arrowroot

Hmm... would you consider covered in dead leaves to be buried? Would an officer of the law or a passerby? I'd say that would be one possible interpretation of what the article listed. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

As a follow-up: When I first got my GPS, I e-mailed Garmin about USB to Serial, and they said that their experience is every model of adapter had about a 50% success ratio. They wouldn't recommend any particular model, because they all misbehave about as often. I understand that the GPS standard specifies a serial interface -- that's important for all kinds of applications out there. Cool. But why don't they put a USB on the models? It can't be that expensive, and would, IMHO, increase sales. I mean, take a look at digital camers: they usually have USB, a memory card and a video interface, for similar price points to GPSr's. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

Mine's a Belkin FSU509, and it's been troublesome. No problem at low baud rates or small downloads like a bunch o' waypoints, but downloading maps at high speeds tends to lock up at one end or the other -- I don't know where. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

Doesn't the V have auto-routing? Would be nice. I have not been crazy about the reception of my 76S. On city streets, I've gotten "Lost" messages, and it happens all too often when under tree cover -- in the winter! Maybe that's standard, I don't know. Overall, though, I've been pretty happy with the 76S. The only real shortcomings it has are size (much bigger than the eTrex units with similar features), and short battery life, especially if the compass has been running. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

quote:The next step, of course, is to move to a hands free screen via goggles or some other type of wearable display. Go read "All Tomorrow's Parties" by William Gibson. The main character picks up a pair of "Brazillian GPS phone shades" at a convenience store, and is regularly frustrated by the fact that he can only bring up maps of Rio while he's walking through San Francisco. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

Let me think about some of these blue-sky features: USB is number one on my list, but I'd settle for a cradle. More speed sounds good, but I burn batteries too fast already. Touchscreen/PDA-style entry sounds nice, but probably detracts from the ruggedness. The iQue does sound really nice -- I'd love to try one out. I'd settle here for an easier text-entry that would let me use the joypad/rocker to select from a grid of letters/numbers, rather than just up/down -- way too slow. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

When travelling, I find my best bet is to start with the State pages, and look for cache points near my route. [Note: It would be nice to screen out the virtuals!] You could do something similar with the routing software packages (Microsoft Streets, Garmin Mapsource, etc.): load up the waypoints, and visually see what's near your route. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

I was surprised nobody had posted it earlier. I was going to, and forgot. It was a pretty brief article extolling the Geko 201 and its geogame features. Walk a maze that isn't there! Ooh, big fun. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

quote:Originally posted by tirediron:Just out of curiosity, what types of PCs is everyone using, what types of GPSr's and what types of DB9-USB converters? Toshiba Satellite S504, Win XP Home Garmin GPSMAP 76S Belkin FSU409 USB/Serial adapter No problems except for map uploads at speeds over 57.6K, had some false starts when doing firmware update, but it did work. Hmm.. one more thought about the serial/USB thing: Garmin could provide a cradle like the PDAs use, or at least endorse and support somebody's adapter. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

I initially wrote Garmin about this too, and they said that every brand seems to work for about half the people. So buy something you can return. I'm using the Belkin USB to Serial, and it works except at the highest speeds for map downloading. A full 24MB sent to my 76S takes about an hour at 57.6K, it'd be half that at 115. I understand the GPS standard requires the serial data stream, but there's no reason why they couldn't add a USB port too -- it'd only be a couple bucks on the unit, and would significantly increase the value. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

Yup. The 76S' basemap is a mess. Mapsource Citystuff is muuuuch closer to reality. I had a cache that the basemap said was southwest of a railroad crossing a road; it was northeast by about 200 feet! But remember: the map is not the territory. If the map was as accurate as the territory, it would be the territory. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

quote:Originally posted by elcamino:Per the recovery notes it was still there in 1993 as found by US Power Squadron. May be buried? It's possible but I wasn't going to start digging up a residential neighborhood with a 20' circle of accuracy (dig a hole five feet wide and five feet deep every day...) RM4 was at the surface not far away, I wouldn't anticipate the station mark would be far below ground. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

See the Deerfield2 (NGO520) benchmark for the log. The original Deerfield (NGO519) was replaced because of construction, but apparently since 1973 they've done a lot more. The station mark is nowhere to be found (see the photo -- there's a 2-foot steel disc, but it's not hiding under there either. The Witness sign was nailed to a tree at some point (not mentioned in the official history), and Reference Mark 4 is still there. Quite funny, actually, but sad that these things don't get maintained. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

Thanks for the markwell I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

Any chance we can some day do pocket queries on Benchmark waypoints? I've been having fun finding what's essentially government-hidden virtuals, and I'd like to use the same tools for managing both benchmarks and the regular civilian geocaches. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

I guess what it really boils down to is that this isn't a trade-in, it's more of a customer loyalty rebate. If I could get a better discount by sending the old one in or something, I'd do it in an instant. To play more with metaphors, I have a GM Credit Card, which encourages me to buy more GM cars. I get a discount based on what I've charged (so it's not exactly a 'customer loyalty rebate'), but I can make use of two cars at once: I can't do so with a second copy of Mapsource. You'll say, "Sell the old one." Well, since the upgrade coupon requires the old and new serial numbers, I'd be willing to bet that the next owner of the old version would not be able to upgrade, and it may violate licenses somewhere along the line. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

In Your Town's page, I was surprised to see that it had moved 13000+ miles, especially as it had only been a couple of places. The map shows maybe a thousand or two... Then I saw on the logs that two moves of just a couple of miles in its own neighborhood logged 6200+ miles each! Has anyone else seen this happen? I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

Garmin has a new version 5 of Metroguide available, but they're not doing much for those currently holding it. They've got a $30 coupon on a $116 product. I paid about $86 without a coupon for v4 just three months ago. C'mon, guys -- you're not adding much in features, you're mainly updating changes to the physical map to reflect reality, why so high a price for return customers? I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

Caching in the Wisconsin Dells, I came across a pair of very close caches, both by the same hider: Dam Pretty View #1 and #2. They're only a couple-hundred feet apart, but much of that is vertical. Now here's a reason to have two caches close together. #1 is a bit of a tricky spot, but relatively easy to get to. #2 requires a bit more cliff scrambling -- and was outside of my abilities on a wet, slippery day (although the fisherman with both hands full made it down OK). I don't know if this is how this pair got OK'd, but I'd have no problem in a situation like this: The "junior" version for most of us, and the "extreme" version nearby for those of us who still think they're immortal. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

My two cents: In the Chicago area, the Busse Woods area has about 14 caches in a 3-mile-square area. Two of those are movers, restricted to Busse Woods. One of them was probably done the best way possible for a mover: If you move the cache, you were to leave behind a microcache (that was in the main box) with a note that it's moving. When you placed the new one and updated the web page, you were to go and get the micro and move it to the new location. That meant that (a) there was always something in the spot listed on the net, and ( it left a pretty big responsibility on the next hider. The other just moved. My biggest gripe about the wanderers is that a query or printed listing may not have the actual location unless you scour the logs. I went to the wrong place twice before I caught it, then missed it a third time because it was hidden about 90' from what my GPSr said was the actual location. If the PTB are going to support movers, I'd strongly suggest that the cache location can be updated by a log, perhaps with approval by the original hider. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

I've got the GPSmap 76S. It's pricey -- about $100 more than the eTrex with similar features. But it's got a bigger screen and slightly more memory than the eTrex, as well as feeling very rugged. The 76S has more memory than the 76 -- twice as much for waypoints and trackpoints (I think), and has the electronic compass and barometric altimeter. The compass is a battery pig, probably the only real downside of this unit. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

According to Space Daily, the government may turn S/A (selective availability) back on, reducing accuracy to 100-300 meters instead of the current 5 meters. That could make caching kind of tricky, no? I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

I'm using a Belkin FSU409, and I can't say I'm totally happy with it. Map uploads won't work at 115K, and at 57K it's as like as not to hang up after a couple of minutes. On top of it, it can no longer be found on the Belkin website, and the existing drivers aren't XP certified. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

What probably made it surprising is that the Garmin instructions say you'll lose everything, including the built-in points-of-interest database (for which they include a download too). I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know

Nice idea. I wish I could use the same on my GPSMAP 76S, but there's no convenient screws to replace. I probably need to usea more friction-oriented way of attaching the GPSr to the plate. The suction cups are clever, though. I am Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt. I have many names, you know