Egnix

Nice quote from John D. Porcari, the Deputy Secretary for the US Department of Transportation: From this blog post.

I love stats, but that doesn't mean I think a higher number is better than a lower number. I cache for the thrill of the hunt. If the numbers disappeared, I would still be caching the same way I do today. (Well, the find count numbers can disappear. I'd still like there to be numbers for use in coordinates. ) Numbers matter: 4 Numbers don't matter: 17

Thanks! So, what does this do? Turn off the display after a certain amount of time?

I bought a 62s after 4 years with a 60csx. The 60csx worked as good as it did on day one, so I was afraid the upgrade wouldn't be worth the money. However, having the cache information on the unit and being able to log field notes on the 62s has made it well worth it. I wish I had upgraded sooner. Sure, I miss some aspects of the 60csx, but it would hard to go back to.

Could someone tell me how to put the 62s in Battery Saver mode? This is a feature I would use on my 60csx, but I thought the 62s didn't have.

That's a long way off. We've only launched 2 of the 12 new Block IIF satellites, these will also improve accuracy. Just like everything else in the technology field, there will always be something better coming in the future.

I upgraded from a 60csx to a 62s. I love it. Wish I had switched sooner!

Some good & interesting articles: LightSquared Chief Dismisses Allegations of Political Favoritism U.S. Republican Lawmakers Call for Investigation of LightSquared Case

FYI: The new satellite, GPS IIF-2, was set "healthy" this last Friday which means it is now available for use. You'll see it as satellite (PRN)1 on your GPS receivers. Enjoy!

Based on the picture you posted, you are correct that the orange bars are for GPS satellites. GPS use PRNs 1 - 32.

I do it all the time here in Colorado. Be mindful that the snow around trees (where caches are often placed) isn't packed down like it is on the ski runs. I've had to try to move through snow above my knee getting to a cache...not easy to do! Be extra careful you don't drop anything when you're signing the log, etc. Finding the cache in the snow is one thing...finding a pencil is another! It might take a couple runs to find the right trail and right elevation. If you've skied too far, it's probably easier to try again on another run than trying to hike back uphill. Hopefully the caches you're after were placed when there was snow, otherwise they might be buried under a lot of snow. Check to see if the "available during winter" attribute is on the cache...this could imply the cache is off the ground, etc.

A couple articles from GPS World from this month on the topic: Expert Advice: Who Won? Out in Front: A Pawn in Their Game

The problem is not simply a receiver not filtering out adjacent frequencies. The real problem is that LightSquared is using a terrestrial system for a frequency spectrum which was intended for a space-based system. I would expect Garmin and other manufacturers to filter out adjacent frequencies of a reasonable amplitude, but in this case LightSquared's signal is more than an order of magnitude stronger the GPS signal.

One thing that I found out yesterday was that Mapsource only loads the active track log from my 62s, while Basecamp also loads the saved track logs. However, Mapsource does load saved track logs from my 60csx.

I would just create a waypoint when you are at your starting point. Then, when you want to go back, just 'navigate' back to that waypoint you created.

Why I prefer a handheld over a smartphone: Much longer battery life A lot more rugged Waterproof Just seems easier to use. Don't need to worry about cell reception to see maps or get cache info I can't really compare reception as I haven't used the phone much for caching. Actually the new eTrexs do paperless caching.

Ah! I do remember hearing about that. Thanks for mentioning it. That means I definitely need to load them as favorites. I may also load them as POIs too. How about managing/deleting them? I heard that to delete Favorites you have to delete them individually or all at once. Neither sounds ideal to me. I wouldn't want to delete favorites like Grandma's house, Moe's Tavern, etc. every time I want to remove old caches and add new ones. How do you manage this? Thanks!

I'm sadly retiring my Garmin iQue 3600 from it's role of being my car GPS receiver and I have purchased a nuvi 3760 to take its place. From my understanding, I can load caches either as "Favorites" or Points Of Interest (POI). What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? The nuvi will stay in the car while I hunt for the cache with my Gpsmap 62s, so I really don't need cache details on the nuvi. However, I could see that might be nice to have every now and then. I think what I would like the most is ease of use: loading, removing, searching, etc. Thoughts?

That's that technically true. While the new satellite does replace a block IIA satellite, the criteria for replacement is how well (or poorly) the satellite is performing. Most likely the oldest IIAs will be replaced first, but if a newer Block IIR satellite is having the most problems it would be chosen over a IIA. The new Block IIF satellites do have a new civilian signal (amongst other things). However, there needs to be a lot more of the new satellites up there to really make use of them. You will also need a new receiver that can take use the new signal. There is still an immediate benefit: The new satellites have a stronger signal, which will help your reception and accuracy.

It looks like I can no longer get map updates for my trusty (albeit buggy) iQue 3600. Despite the need for frequent resets, I have loved the thing since the day I got it. However, I'm finding I really need maps newer than City Navigator 2008, and CN updates are all in the NT format these days. I've been looking for a replacement, and have been really disappointed in what's available. Everything I've seen has had a minimalist display. I love that my iQue shows current speed, distance to next, time to next, ETA, etc. all on the same screen as the map. Every new model I've looked at requires flipping through multiple screens to get this information (if its even there). One guy at Best Buy mentioned his nuvi allowed him to have a split screen with map on one side and a bunch of data fields on the other. Unfortunately he didn't know what model he had and I didn't see this option on any of the display models. Anyone here upgrade from an iQue to a model that displayed all of the same information on the map screen? Or any non-iQue owners know of something that might fit the bill? I'm a bit partial to Garmin, but if another brand has the features I want, I'm open to go the route of a different brand.

Garmin just announced three new eTrex models and they are all on a new platform (which includes paperless caching!): Press release

I'm on the fence. I've used a 60csx for almost 11 years. It has been great and is still in great shape. However, I'm always wishing I didn't have to rely on my PDA for the cache descriptions. So I always ask myself "Is the price of a new GPSr worth having the additional feature of paperless-caching-with-only-one-device?" and "Would I miss features or performance of the 60csx if I switched devices?" Any previous/current 60csx owners who have made the switch to a 62 have any thoughts to share? What do you like about the 62? What do you miss from the 60? etc.

Here's a random cache from a giant jolly roger (skull & crossbones) in Illinois: http://coord.info/gc2h31f

Wiki on GPS signals.

All IIFs will have L5. L5 is a "safety of life" signal. That is for the aviation community. We we (civilians / cachers) care about is the new L2C signal. It will be on all IIFs. However, you will need a new device to use this new signal. It's still going to be a long way out before there are enough IIFs on orbit to make L2C usable.