Dugal

This has been discussed at length with some excellent forum documentation. Start here. There is another good thread which I'll try to find for you.

This has been discussed at length with some excellent forum documentation. Start here. There is another good thread which I'll try to find for you.

Oops-I just found it. Guess what? They're all out of them and the deal ends tomorrow! I can't even use the google feature to order it because it's out of stock and the rebate form is blank when I click the link for it. I guess I just did'nt hear about this quickly enough. I should check the Groundspeak forum more often, I guess. It was a heck of a good deal, though, for those who got their orders in quickly enough! Dugal

I understand that some geocachers are using removable micro SD cards to store geocache information in order to keep the clutter on their screens from getting too unmanagable. I have previously been told by Garmin that only mapping detail can be loaded to the removable storage media so I'm wondering just how this is done? Are people doing this by loading the maps from geocaching.com or googlemaps this way? How? Thanks, Dugal

I just checked that site for the 1GB micro SD card but could'nt find one listed for $30. There is one for $35 but Kingston's name is'nt mentioned nor any rebate. Could you tell me how to get to this particular listing on Buy.com? I'm really interested in getting one. Dugal

I'm new to the GPS game and am thinking of purchasing more detailed maps for my VistaCx. After having read a number of post re Custom mapping I find myself somewhat confused. Are custom map supposed to replace the need for the detailed mapping software provided by the major manufacturers or are they usuall designed to work in conjunction with the commercial products? How difficult are they to make yourself if you have little computer experience?

I'm a newbie to GPSr use. I have an etrex vistacx but have yet to get any new detailed software to go with it. Besides not being sure which version of software to start with, I'm not sure how the various kinds of memory are allocated or selected on the GPS unit. I'm thinking of getting the City Navigator v8. How does one decide how much should be loaded to the permanent integral memory within the unit and how much goes on the micro SD card? Or does it all go on the card? The card is a 64mb but I've read elsewhere that the unit will accept cards much larger than that. I can't decide whether I'm asking for the correct software for Xmas or not. Any help would be appreciated. I'm planning a road trip to Florida right after Xmas and would like to use my unit for the trip. I would be traveling from northern NY state to the Daytona area. Thanks for any comments as I'm quite confused by the entire subject.

I hope that you don't mind me kind of shirtailing on your post but I,too, am new at this geocashing business and am wondering "how far away from the listed coordinates is considered "too far" I realize that, under some conditions, the GPS units are not all that accurate but I have also been having difficulty finding the actual hides when I am reasonably sure that I should be pretty close to it. On one occasion my unit took me to the same broken cedar tree on two different days with different conditions. It said I had an accuracy factor of 5ft on the second day. I looked around an area about 35-50ft in diameter and found nothing so I'm just kind of wondering what's acceptible distance from the listed coordinates?

No. Caches are never buried in the ground, and you shouldn't need more than your hands to discover them. If they're in the woods, they usually will be in some sort of a natural hiding spot - under a pile of sticks, in a hollow tree, between or under rocks, in the fork of a tree, or the like. Often, they will have sticks and leaves deliberately scattered over them, for further concealment. They may also be camo'd in some way. Also, caches SHOULD be placed in such a way that they can be both found and re-hidden without doing damage to the surrounding environment, although some cache placements fail in that respect. WRT your comment of being sure that you were no more than 20 feet from the caches.... have you heard the term "GPS bounce"? GPS units aren't precise, and their accuracy varies depending on location, tree cover, atmosphere, and a number of other factors. Sometimes my GPSr points me right at a cache, other times it is pointing me 30-50 feet away, especially if I'm under trees or there are big rocks or buildings nearby. Finding caches requires using logical thinking and observational skills as much as it does being able to read the screen of the GPS unit. Last but not least - what *size* were the caches you were hunting for?

No. Caches are never buried in the ground, and you shouldn't need more than your hands to discover them. If they're in the woods, they usually will be in some sort of a natural hiding spot - under a pile of sticks, in a hollow tree, between or under rocks, in the fork of a tree, or the like. Often, they will have sticks and leaves deliberately scattered over them, for further concealment. They may also be camo'd in some way. Also, caches SHOULD be placed in such a way that they can be both found and re-hidden without doing damage to the surrounding environment, although some cache placements fail in that respect. WRT your comment of being sure that you were no more than 20 feet from the caches.... have you heard the term "GPS bounce"? GPS units aren't precise, and their accuracy varies depending on location, tree cover, atmosphere, and a number of other factors. Sometimes my GPSr points me right at a cache, other times it is pointing me 30-50 feet away, especially if I'm under trees or there are big rocks or buildings nearby. Finding caches requires using logical thinking and observational skills as much as it does being able to read the screen of the GPS unit. Last but not least - what *size* were the caches you were hunting for?

My first time posting here-hope my procedure is correct. I just got a Garmin Vista Cx. It shows version 2.5 is installed. It has WAAS enabling that can be turned on or off. Do I still need to do some kind of a reset in order to get the best out of this unit?