Polar Explorer

Wigglesworth, For complete armoured protection get your PDA an otterbox at www.otterbox.com It offers shock resistance and is waterproof to a fair bit too! (I've dropped mine in the river to no ill effect). The PDA fits into the otterbox with the antenna in the closed position and I still get good signal strength. They're a bit pricey but well worth it! Paul

No don't power it that way, that would be a sure way to destroy your PDA, if you really want to use a 9 volt battery you need to use a 5 volt Positive regulator such as an LM7805, don't just assume a resistor is good enough for this job. Just done a google and came back with this Homemade PDA Battery Good Google Moote, thanks for that.

The i-UP3600 charger DOES charge the Mitac A201. But the setting has to be on voltage of 5, not the setting of 3.7 volts. My worry is that the battery is only 3.7v, so will charging it on a 5v setting ruin the battery/PDA? Looking at the PDA when battery is taken out, it specifies the input is 5v 1A which is the same output as the charger. To heck with caution, i will give it a go and see if it explodes, should be right, fingers crossed! To carry and navigate with the units together can be a bit clumsy. I had my PDA in my otterbox 1900, and the charger in a plastic bag strapped to the back of the otterbox. Luckily I didn't go past any military areas or I may have been shot on sight, as it looks like an improvised explosive device!!! Would look less clumsy in a plastic bag or similar, but I like the protection the otterbox gives the PDA. anyone want a picture of the set up, email me, as i cannot seem to attach an image to this post. Cheers. Paul.

Well, that's a lot cheaper than the £35 i forked out on for the beast that arrived this morning! I cannot squeeze it into my otterbox with the PDA so the wire is dangling out a port and the pda has to go into the otterbox upsidedown. Will test it this afternoon on the moors for a few hours, then give you all a field test report and some piccies. The unit in question comes equipped with a mirror (wow!) and a changing LED light (double wow!) It also has a voltage switch to enable a choice between 3.7 and 5v. Found my first cache this morning, Hamish rolled in something which smelt suspiciously human.

As a family of tadpoles, we are interested in finds in the wilderness of Dartmoor, as it gives us a new way to get into hiking about. The dog gets lots of exercise too! The point I am getting around to is that the more remote the locations, the less saturated they will become, but other caces near car parks will have morevisitors. I just hope that newbies do not try and walk beyond their means, is there a link for newbies advising on walking essentials etc? Glad to be a newbie anyway, even if i am a bit pants at locating the 3 caches i have tried to find! Paul, Helen, and Hamish the mutant

Alas, Nellie's Knackers, Mitac just does not sell extra batteries, which is pants, but their public relations advisor in the uk is going to email them to suggest it. An extra battery, or even better an extra capacity battery (internal) would be heaven. In the meantime I shall see how I go with this external beast. I DID google and come up with a site that showed you how to make your own with a 9v battery, a resistor and a mini USB male end but the output was 5v, and I don't think frying the circuits is covered on the warranty. Paul, Helen, and Hamish the submersible.

Thankyou oh learned Gerbilly one for your advice. Will let you know the score once I have been up all day on the moor. The guy in the shop said that the person that field tested the external battery for him managed to charge the MIOA201 three times off it, but that it can also run off the external battery too. Cheers, Paul, Helen and Hamish the muddy ottermutt.

McKryton, I should be able to give you a brief update tomorrow on the portable power unit, and a more detailed update if I decide not to attend lectures on wednesday and pop out onto the moor. I will give the link again if you have itchy palms and want to give it a go already! www.gpsforless.co.uk/product_details.php?id=3114 Maybe the 'lag' is just a dodgy feature and I should use a road navigator to navigate roads. AA navigator seems to never get signal and also has a lag. Praying for the postman to come tomorrow, Paul, Helen and Hamish the postman loving otter.

ANd!!!!!!!! Sometimes when driving in the car following my location on fugawi, the gps does not seem to be able to keep up!!!! I have to pull over and let the red circle catch up with me! Thats a bit pants too. Anyone have any useful suggestions, apart from driving slower??? Cheers. Paul, Helen and Hamish the labrador cross otter.

Hello Everyone! For anyone who has bought a MioA201, this is where we can give plusses and minuses, ask questions etc. Bearing in mind the uk advice line is 35p a minute and staffed it seems by people who seem to think I will be able to plug the unit into the car charger when I am walking on the moor for hours on end, this could save us all a bit of cash! That leads nicely into my first problem. The battery is pants! Seems to last 3hours ish when gps is on. Have purchased an external battery pack which plugs in through the USB cable (http://www.gpsforless.co.uk/product_details.php?id=3114) , but don't think it is all going to fit into the otterbox ( http://www.otterbox.com/ ) somehow! will figure something out and report back to you. Anyone got any other solutions? I run Fugawi 1:50000 landranger on it and it works fine but i cannot seem to directly upload loc waypoint files. ANy ideas?? Other than that, its a great little machine, and i can download the clue photos onto it to aid me in the hunt if i get a little stuck. Still new to geochaching but ohmigod what a great sport! Cheers, Paul, Helen, Hamish the Otterhound.

HIya Wadders! Paul, Helen, and Hamish the dog/otter here! after looking for three unsuccessfully weare going back out tomorrow! 1st cache was a little ambiguously worded..... tree near heather ha ha 2nd was well buried we figure 3rd we have fugawi and are unable to directly download waypoints so a typo error meant we were aout 1km off!! going to pop a few caches of our own out soon in the local area!! ps bought a Otterbox armour for my pda.... we run a mioa201 with fugawi. cheers! Paul Hamish and Hound.