Night Stalker
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Posts
2021 -
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Posts posted by Night Stalker
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Hopefully you are reporting these issues to Garmin so that they can be corrected in a future update.
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I upgraded from the 60CX and it took some time to figure out how to do things on the new unit. In some cases the way the 62S does things is a lot more complicated than the older model. Now that I have figured out the things I like to do my only complaint is the screen readability while driving. My 60CX was easily read while driving to the cache. The new screen requires the backlight to be on in order to navigate. I removed the background colors from my maps as suggested to make it more easily read, but it still is barely readable and dangerous without the backlight on. I had assumed that since it did not have the touch screen this would not be an issue. I was wrong. Once out of the vehicle all is good. Very accurate and in direct sunlight easily readable. I also like the notes, though it took me quite a while to find where these notes are stored.
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My 60CX took a trip down a hillside and bounced into the Chicago River. It survived without any issues, but that is a test I would never like to repeat.
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I was caching with my brother-in-law in the good old days and found a gold Roman coin. Don't think anyone puts swag like that in a cache these days.
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Just remember that when you take something out of a cache you are supposed to replace it with something or equal or greater value. That shouldnt be to hard since most caches are filled with junk these days. I would also suggest that you find a local cacher who is willing to show you the ropes. This will eliminate a lot of the problems up front and make your experience a lot more fun. Don't worry if you don't always find what you are looking for. I dont find all the caches I am looking for and I have been caching since 2002.
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New cachers should start with full size caches. Micros are a pain even for experienced cachers until you develop a geocaching 6th sense. You might also find out what cachers or caching organizations are in your area. There are always cachers that are willing to help the new cacher on the block get started.
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While we are discussing the shortcomings of the 62S, I might as well add my complaint. I did not buy a touchscreen because I thought that I would be able to use the 62S without the backlight being on. I am used to the 60CX which is easily visible inside the car our out without the backlight being lit. I find that it is impossible to use my 62s to navigate to the cache area in my car without using the backlight. I have removed the colored background from the maps like someone suggested and it helped a bit, but not enough. Since we are not using a touchscreen why is it so dark?
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I own a 60cx and a 62s. I like the paperless capabilities of the the 62s, though I carried a pda which served that purpose before, this means I have to carry less. I am slowly learning how to do some of the things that were natural to me on the 60. Eventually I assume I will be able to do everything with the new GPS that I did with my older one. I have one huge issue with the 62. I cannot see the screen inside the car unless the backlight is on. I had assumed that since the 62 did not have a touch screen that the screen would be easily visible while navigating on road to a cache. It is not. I have removed the background color from the maps, and it is a little better, but not good enough to view while driving.
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I had an officer in the Houston area stop me. I was caching in an area where someone had thrown a lot of trash along the side of the road. I explained what I was doing, and showed the officer the cache. This cache happened to have one of the jeep travel bugs in it, so I explained that they were giving away a jeep that year that this travel bug would give the finder an opportunity to win one. I think the officer started caching after that and this cache was his first find.
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Having accidentally dropped my GPS while on a caching adventure in the Chicago area, and having it roll down a hill into the Chicago river, I would have to vote for a dedicated GPS. When I finally worked my way down the hill, It was quite steep, I could see my GPS at the bottom of the river with it's screen shining brightly. I retrieved it from the water, wiped it off and continued caching. I used this Garmin GPS for several more years before recently upgrading to a Garmin because I wanted to go completely paperless.
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There are a number of us locally that would be happy to give you a hand. I live in Chubbuck, if you would like to go caching sometime give me a call 760-7238 and I will try to help you out. I have been pretty busy with other obligations this last month and am a little rusty myself.
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It has been a long time since I used a Magellan GPS, and I you did not state what model you are using so I am going to wing it. I use a Garmin. When I go to the find geocache page in my GPS it will list the caches from the closest to my current position on out. This is also how my older Magellan used to work. If this is not what you are seeing maybe you are looking at the wrong screen. If you are a premium member you can set up a pocket query. You can define the distance from a location that you want the query to list. I have my home coordinates as the center point and a 50 mile radius as the distance. I also restrict the caches to 200. Hopefully this helps. If not you might want to add the model of GPS you are using and how you are loading the caches into your GPS.
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You dodn't mention if you were moving while looking at the screen. On my 62S it doesn't always point exactly on my heading unless I am moving in that direction while looking, and then it will wander back and forth a bit unless I move fairly quiclky.
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Even though I have more than 1000 finds, there are times when I still have problems finding particular caches. I spent one whole summer looking for a cache in my home town. The cache owner was having a great laugh at all the DNF's that I had logged, then one day it I found it and felt so stupid that it took me so long to find it. I had been looking within a few feet of the cache many times during the summer and hadn't recognized it for what it was. My suggestion is to go with an experienced cacher. This will help you see what you are missing, and if the other cacher cant find it either it will make you feel better.
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I would also be concerned about the ruggedness or the Ipad for field use.
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I would suggest that before buying one of the new gps for use as a road navigator you check out how well the screen can be seen while in the car. My older 60CX was great to view in the car. When ever it beeped I could glance at the screen and see which way it wanted me to go. I bought a new 62S and find it is very difficult to see the screen at all in the car. I have removed the background color from the maps, but haven't had an opportunity to test my results yet. I understand that the new touch screen GPS's are even harder to see than the 62, so you should check them all out to make sure they will fill your needs.
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I actually had my gps read zero when it was at zero on the first cache I ever found. I thought, boy this is going to be easy. That was the first and last time this happened. There are to many variables. You don't know how accurate the gps the hider was using for one thing. The cacher hider could have input one of the numbers of the coordinates incorrectly. I found one cache that was 1/2 mile off and in a different valley. The only reason I found it was because a previous finder listed corrected coordinates in his response. There are many times when the cache is over 40 feet from where ground zero is supposed to be. I believe time of day can effect accuracy also. If the hider records coordinates from his GPS in the morning and you are looking in the evening I think satellite position etc can be different. As previous responders have stated. Your eyes are your best tool.
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Thanks for the information. As far as being able to import 2 GPX files I used Easy GPS and it would load both onto my GPS.
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On my 60CX all I had to do was have files with 2 different names installed on it. I could choose which file I wanted to use. I dont think this works with the new 62S. My question is what is the easiest no cost way to get this done on the 62s. Each file is 500 caches, but of different areas. I either need a way to combine the files into one or be able to choose each file in the field. Any help would be appreciated.
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My first GPS was a Sportrak Pro. I found a lot of caches with it. I migrated to the Garmin 60Cs because I wanted Auto Routing.. This was a great time saver for me since I cached all over the western US while working and was not familier with the streets etc. I went from there to a 60CX which is still working fine but cant get it away from my son. I recently purchased a 62S and am encountering a bit of a learning curve since Garmin changed the way their units work. As far as your question, you don't need to upgrade, but once you upgrade to a unit with auto routing you won't know how you got along without it. Paperless caching is nice also, but you you can live without it.
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I downloaded the online manual, but it leaves a lot to be desired. I am sure that there are ways to accomplish what I want on the new GPS, but I have not found these shortcuts and am hoping that someone out there can enlighten me and how they have worked around these issues.
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Today I went caching with my new 62s for the 2nd time. The first cache I looked for was missing. On by 60cx I could access the cache pagge and add DNF to the description so I would know that I hadnt found it. On the new one I added a note. Can't figure out how to look at the note on the GPS much less using the cache page. Any help would be appreciated. 2nd cache had changed coordinates. On the 60 I could change the coordinates on the cache page to match the new coordinates. Cant seem to do that on the new gps as far as I can tell. Again any help would be appreciated. One reason I bought the 62s over a touch screen is so I could use it without the backlight. I can, as long as it is in direct sunlight, but when naviagating in the car the backlight has to be on or no can see. Is there a secret to this also? I now know how to switch from on to off road navigation. One thing learned a thousand more to figure out.
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1. I am using an older cell phone holster from the days when cell phone were a good deal larger. It is padded and has been used on 3 GPs's.
2. Definately waterproof. I was geocaching in the Chicago are a few years ago when I accidentally dropped my GPS. It rolled down a steep hill, bouncing off of several trees before it came to rest in the Chicago river. After working my way down the hill, I found my GPS resting in about a foot of water in the Chicago river. I could clearly read the screen, as it was resting screen side up. It was showing its current position in the river on the map. I removed it from the water, dried it off and continued geocaching. My son has now inherited that GPS from me.
3. As stated above you just need to press the on button again to activate the backlight. You can set yours up to stay on different length of time. I have used mine with the backlight set up while night caching.
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That is the card I am using in my 62S. I have had no problems with it.
Locked Traditional Geocache
in How do I...?
Posted
I did one with a locked container, and the clue was to look up. There was a billboard behind the cache and on it was a phone number. The phone number was the combination.