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garmin chirp -uk

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in United Kingdom and Ireland

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Graculus

+Graculus

Posted
Posted (edited)

These are an interesting development to our game. Generating much discussion amongst the community. There has been an announcement by Groundspeak about these including a new 'beacon' attribute (now available) and suggestion the cache type using a 'chirp' would be an unknown type. Take a look at this post in the main forum in particular posts #159 and posts #164 and #165.

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

Geocaching.com Knowledge Books

Edited by Graculus
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keehotee

+keehotee

Posted
Posted

These are an interesting development to our game. Generating much discussion amongst the community. There has been an announcement by Groundspeak about these including a new 'beacon' attribute (now available) and suggestion the cache type using a 'chirp' would be an unknown type. Take a look at this post in the main forum in particular posts #159 and posts #164 and #165.

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

Geocaching.com Knowledge Books

 

Great news - read it first thing this morning.

If they hadn't been allowed within a cache mine would have ended up as a beacon TB ...... with hints to a final location :rolleyes:

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*mouse*

+*mouse*

Posted
Posted

Got our chirp caches in the planning stages, so as soon as they're delivered we can get them out in the wild.... hopefully in a few weeks as long as they don't take too long to deliver......

 

If anyone else is planning something then let us know and between us we can get a bookmark of UK chirps together :rolleyes:

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Morton

+Morton

Posted
Posted

So, are us lesser mortals without the requisite GPSr going to be left out, or will there be a wifi application so that pdas or laptops could play as well?

Given that it's a Garmin-developed product presumably intended to sell Garmin GPSs, I bet the answer's no.

 

I can't help but feel this will go the same way as Wherigo - something which sounds exciting and fun, but will founder on the fact that only a small proportion of cachers can do them, the technology doesn't quite work and even GPSs which supposedly support them turn out to have incompatibilities.

 

But hey, I might be wrong. It's happened before (quite often in fact)...

 

Cheers

Richard

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Graculus

+Graculus

Posted
Posted

So, are us lesser mortals without the requisite GPSr going to be left out, or will there be a wifi application so that pdas or laptops could play as well?

It would appear that only the wifi enabled compatible Garmin units (Oregon/Dakota/GPSMap62s/62st/GPSMap78s) will work with these devices.

 

Chris

Graculus

Volunteer UK Reviewer for geocaching.com

UK Geocaching Information & Resources website www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk

Geocaching.com Knowledge Books

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Delta68

+Delta68

Posted
Posted

 

I can't help but feel this will go the same way as Wherigo - something which sounds exciting and fun, but will founder on the fact that only a small proportion of cachers can do them, the technology doesn't quite work and even GPSs which supposedly support them turn out to have incompatibilities.

 

Chirps have got great potential but at $23 they are far too expensive.

I suspect that cachers will only have to encounter one with a flat battery and they will avoid all others

 

If they had a new cache type icon they'd be more appealing but that's not going to happen... :rolleyes:

 

 

Mark

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smstext

+smstext

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well i jumped in and ordered one, see how that performs first before i get anymore (or wait for a cheaper uk supplier lol).

 

So Oxfordshire should soon have its first Chirp cache. :P

 

From what im reading of it, if its a CHIRP cache and no other way of finding the co ords it has to be listed as a mystery cache and have a beacon icon.

 

I have seen other (flame) threads on the subject trying to stop them being allowed, but then surely the chirp will be no different to these 802.11 caches where you need to come up with a wifi device to search for a signal. :D

 

Anyone got any tips or ideas etc for placing a Chirp cache? i think if we can keep to a standard (and not end up finding a micro or nano) then we could bring in a new standard of quality caches/caching.

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team tisri

team tisri

Posted
Posted

 

I can't help but feel this will go the same way as Wherigo - something which sounds exciting and fun, but will founder on the fact that only a small proportion of cachers can do them, the technology doesn't quite work and even GPSs which supposedly support them turn out to have incompatibilities.

 

Chirps have got great potential but at $23 they are far too expensive.

I suspect that cachers will only have to encounter one with a flat battery and they will avoid all others

 

If they had a new cache type icon they'd be more appealing but that's not going to happen... :D

 

 

Mark

 

I'm inclined to agree... for all geocaching is supposed to be a sport that isn't commercially exploited it does seem like the Garmin Chirp is an exclusive device that requires people to own not only a Garmin product but a fairly new Garmin product when the old ones work perfectly well for everything else (from what I've seen and heard the old 60CSx works better in many ways than the 62st and the Oregon series. Certainly if you want to mount it onto a bicycle you can do it without resorting to Garmin's official solution of.... cable ties.

 

Wherigo seems like an interesting concept but for the fact the builder still seems to be in an alpha state and if you don't own a Pocket PC or new Garmin unit you're pretty much out of luck. It would be a great shame if geocaching trended more and more towards ways of lining Garmin's pockets and less and less towards ways of getting more people into the great outdoors even if all they can afford is a basic Geko or Etrex.

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Matrix

+Matrix

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have just been reminded that the chirp if used as part of a multi ( or as a traditional cache I guess ) also needs to be able to be found without using the chirp .

 

Does this mean that I can now log underwater caches that require sub aqua gear as that also requires specialist gear not available to all ?

 

Just wondering :D

 

se post above about non chirping chirp :P

Edited by Matrix
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Jonovich

+Jonovich

Posted
Posted

Does this mean that I can now log underwater caches that require sub aqua gear as that also requires specialist gear not available to all ?

 

Just wondering :D

 

Sub aqua gear I guess isn't a commercial monopoly.... The Garmin CHIRP is. Even if other manufacturers bring out equivalent devices, will they be compatible? I'm guessing not.

 

Looking forward to getting my hands on one all the same, just waiting for a UK supplier to get 'em. Called Handtec and they advised they were not available to them yet, but they would stock them when they were.

 

Anyone putting an order into the US and wanna split the import/shipping costs?

 

Jon.

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team tisri

team tisri

Posted
Posted

Does this mean that I can now log underwater caches that require sub aqua gear as that also requires specialist gear not available to all ?

 

Just wondering :D

 

Sub aqua gear I guess isn't a commercial monopoly.... The Garmin CHIRP is. Even if other manufacturers bring out equivalent devices, will they be compatible? I'm guessing not.

 

Looking forward to getting my hands on one all the same, just waiting for a UK supplier to get 'em. Called Handtec and they advised they were not available to them yet, but they would stock them when they were.

 

Anyone putting an order into the US and wanna split the import/shipping costs?

 

Jon.

 

I guess also the idea of specialist equipment being needed means you can either use sub aqua (or climbing, or whatever) gear from any manufacturer or for some caches you could improvise something or do it without the gear at all. If you wanted to attempt a cache at the top of a chimney by hiring a cherry picker you could do it, if you wanted to attempt an abseil with just a rope around your waist you could, if you wanted to attempt an underwater cache on the back of being able to hold your breath for a long time you could. Any or all of those things might be foolhardy but they are an option. If a cache requires a chirp then unless there's a way around it it's totally closed to many.

 

Something like a wifi or Bluetooth signal works on the basis there are dozens of different devices by different manufacturers that incorporate wifi and bluetooth. As long as they are clearly listed so that anyone without the required device knows not to attempt it I don't see a problem with them, just as if a cache requires climbing gear anyone without the gear (or the inclination to climb) can give it a miss.

 

It seems odd to me that caches where admission charges are payable are now frowned upon, caches that promote a particular business are frowned upon, but caches that are set with a Garmin component and therefore require a modern Garmin unit to find are considered perfectly acceptable.

 

On a loosely related note I wonder how many of these caches will actually last. If caches get muggled there's a cost associated with replacing them but at $23 for a single Chirp I wonder how quickly these caches will simply get archived if the Chirp itself is lost, destroyed or muggled and it's expensive to keep replacing it.

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keehotee

+keehotee

Posted
Posted

 

I guess also the idea of specialist equipment being needed means you can either use sub aqua (or climbing, or whatever) gear from any manufacturer or for some caches you could improvise something or do it without the gear at all. If you wanted to attempt a cache at the top of a chimney by hiring a cherry picker you could do it, if you wanted to attempt an abseil with just a rope around your waist you could, if you wanted to attempt an underwater cache on the back of being able to hold your breath for a long time you could. Any or all of those things might be foolhardy but they are an option. If a cache requires a chirp then unless there's a way around it it's totally closed to many.

 

Something like a wifi or Bluetooth signal works on the basis there are dozens of different devices by different manufacturers that incorporate wifi and bluetooth. As long as they are clearly listed so that anyone without the required device knows not to attempt it I don't see a problem with them, just as if a cache requires climbing gear anyone without the gear (or the inclination to climb) can give it a miss.

 

It seems odd to me that caches where admission charges are payable are now frowned upon, caches that promote a particular business are frowned upon, but caches that are set with a Garmin component and therefore require a modern Garmin unit to find are considered perfectly acceptable.

 

 

But all of your examples have two things in common with a Chirp cache

 

1. You dont have to go out and find any of them

2. You have no entitlement to be able to find any of them, either.

 

At the end of the day, if you don't know anybody either prepared to lend you a compatible GPS, iPhone and dongle, laptop, or whatever other device appears on or off the market - or lets you accompany them when they go out, you can just add Chirp caches to your ignore list whenever and wherever you encounter one.

 

p.s. Hadn't heard that admission charges were now frowned upon. The "access or parking fee" attribute is still there.

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team tisri

team tisri

Posted
Posted

 

I guess also the idea of specialist equipment being needed means you can either use sub aqua (or climbing, or whatever) gear from any manufacturer or for some caches you could improvise something or do it without the gear at all. If you wanted to attempt a cache at the top of a chimney by hiring a cherry picker you could do it, if you wanted to attempt an abseil with just a rope around your waist you could, if you wanted to attempt an underwater cache on the back of being able to hold your breath for a long time you could. Any or all of those things might be foolhardy but they are an option. If a cache requires a chirp then unless there's a way around it it's totally closed to many.

 

Something like a wifi or Bluetooth signal works on the basis there are dozens of different devices by different manufacturers that incorporate wifi and bluetooth. As long as they are clearly listed so that anyone without the required device knows not to attempt it I don't see a problem with them, just as if a cache requires climbing gear anyone without the gear (or the inclination to climb) can give it a miss.

 

It seems odd to me that caches where admission charges are payable are now frowned upon, caches that promote a particular business are frowned upon, but caches that are set with a Garmin component and therefore require a modern Garmin unit to find are considered perfectly acceptable.

 

 

But all of your examples have two things in common with a Chirp cache

 

1. You dont have to go out and find any of them

2. You have no entitlement to be able to find any of them, either.

 

At the end of the day, if you don't know anybody either prepared to lend you a compatible GPS, iPhone and dongle, laptop, or whatever other device appears on or off the market - or lets you accompany them when they go out, you can just add Chirp caches to your ignore list whenever and wherever you encounter one.

 

p.s. Hadn't heard that admission charges were now frowned upon. The "access or parking fee" attribute is still there.

 

Granted nobody is forced to go out and find any cache. I still stand by my point that it would be a great shame if caching drifted away from something anyone can take part in and towards something that only people with the latest and greatest gadgets can take part in.

 

I use Garmin GPS units myself but still wouldn't want to see a situation develop where geocaching ended up as a sport controlled primarily by one manufacturer of GPS gear.

 

Still, with the price of Chirp devices being what it is I can't see too many of them being placed so I can hope it's a passing gimmick and will soon be ignored.

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Geocass&Andy750x

+Geocass&Andy750x

Posted
Posted

I'm really failing to see the point of spending money on a CHIRP. surely it'd be better to spend the pennies on a great container, or a nice lot of swag or some great Geocoins. It seems like a gadget for the sake of a gadget and I'm failing to see what great benefit it's going to bring to the cache hunt that a scribbling of coordinates/hints/whatever on the logbook inside a cache (for example) couldn't. Why do we need to have the info pop up on our GPSr? Just because it looks cool? 

 

I'll take it all back if I ever hear some examples of a really good implementation of it or if I find a cache that would have been nowhere near as good without the CHIRP but I just can't visualise how it could be used in a really great way. Hmm...

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Geocass&Andy750x

+Geocass&Andy750x

Posted
Posted

Cassandy, two words

 

Gadgets and Blokes ;-)

 

Haha, good explanation. :P I'm a bit of a gadget girl too though, and quite often take some stick for it. e.g. Whenever I go for a run I clip my Garmin footpod on my shoe, my Garmin heart rate monitor under my top, and put on my Garmin Forerunner watch to talk to them (Via ANT, the same protocol that the CHIRP uses) and then I plug my little ANT usb stick into my computer, which talks to my watch and tells me my stats and draws a little graph (I know, I know, I'm a geek!). I then put my iPhone in my holder that I strap to my arm and wear my Motorola wireless headphones as they connect via bluetooth to the phone to give me music with no cables in the way. I look like a b*oody robot! But I don't care because I like my gadgets. I am a complete Garmin Fangirl as well (In case you hadn't guessed that! lol!) ... But I *still* don't get it! :D What am I missing??? :)

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*mouse*

+*mouse*

Posted
Posted

I have just been reminded that the chirp if used as part of a multi ( or as a traditional cache I guess ) also needs to be able to be found without using the chirp .

 

I believe that this was groundspeaks initial response, but according to the thread on the tech forum they are now happy for them to be listed without an alternative means of finding as long as they are listed as puzzle and have the beacon attribute.

 

Just had notification that our chirps have been dispatched from the US so with any luck they should be out in the wild very shortly. This gadet girl is getting excited now!

 

Personally I think this is a great new addition to our game and I'm looking forward to having something different out there. OK so not everyone has the kit, but then not all of us can go scuba diving, or abseiling either.

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Amberel

+Amberel

Posted
Posted

I'm going to postpone my judgement on these until we've seen what they can do. I've got an Oregon so I guess I'll be able to do them.

 

But the publicity stuff leaves me wondering what they can do that will really make for something different. For example, I can't see that simply giving a hint when you arrive is materially different to having the hint already stored on the Oregon.

 

The only thing I can think of that would make a real difference is if they were able to have a dialogue with the receiver rather than simply broadcasting to it, and to be able to program the chirp to respond differently to different information from the device.

 

I guess we'll soon find out.

 

Rgds, Andy

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The Bongtwashes

+The Bongtwashes

Posted
Posted

Just had an idea about how to use Chirps. With the occasional threads about ammo tins going missing perhaps owners could stick a Chirp in/to the cache, then if it got nicked the whole Geocaching community (at least those with Chirp enabled GPSs) could use it the same way as a Tracker fitted to a car. :P. mind you, it may be a case of the Chirp being more valuble than the rest of the cache and it's contents ;)

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Chalky723

+Chalky723

Posted
Posted

i cant do some puzzle caches does that mean they should be banned too??? :P

My sentiments entirely! ;)

 

I think it starts to get interesting when other manufacturers start to bring their own ones out & none of them are compatible with other machines. You're pretty much limiting your caches to owners of a specific model of a specific manufacturers machine.

 

Not a huge snag as at least they've given them a category so they can be ignored. Will be interested to see if this actually takes off, or if it dies a death (as I suspect it will).

 

C

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Jonovich

+Jonovich

Posted
Posted

I think it starts to get interesting when other manufacturers start to bring their own ones out & none of them are compatible with other machines. You're pretty much limiting your caches to owners of a specific model of a specific manufacturers machine.

 

Not a huge snag as at least they've given them a category so they can be ignored. Will be interested to see if this actually takes off, or if it dies a death (as I suspect it will).

 

C

 

I was caching last night and have the firmware upgraded on my Oregon to support the Chirp, so out of idle curiosity, I turned the CHIRP scanning on.... Big mistake - unit started shutting down at random points during use. So for the moment at least the Chirp functionality of my unit will be kept firmly switched OFF! ;)

 

Jon.

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Chalky723

+Chalky723

Posted
Posted

How will the Chirp scanning affect battery life of the GPS units? (One of the things I love about my 60csx is the 14 hour battery life) - is it going to be practical to keep the scanning on all the time, or would you only turn it on when you're near a Chirp cache?

 

I'm thinking of this in the context of using wi-fi or bluetooth, or anything else that actively scans on my phone - they're battery drainers, surely it'll be the same for a chirp enabled GPS?

 

Admittedly, only a problem if you're out in the sticks for the whole day, but still.......

 

C

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team tisri

team tisri

Posted
Posted

well said mouse, i cant do some puzzle caches does that mean they should be banned too??? ;)

 

With respect, I think you miss the point completely.

 

I am not in physical shape to attempt, for example, Cache U Nutter's extreme caches. But if I decided to attempt them I could buy my climbing gear from anybody and go out to look for the cache using any brand of gear and any brand of GPS.

 

Puzzle caches might be easy or difficult to solve but every puzzle I've seen can be done without any requirement to use any one company's products.

 

Wherigo caches require specific equipment but it could be a modern Garmin unit, a Pocket PC, an iPhone, whatever.

 

This new chirp device, in my opinion, is too closely tied to one company and their products. I use Garmin GPS units for geocaching but don't want to see any one company becoming too dominant in the marketplace, and to me devices like this simply make it more likely that geocaching will become more closely tied to one manufacturer.

 

If applications for Pocket PCs, iPhones, Android etc were available to interact with these chirp devices I wouldn't be so wary of them (even though I'd still think they were mostly just a gimmick, but each to their own). I just don't want to go down the route that would see geocaching renamed garmincaching.

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Morton

+Morton

Posted
Posted

If applications for Pocket PCs, iPhones, Android etc were available to interact with these chirp devices I wouldn't be so wary of them (even though I'd still think they were mostly just a gimmick, but each to their own). I just don't want to go down the route that would see geocaching renamed garmincaching.

I agree completely, but actually... having read a bit more about the technical details, I now think it *is* possible to pick up and decode the signals using something like an iPhone, assuming someone writes an app for it. In fact Garmin may well have done the right thing by using an open standard, which other people can connect into, rather than something of their own invention which they couldn't.

 

I have to admit I still feel a bit uneasy about it though. I think the issue is that for everything else which people have highlighted (scuba diving, abseiling, etc.) you do need to have access to the equipment, but you also need to have the physical skill to use it. Caches which you "unlock" simply by throwing money at expensive kit don't feel quite right to me.

 

Maybe I'm just having Guardian-reader's-angst though.

 

Cheers

Richard

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Happy Humphrey

+Happy Humphrey

Posted
Posted

Even if the price is reduced to (say) £10 (chirpy cheap), or £20 for two (chirpy chirpy cheap cheap) I can't see these having much of an effect (detrimental or otherwise) on the game. They're likely to remain a bit of a novelty.

Reasons;

  1. Still an expensive item to leave lying around long term, so I doubt that many people will use the device for more than one or two cache hides
  2. Even if the battery lasts a full year, you'll have to keep on replacing them
  3. Although I can see the fun in getting close to the coordinates on a multicache and being automatically given the next stage, the chirp is certainly not the only way of achieving this. So unless you only want your cache to be found on rare occasions you'll probably set up an alternative method. I guess that it will be mostly used for Mystery (/multi) caches in an urban setting as a novel way of guiding the cacher to the final without having to search around and attract muggle attention.

It seems odd that Garmin didn't consult Groundspeak before releasing these, as it might have led to improvements which would make them more saleable.

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team tisri

team tisri

Posted
Posted

If applications for Pocket PCs, iPhones, Android etc were available to interact with these chirp devices I wouldn't be so wary of them (even though I'd still think they were mostly just a gimmick, but each to their own). I just don't want to go down the route that would see geocaching renamed garmincaching.

I agree completely, but actually... having read a bit more about the technical details, I now think it *is* possible to pick up and decode the signals using something like an iPhone, assuming someone writes an app for it. In fact Garmin may well have done the right thing by using an open standard, which other people can connect into, rather than something of their own invention which they couldn't.

 

I have to admit I still feel a bit uneasy about it though. I think the issue is that for everything else which people have highlighted (scuba diving, abseiling, etc.) you do need to have access to the equipment, but you also need to have the physical skill to use it. Caches which you "unlock" simply by throwing money at expensive kit don't feel quite right to me.

 

Maybe I'm just having Guardian-reader's-angst though.

 

Cheers

Richard

 

OK, if it is possible to interact with them using non-Garmin devices then I'd rate them as a pointless gimmick rather than a detriment... but from there if people want to use them it comes back to preference just as some don't like puzzles and others don't like film pots on the back of signs.

 

If you're a Guardian reader I'm the other side of the political spectrum, so I wouldn't say it's just that. Despite political preferences I don't like the idea of caches where you can only unlock them by spending lots of money on expensive devices either.

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team tisri

team tisri

Posted
Posted

Even if the price is reduced to (say) £10 (chirpy cheap), or £20 for two (chirpy chirpy cheap cheap) I can't see these having much of an effect (detrimental or otherwise) on the game. They're likely to remain a bit of a novelty.

Reasons;

  1. Still an expensive item to leave lying around long term, so I doubt that many people will use the device for more than one or two cache hides
  2. Even if the battery lasts a full year, you'll have to keep on replacing them
  3. Although I can see the fun in getting close to the coordinates on a multicache and being automatically given the next stage, the chirp is certainly not the only way of achieving this. So unless you only want your cache to be found on rare occasions you'll probably set up an alternative method. I guess that it will be mostly used for Mystery (/multi) caches in an urban setting as a novel way of guiding the cacher to the final without having to search around and attract muggle attention.

It seems odd that Garmin didn't consult Groundspeak before releasing these, as it might have led to improvements which would make them more saleable.

 

I agree with your reasons, but wouldn't have thought chirp devices would make sense in an urban environment. It's easy enough to justify hunting a signpost or a plaque by saying you're doing a treasure hunt (I've done that several times) and in an urban environment I'd have thought it more likely that the chirp would be muggled and destroyed. For myself I can't see why anyone would place a £10 device when there are already perfectly good signs and plaques that can be used for free, and which are infinitely less likely to disappear.

 

I can see how they might be used as stages to a multi where GPS signals are weak or non-existent but unless something is underground it seems many GPS units can retain some semblance of a signal. I guess you could use a chirp device to let someone know they were close if you'd hidden the cache inside a long tunnel but a small triangle of reflective material from a hi-vis jacket would do the same thing for a fraction of the price.

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Jonovich

+Jonovich

Posted
Posted (edited)

Alot of the pointlessness and gimmickey bits will come down to the imagination of the cache setter. You could place these things in places that are hard to get to physically, it's then a case of working out how to get there in order to download the co-ords of the final? Or thinking outside the box, how to get your GPSr there?

 

Questions could be placed in them that can be answered from nearby information, but you need to be there to download the question - rather than cruising by from Google Streetview!

 

I think these have lots of potential - as with all caches, it comes down to the implementation. If the interfacing can be open and available to all, all the better! But someone has to be first! Just hope the firmware was a little more stable ;)

 

Jon.

Edited by Dakar4x4
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The Brat Pack

+The Brat Pack

Posted
Posted

i cant do some puzzle caches does that mean they should be banned too??? :P

My sentiments entirely! ;)

 

I think it starts to get interesting when other manufacturers start to bring their own ones out & none of them are compatible with other machines. You're pretty much limiting your caches to owners of a specific model of a specific manufacturers machine.

 

Not a huge snag as at least they've given them a category so they can be ignored. Will be interested to see if this actually takes off, or if it dies a death (as I suspect it will).

 

C

 

Hopefully the death with be quick and painless.

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team tisri

team tisri

Posted
Posted

Alot of the pointlessness and gimmickey bits will come down to the imagination of the cache setter. You could place these things in places that are hard to get to physically, it's then a case of working out how to get there in order to download the co-ords of the final? Or thinking outside the box, how to get your GPSr there?

 

Questions could be placed in them that can be answered from nearby information, but you need to be there to download the question - rather than cruising by from Google Streetview!

 

I think these have lots of potential - as with all caches, it comes down to the implementation. If the interfacing can be open and available to all, all the better! But someone has to be first! Just hope the firmware was a little more stable ;)

 

Jon.

 

The idea of figuring whether it's easier to get your GPS to the location rather than climbing up or down (or through, or whatever) yourself is an interesting one - although obviously the location must be accessible for someone to place a chirp there in the first place it does open the possibility of people like me who don't want to do insane climbs to be able to do more challenging caches in inventive ways without climbing at all, even if some would say that would cheapen the harder caches. But on that point I can see a possible use, if they are used in inventive ways - it does open up caches that involve thought at the cache site.

 

The idea of having to be there to download a question rather than using Streetview is also a fair point, although I'd reckon a Wherigo would do the job just as well and without having to leave £10+ transmitters out in the field. Also I reckon a cache placer would have to be pretty dedicated to spend £10 on a chirp just to stop people using street view, especially since they'd still have to visit the final location to get the cache anyway.

 

I agree that if the interface is open then there will inevitably be a delay between the first device that supports them and subsequent devices (and it is to be expected that Garmin devices are the first to support Garmin transmitters).

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*mouse*

+*mouse*

Posted
Posted

Without wanting to get drawn into an argument I have to say that I find the negativity towards the chirp disappointing.

If you want to find a scuba cache you have to train to dive, get the necessary medicals etc and then buy/hire the kit to do it and pay for any licences.

Same with climbing.

Same with absailing.

Same with boating.

Same with kayaking.

Same with caving.

Same with Wherigo.

 

You want to find a chirp and you don't have the kit you phone a friend and plan a pleasant joint caching trip with friends. Or you stick it on your iggy list.

Yes it's commercial, but it's hardly as restrictive as any of the above. Enjoy it or don't, but complaining on here ain't gonna change the fact it exists!!

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Munkeh

+Munkeh

Posted
Posted

Without wanting to get drawn into an argument I have to say that I find the negativity towards the chirp disappointing.

If you want to find a scuba cache you have to train to dive, get the necessary medicals etc and then buy/hire the kit to do it and pay for any licences.

Same with climbing.

Same with absailing.

 

 

nobody told me, maybe that's where I'm going wrong- I thought it was a bit of a impossible task to grab the cache as I was falling

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