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Garmin Chirp- Geocaching Beacon


G & C

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It does not receive data on the 2.4GHz frequency that ANT uses.

Actually it does. The Wikipedia article you linked said it did and so did a few other sources.

 

The company who made the chip in the Nike+ provides the protocol stack for ANT: Inside 'Nike+iPod'

 

I also just found this article: ANT+, Nike+, Suunto ANT & WindLink It looks like the hardware is compatible and Nike+ is just using a proprietary data format created before ANT+ was opened up.

 

Dude, you linked to the same article I did ;)

Maybe they added the 2.4 GHz to the 3GS/4 ?

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Personally, I think I'm going to buy a chirp and a vehicle travel bug, put the chirp and the bug in the window, and folks can grab the info from my chirp as we drive down the road. :rolleyes: Thanks Towtrkdug for a fun one!

 

Hah, cool idea, but I wonder if that could get annoying for yourself everytime you go to your own car and your GPS keeps detecting your own car's Chirp :anitongue: Future garmin firmware requests could include an 'ignore this chirp' option :anitongue:

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I just found the first chirp cache in Illinois- thanks OBCJY! I was using a friends 62s. It worked REALLY well, AND more importantly I received the chirp about 100' away from the device in the pouring rain.

 

I'm not sure if it would do any good, but I'm writing to Garmin explaining that IMO the sales of chirp units will greatly increase if they add support for the Colorado line- logic being people are more apt to buy chirp units at $20 per, than dish out $400-$500 for a new unit, when they can go with someone who has the "chirp supported device". Maybe a letter writing campaign could do some good, who knows?

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Note for the Dakota 10 users:

 

The Dakota 10 will take the Garmin software update and it will act like it is searching for a Chirp, but the Dakota 10 does not have the wireless feature so it is a false status.

 

A group of cachers were out looking for one of my Chirp caches and spent a considerable amount of time looking as the GPS screen stated it was searching for Chirp signal and really it was not.

 

Garmin stated this is a bug and the Dakota 10 software will be updated to reflect this issue.

 

Note from Garmin Tech:

 

I'm sorry but the Dakota 10 does not have the hardware necessary to be able to find the Garmin chirp and is not compatible.

The software for the Dakota 10 should be corrected very soon with a software update.

The only compatible devices for the Garmin chirp that I have tested personally is the Oregon 300, Oregon 400t, Oregon 400i, Oregon 400c, Oregon 450, Oregon 450t, Oregon 550, Oregon 550t, GPSmap 62s, GPSmap 62st, GPSmap 78s, and the GPSmap 78sc.

Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

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To those of you that have them placed out there, what are your thoughts and how are finders reacting to them so far?

 

No problems at my chirp-enabled cache http://coord.info/GC2GJ34 . I've had 8 finders (7 with a compatible GPS) and everyone has been able to connect and upload the information to make the find. I checked the find count yesterday and it matched the number of finders exactly. The chirp is placed inside another cache so you don't get an alert until you open the ammo can. I think most people were expecting to get alerted when they got close vs. having to open the cache but I decided to stick it in the can so I didn't have to worry about it being exposed to the elements with winter just around the corner. I stuck it to the underside of the ammo can lid and put a laminated cache sheet over it so people wouldn't mistake it for a trade. I don't think anyone has even seen the chirp yet.

 

Note for the Dakota 10 users:

 

The Dakota 10 will take the Garmin software update and it will act like it is searching for a Chirp, but the Dakota 10 does not have the wireless feature so it is a false status.

 

 

I'm guessing this will also be a problem for Oregon 200 users -- same limitation, similar software.

 

GO$Rs

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No problem on mine.

 

GC2H143

 

One find but a lot of looks at the page. It is one the way to my daughters school so I can check on it everyday.

 

Question, anyone have 2 chirps? And what have been your experiences with them being read properly in close proximity? I have a PTB that happened to be in the car today and I could not read the one at my cache until I put the PTBChirp in my truck toolbox to block signal. B)

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To those of you that have them placed out there, what are your thoughts and how are finders reacting to them so far?

I haven't put out a cache yet. But I did have show it to the group I cache with. They were really impressed with the distance it transferred at.

 

I'm also bringing it to our yearly night caching event. I'm going to have it at the command center and it will reveal the solution for last year's bonus cache. This way people can play around with it and have someone show them how to enable it in their GPSr.

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Question, anyone have 2 chirps? And what have been your experiences with them being read properly in close proximity? I have a PTB that happened to be in the car today and I could not read the one at my cache until I put the PTBChirp in my truck toolbox to block signal. B)

 

The GPS will lock on to one chirp first, effectively blocking access to the second until you move away from the one it is locked to.

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Maybe I missed it but Im wondering if a chirp only mystery cache should have a difficulty of 5 since it becomes a special equipment cache.

Depends how special you think the Chirp is. B)

 

Now that we have the Special Tools and Beacon attributes, is making the difficulty a 5 really necessary? I'd really rather know how hard it is to find the cache as I already know it's a Chirp cache. Just my 2 cents.

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Well what about Wherigo Caches - I cant´t find them with my Garmin Dakota. Must there be an alternative method to find those caches...?

Good point. And what's the difference with the new UV Light Required attribute ?

UV Lights are available from a number of different companies. Chirp currently only available from Garmin, at least for now unless compatible devices are eventually released.

Edited by Nezgar & Vana
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Maybe I missed it but Im wondering if a chirp only mystery cache should have a difficulty of 5 since it becomes a special equipment cache.

 

GO$Rs

 

We discussed this locally on our first chirp cache. Here was my response: Difficulty ratings have to do with physical or mental challenge -what you have to go through to complete the cache. As far as specialized equipment, that only refers to the physical portion. Something that must be used to obtain the cache physically. Specialized knowledge statement is not equipment and applies to the mental difficulty. Chip enabled would fall into the cataloger of "having a GPS" "compasses" "Where I Go" enabled" "Mapping GPS's", general technology, which is just part of the game and really does not complete the 'required physical aid' portion of the rating as I see it.

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I emailed Garmin hoping they will produce an update for the Colorado. If we all put a little pressure on them maybe they will. The possibilities of what the chirp could do for puzzles and multis is exciting. Very disappointing for having a CO400t. I don't think it will catch on very well being limited to only $500+ units.

Thanks

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I don't think it will catch on very well being limited to only $500+ units.

Thanks

Kai, my little Dakota 20 (that I used to find a bunch of your caches!) didn't cost anywhere near that much, and it'll do it. So it's not so much a matter of "high end" as it is a matter of "most recent". Hope you and your CO get happy with these little gadgets. Garmin sometimes listens, and it really does sound like a firmware-only change for them.
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It works with certain GPSr's. It is on the Garmin site. It seems interesting. Only problem is the device support. If they open it up to any new GPSr's and other manufacturers, then it has a ton of potential.

 

Even more strange that they haven't released any GPS software that works with the chirp. I'm guessing we'll seem something tomorrow from Garmin and REI just got ahead of themselves a little.

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A friend was trying to read my Chirp with his Oregon. For some reason his unit won't detect the Chirp even with it right next to GPSr. The only time it actually did something it said the Chirp wasn't programed and then nothing happened. My 62s works find with it and another friend with an Oregon transferred data from it from a good distance away. Any ideas?

 

The other thing is that on the Oregon the Show Chirp Details menu option is under one of the top level geocaching menus. On my 62s I have to go to setup then geocaching the program chirp to see that menu option. It also doesn't show up as a waypoint. Is this because this one was programmed by the GPSr?

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Check to see if the Oregon is configured to use an HRM or cadence sensor (Setup>Fitness) and if so disable it. I had the same problem with my Dakota and once I shut this off chirp worked fine. I've sent this to Garmin as a "bug".

 

On the 62 you can see chirp details by going to FIND>Geocaches>MENU>Show chirp Details.

 

You should be able to see a waypoint on your 62 once it has discovered the chirp and downloaded. If you have a waypoint with the same name already it *might* not work.

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Check to see if the Oregon is configured to use an HRM or cadence sensor (Setup>Fitness) and if so disable it. I had the same problem with my Dakota and once I shut this off chirp worked fine. I've sent this to Garmin as a "bug".

Thanks!!! I read that before but totally forgot about it.

 

On the 62 you can see chirp details by going to FIND>Geocaches>MENU>Show chirp Details.

Thanks again. I'm still getting used to this new GPSr.

 

You should be able to see a waypoint on your 62 once it has discovered the chirp and downloaded. If you have a waypoint with the same name already it *might* not work.

Figured it out. It won't actually create the waypoint until you do a GO on it. If you delete the waypoint and do another GO from the Show Chirp Details screen it will recreate the waypoint.

Edited by Avernar
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Yep, this thing was a big hit at the events I attended for Halloween last night. Most didn't have the updated firmware needed to search for the Chirp, but one did. And I showed a lot of folks with my Oregon how it works, and they were all pumped to get it taken care of and to go pick some Chirps up to use. It was a pretty big hit.

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It just occurred to me that with all of the chirp details up, you could take a screenshot to store all the info. The only problem, I can't find which receivers are capable of taking or viewing screen shots. It would be handy to add that to the wiki.

That's an interesting idea! I'm not sure you can view captured screen shots on the unit itself (need to experiment). But at least it will be preserved.

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That's an interesting idea! I'm not sure you can view captured screen shots on the unit itself (need to experiment). But at least it will be preserved.

i don't think you can. theoretically you could, but screenshots are stored in a different directory which isn't viewable from the device.

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Yes, I already considered taking a screen shot, which you can do with most models. It would preserve the data for later viewing, but the drawback is that you have to do it through your computer, so it is not an immediate help. In fact I took a screen shot of the first chirp I found around here and it is still in my GPS.

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the 450 has a picture viewer as well so if any one has that maybe they can speak up and let us know if you can see a screen shot on the unit.

I have an Oregon 550t, which also has the picture viewer, of course. As an experiment, I just now activated Screen Capture and took a couple of screen shots, then tried to view them using the Photo Viewer. As far as I can determine, there is no way to change the folder to allow viewing screen shots.

 

At the bottom of the screen displaying thumbnails of the photos (not screen captures) I've taken, there's a button that looks like a stack of photos. When I press it, I see the "Show Photos Created" screen. The only choices in the list are Most Recently, Near A Location, and On A Specific Date. There's no option to change folders.

 

Bottom line, at least with current firmware on the 550t, you can't view screen captures on the unit, you have to view them on a PC.

 

--Larry

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