The Shadows Know
-
Posts
21 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Never
Posts posted by The Shadows Know
-
-
Wouldn't then the original find be "covery" which then become "recovery" when reloacted?
-
Wouldn't then the original find be "covery" which then become "recovery" when reloacted?
-
Marty, thanks for the historic update on this, I remember all the hoopla during the Vietnam era, but had no idea the roots extended all the way back to WWI.
-
This is from a May 28, 2002 product review on http://joe.mehaffey.com/ regarding a Magellan GPS with the quad helix antenna.
Receiver Accuracy and Sensitivity: [/b]The Sportrak Pro GPS appears to represent a significant step forward in WAAS enhanced GPS position accuracy. In experiments the Pro was able to achieve 95% confidence accuracy of less than one meter on two out of the three tests we made in the open. It also achieved its specification accuracy of 3 meters 95% of the time under moderate tree cover on all tests. No other consumer handheld GPS we have reviewed has achieved this accuracy.
Other tests show that this stationary accuracy is not achieved at the expense of position lag at highway speeds or in overshoot on sharp turns. We consider the Sportrak Pro to be the most accurate consumer GPS receiver that we have reviewed. Magellan Engineers have confirmed that our results are consistent with their data though they do not GUARANTEE accuracy to the level we have experienced in our review unit. Subjective evaluation of the sensitivity would be that it's above average. The most dramatic results of the Pro's performance was under moderate tree cover. Magellan seems to have overcome this general problem with hand-held receivers as can be seen in these plots (HERE)
See http://www.gpsinformation.net/mgoldreview/sportrak-pro-rev.html for the entire review and comparison to other GPS units.
Quad helix is the only way to go.
-
This is from a May 28, 2002 product review on http://joe.mehaffey.com/ regarding a Magellan GPS with the quad helix antenna.
Receiver Accuracy and Sensitivity: [/b]The Sportrak Pro GPS appears to represent a significant step forward in WAAS enhanced GPS position accuracy. In experiments the Pro was able to achieve 95% confidence accuracy of less than one meter on two out of the three tests we made in the open. It also achieved its specification accuracy of 3 meters 95% of the time under moderate tree cover on all tests. No other consumer handheld GPS we have reviewed has achieved this accuracy.
Other tests show that this stationary accuracy is not achieved at the expense of position lag at highway speeds or in overshoot on sharp turns. We consider the Sportrak Pro to be the most accurate consumer GPS receiver that we have reviewed. Magellan Engineers have confirmed that our results are consistent with their data though they do not GUARANTEE accuracy to the level we have experienced in our review unit. Subjective evaluation of the sensitivity would be that it's above average. The most dramatic results of the Pro's performance was under moderate tree cover. Magellan seems to have overcome this general problem with hand-held receivers as can be seen in these plots (HERE)
See http://www.gpsinformation.net/mgoldreview/sportrak-pro-rev.html for the entire review and comparison to other GPS units.
Quad helix is the only way to go.
-
makaio:
If there is federal money in that bridge, the law probably applies.
Somehow, I don't think any of us have to worry about being arrested for taking pictures of a bridge, except perhaps in NY.
-
I believe only the MapSend software will work with the SporTrak, unless someone out there knows of a conversion program, or a program that allows you to create and load your own maps.
-
I believe there were a number of laws passed during the Vietnam War era that prohibited the photographing of federal property. If I recall correctly, these laws were very broad and were written to included any public works project that involved federal funding, i.e., bridges, monuments, etc.
It seems a number of war protesters were scouting federal buildings and other properties before they planted bombs. Draft boards and post offices were favorite targets, so popular that they even bombed the main draft board building way up north in Minneapolis.
Connected with this is an interesting bit of trivia. There was a law enacted around 1970 that reduced the time necessary to establish residency in a state to 24 hours. They enacted the law to make it easier for states to prosecute war protesters that crossed state lines to incite riots. As far as I know that law was never rescinded.
-
I believe there were a number of laws passed during the Vietnam War era that prohibited the photographing of federal property. If I recall correctly, these laws were very broad and were written to included any public works project that involved federal funding, i.e., bridges, monuments, etc.
It seems a number of war protesters were scouting federal buildings and other properties before they planted bombs. Draft boards and post offices were favorite targets, so popular that they even bombed the main draft board building way up north in Minneapolis.
Connected with this is an interesting bit of trivia. There was a law enacted around 1970 that reduced the time necessary to establish residency in a state to 24 hours. They enacted the law to make it easier for states to prosecute war protesters that crossed state lines to incite riots. As far as I know that law was never rescinded.
-
quote:
Finally the antenna. I know that quad helix antennas are favored for picking up signals under foliage, but are they more accurate than the patches under open sky conditions?I believe the quad helix antennas are more accurate in all conditions, however make sure any quad helix unit you look for has the capability to shut down the WAAS feature. "All Magellans we have reviewed can receive corrections from the AOR-East geosynchronous European EGNOS satellite. The units are permanently in the WAAS mode which can't (easily) be switched off. This will be a problem for users far outside the WAAS and EGNOS correction areas. For example, users in Australia have reported significant position errors introduced by receiving the POR satellite's WAAS corrections." from http://www.gpsinformation.net/mgoldreview/sportrak-pro-rev.html
Good luck in finding the right GPS
-
Michael:
I see no problem with Jeremy putting his time into developing his site in anyway he sees fit. If he winds up building a business around it, good for him. Have you checked recently on what country you are living in?
If you don't like how he has organized his geocaching site, perhaps it would be best for you to go play somewhere else.
When I was a 6 year old and there was a kid in the neighborhood with your attitude we had a word for him: baby
Grow up.
-
quote:
My point is that there are lots of great wild places on public lands. The State Parks are designated wilderness spaces that the public has access to. There is a difference.I don't think that state parks are wilderness areas. I believe that only certain national parks carry that designation.
I do think that I understand what you're trying to get at here, but in my view, and from what I've read from the geocachers on this site, is that most geocachers try to respect the environment they are in and try to improve it by picking up the trash left behind by other park visitors.
I know on our trek this past Saturday, my son and I climbed out on several rock formations overhanging the river to pick-up the beer cans left behind by someone else and in full sight of any passers-by. We also picked up enough other beer cans, plastic bottles and other litter to fill the largest compartment in our backpack. I know this had to improved the view of nature for both other hikers and for the kayakers going down the river.
The cache we found on Saturday was placed on November 20, 2001 in a park somewhat near Duluth. From reading the cache log it looked to me that perhaps 15 people had found the cache in the seven plus months since it was placed, and a few of those were non-cachers that stumbled upon it during their "off-path" use of the park.
With other park users leaving cans, plastic bottles and once lit cigarette butts all over, I hardly see how my son and I, and 10 or so other geocachers, participated in an activity that was damaging to the park.
-
I looked at those units but decided that if I was willing to go from $100 for the etrex to $140 for the Magellan, I might as well throw in another $100 and get a full featured GPS. i went with the Magellan SporTrak Pro for $255.
You could check here to see if there is a comparison between the units you mentioned: http://joe.mehaffey.com/
-
The Brunton Multi-Nav may no longer be a cutting edge GPS unit in terms of GPS technology, but they have the map issue down perfect in that you can load just about any mapping software into the unit.
Carry two GPS units into the field, the Brunton for the maps, and a Magellan SporTrak Pro for it's superior antenna array.
-
The Brunton Multi-Nav may no longer be a cutting edge GPS unit in terms of GPS technology, but they have the map issue down perfect in that you can load just about any mapping software into the unit.
Carry two GPS units into the field, the Brunton for the maps, and a Magellan SporTrak Pro for it's superior antenna array.
-
I really like the letter redruff wrote to send to the DNR, if it is alright with redruff, maybe we should all use his letter as a template for writing our own to send to the contacts below. I'd suggest using the redruff letter and personalizing it with your own thoughts and feelings regarding this issue.
Write or e-mail ALL the legislators, not just your own - volume of mail has a big impact on these folks. Some will take a little extra work because of the e-mail system they have chosen to use - get ready to do some copy and paste!
Also, It would be a good idea to contact your local media and try to interest them to write a story on this.
Here is all the contact info I could find:
Minnesota State Senators contact information:
http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/alphalist.shtml
I suggest that everyone make it a point to email Senator Dick Day, he seems to be a senator that hates stupid government rules and regulations. (He is the senator that led the charge on the ramp meter changes in the Twins Cities. Interesting because he is from southern Minnesota).
Minnesota State Representatives contact information: (The link to the list of Representative seems to be broken, so this link will get you to the House web site):
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/
Contact information for the DNR Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner:
Allen Garber, Commissioner
Phone: (651) 296-2549
Steve Morse, Deputy Commissioner
Phone: (651) 296-2540
Fax: (651) 296-4799
Address:
DNR
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-4040
Here is the general information for the DNR central offices:
DNR Information Center
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-4040
Telephone: (651) 296-6157 or (888) MINNDNR
TTY: (651) 296-5484 or (800) 657-3929
DNR Central Office hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday. Closed holidays
Here are the local office addresses for the regional DNR offices:
Northwestern Minnesota Regional Office
2115 Birchmont Beach Road NE, Bemidji, MN 56601
(218) 755-3955; fax (218) 755-4024
Northeastern Minnesota Regional Office
1201 East Highway 2 , Grand Rapids, MN 55744
(218) 327-4455; fax (218) 327-4263
Central Minnesota Regional Office
1601 Minnesota Drive, Brainerd, MN 56401
(218) 828-2561; fax (218) 828-2439
Southwest Minnesota Regional Office
261 Highway 15 South, New Ulm, MN 56073
(507) 359-6000; fax (507) 359-6018
Southeast Minnesota Regional Office
2300 Silver Creek Road NE, Rochester, MN 55906
(507) 285-7420; fax (507) 285-7144
Metro Area Regional Office
1200 Warner Road, St. Paul, MN 55106
(651) 772-7990; fax (651) 772-7977
-
I really like the letter redruff wrote to send to the DNR, if it is alright with redruff, maybe we should all use his letter as a template for writing our own to send to the contacts below. I'd suggest using the redruff letter and personalizing it with your own thoughts and feelings regarding this issue.
Write or e-mail ALL the legislators, not just your own - volume of mail has a big impact on these folks. Some will take a little extra work because of the e-mail system they have chosen to use - get ready to do some copy and paste!
Also, It would be a good idea to contact your local media and try to interest them to write a story on this.
Here is all the contact info I could find:
Minnesota State Senators contact information:
http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/members/alphalist.shtml
I suggest that everyone make it a point to email Senator Dick Day, he seems to be a senator that hates stupid government rules and regulations. (He is the senator that led the charge on the ramp meter changes in the Twins Cities. Interesting because he is from southern Minnesota).
Minnesota State Representatives contact information: (The link to the list of Representative seems to be broken, so this link will get you to the House web site):
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/
Contact information for the DNR Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner:
Allen Garber, Commissioner
Phone: (651) 296-2549
Steve Morse, Deputy Commissioner
Phone: (651) 296-2540
Fax: (651) 296-4799
Address:
DNR
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-4040
Here is the general information for the DNR central offices:
DNR Information Center
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155-4040
Telephone: (651) 296-6157 or (888) MINNDNR
TTY: (651) 296-5484 or (800) 657-3929
DNR Central Office hours: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday. Closed holidays
Here are the local office addresses for the regional DNR offices:
Northwestern Minnesota Regional Office
2115 Birchmont Beach Road NE, Bemidji, MN 56601
(218) 755-3955; fax (218) 755-4024
Northeastern Minnesota Regional Office
1201 East Highway 2 , Grand Rapids, MN 55744
(218) 327-4455; fax (218) 327-4263
Central Minnesota Regional Office
1601 Minnesota Drive, Brainerd, MN 56401
(218) 828-2561; fax (218) 828-2439
Southwest Minnesota Regional Office
261 Highway 15 South, New Ulm, MN 56073
(507) 359-6000; fax (507) 359-6018
Southeast Minnesota Regional Office
2300 Silver Creek Road NE, Rochester, MN 55906
(507) 285-7420; fax (507) 285-7144
Metro Area Regional Office
1200 Warner Road, St. Paul, MN 55106
(651) 772-7990; fax (651) 772-7977
-
From: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/index.html
Geocaching prohibited in the Minnesota State Park system
Due to concerns related to natural resource protection, visitor safety, staff workloads and liability, geocaches are not permitted on lands administered by the Minnesota State Park System. Caches that were placed in state parks without permission must be removed by July 1, 2002. After that time, they will be considered abandoned property.
Sorry to spread the bad news.
-
I'm just happy with the purchase.
I used to be in research and marketing so that most likely explains why I write the way I do.
johlaw
-
I don't often write product endorsements, but every so often something really good hits the market and I get inspired to share what I've found with others. In this case it is the Magellan SporTrak Pro.
Back in early June my son and I decided to begin geocaching so we began researching what gps unit to purchase. We began by reading lots of product reviews on the internet, particularly those written by people who use the units.
I came across a particularly harsh review of a Brunton unit and in it the reviewer lamented over the problems he was having with the type of antennas used in handheld gps units, in his case the Brunton.
His complaints were that he had to have a clear view of the sky to get any reading, and that he had to be moving to get a reading. He also stated that this was a problem not exclusive to the Brunton gps, but also the Garmin's, Lowerance and Magellan units he had tried.
He asked in his review why hand held gps manufacturers didn't "get with it" and begin using a quadifiler helix antenna rather than the "worthless" built-in patch antennas present in virtually all of today's hand-held gps units.
What made me pay particular attention to his review was that he was an aviator very familiar with high end gps gear.
I was just about to purchase a Lowerance unit and software when I came across an ad on a retail site stating that the Magellan SporTrak Pro had just come out on the market.
I did a little research on the unit and found out that the Pro uses a built-in quadifiler helix antenna that tracks up to 12 GPS satellites simultaneously.
I found one review at http://www.gpsinformation.net/mgoldreview/sportrak-pro-rev.html that stated,
"The Sportrak Pro GPS appears to represent a significant step forward in WAAS enhanced GPS position accuracy. In experiments the Pro was able to achieve 95% confidence accuracy of less than one meter on two out of the three tests we made in the open. It also achieved its specification accuracy of 3 meters 95% of the time under moderate tree cover on all tests. No other consumer handheld GPS we have reviewed has achieved this accuracy."
"Other tests show that this stationary accuracy is not achieved at the expense of position lag at highway speeds or in overshoot on sharp turns. We consider the Sportrak Pro to be the most accurate consumer GPS receiver that we have reviewed. Magellan Engineers have confirmed that our results are consistent with their data though they do not GUARANTEE accuracy to the level we have experienced in our review unit. Subjective evaluation of the sensitivity would be that it's above average. The most dramatic results of the Pro's performance was under moderate tree cover. Magellan seems to have overcome this general problem with hand-held receivers as can be seen in these plots." See: http://www.gpsinformation.net/mgoldreview/sportrak-pro-trees.html
Further, the review compared the SporTrak Pro to the higher priced, (but older technology) Magellan Meridian Gold and Map-330, and the Garmin GPS map 76S. You can review these results at:
http://www.gpsinformation.net/mgoldreview/map-gold.html
My experience with the SporTrak Pro has been extraordinary. My son and I gotten satellite readings under heavy tree cover while standing still. I highly recommend this unit to anyone. I bought mine at www.gps4fun.com, along with Magellan's MapSend software and a case for $367.95. Because I purchased the software at the same time I was eligible for a $50.00 rebate from Magellan.
johlaw
[This message was edited by johlaw on July 06, 2002 at 02:32 AM.]
[This message was edited by johlaw on July 06, 2002 at 02:39 AM.]
Geocaches In MN State Parks - Illegal
in Midwest
Posted
There have been several discussions on this topic in this forum. There are some good comments in this post that suggest ways to constructively work with the DNR:
Geocaches In MN State Parks - Illegal
http://opentopic.Groundspeak.com/0/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=1750973553&f=7250954883&m=1470919505