Muggle Finder

I wasn't seeking a response from DeLorme reps on the Groundspeak forums. When I had problems with the PN-20 I contacted DeLorme directly. I posted here because the discussion topic was "first impressions." I did get an e-mail from DeLorme tech support this morning, though. They got back to me about the cable issue (sort of) but not about the battery issue or the card reader problem. And a rep reading this forum e-mailed me and suggested I call DeLorme rather than going through the tech support system. I guess if that's the only solution that's what I'll have to do but I was hoping to avoid a long-distance phone call. Anyway, as I said, I'm not seeking solutions here just describing my experience. You'll have more luck in getting help and responses from Delorme reps if you post on the Delorme Forums. The reps respond very quickly to those that have issues.

My first impressions remain negative. I wrote DeLorme tech support for help last week. I got a reply today. The reply was a canned message that they would respond to my request for help sometime in the future. Thanks, guys, that helps a lot. I gather I got one of the bad batteries. From what I can tell I also got a bad card reader. And I think there is something wrong with the USB-computer port to GPS connection because it works sometimes and sometimes I get an error message. If DeLorme cares about quality you'd think they would make sure all the components they include with their GPS's are good. Or if something goes wrong unexpectedly (like a bad batch of batteries) you'd think they would notify their customers and initiate corrective action. If they didn't bother with quality control in parts like the batteries and the card reader how much did they bother with the quality of the internal parts? I'm also realizing that if the greatest benefit of this GPS is the ability to download Aerial photos then this is going to be one expensive "toy." Just one of my local regional parks consumed over $10 in download costs (this one was covered in the cost of the GPS but it clearly wouldn't take long to eat up the entire $100 in "free downloads"). All that said I'm not quite ready to give up on this GPS. If DeLorme will do something to resolve the problems with the equipment and if I can really figure out how to use it (how to download what I want, how to switch from one view to another) I may be able to overcome my first negative first impressions. We'll see...

I just got an Earthmate PN-20. Things are not going too smoothly with it so far. The Lithium-Ion battery doesn't seem to work. Ditto with the USB card reader. The USB to GPS cable worked once, but now I get an error message when I try to use it ("one of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned..."). The Lithium-Ion battery barely fits into the battery compartment: getting it in and out is a real challenge. It seems to me that there is considerable risk of damaging the battery connections when a battery is that tight. I e-mailed Delorme for tech support a few days ago but haven't gotten a reply yet. I'm attending a training with about 100 Search and Rescue people tomorrow and had planned on showing off my new "toy". I'm afraid it won't look too impressive with just the base maps it comes with. The built in base maps on the PN-20 may show you what city you are in but they don't get you much closer than that. You have to be able to down-load maps for the map part of the unit to be useful and I can't seem to do that. I did do some side-by-side comparisons with my Garmin GPSmap76Cx to get a sense of how well the satellite receiver works. It seemed to me that the PN-20 and the 76Cx had comparable reception under tree cover. The PN-20 went down to 4 satellites for a few seconds occassionally while the 76Cx never had fewer than 7, but most of the time they had a similar lock. The 76CX usually reported it's own accuracy as being much better than the PN-20 reported, but I'd want to do my own field testing before I gave that too much importance. If they are getting the same satellites shouldn't they be equally accurate? The 76CX has satellites blinking on and off it's screen constantly whereas the PN-20 had a steadier look. I like the PN-20 screen better. There are enough similarities between the Garmin and the Earthmate GPS's that I found the PN-20 quite easy to operate. The DeLorme TOPO USA software hasn't proven to be that easy to use but I guess it's workable. I like the size and feel of the PN-20: it's a little bigger than a Garmin eTrex but smaller than the GPSmap60 and 76. It fits nicely into my hand and the controls are in easy thumbs reach without blocking the screen. The screen size is similar to the eTrex but the colors are nicer. If it worked as advertised it would be superior to the eTrex units since it has good satellite reception and an SD card. IF. I was able to load one quad from the DeLorme TOPOUSA maps before the cable stopped working. That map was more detailed for city streets than the Garmin Mapsource topo maps but not detailed enough to navigate through city streets (even though I was on a street it showed the nearest street as 1/4 mile away). The "find an address" function showed the nearest address as being several miles away even though I was in an urban area. The Topo part of the DeLorme TOPOUSA map was less detailed than a Garmin Mapsource maps of the same area. The DeLorme map didn't show trails in an area where the Mapsource map showed trails and where there are trails. The DeLorme map showed a developed road going through an area where no developed road exists. I'm really curious about that: I wonder if there was ever a road there? I wasn't able to try out the Aerial Data Packet since the USB cable and card reader aren't working. That was the feature I most wanted to see and the reason why I bought the unit. If I can ever get help to get the unit operable I'll try downloading some maps and let y'all know what I think. All in all, if you're thinking of buying a PN-20 you may want to wait until you see how things work out for the early buyers. I'm going to give DeLorme tech support a few more days to get back to me but if I don't hear from them soon, or if they can't get my PN-20 up and running fast, I'm sending mine back.

Sorry if this has been asked and answered elsewhere, but why in the world would anyone be asked to give out their password in order to have a TB sent to them?????

I, too, want to save all of you the trouble of looking through all the entry's for "Adventure". Just vote for this one: http://www.geocaching.com/track/log.aspx?L...25-3ebdaeaf1b2a Nice of me, huh?

Difficulty/Terrain

Here's another approach to the Jeep-Through-A-Magnifying-Glass idea: http://www.geocaching.com/track/log.aspx?L...9e-88cee3760767 I like mine (vote for me!) though there a quite a few good pictures this month!

Even for a very short hike it is worth carrying a few small items that can help you if you get into trouble. A whistle weighs almost nothing but it is far easier to blow a whistle than it is to shout for help. A few large plastic trash/leaf bags will fit easily into a pocket: you can stuff them with leaves to provide insulation from the cold ground, use them for a sun shelter, use them for emergency rain gear, or just to trash out an area. Leaf bags aren't enough to get you through a night in really bad weather, but are better than nothing in ordinary conditions. Water weighs a lot, but is worth its weight. Having enough for yourself and any 4-footed pals you bring along is essential. A tiny LED flashlight weighs next to nothing but can make a big difference. Having a good means of communication is also a darn good idea. I like to carry a decent first aid kit but I'm not sure there is much point in carrying the ultralight variety (you can live without a band-aid). But having a 24-hour supply of any medications you have to take is essential. And if you have really poor vision, a spare pair of glasses is essential. So, an ultralight "pack" for a 1-2 mile hike along a well-marked trail in decent weather would be: a whistle, a few large (33-gallon+) trarsh/leaf bags, a LED light, phone/radio, (medication-if needed), (glasses-if needed) and water. Everything but the water can be stuffed into your pockets.

Thanks all, for your comments. I put a wheelchair icon on the cache that I feel fairly sure is accessible to anyone who has reasonable upper body mobility. I am fairly sure my other "1" terrain rating cache is accessible, too, but I need to check out the width of the path at a critical point. I also want to double check for curb cuts. I'll be ashamed for my city if there is a problem with either the width or the curb cuts, but you never know. If all is o.k. I'll add the icon to the second cache. I rated both caches on the Handicaching.com site, with enough comments that people ought to be able to judge for themselves. I guess I'll have to wait for feedback from visitors to know whether or not the caches are truly accessible, though.

I'm curious about this sentence in the article (refeering to a diffrent incident): "He was a geocacher from Vermont trying to stash a green-and-purple toy snake into a cache placed five weeks earlier that had already been visited by 463 people". 463 people in five weeks?? What cache is that?

My apologies if this has been asked and answered before (the forum search feature is stiil not functioning). I am placing a cache that meets the criteria for a "1" terrain rating in that wheeled vehicles can get to the cache site easily. The cache is under a bench, so once there the person needs to be able to bend and reach. It is near enough to grab from a seated position (I think), but you'd have to have fairly good mobility from that position. My question is whether I should put a wheelchair icon on the cache if I'm not fairly certain that most wheelchair users would be able to both get to the cache site, and to retrieve the cache. Replies from wheelchair users especially welcome!

I haven't been notified either (sniff). So unless they are really late in getting the notification out (hope springs eternal) that's 3 of us out.

The "lock on roads" solution didn't work. The "North Up" solution didn't work. Updating the software version didn't work. BUT, Ta Dah! Setting the marine speed filter to "auto" did the trick! Thanks Rotareneg!

My eTrex Legend C is also spinning around whenever I am not moving. This was not a problem with my yellow eTrex. If anyone has come up with a solution, I'm interested!

Not necessarily quick and easy. Some cache pages say things like "please stay on the path", "I had poor satellite coverage look at the photo for a hint", or "you must bring a coin that is one year earlier or later than the coin that was last logged" or whatever. I don't mind if the cache is challenging, I just want to not need anything except the coordinates to find it (assuming I have the skill to do so). I want a "the coordinates are all you need" icon.

Apologies if this idea has been beaten to death already: How about a come-and-hunt icon, or something of the sort . It would be nice to be able to do a PQ and only receive caches that could be found without anything more than the coordinates: it would make spontaneous caching much easier.

Shameless begging. Very good. I'm all for it!

Yay!! My new eTrex has arrived!!! How fun! It's hard to learn to use a new unit, though. My new GPS keeps showing me as being in Hidden Passage Canyon, about midway between the Park, the Fish, the Camp, and CO4 (which I assume is a geocache). I've been wandering around for hours looking for CO4, but the darn new GPS says I haven't even moved. Boy, learning a new unit is tough.

First let me say "Yippppeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" with regard to my own win and, no, I have not received a GPS yet. Where did you see something about "no pets"? I hope that's not a rule. I like my picture and it would be nice to win the Jeep, but the picture of the Jeep on the pup's head is really, really cute. I like how sharp it is, I like the details (flag in back, scarf on the dog's neck) and I love the expression on the dog's face. If I were judging this contest (opinion subject to change pending the October winners) I'd be tempted to select the dog with Jeep photo as my grand champion. But if any judges disagree with me and feel like voting for an alligator eating a Jeep, that's o.k. with me too. I mean, the judges have already proven themselves to be brilliant so who am I to argue with them?

I'm trying to get my image to show up immediately on the screen. Let's see if this works: Cool. It does work. I've never put a photo in a post before. Vote early and often. http://www.geocaching.com/track/log.aspx?l...53-dadd3c62b582

I finally decided to give the contest a try! I just can't figure out how any particular picture gets noticed over the hundreds of others. Is this how? Dangerous Crossing!

I'm traveling down and back from Oakland, CA to Hemet, CA. It's a quick trip, I'll have two dogs with me and no air conditioning, so I'm just looking for quick stretch-your-legs-and-travel-on caches. If anybody has a list of favorites (or at least quick and easy caches) for this mostly I5 route, I'd apprecaite 'em!

Maybe he can decrypt this for us when he gets home... "Later in mijn eentje vanaf p2 de cache benaderd. Tot op 250 m gekomen. Toen moest ik kiezen tussen door het meer of door de bush. Ik koos de bush. Wederom kansloos. Ernstig getwijfeld. Toch tot het dijkje kunnen komen (i.v.m. spoilers zal ik mijn oplossing niet verklappen hier, maar het was spectaculair te noemen). Op de dijk eindeloos gezocht. Opgegeven. Geprobeerd om via de andere kant van de dijk P1 te bereiken. Kansloos voor de derde maal. Dan maar de hele weg terug. Aangezien ik langs de cache zou komen besloot ik niet nog een keer te gaan zoeken, maar wel goed te kijken. Van de andere kant blijkt dat je ineens ook andere routes over de dijk gaat lopen om de veelvoorkomende struiken, prikkel en cactussen te ontwijken. Zodoende struikelde ik bijna letterlijk over een plastic kistje. Alsnog kassa! De terugweg was even spectaaculair als de heenweg, met het verschil dat ik nu niet meer hoefde na te denken, maar simpelweg mijn voetsporen te volgen... Ik beschouw deze cache als, misschien wel, de zwaarste die ik ooit gedaan heb. Ik had een zeer voldaan gevoel na het vinden."

don't go, don't go

No, no, come back! I don't want to go to two different sites to read messages. Stay here, don't go, don't go....