jopasm

It sounds as if it might be a datum problem. USGS topo maps often use the NAD27 datum but GPS units use WGS84 by default if I remember correctly. Check the datum on your unit and check the custom maps.

I stand corrected, if anybody knows their GPS interfaces the Chief Babel-Head should! Digging through the links robertlipe posted turned up some info from this page: It looks like the trick is pulling pin 4 to ground through a 12K Ohm resistor. You will probably need to use a MAX3232 like Klaus suggests so your voltages are at the proper levels. Huh. Makes me wish I'd saved up more money and picked up an Oregon. Oh well, I kept my 60cx for it's serial port.

You can't just short a couple of pins. The Oregon only supports USB, not the RS-232 signal the radio expects. You can use Garmin Spanner to create a virtual serial port on your computer, but it's still transmitting over USB. You'll have to use a computer in the middle that receives the NMEA data stream from Garmin Spanner and spits it back out a serial port, build a converter using a microcontroller, or get a GPS that supports RS-232 serial like the Garmin GPSMap 60 series. You might also be able to find an older Trimble serial GPS puck - basically just a GPS chipset and a battery that spits out NMEA over serial.

Using an 8gb card in my Dakota 20 as well. Picked it up when I bought the gpsr. It's worked without a problem.

Garmin officially supports the Mac - http://www8.garmin.com/macosx/ - they've probably got the best support hands down right now. Any of the newer GPS units that mount as a mass storage device (show up as a hard drive) that read GPX files can be loaded on a mac - you just drag & drop the GPS file. It may be hard to load maps though. Lowrance apparently offers a Java app that will run on OS X and allow you to update the firmware on their Endura line, not sure about loading maps. DeLorme offers their CacheRegister app for OS X, it will let you load Geocaches. It'll cost you $10 though. Once again, no idea if there's any way to load maps. Historically Magellan has shown no interest in supporting the Mac. They used a highly customized version of WinCE on their Triton handhelds that does not and will not support the Mac b/c it uses a proprietary protocol that few people seem to be interested in reverse engineering. I'm not sure if their new unit will have better support but I wouldn't hold my breath. IN short - Garmin appears to have the most mature support and they don't charge you extra for it.

I don't have CityNav, but you should be able to go to settings->Routing and make sure "Guidance Method" is set to "Off Road" and "Lock on Road" is set to "No". Also, you might want to consider using profiles. If you go to the "Profile Change" screen you can select which profile to use. I'd leave the Automotive setup for On-road navigating and switch to the Geocache profile once you've stopped the car - make sure it's set for Off-Road routing. That way you don't have to keep changing settings.

I've had good luck with Rayovac Hybrid and Sanyo Eneloop. Amazon.com, Target, and even Kroger (grocery store chain) have lower prices on batteries than the local Wally-Worlds. Try to find a slow charger (ie - one that takes 2-4 hours to charge), the 15-minute quick chargers are hard on batteries. Duracell has started offering low-discharge AA batteries, the Duracell CEF23DX4N combo of batteries and charger has gotten good reviews but it comes with 2 AA and 2 AAA instead of 4AA. I've used a 4 pack of Rayovac Hybrids and an inexpensive charger that came with them for a couple of years now with good luck, I think the combo was around $15-20 at Target. I recently stepped up to a Maha MH-C8005, a much better charger. It was around $50 but it will charge up to 8 AA/AAA batteries at a time and monitors each battery individually. I do a good bit of photography and burn through AA cells pretty quickly in flashes and cameras so I needed something that could charge more than 4 batteries at a time, there are less expensive 4 battery chargers out there that do a good job.

You can pick up a nice Garmin car gps for around $150 refurb. You can use the other $150-200 to pick up a nice handheld like a Venture HC, Delorme PN-30, or a Lowrance Endura Out&Back. That way you have the car GPS for the car and a handheld for geocaching and as a backup if you invest in street maps.

I have a Dakota, it's a less expensive alternative to the Oregon. It doesn't support Wherigo though, if that's important to you. It has a slightly brighter screen and slightly longer battery life (smaller screen = less power drain). The Oregon 450 looks good - it's got the new, brighter screen and supports up to 5000 geocaches loaded at a time (the Dakota, Colorado, and older Oregeon only support 2000). The Delorme PN series and the Lowrance Endura series are the other big entries in the paperless category right now. THe PN series doesn't have a touch screen, the Endura has a touch screen + buttons. If you've got a store nearby that carries any/all of them you might want to check out the interfaces and see which one you like the most. Personally I really like touchscreen interfaces. Garmin GPS's probably have the greatest variety of free maps available - you can find good free topos at gpsfiledepot.com

The easiest way is to copy the .gpx file from the pocket query to the /garmin/gpx folder on your GPS. You can have up to 200 files containing a maximum of 2000 geocaches. If you use GSAK to organize your geocaches it can write a .gpx file directly to your GPS.

How bizarre; I just found a sig item that said Tuit on one side and 2it on the other but it seems like it's from a Texan. Did go see if you had been in the area last week I just picked these up at one of my favorite restaraunts. I've been tempted to try to make some though, it'd be easy to get a couple of stamps made (one for each side).

Also, go to Settings->Profiles and make sure you have the geocaching profile selected, it sets the compass screen up with a lot of what you're looking for.

Consider finding something small and inexpensive but useful you can buy in quantity and use as a signature item. If you search for "signature item" on the forum you'll find several threads with information on what other people are using. I bought a package of 100 2x4" plastic zip-lock bags off ebay and a pack of 100 print-your-own business cards. I print up a little card with a description of the item (whatever I"m using) and my caching name. I've got around $8 in 100 bags and cards. I've seen things like guitar picks, "geo-jewels" (small semi-precious gemstones, you can buy them in bulk cheaply), etc in caches. I currently have a few "round TUITS" (just a slice of dowel with "TUIT" printed on it, a play on the phrase "I'll do it when I get AROUND TO IT") I'll probably use, and somewhere I have a stash of guitar picks from a blues joint about an hour away. The TUITS were $0.30 each and the guitar picks were free. Putting it in a small bag with a card seems to help it stay clean and it looks better than a handful of shiny rocks or battered guitar picks rattling around loose in the bottom of the cache.

Usually one of several podcasts.

Definitely check out the link ao318 posted, but the short answer is "yes". That's what a "paperless gps" refers to. The Garmin Oregon/Dakota/Colorado, Delorme PN series, and Lowrance Endura series all support paperless caching. The new unit Magellan has in the pipeline is supposed to support paperless as well I think.

No, the Dakota series doesn't support Wherigo.

Garmin Dakota 20 or an Oregon x50, the 450 is the least expensive model in that range out now. They're not the cheapest, but they work quite well and there's lots of good quality free maps available. Dakota 20: - no Wherigo - max 2000 caches/max 200 files at one time (whichever comes first) - brightest screen (possibly) - screen is lower resolution than oregon - 3 axis compass - best battery life (possibly) Oregon 450: - Wherigo support - max 5000 caches at one time - brighter screen than x00 units - higher resolution than Dakota - 3 axis compass - slightly less battery life than Dakota (larger screen draws more power) - more customizable (custom backgrounds, picture viewer, etc) Some of the folk on the forums love the Lowrance Endura series. The Out & Back is significantly cheaper than a Dakota or Oregon *but* it lacks the 3 axis compass and some other features. I've yet to get my hands on one to compare it to my Oregon, but what I have heard is that it's got great Geocaching support but the other features aren't quite up to par yet perhaps. Additionally there seem to be fewer free map resources available - the price difference vanishes when you add in a couple of hundred dollars worth of maps. The best thing to do is find an REI or similar store nearby that has the different models - Garmin, DeLorme, and Lowrance and give them a try. I *really* like the interface on the touch-screen Garmin's, it's very similar to an iPod Touch. Some people don't like it and prefer using joystick+buttons (a-la DeLorme PN series) or the hybrid touch/button interface on the Lowrance. Any of these will support paperless caching and get you to the cache. For what it's worth I went with a Dakota 20 - I did not need Wherigo support and the Dakota was around $100 cheaper than the cheapest Oregon 450 I could find. It's done everything I want/need it to do so far. I've loaded it with maps from gpsfiledepot.com and I've found most of my caches with it so far!

I've used Zagg shields on my cell phones for a while, they work very well. I need to order one for my dakota, I just have a cheapie protector on it now (still better than nothing). REgarding carrying cases for the Oregon, garmin makes one that looks similar to the Neo case: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=36242

If you can save towards a Dakota 20 instead of the 10 you'll probably be happier in the long run, the Dakota 10 doesn't support microSD cards. If you shop around you can find decent prices on the Dakota 20, I think I paid around $290 w/ shipping for mine. With the 20 you'll also get a 3 axis compass and the same unit-to-unit wireless capability the Oregon and Colorado have.

You'll need a program on your computer capable of receiving NMEA or Garmin formatted data from your GPS to your laptop. You'll need Garmin Spanner on your computer (I think) and you'll need to put your GPS into Spanner mode.

Yes, the full details (hints, logs, etc) are only in the gpx files and you will need to be a Premium Member to download them. Plus you'll get access to pocket queries.

If price isn't an object, I'm going to suggest getting two gps units. Otherwise your choice is a handheld GPS that can route (but not always as capably as a dedicated automotive GPS) or a car GPS that can be carried like a handheld, but will have a smaller screen than other car GPS units. What's your primary purpose? If you primarily need a good car GPS get something like the Nuvi 500 - waterproof, has road and topo maps, can be used to find caches and navigate on road. If you primarily need a good handheld this thread is full of good suggestions. I'm partial to Garmin but they don't offer voice prompts on their handheld lines. I've had awful experiences with Magellan and will not buy one. DeLorme and Lowrance have really been ramping up their products and have some good handheld units out. Still, I'd recommend getting a good handheld and a good car GPS. If money really isn't the issue why compromise on a "jack of all trades, master of none" solution?

Everything has a few negative reviews. Wade through a few and see if they're serious issues or personal preference. Some things do straddle the line - screen brightness, for example, but buying from a reputable company with a good return policy can mitigate that - if you hate it you can return it and try another. For what it's worth, I haven't had a real problem out of my Garmin Dakota 20. The WAAS issue is a little annoying (it has difficulty getting a WAAS lock right now) but doesn't seem to render the unit useless for geocaching by any means! The screen is readable - no, it's not as bright as the 60csx screen but it does have that nice touch interface. Best bet, like I said: pick one, buy from somewhere you can return it with no hassles, try it. If you hate it swap it for one that suits you better, if you don't keep it.

If your question is "can Oregon/Dakota handhelds use the free topo maps" the answer is yes. They work quite well. City Navigator DVD or download edition is generally locked to one device. If you buy it and put it on one handheld you can't transfer it to another easily. You can call Garmin and sometimes they will issue a new unlock code but there's no guarantee. The pre-loaded SD cards are locked to the card so they can be used in any Garmin device that supports maps on SD card.

I'm sure there are quite a few. Sometimes it's an honest mistake on the cachers part (private property mistaken for part of public lands), sometimes it seems like it's just a failure to do any research. I've seen at least one cache that was next to a "no trespassing, private property" sign, I moved on and didn't even attempt a find. The sign had obviously been placed recently, I wonder if the cache had something to do with that.