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I had this problem recently with my Summit. After putzing around with it, I found I could duplicate the problem. Here was the situation for me. I had created and activated a route comprising 50 waypoints (the maximum)... When on the Map Page, I could make the unit shut off without fail by downsizing the Map Scale to 200 feet (the minimum). I'm not sure what the exact combination of factors is that results in the shutdown, but as I said, I could force it to do so every time. I haven't had the problem at all otherwise. I have emailed Garmin tech support, but have yet to hear from them.

Here is the updated stats as of July 18th: I included last weeks rankings as well. 1 cache for everyRank Last State Population Caches this many people---- ---- ------------- ---------- ----- ------1 1 Utah 2,233,169 266 8,3952 2 Oregon 3,421,399 202 16,9383 3 Idaho 1,293,953 49 26,4074 4 Alaska 626,932 22 28,4975 5 Wyoming 493,782 15 32,9196 6 Washington 5,894,121 156 37,7837 7 Montana 902,195 23 39,2268 9 Arizona 5,130,632 110 46,6429 8 Nevada 1,998,257 41 48,73810 10 Missouri 5,595,211 111 50,40711 11 New Mexico 1,819,046 30 60,63512 13 Kansas 2,688,418 43 62,52113 12 California 33,871,648 535 63,31114 14 Massachusetts 6,349,097 90 70,54615 16 Delaware 783,600 11 71,23616 15 Colorado 4,301,261 60 71,68817 29 New Hampshire 1,235,786 16 77,23718 18 New York 18,976,457 240 79,06919 17 Maine 1,274,923 15 84,99520 21 Michigan 9,938,444 115 86,42121 19 Hawaii 1,211,537 14 86,53822 20 North Carolina 8,049,313 87 92,52123 24 Maryland 5,296,486 57 92,92124 23 Pennsylvania 12,281,054 131 93,74925 22 Vermont 608,827 6 101,47126 25 Arkansas 2,673,400 26 102,82327 30 Wisconsin 5,363,675 52 103,14828 27 Georgia 8,186,453 78 104,95529 26 South Dakota 754,844 7 107,83530 28 South Carolina 4,012,012 35 114,62931 33 Texas 20,851,820 175 119,15332 31 Illinois 12,419,293 100 124,19333 32 North Dakota 642,200 5 128,44034 34 Tennessee 5,689,283 40 142,23235 37 Oklahoma 3,450,654 24 143,77736 38 Iowa 2,926,324 20 146,31637 35 Ohio 11,353,140 76 149,38338 39 Rhode Island 1,048,319 7 149,76039 36 Nebraska 1,711,263 11 155,56940 41 Mississippi 2,844,658 18 158,03741 42 Kentucky 4,041,769 23 175,72942 40 Minnesota 4,919,479 27 182,20343 43 Connecticut 3,405,565 18 189,19844 45 Indiana 6,080,485 32 190,01545 44 Virginia 7,078,515 37 191,31146 46 West Virginia 1,808,344 8 226,04347 48 New Jersey 8,414,350 36 233,73248 47 Florida 15,982,378 62 257,78049 49 Washington DC 572,059 2 286,03050 50 Louisiana 4,468,976 12 372,41551 51 Alabama 4,447,100 10 444,710

s 2,688,418 43 62,521 13 12 California 33,871,648 535 63,311 14 14 Massachusetts 6,349,097 90 70,546 15 16 Delaware 783,600 11 71,236 16 15 Colorado 4,301,261 60 71,688 17 29 New Hampshire 1,235,786 16 77,237 18 18 New York 18,976,457 240 79,069 19 17 Maine 1,274,923 15 84,995 20 21 Michigan 9,938,444 115 86,421 21 19 Hawaii 1,211,537 14 86,538 22 20 North Carolina 8,049,313 87 92,521 23 24 Maryland 5,296,486 57 92,921 24 23 Pennsylvania 12,281,054 131 93,749 25 22 Vermont 608,827 6 101,471 26 25 Arkansas 2,673,400 26 102,823 27 30 Wisconsin 5,363,675 52 103,148 28 27 Georgia 8,186,453 78 104,955 29 26 South Dakota 754,844 7 107,835 30 28 South Carolina 4,012,012 35 114,629 31 33 Texas 20,851,820 175 119,153 32 31 Illinois 12,419,293 100 124,193 33 32 North Dakota 642,200 5 128,440 34 34 Tennessee 5,689,283 40 142,232 35 37 Oklahoma 3,450,654 24 143,777 36 38 Iowa 2,926,324 20 146,316 37 35 Ohio 11,353,140 76 149,383 38 39 Rhode Island 1,048,319 7 149,760 39 36 Nebraska 1,711,263 11 155,569 40 41 Mississippi 2,844,658 18 158,037 41 42 Kentucky 4,041,769 23 175,729 42 40 Minnesota 4,919,479 27 182,203 43 43 Connecticut 3,405,565 18 189,198 44 45 Indiana 6,080,485 32 190,015 45 44 Virginia 7,078,515 37 191,311 46 46 West Virginia 1,808,344 8 226,043 47 48 New Jersey 8,414,350 36 233,732 48 47 Florida 15,982,378 62 257,780 49 49 Washington DC 572,059 2 286,030 50 50 Louisiana 4,468,976 12 372,415 51 51 Alabama 4,447,100 10 444,710

Question: When displaying a cache from the database, links are provided to three resources: mapblast, terraserver, and topozone. If you examine these links, they link to these three resources by providing the cache location in the decimal degree notation that matches the database's dd mm.mmm for the cache. This is fine for the links to both mapblast and terraserver, as both of these sites state that they use NAD83 which for this discussion is identical to geocaching's WGS84. However, I am questioning the use of this data in the link to topozone, which uses NAD27. If I am correct, there can be up to a 200 meter discrepancy in the topozone map that is displayed for a cache. If the answer is that +/- 200 meters is okay because the map is only supposed to help us plan our route, and not actually find the cache, I guess I can live with that, but that size error could potentially put the map marker on the wrong side of a river/gultch/canyon etc. Any thoughts?

Lowrance Globalnav 200

Any one got one of these? Mine seems to chew thru batteries... is this normal?

I was looking at Buxley's site, and the stats on Geocaches per state, and got to wondering not just which states have the most caches, but which states have the most caches per population: Here is what I came up with, just dividing the population of the state with the number of caches, to give the "1 cache per XXXX people": So Utah has 1 cache for every 9,500 people! I wonder if there is a correlation with the miles of hiking trails in the state? Got to look for that info. Geo- 1 cache for everyRank State Population caches this many people------- ------------ ---------- ------- ----------------------1 Utah 2,233,169 235 9,5032 Oregon 3,421,399 187 18,2963 Idaho 1,293,953 47 27,5314 Alaska 626,932 22 28,4975 Wyoming 493,782 14 35,2706 Washington 5,894,121 146 40,3717 Montana 902,195 21 42,9628 Nevada 1,998,257 41 48,7389 Arizona 5,130,632 103 49,81210 Missouri 5,595,211 107 52,29211 New Mexico 1,819,046 29 62,72612 California 33,871,648 486 69,69513 Kansas 2,688,418 38 70,74814 Massachusetts 6,349,097 85 74,69515 Colorado 4,301,261 55 78,20516 Delaware 783,600 10 78,36017 Maine 1,274,923 15 84,99518 New York 18,976,457 219 86,65019 Hawaii 1,211,537 13 93,19520 North Carolina 8,049,313 83 96,98021 Michigan 9,938,444 99 100,38822 Vermont 608,827 6 101,47123 Pennsylvania 12,281,054 121 101,49624 Maryland 5,296,486 50 105,93025 Arkansas 2,673,400 25 106,93626 South Dakota 754,844 7 107,83527 Georgia 8,186,453 74 110,62828 South Carolina 4,012,012 33 121,57629 New Hampshire 1,235,786 10 123,57930 Wisconsin 5,363,675 43 124,73731 Illinois 12,419,293 97 128,03432 North Dakota 642,200 5 128,44033 Texas 20,851,820 153 136,28634 Tennessee 5,689,283 38 149,71835 Ohio 11,353,140 73 155,52236 Nebraska 1,711,263 11 155,56937 Oklahoma 3,450,654 22 156,84838 Iowa 2,926,324 18 162,57439 Rhode Island 1,048,319 6 174,72040 Minnesota 4,919,479 26 189,21141 Mississippi 2,844,658 15 189,64442 Kentucky 4,041,769 21 192,46543 Connecticut 3,405,565 17 200,32744 Virginia 7,078,515 35 202,24345 Indiana 6,080,485 30 202,68346 West Virginia 1,808,344 8 226,04347 Florida 15,982,378 57 280,39348 New Jersey 8,414,350 30 280,47849 Washington DC 572,059 2 286,03050 Louisiana 4,468,976 10 446,89851 Alabama 4,447,100 9 494,122 [This message has been edited by rebobbitt (edited 10 July 2001).]

Took us 9 hours to climb to Zeus's Roost on 7/8. That's round trip, from the trailhead. About a 6.5 mile hike, and about a 4,200 foot ascent. There is another cache about halfway - Lower Zeus, so it's a two-fer.

I'm with Emrldjetta on this one as the Magellan units have much better antennas. So pretty much it is a choice of whether you want better reception (Magellans and expensive Garmins) or some extra little features (Garmin). Although you can still find old Garmin GPS-II+ units out there for sub-200 USD that have a quadrifilar antenna and all the traditional gps features. ------------------ -Iron Chef _ _ _ _ _ _____ _ _ _ _ _ agefive.com/geocache/ ~ Fe-26 Lets Drive Fast and Eat Cheese!

Another thing for you to consider is the Area you live in. Do you live in an area with heavy tree coverage? this is Important in your gps choice as many etrex perform poorly in heavy tree cover due to sat loss. I have tested several units on my own as well as with friends and have found that units with a quadrifilar Antenna perform much better at holding sat locks than the units with the base unit system. Go one step better and look for a GPS that will allow you to add an external Antenna then all your upgrade troubles and questions will be in your past. Garmin's IIIPlus as well as the map76 or the gps76 which is the same as the map76 except you dont have the mapping function are great units with powerful antennas built into them, and if this isnt enough for you just use the external antenna jack and plug a external antenna into it for more reliability. the gps76 goes for around 200. the map76 around 315. and the IIIPlus around 280. check around for prices to get the lowest, but you can also find them at nice prieces on www.advancedgps.com Tell them you saw it here and point credit in Jeremy's direction! ------------------ Quinn Stone Rochester, NY.14616 www.Navicache.com

I bought a Garmin eTrex Legend because I thought I would get into geocaching. Turns out the hobby isn't for me. As a result I have an almost brand new unit that has been used less than 6 hours total. I'm asking $200 + shipping and handling and I will even throw in a few rechargable batteries. Let me know, Andrew aschulak@yahoo.com

I just recently took a trip across Alberta, and found my first 8 caches. I did not use paper maps because I have a laptop computer and a 12VDC-110VAC converter in my car. I use the program Ozi Explorer, and have digital maps for all of Alberta. The program interfaces with the GPS unit I have(reads NMEA output from the GPS) and will show my location on the screen as I travel. The maps are calibrated and read correctly 99% of the time. For instance, if I change lanes on the fourway between Edmonton and Calgary it will actual show the move on the map. The greatest thing about this software though is the unlimited waypoints, routes, tracks etc. you can access. It becomes your data base. It's only limit is the size of your hard drive. If you think laptops are expensive try Ebay, you would not believe how many are listed there. To use software like this does not require a full blown game machine, a one year old computer (PII, 8gig HD, CD-ROM) can go for less than $200 american. [This message has been edited by DungeonKeeper (edited 07 July 2001).]

Kev - Thank you for your post. I found that one, and took the can of Pepsi. While I appreciated the Pepsi, even warm, I shudder to think of the damage IT would have caused. On the other, much more pressing subject. If there is in fact a vandal with a GPS among us, he or she has easy pickings all over SLC. I have maintained and ever will do so, that there is no SURE way to prevent this. The game depends on the integrity of its players. In time, it is probable that we all will have a cache plundered, and the only thiung we can really hope for is that we will find out about it quickly and either archive or replace the cache. I have had only one experience with this. In May, I went to the First Cache County cache, and it was in total disarray. I found the container, and one of the contents. No log, and nothing else. I had come all that way, and was determined to get a find, so I filled the cache with some of my trading items, put in a new log, and signed that I found it. A few people have found it since then, but it has been awhile, so I wonder how it is doing. Anyway, my point in this story is not to beat my chest or anything, but to illustrate that for this game to remain viable and enjoyable, we have to be "good citizens." Again, not to brag, but more than once I have filled caches with stuff I had to trade, just because the cache contents were either pitiful or non-existent. Usually these were older caches which had been depleted by unequal trading, which is what this thread is all about. I am not wealthy by any definition; most of you probably earn more than I do in a year. It makes a little bit of a dent in my wallet, too, to try and place nice items in a cache. Because of this, I appreciate it even more when I see the generosity shown by the contents of some of your caches. I was at a cache a little while ago that was obviously placed there by a young girl. The penmanship in the log book was a giveaway - not sloppy, but you know how kids write - just looks like they are trying really hard. The contents were about as good as any I had seen in most caches, and it showed a lot of effort and thought went into it. It reminds me a little of the widow's mite parable in the Bible, and it actually touched me. I happened to have a pretty good (I thought) cache in my car ready to go, so I took most of the best stuff, what would fit, as the cache was pretty small. and put it in there. I did take an item, though. If any of you have tears in your eyes by now, you know now why I love this game the way I do. It really does have tremendous potential to bring people together. Families, friends, and complete strangers. Hunt4Elk just told me how a number of people have asked to join us on our Zeus's Roost hike, and I could not be more excited. We are so completely removed from other people in our lives. We travel in steel cages at a mile a minute, and never have to see a soul we don't want to see. With all our technology for communication, we never talk to anyone unless we have to. Most people talk to less than 20 people per day for more than a minute. Back to the point: This sport DEPENDS on all of us giving more than we get. If everyone took more from caches than they received, which would also mean no one ever placed a cache, because that is, by its very nature, a donation, how long would this game last? This also reduces the concern over plundered caches greatly, because even if the entire cache is taken, the next person who tries to find it will at least inform the owner, who can take action. At best, the person who finds the plundered/missing cache will have one ready to go, and will just replace it. (This is a lot to ask, but it happens all the time). There are enough of us that one clown looting caches is not going to loot us out of this game. The only way that will happen is if no one places any more. In Utah, we have over 200 caches. It took me over two months of ambitious caching to find half that many. Enough said? It is entirely reasonale to think there will be over 300 here by year end, assuming things REALLY slow down this fall/winter. It is truly a bummer when a cache is raided, but that's all it is. All you can do is dust for fingerprints, call the FBI for a match, "ask Jeeves" for the dirty @#$%'s address and place a flaming "cache" of dog ______ on the perpetrator's porch. Or you could forget about it and get on with your life. Not my place to tell you how to deal with anger. I'm an accountant, not a therapist. (that's my wife, lucky for me) Well, this has been long, but it's been fun...for me at least. With those thoughts, let's all have BIG group hug and sing "Kum-ba-yah." Amen. ------------------ David Wallentine dwallent34@yahoo.com

Kev - Thank you for your post. I found that one, and took the can of Pepsi. While I appreciated the Pepsi, even warm, I shudder to think of the damage IT would have caused. On the other, much more pressing subject. If there is in fact a vandal with a GPS among us, he or she has easy pickings all over SLC. I have maintained and ever will do so, that there is no SURE way to prevent this. The game depends on the integrity of its players. In time, it is probable that we all will have a cache plundered, and the only thiung we can really hope for is that we will find out about it quickly and either archive or replace the cache. I have had only one experience with this. In May, I went to the First Cache County cache, and it was in total disarray. I found the container, and one of the contents. No log, and nothing else. I had come all that way, and was determined to get a find, so I filled the cache with some of my trading items, put in a new log, and signed that I found it. A few people have found it since then, but it has been awhile, so I wonder how it is doing. Anyway, my point in this story is not to beat my chest or anything, but to illustrate that for this game to remain viable and enjoyable, we have to be "good citizens." Again, not to brag, but more than once I have filled caches with stuff I had to trade, just because the cache contents were either pitiful or non-existent. Usually these were older caches which had been depleted by unequal trading, which is what this thread is all about. I am not wealthy by any definition; most of you probably earn more than I do in a year. It makes a little bit of a dent in my wallet, too, to try and place nice items in a cache. Because of this, I appreciate it even more when I see the generosity shown by the contents of some of your caches. I was at a cache a little while ago that was obviously placed there by a young girl. The penmanship in the log book was a giveaway - not sloppy, but you know how kids write - just looks like they are trying really hard. The contents were about as good as any I had seen in most caches, and it showed a lot of effort and thought went into it. It reminds me a little of the widow's mite parable in the Bible, and it actually touched me. I happened to have a pretty good (I thought) cache in my car ready to go, so I took most of the best stuff, what would fit, as the cache was pretty small. and put it in there. I did take an item, though. If any of you have tears in your eyes by now, you know now why I love this game the way I do. It really does have tremendous potential to bring people together. Families, friends, and complete strangers. Hunt4Elk just told me how a number of people have asked to join us on our Zeus's Roost hike, and I could not be more excited. We are so completely removed from other people in our lives. We travel in steel cages at a mile a minute, and never have to see a soul we don't want to see. With all our technology for communication, we never talk to anyone unless we have to. Most people talk to less than 20 people per day for more than a minute. Back to the point: This sport DEPENDS on all of us giving more than we get. If everyone took more from caches than they received, which would also mean no one ever placed a cache, because that is, by its very nature, a donation, how long would this game last? This also reduces the concern over plundered caches greatly, because even if the entire cache is taken, the next person who tries to find it will at least inform the owner, who can take action. At best, the person who finds the plundered/missing cache will have one ready to go, and will just replace it. (This is a lot to ask, but it happens all the time). There are enough of us that one clown looting caches is not going to loot us out of this game. The only way that will happen is if no one places any more. In Utah, we have over 200 caches. It took me over two months of ambitious caching to find half that many. Enough said? It is entirely reasonale to think there will be over 300 here by year end, assuming things REALLY slow down this fall/winter. It is truly a bummer when a cache is raided, but that's all it is. All you can do is dust for fingerprints, call the FBI for a match, "ask Jeeves" for the dirty @#$%'s address and place a flaming "cache" of dog ______ on the perpetrator's porch. Or you could forget about it and get on with your life. Not my place to tell you how to deal with anger. I'm an accountant, not a therapist. (that's my wife, lucky for me) Well, this has been long, but it's been fun...for me at least. With those thoughts, let's all have BIG group hug and sing "Kum-ba-yah." Amen. ------------------ David Wallentine dwallent34@yahoo.com

gged on the web site. It IS possible that some non-cacher has taken the money and of course not logged at the cache site. I often take the cash I see, but I also log it as having been taken (both at cache site and web site). One cache I went to (Geo-Ca$h) was nothing BUT money. There was a $5 bill and a $1 bill, a bag of pennies (about 200 I think) and a lot of foreign currency. I was the first one at the site and took the $5 bill and left a silver jewelry box. Not totally in keeping with the theme, but close enough. It was real silver and the perfect size for holding a silver dollar. Anyway, I think we all know that people are going to do what they are going to do and no matter what we say, not many of them will change. The value for us saying these things is getting it off our chest and hoping for the best. I also wonder if the explosion of caches in Utah has not contributed to this phenomenon? I seem to remember reading that people are placing them in empty fields outside their office buildings so they can watch the hunt. If this is true, it may be a contributing factor to the "trash" quality of some of the caches. Also, when one finds 100 or so caches, the "trash" factor has to be seen as a logical extension of what you will run into...quality and junk. All of the above is my humble opinion and not handed down on stone tablets. Ron 24H/26/F/1C/4S/3X [This message has been edited by Ron Streeter (edited 04 July 2001).]

I'm a newbie and I bought a Magellan 330X Mapping, mostly because of reviews I read and the Sam's offer and rebate that resulted in a $200 cost. I immediately downloaded the WAAS and that went smoothly. I'm hooked! QUESTIONS: If I use WAAS and the seeker does not, what have we gained? Vice versa, if the stasher did not have WAAS and I seek with it, what have we gained? Isn't accuracy always going to depend on the "weakest link"? I'm concerned because I occasionally read reports on here saying things like "our readings differ by 100 feet." Since I'm new, I do not know whether that is expected because of tree canopy and buildings and heavy clouds, my technique lacks, their technique lacks, someone is not using WAAS, or my unit is substandard. Hopefully everything is fine and that's just the reality of the situation. If I am patient, pivot for better satellite strength, and give the averaging a minute or so, I get readings that will "move" 25 feet sometimes in the identical spot. Anything I should do differently? Opinions please.......Thanks, Darrell

se the software is easier to use, the computer interface is easier to set up. They seem to be more ahead of the game when it comes to inovation and product design. Right now I'm looking to spend no more than $200 on a unit (the cheaper the better, but I do want cool features). The unit would be used primarily for geocaching, but occasionally for driving. If you wanted one for driving, the III+ or 76MAP would be my two choices. Both work really well for caching too. Light, good battery life, and easy to use. If you don't want maps, the new eTrex Venture is a good, easy to use unit with the latest operating software Garmin is using for about $170. OR a version of the MAP76 called the GPS 76 sells for around $220, but doesn't support maps. Which ever you unit you decide on, I'm sure that you will love the game....enjoy!

quote:Originally posted by GammaX:I just saw the little segment on techtv's Internet Tonight about Geocaching today, and the whole concept sounds really neat! I've decided I want to get into it and need help on deciding which GPS unit I should buy. I've also got a few questions. -Is WAAS support useful? It is really nice but I have found that it is difficult to maintain a WAAS differential lock when in the woods hunting for a cache. -Onboard compass or seperate one? I am against onboard compasses. I do not want all my navigation aid tied to gether. If one fail you alway have the other if they are seperate units. I like compasses that do not take batteries. -Map support or no map support? Give your financial constrants you are going to have a tought time getting a mapping unit for under $200. You could get an eMap for about $200 and then later save up the money you would need to get memory and MapSource CDs later when you can affort it. If you are primarily Geocaching with it then I don't think you will miss the maps. There not much help finding the cache. They are helpful finding the park the cache is in. -Some people are saying that the internal annenas like on the eTrex have trouble locking on signals under tree cover, true? false? or not an issue? This is true the eTrex and eMap and I think the 12 series of Garmin GPS units use patch antennas. These are not nearly as good as the helix or quadrililar antenna that the II+ and II+ and GPSMAP 76 have. One thing also to keep in mind that the eTrex unit do not allow for an exteranal antenna. -*winces* Garmin or Magellan? (or other?) I am a big fan of Garmin. I have owned a II, II+, III+, eTrex(basic) and GPSMAP 76 All have preformed well for me. Right now I'm looking to spend no more than $200 on a unit (the cheaper the better, but I do want cool features). The unit would be used primarily for geocaching, but occasionally for driving. Any advice, suggestions, or answers you might have for me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time and I hope I can begin geocaching soon! -GammaX I would suggest looking at the II+ you should easly be ablt to find one for under $200 and I think it would serve you nicely for both geocaching and some driving. mcb

quote:Originally posted by GammaX:I just saw the little segment on techtv's Internet Tonight about Geocaching today, and the whole concept sounds really neat! I've decided I want to get into it and need help on deciding which GPS unit I should buy. I've also got a few questions. -Is WAAS support useful? It is really nice but I have found that it is difficult to maintain a WAAS differential lock when in the woods hunting for a cache. -Onboard compass or seperate one? I am against onboard compasses. I do not want all my navigation aid tied to gether. If one fail you alway have the other if they are seperate units. I like compasses that do not take batteries. -Map support or no map support? Give your financial constrants you are going to have a tought time getting a mapping unit for under $200. You could get an eMap for about $200 and then later save up the money you would need to get memory and MapSource CDs later when you can affort it. If you are primarily Geocaching with it then I don't think you will miss the maps. There not much help finding the cache. They are helpful finding the park the cache is in. -Some people are saying that the internal annenas like on the eTrex have trouble locking on signals under tree cover, true? false? or not an issue? This is true the eTrex and eMap and I think the 12 series of Garmin GPS units use patch antennas. These are not nearly as good as the helix or quadrililar antenna that the II+ and II+ and GPSMAP 76 have. One thing also to keep in mind that the eTrex unit do not allow for an exteranal antenna. -*winces* Garmin or Magellan? (or other?) I am a big fan of Garmin. I have owned a II, II+, III+, eTrex(basic) and GPSMAP 76 All have preformed well for me. Right now I'm looking to spend no more than $200 on a unit (the cheaper the better, but I do want cool features). The unit would be used primarily for geocaching, but occasionally for driving. Any advice, suggestions, or answers you might have for me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time and I hope I can begin geocaching soon! -GammaX I would suggest looking at the II+ you should easly be ablt to find one for under $200 and I think it would serve you nicely for both geocaching and some driving. mcb

I just saw the little segment on techtv's Internet Tonight about Geocaching today, and the whole concept sounds really neat! I've decided I want to get into it and need help on deciding which GPS unit I should buy. I've also got a few questions. -Is WAAS support useful? -Onboard compass or seperate one? -Map support or no map support? -Some people are saying that the internal annenas like on the eTrex have trouble locking on signals under tree cover, true? false? or not an issue? -*winces* Garmin or Magellan? (or other?) Right now I'm looking to spend no more than $200 on a unit (the cheaper the better, but I do want cool features). The unit would be used primarily for geocaching, but occasionally for driving. Any advice, suggestions, or answers you might have for me would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time and I hope I can begin geocaching soon! -GammaX

When I lost my 12XL (grumble) I chose the Legend and have been extremely happy with it. I got it from 4x4Books.com for just over $200 (comes with PC interface cable). Page says $249, but if you go through order process (add to cart) it rings up at $209.

I've had both extremes with my Legend. Last week I was trying to find a cache and I could never get a reading of less than 150 feet away. It would start at about 200 feet, drop to 150 as I followed the arrow, then the arrow would suddenly reverse and show the distance as 200 feet in the opposite direction. I also had the distance increase as I followed the arrow a few times. What was worse, the satellite screen kept saying I had 20 foot accuracy. Go figure. On the other hand, a few days ago I did a hunt where I had accuracies of 5-6 feet the whole time and the arrow lead me straight to the cache. I was standing right next to the hiding spot (about 2 feet away) and the arrow was pointing straight at it. I blame UFO activity myself... ------------------ The MountainDiver N 34 01.649 W084 27.211 "GPS satellites are nice because they can answer two of the three most common questions in my life: "What time is it?" and "Where am I?" If they could also somehow determine whether I have any clean underwear left, the bases would be covered." --- The Brunching Shuttlecocks

I've had both extremes with my Legend. Last week I was trying to find a cache and I could never get a reading of less than 150 feet away. It would start at about 200 feet, drop to 150 as I followed the arrow, then the arrow would suddenly reverse and show the distance as 200 feet in the opposite direction. I also had the distance increase as I followed the arrow a few times. What was worse, the satellite screen kept saying I had 20 foot accuracy. Go figure. On the other hand, a few days ago I did a hunt where I had accuracies of 5-6 feet the whole time and the arrow lead me straight to the cache. I was standing right next to the hiding spot (about 2 feet away) and the arrow was pointing straight at it. I blame UFO activity myself... ------------------ The MountainDiver N 34 01.649 W084 27.211 "GPS satellites are nice because they can answer two of the three most common questions in my life: "What time is it?" and "Where am I?" If they could also somehow determine whether I have any clean underwear left, the bases would be covered." --- The Brunching Shuttlecocks

For about two months now, as long as I've been caching, I have been doing the longhand copy/paste of all the cache data in my state to the memo pad on my PDA. It works pretty well. I tried the Avantgo and it was pretty messy. All I need is the Utah caches, and I guess I'm not savvy enough to make it do just that. Anyway, it has been very nice, having all the info in my PDA all the time, and comes in very handy when I get to where a cache "should" be and have to start using the hints. Beats lugging a notebook with 200 pages of cache notes around, too, Maybe there is someone who has done the Avantgo thing that could help, or something could be done with the website to make the data downloadable to PDAs. I will keep trying with the Avantgo.

For about two months now, as long as I've been caching, I have been doing the longhand copy/paste of all the cache data in my state to the memo pad on my PDA. It works pretty well. I tried the Avantgo and it was pretty messy. All I need is the Utah caches, and I guess I'm not savvy enough to make it do just that. Anyway, it has been very nice, having all the info in my PDA all the time, and comes in very handy when I get to where a cache "should" be and have to start using the hints. Beats lugging a notebook with 200 pages of cache notes around, too, Maybe there is someone who has done the Avantgo thing that could help, or something could be done with the website to make the data downloadable to PDAs. I will keep trying with the Avantgo.