dartymoor

Sadly, nothing appears to have been done to address this issue. GZ don't bother reading and responding to the forums any more, even when there's a forum specifically for reporting website issues?

That sucks.

Filing an archive log now immediately Archives the cache permanently. Previously, the site would sensibly ask "Are you sure?". Now it does not - goes straight to archive with no verification of intent. Given how easy it would be to select the wrong Log type, I believe this is an essential feature that should be reinstated. (Using new log form, not the depreciated "opt out" one. Unsure if this has always been present with the new form or a recent bug as I don't often archive my caches.)

The 1.50k maps are pretty poor on a GPSr, and the cache icons disappear into the backgrounds. Personally, I use the Talkie Toaster OSM derived maps, which are free, for my Garmins. UK coverage is very good on these and they are very clear on small devices. https://talkytoaster.me.uk/ I have the 50k loaded as well, only used for the odd legality-check, but 99% of my time I use OSM (and contribute back to it as well!)

Any cache can be magnetic with a magnet glued to it. I've got various 'Small' size caches with magnets out, and plenty I've found have been very cleverly concealed with magnets. (Think fake branches stuck onto a tree) But why do you think they must all be magnetic? Even in urban areas (which are probably the least good places to hide caches due to muggles and often rubbish/undesirables) - here are options. Perhaps find a few more caches in a wider area to get more ideas rather than rushing to get your own out? Don't get me wrong - hiding is great and the positive feedback from finders is enjoyable, but please follow the guidelines on the main pages and find a place you want to bring people to, then they'll enjoy it more and write nicer stuff!

Ammo cans aren't a good idea on military areas (Such as large parts of Dartmoor) for very obvious reasons.

The Garmin Oregon 7xx series will download caches itself using an available Wifi connection.

That's a shame, although of course those caches already using them will continue to use them unless the CO updates it. But it's also a GOOD thing. There was a case where one of these checkers got taken over by an ad-serving site, and not only failed to provide its service, but added insult to injury by throwing adverts at you. See this for more info;

Hi VK - still got one of your caches active that I adopted. Answer: No, or if there is, it'll be out of date fairly quickly. Use the Leaflet option on the main geocaching map and select the OpenCycleMaps - they show the cycle routes very well. (OSM does too of course, but OCM highlights them) If you can't use them, try the Geocaching Map Enhancements - http://geo.inge.org.uk/gme.htm

I'm sorry - I've been watching this thread since you posted it to see if anyone would ask the obvious question, but I guess it's down to me... Why did you place a cache you didn't have permission for and have no ability/intention of maintaining?

https://www.geocaching.com/blog/2010/11/24-hour-epic-adventure-nets-more-than-a-1100-geocaches/ Not my idea of fun, but it takes all sorts.

If you go to openstreetmap.org, create an account and login - you can edit that location. When editing you'll see the full range of paths, including whatever is at that location. You can also fix that bit, as obviously it's incorrect if it's denoting a path of some sort. This is the strength of OSM (which includes Opencyclemap) - that users can fix anything they find that's not right. I find it interesting and often improve the map following a walk or cycle ride whilst caching.

Finally! Really pleased about this. The issue of accidental multiple-logging has got massively worse over the past few years, presumably from greater phone use and live-logging with poor signal. I'm quite tired of keeping my caches maintained by deleting multiple logs, so this is very welcome. (Also tired of some of the reactions of other cachers when I do so, even if I warn them first!) YOSM is the exception. Maybe there's a way to allow it for specific caches, but even if not, this is a very good decision and one that should have been in from the start.

Hi Simple answer: You can't. Longer answer: You can't unless the owner transfers it to you. If the cache is abandoned and not doable, then file a Needs Archived so a reviewer can check it and give the owner a chance to respond. If they don't, it'll be removed from the map allowing you to replace it.

That's... Actually quite impressive.

I stand happily corrected - I hadn't noticed that. Thanks.

I don't think so - at least, I've never found that functionality. The 7x series behaves very similarly as your 450 in that regard - new gpx or ggz files are scanned when it detects they've changed on startup, but they're all loaded into one big pool and the map is populated.

FWIW, an alternative logic is how GCDroid does (an android app). Right at the start it has an "Offline Caches" and an "Online caches" option. The former selects whatever local databases you've got set up (from PQ's, GSAK or manually added GPX files), the latter from live data via the API. I haven't checked but it may also modify things like logging (live or stored) Probably not useful for this context since it would require a full redesign of the UI for Garmin and they won't be keen on that, but it's a logic that's easily understood and keeps both types entirely separate.

Not exactly - as I was saying, in Classic mode you cannot change to another Profile or Activity. Yes, you can, i do it all the time. There is a shortcut that you can place in the main menu, it gives you the option to choose another profile. Or you create your own shortcut that with one click switches directly to the profile of your choice. I don't remember exactly where i found that already existing schortcut, somewhere in the drawer or you can add it when you are in the drawer, from there you place it in the main menu. Ah, thank you. That was the bit of info I was missing. I don't think it's as obvious as Atlas makes out - nowhere is that icon referenced in documentation nor in the setup menu unless you happen to see it. BTW, the 700 has crashed 3 times on me now, each time immediately after hitting "Find next cache". As crashes go it's less hassle than the 650's hang since you can just power up again, but still - I'm disappointed it's not as stable as it should be.

Not exactly - as I was saying, in Classic mode you cannot change to another Profile or Activity.

Perhaps you'd like to tell me where - because there's no Profile Manager icon and where the Profile section was in Setup is now replaced by Activities, which doesn't act like Profiles at all. (Unless you mean having to switch back into Activity mode to change and then back into Classic) Ah yes, that'll be it. I did have GPX/FIT enabled, but the only alternative is FIT and I prefer GPX. On the 4x and 6x products, you get to choose either or both, but not with the 7xx. Very strange omission and it means I'll have to continue creating two files for each trip.

My 650 froze so often I returned it to Garmin after 11 months. Many people said theirs was fine. Garmin replaced it with a brand new one - which did exactly the same thing. Sometimes I would be removing batteries and putting them back in 3 times an hour. (I'm fairly sure it's power related as when the batteries discharge somewhat it actually gets more stable) The 700 hasn't crashed once, touch wood. I was amused to see you mention the re-select same cache when hitting find next - mine did that too and I found the same solution you did. Interestingly, the 700 has this same behaviour - they haven't sorted that out. I have a fresh moan about the 700 - no way to access the waypoint manager (which I use to show distance from my last laid caches) from the Activities mode. I had to revert to Classic mode when laying a new trail today. As classic mode now has no Profiles, it's quite clumsy to have to switch back to activities if I want to change profile/activities. Also it seems to be saving two copies of each tracklog, one coloured as per settings, one not. And despite deleting them in Garmin Basecamp, they keep returning.

Last month the garmin let me down - I'd loaded caches from gsak as usual, tested they were all there, set it to the first one. I arrived and did the first cache, hit "Find next closest" (extremely useful feature) and... Nothing. It had lost every other cache. So I switched to the phone and C:Geo. I had to miss the next two caches as I climbed the hill far enough to get a signal, and c:geo took about 20 minutes of weak signal to load the 20 other caches I wanted to do, but it did so and I was able to rescue most of the day. I mention this because it was the first time I used C:Geo for an extended time and it wasn't as good for me - in fact I ended up copying the coords of each cache onto the garmin and setting them as a waypoint for navigating. The "Going backwards" issue is my assumption of why C:Geo would freeze. The screen would stop responding and eventually Android would give its "No longer responding, Wait/Close" warning and I had to bail out. I then learned that if I didn't go from cache to cache each time, instead navigating back from each cache once done to the first menu page, the crashes stopped. So I'm assuming, rightly or wrongly, that it's not freeing memory when used in the way I was doing so. (The phone is a Moto-G4, 2gb ram and plenty of onboard memory, everything else runs well) I don't want to be negative about c:geo because it's the best I've tried and it's truly awesome that it's free and not crippled with adverts. It's just... I don't find the interface as intuitive as Garmin (personal choice) although every feature I want is there, somewhere... It is difficult to be fair and impartial because each of us forms a strong routine for doing this stuff; we have a personal set of tools, systems and methods and there is probably a default negative position when we have to change from that routine. Much as I like tinkering with software and maps, I'd rather things worked perfectly and as I want them when I'm out and caching, allowing me to focus more on my surroundings than on the technology. My perfect system probably will never exist unless I write it, and its user base will be exactly 1 if I do.

I will answer that point in two ways; Firstly, I have never found an android app that is as good as the Oregon for offline caching. The basic geocaching interface on the Garmin is as good as I've seen - everything I expect and need is on the map or the geocaching sub-menu. I use C:Geo on my phone as a fallback, but I found it quite crashy especially if you forget to go backwards. I also paid for Neongeo which I really like for its live map, but it doesn't seem to be in active development any more. If you can recommend an Android app that is as good as the Garmin, uses OSM offline mapping and operates from .ggz files so I can store a lot of caches, and also does cache notes so that I can integrate nicely with GSAK for offline logging, I'll be very interested in trying it! (In fact, if Garmin made an app that replicated the Garmin's geocaching and tracking UI I'd probably pay and use that) Secondly - I have never used an android app that is as BAD as the oregon for ONLINE caching. The much vaunted "Live geocaching" aspect of the new 7xx range is very basic, and that's being kind. However, it is in its early stages and perhaps I shouldn't be so forgiving - but it may be a handy fallback for those days when you forgot to load a recent PQ/GGZ, or the caches got lost somehow.

A view from a new 700 owner, who has owned 450 and 650 models previously Activities are basically profiles, but now presented on the first screen and you can slide left and right to select which one. Like profiles, you can set every preference under settings and it locks to that activity. They switch much faster than profiles too (which on my 650 used to crash if the gps had been on for a while) Yes, you can add, delete, edit names and icons relating to them. Overall I think they will be better for many, but need some polishing yet. Some icons are old, some new, some bits are available in multiple places (saving tracklogs for example, is accessible under a slide-up menu on the map page and then you press 'Stop' to access a new save/delete page. The old menu is available, bizarrely, by sliding down and pressing the activity name on that menu. The cohesiveness of the UI is quite poor and I hope Garmin address this quickly. There are a lot of functionally different aspects. Caching itself works similarly, although with different (and to my taste, uglier) icons. Although I have been unable to mark a waypoint or access any of the other waypoint functions from any of the activity pages. (You can map the user key to open it, and the list of functions is now called the 'status page', which can also be mapped). Despite a lot of searching I haven't found a way to access waypoints from the activity menus anywhere. You can revert to 'classic' mode, but I'm not poking that as I want to give Activities more of a good try. There are "IQ Apps", but despite my loading them successfully, according to the Garmin Express software, they aren't showing as available. (Also, there is a very limited selection as yet) The "Geocaching live" works and shows a greater cooperation between Garmin and Groundspeak which has to be good. That said, it's not as well developed or refined as most smartphone apps. Battery life is reasonable, about the 6?? spec. A lot more free space on the internal memory, and uses a memory card in the same way as previous models. (For extra maps) Is the 700 worth the money? Honestly, it's a lot of cash and you could get a great smartphone for that if the live caching is a big thing for you. I prefer to have a separate gps device (battery and ruggedness reasons, mostly) but the gap is less than it was. I wanted to replace my 650 which has done well, but has always been a bit crashy and recently has lost caches halfway through a trip. Overall I wouldn't say jump to this from a 6?? range. If all of the design and UI improvements had been made before release and it hung together in an intuitive way I'd be a lot more positive, but it just doesn't. I don't exactly have buyers remorse, but I don't have buyer's elation either...