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trippy1976

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Everything posted by trippy1976

  1. Hidden Mickeys are a fun Geocaching alternative at WDW. There is an iPhone app we use that helps you find them. It's fun, although I'm not impressed with some of them. Much like caching, in the early days of the hidden mickey craze every one was pretty cool. As people got into it and started helping to report new hidden mickeys quality went down. Now there are "hidden mickeys" for the mickey shaped stuff on merchandise displays and things like that. I don't consider those hidden - they are intended to be there to reinforce the brand. It's not some fun easter egg left for you to find by an imagineer.
  2. Dang. Sold out already. Thanks for the heads up though!
  3. That is exactly what I was looking for Thank you!
  4. Google searches come up with a 2k limit, but I swear when I talked to the Garmin reps at MWGB they told me 3000.
  5. I just got an Oregon 400T. Now I need a car mount. As a long-time Garmin owner, I have about 99 of those suction cup mounts for the various Nuvis I've owned. The ones with the little ball on the end that snap into the plastic part that holds the GPS unit. does anyone know if you can buy *just* the part that would hold an oregon and have the socket so you could snap it one one of the ball joints of my many existing windshield mounts? That would be awesome. If not, any suggestions on a car mount (i.e. "just get the garmin one", "I got one off ebay here", etc.) would be welcome! Thanks!
  6. Outside of the explorist it has been about 6 years since I bought a handheld. What's the water mark for these more modern Garmins? When did it start? Budget wise I'm thinking 300-600 would be ideal but if something awesome is just above that I could be talked into it pretty easy.
  7. I have a Magellan Explorist GC. It's my first Magellan unit and so far the ability to simply drag and drop a GPX file and go has outweighed the fact that the GPS really doesn't impress me functionally. I want to keep the drag and drop paperless simplicity but consider some other options. What is out there now that gives you the same drag and drop paperless. To explain: - I connect the GPS to my computer by USB - I select "connect to computer" on GPS - GPS appears as hard drive on computer - I can drag a GPX file raw (no GSAK, etc.) from my computer into the mounted drive - Disconnect - GPS processes copied GPX files I put 2000 points on my Explorist GC tonight in under 3 minutes. I've never had a unit so easy to use like that. But the actual GPS seems a little "rubbery" to me and I wish it did routing as well. Thanks for any help.
  8. Depends on what you've found. Some tags travel inside of GC.com trackable coins. One tag is actually a trackable coin on one side, pathtag serial on the other. Statistically speaking, you found a "regular" tag which, as long as you trade out for it and log it, is yours to keep like any other swag. If it's attached to something or is part of a GC.com trackable (like a coin, travel bug, etc.) then it's usually intended to keep moving like all other GC.com trackables.
  9. I'm coming from an aging 60Cx. I got a GC. My M.O. with caching these days is route with a dashboard unit, get to the cache with my handheld. Having an all-in-one field unit is great. All the description, logs, hints, etc. are right there. No need for another paperless unit and my iPod can stay safely in the car. I got a GC and I'm really enjoying it. The basemap has much better detail than I expected, all my local roads are on it. Loading GPX files to it is a breeze, just plug in the USB, drag and drop. Having up to 10,000 caches is amazing. I found that you can edit the field notes file on your computer when it's mounted. If you do this, you can make much nicer, much longer default field notes. I use the field notes extensively and love them. What I really like about them is that they don't get deleted when you update the GPX files. This was a big problem with my 60Cx. If I forgot to look at the "calendar" and log my finds (manually) before I deleted and re-loaded the waypoints I was fubared. I like the size, weight, etc. I wish it came with a dash mount. But... for $200 out the door and with the instant gratification of being able to pick it up at Target... it was a great deal IMO. No additional maps are needed (or even possible) but for me, that' no biggie. I route with the Nuvi and the GC actually has lakes, streams, golf courses, etc. in my area so everything I need and care about really. My main areas of discontent are the display and the response of the GPS updates. The display really needs to have some level of backlight on at all times for me. That obviously dings battery life, but so far I've probably had it on 5-6 hours and the battery indicator is still half full (or empty - your call). The GPS updates slowly. It feels "rubbery" or "springy". It's not AS noticeable when you're on the ground, but when you pull up to the park and grabs - you really get it. 300 ft, 200, 100, 50, 10, uh... 175? WTF? And when you're walking around it does take more than a foot or two to get the display to update, which is minorly problematic since there is no electronic compass (usually I do this just for the "which way again?" kind of help but I end up having to walk away for a few steps, wait for the udpate, and then walk back again.) Overall, I'm extremely pleased. Which from me, is saying a lot. I've never owned anything but Garmin units, but I decided to give this one a try and I really do like it. It works great for me and unless you absolutely have to have everything in one single unit - I'd seriously suggest exploring a lower end Nuvi paired with this unit for your caching setup. One can route you there, one can get you into the field with all the info you need to complete the hunt. You can buy both GPS units for less than the price of a Dakota 20, and you avoid the extra buy of maps.
  10. So, these all appear to be virtually the same products with differences in form factors, but I'm sure there is more to it. I'm looking to update my GPS. I was looking primarily at the Oregons and in the 200 level, I want a good caching feature, bright screen, durable unit, and ability to load maps and route. I have a 60Cx right now and love it, but it's seen better days so I want to step up. I've been scared off the colorados - not many of the people I know personally gave these units high marks. But I don't know anyone with an Oregon and have their feedback and I can't really divine what makes a Dakota different from the Oregon and Colorados... It looks like the Dakota is just a new entry level unit, the baby Oregon. True? So at this point, I'm pretty set on an Oregon 200. But confirmation of my assumption about the Dakota would be helpful and anyone who has personal input on their experience with any of these units would be helpful. I'm searching the forum too but I figured I'd post out.
  11. This is where my money is too. In 5 year's time - cellular technology and phones will make GPS and internet connectivity ubiquitous. It's probably more to the point to wonder what kind of activities that technology revolution will bring rather than if GPS maker X will be around then. I think Garmin, with their nuvi phone and other products, sees this coming better than any other manufacturer out there and will be well poised to take advantage of that revolution. Most likely it'll be some google-driven or google-owned technology. And it'll know every search you ever made and will be able to give you a natural search rating about how well you'll like the cache you're about to attempt based on your previous finds, your affinity for chocolate, and the number of discussion forums you are a member on. Or something equally creepy and big brothery.
  12. I've been using the iGPS360 GPS module with my 1st gen ipod touch for about a month now and am very happy with it + the app store app. I won't go into details as it would not be appropriate, but it erm... does not work "out of the box" if you get my drift. But without a lot of effort I got it to work with no problem. It works well with a variety of apps - even the Geocaching app. with the app store app, you can download your pocket queries easily to your ipod and they are available when wifi is out of sight. Also, you can search on your ipod at home with the app and save individual listings for offline viewing. I find no wifi in the field is not a huge problem, it would be nice but it's not essential if you have your main PQ set up to run daily and download it before you go. I still use my nuvi (so it's not exclusive like this thread) to get near the cache but once I get near it's just me and my ipod to the cache. And actually for the nuvi, I only update that once in a while, so sometimes I'm doing the old fashioned arrow follow and just using hte Nuvi for road reference to get me there. It's actually kind of fun - reminds me of hte good ole days before routing GPS units Then I have the paperless entry with me, hints, and can even log field notes while offline. The app stores them and when it sees you have a wifi connection will say something like "You have field notes saved, want to upload them?" Then whala - it logs them automagically for you. IMO it's well worth the $10 for that feature alone I probably have 100+ unlogged finds out there.
  13. Math Check: $42 for 3 months = $14 per coin. That includes shipping each month too. Annual subscriptions start at $13 per coin (shipping included to one spot) and if you can do 3 per month on an annual sub it's under $12 per coin. Since I'm posting, we are working on a site update as we speak which will create user accounts for all our subscribers so you can edit your own shipping information more easily and put in an alternate contact email address for club news (not everyone checks their PayPal email addresses). In addition, we will soon announce a new incentive program for annual subscriptions. It will be retro-active, so if you have an annual subscription or get one between now and when the incentive program is announced - no worries, you didn't miss out just because you were an early adopter!
  14. http://www.orangegadgets.com/products.html I'm "cursed" with an old generation iPod touch - but I have the Geocaching app. I wished for a plug-in GPS module and then when I searched today - woot! This came up. Just curious if anyone else has seen it, tried it or heard about it. I'm probably going to pick one up - if i could cache with my old gen iPod that would basically just rock.
  15. Does it have to be new? I picked up an old Silvermarc for $3 for my collection - definitely my favorite. Not trackable, but it harkens to the "good ole days"
  16. We came into SLC in the dark. One of my favorite memories of the event was pulling open the curtains in our room on Saturday morning and seeing those mountains out there. SLC is such a cool place, I really wish my schedule had worked out better to be able to enjoy the caching and city more. Talk about a great event guys, the planning team, vendors, everyone - really outdid themselves from previous years. My second favorite "memory" from the weekend was just stepping back to look at it all. Here's this seriously legit event, taking place in a seriously legit hotel. I remember 2006 in Temecula, I think there were 5 vendors and honestly - we looked like a giant yard sale. In that relatively brief span of time, the bar has come up so high on our little niche community it's amazing. It really made me proud to look around and see us looking so polished and professional. (quick edit: This is not to bag on previous years, just to say "we've come a long way fellas".) As usual, it was great to meet everyone and fill in the blanks for faces to names with the people you talk with all the time on forums, email, facebook, etc. but rarely get to see. The poker game was a ton of fun to watch, and a great way to decompress at the end of the day. Word to the wise when you're in SLC though: Eat before 10pm Or you should plan on eating at Carl's Jr
  17. I'm not sure if this is off topic or not, but I've been using the older version of this macro and loving it. Haven't upgraded yet, but what I'd really like is to see the caches in my area on the map screen - like I do on my 60Cx when it has caches loaded on it. If I set alerts when I load the POI, it'll show me any nearby caches as the expense of an annoying red popup which covers up my turn by turn switch OR a giant gray popup notice that blocks out any directions. I really like seeing them on my map screen so I can do that "opportunistic caching". You know... you go to Target and see there's a cache on the way home. I'm bad at just looking in the POI list, so seeing them on the map screen would be ideal. I set the detail to max, but that didn't seem to help. So I'm not sure if this is possible, but I figured maybe this macro addresses that or someone in the thread can point me in the right direction.
  18. Seriously? Unbelievable. I can understand being disgruntled about a purchase gone bad but really - this is a great thread... I actually appreciate the bump (because I saw it and read it) but really think this was misplaced in such a high spirited thread.
  19. http://www.mwgb.org The Midwest Geocaching Foundation is proud to present Midwest Geobash 2009! It’s the year of the Cowboy Chicken, where we go back to basics. We’re taking the event back to Northwest Ohio, where it all began. Come and celebrate this tradition as we take it home for the fifth year anniversary. Thursday we’re going to Harrison Lake, to retire the Flamingo mascot that started it all. Then we head back to the Fulton County Fairgrounds, to enjoy three more days of what Geobash is all about. Fun, fellowship, and friendship will abound with our relaxed atmosphere of camping, socials, and sessions. We’re looking forward to a great 2009. We can’t wait to see you there! MWGF (Registration tentatively set to begin in January 2009)
  20. I would respectfully request that you actually stop copy and pasting the content I worked to create for MWGB's website. I cannot believe the audacity of this guy. You are actually harvesting the MWGB website page by page and tweaking it for your own use. How original. How generous of you to spend your time creating this "unique" event experience for your fellow cachers.
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