elmuyloco5

Oh, you got me.....wow that was harsh......sarcasm intended. Yes I'm sooooooo lazy because I choose not to type a few extra letters. Pulease! It's always the people that have so little to back up their side of the argument that like to attack others about spelling and grammar. It doesn't help you make your point, it just helps you look like a "you know what". I read the whole post. I also read the following statement..... hardly what I call tragic events that should keep you from maintaining a cache closer than a good majority of people drive to work. He agreed when he listed it that he would take the time and spend the gas to maintain if it needed it. If I, and everyone else on here have to follow the guidelines....so does he. You must remember that when you come on a forum you are judged for the info that you give on the situation. We have no idea what went on between the reviewer and RK (yep being lazy again) because he didn't tell us. But, he wants us to side with him. He can't have it both ways. You also forget that he just placed a cache......yet he doesn't have time to take care of the ones he already owns. It doesn't matter if someone did die, or he just would rather see a movie that day. If you need to take care of your cache, it's your responsibility to do so, by whatever means you need to whether that is help from someone else or not. Maybe that means that he needs to let the reviewer in on the real reason he couldn't take care of it.....if it was a serious reason. Either way, the cache is still his. He still agreed to take care of it. No matter what "take care of it means", he's supposed to take action. If that means that he has to archive it to "take care of it", then so be it. His reviewer sounded very polite and very willing to try to make things work out. I seriously doubt that she was being cruel and archiving it in spite of him. The log showed that she asked him to post a note so that others new what to expect. He didn't, yet he's on this forum everyday and has almost 20,000 posts. Something says to me that he could have posted a note like she asked. I'm ex-military and so is my husband. You can't pay bills from Bootcamp, you have to find someone who can take care of those things for you when you are away. If you get shipped to Iraq and cant' take care of things back home, you have to find a way to get them handled. You can't just stop paying your bills, or leave your pet behind to fend for itself. If more people in this world realized what their responsibilities were and took care of them, it would be a much better world! No one is saying that RK is horrible for not maintaining his cache. I'm sure a majority of us would have happily helped out if we lived close enough and knew that he needed it. We take offense to his attitude that it's no big deal that he hasn't and doesn't have a good plan as to when he will take care of it in the next 6 months. Not to mention that he feels it's the reviewer's responsibility to go clean it up because she archived it?!?

Yes I know his name. People often refer to me on here as Loco, or Loco5 and I don't get my panties in a wad about it. It's faster to type, big deal. Guess you must always log, Took Nothing, Left Nothing, Signed Log instead TNLNSL too. Drop everything? It's been half a year! And the post was placed here by RK complaining about the situation. No one posted here complaining about RK. We just don't agree with his view on the issue. It's a forum, that sort of thing will happen. I'm sure most of us will happily help another cacher out. But RK clearly stated he didnt' want anyone else's help. He wanted to do it all himself when he was good and ready and if he didn't get to it in another 6 months then so be it. And that if someone offered to help, he'll tell them "no thank you". That sort of attitude has no place in geocaching. It's the sort of attitude that people have that place crummy caches. I'm not saying RK's are crummy, but it's the same attitude none-the-less. The "I don't care what you think of me or my caches and I'll do what I please irregardless of the guidelines I agreed to follow" attitude. That's what most of us have had issue with, and what most of us were shocked to see come out of RK's mouth (someone alot of us respected in the geocaching community).

Let's also not forget that RK clearly stated that if he couldn't get to it in the Spring, he would do it next Summer. With this attitude, what is the reviewer to do. I urge anyone to go read the actual archived cache page linked earlier in this thread. The reviewer was as nice as she could be. Longevity in the game shouldn't give you special privileges. This isn't said to gang up on RK, but these are things that he has said, which is the only thing we can form an opinion of him and the situation from. Most of us don't know him personally.

The magellan site has new firmware downloads that are supposed to fix the sluggish issues. Might want to try that.

Cloud cover and stormy situations have NO effect on your gps reception, tree cover and canyons/ravines do. It has for me. I've been out in the mountains in the exact same area that I had been in for hours with a great signal and when the storm rolled in, the signal ended. I also have left my house on a snowy stormy day and couldn't get reception. No different for my TV satellite (even without snow on the unit itself). But on a partly cloudy day, or a clear day in all the same areas, my reception is excellent. Seems to me the clouds and storms were affecting it to me. I know they say it doesn't affect it, but my experience suggests otherwise. I've have experienced no other time that my GPSr would not receive a signal. I've had no trouble in the mountains, canyons, in tree cover etc. I have had a weaker signal in those instances where we may have a reliability of 35 ft vs. 10 ft in those situations, but never total loss. Everytime a big storm comes (and I mean thick cloud cover) the signal is lost. i don't see how you could take it any other way.

I should hope you can get a signal in a vehicle, there's nothing special about that. But the buildings, well I have to ask how close you were to windows. I've tried out several of the newer models of Garmins in the stores and not one has aquired a signal. Guess you must have a magic one. Both units have the same SiRFstar III chipset. There shouldn't be much difference between that capability between the two. Other aspects of the units might be arguable, but the reception should be pretty balanced. Ok, I tried it again, & in the metal building the windows do appear to play a role (you should keep in mind that a metal building is basically a faraday cage). The only windows in the building are on the west side, and all of the satellites that I was able to get a lock on were to the west. However, I walked from my living room, down the hall & into the bedroom of my house (hall has no windows or even any exterior walls), and it tracked me the whole way. Even more impressive is the fact that I have large oak trees all around my house. If the triton can get this kind of reception, I'll probably reorder it once I'm sure they've worked all of the kinks out. Once a unit has reception with a sat, it should track just fine for a short while if it's taken away from the reception. My Magellan Meridian Platinum does that, and at this point it's considered a pretty old unit. This won't do a whole lot for you though, as time passes and you move further away, the more inaccurate the reading becomes. You can really tell this in a car if you take your GPSr to a point where it really can't see anything (covering windows, etc) and the reading will slowly move away from the road you are on as you make turns and such. Just like sat TV, the unit needs to have good communication with the sat to be accurate. Might I ask though, what application would you need it to register in a building? Personally, for my uses, I'm more interested in how a unit reads in heavy cloud cover, stormy situations, tree cover, etc. We tried out the 300 in the first two situations and I was really impressed. I know my Meridian would'nt have read then. And we are very happy with our meridian. It gets signal in the mountains under tons of tree cover when other cachers we know can't get any reception on their Garmins (don't know which models they were using). To then see that the Triton received signal even in conditions our meridian can't, really impressed me. We're upgrading ours because we don't have color, etc as it's an older model. But I can say wholeheartedly, I love our Magellan. And no, I don't work for them. The unit has been fabulous. We've never needed to fix anything, and hence haven't experienced any problems with their customer service as we just haven't needed them. But this unit is 4-5 years old (parents gave it to us so I don't know quite when they bought it). I know there's a big Garmin vs. Magellan battle that rages, but like I said in another thread, it's more like a Ford vs. CHevy thing than whether one is really better than the other. Both are excellent companies with excellent track records. I think brand is less important than which unit will suit your personal needs better. The Triton won't be the ideal unit for all, but for some, I'm sure it will.

Since you asked, yes I have. I've also dealt with two kids under 3 and a third newborn with severe medical issues while my husband was serving in the war in Iraq. During which time I had 4 surgeries in a 3 month period and spent my time in a wheel chair with 5 herniated discs and a cracked pelvice. This isn't an argument about whose had the harder time in life. I'm not saying I have, but I am saying that I'm sure there are more members on here that are taking care of their caches (be that by maintaining them or by archiving something that they can't) that have a whole lot more on their plates. There's no shame in asking for help or in archiving a cache that you just can't handle right now. The shame is in the attitude that it's not your issue and that it's kosher to leave your cache as trash. You said your reasons for not taking care of it were because you needed to take your daughter to the bank, have lunch with your wife, etc. I didn't make those up. I agree that lunch with your wife is important. I'm not saying that. I cherish all the precious time I get with my spouse. I'm saying that (and understand that we only know what information you have posted.....maybe not the whole story) from what you have said, you haven't taken care of your cache for 6 months because of things that are relatively small and normal everyday activities. Activiities in which you would not have your time used up so much that you can't drive 30 miles to take care of your cache. I know all about snow (which you said you didn't have) as I live near a ski resort in the mountains. All my caches are under snow and are being taken care of. I'm a homeschooling mom of three and my husband works 12 hour days. I have a busy life too. I'm sure most of us do. I'm not saying your not busy. I'm saying that if you feel you are too busy to handle things.....then why are you so upset that they archived your cache?? They will respost when you get it fixed. Do you really think there's gonna be a rush on your spot at a rest stop? I just don't understand the anger here or your feelings of entitlement. When I feel down on my life or that I have too much to handle, I'm often reminded of all those other folks out there with so much more hardship than I, and with much more keeping them busy. Then I suck it up and do what I need to, no matter what it is. From your profile I see you have archived the majority of your caches for various reasons. Why is this one so much harder?

I should hope you can get a signal in a vehicle, there's nothing special about that. But the buildings, well I have to ask how close you were to windows. I've tried out several of the newer models of Garmins in the stores and not one has aquired a signal. Guess you must have a magic one. Both units have the same SiRFstar III chipset. There shouldn't be much difference between that capability between the two. Other aspects of the units might be arguable, but the reception should be pretty balanced.

I did not time it but I had the Triton and the 60csx next to each other on my living room floor and turned them on at the same time. The triton won but not by much. Not sure how you got it to aquire sats in your living room? Do you have a glass ceiling? I tried the 300 at REI yesterday and it was completely overcast with clouds from a snowstorm. The Triton picked up all sats and took very little time doing so (about 1 minute to get 5 full strength signals). I can tell you that my meridian platinum wouldn't have picked up any of them, maybe two if we were lucky. We haven't had the pleasure to use the unit much more than that however, as we don't have ours in hand yet. We're having some difficulty getting a 500 series in our area. It's being shipped, but because of the holidays...it takes time. On another note: I don't want to come across as rude by saying this, as I certainly don't mean to be. But, I've been watching these Triton threads and most of them are long and have lots of Magellan bashing etc. and it seems to be mostly from "members" who are not premium members and have only made a handful of posts on this whole site, maybe claim to have found a cache or two. I have to wonder if these are sock puppet accounts. I'm not saying that if you are new you don't have the right to post your opinion. It just makes the posts questionable as alot of people get on this site and try to cause problems. Magellan isn't perfect, but hey neither is Garmine, Lowrance, Busnell, etc.

HUH? How is this the same as taking your daughter to the bank, missing lunch with your wife, or running Xmas errands? Are you immobilized by a serious injury? Are you dealing with a tragic death in the family? Have you been since July??? How can you even compare these items with what you are claiming is more important to you? Don't get me wrong, I agree that certain mundain normal tasks (grocery shopping, doctor apts, etc) in life have to still come first. But here's the thing, you're making an excellent argument on all the reasons that people might need extra time to take care of their cache. However, you don't seem to be experiencing any of them....at least from the info you are providing. The other issue is that you are right near it when you work if your only 1500 feet from the new one you placed. The other cache is only about 20-30 miles on a major freeway....and at a rest stop! This can't be a difficult cache to retreive. Here's the way I see it. the reviewer offered to reopen the cache when you have it fixed. I don't see how what she has offered is any different than the cache staying open and being lost or damaged to an unusable state. Clearly both avenues mean that a cacher can't use the cache. Sure, someone else could place another cache there, but clearly you are overwhelmed with your current life situation and don't have much interest in maintaining this cache as current anyway. Why not then let someone else have the place that would keep their cache up? And if no one places one, then the spot is still open for yours. Why leave this cache active so that the local cachers are forced to filter through items that have no short time plan to be fixed??

I again point out that RK JUST placed another cache not far from the cache that needed maintaining. IF it requires him to take vacation time to check on this other cache, how does he have time to place another nearby? I noticed, RK, that you failed to respond to that point in your post back to me. I've always thought that by your posts you were an admirable cacher. But, leaving the container to be trash? It doesn't matter what your feelings are about the archival. You're not getting back at the reviewer by leaving litter, you're just trashing up the planet. And acting this way, while it might be honest, makes you no better than those you're mad at. The response was childish, and not what most of us clearly expected from you. You need to be mature enough to realize that you haven't done your part to take of the cache. The reviewer seems to be willing to relist the cache when you fix it. Really, by your response it just sounds like you had no intention on fixing it and just want to rant about it. Really surprised to see this is your attitude towards the geocaching community.

How is caching not on your mind when you have almost 20,000 forum posts? You say forums aren't caching, but that's what the forums are about. I see you answering posts all over the place on this site about cache problems, maintenance issues, etc. I looked at the map for the one in question and the one you just place and listed a couple of days ago. They aren't even an hour from one another. According to google maps they are at most, 30 miles, from one another. How would you need to take vacation to maintain the cache, but you can place the other? Just doesn't make sense to me. Seems the archival was in good order. It's one thing to have a major life issue stop you for awhile, but a whole other one to just say you have better things to do. I don't like having to maintain mine either. I doubt anyone LIKES it. But it's something you agreed to do when you listed the cache. And to top it off you said you promised to the reviewer that you would handle it in the Spring, but then just posted that if you forget to in the Spring, you'll get to it in the Summer. Maybe you were being sarcastic, but it comes off as being flippant about the entire issue.

The top of the unit was designed like that so you can clip it onto something. The 1500 and the 2000 are bigger than the other models, and the lower models don't have as big of a "handle" either. The screens are really nice and bright. I've compared them to Garmin side by side and they both look good. An LCD screen can show up poorly in a picture due to the angle the camera is at and the use of a flash. The pic above is not at all representative of the true screen brightness. The units should be in stores now, go check them out for yourselves before making up your mind. In all fairness, all units have their shortcomings and problems. It's best to decide what is best for you individually.

I imagine that would also include the 200 as well as the 300 as it doesn't have an SD slot either. Thanks for letting us know. You can clear off the SD card though by formatting it like I explained in my quote from the manual. That sounds good then, you can access many maps and clear them off properly. Good to hear.

A regular battery will usually last about 25% longer than a single charge on a set of good NiMH rechargeable. But, you can't recharge them. We only use rechargeables and have many extras to keep charged up for back ups. It will save you in the long run and it also ensures that you can have a good fresh strong charge when you set out to cache. You can easily buy a small charging unit to travel with, if you need to. And, if my memory serves me right, you can get a good sized pack of them at Sam's Club for a nice price. Totally worth it. With 3 kids in the house, we use them for everything.

Check your batteries and always make sure to have a good charge. I would suggest some rechargable batteries as our Magellan Platinum acts weird if the batteries are low. But with a new charge it is dead on every time and it holds the signal better than many other people's other units (Garmins) that we know. Make sure that you initialize it. And if it's sat without a charge or you take the batteries out for an extended period of time, you have to re-initialize again.

Sorry, misunderstood you a bit. I thought you were saying that you couldn't get it to store more maps on your SD card. Here's a few things I found while looking stuff up (again I don't have my unit to test out) This is from Magellan's manual • View images stored on an SD card that can be used to assist you in arriving at the proper location. (Magellan Triton 400 and 500 only.) Would suggest to me that there would be several to choose from on the SD card then and that you can switch between them without the vantage point software. More from the manual: Maps Viewing Map Information 1. Access the Main Menu and select “View”. 2. Select Maps to view details on the installed background map and detail map (if loaded). 3. Select OK to exit. Memory View Memory Usage 1. Access the Main Menu and select “View”. 2. Select Settings. 3. Select Memory. 4. Select View Usage. Clearing Memory 1. Access the Main Menu and select “View”. 2. Select Settings. 3. Select Clear Memory. 4. Confirm. (Use this option with caution.) Formatting SD Card (Magellan Triton 400 and 500 only) 1. Access the Main Menu and select “View”. 2. Select Settings. 3. Install SD card to be formatted. 4. Select Memory. 5. Select Format SD Card. (Option appears only when an SD card is inserted.) 6. Confirm. (This will erase all information on the SD card.) This suggests to me that there are several maps that you can choose from and that you can clear out the memory ( of some sort anyway). Maybe this means only waypoints and such.....don't know. You can clear off the SD memory through the unit though. Seems maybe NG has things wrong, or poorly worded on their site. Bad website editing can be the cause for confusion, and not too unrealistic since it's NGs site and not magellan saying it. I have read from a representative from NG that they plan on their entire line of maps to work with the triton in the future, but that they only have done the State and Backyard Explorer line so far as they were the biggest sellers. It's hard to give any concrete answers as so few people have them in hand. I will be happy to tell all about it when we get it. We ordered the 400, but chose to upgrade to the 500. Ours is getting shipped out late next week due to the holidays.

Here's a quote from the page you linked: a. Depending on the model of Triton you have and whether or not it contains an SD Card determines the amount of map you can send. Nearly all units can have up to 10 USGS 7.5' Quadrangles in the internal memory at any one time. This is a minimum area of 490 square miles. From Magellan: SD-card compatibility - An invaluable feature enables you to use an unlimited amount of map data for topographic, marine and vehicle navigation. Store tracks, routes, geocaches and more. I think it's pretty clear that you can download to an SD card more maps than you were talking about. What you were speaking of is only the internal memory of the unit. These are the software titles used by Vantage Point: Magellan maps These work with Vantage Point, but the Magellan site never said that they will work with the Triton, we'll have to see. Notice at the bottom that you can download the Map Send Lite that will work with it. It doesn't work with Map Send Topo. Magellan has mapping software included on the unit that works in conjunction with the National Geographic Topo maps. National Geographic maps These will work with the Triton.

The Triton has a digital compass on the 500 and up. I don't think it's too unreasonable to have some options to the higher level units. Garmin does the same thing with theirs. I wasn't referring to you. I was talking about those people who just joined like 2 days before they started ranting about the units and have no caches found, etc. Just makes a person wonder. I'm not against Garmins, or any other unit for that matter. I've only had experience with our Magellan Meridian Platinum. And, I am in no way trying to say that this Triton will be all it says it is. This thread has just gone crazy bashing a company because of a mistake in packaging. We're all human, and things happen. They're trying to fix the issue, so I think they should get some credit. That's alot more than some companies I've run across in my life. Let's think of all the car manufacturers that wait until a certain number of people get KILLED before recalls are made. Let's just not burn Magellan at the stake quite yet. I can't address the issues you've had, as I don't have mine in hand. When I get it, and I've had some time to really check it out, I will write again about my experiences. Some people were getting the frozen screen because they unplugged the unit without powering down. Not something I would do, and honestly, a frozen screen would be expected, IMHO. I have a Magellan, but in no way expect everyone to think they are the best, or am I trying to persuade anyone into buying a Triton. I chose it because I liked what I read about it and because of my prior good experience with a Magellan, I wanted to stick with the company. My gripe with this thread is that it has become less of what this unit can and cannot do for a cacher and more of a sophomoric argument on which is better Garmin or Magellan. It's like two guys arguing about Chevys and Fords. The units will be in hand to some of us that have ordered here in a week or two. Hopefully we will all come back and write about our opinions on them after we've truly tried them out. No matter what the outcome is, let's make it informative and without bias so that our fellow cachers can be educated.

I would suggest to any of you interested in purchasing a Triton to check out Tritonforums.com and look at the PDF manual for the GPSrs available on the home page. Some of the "problems" people have been claiming to find on the Tritons are due to a lack of knowledge about the unit and simply untrue. I was concerned as well as I have ordered one and am waiting for it to arrive. But found my concerns were unfounded once I started reading how customizable the screens are. I haven't read the whole manual yet, but am finding that alot of the issues brought up in this thread, simply don't exist. If the people who supposedly had these units in hand would have just read their manuals and took the time to learn the unit, they would find that what they wanted is right there in front of them. I hate to think the worst of people, but some of the "members" who have been spouting off about this unit have only joined a few weeks ago. I have to wonder if they are sock puppets trying to cause problems, or worse, Garmin employees. Alot of people are saying they have a unit, but the places they "bought" them don't even sell the thing. I'm not saying the Triton is the Holy Grail of GPSrs, just that we all need to be a bit patient, let some people actually get the units in hand and try them out before we make rash judgements on a company as a whole. It's easy to come on here and say you purchased a unit, used it a couple of days and hated it. Try using the unit for a few weeks out on caches, not just fooling around with in your house. Then come on and give a comprehensive review. Make this a thread that helps people decide on whether or not to buy it.....don't just bash the thing before you actually learn to use it. I currently have a Meridian Platinum and love it. The thing is always dead on with caches, no bugs, no problems whatsoever. When I called Magellan to inquire about the Triton units, I had great service and they spoke clear English. I'm not doubting that some people have had difficulties with the customer service department as I'm hard pressed to find any customer service department in any company that runs smoothly. Most are a pain in the ***. But I am happy to say that I haven't had to deal with their customer service with my unit as I haven't had any problems. I'd rather say that than have a unit breaking down that requires good customer service any day.

Tell the property owner, or police, that approach you how to contact Geocaching.com if they would like the item removed. Then notify the owner of the cache about what happened. Anyone else that converses with you about the same thing happening when searching for a different cache by this member, should be recommended to do the same thing. I would be careful though not to approach the owner about any caches that you have not encountered an incident with as you might find some retaliation from the cache owner. Some people just can't seem to be adult about these sorts of things. And lastly, if this individual has issues like this with his caches, ignore any future ones and those you have not found yet. If your local reviewer has to archive several due to this person not having prior permission, they will remember the issue when it comes to approving new ones in the future. It's best to keep yourself out of things as much as possible.

I have to say that I really see a double standard when it comes to what is and what is not considered "commercial". I've seen lots of caches that are inside buildings, and sure maybe some were around prior to rule....I mean "guideline" changes. But, just a few weeks ago there were several threads about everyone excited that the NPS was opening their doors to geocachers. You have to pay to get in any national park, so how is this different? Don't get me wrong, I think that caches in NPS sites are great, just don't see how they fit in and not others, especially ones that don't cost you to visit. The same thing goes for state parks that require entry or any other place that has an entry fee (there are lots out there....and recent one too). Seems a bit unfair. I don't know what this place is like that the OP is talking about, but I don't see how it would be any different than any other cache in a building that has been listed. They aren't requiring you to purchase something, or pushing their wares, just securing the box. I know my opinion won't change Groundspeaks', but since this is a forum, I'm just putting it out there. And to the OP: good luck with your cache. I hope you can find a way to make it work.

I'm lost as to how people are saying that they purchased the 400s and up. I've checked at the stores you all listed, and they don't even have them as an item to purchase, much less have them in stock. Everywhere I see online says that the Tritons (not including the 300) are only for sale for pre-order to be shipped when they get them. I've spoken to Magellen who says that the stores have received the tritons but have not put them out to sell yet. From what I understand, REI will be the first to be selling them in the next week. So how are you purchasing them? Is there some secret I've missed out on?

Since you do not plan on actually "paying" for cachers' souls, wouldn't it be more of a Soul Donation cache and less of a Sell Your Soul cache? Even giving a smiley seems a bit more like trading than selling. But if it were a donation cache, I believe that would place it under a "cache with an agenda" as the only charity Groundspeak validates is the CITO effort (and Diabetes TBs). However, if you would like to have a Soul CITO event in which you were to clean up people's recently discarded and trashed souls, it seems it would be acceptable. You would most likely get a large turnout (unless it was alongside a freeway.....just can't take the kiddos to those). Although maybe you should change the title to CISO (cache in, soul out).

Nope, keep on caching, the worse the weather the better, keeps muggles away. Although we enjoy winter caching.....can't say I agree with the weather comment. When it's snowing like crazy here, we can't get a signal to save our lives. Pretty hard to get one when we have the winter cloud cover too. i imagine it keeps muggles away to an extent. But I've found in my area, it just means a different type of muggle is out (snowshoeing like us, skiing, etc). I have noticed though that the weather scares off cachers from the off the beaten path caches. Seems like they're sticking to the urban type caches in our area.