Team Periwinkle

This is proper operation. The Geocaching Dashboards ALWAYS display geocaching information, not waypoint information. OK, that makes sense, kind of...That sounds like a 'letter of the law' interpretation (by Garmin) rather than a practical one...although I guess I can see a benefit of showing nearby geocaches while you're navigating to a non-geocache related waypoint. I still think the dashboard should give you nav data for the waypoint (especially when the waypoint is cache related). But I see the logic. Why not create separate profiles, one for Geocaching, another for Hiking, etc? Good idea. I had thought of it but dismissed it because it's pretty easy to change data fields. But changing profiles (once they are setup) is even fewer keystrokes...even if the Garmin interface / firmware / menus can be somewhat clunky sometimes, they do have a lot of power! This is the time elapsed since you last logged a found geocache with this GPSr unit. Fantastic! Where is that documented? Thanks Atlas Cached!

OK, I just upgraded to 4.60 and tried to put it through it's paces with regards to the Geocaching dashboard, since that it what was causing me (and others) some problems. FYI, this is all on a GPSMAP 78sc with the Garmin Northeast 24K Topo displayed. Most settings are middle / average (zoom, detail, etc.). I'm in the Geocaching profile, but I have customized it a bit. Anyway: I was NOT able to reproduce the 'sudden power' down / lockup problem that I was having on previous firmware versions. It was similar to what is described in this thread: http://forums.Ground...6 It appears that 4.60 has fixed that problem. However, I am still having trouble with the "Geocaching" dashboard. It is really weird... If I scroll around with the arrow keys and find a 'daughter' waypoint (like a parking area) for a geocache, and "GO" to that waypoint, the map screen back at my current position will not update. Zooming in or out doesn't redraw the view, so it appears pixelated when zooming in. Here is what I mean: Isn't that crazy? It is easy to fix - simply pressing the MENU button and then QUIT redraws the map, and then it looks nice: In addition to this problem, I think that the map redraws (even when not trying to navigate to anything) with the Geocaching dashboard displayed are slower than with any other dashboard or with other data fields displayed. Other than that, I can't find any problems with 4.60 (but I haven't gone out in the field yet). The problems documented above do NOT occur when using the Geocaching - Detail dashboard: Also, I have verified something that I haven't had much experience with, but is confirmed in other threads. When navigating to a waypoint (not a cache), both Geocaching dashboards display the title, bearing, and distance to the closest cache, NOT the bearing, distance and title of the waypoint. For example, in the two screen shots directly above, I'm NOT navigating to "Icarus Regrets..." - I'm navigating to waypoint CS3EJ64. However, when you are navigating to any actual geocache, the dashboard (both geocaching types) will show the title, distance and bearing to the geocache you're navigating to. Example: In the screen shots above, I'm not navigating to the closest geocache, but the dashboard gives me the info I need. To work around the problem with the dashboard giving unhelpful information when I'm navigating to a waypoint, I figured out that I can just go to setup map and change the data fields displayed. Then I get good and useful information: Hope this helps someone! Dave _________________ EDIT: What in the world is the time displayed in the very small font at the bottom of the Geocaching - Detail dashboard? In the screen shots above, it is "54 hr 38 min" - what have I been doing for that long? I have tried to figure that out before, but I'm stumped. Perhaps it is the time it took for me to put together this post?

This has always been the case. To avoid confusion, set the GPS to only show the dashboard when not navigating. I upgraded to 4.60 and have posted my thoughts / findings on this thread: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=304315

I upgraded to 4.52 beta and I'm still having problems with the geocaching dashboard. Such as: - when navigating to a daughter waypoint of a particular geocache, the map won't update (blank screen except for dashboard) - slow refresh time for entire unit when dashboard displayed - the dashboard shows the title of the closest geocache, even when 'navigating' to another one With the geocaching dashboard turned off, everything works fine. I have reported this to the Garmin beta e-mail address. Dave

I got my Garmin GPSMAP 78sc at West Marine during a pre-holiday sale. They are currently advertising the 78sc at $350 and the 78 at $200. 78sc http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=495792&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50157&subdeptNum=50177&classNum=50179 78 http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=495788&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50157&subdeptNum=50177&classNum=50179 Remember that the 78 has the same software / screen as the 62.

+1 Never play with fire is a good guideline - besides the risk to the forest or the McMansions, I think the risk of burns or catching clothes on fire is a good reason never to encourage playing with fire.

From the "Videos" page of geocaching.com: I guess I'm the other extreme...I'm using a GPS that supports paperless 'caching and custom KMZ maps so I always have a real-time trail map displayed on my device. I'm never wondering which trail takes me to the cache! But on the other hand, I'm probably one of the few geocachers who can use a sextant...and probably one of the few geocachers who had memorized (from usage!) the declination and right ascension of certain stars, back in the day. So if I had to, I probably could navigate to a cache without a GPS. But I love the technology aspect of 'caching! Dave

you should post a page for it with a link to your page at gpsfiledepot.com

From this page: http://www.geocaching.com/about/guidelines.aspx "When you go to hide a geocache, think of the reason you are bringing people to that spot. If the only reason is for the geocache, then find a better spot." – briansnat I know I'm throwing fuel on this fire, and I know this is slightly off the point of this thread, but is there a particular reason to have a geocache here?

You can also import pocket queries into CacheSense. BTW, CacheSense is awesome and a really great app for those of us still hanging onto our Blackberries. I primarily use pocket queries loaded onto my Garmin GPSr, but CacheSense is nice for getting 'live' access to the most up-to-date info - either a cache published after I generated (and copied to the GPSr) my most recent PQ, or to check on the logs (or even status) of a cache after I generated my most recent PQ. Dave

Or you could travel back in time to about 1640, when declination would have been about zero for areas of the US with 14 degrees declination now. Then, your GPS compass set to True North would point the same way as your magnetic compass. ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/Historic_UFM_maps/Historic_Mercator_Maps/Dec_1640.pdf (main page: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/declination.shtml) But inventing a time machine and remembering to bring enough batteries to the year 1640 is probably more trouble than just changing the setting on your GPSr. Or you could wait a few hundred thousand years until the magnetic poles swap. Then your magnetic compass would point south and your Cub Scouts would be really confused! Not to mention they would be really old Cub Scouts...

These (garmin.openstreetmap.nl) maps are routable, do they have the same trail information? Wow. That's cool. Yes, trail information is there AND ROUTABLE. At least in the one little parcel of conservation land that I'm looking at. Again, for this one place, it appears that the trails on garmin.openstreetmap.nl are identical to what I see on www.openstreetmap.org. Thanks! More maps more fun!

Here is a repeat of something i have posted before regarding OSM: I was looking at an area with a lot of trails but no PDF/JPG or any kind of trail map that I could find anywhere to use to make a KMZ (custom map). The trails I wanted are on http://openstreetmap.org, so I started poking around to see if there was a way to get those onto my GPSr. The solution was amazing: 1) go to http://www.osmmaps.com/ 2) download the IMG / zip file - took 3 hours, so I let it run overnight 3) Unzip the IMG file - for me, the US file was / is 3.5 GB (yes, gigabytes) 4) rename the IMG file (since my Garmin GPS supports multiple IMG files) 5) copy the IMG file to the "\garmin" folder on the SD card in my GPS 6) "Enable" the OSM map on the GPS 7) At this point, I couldn't see the trails on my GPSr that I could see on the openstreetmap.org website. I figured I was out of luck...but... So this step may only apply to my GPS (GPSMAP 62/78 series), but perhaps there are similar steps for other Garmin GPSr: go to SETUP MAP, ADVANCED MAP SETUP, DETAIL, select MOST, and bingo! I now have the entire US version of openstreetmap.org on my GPSr, including all the trails you can see on that website. Absolutely amazing. Caveats: I have read that the OSM map is a snapshot from ~2006 census data files, and there are some known inaccuracies in the data, especially in the Western US. OSM seems to be fine for me here in the NE, but buyer beware. This IMG file is not transparent, so I can't see any other IMG files at the same time. I received directions on how to make it transparent, but I haven't yet. This IMG file has no topo contours (and since it isn't transparent, I can't see the contours from my other IMG file, even with both of them enabled). This IMG file is not a routable map. ________________________________

I went through the same process when I got my Garmin GPSMap 78sc (which is the marine version of the 62 - same software and screen appearance). I tried every free topo map I could find - most of them were from gpsfiledepot, but I found some others. I played with profiles, detail levels, and lots of different settings. I did the trials of BirdsEye - both the satellite imagery and the topo maps. I eventually purchased the Garmin 24K topo maps (DVD version) and I'm very pleased with my decision. A lot of this depends on where you are - there appears to be superior / fantastic / beautiful topo maps on gpsfiledepot for some of the western states. Here in New England, there are some great free topo maps available on gpsfiledepot, and kudos to the contributors who created them, but I was not satisfied with them. If you aren't willing to spend the $$ on teh Garmin 24K, they would be great and very workable solutions. As I recall, and I could be wrong, the Garmin 24K topo offered more / tighter contour spacing than anything I was able to find for free (in my area). All of my custom KMZ map pages show a sample screenshot of the KMZ by itself and the KMZ with the 24K topo turned on. So they aren't screenshots of just the 24K topo, but you can get a flavor of what the topo contours on a Garmin 24K topo look like: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/byuser/13384/ This one has an example at two different zoom levels: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/569/ I have not used the routable feature of the 24K topo, but it is routable. Dave

http://www.geocaching.com/notify/default.aspx It is kind of hard to find without the direct link. I get there by going YOUR PROFILE -> QUICK VIEW -> MEMBER FEATURES -> Instant Log Notification Feature

Hey! I like it! I agree that usually google will lead to the answer, but your idea saves clicks. Good setup instructions - works perfect for me. Thanks! Dave

recommend reading this http://www.markwell.us/pq.htm

Did you try these? http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/154/ http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/150/ I don't know anything about the ETrex, but the GPSMAP 62 series has ~1.7 GB of internal memory...and your 62s has a Micro SD slot for additional memory. Dave

This thread sent me down a path of exploration...I have a GPSMAP 78sc, which has the same firmware (so the same menus, functions, etc.) as the 62 series. Caveats: 1) I only have 40 finds, so I don't care about them 'taking up space' on my GPSr. 2) I typically load 5 pocket queries, each with just under 1000 caches. I'm using a set of queries, restricted by date, similar to the instructions under "tips and tricks" at the link below so that I get all ~5000 caches within ~30 miles of my home loaded on my GPSr. http://www.markwell.us/pq.htm 3) Most, but not all, of my 40 finds are included in the 5 pocket queries that I use. In other words, I don't have "my finds" excluded from the PQs. Guess I could; just never gotten around to editing the PQ. 4) I don't use the GPSr to 'log' my finds. In other words, although I might select the 'found' button on the GPSr after I arrive at a cache, I don't type log entries into the GPSr and then I don't upload the find to geocaching.com from the GPSr. I manually log the find on the website. 5) I'm not using GSAK or anything else to manipulate the PQ. So, previous to today, I noticed a number of issues: 1) If "Profile" is set to "Geocaching" on the GPSr, when navigating to a cache, a custom information dashboard is displayed. One of the fields, in the lower right corner of the 'dashboard' displays the number of finds. After marking a cache as 'found,' this number will increment by one. However, this number has never matched my real number of finds. 2) I figured this number was somehow linked to a list of found caches in either of these two files: 'geocache_visits.txt' or 'geocache_logs.xml.' Both files are in the \Garmin subdirectory. 3) Most of my 'found' caches showed up as 'open treasure boxes' on the map screen of the GPSr, even caches I found before I even owned the GPSr (similar to the situation of the OP). That's as far as I got, until I saw this thread and figured I would do some digging to see what is going on. 1) The 'caches found' count can be changed manually by going to SETUP->GEOCACHES->FOUND GEOCACHES. 2) The 'caches found' count is not stored in geocache_visits.txt nor geocache_logs.xml. I deleted both those files from my GPSr and it did not change the counter value. 3) The 'caches found' count is not calculated from the number of 'found' caches in a PQ / GPX file combination. With no GPX / PQ files on my GPSr, the counter value still displayed what I set it at. 4) I couldn't figure out where the counter value is stored. I think it might be in a system.db file - that was the only file that had a modified date that was close to the time that I manually changed the value when I was playing around. The OP didn't ask about this 'caches found' count, but I figured I would offer the above findings for future reference. 5) Neither the geocache_visits.txt nor geocache_logs.xml control the display of 'open treasure boxes.' The 'open treasure boxes' appear to be directly a result of the PQ / GPX loaded on the GPSr. So that's the real answer for the OP. If the cache is logged as found on geocaching.com, and the cache GPX or PQ GPX is generated and sent to the GPSr AFTER the cache is marked 'found' on geocaching.com, then the cache should appear as an 'open treasure box' on the GPSr map. I believe that marking a geocache as found on the GPSr will instantly change it's icon on the GPSr map to an 'open treasure box.' I don't know how the GPSr does that - does it actually edit the PQ GPX file? I'm no expert on the Garmin GPSr, so perhaps I'm missing something. But I'm relatively confident about the results I achieved. So, I have the following questions for the OP: 1) How are you getting the caches to show up on the GPSr? Are you loading a PQ or loading the caches directly / individually? 2) When / how often are you loading them to the GPSr? Is it possible you haven't updated your GPSr GPX files recently (since you found them)? 3) Do the caches from your 'android' days show up as found on geocaching.com for you? Dave

What kind of GPSr? Manufacturer and model? If Garmin, visit here: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com

http://www.mygeocachingprofile.com is pretty easy to setup and implement

Hmmm...the arrow pointing to the cache has nothing to do with the compass. The arrow pointing to the cache (or any waypoint) is the bearing and distance calculated by the GPS using the two known positions: the cache and the receiver (GPSr). If the GPSr gets erratic reception (due to poor GPS signal), then the position of the GPSr will 'jump' around, and therefore the calculated distance and bearing to the cache will change. And same thing here - tracks have nothing to do with the compass. The tracks feature shows the cululative position solutions of the GPSr over time. If the GPSr gets erratic reception (due to poor GPS signal), then the position of the GPSr will 'jump' around, and the track will show erroneous positions. So now that we know we don't have a problem with the compass (or, perhaps rather, the symptoms described above do not have anything to do with the compass), it is a possible problem with the GPSr, but to verify, I recommend the following: 1) stand in a wide open field or parking lot, where you can visually see all the way around 360 degrees to the horizon without signifigant obstructions. 2) Turn on the GPSr and let it acquire satellites and wait for a long time to let the position calcuation resolve itself. then wait more just to be sure you're getting locked onto all the satellites. 3) Look at the satellites screen to see how many and how strong a signal you are getting. Record that information. 4) Record the track and determine the radius / diameter of the position drift circle. There will be some expected wandering of the position solution even in the middle of the field with a clear view of the sky. Somebody probably knows what that diameter should be... Dave

Interesting ideas, thanks for them. And yes, I agree to a certain extent with not being able to control what people eat before going caching - we can never reduce risk to zero for anything we do - but I think avoiding using food containers as cache containers is a somewhat reasonable request that some people might be willing to entertain. Especially the CO's that only own a handful of caches - if you own 1000 caches and are trying to reduce the cost of purchasing all those ammo cans, I can understand using food containers since they are free. And in that case, it would be helpful as Luckless suggested to note in the cache description that the container is a food container. We always carry the epi-pens since we can't reduce risk to zero. And I'm not expecting risk to go to zero, just offering a suggestion of a potential idea to mitigate / reduce some of the risk that can be mitigated relatively easily. Dave

Here is a great way to get a very good, very detailed, free street / trail map of the entire United States, repeating another post I made somewhere else: ___________________________ I was looking at an area with a lot of trails but no PDF/JPG or any kind of trail map that I could find anywhere to use to make a KMZ (custom map). The trails I wanted are on http://openstreetmap.org, so I started poking around to see if there was a way to get those onto my GPSr. The solution was amazing: 1) go to http://www.osmmaps.com/ 2) download the IMG / zip file - took 3 hours, so I let it run overnight 3) Unzip the IMG file - for me, the US file was / is 3.5 GB (yes, gigabytes) 4) rename the IMG file (since my Garmin GPS supports multiple IMG files) 5) copy the IMG file to the "\garmin" folder on the SD card in my GPS 6) "Enable" the OSM map on the GPS 7) At this point, I couldn't see the trails on my GPSr that I could see on the openstreetmap.org website. I figured I was out of luck...but... So this step may only apply to my GPS (GPSMAP 62/78 series), but perhaps there are similar steps for other Garmin GPSr: go to SETUP MAP, ADVANCED MAP SETUP, DETAIL, select MOST, and bingo! I now have the entire US version of openstreetmap.org on my GPSr, including all the trails you can see on that website. Absolutely amazing. Caveats: I have read that the OSM map is a snapshot from ~2006 census data files, and there are some known inaccuracies in the data, especially in the Western US. OSM seems to be fine for me here in the NE, but buyer beware. This IMG file is not transparent, so I can't see any other IMG files at the same time. I received directions on how to make it transparent, but I haven't yet. This IMG file has no topo contours (and since it isn't transparent, I can't see the contours from my other IMG file, even with both of them enabled). This IMG file is not a routable map. ________________________________ The only way that I found to test out maps was to download them and try them out on the GPSr. For me, here in New England, I eventually decided to pay the $$ for the Garmin 24K Topo Series, and I'm happy with my decision. And I tried a LOT of free maps before that, most of them from gpsfiledepot. Regards Dave

Most of the geocachers reading this thread probably clean their jars to a level of cleanliness that effectively mitigates the allergy concern. But I'll bet there are lots of geocachers who never read these forums, and might not clean their containers to the same level of cleanliness. So the problem is, if I'm out geocaching with my son, who has a severe PB and nut allergy - how do I know the CO is one of the good ones? And am I really going to risk it in the middle of the woods - even if you labeled the outside of the container "cleaned with bleach"? I'm certainly not going to open the jar to find out what's inside, and risk getting something on my hands, presumably far away from running water and soap. So we'll have to skip any caches that look like they might be PB jars. And that's too bad - my son doesn't like his allergy and doesn't like having to bypass lots of things (certain ice cream, candy, etc.) that other kids get to do. So, even if you clean your jar with bleach and get it certified as clean, I'll be stuck with a DNF. And I know that sometimes you have to walk away from finds due to various reasons - I'm OK with that. But this seems to me to be something a little different. Please don't use anything that looks like a PB jar as a cache container! My daughter has PB, tree nut, milk, dairy, egg allergies (not lactose intolerance or celiac disease - she has a severe dairy allergy), so actually I would like to revise my request to: Please don't use anything that previously was used to hold ANY food as a cache container! Thanks Dave