wardcameron

I thought I had sent them a message. I did not mean to post it on a public forum. Is there a way to delete the original message?

I'm a recent convert to geocaching. I run a website at www.MountainNature.com that receives more than a million page views annually. It is a guide to more than 800 plants, animals, birds and landforms. I love both geocaching AND the website that is connected to it. I would love any advice on building the comunity that you have built. This site really understands the internet and I'm learning every day from you. There may be some unique ways in which we can benefit each other. I'm very interested in creating some unique caches that help to teach people about bear safety, mountain geology and other topics. These will combine the power of geocaching AND Waymarking. I look forward to working with you. Let's send each other traffic. Sincereely. Ward Cameron

Hey great breakfast. Who went where today? As a newbie, I managed two new caches and some great new terrain. Where did you go? After Jura Creek, I headed up Grotto and saw little evidence that anyone had been caching there. Got two new finds today so it was a good day.

Excellent comments. Danuw I'm the same. I live high in the Rocky Mountains of Canada and playing in the snow is just a part of daily life here (although the first thing you learn about Canadians is that we all have summer birthdays). I'm sure the snow has something to do with my challenges.

Thanks so much. That's exactly what I needed.

As a newbie. I'm reading all the logs, but they are full of acronyms that baffle me. TFTC = Thanks for the Cache? Thanks for the Chinese food? TNLN? TFTH? SL? TNLNSL? Thanks all.

Thanks all. I was feeling like a muggle myself. I do enloy the wander and this has given me a new reason to wander in my own town. As a guide book author, I often live for check marks. If I couldn't write about it I couldn't do it. This is something totally frivolous for me - until it becomes obsessive and needs to be relentlessly documented (OK I'm a workaholic).

Thanks for all the support. Part of my frustration is that these caches are right under my nose, within a few kilometres of my home on trails that I have done over and over. The comments are exactly what I was hoping for - simple tips for those beginning to train their eyes for the fine details as they hone in on the find from the gps coordinates. Reading all the logs was great advice. I am just learning CacheMate and didn't realize that only one log shows at a time. I thought there was only one log for each of these caches today. Now that I've read them all, it looks like one of the caches was muggled and moved a little. I'll try again later.

I'm beginning to think I really suck at this. So far, I've attempted four caches and found only one - and a blind man could have found that one. Can you share some of your tips for the actual on the ground search. I know how to use a gps, I've been mapping trails for years. I get to within a few metres (plus the gps error margin) but I can't seem to find these things. Are there guidelines for how they are hidden, marked, etc? What are your secrets for the final short-range search? I really appreciate your help.

I'm using CacheMate and Cetus on my palm. There is an option in Cachemate under the Srch menu for nearest Caches. Once you open this window, there is an option for "From GPS" but I've not found any plug-in that can get the data for this. Are there any? I CAN get navigation data using CacheNav but can't seem to either find caches near my gps location or near my home. As an alternative, is there any way to set a home location?

You don't like the TX, you should try the LifeDrive. I went through 5 LDs in less than a year. The first wouldn't charge correctly. The second had a wi-fi problem. The next three had hard disk crashes. I still have a brand new replacement sitting on my desk. The TX gave me all the features of the LD with (up to now) no problems whatsoever. A 4gb SD card replaced the hard disk and whammo - no moving parts to screw up. When I mentioned Cetus it was on the TX. I've now installed it on the IIIx and again, I can upload and download to this program, but not navigate. As I understand it, I change it to Garmin mode to transfer and back to normal mode to navigate. I'm guessing that I need change the Garmin to nmea mode for live communication? Once I did this I was able to communicate (and after re-turning on the com port with the software fix). I've now got Cetus working on the IIIx and the TX. Now that I've had a chance to play with it, It seems like a great program. Is there a way to keep dozens (or more) specific lists of waypoints on the palm? What about tracklogs? I write trail guides. I'd like to be able to essentially keep a palm based trail guide. If I want to head out on a particular route, I want the ability to upload the track AND the waypoints to my Garmin. To me, the navigation options are a bonus although as I look to get more and more into geocaching I may find this more useful.

Interestingly. I just dusted off a very old Palm IIIx and the same software and the same gps works great. I've also installed Cetus and I can upload and download waypoints, but only download tracks. I can't get any signal for the navigation features of cetus.

I use a Garmin GPSMap 76s gps and OziExplorer. For some reason whenever I upload or download waypoints, they use the airplane symbol. I can't seem to get a simple, generic waypoint symbol to load by default. Any ideas?

I've been using GPilotS for years. I've tested it with two gps units - the GPSMap76s and the Garmin V. Both allow me to download from the gps only. When I try to upload waypoints or tracklogs from the Palm to the GPS I get the message "No communication with gps". I've downloaded Cetus and I'll give it a try a little later today.

OK, the LieDrive (not a misspelling) is one of my specialties. I've gone through 5 (count 5) LifeDrives with problems ranging from the first one not charging properly, the second had a wi-fi problem followed by 3 hard disk crashes. Palm replaced every one without question (hmmm - maybe they know about problems we don't). I LOVE Palm but I was finally forced to drop the hard disk based LifeDrive for the TX. Sure, NightPilot and others have had problems with this as well, but I've now used it for longer than all my LifeDrive's combined. a 4gb SD card gives it every single feature of the life drive without the drive. The only thing I miss is the ability to drag and drop files to the Life Drive manager program. Cheap programs like Card Export duplicate the ability of the LifeDrive to appear like a hard drive and in the end it's sooooo much faster than the LifeDrive. It tore my heart out to dump it. I have a brand new replacement unit sitting on my desk if anyone wants it. Once I switched to the TX I've not had to look back. The only problem I've had relates to the lack of proper com port support with LifeDrive and TX. After numerous posts and NightPilots patience, I have gotten to the point where I can at least download from my garmins to the TX, but for some reason I can't upload from the TX to my garmins. Palm is at the crossroads now. As my mother was fond of saying they need to s**t or get off the pot. The LifeDrive was a great technological attempt but if they can't leverage their position in the market they may find themselves a day late and a dollar short. Nobody does simple functionality like Palm but they have forgotten this.

OK. I thought I had this solved. Installing the small software program did open the com port on my TX but only for download from the gps. I can't seem to upload from the palm TO the TX. Is this normal? Do you have a good link for Cetus? I'll try anything but it's tough to find now.

Thanks NightPilot. I've got it working now. PNTechnologies emailed me the file today and sure enough, once I ran it, it turned on the com port and I'm able to upload and download. I'm going to give Cachemate a try but it seems that Cetus is an abandoned program so there is not real need to try it. In the past, I was mainly focused on trail research, so I wanted to save trackpoints and waypoints and I really wasn't concerned about anything else. Routes were for people in cars that never left the roadways. Just the other day I discovered geocaching. It has been hanging around my peripheral vision for quite some time but I decided to take the plunge lately. I'm a left-brained guy who has been focused on books for the past few years - if I couldn't write about it I couldn't do it. OK, I'm still largely that way, but geocaching has given me an excuse to take a walk even within my own townsite - very cool. Thanks again. Ward

Thanks for your reply NightPilot. Have you managed to get this working for your palm/garmin combo? If so, which units? I do have the Garmin set to Garmin protocol. I've tried three different garmin units (Garming III+, V and GPSmap76s), two palms (treo 650 and TX) and three software programs (GPilotS, Fugawi and PathAway4) all with exactly the same results. I've used this system for some five years with all three garmins but older palms (II and IIIc) that still used serial sync. According to the PNTechnologies website (the company that sells the adapter to connect the garmin serial cable to the TX, Treo, LifeDrive, etc). "This is a full-power RS232 design which has electronics built right into the cable to accomplish RS232 conversion. This cable is compatible with most any serial GPS, cell phone, or data equipment, as it is True RS232. For this cable, you will need a program to turn on the POWER_OUT pin. This program will be provided in an Mini-CD with your cable. " It's software that turns on the Serial capability. I appreciate your help and if you have any suggestions I'll certainly give them a try.

I purchased the PDCT5-M9-6 cable for my Palm some time ago. It arrived without a single word of documentation and so I did not realize the importance of the mini-CD that came with it. Apparently it has a small program that enables the serial capabilities to enable communicaiotn. Is there a way to get a replacement? Or is the software downloadable? Once I have it, what do I do with it? Will it actually allow me to download waypoints and tracklogs between my Garmin GPS (GPSmap76s) and my Palm T/X (I prefer to use GPilotS software). All I ever get is the message “No response from GPS”. I've sent this same message to the manufacturer but who knows, someone here may be able to email me the small file and directions. thanks

Thanks for your reply. I already have that cable. It's what gives me the connection between the garmin and my TX. The problem seems to be that the TX is not capable of transmitting using the serial protocols so whenever I connect them and try to download or upload between the garmin and the palm I get a message "No Response From the GPS". I've tried half a dozen different software programs and the result is always the same. It seems that since the newer palms don't need serial connections to sync, they've lost the ability to transmit via the serial protocols. There must be a solution

I use my Garmin GPSmap76s for a great deal of mapping. In the past, I used my Palm IIIx and a free piece of software called GPilotS to store tracks and waypoint lists so I could map a trail, download the track and waypoints to my Palm and then clear the GPS to map a second trail. All could be later downloaded to the computer and plotted on OziExplorer - magic! All of a sudden, the newer palms now connect via USB. Apparently with this new connection, they've lost the serial port capability of past units so I can't download from my gps to my palm. Has anyone managed to get their newer palm to connect to their gps? In the past I used the serial cable that came with the Garmin and then an adapter that connected that cable to the sync port on the palm. I'm dying without this. Any help is appreciated.