SuperDave_GPS

I'm in a debate whether to buy an Apple iPad or step up to the Apple Macbook Air. One of the common sites I visit is the beta maps page on the GC.com website to see, globally, all the caches of certain areas. I've noticed on the iPad, the graphical icons of the caches on the beta maps screen do not seem to show up. Sometimes I get one or two caches to display, but not a city of caches as it would display as if I were on a desktop computer (compare the beta maps screen on a desktop computer compared to the same page on an iPad). Would it be possible to tweak the beta maps feature to work on an iPad as it would on a desktop? This would make my purchase decision much easier on which platform to buy. Thank you for all your hard work on this. SuperDave_GPS

.. Hmmm... Well, there was about 40% of a deer sitting (laying) about 3 meters away from a Barrie cache. There was one just off the highway between Toronto and Cambridge at a park-n-ride lot that had about 30% of an eaten deer and a fully intact wolf laying beside it. It was MUCH too big to be a coyote, and look very much like a wolf, so that's what I'm saying it was. The wolf looked in such good shape that I could have sworn that it was still alive and just sleeping after eating the deer. Fastest log book I ever signed.. Then when I moved to Ottawa, I had to walk around this fence to get to the cache only to doscover a guy standing out in the bushes with no top on standing there with his hands on his hips like Superman does. As strange as I thought it was, I cautiously approached only to discover his girlfriend's head pop up from the bushes as she was "servicing" him... As for the worst cache itself, just a log book shoved inside of a plain old plastic grocery bag that was placed under a wooden train track joist to prevent the bag from blowing away... Half points for creativity, I guess...

This is a tough one to answer because if you ask 100 people, you will get 100 different answers. Many people also believe that newbies should gain more experience before placing their own cache as they will get to see more of a varied range of containers and find out for themselves what they like and what they don't. That being said, the generally accepted containers are usually something with a good weather seal, such as the famous Lock-N-Lock food storage containers, or ammo boxes. I personally have seen many containers that work, and ones that don't. Everywhere from a log book wrapped up in a simple plastic grocery bag and stuffed under a rock, to elaborate hand-made containers. I can also tell you that the large PVC tubes that people seem to hand-make NEVER seem to be weather-proof, no matter how many O-ring gaskets they tend to use. What I use, and prefer, is for large containers, use an ammo can (which you can buy pretty cheap at Princess Auto). For regular containers, I use the Lock-N-Lock containers (buy the name brand ones, not the Dollar-store version. There's a reason why the Dollar Store ones are only a dollar...). And for Micros, I like to use the weather-proof match tubes that you can buy at many camping stores and Wal-Mart. Basically, if it's weather-proof, both you and your finders will always be happy.

Hahaha... Yes. Contrary to popular belief, not everything in the universe revolves around Toronto... Ottawa Geocachers

If there was a way to send you an SD card for your 500, or send you a file of a few megs, then I could make you up a DirectRoute street-driving map AND a topo map region for the Southern part of Ontario for you with the discs that I have. I have both the Explorist XL and the 500, and the software works wonderfully. All I require to make the files is the serial number of your GPSr, which you can get from Preferences>About. Send me a Personal Message if you're interested.

I've had the Palm Treo 650 for a while, until I lost it. That fit the bill for me quite well. I had CacheMate in there with probably about 20 different databases of cache clusters all over the place, including caches along routes. The cache logs and what I took/left would simply be exported over to the built-in "Memos" app, so the next time I synced my Treo to my desktop, all of my cache logs would be transferred as well. The built-in calculator, which can be set to a variety of math functions to suit your "math out in the field" requirements, is a sweet bonus also. http://ottawageocaching.com/forum/index.ph...msg6655#msg6655 My replacement to my lost 650 is the Palm Treo 680. I wanted something that used the Palm Operating System, and not the Winblows Mobile OS, as I'm not a big fan of Winblows. That's why I also use a Mac, but that should be irrelevant. Send me a PM if you have any more questions that I may be of assistance with. Good luck.

... Ace862 likes to diss Swimmrguy..??? Hahahaha... I have to meet this guy/gal... Anyone who razzes Bob about him and his Garmin is a friend of mine...

I've posted this originally in the Ottawa forum with no results, so I'm expanding this question nationally. I have both a Magellan Explorist XL and a 500. I currently have both the North American DirectRoute and Canadian Topographic maps loaded into both units. I am looking to purchase (or acquire) the DirectRoute European maps. Does anyone know where I could purchase this software, preferrably from a Canadian distributor? Thanx in advance.

I'm going to hold off until the iGarmin 60CSx WiFi hits the market. Sweet little unit.

Not a regular by any means, and not even in Kingston, but have cached there many times and have met many of the fine local KAG cachers. I'm in Ottawa, but haven't actually done many of the Ottawa caches, maybe because there's just too many of those darn Puzzle caches out here...

I'm not a big fan of Puzzle caches, but of the 2 that I do have, my Puzzle out in Alliston (Barrie area) has a coordinate checker. Not only that, but it has 2 of them. One checker is for a "close to it" checker, which will tell you if you're within something like 20 meters of the cache, and the second one is to find if you're bang on. However, my Puzzle cache out in Ottawa has no checker, although I really should put one in. Even so, even with my Alliston Puzzle having the checker, I still have lots of people e-mailing me about confirmation and additional hints, of which I'm more than happy to help out and steer people in the right direction, if need be. I think I'm going to archive my Alliston hide, though, and relocate it to the Cambridge area.

I'm along the same lines as Blue Quasar. Once I found my first FTF, I didn't really care about them anymore. I could officially say that I have a FTF, and that's all that mattered to me. Sure, I have found more FTF's since then, only one of which was intentional. Out here in Ottawa, there are a few cachers who seem to live for FTF's. It seems that the interest in the cache is only there if it's a virgin logbook. If it's been signed by anyone, then the desire to find the cache is very low on the priority list. To each their own, I guess...

Similar write-up to one above: I once found a cache that was simply a plastic grocery bag that was tied to a fence that ran alongside of a traintrack. No container. Not even a Zip-Lock bag to keep things dry. Just the grocery bag. Needless to say, the log book was so wet that it couldn't be signed so I just laminated one of my logbook stickers with Scotch-Tape and dropped it in the bag.

Also, perhaps this link may interest some, or stir the pot even more... To log, or not to log...

Yup. I've disabled a few of my caches simply because of a damaged container or whatever, but there was a time when a honest fellow cacher placed a log (on the disabled cache) to say that they've taken the liberty to repair or even replace my container. Very nice. They posted a picture of the new container, or the repair job, and everything's good to go. Yes, I would go and personally verify the container's condition, it just won't be as high of a priority to do as if the cache was still disabled. It's comforting to know that there's still some good old-fashioned honest people out there...

Say what you wish, as it's your right, but I simply don't care about the ethics - or lack of ethics - on how others chose to play this game. Let's face it - if someone choses to fool themselves by logging a find when they didn't find the cache, or even logging an archived cache, then feel free to do so. If this is how some cachers chose to play the game, then what right do i have to tell them not to do it. They're not fooling anyone except themselves. And as many have previously mentioned, there's no "prize" or special award, so what's the big deal? Why even do it? But that's like telling people that they shouldn't drink and drive, or speed, or throw garbage on the ground when there's a garbage can 3-feet away - there will always be someone who wishes to try to bend the rules. Yes, it can be VERY annoying to others who play the game honestly, but it all comes down to the fact that people have their own right to chose what to do. Play the game and have fun as a group, or be an individual. To me, I personally don't care what others chose to do, although I draw the line at insults and/or personal/physical attacks. I play the game honestly, and to me, that's a step in the right direction.

I've had several people find my hides more than once. I've e-mailed them and asked why they are logging a find when they've previously done so earlier (sometimes several months ago). I've received varying responces from "Oh, I didn't know", to "Well, that must've been my wife that found it originally", to even "Oh well. What are you going to do?" The fact is that people just simply don't care or give a crap. Why can't people just be honest and have fun with this "game"??

Somewhat interesting, considering as of 21-Nov-2007, according to Magellan (the manufacturer), the 2000's haven't even started shipping yet. Curious on how some companies can claim that they're already "overstocked"...

Glad I'm not the only one... Magellan: The Worst Customer Service On The Planet

Yes. The screen does NOT show the splash-screens during its reboot, but even so, the firmware continues to show it almost 3 year old firmware version. I am the one who CEECEE7 (above) gave her 2 500's to to try to update. Still, no luck. I also spent about 1 to 1.5 hours on the phone with Magellan (I also found out that i was talking to Magellan in INDIA)... I work in an IT environment, so computer troubleshooting and peripherals are nothing new to me. Yes, the USB cable works fine. Yes, I'm following the posted step-by-step instructions from Magellan's website. Yes, I cleared the memory first before attemting the upgrade. Yes, I've tried more than one computer to try the upgrade. Yes, I've tried a different operating system. It really sucks when the user knows more about the unit than the manufacturer's own Customer Service. I'm not ready to give up quite yet, but so far, it's not looking very promising. SuperDave_GPS

... I tried a reply earlier, but I don't think it went through, so this is attempt #2. As an Avionics Technician with the Canadian Armed Forces for the past 20 years, I feel I should give my two-cents worth in this. Technically, you can get both lat/long AND altitude with only 3 satelite locks. However (there's always a "however"), the cost of the hardware/software for such equipment is by far out of the reach of the average geocaching layman, and this speciallized equipment is generally fabricated for military requirements, as well as not even being handheld. These expensive units also incorporate the ability to be "kicked" with both "P-Codes" and "Y-Codes" for more presice locks and signal decryption ability. In order to significantly lower the hardware manufacturing costs down enough to satisfy the everyday civilian user, manufacturers simply incorporate the reception of a 4th satelite to calculate the altitude. So, you're both correct and incorrect at the same time - 4 satelites for altitude for civilian applications, and 3 satelites for altitude for military and specialized applications. SuperDave_GPS

I'm creating an Instant-Notification of new posts around my home coordinates, but it seems that I must create a seperate notification for every type of cache. I've so far had to create 5 individual notifications, all for the exact same coordinates, just to tell me if there are any new Traditional, Multi, Event, Unknown, and Letterbox caches hitting my area. Wouldn't it just be easier to have an "All Cache Types" option available so I only have to create a single notification for a single location? superdave_gps

I'm creating an Instant-Notification of new posts around my home coordinates, but it seems that I must create a seperate notification for every type of cache. I've so far had to create 5 individual notifications, all for the exact same coordinates, just to tell me if there are any new Traditional, Multi, Event, Unknown, and Letterbox caches hitting my area. Wouldn't it just be easier to have an "All Cache Types" option available so I only have to create a single notification for a single location? superdave_gps