+Crowdpleaser1 Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 Hi there. Am enjoying caching with my 2 little girls (or treasure hunting they call it...). We have found 29 caches, some urban some rural and so far have used my Samsung Galaxy S3 with the unmentionable scraping app as I didn't want to pay until I knew if we would get on with it, but will now (sorry). Anyway, I tend to search by live map, tap the cache then tap the compass or maybe read description first then tap the compass and off we go with much success. All going fine but my Mum lives in deepest devon where phone signal is terrible and so have been considering investing in a gps device, probably a Garmin Etrex 20 so we can go caching there. Heres the stupid question. I keep reading about having to load maps on... does it have no map at all then? And does it work the same way as my app where I hit the map and it loads up or do I have to load everything up at home (im aware all info wont load until im a premium member. Sorry for stupid questions, I'm just trying to get head round it all.... Ta x Quote Link to comment
+Chief301 Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 (edited) The Garmin Etrex 20 comes with a very basic base map....it will have major highways and waterways and that's about it. You won't have detailed topographical maps or street-level road maps, unless you load them yourself. Some of the Garnins come in a "T" model, which has topo maps preloaded....I'm not sure if the 20 has this option. Costs a little more though. Or you can free topo maps of (I assume) the UK from www.talkytoaster.com. Of course, you can still Geocache without additional maps installed, the device will still point you to the coordinates, you just won't have topographical detail for reference. You won't be able to just search for caches from the device....remember, it's only a receiver for signals from the GPS satellites, it won't have a data connection like your phone. You will have to load the cache data at home before going out. Fortunately with Premium membership and Pocket Queries this is pretty easy. There will be a bit of a learning curve involved, but it's the way to go if you'll be caching in a no-signal area. Edited August 12, 2013 by Chief301 Quote Link to comment
+Crowdpleaser1 Posted August 12, 2013 Author Share Posted August 12, 2013 That's great thank you very much, you've answered perfectly what Ive been searching for for hours..... Quote Link to comment
+Mallah Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Once you've got to grips with the TalkyToaster maps you can delete the original basemap and free up a load of space. The TalkyToaster maps are updated regularly, usually every two weeks or so and I've found them incredibly useful in some areas where the OS map I have is missing some of the local paths. Quote Link to comment
+Gackt Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 Crowdpleaser1, until you do purchase a dedicated GPSr, to get around phone signal problems, you can import pocket queries straight into that app you are using at the moment. From there just click on 'Stored' and unless you sort the caches into any other order the ones at the top of the list will be your closest. Just tap on a cache, then the compass like you have been doing, and off you go. No phone signal will still hamper the live maps though. You will need premium membership to create pocket queries. Quote Link to comment
+Wild-Skye Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 I am new to this - have Garmin etrex 20 - no maps loaded. The maps seem really expensive to me. Do most of you use maps on GPS or manage without? Need to check out this talkytoaster web site. Are there any disadvantages with it? (free stuff usually has some!) Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 I am new to this - have Garmin etrex 20 - no maps loaded. The maps seem really expensive to me. Do most of you use maps on GPS or manage without? Need to check out this talkytoaster web site. Are there any disadvantages with it? (free stuff usually has some!) Maps do help you if there's a river, and you need to know which side of the river the cache is... Nope. The maps are fairly decent. Yes, there are bits missing (usually 'out of the way' rarely visited places). They improve all the time. And you can contribute information yourself, if you so wish. Quote Link to comment
+wrightexplorers Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 As others have said above, the Talkytoaster maps are very good. I also use this site for overseas maps, which were good enough for me to use my Dakota 10 as a sat-nav in the US: http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ Just follow the instructions and it's pretty straightforward. If you're considering buying a GPS, this website provides a really useful comparison of the features of the different models: http://www.follow-the-arrow.co.uk/resources/gps.html#whichgps Most people seem to assume the etrex is the way to go, but don't discount the Dakotas. Personally, I like the touchscreen, which is of the old variety and can be operated using gloves! Quote Link to comment
+whh0 Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 +1 for Talkie Toaster maps. A bit frustrating to begin with as the download would go so far and then crash. Eventually worked out that I had to disable all my security/firewall on my computer before they would download properly Quote Link to comment
+Wild-Skye Posted October 4, 2013 Share Posted October 4, 2013 Thanks - I will investigate these maps (talyotaster) but have no dounbt I will be back with more queries - am an old biddy - so though I though I was it literate 10 yrs ago - things have moved on ... just a wee bit Quote Link to comment
+Wild-Skye Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 I might learn to spell check on the way Quote Link to comment
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