ganlet

i own a 210 and a etrex vista (use to own a legend) and my 210 is still my main GPSr. there are situations where the serial interface definately is handy but over all the 210 is just an amazing unit (least for me). in the end this winds up being a personal choice and everyone will have a different opinion. Either way they are both very capable and well made GPSr. You'll be happy with either the 210 or legend.

i have a 210 i can tell you it has no audio capabilities. ive never tried adding maps thats why i didnt chime in earlier. theoritically though (havin never tried it) it should do just as described

this comes up on a regular basis. the simple answer is they are both good GPSr and you'll most likely be happy either way. having said that, given enough time this will boil down to the two companies that make them, garmin and magellan. each companies products have their ups and downs. each one also having its loyal followers. having said that most people will side with the 60cs (its a very popular GPSr) one of the upsides of the 60cs is the antenna type used. i would suggest reading more threads http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=129731

easy gps automatically opens individual loc files, it does not merge them or least by default(i dont know how to force it to merge loc files). i would suggest you looking into gsak. it may appear overwhelming and complicated at first but it is able to maintain a database of caches and each loc or gpx file you open in it is added to the database. i would give gsak a try

National Forests and National Parks have different rules. The National Park Service has a blanket ban on physical caches - although there are a few where the log is keep in a visitors center and thus allowed. The National Forest Service generally allows caches. The rules vary in different National Forest. Generally caches are not allowed in wilderness or ecologically sensitive areas. National Monuments may be administered by the National Park Service - in which case no caches, or by the National Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management - which may allow caches. Its best to check with the ranger. thank you, that explains alot. i dont know why i always grouped national forests and national parks. (might rethink that cache i was going to place)

where i live we are on the borderline of los padres national forest. and there are TONS of caches on national forest land. it always seemed weird to me since there is that guideline. to be honest the area isnt patrolled often. ive wanted to create one up on an 4wd road but figured but decided not to.

for cases i would try ebay

from someone who is just giving advice, i would suggest teh yellow etrex for a entry level unit. if there are no deals currently on this board (im sry to those who are selling them, i havent really checked) you can always try ebay. they tend to go for 50-70 dollars. sometimes u luck out and get them for less than that but its rare.

hey thats not very nice us californians havent split off into the ocean yet. although sometimes i wish we would just go join hawaii

yes the gps locator that comes with the more expensive package is usb. but i was under the impression you were gettin the normal version without the gps locator. you dont need both the gps locator and a standalone gps unit (explorist 210). its kinda redundant cause they do the same thing. fyi explorist 210 is usb also.

lets put it this way, ive had the desire to downgrade my etrex vista to a etrex legend.

as i posted in the other thread this forerunner 201 is capable of geocaching because of a navigation mode that you can go into. it does not have waas so theoretical accuracy is 49ft which should be enough to start using your eyes instead of your unit to located the cache.

YuccaPatrol has pretty much covered most of the key points when getting into GPSrs but i would like to reinforce the idea of gettin a basic unit at first. its possible to buy used etrex legends on ebay for under 100 dollars. they are capable of maps, but unfortunately not autorouting or expandable memory. however you will be able to learn how important the maps are to you without shelling out the big bucks. also like YuccaPatrol mentioned the maps are expensive. i have an explorist 210 and an etrex vista both capable of an aditional 24 mbs of maps but i havent loaded either wiht any because maps are soo expensive it hasnt been worth it for me. all im suggesting is a cheaper GPSr (maybe a used unit so you dont mind beating up a little) as your first device. however if money isnt an object by all means the 60csx is an amazing unit.

after readin the manual. it does appear possible to geocache with this unit. there is navigation mode although it appears limited based on screen shots, but it seems functional. the literature also says that it can track previously marked waypoints and the waypoints are capable of being uploaded from a computer; which is pretty much geocaching in a nut shell. as for waas it doesnt appear to support it. making your theoretical accuracy 49ft. as was already noted this is close enough to start searching with one's eyes instead of their GPSr. if you only plan on geocaching here and there it should work fine, if your more addicted to the game however i would suggest a GPSr more solely geared towards navigation, not fitness, such as an etrex (i suggest the legend) but thats a personal choice.

I think what your after is pocket queries. http://www.geocaching.com/pocket/ you can set up a search that will get emailed to u in one gpx file with up to 500 caches. its only available for preimium members but you are one so your set.

no need to call anyone and check. ive done it many many times. you wont need anything extra either it should pick it up automatically. (once the explorist drivers are installed, they come with the unit) if you have any issue settin it up feel free to email me ganlet20@gmail.com

Ive owned both units and they are both wonderful. the true cheap entry unit, is a yellow etrex but u'll definately get some useful bells and wistles with a legend or explorist 210. havin said that you'll never have a real answer on which is better. it becomes a debate on which company is better magellan or garmin (and that debate will be settled the day after we decide whether pc or macs are better) personally i use the explorist 210 as my primary GPSr i believe in USED GPSrs, especially for entry level situations because your still testing the water so why not get a deal. also GPSr tend to be incredibly durable so a used one should be in excllent shape. i therefore would suggest a legend because they have been around a little longer and will be cheaper. i got mine for 92 (after shipping) on ebay. you should get good signal in vacation areas, i alway have but others with more travel experience will do a better job of answerin that one than me.

Not necessarily. I've recently done a 4 stage which only had a box at the last stage. I suppose it's more a mystery/multi, as you derived the coordinates from things already at each location. So, 4 stages, only 1 actual container planted. Since the OP stated the purpose was to lead people over a certain route, he could, in theory, have a 64 stage multi Each point giving a clue to the next point. So...one cache in total. I'm not sure the purpose is number of visitors, but the route but that would be for the OP to say. if it is for a project to follow a route i think a 64 stage multi would be an interesting twist on it. I might be weird but i think i would do the 64 multi if it was in my area, if no other reason for its uniqueness.

How's this??? Or this? wow talk about customer service

you can do very simular through pocket queries but you have to be a premium member. ive often thought why pocket querie search criteria isnt used for normal searchs criteria. sometimes i want to search for something that i can only search by pocket queries but im not nessarily interested in the file it spits out, just the preview. my thoughts aside I'm absolutely sure there is a very good reason for things to be set up the way they are, so i just use the preview

you've asked one of those rather complicated questions. its complicated becasue there are many ways of going about this. i think u'll find google earth the simplist to work with. it will only show you what caches are in what areas. download google earth http://earth.google.com/ then download the KML file (within your member area on geocaching.com it is on the right hand toolbar roughly 3/4s the way down. ) open the kml file within google earth and try it out if you want to really get a list of caches along a given route it is typically a process involving microsoft streets and trips, gsak and a program called st2gpx. you can read more at http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=80274 unless ur goin to do alot of caching i suggest just going to the area on google earth and picking some caches you want to go after.

for different reasons, ive used this feature in two situations 1. when the coordinates presented by on the cache page are least 50 ft off and i have an acurracy of 13 or better. 2. one time there was a thing about the parking lots used to get to a cache so i posted the coordinates to the parking lot i used. i'm sure a more experienced user will be able to give you quite a few more examples.

I dont see why not. Ive done it. my first few caches were ironically some of the hardest ones thus far for me. im a newbie myself but ive found 99.9% of the owners really enjoy the game and they are willing to help you enjoy it. if the help you need is another hint then so be it. I'm sure there are cache owners out there that would take offense to this but i mean after all ur just tryin to get some experience

its really funny to me that we can't have a discussion about computers without doin the whole apple vs pc thing. it feels like a garmin vs magellan thing to me actually. its funny i own and use all 4 so back on topic a little what would people think about a thumbdrive TB i mentioned it earlier but now im curious. who would use it? durability aside. could have txt files of fav geocaching jokes/quotes, pictures of people who have found it. or somethign like that

welcome to one of the funniest addictions as geomac puts it "I'm using billion dollar sattelites to hunt tupperware."