jholly

If your going to go with a Etrex, get one of the H models. The 60csx is a nice unit and for about the same money you can get a 76csx. Like what was posted before, go to a store and get one in your hands and see what you like. Far as performance, the H's, 60csx and 76csx are all about the same. Jim

Fizzymagic - I see your only 514th, so I guess your still a little new at this also No I'm not confiusing easy to find with lame. Easy to find in fine. It is more like Ambrosia said, just laying there on the ground. Others - I thought about being out of place, but the co-ords were spot on where I found it. Out of place would be like a 100 feet. I guess it could be 100 feet out of place with bad co-ords. That would make more sense since a 100 feet away were some bushes. But as found it was just laying there on the rocks. Jim

Was out caching today. In the middle of a parking lot was a circular concrete curb with some river rocks in cement with a man hole in the middle. The cache was a fake sprinkler head tossed on the river rocks. Talk about drive by caching. sheesh. Rated 1.5 no less. Jim

skip downloading another program. To the right of the co-ordinates on the cache page is a link Other convesions .... Click that and select what you want and there you go. Jim

To address one question that was not answered. The 12 foot radius will not improve with a newer unit. You can follow your gps and when it says here, look down and there is the cache. The new $150-$300 units will be no better in that respect. Nicer bells and whistles, but the basic accuracy will be the same. Jim

I like my gpsmap 76csx. One of the etrex's would be fine. As was pointed out before, some computers don't have serial ports, but that can be rectified with a I/O card. But that requires opening the case and installing software. Do you want mapping? Then your going to need to go higher end. I suggest you go to sporting goods stores and marine stores and touch the units, that will help you decide. Jim

The answer is 42 Jim

No, just a reference when calculating bearings. The compass in the expensive ones is magnetic. Jim

Now you tell me. Been munching those for years. Tasty too.

my two cents regarding proxies .... You still get the icon so whats the problem? the only thing missing is a picture, and if your lucky the owner posted one that you can snarf. Jim

By really thinking about it. I've found a couple. One was in the pipe in a gate. You had to put your finger up the pipe to pull the bugger out. One I found because that was the only place that made sense. Others were because that was the only place to look. Jim

Such interesting jobs. Mine is very mundane. I clean bird poop out of cuckoo clocks.

If I asked an owner for a hint and then a day or so later I got an email accusing me of stealing the cache I probably would not bother to respond. The fact the cache went missing does not mean I took it. Good grief, even with hints I've been unable to find a cache. Since the owner was so quick to jump I would ignore him. Jim

Oh, dear don't tell me that!. If I get stumped I go home and comb the logs for clues. I've also asked the owners for a bit more of a clue. Jim

First off all the caches I've found were not painted international orange. I've found caches at the stump of a tree, of course I had to lift up the moss and leaves that was covering it and made it look like it was there for years. I've been to forest hides and found them in the stumps with the hole covered with old rotting wood that was covered with moss and it looked like it was there for years. I've found caches in a pile of rocks and one rock looked a bit different so I turned it over. Yep it was the cache. I've never crawled around on my hands and knees (not respectible at my age ). As for a pile of sticks and leaves in a ditch, never. First good rain and the cache would be under water. One thing I found that helps is to get up close and personal with the compass page. If you don't have an electronic compass, turn off the speed filter. Then walk arond a circle at the suspected place and use the compass to point to a llikely spot to give more attention. If your having problems with reception, leave the GPS settle for a minute or two. I've found several that were in the hollow holes on the top of posts, you had to get on tippy toes to see them. I've found nano's inside a vertical pipe on a gate. Mostly it is locating the likely spot and then THINKING about where would you hide a cache. Jim

Don't forget geo-coins. Geocoin owners also like to hear about their coins Jim

You can get a GPSMAP 76csx for around $330. A bit higher than you target, but you might consider it. Jim

What's wrong with a lock and lock? Wally World sells them sells them in several sizes and even round ones. Pretty cheap to boot, and they stand up to the weather. Jim

where does one find the syntax that can be used? The %dif=1 is a bit obscure as is the %drop2 TIA, Jim

Day pack thingy from Wally World. Ten bucks. Carries all I need. Jim

Thanks for the additional info. Lakeuk hit the nail on the head. My GPS-48 is serial but was thinking about getting a Vista Hcx, hence the question. I have a Palm. Jim

In Taiwan?

Wondering if anyone has used a usb-serial converter on the gps and hooked that up to a PDA. Does it work? TIA, Jim

where does one find these maps? TIA Jim

Abrams M1