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Getting a PN60 Need help getting started

TerryV6

By TerryV6
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TerryV6

+TerryV6

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I am currently using an etrex h for Geocaching. My wife tried to surprise me and ordered a pn-60 which is on its way. I read up on them and saw that it is a top notch choice. I did see that it is supposedly complicated to use at first. I am strictly going to use this for Geocaching. Is there anything I can read while I am waiting for it to arrive, to get me up to speed on this unit? Maybe an easier to understand FAQ on using it to cache, upload caches to the device etc.? With my Etrex, I had to create/mark a waypoint and then modify it manually. My wife thought that the PN-60 would get me away from some of this manual labor..

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Mongo1965

+Mongo1965

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I am currently using an etrex h for Geocaching. My wife tried to surprise me and ordered a pn-60 which is on its way. I read up on them and saw that it is a top notch choice. I did see that it is supposedly complicated to use at first. I am strictly going to use this for Geocaching. Is there anything I can read while I am waiting for it to arrive, to get me up to speed on this unit? Maybe an easier to understand FAQ on using it to cache, upload caches to the device etc.? With my Etrex, I had to create/mark a waypoint and then modify it manually. My wife thought that the PN-60 would get me away from some of this manual labor..

 

You might want to check out there forums it has been a big help for me with my pn-40

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briansnat

+briansnat

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With my Etrex, I had to create/mark a waypoint and then modify it manually. My wife thought that the PN-60 would get me away from some of this manual labor..

 

That isn't going to change. It's how all hand helds do it. Of course the PN60 will come with a data cable (you had to buy one for your eTrex) so you can load caches directly to your unit from this site.

 

To get the full benefits of the PN60 you will need to be a premium member. That way you can get the GPX files that will allow you to load the entire cache page on your unit.

Edited by briansnat
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TerryV6

+TerryV6

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Check out the Wiki pages on some of the other Earthmate PN units. Download the PN-60 User Manual and do some reading.

 

I did dl the manual..

I certainly am doing enough reading.. Some makes more sense than others. I did get some helpful hints on the Delorme forum. I got the unit this afternoon. I immediately put a sd card in, installed the batteries and took it outside. After about 5 minutes, I had a fix.. Then I installed the states in my region. I used the "add to GPS" to add caches to the unit. So far it seems pretty straight forward. I won't be able to try it out until the weekend, but I am ready to go with 15 caches uploaded. I know that I am only scratching the surface. It came with a premium membership upgrade too. I have one question so far, if I have to change out the batteries, will I lose my cache uploads?

 

TerryV6

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Mongo1965

+Mongo1965

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No you will not lose your caches. I think when you change out batteries the only thing you lose is what your doing right than. like if your following a route you would have to redo the route, I think I could be wrong as I have only had my PN-40 for about a month now and haven't been able to get out much with it being hunting season right now.

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briansnat

+briansnat

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No you will not lose your caches. I think when you change out batteries the only thing you lose is what your doing right than. like if your following a route you would have to redo the route, I think I could be wrong as I have only had my PN-40 for about a month now and haven't been able to get out much with it being hunting season right now.

 

You also need to recalibrate the compass after changing batteries.

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The Yinnies

+The Yinnies

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Check out the Wiki pages on some of the other Earthmate PN units. Download the PN-60 User Manual and do some reading.

 

I did dl the manual..

I certainly am doing enough reading.. Some makes more sense than others. I did get some helpful hints on the Delorme forum. I got the unit this afternoon. I immediately put a sd card in, installed the batteries and took it outside. After about 5 minutes, I had a fix.. Then I installed the states in my region. I used the "add to GPS" to add caches to the unit. So far it seems pretty straight forward. I won't be able to try it out until the weekend, but I am ready to go with 15 caches uploaded. I know that I am only scratching the surface. It came with a premium membership upgrade too. I have one question so far, if I have to change out the batteries, will I lose my cache uploads?

 

TerryV6

Almost all units with a electronic compass you have to recalibrate the compass when you change batteries. You lose nothing and it takes a minute to do. I see you are from Wisconsin if you have problems you can e-mail me and I will try and help. I have a PN-40 and -60 and love them.

Thanks

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TerryV6

+TerryV6

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Almost all units with a electronic compass you have to recalibrate the compass when you change batteries. You lose nothing and it takes a minute to do. I see you are from Wisconsin if you have problems you can e-mail me and I will try and help. I have a PN-40 and -60 and love them.

 

 

Well, I haven't had much luck yet with the compass calibration. I keep getting a "retry".. But that did not stop me from using the unit. We found seven caches today and the device seems to be spot on. We only had one problem and that was a user error. We forgot to switch it from "drive to" to "hike to" which gave us an inaccuracy reading to the cache. Once we made the change we found it right away..

I only loaded Wisconsin and Minnesota maps to the unit. I haven't tried the Topo 9 program or done any PQs yet, just the individual cache uploads. I know that there are features I will probably seldom use or not not at all. We are newbie geocachers and most of the caches have been within .4 miles from the car, so have not had to set routes or waypoints. I have to say I love the "Send to my GPS", though I am still tempted to print out the paper map...

 

TerryV6

 

As you get older: it is one step forward and two steps back.

Learn something new every day and forget two others.....

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Mongo1965

+Mongo1965

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I loaded the Topo onto my system but am still stumbling around in it. So far I haven't really seen it be much use though haven't really used it much. Big thing I'm looking for is some way of getting some of these logging roads up here on the unit so I can plan my route better.

 

So now theres three DeLorme users here in the state to bad were all not closer The Yinnie's could give us a class. lol

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TerryV6

+TerryV6

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Well today I upgraded to premium membership and headed over to the member area to check PQs. I put in some parameters.. local area code, caches not found, 5 mile radius, and difficulty/terrain. I submitted this and got a download notification. I have Topo 9 installed, stumbled around until I figured out how to transfer the query to the gps. That worked okay. Then I saw info on Cache register and tried that instead. That seemed a bit more intuitive and I transferred another query to pn60. I went to my gps, found the file menu, and saw that both queries were indeed there.... I guess I'll have to dive into the topo 9 manual..... Also have to get a bigger sd card (only have a 2gig installed)..

 

TerryV6

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briansnat

+briansnat

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Well today I upgraded to premium membership and headed over to the member area to check PQs. I put in some parameters.. local area code, caches not found, 5 mile radius, and difficulty/terrain. I submitted this and got a download notification. I have Topo 9 installed, stumbled around until I figured out how to transfer the query to the gps. That worked okay. Then I saw info on Cache register and tried that instead. That seemed a bit more intuitive and I transferred another query to pn60. I went to my gps, found the file menu, and saw that both queries were indeed there.... I guess I'll have to dive into the topo 9 manual..... Also have to get a bigger sd card (only have a 2gig installed)..

 

TerryV6

 

Yeah I wouldn't go with anything less than a 16 gig card with that unit. Their maps chew up a lot of memory. When I bought my PN40 I started out with an 8 gig card and filled that up the first day. It didn't take me much longer to fill up a 16 gig card. I finally sprung for the 32 gig card.

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