alanfreed

As mentioned, I was using GSAK to upload the GGZ file to the 600. I have tried uploading the file as a GPX file through GSAK, which works normally on the 400, but not on the 600. Something has become corrupt somewhere... I'm looking for someone who can help identify how the caches are read by the unit, and if something can be done to get it to index those files properly. I can't even send an individual cache to the unit through the GC web site... the attributes of the cache will appear (parking, etc.,) but the cache itself will not show up. Weird things just seem to happen once in a while with Garmins. I had a Colorado once that stopped writing to the "geocaches.txt" file. Garmin eventually swapped out units for me when they weren't able to solve it that time.

No, there are no filters in place, and I'm zoomed in plenty far enough that they would appear. I assure you that this goes beyond the normal, simple solutions. What are those "normal routines" loading a GGZ file? You can't use the same techniques on your Oregon 400 because of lacking the GGZ support. Please be more precise in explaining what you are actually doing - step by step. Hans Alan, First suspicion is that you have a filter set on the device that is preventing them from showing. Second is that the default map setting is to require zooming in quite a bit in order to see geocaches on the map. You might want to check your Map Zoom settings to be sure it's set to 'Auto' for geocaches.

Hi folks... any Garmin geniuses out there? I headed out on a big trip a few weeks ago, and loaded a few thousand caches into my Oregon 600. I immediately checked to be sure that they were appearing properly after I had loaded them, and they were working fine. Then I started my trip... and the cache icons failed to appear from that point forward (nor would they show up in the caching profile). Along my trip, I would see child waypoints pop up (trail heads, parking areas, etc.), but no other evidence of the caches themselves. I can assure you that I have already ruled out any of the semi-obvious problems... I was near the caches when trying to find them on the unit (not 100 miles away, where they wouldn't show up on the filter), for example. I have tried doing a hard reset, and I later updated to the newest firmware as well, both with no luck. I have tried loading some caches as GPX files, both individually, and as a batch, with no luck. My normal routine of using GSAK to load them as a GGZ file is not working. Everything does work properly on my old Oregon 400 using the same techniques. So it would appear that my unit is just not recognizing the caches for whatever reason. I did call Garmin, and they shrugged their shoulders because I had already done the things they would have suggested (factory reset, etc.). I just wanted to see if there's anyone here who is smarter than Garmin at their own products Garmin can take my unit for $99 and either fix it or send me a refurbished unit, but if there is something I can restore on my own, that's obviously my preference. Many thanks in advance for any help that you folks might have. I have read a little bit about Garmins having a problem indexing GPX files, etc., but I'm not sure if that plays into this or not.

I think back in the old days Garmin was much more willing to do the occasional free-bee... but that seems to have changed. I had the exact problem described by the original poster, called Garmin, and for $99 they sent me a "new/refurbished" unit. That $99 (US) fee is their standard practice for any repair now. I realize in Quantum Mechanics all things that can happen do but I am not sure how many of those universe's have free repair.

As a side note... about a year ago I noticed that my "distinct finds" number was one less than my "finds" number, and that drove me nuts. I finally realized how I could use GSAK to pinpoint where I had logged more than one find on a single cache, and I found that I had done that accidentally on a cache a couple summers ago. I removed the duplicate, which kinda stunk because it threw off a few key milestones I had done... but at least I feel better about it now.

I never said they did... I'm just saying that if this is the motivation for people to attend events, I find that kind of discouraging and it makes me less enthusiastic about attending. I'd be happier if people were more interested in the fellowship of it all, and less interested in artificially boosting their numbers.

I'm glad to see that logging temp caches isn't something that has been widely adopted outside our area (SW PA) and a few others. I've been disappointed to see how often people log events over and over again for temps that aren't listed on GC.com. Not to be a total wank about it, but it's frankly discouraging me from attending events at all if this is the direction we're heading. I enjoy seeing my numbers climb, but they're all legit numbers. To me, logging "caches" (which have ranged from actual cache containers, to spotting a man in a wolf costume at a library) is as legit as logging how many times I visited the restroom at an event. I just don't see the point. Now that I've honked off 90% of the people in my area... I'll go moan about something else

Doesn't this all seem like another reason to be concerned about Garmin's new caching site? As I understand it, there's no review process at all on that site, meaning that anyone can stick a cache anywhere and list it. And that sort of thing can only lead to more incidents like this one. If there's a similar incident with one of their listed caches and it's reported that the item was a "Geocache," it's going to hurt this site more than Garmin's, even if it wasn't listed here. I have had the Disney 50 States cache on my watch list for a long time (I'm only missing Oregon and Nebraska), and I've always been surprised that their local reviewer allowed it to be placed anywhere near a Disney property. Part of the blame has to fall on the shoulders of the person who reviewed that placement in the first place. I would be very surprised if our local reviewer would have permitted it, unless the owner had provided explicit proof that he had obtained permission.

I was having some similar issues (the hints wouldn't decrypt... I don't know about the logs), and the Google maps weren't working. I cleared my Firefox cache, and things returned to normal. You might give that a try...

I don't have much of anything new to offer... just another voice in the crowd saying thanks for a job well done! I really enjoyed the site while it lasted. Best wishes with the family!

Rickett's Glen is a fantastic park, but you're right -- there are relatively few caches there. If you want a great day with awesome views of waterfalls, you will LOVE this park, though. I'll be heading up there again in a couple weeks. The trails along the falls are like the shape of a big Y. To do the whole hike, seeing all 20+ falls, is something like 6 or 7 miles. Or you could start at the top of one of the spokes of the Y, and see half of the falls by going down hill to the lower parking lot.

Your easiest solution is to get a smart phone -- an iPhone or Droid -- where you can download one of the many apps that will do this for you pretty easily. I have a Droid, and for kicks I have set up a web page that tracks my whereabouts: www.freedmultimedia.com/whereisalan I'm sure it's possible to attach your unit to a computer and do something similar, but it's ultimately going to be very cumbersome if you're moving around at all. As others have mentioned, you can definitely do this with programs like Streets & Trips, too, without the need for an Internet connection. It isn't clear from your original post whether you're talking about uploading this to the Internet, or whether you just want to see it on a tethered computer.

There are companies out there that do nothing but sell specialized mailing lists. Our company had a project years ago where we purchased a list of all churches in North America. Granted, it was riddled with errors, but it was a good starting point for what we needed to do. These companies can supply address data for virtually any field of business nowadays. Having said all of that... I think the original poster is wondering how they get accurate lat/lon data for each of these places, as if some dude walks around to every minimart in the country and marks a waypoint. I don't know the answer, but I would have to assume that however they manage to come up with accurate (or reasonably accurate) address coordinates is how they come up with these point of interest coordinates. They're likely just using the addresses supplied to them, and using their address pinpointing mechanisms to create those points.

If you haven't already done so, try updating to the newest firmware. Version 3.0 just came out the other day, as described in this thread. It might help take care of some of the weird things these units have been doing. I updated mine, and so far I haven't seen any new weird things

Thanks for posting that... I was wondering if that page was still around! I did the update, and my unit hasn't burst into flames or anything yet. Did a few caches today without any trouble, too.

Well, I've been looking forward to a version 3.0, so I'm very glad to see it has been released. But now web updater isn't recognizing that my Colorado is attached (set on "Garmin Spanner"), so I can't seem to install it anyway. Bah!!

Mine has done it on occasion with every software version since I got it out of the box. I'm using 2.95 now, and otherwise it seems good.

Sometimes mine will just shut down completely when I go off course. I guess it's my Colorado's way of saying, "Well, if you're not going to listen to me, I'm just going to go to sleep then. Find your way by yourself, sucker!"

Ooops Sorry.

Hold the middle button of the rocker down to set a waypoint, then use options to edit the waypoint's coordinates.

Geez, are you sure we're not related?!? I've never had any trouble with condensation at all, with any camera I've taken on cruises. The only exception was my video camera many years ago, which had a "dew warning" indicator that came on during one cruise. I doubt you'd have an issue unless you went from a steamy hot balcony into a really strongly air conditioned room, or something like that. The best lens I've had for vacationing is the Nikon 18-200 VR. On this most recent cruise, I very rarely took it off the camera. It's a great lens since it has such a wide range. I used my Sigma 10-20 a couple times for some super wide angle shots, but otherwise I left the 18-200 on it all the time.

Cool... with the D300 you can go a couple different directions. Initially, I bought a Nikon cable (it's an MC-35) that I could use to directly connect my Garmin to the D300. That worked very well, although I found the combination to be a bit bulky. It's ok, but there's a lot of cable and it's kinda awkward. A few months ago I found the "Macsense Geomet'r" receiver, which plugs directly into the D300, and can be mounted right onto the hotshoe. It connects through the 10-pin adapter (like the MC-35 cord does). I velcro my Geomet'r to the camera strap, and it's not cumbersome at all. I like this combination a lot, and use it for vacations, etc. As an example, I posted a bunch of our Christmas cruise photos on Picasa, which can automatically create maps based on the EXIF data: http://picasaweb.google.com/alansfreed/ChristmasCruise#

You may be disappointed in the reception you get with only a porthole stateroom. When we did our Alaska cruise, we had an oceanview stateroom (port hole), and I literally couldn't get reception AT ALL with a Garmin 60CSx. I have much better luck with balcony staterooms, but even then I have had periods of time where it'll lose the signal with both the 60CSx and my Colorado. The only time you get a really, really decent signal is up on the top deck. When we have balcony rooms, I leave the GPS outside all the time to keep a track log of the trip -- it is a fun keepsake! I bring a battery charger along, and I switch the batteries out a couple times a day. A previous poster had mentioned telling your stateroom attendant to leave the GPS alone... they're right on the money on that advice! Our attendant (a very sweet lady) brought mine in the one night during our Christmas cruise this year, and I nearly had a heart attack, thinking it was missing! I am also into geotagging photos... if you have the right camera (I have a Nikon D300), you can hook the GPS right up to the camera and automatically record the lat/long into the EXIF of the image. I found a relatively inexpensive (<$150) GPS attachment that does a really nice job for this purpose.

I did this, which did not solve the problem: 1. Power the unit OFF 2. Hold down the two Soft Keys for 2 seconds 3. While continuing to hold the 2 Soft Keys down, press and hold down the Power button for an additional 5 seconds 4. Release all buttons, and select YES to the prompt asking "if you want to clear all user data?"

That's good to know. It seemed only logical to me that the file would simply regenerate if you delete it... and I'd swear it did that before I upgraded to version 2.9. Hmph. I wish I knew what was going on with it so I don't have the same problem with the new unit once it arrives.