larryc43230

I've only done it once, but that is exactly what I did To be fair, they do allow you to drive around the block twice. When I bought a dash-mounted compass for my SUV earlier this year, the instruction sheet advised me to 1) mount the compass on the dashboard, then 2) go to the nearest decent-sized parking lot and drive in a circle, slowly, twice, after pressing a button on the unit. If I drove too fast or slowly the unit complained with a beep and I had to start over. So, yeah, I had an excuse to do doughnuts in the parking lot to calibrate my compass! And, just like my GPSr, I have to recalibrate my car's compass whenever I replace the batteries. I suspect that doing this calibration with the compass already mounted in the car allows the unit to compensate for the metal in the car. Actually, calibrating the compass in my 60CSx involves pretty much the same exercise, only without the car. --Larry

* Get to the main menu screen (the one with icons for System, Display, Interface, etc.). * Select the Setup icon and press Enter. * Select the Routing icon and press Enter. * Select Guidance Method and press Enter. * Finally, select Prompted from the list. That should get you back to being prompted when you press Go To. --Larry

I've done this accidentally myself. It's easy to fix: Just display the information for the cache (it will be in the Waypoints list); highlight the "open treasure chest" icon at the top left of the screen and press Enter; then choose the "closed treasure chest" icon. That causes the GPSr to treat the cache as unfound again. --Larry

I've often wondered whether Garmin hides the unlock code in their packaging that way as an exercise for beginning geocachers. In my case, the card with the unlock code just happened to slip out from between the pieces of cardstock; otherwise, I would have wound up dumpster-diving myself. --Larry

The .gpx file with "-wpts" at the end holds "extra" waypoints for the geocaches in the other .gpx file, waypoints for things like parking spots, trailheads, etc. These "extra" or "child" waypoints are usually, but not always, explained on the Web page for the cache itself. The name of the waypoint will often be a hint as to what it's for. For example, for a geocache named GCABCD, you might see a waypoint named PKABCD. This would most likely be a waypoint marking a good parking spot. You can load this file to your GPSr using GSAK the same way you loaded the other .gpx file. The .prc file is an eBook version of the information in the pocket query. It's readable by PDAs using the free Mobipocket Reader or a similar program. You got this file because when you created your pocket query, you checked the box near the bottom of the Web page for "Also eBook Format (for handheld devices)". --Larry

I'm 57; geocaching makes me feel more like 27. --Larry

I recommend GSAK. You can load PQs then sort/filter to just the ones you want, then export those to CacheMate. Actually, both methods will work. Which you select will likely depend on what you choose in the "Extra info" drop-down box. I prefer to always display Waypoint; I'm betting The Jester prefers Difficulty/Terrain. If you follow The Jester's approach, you will indeed get lists sorted by name and by waypoint, depending on the choice you make in the lower right-hand corner. Using The Jester's method, with Terrain/Difficulty selected from the "Extra Info" drop-down list, you get: Sorted by name: Name followed by Terrain/Difficulty in parentheses Sorted by waypoint: Waypoint followed by Terrain/Difficulty in parentheses If you use the method I suggested, and select Waypoint from the "Extra Info" drop-down list, you get: Sorted by name: Name followed by waypoint in parentheses Sorted by waypoint: Waypoint in parentheses followed by name I need the name and waypoint ID more than I need the Difficulty/Terrain rating to be displayed. Both methods will work, it's a matter of preference and what you want to see in the list. BTW, I also use GSAK to maintain my cache listings and transfer them to the GPSr. Wouldn't do it any other way! --Larry

My memory is a bit hazy on this, but I seem to remember having the same difficulty when I first started using CacheMate. In my case, anyway, I had to change an option in CacheMate to be able to list the caches both by name and by waypoint. Here's how I solved the problem: * In CacheMate, be sure you're in list mode (i.e., you see the list of caches and not a particular cache record). * Open the menu, then under Option, select "List Options". * In the List Options dialog, uncheck "Display waypoint as name" and "When sorted by waypoint". * Click the OK button. This resolved the problem for me; HTH! --Larry

A few weeks ago, I went after a microcache hidden in a very public location at a local college. It was hidden in bushes at the front of a major building near the center of the campus. Finding and retrieving the cache required climbing behind the bushes, making it look to anyone not knowing what I was doing that I was hiding there. I had chosen a time, near sunset, when, hopefully, there would be relatively few students in the area. As it turned out it appeared that I had chosen a good time; there wasn't anyone around when I realized I needed to dive into the bushes to get the cache. Just as I was signing the log, still in the bushes, a group of students walked up to the building and proceeded to stand in front of the bushes and talk among themselves. I'm a 57-year-old male. Nothing I might have had with me: a GPSr, geocaching brochures, or an engaging smile, could have prevented me from looking suspicious if I had emerged from those bushes while the students (or, theoretically, a policeman) were standing there. I was engaged in a lawful activity (the cache had been approved by the college and that particular building's management), but I would not have blamed those students, or any policeman who might have seen me there, for deeming my behavior "suspicious." And I would have cooperated 100% with any law enforcement type who asked for an explanation. Even though geocaching is a legitimate hobby, some of our behaviors can be prima facie "suspicious," and I for one will go out of my way to cooperate with the authorities when necessary. I don't consider that an abrogation of my rights, it's just common sense. If I were in their shoes (either the students or a policeman) and saw someone emerge from behind some bushes, I would be very suspicious as to what that person was up to. I respectfully disagree about your statement that the typical officer is aware of geocaching. Not counting friends I know who are geocachers themselves, not one person, cop or otherwise, that I've mentioned my hobby to had even heard of geocaching before I explained it to them. Maybe the general public in your area has a higher degree of awareness of geocaching than the folks in my neck of the woods. Only a very small percentage of the people around here have even heard of it. --Larry

Geocaches are just a special type of waypoint. As far as I'm aware, geocaches will always show up in both the waypoint and geocache areas. I have to wonder what happened to the geocaches you uploaded using POI Loader... do they show up when you press the Find button, then select Custom Points of Interest (which is the usual destination for POI Loader stuff)? --Larry

You can also delete all the waypoints which have a particular icon (for example, all the Geocaches, with the "closed treasure chest" icon). On the Garmin, press the Find button; select Waypoints; press the Menu button; then select Delete... from the menu. This will give you a list of all the icon types ("Symbols") stored on the unit. Select the icon for the type of waypoint you want to delete, then answer Yes when asked to confirm the deletion. --Larry

I'm not sure what the problem might be, but keep in mind that geocaches are nothing but waypoints with a specific "closed treasure chest" icon assigned to them. Any waypoints with that icon transferred to the 60c should wind up being listed as geocaches on the unit. Just to complicate things, in the 60CSx, anyway, you can change the icon used to indicate geocaches. If you change the icon used to indicate geocaches, then any waypoints transferred with that icon will show up as geocaches. I assume you can also change this setting on a 60c, but I haven't verified that. --Larry

Reminds me of the first (and last!) time I completely trusted the street-level navigation in my GPSr (a Garmin 60CSx). I told the unit to take me to the next geocache on my list for that day, and told it to use the "Follow Road" approach. This was an urban cache in Columbus, Ohio. It dutifully figured out what street got me closest to the cache, it plotted a route, and off I went. I wound up at the back of a condo development, with the cache apparently located somewhere in a large field. I switched the unit to off road navigation and headed out across the field... down a steep hill... through a patch of nasty nettles... across a rather smelly drainage ditch which featured a bunch of broken glass and other trash... and back up another hill. When I got to the top of that hill, I found myself staring at the rear of the Polaris shopping mall. The cache, a micro, was hidden in a courtyard at the mall. The street the GPSr had pointed me to was the closest approach to the cache... if you don't count the massive shopping mall parking lot. From then on, I started double-checking just where the unit was trying to take me to! The original description of the cache didn't give any hints as to what to expect at the cache location, and didn't give any parking coordinates. After my log entry, where I mentioned my bushwhacking, the cache owner added a hint about the best place to park to reach the cache. --Larry

Geocaching helped me rediscover the joys of the great outdoors, and probably helped save my health in the process. When I was a kid, I spent every minute I could outdoors, usually with my cousin and a few good friends, exploring the countryside, fishing and camping. When I started college, I found new friends and new things to get involved in, and pretty much forgot about my previous interests. After college, my job involved mostly sitting at a desk and staring at a PC (for the last few years, I was a webmaster for a government agency; before that I worked in IT and network administration). My hobbies and spare-time activities were also centered around my PC and the Internet (also a lot of reading and movie-watching, all in the comfort of my living room). I pretty much forgot what real fresh air was like. Then, about four years ago, I became very ill and was eventually diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic. I had gained some weight over the years, but wasn't anywhere near obese (I'm about 5'11" and my weight had grown to about 205 pounds). It was the lifestyle (along with bad eating habits) that was causing the damage. Once I got things under better control with diet and medication, my doctor advised me that there were three things that were vital to my keeping the disease in check: Exercise, Exercise, and Exercise! I bought myself an exercise bike for use at home, and starting taking long "hikes" in the emergency stairway in the office tower I worked in. At my peak, I was walking up 30 floors, then back down to my "home" floor, at least once every work day. I retired in January 2005, after 30 years with the same outfit. I used my exercise bike nearly every day, and took long walks in the neighborhood and in parks near my home, but that became boring over time (especially the exercise bike). Then, this spring, I discovered geocaching. In a lot of ways, it's the perfect hobby for me. I was already a computer/Internet fanatic; I love electronic gadgets; and I really needed something interesting and challenging to get involved with that would also give me a good physical workout. And it also got me back outside breathing fresh air again! Bottom line, to answer the original question, geocaching did give me a badly needed excuse to get outdoors again. --Larry

A backpacks probably your best bet for hauling stuff. Just make sure it has extra-comfy shoulder straps. Now personally I'm thinking about getting one of those photographers vests that has like twenty pockets for carrying various items. I suspect they're expensive though. Actually, I've been looking at photographer's vest as a possibility myself. I've seen some decent vests for around $60-$70, but I haven't had a chance to check any details yet. Anyone use a photographer's vest you'd recommend? --Larry

I'm getting a lot of good ideas for things to carry when I go caching. Now for a related question: What do you carry it all in? Most of my caching expeditions are solo trips, so I'd need something (presumably a backpack or similar) that I could carry on my own. Any suggestions? --Larry

If you've obtained your cache waypoints using a Geocaching.com Pocket Query, you may receive two files by e-mail for each query. The first will be the geocaches themselves, and they will (or should) have the "closed treasure chest" icon. The other file, which will have a file name that looks like 501074-wpts.gpx (the number will be different for each query), contains waypoints for parking spots, trailheads, and other locations associated with the geocaches. These "extra" waypoints will have different icons (I've seen both "P" parking space icons and blue-flag icons). Could these "extra" waypoints be what you're seeing? If so, they're not actually geocaches themselves, and you wouldn't want to change them into geocache waypoints. --Larry

I wouldn't be too surprised if they filed silly (in this case) charges of inducing panic or similar. --Larry

I was at a very similar scene recently (in a local cemetery). The micro was magnetically attached to a downspout that was half-visible through the ivy. Before conducting a full CSI, scan for objects in the ivy that could be used to hide or attach a micro. --Larry

Not the best way to get publicity for geocaching.... Middletown Journal newspaper article --Larry

I think there is some hard limit for the number of waypoints stored... The 60CSx is limited to a total of 1000 waypoints. Since geocaches are nothing but waypoints with a treasure chest icon, there is no way to store 1800 waypoints, with or without the Geocache function, on the 60CSx. You can store an unlimited number of Custom POIs (limited only by memory card capacity, anyway), but the Geocache function doesn't apply to POIs. --Larry

What parts are giving you trouble? I'm sure I and many of the others here would be glad to help. --Larry

I am having trouble deleting custom POIs on my handheld. I now have duplicates. How do I delete custom POIS from my Garmin 60Csx? As far as I'm aware, when you download the custom POIs to the GPSr using POI Loader, you replace all the POIs that were stored on the GPSr with the new set (rather like MapSource handles maps). I don't believe you can delete specific custom POIs that are stored on the GPSr, you need to replace the entire set with a new set. --Larry

I use CacheMate and GSAK to maintain cache information on my Palm. There's a great tutorial on how all this works here. It was exactly what I needed to get started. --Larry

I've found a few caches that needed maintenance, and I've always made two logs: One "Found It" log and one "Needs Maintenance" log. That gives me the "point" I "earned" for actually finding it, and also notifies the owner that the cache needs maintenance. --Larry