PapaGPS
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Posts posted by PapaGPS
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Finding a cache, or hiding a cache that lots of people will find? Or maybe that very few will find?
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Google maps is pretty useless here for caches in the woods you get a nice little arrow right in the middle of a big green forest.
Yeah, that is true. And a good number of the caches I have looked up near me are in the woods.
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And he was an excellent teacher - PMuir.
Everybody had a good time. It was taught at a local library, and maybe 15 people were there.
What was covered in the presentation? How long was it? And how was it presented - Power Point presentation? Cache container examples?
It was an hour of chat / PP presentation. Yes all containers were discussed. And it was followed up by going out to find 5 caches at a local library / park. He even went and showed people what to watch out for... like poison ivy ( there was poison ivy at one of the caches ). He's a fine representative on geocachers in general, and a good forum member. He didn't push the forum on people, but rather, he just showed what the forum allows as both a paid and non paid member.
And pretty darn funny, to boot!
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And he was an excellent teacher - PMuir.
Everybody had a good time. It was taught at a local library, and maybe 15 people were there.
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Thanks all... and as some of you know, I just bought a garmin about 10 days ago. And it is working fine. So I will think about whether I want to buy the cable and get it to work.... if I can, my kids will get their own GPS to share.
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Old fashioned. *sigh* You make me feel old.
Does the connector look something like this?
If so, that's a serial connector. Like knowschad mentioned, you'll need a USB to serial adapter that works on your operating system. I've used them in the past, and they're a little... temperamental. The adapter costs around $10.
Here's an example on Amazon. I have not tried this one, it is just to show you what they look like.
Edit : forgot to mention that you'll need to look for software. Looks like EasyGPS will work with it (if you're running Windows).
Software for what? Other than the CD it came with?
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My wife came home from work today with a GPS that she paid $10 for it. It's called a Magellan Meridian Gold. She bought it from a divorced woman whose ex husband said he wanted to geocache, but never did... Finally, after having it in her home for the last 5 years she decided to get rid of it.... and so my wife gave her 10 bucks for it. He must have wanted to go because there were 2 batteries in it. Thing is, it has some old fashioned PC connector cable that I am not even sure my computer has. It also has a soft case and the CD, plus the manual.
But at $10, I'm not even sure it was a bargain if I can't use the cable.
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My question is WHY are people concerned what muggles think? If it is police or security, I will tell them. I would probably tell anybody who asked? Are you ashamed to be doing what you're doing? Or is it that you worry people will steal the caches?
I have now seen 2 caches, and neither one would make me want to mess with it if I wasn't geocaching.
I know... I must be naive. But I think like 95% of the people who don't geocache couldn't care less. But then again, I am in the suburbs.
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BTW, I am *HOPING* I can get my wife to join us. We could both use the 3 mile walks, if not more.
I will say this, I will not judge anybody I haven't met, but the only person I do know who caches is a buddy of mine from another state.... to call him "quirky" would be a huge understatement... but he is also one heckuva nice guy.
As far as the number of folks who don't use this site? Well, I believe that most don't, but without this site, I probably would not have even taken the first steps in this hobby. I tend to research things to death before making a commitment to anything.
Anyway, thank you all for your answers and your helpfulness.
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lol.... geocaching in McDonalds
, and then hanging out in the forums 
!You are not making very good choices.
I don't understand this post. I was just having lunch, and happened to have my GPS around my neck. Maybe your humor is too dry for me?
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So, I am at McDonald's today getting lunch. I have my Garmin around my neck when a guy comes up and asks if I geocache. I told the guy that I was brand new to it, and was enjoying it so far. And THAT set the guy off. He told me in 2 -3 minutes, that most geocachers are jerks - he said he used to be one himself - and way to competitive, with too many jerks who suck the life right out of all the fun. He then told me to get out before I get hooked.
Next he asked me if I had been to a big event with other cahcers. When I said that I had not, he said, "Good, if you keep it that way, you might still be able to enjoy it." And at that point his meal came and he said goodbye.
I can already tell from the forums, that to some degree, Geocaching is competitive, which I never would have guessed. But so far, I have been nothing but treated nicely - even as a total noob.
What would you say to what I just typed?
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So, it went down to 89 degrees tonight and I let the kids find it.... However they might not have as my daughter would not listen to me when I kept saying over and over "follow the arrow."..... Since I had pre-found it, I knew exactly where it was. The only bad part was that I tried to be a nice guy and invite the girl from next door. She came, but was fairly obnoxious and wanted to take everything in the cache. I don't know if I will ever invite her again. OTOH, my kids loved it and behaved for me. This was a cemetery cache, and the young girl had no respect for the graves.
On the PLUS SIDE, my kids had a blast and asked if we could do more tonight, but I only planned on doing one, so that is all we did. Sadly, I did not know that there was one about 500 yards away from the one I did, or we would have done that one too.
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I wanted to take my kids out tonight to find our first cache, but it is 97 degrees and pretty humid, so I decided to wait. Turns out that I was super close to where the cache was hidden, so i decided to "pre-find" it so that my kids aren't disappointed. So, I went and found it. The GPS had me within about 5' of where the actual cache was. This particular one was TOO EASY for an adult, but I think my kids will be thrilled. I picked up the cache, just to make sure it was the cache, then put it back just like I found it. If the heat breaks I will bring the kids and then we will officially "find" it.
It was / is pretty cool. I am pretty sure this will become a hobby of ours.
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In fact, LOL, I was just that stupid. All is OK now.... now I just have to read the manual to see how to sue it. Thank you.
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Make sure the hcx is turned on and at the map screen, then plug in the usb. you should hear the computer make the sound that it found the hardware, and then your software will use it. it's also worth opening google earth or easygps to see if it will find the garmin device.
You know, I may have been that stupid! I didn't remember hearing the sound.
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How about this link?
www8.garmin.com/manuals/eTrexLegendHCx_OwnersManual.pdf
Thanks. It will do until I find my own.
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Just bought a new Garmin eTrex Legend HCx Personal Navigator. I let my daughter have the book to look at it, and now I can't find the book.
Anyway, I downloaded the garmin communicator and the USB drivers, and attached my GPS to my comp via USB. When I want to download to GPS it says device not found. So I try again.... still not found. The dl did say it was sucessfully isntalled.
Can someone help me figure out what I am not doing right? I am usually REALLY GOOD with just figuring stuff out on my own by playing around, but not this time. As soon as i find my book I will read it cover to cover, but for now I am lost. My kids are off from school on Tuesday, and it is their birthday,and I wanted to take them geocaching. Thanks.
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I would like to second the Garmin eTrex Venture HC. We only use it for geocaching and it works fine. It's cheap, light, has good battery, and can geocache. For $130 I would say that's a pretty good deal and the most bang for your buck in terms of how much it costs.
We decided we wanted a "real" gps. so we went and ordered a Garmin eTrex Legend HCx Personal Navigator. Thanks to all for the help so far. I am sure I will be asking more questions, though we also bought a geocahing book from amazon with the GPS. ( real as opposed to a Geomate, that is )
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who has bought this..?
Sadly, and I missed it, my local Target store was discontinuing these. They had them for $35!!!! I didn't know until it was too late. My wife went to get me one and they said they shipped the remainng too back the day before.
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I was curious as we are buying a GPS to use with my kids. That map mostly shows east of Conshohocken. We live near Valley Forge. Do the caches go west of Conshohocken, too? We haven't done any geocaching yet, but we are going to a 2.5 hour class at the Lower Providence Library in June. We have a geomate jr, but will be getting a "real" GPS before the class as soon as we can decide on what to buy.
They run all the way to the Rt422 bridge along the trail. That is the boundary to VF park. None have appeared yet on the trail west of the park, but I guess it i just a matter of time.
Perfect. We can take our bikes to VF, and then head east on the trail.... hopefully there are some before Norristown as my kids don't have the stamina to go that far an back.
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The geomate doesn't even show a cache that I know is 4/10 a mile away. I have not updated it, as I didn't even know you could.... no instruction manual was given.
Only certain caches are loaded in the Geomate.
eg. Easy to find caches, and ones that are older and have been around- and will be around- for a while.
Harder caches and new caches have to be loaded with the update kit.
Yeah, I guess the person told me it has 250,000 caches pre-loaded, so I assumed it would have the one I know about.
Thanks all... as you can see, I really know nothing about this, but want to go with my kids.
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Thanks for the replies....
The geomate doesn't even show a cache that I know is 4/10 a mile away. I have not updated it, as I didn't even know you could.... no instruction manual was given.
I live near Valley Forge National Park..... along the Schuykill River Trail, which I read here is LOADED with caches.
My girls will be 10 in early June....
None of us has ever geocached before.... well, I went with someone who did once. But I didn't do it. Just looking for a new way to bring the family close together for some fun!
I did see this one.... and was wondering about it: Garmin eTrex HC -- right now on Amazon for $130.
We have 2 Motorola Droids.... the original ones.
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Hey all,
We have a geomate jr that was given to us. I don't think it works ( it was used ). We are scheduled to attend a geocahing seminar at our local library in June. Their birthday is June 7th. So I would like to get them a GPS ASAP. Budget is $150 or less because nobody has even done this in our family, and we don't even know if we will like it.
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I was curious as we are buying a GPS to use with my kids. That map mostly shows east of Conshohocken. We live near Valley Forge. Do the caches go west of Conshohocken, too? We haven't done any geocaching yet, but we are going to a 2.5 hour class at the Lower Providence Library in June. We have a geomate jr, but will be getting a "real" GPS before the class as soon as we can decide on what to buy.
, and then hanging out in the forums 
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Switched to an iPad 2...
in How do I...?
Posted
Well, I have a 3g iPad... and it is awesome for writing my GPS notes while in the bathroom.
I also have a geomate but I never really used it, but plan to get the update kit and then we will. But I love my Garmin legend.
There is an old saying from some TV commercial..... "The right tools for the right job". I can make my kitchen knife do the job of a screwdriver, but it sure ain't pretty! Anyway, best of luck to you, and I am no expert, but I don't think I would have picked an iPad2 for geocaching.