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OtterFan

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Posts posted by OtterFan

  1. I'll be spending one full day in the Twin Cities metro area next week with the family. We'd like to spend the day geocaching.

     

    Does anyone have any advice for a good region/city to focus? We'd prefer to do some nice hiking/scenic/interesting caches, and are not really focused on finding as many caches as quickly as possible. Quality, not quantity.

     

    We spent a day caching in Stillwater about 3 years ago and found some enjoyable ones. I haven't looked to see if many new ones have been added...

     

    Anyway, if anyone has any advice they'd like to throw our way, I'd appreciate it!

     

    cache_shoes

  2. OK, I borrowed a Keyspan serial-to-USB adapter to give it a try before mine arrives next week.

     

    I can't get my Macbook Pro to recognize the yellow eTrex. (My eTrex is running version 2.14)

     

    I connected via serial to my PC and used the web updater to make sure I have the most current version. I do.

     

    So I fired up Parallels, fully expecting it would work that way. Nope.

     

    The light on the Keyspan adapter is flashing green. Is that normal?

     

    Not sure what to try now. Anyone have any ideas?

     

    Thanks!

  3. Howdy. I am a Mac lover (3 Macs in the house, 2 PCs), and want to use my Mac for Geocaching.

     

    I have a Dell PC that does one job, about once a month: I connect my old, old yellow Garmin eTrex to it, go to Geocaching.com, use the Google map feature (absolutely love it) and use that awesome "Send to Garmin" feature. If I'm doing a batch of caches, I'll use EasyGPS and take care of them in a group.

     

    My inlaws' PC has crashed, and I'm going to bless them with my Dell. The ONLY thing I'll miss it for is moving waypoints to my ancient eTrex. (I had a Legend, but its display died on me, so I bought an old eTrex on eBay.)

     

    Do I have any choices for making this happen on my Mac? I have an Intel iMac, as well as an Intel MacBook Pro, and would like to use either of them.

     

    Is there a cable I can buy that will allow me to connect via USB?

     

    I see Garmin has the Communicator Plugin for Mac browsers...YAY!

     

    What else should I have to make my caching experience most excellent on my Macs? Since I don't have maps on my GPS, I guess that's not too important.

     

    I'm willing to spend a few bucks on commercial/shareware products if you think they're worthy.

     

    MANY THANKS to anyone who can help get me going in the right direction!

     

    cache_shoes

  4. OK, all you hearty midwesterners...how does cold winter weather affect your handheld GPS unit? I'm mostly wondering how the displays perform when the temperature gets to zero or below.

     

    A guy can always dress warmer, but if the gear's not up to it...luckily, my paintball gun works better than most opponent's in sub-freezing weather!

     

    Are there any tricks to keeping the GPS healthy in the cold? I suppose a hand warmer in your pocket (with the GPSr) would keep it warm, but I doubt my Legend would keep sat locks in that environment...

     

    Just curious...

     

    Jesse

     

    ---------------

    I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure...

  5. I'm in Fergus Falls, and wish there were more caches available to hunt down. We've yet to hide our own, and hope it will bring some interest in the area.

     

    We've done just about every cache within 60 miles of us. Can't wait for a few days in the Cities!

     

    Jesse

    KB0MDJ

     

    ---------------

    I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure...

  6. a Garmin Legend would fit the bill nicely. It's the only GPS I've ever used, so can't give a very unbiased report, but my 8th grade son figured it out in no time. It's very user-friendly, and seems rugged enough.

     

    ---------------

    I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure...

  7. I was asked to come up with an after school enrichment activity for our school (just today!), and suggested geocaching. I'm sure there are much better ideas out there to be found, but here's a bit of what I proposed:

     

    "This activity would lend itself REALLY WELL to an enrichment activity. It would integrate math, writing, and social studies. Here's what we'd do:

     

    1. Learn about latitude and longitude, and how to use a GPS receiver to determine where you are.

    2. Study the history of our city, and identify five to seven interesting landmarks in and near the city. (Would likely do this with the help of the local museum staff.)

    3. Visit those sites, recording the GPS coordinates of each.

    4. Write interesting descriptions of each landmark.

    5. Use clues found at each landmark that can be utilized to help point people to the next landmark in our "tour of the city".

    6. Lastly, we'd post the clues and descriptions to the geocaching.com website, so people who are into this activity can come find our coordinates, learning about our fine city at the same time."

     

    I think this activity lends itself to so many learning opportunities in so many subject areas. Maybe that's why I love it so much!

  8. Assuming the basic yellow is very similar in function to my Legend...

     

    You WANT to enter the coordinates of the cache as a waypoint. Then, use the GOTO function to locate the cache. On the navigation (compass) page, the eTrex will point you toward the cache (as the crow flies). Also on that page, you SHOULD see some data fields that tell you the distance to the cache, as well as other things. On the Legend, you can customize what data fields are showing.

     

    Have fun!

  9. Assuming the basic yellow is very similar in function to my Legend...

     

    You WANT to enter the coordinates of the cache as a waypoint. Then, use the GOTO function to locate the cache. On the navigation (compass) page, the eTrex will point you toward the cache (as the crow flies). Also on that page, you SHOULD see some data fields that tell you the distance to the cache, as well as other things. On the Legend, you can customize what data fields are showing.

     

    Have fun!

  10. I've had a Legend for two weeks, and don't really know if the WAAS is doing much for me. I originally had it on, and had accuracy typically 16-22 feet.

     

    After turning WAAS on, I got down to 6 feet once, for just a few seconds. Now, normally, I'm still in the 14-20 foot range. Not a big improvement.

     

    I've found some caches with it on, some with it off.

     

    How's that for a vague answer??

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