Creative Technology Use In Gc'ing

[+HairDog]

Curious about the technology behind some of you cachers out there - I'll go first:

 

I use a small sized Sony Vaio (Windows XP SP2) notebook w/ a USB modem driver so I can get online anywhere my Samsung i600 Smartphone receives reception from Verizon. I'm running Microsoft Streets and Trips 2005 with the USB GPS receiver on the laptop (for in-car nav). Out of the car, I use a Garmin etrex Legend.

Once I find a cache, I take photos with a Canon Powershot S40 (convenient as it uses AA batteries like the Garmin unit). The Vaio has a slot for the CF memory card from the camera.

With this setup, I can spontaneously decide to do a nearby cache, jump online while in the car to ID a site, tell Microsoft Streets and Trips to nav me to a parking spot nearby, use the etrex Legend to nav the rest of the way on foot, find cache, photograph it, walk back to the car, jump back online and log the trip from the field complete with photos.

 

How about you?

[+justybug]

that sounds great if you're not gonna be away from the car for any length of time, but with the hikes i go on, no way am i leaving that much bait in a vehicle.

i've actually gotten pretty low tech, gps and notes written on a small sheet of paper for the days caches when i'm out and about.

what's best is when you transpose descriptions and spend 1/2 an hour looking for a specific tree configuration that is NOT UNIQUE to the area you happen to be in, instead of where you should be looking for it...

makes for a fun day though..

[+IVxIV]

Yup that sounds pretty techie

 

But just make sure to take a break once in a while, stop & smell the roses. Also look up & around at the beautiful scenery you're hopefully doing cache quests in. That is just as much a part of the obsessions perk as finding the tupperware

[+Corp Of Discovery]

I still pretty much just use my 'special' stick.....

[+WaldenRun]

How about you?

Once I leave the house, the only electronics I normally have is a FujiFilm FinePix A205.

 

Editted to add a cheapie metal detector, while is really a benchmarking tool, not a caching one.

 

-WR

Edited March 10, 2005 by WaldenRun

[+StarBrand]

Lets see.....

• Dell Axim x3 - with WiFi and GPX Sonar - kept up-todate with local area and destination
  
• Garmin 60C - main GPS
  
• Garmin Legend - backup GPS
  
• Garmin Rino 120 - Backup GPS and FRS
  
• Casio Pathfinder with Altimeter and electronic Compass
  
• (I think it tells time too)
  
• Fuji Finepix s5000
  
• Spare Batteries all around
  
• Geocaching pack with standard stuff (see ten essentials thread)
  
• Diablo hiking staff
  
• Cell Phone
  
• 2 meter amatuer Radio (occasionally)
  

And that is just in my car........ (Did someday say Geek????)

 

And yes - I stop to smell the roses...............

[+Rainwater]

OK...I THOUGHT I was a geek...LOL...I have

 

A dell Axim x30 wireless that I can connect to my Garmin GPS72 with a homemade cable. THe cable also doubles as a charger for the axim.

 

The dell runs MS pocket streets for mapping and gpx sonar for logging.

 

I also carry a Kodak 4 mpixel camera but dont always use it.

 

Lots of spare rechargable batteries and charger

an inverter to charge the batteries if needed.

 

I upload pics into the dell and if I can find a wireless access point I can log the cache and upload pics if I want to but usually I just wait until I get home and use GSAK to work the caches and notes over.

 

I also have but dont always carary unless I have company, an older garmin GPS 48.

 

Also carry the standard backpack with all my swag, spare pens, bags, and a couple of extra small to micro geocaches just incase I see that perfect spot to place one.

Edited March 10, 2005 by Rainwater

[+sbell111]

All I generally have is my 3+ and my pda (m505). If I go in the woods, I'll likely have a backpack with misc junk such as flashlights, trinks, etc. Sometimes I have a camera with me, but I recently abandoned the digital and went back to using my old Canon Rebel XS. One day I'll probably upgrade to a digital Rebel.

[+rjo]

Pretty simple atm:

 

RINO 120

Occasional Laptop

Yaesu 2m Handheld Am. Radio

GMRS Radios * how many people are on the trip (in most cases)

 

Looking to get some more stuff mounted in my car

[+IV_Warrior]

Ok, I haven't gotten the cell phone connected to the laptop yet to be online, but I've got a fairly similar setup, otherwise.

 

Laptop with Delorme Street Atlas and Earthmate USB GPS for in car navigation.

Ipaq PDA running GPXSonar so I have cache page info available.

Magellan Meridian Gold for finding the cache.

Kodak digital camera.

 

Camera, GPS, Ipaq and laptop all use SD cards, making transferring data easy.

Camera and GPS both use NiMH batteries (camera specifically says NOT to use alkaline)

[+Pasha]

I subscribe to the "less is more" theory - one of the lures of caching for me is that I don't need to carry a pack or have lots of specialized equipment. Accordingly my setup is as simple and efficient as I've been able to make it... a GPSr and an old Palm III that I had laying around. I have a case for the Palm that also stores a couple writing utensils, a pad of paper, and has a little room for small bugs or whatever loot I have with me.

 

The geekiness for me (and believe me, I'm as geeky as anyone) is in getting this setup as efficient as possible - minimal effort in getting the caches from the site into my hardware, minimal effort in finding the closest ones, minimal effort in carrying stuff. Hooray for travelling light!

 

(edit: oh, and my cellphone, which I always carry anyway, has a camera in it as well.)

Edited March 11, 2005 by Pasha

[+diverhank]

I am using a Garmin Street Pilot 2610 to get to the cache sites. Then I have triple redundancy on GPSr

 

1. A garmin Forerunner 201 that I wear on my wrist.

2. A Magellan Map 330 that I wear around my neck (back up car navigation).

3. A Handspring Visor with Magellan GPS plugin + Cachemate for reading about the cache and backup GPS.

4. A walking stick for self defense and bushwhacking (not exactly high tech).

 

Of course a Sony digital camera to record my journeys...

 

I put everything in a High Sierra hydrator back pack (except the walking stick).

Edited March 11, 2005 by diverhank

[+wimseyguy]

Got me beat, but then again I'm very lotech-I just work with sharp knives and fire. If I'm just caching locally it's my 60c, and the cellphone if the business is open and they need to reach me. For futher afield I'll bring my dell 600m laptop along for the access to GSAK. Sometimes I remember to bring my camera too.

That's enough geek for me.

[+Greymane]

Normally, I carry:

 

- a Magellan SporTrak

- a Dell Axim x50v w/ Pharos CF GPS

- a Magellan 315

- a Garmin Geko 201

- a Dell Axim x30 w/ BT GPS

 

Of course, at any time, the kids are carrying several of these (except the x50v). With the PDAs, I go kinda low tech for the GPS units.

 

- my older son has started bringing his metal detector (helps in the snow)

- sometimes an old Compaq Presario laptop

- can't forget the cell phone

 

And, any items we have laying around the office that need testing at the time.

[+fishingfools]

Palm Vx

Old Yeller etrex

digital camera

FRS radio if with friends

Cell phone

[+Maingray]

Less is more here as well.

 

Car + Hiking:

 

Magellan 315 <--> Palm Tungsten T [Cachemate / Mapopolis]

Waypoint database on both loaded from GSAK.

 

Sony Digital Camera

 

Cell

 

VERY occasionally a IBM T42 thinkpad

Edited March 11, 2005 by maingray

[+sept1c_tank]

I'm not a geek:

• (Antique) Garmin 12
  
• Compass
  
• Any maps I can get
  
• HP digital camera
  
• FRS radios (occassionally)
  
• Lots of paper print outs
  

[+BigWhiteTruck]

I use a Palm Tungsten T3 loaded with CacheMate, and a pocket query of the 500 caches closest to my house that I haven't found, and another one of all my finds

My GPS is a Globalsat BT308. It has no screen and only an on-off switch and a three status LEDs. Using BlueTooth technology, the GPS wirelessly sends a steady stream of coordinates to my palm pilot, which acts as my gps navigation screen when I hit the little "Nav" button in CacheMate. My GPS literally stays in my backpack the whole time I am out, the Palm is all I ever have in my hand. The external antenna of my GPS is taped to one of my shoulder straps, and provides excellent reception. I can log caches from the trail using the palm as well. It has a built in web browser, and as long as my Palm Pilot is within 30 feet of my Cell phone, it can use bluetooth to wirelessly connect to the phone and go online. My phone also rarely leaves my backpack.

[+Joe Smith]

I like to go light and multitask

 

1. Garmin 60cs- gps, car navigation, compass, watch, altimeter, and record of found caches.

2. Cell phone- (nokia 3200) Wireless geocaching, communication, watch, camera, flashlight, radio, unit converter.

 

Sometimes I grab the camera (hp photosmart 435)

 

I have a wireless card for the laptop that I might use for a webcam cache, but I hate bringing the laptop.

 

Not too geeky. Usually just the gps and cell phone

 

Joe Smith

[+Miragee]

A little bit geeky here, but I don't have a cell phone . . .

• Garmin eTrex Vista
  
• Palm M500
  
• Cachemate
  
• Digital Camera
  
• Mapsource Maps loaded into GPSr
  

I have an older DELL laptop and have taken it with me a couple of times, but I haven't actually used it yet. I just stumble along following the arrow on the GPSr without refering to maps first . . .

[TCE]

Not a techie, just an average person (well maybe below average): Garmin Legend, Flashlight, Magnetic Compass, cell phone, and watch.

[+DanOCan]

We normally head out with a laptop, iPaq, the trusty eTrex Legend, digital camera, two cell phones, compass, and if we think we might end up needing them a set of FRS radios.

 

We use Pocket Queries and GSAK to determine what caches we want to do, then use a combination of Streets and Trips and/or Mapsource to determine how to get there. On scene we will try and hide the laptop under a seat or something, and use GPXView on the iPaq if we need additional cache information enroute.

 

If I am feeling really naughty I will use Netstumbler after the cache find to seek out someone's open Wifi to log our find, but normally it is easier to just head home.

 

All in all, pretty standard paperless setup. Biggest problem is remembering to bring a pen to sign the micro logs.

Edited March 12, 2005 by DanOCan

[+Muddler]

I have a setup similar to several of the others described above:

 

Magellan Meridian with32 meg SD card,

Sony Vaio 505 laptop with DeLorme Topo 3d and GSAK

Kodak 4MP for the pics,

Palm 125M /w Cachemate to be paperless,

 

We use the Laptop to get us to the vicinity of the cache, and use it to upload caching data to the palm and the GPSr. I use the Palm in the field to log data and supply info on cache location, hints when we can't find the blasted thing and use the camera to document the find for the record.

 

We started out printing out a lot of paper but have found that the electronics is better for searching and makes things easier in the field when logging the find.

 

Besides getting to play with all of these toys that I convinced my wife would make my so much easier, you look really COOL wandering around in the woods if you run into someone else. LOL

 

Muddler

 

[+leatherman]

Meridian Color

iPaq 2215 to view GPX and listen to Audible books.

LG VX4400 with a Gomadic cable to link my phone to my iPaq as a modem.

[tttedzeins]

GPS

Bicycle

Dont have a printer so ...

Hand written notes (usually wrong)

[tttedzeins]

went back to using my old Canon Rebel XS.

I also have one of those. Great cameras

[tttedzeins]

I use a Palm Tungsten T3 loaded with CacheMate, and a pocket query of the 500 caches closest to my house that I haven't found.

There aren't even 100 in my state (Territory)

[+Robespierre]

yikes. you must attract lightening strikes.

tttedzeins 

Posted: Aug 7 2005, 04:01 AM

GPS

Bicycle

Dont have a printer so ...

Hand written notes (usually wron

using a pencil that I sharpened with my teeth 'cause the pen is out 'o' ink, but i do have a '93 minivan.

Edited August 7, 2005 by Robespierre

[bogleman]

steryotypes