Teeds

Rich Owings reviews have moved to ... http://gpstracklog.com/2005/12/index_of_gps_re.html Great FAQ Thanks!

I use a Garmin GPSmap 76CS unit. It can be hardwired for power from the bike and Ram makes a nice cradle for it. Some might consider it overly large, but I do not notice it while riding.

Wait a minute, y'all are the experts, not the person on the other end of the line when I call Garmin. It has not lost reception since I have returned to the Metromess. I just got to spend a day touring Texas. Dallas to Beaumont, Beaumont to Houston and Houston to Dallas ... it never missed a beat. I guess I can chalk it up to the black helicopter gang at this point ... I think I will email Garmin just for grins and see what they say.

It stays on the entire time I am in the truck. I keep it plugged into my truck although I do have a fairly new set of batteries in it. I keep track of all my mileage in case the IRS every wants to challenge my mileage deductions. It wasn't a real big deal, but I thought it was odd as it had never happened before. For a moment I thought it had something to do with us being near the border. Stranger things have happened. As far as what it would do ... It would beep to signal that it had lost or was experiencing weak satellite reception. There was no pattern to the timing or conditions other than the fact that we had mostly cloudy skys. There was a high solid thin cloud cover the majority of the weekend, but even that was not consistent. It did not occur north of San Antonio and as I am in the SA area weekly I suspect it doesn't as I have never experienced this in the area. That is why I wondered if it had something to do with being near an International Border. I am actually more concerned that my GPS unit might be sick. I paid way to much for it to have it lay down on me. Before I contacted Garmin, I thought I would check with some "experts" Again, thanks for your thoughts !

I returned Sunday from a trip to South Padre Island in south Texas. While on the trip I encountered the following problem. On about a half a dozen occasions my GPS unit lost satellite connection and in at least one case it was about 10 minutes before it found them again. In every case except one, I was in my truck and the unit was on the dash where it always sits when I am on the road. As SPI is on the beach, there was no tree cover to obscure satellite access. In the one odd ball situation, I was on a boat in the Laguna Madre, so I know tree cover was not a problem there. I am just wondering if I am the only person this has happened to or if it is common. BTW - I have never experienced this before this weekend and I have not dropped my GPS. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Thanks Neo_Geo! The "detailed" instructions helped a bunch. I tried the install from the HD route first and screwed everything up to the point that all my GPS and Computer did was go Huh? when I tried to get them to talk. I nuked the program and did a clean reinstall including the update from Garmin (1:30 +/- download time, dial up :ugg:), tweeked the registry and am finally able to use Mapsource without carrying the CDs. Why this is not an option when you install is beyond me? I'm sure somebody is worried about software piracy somewhere. BTW - Search worked very well, but I couldn't find this thread again (I had lost it) until I narrowed the search to Units and Software. Go figure ...

Great post Rob. I guess I am at the other end of the scale. I have zero in all catagories, primarily because I couldn't see the interest in caching. Nothing against people that do but the thought of caching just didn't hold my interest. I have seen a pile of benchmarks over the years and it has never occured to me that they were not all the same in the eyes of the powers that be. I have learned a great deal just lurking around this forum. I know of a few monuments that I can check very easily because I have seen them weekly for many many years. There is something really cool about becoming involved in a interest that is self policed. In this day in age of cradle to grave protection, that alone is enough to prick my interest, but to be involved in something as large as the USGS is really cool. Some of my favorite "things" are some wonderful 15 minute quads that are now beyond the point of be called "antique". I could stare at them for hours. The care, precision and art in the old 15 minute quads is self-evident (at least to me). Thanks to all that cut the path for me! Your work is sincerely appreciated. Tony

As one of the lurkers in this forum, I have found this thread fascinating. My father was a Civil Engineer for 30+ years and I a draftsman for 6 (during college) with Freese & Nichols in FTW TX, so I come by this interest naturally. My father is likely responsible for many benchmarks being covered, relocated and/or destroyed as he was the lead engineer on over 100 lakes here during his career. I love to find old benchmarks and recently purchased my first GPS unit after lurking in those threads for a year or so. I have stumbled across many benchmarks in my hikes across this wonderful country and and recently encountered this same question regarding stacks as I have one near my house, that I can see every day as I travel around the metromess. As someone who travels the State of Texas regularly I have been working on visiting (and photographing) every County Courthouse in Texas (254 counties) and has approximately 175 under my belt. I’m not sure as to the exact count as I need to update my database with recent visits (8 this last week in an area I don’t usually frequent). Now I have another vice to follow. BTW - I have stood in that same spot at Bolder Dam. I just wish I had known to take a closeup of the disk.

Not to delve too far off of the subject at hand, but it has been my experience that the FS and BLM generally attempt to ban everything for the lands that they manage. Often this is because of noise from folks that believe these areas should be closed to all human activity. Generally face to face communication regarding the impact of the activity can do wonders. I agree that we should not participate in illegal activity, but that doesn't mean we should be closed out of many enjoyable areas that can be accessed by foot, horse or OHV just because we have a GPS unit with us. If I understand the point of the FS complaint correctly, we could not even post the coordinates of a nice spot on a trail to view a mountain range, because that could be considered a "virtual cache" by some folks. That is NUTS.

folks, this ^^^ is the answer! I have been orienteering for 40 or so years with a map and compass treking all over the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and New Mexico. Maps, compass, gps, sextant, whatever ... they are tools of enjoyment. This reminds me of a discussion of how to peel an onion.

I have lived with PI my entire life. I have been covered (at one time or another) from head to toe by the stuff and have come to limit my contact with nature as the only really safe option during summer months. It may be an old wives tale, but I take a cold shower and wash my entire body with Cascade Dish Washing Liquid if I suspect that I have been in PI. It helps keep the rash down to a week usually. Check out http://www.poison-ivy.org/index.htm for additional information and a handy set of cards that will help keep you out of the stuff.

It is 10~15 miles or so. Depends if you go to the north or south end.

Hi! I'm <<<<, a total newbie to caching. Fact is, I haven't even figured out which GPS unit to get to date. I have fooled around with a buddies when we ride dirtbikes and it is really cool to see where we have rambled around. It explains why my old knees are tired. As I ramble all over the place, caching souunds like a really cool way to see some of this great country. Regarding GPS, I have been lurking for a bunch of months trying to understand what will best fit my needs. In the "economic" world, I am a self employeed (aka broke) historical preservation Architect here in Texas. I have figured out that GPS will help me locate my buildings (required by our govt ?!?!!?), so I think my company is going to buy me a Garmin 60CS soon ... If I can just figure out if it works with NG Topo maps ... The process continues and the cicrle remains unbroken.

Great thread to finally jump in and post. Reading the thread brought back all the memories, a few tears and a lot of laughter. I received my Eagle Scout (or my mother did ) in April 1965. National Jamboree - Valley Forge PA 1964 .. and World Fair in NY NY (whoo hooo) OA - Brotherhood Member 1964 Philmont - 1965 Philmont - 1966 - First group to ever hike in the northern portion of the ranch. We hiked from Ponil north over Baldy and back down and across the Tooth of Time back into base camp. Nobody thought we could do that many miles but since it was the same group as the year before they let us try. I forgot the mileage, but it was a long hike. I go to the BWCA with a bunch of Scoutmasters every other year. My son was only interested in soccer when he was a kid, but I have a grandson that I will work on when he gets a bit older (he is only 3). I still sleep under the stars at least 2 weeks a year and still hone the skills taught to me during my time in Scouting. Thanks everyone for the trip down memory lane!