Mosaic55

What type of phone do you have? If you already have a smart phone, there are geocaching apps available for some of the most common ones. There's also the Trimble geocaching application that will work on some regular phones, it depends on your phone model and the carrier. There are arguments again using phones, especially regarding ruggedness and water resistance (handheld gps' are much more durable). But, if you already have a compatible cell phone, it could be a very low cost way to get started.

another thread where waypoints for Bushnell were discussed - http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...amp;hl=bushnell the 350, 400 and 200cr all use the same file format

I enjoyed the puzzle, it would have been evil without the hint. Too bad I'm about 250 miles away.

If the reason I didn't search is due to my own circumstances, "too hungry", "my feet hurt and I don't want to walk that far" or whatever, no one else is going to care, so no note. If it's because of something about the site, "flooded", "broken glass on the ground", "muggles coming and going constantly" I think it's worth a note.

Yes, that makes the most sense to me. So if we have a "muggled out", what's next? A "snowed out", a "rained out", and "don't like the looks of the place so I didn't search" buttons?

That the subject comes up over and over tells me there's a need/desire for a type of activity that isn't curently being met. I bet that someone will figure out how to cater to this desire and it ain't necessarily going to be Groundspeak. Stick around here and some things become predictable... such as who is going to respond to certain topics and basically what we're going to say. You can count on the regular appearance of a 'Bring Back Virts' thread but if you did the statistics on who replies to them you'll find that it's pretty much the same people saying pretty much what was said in the last one. I'm sure that Groundspeak has done the math and sees that there really aren't that many customers asking for their return. These whole forums are filled with the same people rehashing the same things over and over again. It's really amazing, I've never seen so much rehashing anywhere else on the web. Not a threat to leave. Just an attempt at stating my belief that virtuals "done right" would be an asset to whoever figured out how to do it.

That the subject comes up over and over tells me there's a need/desire for a type of activity that isn't curently being met. I bet that someone will figure out how to cater to this desire and it ain't necessarily going to be Groundspeak.

I would like to see virtuals brought back to Geocaching.com Locationless is a different animal and I can see how Waymarking could substitute for them. Virtuals fit right into the infrastructure of geocaching.com with smileys and PQs. It's too bad the Best Kept Secrets category hasn't taken off. But it hasn't. There's only one Best Kept Secret in my whole state and, quite co-incidentally, I logged it today. [i actually visited it because it's also stage one of a multicache. I'd forgotten it was also a waymark until reading this thread prompted me to look at Waymarking.com again. ] I think bringing virtuals back would be a good thing and would increase the popularity of geocaching.

Thanks, that's very good news. When I first joined a few years ago, 500 caches was more than enough to cover the area I might want to cache in. Now that I've started caching again, I have to be selective about types, and still, 500 just covers about an 8 mile radius. Yes, I know I could run multiple queries (and I do) but it would be easier if I could just get one file.

In the "Drove up. Too many muggles, I left w/o getting out of the car" scenario, I've left a note instead. I don't think it's a DNF because I didn't look. I do think the cache is there, others are finding it. I did want to post something so others would realize how busy the area is.

I've used a Zire 21. It's a pretty basic model. No backlight, but the reflective screen is very easy to see in sun light. It has a USB port and 8 meg of memory. No problem running Cachemate on it. Cachemate is great! If you're a premium member you can download PQs and then convert and load them on the PDA. They'll have the cache name, description, terrain/difficulty, hint and last five logs. Now, I use a Palm Treo phone. The Treo 650 and newer models have high-res 320x320 screens which are great. (I use mine a lot as an ebook reader.) I also have the Palm version of Street Atlas USA loaded for maps. I have a bluetooth GPS puck that it can connect to. So with Cachemate/Cachenav it can function as an GPS and PDA. Treos are kinda big and heavy by today's standards for PDAs or phones, but I find the size and shape very easy to hold in my hand. There's also the Palm Centro, which is lighter and smaller, but they tend to be more expensive if in good shape. I have a Centro which is active on Sprint, but for caching I use a Treo 700 which is currently not active as a phone. I like the larger screen on the Treo for PDA use, compared to the slightly smaller Centro screen. You can find Treo 650s or 700s for $30 to $40 on Ebay. I used to have a 650 but the keypad went wonky. The 700 and 650 are very similar, the 700 has more memory and higher res camera, otherwise not much difference.

If the CO is no longer active, add a Needs Archived log to the cache and let nature take it's course. You could fix it but then someday someone else will have to fix it. It's like taking a stray cat to the vet. Sure you can get it all fixed up but then just let it go stray again? Why? This is usually how it turns out. A few cachers following right after you are appreciative, but eventually something else happens, and the cache gets archived anyway. Why prolong the agony? Prolonging the agony or prolonging the fun? If the original piece of tupperware lasted for three or four years, the replacement could easily last another 3 or 4 years. I'd rather see the history of the existing cache preserved instead of archived. Why can't caches be adopted when the owner goes AWOL?

The Sterilite containers really aren't cheaper, they seem to be about the same as L'n'L 20 pieces, 20 bucks http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-20-Pie...ge-Set/11018654 16 to 20 pieces, 20 bucks http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/X5.aspx?DeptI...tId=57089|57351 I'm more interested in Sterilite because they are a bit easier to find in local stores and they are (mostly) made in USA, "made in U.S.A. with imported gasket" according to the label.

Walmart is now selling some Sterilite containers that look similar but they do not have the silly vent hole, so maybe they are better? I bought 2, filled them with water, closed up and then shook them. No leakage. They looked a little better than the Rubbermaid locking containers also on display at the store. Worth trying maybe?

Yes, please tell us what model Bushnell. It seems like most of them are similar and there is a way to transfer coordinate files downloaded from this site that works on several of the Bushnell models. We were talking about it recently on this thread >> http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=242024

I'm not that experieced either, however - I don't find the "drunken bumblebee dance" to do any good. I find it's better to back off 60 or 80 feet and approach the cache again. Don't worry about getting the distance to zero, anything under 10 feet is good. Doing it this way, if I get to a point where the GPS says the cache is 5 feet to my right, then 5 feet to my right is often a good spot to start looking. And I read all the log entries looking for clues about what to expect and I'm not shy about using any hint the cache hider wrote.

Maybe I didn't explain well. You don't have to load or convert them one at a time. Let's say you have a .gpx file with 200 cache waypoints in it. Tell GPSbabel where that .gpx input file is and specifiy the "Bushnell GPS waypoint" format for output. GPSbabel will spit out 200 .wpt files. Now drag and drop all 200 .wpt's at once to the waypoint directory on the GPSr. It's really not so bad, thanks to GPSBabel. It's much easier than using Bushnell's own conversion tool. (where the Onix really disappoints is in map management. That's a big PITA )

IF it's like the Onix 350, 1. download GPX ( or .loc) files to your PC 2. Use GPSbabel to convert to the Bushnell format ( one file per waypoint ) 3. Connect the GPS to USB port, have GPS powered on. It should show up as a removeable drive. 4. Transfer some .wpt files to the waypoint directory on the unit. Too many waypoints will slow down the unit's start-up time. I have 700 on my 350 and it seems quite slow to start up. Let us know if that works for the you. (Hopefully someone will be able confirm the 200cr behaves like the 350 and 400 as far as file management.)

One left

I like that idea! Maybe 5 votes per month or something like that. I think there have been some very good concepts included in this thread and I hope to see some of them implemented. Reward the top 10%, "best of" categories would be nice. I'm a low volume cacher, I can't see myself ever caching for the numbers. There's now over 500 caches within 10 miles of my house, I really want some way to narrow down which ones I go after. It doesn't need to be a clever hide if it takes me someplace beautiful or interesting, but if you take me someplace very mundane I hope at least it's going to be a clever hide. ( Yes I do read a lot of logs, but I'm not going to read all of the 500 nearest anytime soon.)

I have 3 Lowrance IFinder Go units I am selling. New condition. $38 each shipped within the USA, paypal only. Very accurate, uses WAAS, good battery life. The downsides are 1) the basemap has only major highways, no way to upgrade to better maps. 2) The cable for PC connection costs as much or more than the unit (if you can still find it). There is supposed to be a way to construct a home-made cable, but I haven't tried it. Even with the cable it's a little bit of work to transfer waypoints to the unit. So, essentially, that means expect to enter each waypoint by hand. The geocaching.com review page for the ifinder go -> http://www.geocaching.com/reviews/gps_lowrance_ifinder-go Send PM if interested.

I'm rather surprised that bluetooth receivers aren't more popular. (Or maybe they are, but just not glamorous to talk about.) I got one to use with my Palm Treo and it works quite well. With Cachemate and the cachenav plug-in it seems easier to use than my Explorist.

Woot has the Onix 350 on sale today (only) for $70 + 5 shipping. I have really mixed feelings about posting the deal here. Loading maps is cumbersome and it can't load very many maps before it slows down. But for $75, maybe it's OK? BTW, GPSBabel con convert GPX to waypoints for it now.

I used a Palm Zire 21 PDA for a while, no backlight, but the monochrome screen was very easy to see in bright light. The screen resolution was 160 x 160. The Zire has a USB connection. Before that I had a IIIxe, nothing wrong with those, but the serial interface is annoying. I recently got a Palm Treo 650 phone. Don't activate the phone and you've got a serviceable PDA. Color screen, SD card slot and bluetooth support so you can add a bluetooth GPS receiver to the setup. The color 320 x 320 screen is wonderful compared to the older low-res monochrome screens. It's so good that I don't even care that the Treo is twice as thick and twice as heavy as the Zire. The 700P runs a couple dollars more but has more memory. Cachemate is a great program, with a bluetooth GPS you can use it for navigating to the cache. The Treo feels pretty solid, but I'm sure it would object to being dropped in a stream, that's the only downside I can see. But it's less than $40 used, so replacing it wouldn't be too painful.

Too late for the OP, but I wanted to share my low budget solution. Get a used Palm Treo 650 or 700P on ebay or craigslist, it works as a PDA even if you don't activate the phone. It has a color touch screen and bluetooth support and they often go for under $40. It also has a SD card slot if you want to use the PDA for other things like ebooks or MP3 music, the built in storage is enough for cache info. Get Cachemate software for $10, get a bluetooth GPS reciever (I got a BT-359 for around $25) Also get the free Cetus GPS program for Palm as an extra navigation tool. I've used Palm OS PDAs on and off for 10 years so I was pretty comfortable with the Treo right from the start. There's a bit of a learning curve if you've never used a Palm before, but that seems to be true of many GPS systems too. As a bonus, if you get a Verizon branded Treo, you could activate the phone on PagePlus pay-as-you-go service pretty cheaply. OK, it's not water proof and maps would need yet another piece of software, sucha as Street Atlas, but I like using the Treo. I figured out how to convert GPX to POIs that can load into my car GPS, so I can use that for the steet portion of the trip, then switch to the Treo when I get close.