Omally

quote: Emailed the 'local' pFranc people, and it looks like they might be able to help me. Glad to hear it! Can't remember where I first found out about them, but they certainly save the expense of brand-new manufacturers cables! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... [This message was edited by Omally on January 20, 2003 at 10:45 AM.]

quote: Its all about being in the dark and following that arrow.... The more I think about it, the more I want to try Night-Caching... better stock up on batteries I guess! Hey guys, lets start our own NightCache Soc.! (Is that getting off the thread? I guess so, but I think we need to lighten up now... geddit? Light up? Night Caching? Please yourselves then!) It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

buy a better torch! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

quote: I always try to be as polite as possible, but time and time again people I come into contact with everyday seem to lack manners. I serve £2000 worth of drinks every night and never forget my please and thankyou's, maybe 10% of the customers remember theirs. It's really sickening. Maybe some people out there just aren't worth the hassle worrying about... I know where you're coming from: rude customers made me give up my position as a bar-manager. Sad to go, but hey, I'm doing a lot better for myself now... Anyway, main thing to remember is keep it up. No-one can get to you if you maintain your no-doubt high standards. Don't let the buggers get you down, Dan, they ain't worth the worry. Back to the plot, though: it seems that the couple who sent the email are of a rare sort indeed: genuinely nice people. I know everyone in GC is also genuinely nice (birds of a feather etc) but there are some unpleasant characters out there who might want to spoil our fun. As long as we don't give 'em any ammo, they can't shoot us... It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

6 metre accuracy? Hmmm... you won't realistically get that until the new EGNOS system is up and running. Have you set your unit to receive WAAS signals? If so, I believe this can have a derogatory effect your readings when used outside of the USA. If your unit can use WAAS, switch it off! Other than that, it may be a fault with the receiver in your unit... It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

Well done Hornet for bringing this to everyones attention: all we need to remember is a little courtesy and I'm sure we'll get along fine with the world at large. There's certainly no need to start laying in to eachother... Common sense ain't that common, and good manners cost nothing, yet it's surprising that some people cannot afford them. It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

Welcome one, welcome all! You'll really enjoy this new hobby, we're a friendly bunch (albeit obsessed by plastic boxes and ammo tins for some unfathomable reason!). I would advise the purchase of some good sturdy boots if you don't already have some: your nearest army-surplus store will have some good boots at a very reasonable price. A digital camera can come in handy as well: a lot of caches are placed in very beautiful surroundings, and you may want to share your snaps with fellow cachers. One final thing: a sense of humour is a must! Good luck to any new cachers and, again, welcome! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

OK then, try these guys http://pfranc.com/ . They do Garmin plugs and so on; I don't know if they do Palm connectors, but it don't hurt to ask! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

quote:Originally posted by The Merman:Am I alone in finding the term Newbie a little demeaning? I remember calling myself a Newbie on my first post, but thinking about it now it seems to send out the message that "This is our gang and you have to prove yourself." I guess it comes down to how welcome you've been made to feel in GC. The original point of this thread is about just that: Finding and, no doubt, welcoming Newbies. There probably has to be a certain amount of "prove yourself" about this though: dedicated Geocachers like Tim & June, Hornet, Dan & Pid to name but a few will obviously have more experience about hunting plastic then you or I, Merman. Of course, this can't detract from our own efforts, and I'm sure we'll soon cache up with them... What everyone needs to remember is Newbie is a term of endearment rather than an insult. Sailors like to keep out of the way of inexperienced deck-hands until they've got their sea-legs, I'm sure the same applies to Mountaineers, Police marksmen, Chefs, etc. This does not mean the presence of a new crew-member is not appreciated, though. I'm a newbie, and proud of it!! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

quote:Originally posted by Pharisee.I use an Etrex Legend and as far as tree cover goes it's almost useless. Even at this time of year, with no leaves on the trees, it looses satellite lock at the mearest hint of tree cover. I'd recommend contacting Garmin about that: a mate had a Vista for a while and had similar problems. Turned out to be faulty and the replacement she got worked fine. Of course, it can depend on wether all the satellites are round the horizon and the woods are in the way... It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

Female connector thingy? Isn't that a ball and chain?! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

Seek and ye shall find For null modem gender changers, have a looky at: http://www.gpsbitz.f9.co.uk/ or http://www.computerbase.co.uk/system/index.html Can't wait to go buy a PDA now! will start saving: the new bathroom can blooming well wait! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... [This message was edited by Omally on January 15, 2003 at 11:41 AM.]

Thanks for the tip, Morseman. This may be of interest to you: apparantly, what you need to connect a PDA to a GPS is a null-modem gender changer. These are available to buy from most electronics shops, like RS or M*pl*ins for about a tenner. I'll look into this further and let you all know what I find out. It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

Have to be honest here: never used a PDA thingy in my life. Are they all they're cracked up to be? The idea sounds good, but then so did a lot of things: filofaxes for one! I can't help but remember the Brian Blessed comment about Palm Pilots, but I will not repeat it here (if you really must know, email me and I'll happily tell you!). Anyway, I do like the idea of not having to print out cache pages etc, but have it all on a nice little handheld screen. What sort of outlay would I look at for a halfway decent unit, and what should I look for? Any comments would be much appreciated. Omally It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

I'm still worried I've got my co-ords wrong for Deep Hole! If you find it before DJH, I'll buy you a pint! Tell you what, you'd never want to take me sailing: I can't find me own bum with an Atlas! I must repeat though: the percentage you have got on your GPS is track-log, not maps. When you're in MapSource, look to the left and click on the Maps tab. At the bottom, you'll see how many MB of maps you have selected. It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

I'm pretty sure that the function of autozoom is to display most of the route that you're following on your GPS. This gives you an idea of junctions that are coming up. Indeed, turn it off when using your feet. It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

Just wondering if car-park charges count as "paying to visit a cache"? I agree with Slytherin: if you're going there anyway, what does it matter? It can only add to the experience, and it isn'tlike there aren't plenty of other caches around... Anyway, 101325, what about doing a virtual cache? Just find somewhere historical with a few plaques dotted around town and build a series of clues from that (see the excellent "The Walls" by Rincewind & Luggage). This means you don't actually have to hide anything... It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

I'd be pleased to see Red Hippo in my new cache which, incidentally, no-one has found yet! Have I got the co-ords wrong again?! Deep Hole seems to be an appropriate name, seeing as folks keep getting stuck in it... Loved the program: all the stars were certainly an inspiration to us "newbies"! Dan & Pid, just one question: Why? (I guess this may have been asked a *few* times already....) Omally. P.S. Have I really picked the same "handle" as Team Tates dog? Oh dear, luck of the Irish again! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

Absolutely, Jeremy, I wasn't refering to Selective Availability in standard GPS signals (which indeed was disabled a coupla years ago) but rather to the test signals for EGNOS. They are just that: test signals. There may be deliberate errors in the signal from the EGNOS satelite and, as such, EGNOS isn't ready to be trusted. It's not officially online, or so I gather, until maybe as late as 2005. I think I mentioned this in another thread, but I can't find it now... (so much for being a navigator!) It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

Guys, check out the ESA website EGNOS newsletter archive for info on EGNOS. From what I gather, the EGNOS signal is still in test mode until maybe 2004, and therefore you may well get inaccurate readings on your GPS (due to deliberate errors in the signal). All in all, probably best to wait until ESA tell the world that EGNOS is deffo up and running before using the EGNOS signal. It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... [This message was edited by Omally on January 08, 2003 at 01:14 PM.]

I was at the London boatshow the other day and had a play with the new '72. Looks like a great piece of entry level kit! But I did find out something interesting about EGNOS: as it is not officially up and running yet, the signals may be delibrately incorrect because they are in test mode only. This means your location could be up to 100 metres out, like in the good old days of SA. EGNOS is predicted to be ready for public use any time between 2003 and 2005! Aparantly, there is a website about this from the European Space Agency, from which you can get some sort of newsletter about EGNOS updates. If I manage to find it, I'll post the link. Oh yeah, and those nice chaps at Garmin reckon they'll do software updates or whatever for all their WAAS units when EGNOS is ready and not before... It pays to ask, I guess. It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

The Vista indeed has 24 MB of mapping memory. If you try to load any more than that from any of the different MapSources, you'll get an error like "the mapset is xxxKB too large". (I know 'cos I have a map76S, which is pretty much the same as a Vista, just bigger). With standard RS232 (serial) comms, you need to allow 20 minutes per 8MB. USB is a lot quicker and indeed could be the way ahead (but what about USB2 and Bluetooth?), but the internal hardware of any unit designed to work on RS232 would need changing to work on USB which is, obviously, not cost-effective. You could use a USB to serial adapter (made by Belkin etc) but this will only make your USB port act like a serial port, so it won't be any quicker. Hope this helps/is interesting to anyone... It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

Nice one Huga, that saves a *lot* of hassle (or am I just getting lazy? I can't be: I'm a geocacher!). I look forward to any updates you may wish to add. I'm still getting the hang of it (only downloaded it 10 minutes ago!) but if I think of anything you might find interesting I'll let ya know. It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...

Hope you enjoy your (no doubt) many caching experiences. One of the good things about Geocaching is when you're taken somewhere very close to your own "turf" and find a special place almost on your own doorstep that you never knew about before! You're in for a good time, just make sure to take a bin-bag with you (cache in, trash out)! Remember: every cache is as good as the first, in it's own way. It's a tradition, or an old charter or something...