starcr250
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Posts posted by starcr250
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I guess you must not be understanding what I am trying to tell you..sorry you feel I was trying to win! By calling, writing or sending in frivilas complaints, you will eventually hurt yourself (and everyone else). The cost of operating a business will go up forcing the company to pass the costs on to the customer...and, the company in question (any company here) will also be forced to re-evaluate their CS practices. Then, when you really need them (when your unit stops working perhaps), you may be a bit miffed to find that the policies have changed and you'll need to jump through hoops to get any help! It happens!
Since the problem appears to be a suction cup, the company now seems to be looking for a replacement for that part...that's not free for them, and I'd bet the reason they used the first part was because they were cheaper (so the cost of the part will likely go up a bit). You were probably well within your right to call and ask for a replacement, just don't be surprised that the price may very well go up in the end!
BTW...YIPPPEEE!!!! I never win at anything!
That is one of the dumbest things I have heard. You lose money and business by not taking care of customers. Sure it may cost them at most $10 total for the mount and to ship it (and yes, a huge markup occurs when buying a mount retail), but that person will buy again from Garmin. Customer loyalty and word of mouth referrals count more than anything.
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Yeah, definitely. Welcome to the club. We have them on both our GPSrs, and I have one on my digital camera. I thought it would mess up the screen reslution and viewing angles, etc. And while there is very slight aberration at a few angles, it is hardly noticeable and well worth it for the peace of mind. If only I didn't have to custom order it for my older electronics, I'd be set.
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I had something similar happen to me in January. I have no idea how you're using your GPSr, but... After I left my 60cx in the car overnight by accident (subzero temps) the next day it would word, but then the screen would just fade and die. It would come back on, but then soon it would do it again. And this was while using the DC adapter. I have never had the problem when it hasn't been left outside. After the second time, I took the batteries out, put them in my pocket to warm them up, and it didn't do it again. I'm not sure why that worked since it was using external power... But, if you aren't leaving it outside I guess this post was irrelevant.
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Urban caches do have their place in the game. As most would agree though, better care should be taken when deciding where to put caches. Then there are always the cachers that just look out of place and suspicious whenever they look for caches. Note that it was reported on a Sunday...a top time for people to be going to grocery stores. Perhaps a little more care all around could help ameliorate the problem.
As for the legality of the charges... I'm sure they could charge the person for terrorist activity if they really wanted to. Trespassing would be one of the few they probably couldn't get him on since their parking lots are open to the public. All in the interpretation (of the Judge and DA, that is).
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We had two encounters with police in the same night at Penn State. A new cache was posted and as soon as I got the gmail notification, I was on my way to pick up my caching partner and score the FTF around midnight. So we get there and have to park across the street (somewhat illegally, not that big of a deal but enough to make me keep my eyes open for police). So we are searching, hoping to be FTF, when someone on a bike comes right towards us. We had found the cache but couldn't get the log out. The person on the bike shines the light right in my eyes and asks what I'm doing. Since I assume that anyone near here must be another geocacher, I ask the lady to take the light out of my eyes. She says she can't because its what they are trained to do. "Oh, crap" I thought as I realized it was a bike cop. I tried to explain, she didn't seem to care once she determined we weren't getting high (cause thats all that normal college kids do at night?) Then, when rehiding the cache, another bike rider came our way. Turns out to be another bike cop. We looked really suspicious, coming out from inside a pine tree as he approached. Luckily we played it cool and he believed us about caching.
Moral of the story: if you want to do drugs, take a GPSr with you and say you are geocaching. Oh wait, no. Tell the truth, thats what I meant.
The other police encounter was when driving to State College. I got pulled over by an unmarked car. He said I was doing 68 in a 45. I didn't think there was any way I was going that fast and that he probably tagged the guy in the lane over (whom he also pulled over). After realizing I went to PSU, he let me off with a lower speed violation. It wasn't till I got home and looked at my track data on the computer...turns out I was going 69mph...you might want to have your radar recalibrated. Oh well, I deserved that ticket. Maybe I should have said I was trying to be FTF and see where it got me.
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I was looking for a cache about a month ago that's a micro in/near a pine tree that's part of a series (Six in the City in York, PA, GCVM37 in particular) . As I started rooting around in the needles/brush at the base of the tree, I uncovered a 6 x 6 tupperware container. It said "Sweet Shop" on the lid and had the coordinates on it and the geocaching.com web site listed. I didn't really think anything about it and signed the log, which had one other signature on it, and rehid it. I was on my way home from a day of caching, so I stopped by another one in this series, since it was along my route home. I read the cache page and it said this one had been muggled a couple times and that the container is now like the others in the series, only a smaller version. Well, this one is about a 1/2" diameter tube - that kinda got me thinking about it. I went home and emailed the cache owner and asked about the first one I'd found and they didn't know anything about that one. I went back in the next morning and took pics of it and showed the owner, but they still didn't know anything about it. I checked all over this site for any reference I could find to it, but found nothing. It's still a mystery to me - I guess the next step is to contact the reviewers for this area and see if they can tell me anything, like maybe one that was placed but never approved.
Do you recall the name of the first cacher to find it? Maybe check through their found logs. Just a thought.
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I have a pen called a "space pen" that is supposed to work to specs something like that...-30 to 250 degrees, upsidedown, on wet surfaces. www.spacepen.com as for cheap, nope. But I would look for any pressurized pen. A google search turned this up: http://store.everestgear.com/eqrir037.html
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My girlfriend has a jogging route near her school. She noticed about a week ago a new snow reflector. We had done a similar cache a while back so she just pried that reflector open and bingo a log sheet. If she wasn't on winter break a few weeks earlier, she could have been FTF for the cache.
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One of the things that there really aren't a lot of (at least in PA where I have cached) is night only caches. The ones that have been done are great. You can use things like phosphorescent tape or reflective tape. A while back I read on the forums about a dim light beacon only observable at night (very low light) that you had to find from given location.
Edit: Yeah, follow "Novel Cache Ideas" link above. Should have read that tab before posting. Sorry.
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I would agree with a lot of what has been said here. I guess I am a little disenchanted when I see people move bugs with lofty goals from a rather high traffic area to a place way in the wilderness...where the bug may have to wait months for another finder. But yes, if the bug has a goal that you can accomodate, then by all means help it along. If you can't help it on its mission, and return to a previously visited cache just to log it (or the icon in the case of a geocoin), is that OK? I guess I would say it depends on the situation...
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But seriously...going back to a cache grab a trackable item (IMHO) is not good etiquette UNLESS you also leave a trackable item. They say trade even for finding caches, this should especially apply if you are revisiting a cache. Granted, if you look through my logs, you'll find times where I haven't traded even, but if you can then do it. Plus, you can also "discover" a trackable item by writing down its tracking number and still leave it the cache for someone else to FIND.
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There have been some great suggestions here.
I would add a normal magnetic compass
and definitely a pair a leather gloves...come in handy when searching around for a cache or moving stones/wood.
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That's very cool, HB. My granddaughter would go ballistic if she found one of those. (What the heck are they called, anyway?)
They're typically called a plasma ball. Though, I bet you could find other variations on the name like a plasma globe or plasma sphere.
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I will add my own version of your stupid question.
What do I set it to for lithium ion batteries? I would almost think NiMH might be more accurate since they die in a similar fashion, a quick and painless death.
Anybody?
-jeff
I might be going out on a limb here, but I don't think you'd be using lithium ion AA batteries. Namely b/c they are 3.6 volts. If you mean the energizer lithium batteries (non-rechargable), then probably to the alkaline setting since the both have the same nominal voltage. Not sure if their discharging profiles are entirely the same.
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Maybe a stupid question but does a GPS need an electronic compass in order to tell you that the cache is x feet this way?
No, it doesn't. But it does need an electronic compass to point you in the right direction when you are standing still. A GPSr will always be able to tell you that the cache is x feet away, and they will point you in the right direction when you are moving. But when standing still, the only GPSr that will tell you "the cache is x ft. this way" is the one with the electronic compass. Not essential, but still worth the extra $40, IMHO.
Heres an (sarcastic) idea. When you walk to the cache, look at the nav. compass (on the Cx). Then, when you stop 30ft away, don't turn your body. The cache will still be where that dadgum arrow is pointing. You don't need an electronic compass.
And, someone will say, "but, the Garmin x-series will constantly change headings when standing still, so the electronic compass is necessary." No, it's not. If the GPS thinks it has moved (changed its coordinates), your arrow on the CSx will be moving around anyways.
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the question was asked because I'm wondering how long the GPS will last with the backlight on the whole time. If it will maintain for 3 hours, then I can just keep switching the batteries that i'm charging, and always have a full charge for the field (plus an extra two), as well as a good cycle of constant power in the car.
if the GPSr will drain the two AA's in under three hours, then the charger may become neccisary.
There are a few things you need to consider here. 1. you will not have constant power supply using batteries. You will have to take them out, change them, turn the GPS back on, let it re-acquire lock, and re-enter a destination (if you were using routing or destination). 2. Rechargeables can't be recharged an unlimited number of times. Granted, it might take a while to get to the max number, but if you drive as much as you say you do, you'll get there.
So, for that future cost of a new pair of rechargeables, just buy a DC adapter. The hassle of switching batteries alone would be enough to spur me into buying one.
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I second the recommendation for a metal case for a PPC. Though I have never heard of that brand, I have a rhinoskin for my Dell Axim. Its survived way more than it should have...and hey, it even likes riding around in my backpack. From the looks of it, that case should be fine, but do check out rhinoskin too.
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21, gf is 22.
Yeah, where are all the other cachers in college?
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Yes, it will draw power from the USB port. I have used mine w/o batteries, just connected to USB. I do not know though if it will recharge rechargeable batteries while on USB. I think I have read people arguing for both ways on here. Someone else can answer the second part better than I.
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I have the 60Cx, and similar to you, I switched from a Magellan Sportrak Map. HUGE improvement. I would say you should download updates for mapsource and new firmware for the GPSr, as both for me were out of date by the time I received them. Other than that, make sure you turn WAAS on in the setup menu (its default is off)...but then again, there is a lot of stuff flying around on here about the poor sirf implementation for WAAS.
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The lines in your GarminOther.txt file should look like this:
Custom 0 ; Traditional
Custem 1 ; Multi
Custom 2 ; Mystery
My \garmin\Custom Waypoint Symbols\ only has 8 .bmp files. Could this be a limit?.
I am not sure I understand. When you open your export in MapSource, does the waypoint list show the waypoints with your custom icons or not?
Or is it the GPSr that don't show the custom icons?
GreatDane,
When I export, mapsource will not show the custom icons.
starcr250.
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I hope this is an easy question for someone here. Is there a way to set up mapsource to automatically assign the "proper" icon to the various types of geocaches? E.g. If I import a gpx file, can it automatically assign the traditional cache icon to traditionals, the multi icon to multis and mystery icon to mystery (assuming that I have these icons set up as my custom icons)? If mapsource can't do it, can GSAK, insofaras sending those correct icons to the GPSr? I understand the previous posts about manually changing the icons, but that could take a bit more time.
Thanks
starcr250
I don't think you can open a GPX file in MapSourc, and have MS show your custom icons.
In fact, I know you can't, I just tried it. All you get are the open/closed treasure chests.
You can do it from GSAK, exporting a GDB file to MapSource.
Assuming you already have your custom icons set up, do this in GSAK:
1. Open the database containing the waypoints you want to send to you GPSr.
2. Click File=>Export=>MapSource File
3. In the box click "change" under the list of icons.
4. Click radio button "Cache Type Only".
5. Go down the list matching cache type to the icons you want, using your custom icons.
6. Export to MapSource using "MapSource Version" 6-GDB and "open MapSource" checked.
MapSource will open with your icons listed.
When you transfer them to the GPSr the caches show up under "Waypoints", not under "Caches".
Depending on your model GPSr, you don't have to go through MapSource. In GSAK click
GPS=> Send Waypoints, and change your icons in that box. This won't work with the Cx models
Hope this helps
-GD
OK, in there you said assuming you have your custom icons setup. I half have them set up. I have 10 custom icons for traditional cache, multi, etc, named as 000.bmp, 001.bmp... I think where the problem is coming is in the GarminOther.txt file. Should the entries in there be in the form of: Custom 0; traditional or 000; traditional or 000.bmp;traditional ? I can see these options in mapsource when i go to export a mapsource file. But, after exporting, mapsource will not correct interpret these. Any suggestions?
Thanks
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Garmin 60 Cx
Magellan sportrak map
Which of these RAM mounts is prefered?
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
Yeah. I had that same issue. There's a thread somewhere in this forum (I think I searched "RAM mount") that describes exactly that. I filed it down quite a bit to where it still holds the GPS great but the release is now much easier.