mr_candyman

yes it does

ok, in that case then I'd definitely get one of the street mapping options for the garmin. If it's for in car, then you probably won't need the external antenna. Look at all the software options carefully as they are all different. IF you need help selecting which one then maybe come up with a list of still you will need it to do (and how up to date you need the maps) and we can go from there

I have no pictures and really have no time to take any (maybe somebody else will though). I have that same unit you're looking at. There's 3 ways to find an already loaded geocache. The first is to click on the menu button and go to "find" then "geocache" and by default it's set to display the caches nearest to your current location. This is the metod I use the most. From this screen though you can click the menu button again and select "Find by name" and then you can start typing in the name of the geocache. My girlfriend loves to use this mode, but I loathe it. The third way is to use the map and the little thumbstick and scroll around the map. There's little treasure chests that mark geocaches. Place the cursor over one for a second and it will get a white border around it. Click on it and it will ask if you want to follow the road or go off-road. If you have street mapping software on your unit and you need to drive there then select follow road, if not then off-road. If you do follow road, then when you pull over to go hunt for it, then hit the menu button and select "recalculate" and then select off-road. I've never used .mxf files, so I can't comment on that. Track files however are breadcrumbs (little dots on the map) that mark where you have been. If you were to download one of these you would be able to view it in garmin mapsource and see the route they took. As far as I know you can not upload that to your GPSr and view it. The basemap is really a pile of garbage. It really is. I find the street maps of either city select or city navigator or metroguide to be a much better option for most people. That way you can see all the streets (except the newest ones) and that will give you a much better idea of where you're going. The topo maps are better at defining where the edges of water masses are and are great for hills and mountains, that's it. Unless you're always going to be caching near water or in the mountains I can't honestly recommend getting it and would instead recommend getting one of the street mapping options.

For a motorhome I would probably recommend an external antenna because the motorhome will cut off a great deal of the signal. In a car it's not such a big deal but in a motorhome it's probably best to get an external antenna if you want to use it to guide you in it. I should probably ask why you would stop using the laptop to guide you in the motorhome though, as really I find it to be a bit nicer experience when driving than the handheld units. If you do want to use it to tour around the country, then you might benefit from the extra storage card space. Peronally, I have a 1 gig card on mine and I have all of metroguide canada's maps on my unit as well as the topography maps for BC and Alberta (since that's where I live and really they matter most here anyways). You could easily just get a smaller card and keep changing the maps that are on it, though my philosophy is why bother when the cards are so close in price anyways. I actually got my 1 gig card for the same price a 256 meg one right beside was costing. The topography maps are never necessary unless you're trying to find the best way to hike up or down a mountain. I have them because I'm in Search and Rescue and use it as such all the time. You might also find that the maps of the water are actually more detailed as well. Metroguide canada for instance will show me driving in the lake at times when I'm really beside it and the software doesn't have a programmed road. The topo maps don't do that. For most people though I would say not to bother with them. Get some good battereis. I personally use rechargeable NIMH batteries, a lot of people swear by lithium, but I find they're just too expensive when I go through so many batteries anyways. Be SURE to set which type of battery you're using in the menu on the unit. You can get an unpleasant, heart wrenching set of errors happening after a bit when the battery starts being depleated making you think your unit's toast.

I think Pathaway will let me transfer the coordinates to my gpsr. Still it wouldn't be much effort to enter them in manually on the gpsr. Unfortunately I don't know how to program for palm (and probably won't have the time to learn) or I would just make a program like GSAK for palm os...

I don't think so as this page: http://www.smittyware.com/palm/cachemate/tools.php lists the programs used to do the tasks in cachemate and it seems they need to be converted into a different format for cachemate

Is there any way to use the GPX files from your palm device directly without needing a PC to transfer files over? I'm looking at getting hte palm tx, but it will be a makeshift laptop replacement as mine is about to meet an untimely death soon. I guess I'd need a program sort of like GSAK that can just import them directly.

anybody know of a way to use the streets and trips maps on the pda to a point you can make a city one map and zoom in or something?

So far my '95 Dodge Avenger ES, my '06 Suzuki Boulevard M50 (motorcycle), my girlfrien'd '96 chevy lumina, my friend's 2007 Saab 93 Aero and also his 2007 Honda Ridgeline. I've also got a dirt bike I might use later on in the year for the ones in the mountains

I personally think this is a cool idea. I'm too far away to be of any help but you could potentially set up a separate site and list them on there. They wouldn't be able to count as actual caches but the objective of the searcher getting a good hunt and also money and you guys getting your stuff back would be met.

I have a havaneve by the name of Chaos who's great at hunting tupperware. He got good at it because we keep his treats in tupperware and he enjoys trying to find where we hid them. He does the same for caches, though it's a bit inconvenient to take him as he's small and very, VERY fluffy so twigs and rosebushes get caught in his fur like crazy :\

Basket Weaver got me into geocaching, so ya, she likes it

maybe this would help: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=165013

If you have a smartphone or a PDA you might not be aware of how easy it is to get good information displayed for geocaching. If you're using GSAK (which most of you are) then you can export to .html format, copy the folder created to your device and just open up the index file (which will open it in your phone or pda's web browser. From there it gives you a great deal of ways to find the information quickly and easily. Just thought I'd share since a lot of people don't like the mobipocket format and might not want to get cachemate.

The car companies just tell you that No car requires a special kind of fuel except for Diesel and Regular Unleaded of course. that's where you're very wrong

you'll get that sometimes, not sure why, but it will return to normal shortly

you need to turn on instant notifications, since you're a premium member you can do that http://www.geocaching.com/notify/

I would definitely suggest waiting for a while and seeing how a bunch are hidden before hiding your own.

cool, gonna have to try this out

I agree honestly. I can honestly see people wanting to split from their group name, but really when somebody just wants to change their username, they should have just thought harder in the first place

basically just don't use one of these: http://www.wickedlasers.com/

I'd have gotten a 60csx from the start. I love my little venture cx but there's times it annoys the hell out of me in the bush. I've had some dnfs just because I couldn't get anywhere near the cache site without either losing reception or it just refusing to show me any updated information.

17,94872% geek You answered "yes" to 36 of 98 questions, making you 63.3% jock pure; that is, you are 63.3% pure in the jock domain (you have 36.7% jock in you). Your Weirdness Factor (AKA Uniqueness Factor) is 13%, based on a comparison of your test results with 131617 other submissions for this test. edit: just noticed I'm the highest jock percentage so far...boy does that make me feel weird

Mobipocket reader is pathetic when compared to programs like cachemate and GPXSonar. care to explain why? I've never used them myself, but the e-book I get sent is laid out almost identical to the web site, has a great table of content, and the hints decrypted in the appendix. Just wondering what advantages the other progrms could possibly have

why not just get the e-book format sent to you and use mobipocket on your pda to read the info? I use it on my cell phone with great success.