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Ique 3600


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Have a serach and read around first, there are lots of posts on this subject. Then come back wih any other specifics.

 

Okay, I am new to this. If I get this, am I going over my head?

 

I want to cache hunt, but my wife is direction disfuntional and I thought it would be good for her car too.

 

I had the e legend for a few days and it was okay but needed a better map so I went looking on ebay and found the iQue that was loaded with a map and had a car kit for $60-70 more so I thought why not?

 

We will use it on vacation driving and on occasion for a location in town but we really want to get into this geocaching game even though we struck out 3 times in a row.

 

I did a search and there were some good points and mostly bad thoughts on the battery life but not much on the use for the "common man".

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Red90 converted me. BUT.... be prepared for some technical learning to use the IQUE3600. I have had it for two months, and I still have new things to optimize on it.

 

As for the battery... You MUST keep the device cradled in your car to keep it charged (car kit), and you must get an external antenna (mag mount thing). You can use it without the cradle, but the battery will not last long when out walking (about an hour or two worst case, if you are reading and looking at maps and directions). I had the battery upgraded and it works even better.

 

Yes you are going in over your head, but you MUST GO OVER YOUR HEAD to learn how to properly use this technology. The GPS direction technology IS NOT bullet proof. You can and will get lost with it.

 

With practice and optimization though you can get 10 caches a day, on a bad day (CACHE and DASH less than an hour types).

 

 

 

Have a serach and read around first, there are lots of posts on this subject. Then come back wih any other specifics.

 

Okay, I am new to this. If I get this, am I going over my head?

 

I want to cache hunt, but my wife is direction disfuntional and I thought it would be good for her car too.

 

I had the e legend for a few days and it was okay but needed a better map so I went looking on ebay and found the iQue that was loaded with a map and had a car kit for $60-70 more so I thought why not?

 

We will use it on vacation driving and on occasion for a location in town but we really want to get into this geocaching game even though we struck out 3 times in a row.

 

I did a search and there were some good points and mostly bad thoughts on the battery life but not much on the use for the "common man".

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Its good for driving and the office, not so good for geoaching. They are made for the desktop, dashboard and briefcase, not for the rigors of outdoor use. The short battery life and the fact that its not waterproof, or rugged are major negatives for geocaching.

 

You're better off getting a dedicated handheld GPS for geocaching. If you also want it for road use, go for something like the Legend CX, which has autorouting, but is a great, rugged handheld.

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OK, if you promise that you read the other threads, I'll put in my two cents, now... :)

 

I have one and I also have a handheld (a Vista).

 

For car navigation, it is great. IMHO, the best by far in the price range. It also works as a PDA and can store cache information as well as anything.

 

It is acceptable for what I call car caching. No walking more than 2 hours away from the car. It is no good in rain and is not as robust as a handheld, but if you are sane, it is fine.

 

If you hike cache, then it won't do. There are people who find ways, but it is a PITA.

 

You do NOT NEED an external antenna. It is nice, but not required.

 

The best all in one device is something like the 60Cx. It functions as a true handheld, it gives OK car navigation, and will hold some cache information. If you get serious, you will still probably want a PDA to store information, but adequate ones can be had quite cheaply.

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You do NOT NEED an external antenna. It is nice, but not required.

 

 

The PITA factor is in full force if you do not get an external antenna for your vehicle. You need an external antenna. Buildings,hills, embankments, and the other electronic devices in your vehicle all will screw up your radio reception without one. So get one for $20.

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PITA factor is in full force if you do not get an external antenna for your vehicle.

 

Hmmmm...I've used my 3600 for a couple of years now. I have an external antenna (Mighty Mouse or something like that) Now...I pretty much never use the antenna. Yeah, the bars don't reach quite as high on the receiver without it, but I still get around everywhere just fine. So I don't think the ext. antenna is a "need". Besides, running that cable is a PITA! I hate loose 16 ft. cables bunched up and showing, flopping on my dash, and running it concealed and hidden is too big a pain when I wanted to remove it to another car...SO now I just don't use it any more and I still get everywhere I need to go without problem. Just my perspective...

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Hi this is my first post. Coincidently I just purchased that iQue 3600 on ebay for $250US, probably same dealer too :-). My intention was to use it for driving on my road trips and for the occasional Cache, just to see what it's all about. I don't plan on going out in the rain to do it, so I guess it may be right for me. I hope it all checks out ok when I receive it.

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I don't plan on going out in the rain to do it, so I guess it may be right for me. I hope it all checks out ok when I receive it.

Sometimes your best laid plans go awry, and you unexpectedly find yourself at the edge of a creek. You really want to get this one cache - you'll be the "First to Find" if you get to it now! It's summertime, so you didn't wear a jacket and have no real place to put the thing, so you carry your PDA in your hand. You cross the creek carefully hopping from one stepping-stone to another and - OOOOOooooops! You lost your balance and in breaking your fall into the creek, you drop your new 3600 toy! I guarantee you it'll be a $250 piece of toast from that moment on! :anibad:

 

You wouldn't be the first to tell the story!

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I don't plan on going out in the rain to do it, so I guess it may be right for me. I hope it all checks out ok when I receive it.

Sometimes your best laid plans go awry, and you unexpectedly find yourself at the edge of a creek. You really want to get this one cache - you'll be the "First to Find" if you get to it now! It's summertime, so you didn't wear a jacket and have no real place to put the thing, so you carry your PDA in your hand. You cross the creek carefully hopping from one stepping-stone to another and - OOOOOooooops! You lost your balance and in breaking your fall into the creek, you drop your new 3600 toy! I guarantee you it'll be a $250 piece of toast from that moment on! :blink:

 

You wouldn't be the first to tell the story!

 

Did he get wet? :lol::anibad::huh:

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I don't plan on going out in the rain to do it, so I guess it may be right for me. I hope it all checks out ok when I receive it.

Sometimes your best laid plans go awry, and you unexpectedly find yourself at the edge of a creek. You really want to get this one cache - you'll be the "First to Find" if you get to it now! It's summertime, so you didn't wear a jacket and have no real place to put the thing, so you carry your PDA in your hand. You cross the creek carefully hopping from one stepping-stone to another and - OOOOOooooops! You lost your balance and in breaking your fall into the creek, you drop your new 3600 toy! I guarantee you it'll be a $250 piece of toast from that moment on! :blink:

 

You wouldn't be the first to tell the story!

 

Did he get wet? :lol::anibad::huh:

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I use my 3600 for getting to the general area, and finding parking. I also use mine extensively at work. Ad, with paperless caching, I use it to put all the caches in my area into. So, I use mine wuite alot, and love it. Once I get to the area, I put it into a softcase, and it goes into my pack. Doesnt come out until I need it, to look at the cache page, or whatever (I use a foretrex to seek caches). All in all, I'd say I'd be lost without mine :anibad:.

Wish I paid $250 for mine though.

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I have the iQue 3600, and we wouldn't cache without it. I download my .gpx files, run them through a waypoint converter to get all the waypoints to show up on my map screen. Then I convert the file with GPX Spinner and upload the html file into iSilo, thus giving me every web page for every cache, right in my hand. We just keep the thing in the car, and when we feel like a geocache, we are instantly set to go. I just update the waypoints about once a month, and the rest is history. By the way, I know it sounds a little complicated, but it takes about five minutes and is mostly automated. If anybody needs a little guidence, just let me know.

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Old soldier, Will the IQUE support geocaching icons, and cache sheets

I am considering the IQue for paperless caching and using my legend for the actual hunt.

Yup, sure does. I use mine for paperless caching. Downloads the complete GC page, with logs, hints, the whole 9 yards. You have to manually enter any coords into it (I havent figured out if there is a way to automatically do this or not), and they have unfound and found cache icons for the map. I use mine at work quite extensively too, and it is my cheap car nav system. For 250, you cant go wrong.

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I don't plan on doing hikes with geocaching certainly nothing rugged or in the rain, just urban finds. So it sounds like I will be okay. Good.

 

You don't need to go out in monsoons or be climbing Mt. McKinley to expose your unit to damage. A sudden thunderstorm might happen along, or you put the unit in your shirtpocket, bend over to grab the cache and it slips out into rocks, or as NeoGeo said, you may decide to stretch yourself and go for something that is a bit harder.

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Having the iQue 3600, the 3600a, one more 3600a and one iQue 3000, I can say that they are very useful. Do understand that the built-in GPS applications in the 3600 are mainly oriented towards car navigation. No compass page, for example, just the map.

You can install software, from other sources, which will give you such functionality.

 

I've sometimes used the iQue 3600a for caching, if the weather so permits. Being a dual-mode GPS, automotive as well as aviation, it's much better suited for off road navigation, since aircrafts aren't assumed to follow the roads anyway.

But it's much more rare, and much more exensive.

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..I download my .gpx files, run them through a waypoint converter to get all the waypoints to show up on my map screen...

 

Okay - what is the waypoint converter? Where can I get it? I'd love to be able to use the IQ for city caching. :lol:

 

IMO, Cachemate is the best choice. It import all of the cache page information, exports to waypoints in the address book for auto-route and has a compass screen for the final off road routing, plus much more.

 

There is other useful software out there as well for caching such as wayQue and BrightiQ. See this forum

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You do NOT NEED an external antenna. It is nice, but not required.

 

 

The PITA factor is in full force if you do not get an external antenna for your vehicle. You need an external antenna. Buildings,hills, embankments, and the other electronic devices in your vehicle all will screw up your radio reception without one. So get one for $20.

 

Wow, I have run the 3600 in a Vette, inside the vehicle in the coffee cup holder (I made a special mount), and it sits right in front of the radio/HVAC unit. I have run it in a Jeep Wrangler on the dash, and now I'm running it in a Hummer with narrow dash, flat windshield, steel bar in the middle of the windshield, and a solid metal roof, and I tell ya; I have had NO reception problems on the higways, short of tunnels and very narrow canyons.

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I don't plan on doing hikes with geocaching certainly nothing rugged or in the rain, just urban finds. So it sounds like I will be okay. Good.

 

I had an iQue3600 for 2.5 years and my battery finally just would not hold a charge. I tried to change the battery that is internal, but I failed to complete the job. I used it so much and I got great use out of it but it finally died and I gave it a crushing farewell. I have ALL sorts of accessories that the iQue3600 will use; like 2 car cradles with the voice speaker, an external batter pack that you can connect to it via the pin-hole power in the bottom of the unit, an extra PC USB cradle for loading maps into it and charging up the internal battery in your house. I would be willing to sell ALL these needed accessories for a fair price if you are anyone needs it for their iQue3600. I replaced my unit with a 60Cx because of the death of my iQue3600 that was well used for years! I plan on doing more outdoor stuff, like riding my motorcycle with my new 60Cx. The other folks are correct when they say the iQue is mostly for desktop and car use.

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I had an iQue3600 for 2.5 years and my battery finally just would not hold a charge. I tried to change the battery that is internal, but I failed to complete the job. I used it so much and I got great use out of it but it finally died and I gave it a crushing farewell. I have ALL sorts of accessories that the iQue3600 will use; like 2 car cradles with the voice speaker, an external batter pack that you can connect to it via the pin-hole power in the bottom of the unit, an extra PC USB cradle for loading maps into it and charging up the internal battery in your house. I would be willing to sell ALL these needed accessories for a fair price if you are anyone needs it for their iQue3600. I replaced my unit with a 60Cx because of the death of my iQue3600 that was well used for years! I plan on doing more outdoor stuff, like riding my motorcycle with my new 60Cx. The other folks are correct when they say the iQue is mostly for desktop and car use.

 

You can get a 1500 mAh battery for $30 delivered with the tools, see http://forum.brighthand.com/showthread.php?t=222497

 

If you are not comfotable changing the battery send it to the guy selling the batteries and he will install it.

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I had an iQue3600 for 2.5 years and my battery finally just would not hold a charge. I tried to change the battery that is internal, but I failed to complete the job. I used it so much and I got great use out of it but it finally died and I gave it a crushing farewell. I have ALL sorts of accessories that the iQue3600 will use; like 2 car cradles with the voice speaker, an external batter pack that you can connect to it via the pin-hole power in the bottom of the unit, an extra PC USB cradle for loading maps into it and charging up the internal battery in your house. I would be willing to sell ALL these needed accessories for a fair price if you are anyone needs it for their iQue3600. I replaced my unit with a 60Cx because of the death of my iQue3600 that was well used for years! I plan on doing more outdoor stuff, like riding my motorcycle with my new 60Cx. The other folks are correct when they say the iQue is mostly for desktop and car use.

 

You can get a 1500 mAh battery for $30 delivered with the tools, see http://forum.brighthand.com/showthread.php?t=222497

 

If you are not comfotable changing the battery send it to the guy selling the batteries and he will install it.

 

Wish I would have known that this guy would change it out for me. Like I said, my iQue is now in the garbage. I just want to get ride of my accessories that went with it. I am sure someone can use them. Let me know.

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