celestialmom

I can't believe I finally got this to work! After all that, I put my sd card in the card reader of my laptop and copied the file from my pc to the sd card over the network! Holy cow, I've been working on this for TWO days!!!!!!!!!! Thanks everyone for your help.

Yay! It works! ...sort of... When I thought about the "path too deep" error, I figured I'd try to upload the test region to my internal memory instead of the sd card. That worked!!! Of course, I got the sd card so I could upload maps to it--is there anything different I need to do here? thanks

Oh yeah--forgot to say how the problem was fixed. First of all, I changed the serial # as suggested by using mapsend manager and clicking on "profile." Also, I used a different usb port which all of a sudden woke up my computer fairy, who decided to install new hardware! I had to restart my computer and then at least I was able to communicate to the unit.

Thanks, everyone, I got at least ONE problem resolved. Mapsend Topo will recognize my gps unit now, but still can't upload maps. I save the region to my hard drive, and have tried two things. 1. Click on regions, upload to gps--then I get a message that the data transfer failed. 2. Go to mapsend manager and click on transfer data to unit. I then find the file in my documents, my gps, detail maps and click on transfer. This gives me an error message of "cannot copy file. path too deep." Has anyone else dealt with this?

I have never heard of a virtual serial port! How do I install this? Also, thanks embra for the serial # idea--I think that might actually be the problem and can't wait to try it this afternoon. I think I remember when I entered the serial # that I ran out of space before I ran out of numbers! I'll let you know how it turns out...

Okay, I spent all day installing my new mapsend topo software, finding out that I can't use it to transfer files to my gps using windows vista, copying dvd files to my pc over our network, installing the topo software on my pc with windows xp, and NOW I thought I'd finally be able to download a region to my gpsr! But nooooo..... First of all, the mapsend topo software doesn't recognize my explorist. When trying to detect, it just cycles through bitrates checking com1 and com3 but says "failed to detect gps receiver". I know I have it connected correctly, and in the correct mode, I download .gs files to it all the time exported from gsak. Secondly, after saving a map region to my hard drive, when trying to transfer it to the gpsr using mapsend manager (clicking on transfer date to gps unit) It doesn't recognize the .img file as being in explorist format. (I think it needs a mgi or imi) HELP!!!!!!!!! This has been a really frustrating day, but I thought it was finally going to work, and then! *poof*

I spent practically all day today trying to get my mapsend topo to download regions to my magellan, called customer service, and found out that none of the mapsend software actually works with windows vista. I ended up copying the dvd from my laptop to my pc (that doesn't have a dvd drive) and installing it from the hard drive on my pc that still runs xp. There is no driver that is compatible with vista. I can still download waypoint files, etc, using GSAK, but nothing from mapsource.

I took the plunge and drove to another walmart (1.5 hr away!) and picked up the lock n locks I need. BTW--if anyone needs to know, those rubbermaid flex n seal ended up with about 2 T of water in them overnight. So lock n locks it is!

Boy, am I mad!!! I just drove over an hour to Wal-Mart to get the 4 lock and lock containers I need for this puzzle cache, but when I looked on the shelf, they were out of stock except for ONE!!! So after checking out the other containers, I decided (with reservations) to get some Rubbermaid "Flex and Seal" containers. They do have a rubber seal instead of plastic, but I have a feeling I'll need to go back next week to get the real thing. Does anyone have any experience with these? (I've got mine submerged in a bowl of water overnight--we'll see how that works out.) BTW, thanks everyone for the good pointers. I'm using most of them in one way or another!

No WalMart? I want to move THERE!! michelle It does give me a really good excuse to drive an hour to go geocaching!

Thanks for your input...when I googled last time (a few weeks ago), I could only find mixed-sized sets. I'll check out these links tomorrow. As for Letchworth, that's on my list to research. I went to the ASP Geobash II in May and had a blast! Next time you're in the area, check out some of our new caches! (I just placed a few, and Olf D'Coors is working on some as well.)

Can you believe our nearest wal-mart is 1 hr away?! And Target? Forget it...probably two hrs. See why ordering is cheaper than driving?!

I'm preparing a puzzle series with several different caches that will only include logbooks and a pieces to a puzzle. I'd like to use lock-n-locks and haven't found a great place to buy them just by googling. I'm probably looking for something 3x5 or 4x6--any suggestions for best deals? Also, I just received several ammo cans that I am preparing to hide (replacing rubbermaid containers). They are quite greasy--is just a strong detergent good enough to get the oil off so they can be painted? Thanks.

I look at it like this--whenever I do something, no matter if it's at home, work, or play, I try to do it well. You probably model or teach this to your son also. We aren't necessarily looking for perfection, but we use every resource possible (spellchecker, parents, a "beta-test cacher", etc) to make sure the work is quality. I would expect a "childishness" about a child's cache, maybe, but no obvious or avoidable errors. Anyway, best of luck to your son in setting out his first cache! --edited to change a grammatical error that would invalidate my whole point! [:I]--

So the final answer is... It still doesn't work! But at least I have another road to take--I did another roundabout install (b/c of Vista and my old Axim, etc) and got Cachemate to work on my PPC. So those pages that GPXSonar couldn't read are viewable in Cachemate. Now I just gotta buy it...:-)

I am really glad this subject came up. When I first started caching, we would take something out if we forgot to bring something to trade, or at the most only trade used (but nice and NOT broken) toys. When I read about "trading even or up", a little light bulb came on! There is no magical cache fairy that comes and replenishes junked caches! (Well, actually, there is, the name is usually Cache Owner, or people like simpjkee or Night Stalker's friend who actually add to caches even when they don't trade.) So now we're the "cache fairies" when we go caching! We bring fun swag that kids will like and leave several items even if we don't take anything. Actually my kids get upset with me because they really want the toys in the geocaching bag much more than whatever is in the cache itself. Plus, like Donald, Daisy, and the kids, we clean out trash and food items as well. I wish everyone could catch the vision to trade well, it would make things that much more fun!

Thanks, I'll head over there!

I would like to hear the responses to this--I've tried my hand at solving several puzzles (long distance, just to find the coordinates, you know, in case I ever go there LOL!) But some completely baffle me. I also like to create puzzle caches, but nothing as complicated as what I've seen. (I've only done one, but am working on two more series of puzzles that should be pretty fun--I hope!) Celestialmom

Well, I had to have my brother-in-law take apart the Axim because the internal battery was dead, so I have to reinstall everything anyway--maybe I'll try again with Cachemate (I did try the PPC version, but I'll check it out again...) Thanks for your help. At least I know it's not something obviously easy like the questions I usually ask!

Thanks Miragee--I originally tried installing Cachemate for PPC on my Axim, but got an error before even installing, I think saying it wasn't a valid win32 application (it's been a while since I tried it). I have windows Vista and thought it might have something to do with that. I do use gsak on my laptop, and that's how I'm transferring them. Celestialmom

Hi, I just started paperless caching a few weeks ago (THANKS to everyone who keeps bringing up how great and easy it is! Now that I finally got in gear and downloaded these programs, I am in geocaching HEAVEN!!!) But I am having a problem with GPXSonar on my Axim--about 15% of the cache pages do not load when I click on their titles--I just get a neverending "wait" icon. Everything else works fine, but it seems like these are always caches in which I NEED to read the page to get to the cache. Not always multis or puzzles, just some sort of explanation is needed. It doesn't seem to be any particular type of cache, or have any pattern to the errors that I can see. (I think this is still a getting started post--sorry if this is the wrong forum!) TIA, Celestialmom BTW, I've been lurking for a couple weeks and really appreciate how helpful (and humorous) you all are. I've gotten some good ideas and some good tech support from searching previous threads--thanks!

Hi, testing an avatar...

Uh...well, that was simple! I do feel silly--I have never switched between files this way, but then again, I just started paperless caching a couple weeks ago and haven't been anywhere where the POIs conflict with the geocache POIs. Thanks so much... Celestialmom

Hi, I read the pinned thread of FAQs and did a search, but didn't find any relevant threads, so hopefully I'm not duplicating anything recent. However, I'm hoping someone here is already familiar with this problem because I'm not entirely sure how to explain it coherently! So anyway, I've downloaded several different groups of waypoints to my GPSr--local (without found caches), some nearby towns, and a file with local caches that I have found, to use while caching with my newbie relatives. I know how to switch between waypoint/geocache files and have done so in the past, but for some reason, this week while out with my sister, things seemed to go haywire. Every time I tried to view a local cache in a particular file, (by clicking on the view button in the cache description page), the map on the GPSr would come up with only my manually entered POIs. These are just local places I've marked myself. For some reason I couldn't get the icons and caches themselves to view on the map. I tried this several times with no success, restarted the unit, even deleted all my other geocache POI files in case I was using too much memory or something. Have I lost my mind? Anyone have any input on what I might be doing wrong? Thanks Celestialmom