jjmcwill

Magellan GPS Companion - plug-in module for Handspring Visor, a Palm compatible PDA Got it cheap off of EBay. Not real rugged, but having cachemate and the GPS receiver in one physical unit is kinda nice. Lowrance iFinder H2O. I just got this yesterday, and found my very first cache at 11PM last night with it. So far, I'm really lovin' it!

An update. I still have not figured out why the GPS receiver shuts down after 10 or 15 seconds when I'm trying to use the GPS feature of Cetus GPS or Cachemate. However, my whole reason for trying to use either of those program features in the first place was because I didn't know of an easy, reliable way of transferring Waypoints into the Magellan Nav Companion program. Today I discovered that gpsbabel can group one or more .gpx input files and output in "magnav" format. This format creates a .pdb file that can be synced to the PDA and appears as waypoints in Nav Companion. It works quite well. My Lowrance ifinder h2o arrived today, so I won't be using the PDA/GPS Companion for navigation very often. However, it's a workable (albeit not very rugged) backup in case I want to invite a friend along. Knowing how to get waypoints into and out of the device REALLY HELPS. I also have to admit, it's kinda nice having Cachemate and the GPS in one physical unit instead of having to carry both my PDA and my GPS receiver. I can't believe an AFFORDABLE, ruggedized PDA doesn't exist in the market. I'm aware of the TDS Recon, but that guy runs $1,500.00 Jeff

I just wanted to post an update. My Lowrance ifinder H2O Plus arrived TODAY from cascadegps. Needless to say, I'm very happy with their prompt service. Regards, Jeff

I've been playing around with a Megallan GPS Companion plugged into my Handspring Visor while I wait for my Lowrance Ifinder H2O to arrive. The Magellan Nav Companion software works fine. When using other nav software, such as the GPS plugin for cachemate, the GPS seems to shut down after 15 seconds or so. Here's my sequence of steps I'm trying to perform: Load .GPX files into Cachemate with cmconvert In the field, launch nav companion to obtain a satellite fix. Switch to Cachemate. Select a cache. Click the NAV button Up pops the Cachemate GPS plugin. FOr a short time, it will show bearing and distance to the cache. After 10 or 15 seconds, the status at the top will switch from "3D" or "2D" to "No GPS". At this point, I have to relaunch Nav Companion and reobtain a fix with the satellites. It doesn't take long (a couple of seconds). The same thing happens with I've tried the Cetus GPS software. It would work for 10 or 15 seconds and then report "No GPS". Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks, Jeff

Thanks for the replies. After making this post I saw that ICTHYS posted a quick review of an H2O C he purchased from cascadegps, and in his review he reported fast shipping time. I did a forum search, and saw that cascadegps was favorably mentioned several times in the past, and that cascadegps has an account here and posts sales from time to time. That was encouraging. The seller has a contact form on their website, and I used it to specifically ask if the H2O Plus was currently in stock, and it was. I checked resellerratings.com, and cascadegps had two favorable reviews and no negative ones. Unfortunately, tigergps.com was the first vendor I used and had to cancel my order from today. After reading WeekendWarrior1's positive endorsement, I'm somewhat troubled by this. resellerratings.com and the Better Business Bureau website both contained negative feedback for this retailer over the past year. To their credit, Tigergps.com promptly cancelled my order per my request, and immediately refunded my money. I decided to place my order with cascadegps. I received a reply several minutes after placing my order stating that it had cleared and that it would ship today. Paul at cascadegps was of the opinion that many resellers were expecting a shipment from Lowrance this week and haven't received it yet. I'm not here to draw any conclusions about tigergps and it's not my intent to bash them or anything. Since I asked for help here, I thought I'd update everyone. I'll be eagerly waiting for my gps to arrive, hopefully very soon now. Thanks for all the input. Regards, Jeff

Hi, I've decided on the Lowrance H2O Plus as the GPS receiver I'd like to get. I tried ordering one two weeks ago from an online retailer. It was indicated as "In Stock" on their website. As of today, it was still on "Temporary backorder" but expected to arrive at their warehouse "Today", which is the same thing they told me on Monday. I finally canceled. Once bitten, twice shy. Can anyone recommend a vendor whom they trust and have had good experience with, who carries the H2O Plus for a fair price? Thanks, Jeff

What does your Java program do? Does it just display your current Lat & Lon or can it help guide you to a waypoint/geocache? My phone doesn't support bluetooth, and as a Verizon user, I probably couldn't write custom software for it anyway. However, I'm intrigued by the idea of using a bluetooth capable PDA to do the same thing. An HP iPaq PDA running Windows CE or Linux should be pretty easy to write custom software for, but I've no idea how you'd integrate topo maps into it. Of course, there's also the ruggedness issue of using a Cell Phone or PDA while trekking out in the wilderness in harsh conditions. PDA's aren't water proof, nor are most ruggedized. I also have no idea how well they perform in the winter in sub-freezing temps.