Pegasi

Ya reckon' Mikey will drop it into a cache for me? Maybe he could design a specialised cache from an old battery box and put it out the back of the workshop. That way, you could log the find. Maybe Jeremy can convince Pauls' Sr and Jr to design a GeoBike - Could have signal on top of the sissy bar - then they cold hide it and I would have incentive for a FTF.

When I first started I would always trade items - last night my 10 year old daughter and I were out in fairly small park with 6 caches within .5 miles of each other. We had already found 3. The three we found last night contained mostly junk. My daughter used to always want to trade something but even she is jaded to the point of only picking out trinkets for her little brother or sister. I TN'd all three caches and left a Green Jeep TB, Compass, and several mini gel pens - not the greatest swag in the world but something for the next "kid" to pick from. C took a sheet of stickers and a big fake plastic diamond and definately placed better items in the cache. We are ready to start making sig items instead of the dollar store stuff. I always have at least a couple of good trade items in case I find something decent (has happened once or twice in 127 caches). I also have no problem taking or leaving a travel bug or coin without swapping like for like. The only exception to this rule is if the cache is a TB hotel or if the CO specifically asks for like for like (coin for coin) trades. I have a TB and a coin that have moved nowhere because people won't take them if they don't have one to leave. Makes no sense as my trackables are out there to move - I could care less if someone takes one and moves it along and traded it for an old golf ball.

I like the idea of the machine as a trade item dispenser. My $.02 are - instead of stealing only coins the thiefs would steal the entire machine and the camera and my daughter who does not get out to cache very often likes the discover feature. She can see the coin, get the icon, and not have to worry about moving it along. She would be all for your idea though because her Travel Bug has been "missing" for months.

I am 43, my daughter is 10 and my dog is 6 so the average age is 19.67.

You could just put it in an envelope and mail it to Orange County Choppers care of the Discovery Channel.

Well I broke down and Bought a Holux GPSlim 236 on Ebay - $48.00 - SIRF III chipset - high serial number, WAAS on and Static Nav On out of the box. Works like a dream - cachemate with the cachenav plugin put me right on top on 2 local caches. Can't wait for the first "real " excursion. Also works perfectly with Delorme Street Atlas Handheld.

PX**** Waypoints are Child Waypoints for Parking.

I have been using Delorme's Topo USA product since the first release. I am currently using version 4.0 and an old copy of Xmap Handheld. I can use the inexpensive Street Atlas Handheld to uploa Topo maps to my palm. I will probably break down and buy the latest versions of both Street Atlas and TopoUSA - but - everytime I buy the new edition they release another one two days later. Delorme does not offer much in the way of upgrade discounts to previous version owners - ticks me off a bit but they seem to have the best, most fully featured product for my needs. As far as maps on the GPS - I use an old Garmin 12XL to find the loot and have been attaching it to an old Palm Vx with the handheld maps to find the best route in. Ordered a Holux Bluetooth GPS to try using a newer palm for everything. Will let you know how it works.

I have used an older Palm Vx with Street Atlas software and a Garmin GPSr . I used the PDA to get to the general area then relied on the GPSr to find the loot. I have upgraded to a Palm E2 which is running cachemate and Street Atlas Handheld. The E2 is Bluetooth enabled so I was hoping to be able to use the PDA-BT combo as the primary with the old 12xl as a backup. My questions are - is anyone having any luck at all with the BT units and if so which ones. I have seen several on eBay that are fairly reasonable. Thanks for your help.

Whenever I have a pesky DNF - after 2 or 3 tries I just take my 10 year old daughter with me and she finds it. I still have a couple local DNFs that I have been back to 3 or 4 times. One has had numerous DNFs from lots of experienced cachers so I don't worry about it.

You can do this as many others have said. The problem is, what are the "surveys" for. The accuracy of even the best consumer GPS unit is in no way good enough to locate points used for legal or construction purposes. GPS surveyors are using differential units which are also calibrated to known "benchmark" positions for <1cm accuracy. For a general overview the accuracy may be "good enough" but at the very least your points will be off by 6 to 9 feet, or a possible 10% error in every direction for a small lot.

Basically the same as above but I also include Bird Watching/Tree ID books for the area. I am surpised more people don't include a compass.

I almost always have a backpack with a Bird Identification Book and a Local Tree or Flower ID book. If I get questioned I tell them I'm looking for a Bird or tree that someone spotted in the area. Most people give you a strange look and leave you alone. We did have one nearby Cache - since archived - that was a "pickle park" as well as a drug spot. I did leave that one in a hurry.

No sunbathers but did catch a couple having a rather intimate picnic.

Good job - which palm and how'd you connect?

I am currently using a 12XL as the primary GPS, I have used this unit with a Palm III and a Palm Vx. I attached it using the Garmin to 9pin serial cable-to-null modem-to-gender changer-Palm serial hotsync cable. I recently got a Zire 31 so I could have color and the sd card (i read books on the device and store all of my work contacts and schedules). I tried connecting to the zire via USB - no combination of the 3 leads from the garmin cord (data in, data out, ground) would let me see the unit on the Zire. I have a feeling I need to get 5 volts across the USB cable to make it work. A - Has anyone tried connecting this and if so, any luck? B - All of the cords I see that say they will work use an auto 12v as part of the system -I need a portable solution and was wondering if there is a battery powered option that will not fry the zire? Any input would be greatly appreciated.