SCOTUS

We wait patiently until someone from headquarters happens by here and lets us know when we might expect a fix. Meanwhile, that portion of trip planning is not available. Glad I don't have a trip planned for tomorrow. I did put in a bug report, which they're supposed to reply to within 24 hours, but we'll see!

We're out on a trip now and I can't load the caches along today's route! I'm bummed!

I'm experiencing the same issue. I tried re-uploading the route as well as looking at other routes I've previously created, as well as using a public route. All had the same issue. Using Chrome on a Mac running 10.10.5.

I'm experiencing the same problem, also with a Mac. The only way I know to solve it is to delete the KML, download a new one, and load it into Google Earth. I'd rather not have to do this every day, though. As for the KML being only for Windows, I don't believe this is the case. A KML file (Keyhole Markup Language) can be used on specific programs, most notably Google Earth and NASA World Wind, to display specific geographic data. The KML itself is OS independent, while the programs that use the KML do depend on the OS.

Good Day, I will be travelling to the UK, specifically Scotland in the next couple months and I'm trying to find maps of just the UK that I can load into my GPSr. I can't find a UK specific MapSource product, though I'm told they do exist. There's even an item in the garmin dropdown menu for my unit, but it doesn't lead anywhere. I would appreciate any suggestions, ideas, and/or any other helpful informaitno you might have! Thanks, SCOTUS

Good Day, I will be traveling to Scotland in approximately 2 months and would like to get UK maps for my 60Cx to use while I'm there. I can't seem to find any the US side of the Atlantic, so I'm reaching out to you to see in you know of any good mapping programs that will work with a GPSMap60Cx. I've heard rumors of a UK only map program, but I can't find it. Also do you have any suggestions for non-Garmin maps? Thanks, SCOTUS

I'm going to bump this to the top in the hopes of elicitng more responses to my inquiry. What do people think about an Antarctic Points of Interest / Historic Monuments Category. I'll guess by the lack of response that people don't think it's a good idea. If you have a thought on this, however fleeting, would you mind posting it? Also, Thanks to Crew 152 for the response and support, I appreciate it!

My FIrst GPS, a Garmin GPS II, came with a "Dashboard Mounting System." The salesman was very careful to point out to me that the mounting system was, in reality, a strip of velcro. I never mounted it on my dash, but certainly used it in the car. I now have a Garmin 60CS and bought the car mout. It's been a great addition and makes caching much easier and safer, as I don't have to look down at the GPS sitting on the dash at an odd angle.

Baloo & bd, I understand your point. People who are prone to overreaction are going to overreact, there's no doubt about it. The point I was trying to get across is that leaving military markings on a can is an invitation to overreaction. It's labeling something harmless as something dangerous. We clearly don't need to do that. If somebody comes across an ammo box cache that isn't labeled as ammunition, I think that they're more likely to open it and see what it is rather than calling the police. Camo your can (sbell111's paint job posted above is very good), disguise it so that it blends in, just don't leave the military markings on it so that it's labeled as something dangerous. We cartainly can't control how people react, but I think we can minimize the reasons we give them to overreact.

Little did I know that I wold spark a conversation like this. I'm glad this discussion is going on and have gotten some very helpful hints and information out of it. My whole point in starting this thread was that in our current security climate, people finding anything out of the ordinary have a much greater potential to call the police to report it. I was reviewing some of my earliest cache finds can came across the final several logs for a now archived cache, NIPPON SAKURA HANA. This cache was in a wooded area in the City of Seattle, outside the Japanese garden. If you look at the last find, the bomb squad did come out and remove this cache. The night after looking at this log entry, I want caching in a more suburban area, in a park where the City of Lynnwood runs summer camps for about 150 or so children. I found the cache, an ammo box with military markings. I understand security concerns and think it's only prudent for the poice to investigate things that are threats to public safety. I think there have been several suggestions in this conversation of what we, as geocachers, can do to make sure that we don't cause undue security worries. IMHO, the best course of action that can be taken when hiding a cache is to remove or paint over the military markings on Ammo Boxes or decon containers and clearly label them as geocaches. If one finds an ammo box cache with military markings, I think the best thing to do is to contact the cache owner and ask them to remedy the situation. I would only alter another person's cache if I received their permisison first. Thanks for all of your responses, I think this discussion is very healthy... I look forward to reading more.

Is there any protocol about visits before a waymark was posted? Also, is there any protocol on an owner posting a visit to their own waymark? I have a waymark that I own in Antarctica and I'd like to post a visit to said waymark, on the visit I took the picture which is posted on the waymark page. Any thoughts? Thanks, SCOTUS

I've come across several ammo box caches recently that have no markings on the outside to indicate they are a geocache. Obviously these caches have been hidden from public view, but it worries me that there are no markings on the outside to indicate that they are a cache. In the almost paranoid security situation we find ourselves in today, I wanted to get people's thoughts on how they identify their ammo box caches as caches. When we had an ammobox cache, we made a large sign with the Geocaching logo and placed it on the outside of the cache. I've seen the "Official Geocache" stickers, and I'm interested in other ways people identify ammo box caches. I don't know if I'm too sensitive to these issues, but I wanted to throw this topic out there and get thoughts from the community. Thanks, SCOTUS

For me it depends on the cache. I load caches into my palm and usally have the last 5 logs or so. If I have trouble finding the cache, I will look at the hint and the logs to see what informaiton I can glean from them. When all else fails, I phone a friend and have them skim logs further back, but usually the top 5 give me the information I need. Also, It's fun to read the logs!

For Reference sake, and to save some googling, below is a link to a list of the Historic Sites I mentioned above. This list is prepared by the US Antarctic Program, but the monuments are internationally recognized by the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. Antarctic Historical Monuments

Good Day, I'm trying to gauge interest in a category for the historic monuments in Antarctica. Currently, there are 76 historic monuments recognized under Article 8 of Annex Five to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. These 76 locations are all in Antarctica and are accessable by scientists working on the continent. SOme are accessable by tourists visiting the continent on commerical ships. I visited the continent on one of these commerical ships and visited Petermann Island, location of Historic Site #27. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to visit the site, but I think waymarks of these sites would be interesting. I know that travel to Antarctica is extremely limited, and for that reason would consider widening the category to a more broad listing such as Antarctic Places of Interest. These could include research stations, landing spots, and event swimming holes (yes there are some, I've swam in one), among others. Is this category broad enough to survive? There are 15 geocaches in Antarctica. About half are Virtual and the remainer are physical caches. All but three have been visited. What are your thoughts on this category? If you think it's viable, would any of you be interested in forming a group with me to manage the category? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks, SCOTUS

Vaudesir, This idea is an interesting one, though I'm not sure if it would make a good category. I like the idea of trying to find the planes in flight, but don't know who one would visit the waymarks that were created. I think it would be fun to publish all the planes in flight somewhere, but I'm not sure if the Waymarking site is the best place to do so. Cheers, SCOTUS

Good Morning, Do you all have any suggestion for a TB owner who's had the TB number posted in a log? I've emailed the person who posted it and asked them to remove it, but haven't heard back yet. The only options available to me are to delete or permanently encrypt the log. Deleting the log remove the distance for the TB and I'd rather not do that and encryption doesn't do anything to numbers, so I'm hoping that you all might have some good suggestions. Please let me know. Thanks, SCOTUS

Blue Quasar has it right, Keep it simple. Capitol Buildings, I like that idea. The category could have variables for national and state (or equivalent). With a description along the lines listed below.

Have any of you 60cs owners experienced problems with compass calibration? I have a new unit and I have to calibrate the compass almost every time I use it. I've found the compass to be very useful, I just don't want to have to calibtrate it each time I use it. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks to JD and DD for your comments. [NOTE: For the sake of clarity, I'm going I'm going to refer to capitols here as "state capitols" and not the longer name. I will also refer to "state" to mean state, province, Canton, prefecture, etc. This isn't a slight on other systems of government, it's just a more simple way to type it. ] I think that having separate categories for "City/Town Halls" and "Capitol Buildings of a State, Province or similar primary section of a country" is a good thing. In my opinion, State Capitols are not just another government building. They are the representation of a state and its people. The Washington State Capitol, for example has tremendous stature and beauty that other government buildings around the state don't. THe capitol is the house of the people, and though business is done there, it is not intended to be a solely functional facility. A State Capitol is the embodiment of its people, it is a symbol of a state and deserves an independent category. I think having a government buildings category in general would end up being redundant and complicated. There are too many government buildings that are very functional, but not notable. I don't think we need a subcategory for emmissions test stations, DMV offices, or the local police department. City/Town Halls, State Capitols, and national capitols would all be categories tha I would like to see. Thanks! SCOTUS

Blue Quasar, Silverquill, and Aushiker, Thanks for your replies. I appreciate the thoughtful dialogue. I think that silverquill ably stated by this is a distinct category from the existing City/Town Hall category. I share his concern for making this an international category. In countries where there are three levels of government (local, state/province, and national) the buildings that would fit into this category would obviously be from the middle level of government. For countries with only two levels of government, I am not sure what government level, if any would fit. US States, Canadian and Austrailian Provinces, Swiss Cantons, Japanese Prefectures, The Scottish Parliament, the Welsh and NI Assemblies, and anything else on that level would be appropriate. As for UK Shires, I would use this opportunity to learn more about the structure of government and the group could make a determination. Silverquill's comments about a capital city having multiple buildings in mulitple categories for different levels of government is certainly accurate. In Washington, Olympia would have three buildings in two categories. Olympia City Hall would fall into the City/Town Hall Category. The Thurston County Courthouse would fall into either the City/Town Hall Category or possibly a County Seat Category, if there is one. The Washington State Capitol would fall into my proposed category. ANother interesting to consider would be a state like Nevada. They have a capitol building which houses the office of the Governor and is a historical site, a Legislative building which houses the Legislature, and a supreme court building which houses the State Supreme Court. Would each of these buildings be allowed in this category? I would personally allow all three, but I would be interested in your perspectives on this issue. In regards to Blue Quasar's proposed category title, I would certainly support using it. I have established a group for the purposes of creating this category. If any or all of you are joining the group, please let me know and we can get started! Again, I appreciate the thoughtful dialogue on this topic. Thanks, SCOTUS

Good Day, State and Provincial Capitols are representation of the people of a state or province, its history, its government structure, and its culture. In the United States, there are 50 interesting buildings in the United States that reflect their state in unique ways. There are also numerous former capitols that reflect their state at the time of their use. In other nations, there are numerous state and/or provincial capitols that do the same for the people of the state or province. Each of these capitol buildings are unique and historic and should be waymarked and visited. This category would be distinct from the "City/Town Halls" category that already exists in that it would be limited to State and/or Provincial Capitols. Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions, comments, or suggestions! SCOTUS

On June 20th, we're heading north to Alaska from Seattle... If there are any TB's that have a desire to head north, please post here or send me an email prior to June 18th. We're headed to Juneau and Sitka.

Kerry, You're right on target. Please see the following: http://gps.faa.gov/gpsbasics/SA-text.htm

southdeltan, I think that the minimum would be 8MB in order to keep the operating speed at a normal clip and also to store a sufficient number of caches. There are Palm III's out there that will serve you well in this vein if you like Palm and want to keep costs down. However, I just switched from an III to a Tungsten T3 and love it. If you don't like PalmOS, I would urge you to keep away from WinCE as it caused my friends and I who used it to wince. (Sorry, I know that was bad). I use CacheMate and love it. It presents all the data I need to go paperless.