awdemuth
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Posts posted by awdemuth
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Garmin 78 series. The power button is with the rest of the buttons on that unit, not on the side. Identical to the 62 series firmware wise. Floats in the water but rarely gets mentioned.
I didn't know that this existed. It looks like all the buttons are semi-rigid (the kind that extreme use wears away the print but the buttons still work). Is this the case?
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Topic description says it all!
Earlier this year, we had a day's work ruined by my co-workers eTrex20J GPS unit failing due to saltwater ingress at the power button just before we arrived near our dive site after a 3 hour boat ride (therefore 3 hours back, with no data collected). I chalked this up to possible unit abuse, and not knowing how old the unit was.
Also recently, I've made friends with a guy that runs a de-mining operation. When I asked him about what GPSrs they use, he said that they use Oregons and eTrex 30's. He loves that they are bomb proof (something he would know about) except for the power buttons that crack, let water in and eventually give out. I chalked this up to his crew taking the units bushwhacking through jungles, crawling through caves, digging up bombs and all the other hardcore things that these guys do.
Then just the other day, I thought my power button on my eTrex 20 felt mushy. I didn't think much of it: I take care great care with my GPSr, it lives in a small pouch unless I'm looking at it, I keep it safe from saltwater spray, rinse it off when it does get wet, that sort of stuff. I assumed it still had years of life in it. Then today, after closer inspection, I find a crack in the rubber power button! Now, I've had mine for 4 or 5 years, and I don't feel like my particular unit owes me anything, but since I'm looking at another GPS unit (cost of Garmin repair plus shipping here is nearly the price of a new eTrex20), I can't help but feel a bit of trepidation about Garmin and their power buttons woes.
Are there any Garmin units that don't have that soft rubber button on the side of the case? Is there anything I can do to increase the lifespan of said button (on a new unit). I'd hate to drop $200 on a new unit to be facing the same problem a few years down the line.
It seems as though Garmin is the only real name in the game. Magellan units seem older and I have heard about their unreliability, and Delorme is Garmin now, so that's likely a no go. Am I missing some underdog out there?
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Batteries in a very long night cache. I traded my two dead Eneloops (with a piece of duct tape around them that said "discharged") for a much needed pair of fresh generic heavy duty AAs. Beyond that, I rarely ever even look at the swag.
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Clever containers in urban environments are my favorite. I love caches that are clearly visible. You see them when you are searching and immediately dismiss them, then something that looks off makes you look once more and find it. The really good ones make you think "nah, it couldn't be... But maybe... Nah, no way... Oh. There it is!" Even better are the ones that take some tinkering to open. These are few and far between, but finding these is what really keeps me going. Bigger is better, but I don't mind log only micros if they are truly clever hides. I've only found a half a dozen or so of these in my career, but the ingenuity is inspiring enough to keep me trudging through the dozens of uninspired caches I find in the city in between the great hides.
Cool locations are second on my list. Heck, I learned I had a tiny little park tucked away that was less than a half a mile from my house. Geocaching is a great tool to help you learn about, and your way around a new city.
Least favorites: needle-in-a-haystack hides and hides in thorny bushes. I'll spend about two minutes crawling on a rock covered embankment looking for a rock shaped cache "hidden" among the hundreds of other rocks that are within the accuracy radius of my GPSr. A bison tube that was dropped into some evergreen landscaping at your neighborhood park? I won't even lift a branch of it. I probably won't even mark it DNF, as that would take more effort than was put into the "hide".
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I'll maintain a cache. I said it, and I'll face the wrath of those CO's that abhor such activity.
Other than in the forums, I have not come across any cache owner complaining that someone added a logsheet to their cache. I have read other cachers complaining, but that's only when people kept stuffing in new logsheets until the cache is too full, making it difficult to remove.
Nail shank - haven't thought of using that. I just use the straight sections of a paper clip. I find that toothpicks work better anyway (unless you need it to be magnetic), the glue binds to it better.
Well, good. It's food for thought, though, and good food at that. cerberus1 and Lone.R, I appreciate your insight and feelings about this, you certainly aren't the only ones, and it's something I will be taking into consideration.
Paperclip - haven't thought of using that!
I just used the nearest disposable I had in my shop the first time I made one, which was a brad nail. I've been using them ever since, never giving alternatives any thought. I bet those paperclips snip a whole lot easier than brads. -
We respond with a mention in a log, not waiting for a NM.
We've found lately that many don't bother to mention a cache fix or log replacement (in others hides), maybe believing that it's just something they're supposed to do.
- That pic in the newsletter tells new folks it's okay, yet many think (and I'm one...) it's not.
They're my caches, not Groundspeak's.
If they're not gonna be responsible for 'em. they shouldn't tell others it's okay to fix 'em as needed without my okay.
If I find one of your caches and find the logsheet full (or damaged), and I add a logsheet to the cache, did not remove any old logsheets / logbook, and mentioned in my log "Log is full, added a logsheet" - would you consider that to be inappropriate behavior?
Many don't log that it is full/wet/damaged. I've been to many sites where the log strip is overflowing. Yet, none of the last 6 cachers that had to smoosh their name and date in between lines bothered to mention it in their logs. I've even seen "Cache is in good shape" by someone who squeezed their name in. I know there's more to cache ownership than waiting for someone to tell you there's something wrong, and one cannot simply count the logs since their last replacement (some people don't log online), but there lies a bit of a burden on the finder to try to notify the owner or at least other cachers of a cache in need of maintenance in your online log (offline loggers need not apply), or at least be truthful about cache condition.
I'll maintain a cache. I said it, and I'll face the wrath of those CO's that abhor such activity. If the log is wet, I'll unfold it and wait for it to dry. I'll dry out the container too. I'll replace the bag it was in if it's old and leaky. If a micro or nano is full, I'll replace it. Yep. I'll take the old one out and replace it. I have nice, printed micro and nano logs taped and rolled up around a nail shank or toothpick ready to drop in. If I have Rite in the Rain, I'll use that, if not, paper it is. I scan the log, contact the CO to tell them what maintenance I've done, and to see if they want a copy of their log sheet, and if they do, I'll offer to mail them the log as well.
I appreciate it when somebody patches up a cache of mine, even if it's bandaid for a broken arm, as long as they tell me about it,. I've had magnets fall off that someone tried to tape back on. It didn't work, but I appreciated the effort. What I didn't appreciate is that there was no mention of it at all.
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I cached for years via paper, then moved to a PDA, but never posted them (ans subsequently lost it all in a housefire). Back in the paper days, I kept quite a bit of written information about the cache. Somehow, I felt that posting my caches was an invasion of privacy. Now, GC.com and you guys being able to guess what city I live in by my most frequently visited caches is the least of my concerns. Ahhh, complacency at it's finest.
I'm more spontaneous now, and don't really feel like keeping notes any longer, so it kind of works out for me, though I wish there was an easy way to keep pictures along with caches, but I don't really feel like shelling out the dough for a GPSr with a camera built in.
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I'm just saying...I've seen a lot of wasp/bees nests when searching for a cache in a guard rail (and under lamp posts skirts) and I've also seen a lot of wet logs in caches hidden in a guard rail or under a lamp post skirt.
I hadn't considered the idea that park maintenance might use a power washer to knock down wasps nest but that makes sense. Hopefully you'll find a good location for it.
Hmmm... I've never seen a wasp nest in a guard rail, maybe we have a different brand of wasp around here? True about wet logs in seemingly sheltered places, though.
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+1 to urban caches by bike (or on foot). You'd be surprised how much time parking a car takes away from caching, even when parking is readily available.
I usually just pick a spot that is cache dense, go directly to a cache that interests me, then pick one that is close and just walk there, trying to make a circle or square that leads back to my car. I can cover about the same number of caches on foot as I can by car if they are all less than a quarter mile from each other.
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Wow!! Nice! How's that made... 3D printer?
Yep. It felt like cheating just a bit, but once I stepped back and considered the hours spent sketching, measuring, modelling, printing, sanding, painting and finishing, it didn't seem so easy (though, I'll admit, I still feels just a tiny bit like cheating)
That container might work well in a shelter at a public park. It looks like it might not be very water resistant so it would need to be someplace protected from the elements otherwise, and as much as I hate to suggest this, it could work well as a guard rail cache.
Nope, not water resistant at all, but neither are wasp nests. Wasps rarely build someplace exposed, so placement is crucial, not just for the life of the logsheet inside, but for proper camouflage. It would only work in the winter as a park shelter hide. Parks and Rec come through with a pressure washer regularly in the summer to knock down the wasp nests. I don't mind replacing log sheets frequently, but I don't want to have to remake this every month during the summer. Fortunately, all I have to do is look where wasps like to build and find a similar spot.
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I'd love to hide this one, but I've been smacked down a couple of times by a local reviewer on placement, so I'm just not feeling it any more and have moved on to new ideas. I'm actually so over it that I haven't picked it up from my last attempted placement, over 4 months ago. I figure that will give it some durability testing, at least.
Hanging in my porch for a believability test.
Up close and personal.
Well, look at what we have here!
Hopefully I'll find just the right spot and it'll actually get approved.
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As a CO, I enjoy DNFs on my caches. It means I have a sneaky hide (or find out if the user wants a nudge in the right direction). When I'm looking for a cache, I like seeing them intermixed with Smiley's, it's kind of a way to see just how difficult a cache really is. (I really wish there was a way for the community to rate caches)
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I like to check up on my caches a bit more frequently than that, if anything, to see if they're in decent shape. My caches are usually a bit on the delicate side (ie, they're not bulletproof like a set-it-and-forget-it container needs to be) so I feel like I need to check up on them often. Glue fails, paint fades/wears, camo wears out, surroundings change, etc. I also try to hide mine so I can clearly see them from the street as I drive by to see if they're still there.
I suppose I can just head out tomorrow to see if I can find and measure a new GC that is in a container I'm attempting to mimic. Never thought of that!
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I'm making my own container and can make the compartment any dimensions I want, however, due to the nature of the container, I would like the cavity to to be as small as possible, but still fit the largest "standard" log sheet that it can. I just want to make something that is field serviceable by a decently equipped cacher without much effort on their behalf (I've begrudgingly dropped a nano roll as a replacement into an odd sized pill capsule because it was entirely too short to fit any of the other log sheet sizes I had with me). The last cache container I made had a custom log sheet dimension because I didn't have internal measurements, and I decided it wasn't important enough to put off the designing of it until got dimensions of a real nano. I want this cache and my containers here on out to be a bit more refined, and would like to match the internal dimensions of commercially available containers.
I carry around a half a dozen replacements for most cache sizes. I know my nano rolls I are smaller in diameter because I print on letter paper, but they work when a log sheet is completely full or damaged until the owner can come out and make an "official" replacement. I prefer it when I can make a swap and have it be a permanent replacement, so the CO doesn't have to make a trip out just to swap a sheet of paper. Taping a strip of paper to a toothpick, winding it up, taping it off and clipping the toothpick with nail clippers makes for a quick, easy and cheap way to make nano rolls.
I wasn't aware that bison tubes were so drastically different, I knew that the keychain pill capsules varied quite a bit, but every bison tube I've run across seemed to be just about the same size. I guess I'll be adding cheap calipers to my caching bag, for curiosity's sake.
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After searching high and low here and with big G, I cannot find an answer. I tried to make the subject line easy to search with multiple terms so that the info could be easily available for future generations.
How large is the inside of a standard magnetic nano? Can somebody grab a set of calipers and measure the diameter of the cavity and how tall the log sheet is for us? If you have a Bison tube, can you do the same thing? Outside dimensions seem to be everywhere, but no mention of inside dimensions.
Thanks!
I just used the nearest disposable I had in my shop the first time I made one, which was a brad nail. I've been using them ever since, never giving alternatives any thought. I bet those paperclips snip a whole lot easier than brads.
Garmin power button woes
in GPS technology and devices
Posted · Edited by awdemuth
Early on, I became aware of DEET's blind hatred for plastics. At the young age of 6, I found it especially hated the plastic screen of the digital Transformers watch that I just I bought with my own money.
Due to the longstanding grudge between myself and DEET, I rarely feel like I need DEET, and when I do need DEET, there isn't any available, so I doubt that's it
I use sunscreen occasionally, though I never thought it would kill plastics - something to keep in mind. I doubt the de-mining crew uses either of those two. The locals don't seem to mind mosquitoes and are quite dark so they never use sunscreen, though I doubt the crew religiously cleans their GPS gear - I feel like people often think that ruggedized gear doesn't need maintenance or cleaning.
I have a ton of trust in the older Garmins. I loved my yellow eTrex until I sold it to upgrade to the eTrex legend. I feel like these eTrex's were bulletproof by simplicity, I gave my Legend to a buddy (who still uses it to this day) as an introduction to Geocaching when I bought my eTrex 20. I still have my Foretrex and take it backwoods because it's so small. I'd love the 60CSx because I remember salivating over the 60 series when it was released, but it behooves me to buy a brand new and current offering. I can get partial reimbursement, but only on brand spankin' new equipment or manufacturer authorized repair service. It's unfortunate, because after dealing with a color screen, I'm longing for the daylight readability of my Legend. I suppose I should have asked if there were any new Garmin units with different, hopefully better buttons.
It seems like this may be the case, though I don't think I press too hard, nor do I have long fingernails to create a concentrated pressure point. The button looks great until you press it, then it splits right around the embossed power circle as it deforms to press the internal switch. It's the exact same thing that happened to my co-workers GPS. I know I'm speculating here, but it seems like that embossing creates a weak point - the smooth "back" button gets pressed far more often in my usage and is on located on the shoulder of the unit which gets more abrasion while sliding in and out of its pouch.
Coleeda, you mention a strip to repair this the eTrex 20/30? I haven't seen just the strip available on eBay, always a complete front half housing replacement for about $60 from probably the same Russian seller - not cheap enough justify the effort. If you have a link to the strip, I'm interested in a cheap DIY repair so I can relegate this eTrex 20 to Geocaching only duties (I'm skeptical about my abilities to repair a waterproof device and have it remain dependably waterproof).
I found out that another project has a 78 series. I'll see what hoops I have to jump through to borrow it for a day (why can't research institutions just work together?)