unit with paperless caching. The only difference is you carry two devices instead of one.
This seems like the path of least resistance to me. You don't have to covert files and funnel them through several apps. Just one app.
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Searching_ut, thanks for the elaboration. I didn't notice (or just forgot) that the TOPO maps use TIGER data, which explains a lot. I just took it for granted that since XMap can aid in georeferencing additional user-acquired imagery that perhaps adding vector data to the unit was also possible....yes? If so that'll be one of the first things I add to my PN-40 - reliable roads data. I am a little suprised at the low-res topo data as well, but then again, maybe it's done with good reason so as not to overwhelm the processor.
One the things I'm most looking forward to is testing the performance limits of this unit with additional data. Hopefully it can handle vecotr and raster data with higher resolution than what TOPO offers.
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Cool! Thanks to the recent buyers for chiming in. Hopefully my unit comes out of the box ready to rock.
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Best of luck with it curt&jen! To those who know, Is there any type of serial number sequence or other identifier on the GPSr's outside casing that would indicate if the one they get is a "newer" built model, or one that's been sitting on a shelf for a while?
I would guess a newer built model would have the most up-to-date innards
Great idea, thanks for thinking of that.
Two things:
Bundled with Topo USA 7.0 or the more recent 8.0, and
The firmware version listed in System Info.
There are serial numbers, but I'm not sure what one would discern from it.
Hmm. On Amazon they do list it as including Topo 7.0. I think I mentioned this earlier, but actually it could've been in another thread.....anyway someone commented that it will probably come with 8.0 even though it says 7.0 because so much of Amazon's goods are drop-shipped. It could be that the verbage in the Amazon listing is out of date, not the bundle in the other words. Who knows? I guess I'll find out in a few days.
Now you guys have got me curios. If getting a more recent model made a difference, would that be due to an actual hardware change that DeLorme has implimented in the last few months? Or is it merely that newer units are being shipped with FW 2.5. If the latter then I'm not worried about it because I can make the update myself. If the former, I gotta know what those changes are.
Ha, but honestly, I'm going to call DeLorme again when it arrives for good measure. I'll read them the serial and ask for info on any updates that may or may not apply.
I gotta say, I'm so glad for this forum as well as DeLorme's, and all the friendly folks willing to post in this discussion.
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Well I finally took the plunge. My PN-40 is ordered, fingers crossed. I also ordered a Transcend 16GB SD card with USB reader.
In a month or so I'll get XMap and start geeking around with aerials I have in mind.
By the way, is there a window of time in which a PN-40 buyer must order XMap to get the $100 discount?
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I wasn't trying to start a fire fight. In defense of folks with bad experiences, I tend to emote a little bit too much when I've got a turd on my hands. I hear everyone loud and clear, regardless of pro or con.
Seraching_ut, this is just a hip shot from a GIS techy, so please don't think I'm trying to make a bold statement. It just looks to me like that map you posted isn't the problem. I suspect the maps are just fine and properly referenced, but rather you've got a reall crapper of a unit on your hands that's recording bogus tracks. The tracks are being laid down as they should, but rather the values being recorded are what sucks. Just a theory based on what I see everyday at work.
So several posts later the story is still the same. I believe the PN-40 is loaded with great potential and several features I absolutely must have, such as paperless caching and aerials.
I also believe it's still potluck for the buyer. I'm going to order one tomorrow and be prepared for an RMA, but optimistic that I won't have to do that
Again, thanks everyone for the honest feedback. Whether I join the ranks of people who got a lemon on the first try (and later got a good one) or those who got a winner right out of the box, I look forward to some successful and fun caching trips with this neat new product.
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Thanks again to everyone! I got some good replies on the Delorme forum as well (with a sister thread). I'm about to pull the trigger via Amazon so I can burn a $50 gift cert. So I'm $194 shipped, not bad at all :-D
Before I do, one last question on the topic of accessories. I know the PN-40 supports up to 32gb of SD card, but good grief, not necessary anytime soon. If I want to keep a modest number of aerials on the unit, possibly even those that I georef myself, what's a good amount of SD memory to keep handy? 4gb? 8gb? I'm going to order a card along with the unit is why I ask.
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Is there a way, either via Garmin or 3rd-party software, to load georeferenced imagery such as MrSID or TIFF onto the Oregon 300?
If not by official means, has anyone figured out a way to this?
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Also, it's a "niche" thing but if you ever want to connect to a device that has classic NMEA serial I/O, the PN-40 will require an intermediary device with USB host capability. The Oregon appears, based on http://garmin.blogs.com/softwareupdates/20...and-oregon.html, to have hardware serial. My guess is that when a "dumb charger" device is detected (MiniUSB pin 4 <=17k ohms to ground) and the device is not set to Spanner mode, it configures the D+ and D- USB pins as serial I/O instead.
I'm planning on ordering some mini-USB connectors from digikey and experimenting with this over the next month or two, or cannibalizing a Boxwave DirectSync charging cable. Unfortunately most mini-USB cables leave pin 4 N/C in the connector itself and provide no access to the pin in the cable.
A little over my head. What is a classic NMEA serial I/O device, and when/why would you want to connect to one?
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Anyone crazy enough to buy and keep buying alkaline batteries...well, IF someone does this, they can't blame anyone but themselves. I KNOW a pair of HD (green) Duracell rechargeables will give you 11+ hours of use, but I use the power kit battery and charge it in the car whenever I can. On my kayak, the battery pack will last up to 8 hours of constant useage...I also carry a pair of rechargeables, just in case (but have only used them one time in several all-day cache/kayak runs).
I lock on and stay locked on. Not a time I have seen a lock loss that wasn't due to being inside a big building or under a bridge while kayaking (and then, it wasn't like my unit never relocated the lock). When under bridge, I mean as in sitting there while taking a break!
WAAS, get it, love it. I OFTEN see reports of +/-5' and rarely bother to even look to see if it says WAAS or not! I would echo Lee's comments here as well.
Having tracked every river trip I've taken, I have never seen the broken line tracks Brian posted pictures of...never.
Your questions for XMAP have been answered.....I also think the $100 would be worth it for anyone who wants their own maps...but the aerials I get are enough for me!
You can sit on the fence and wish all you want, until you actually take the plunge, you'll only be making guesses and assumptions. I knew about the problems going in, I bought before any of the fixes or paperless updates were put in place and I was more than happy to recommend it waaaay back then (lol, months ago). People kept saying they'd wait for the updates like they may never come and I was suggesting a crapshoot. Well, I bet I helped about 10 people make their choice and I have not seen anyone dis-satisfied (unless I count Brian, but I don't think my comments were a deciding factor for him???). I own a PN-40, my friend owns one, their relatives own one, a few Michigan friends now are proud owners as are THEIR relatives....these things sell themselves!
I believe truly, the only crapshoot will be if you get a bad unit (QC problem) and I don't even think that's much of a crapshoot since DeLorme is more than happy to make things right! YMMV!
This is the kind of experience I hope to have with my PN-40. You're right though, it's all academic until I take one into the field. I've heard they have a 30-day money back gaurantee, so I guess I need to order one and try it out.
You know, I'm sure I'll be laughing at myself even if the performance isn't perfect locks and frequent WAAS service......because the last unit I used was a non-H eTrex Legend. Ha!! Man that thing sucked, and then eventually took a dump with multiple failed attempts at resurrection. There were times when my wife and I would do circles around a cache site never getting closer than 20 feet with that unit.
So maybe even mediocre preformance from a lemon PN-40 would still beat what we're used to!
DeLorme PN-40 FOR SALE - MINT
in GPS technology and devices
Posted · Edited by curt&jen
I hate to let this GPS go but my wife and I aren't doing enough geocaching these days and need to recoup some funds. We've had this unit for a couple of years and barely used it. Upgraded to current firmware a couple of months ago. It's in mint condition, screen is perfect. Comes with everything pictured and original box. Also comes with USB cable.
This unit was a HUGE improvement over the Garmin eTrex we used to own. Paperless Geocaching is awesome. It's great to use aerials on the unit and the receiver was more accurate by comparison with previous units we've used. I had zero trouble getting 3D fixes under canopy. WAAS signals were routine. It's a great unit.
Asking $150 shipped or make an offer!