Cache Mania

Well here is a little feature I just learned about today.  Google has made it so that you can send a location that you find on a map directly to your GPSr.  It’s a two step process.  I think I’ll be using this in the future.

Here’s a video from Garmin that explains how it works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_p1x-fL2zc

Tags: Garmin, Google Maps, Transfer
Posted in GPS Hardware, help | No Comments »

DeLorme-GPS-Satellite-Communicator

Well it’s not exactly two-way GPS tracking but you can send text messages and update your position via the soon to be released DeLorme Earthmate PN-60w with SPOT Satellite Communicator. The SPOT beacon has been around for a while. It is a personal emergency beacon that sends a message via satellite to give rescuers your location. In that is doesn’t rely on cell technology there is a better chance your message will get out regardless of where you are.

The new SPOT Satellite Communicator, designed exclusively for the new PN-60w, merges SPOT satellite message functionality and DeLorme state-of-the-art GPS mapping via wireless. Together, this product pairing offers broader messaging capabilities. Users can send freeform text messages using the PN-60w’s keyboard to select individuals or groups from the field even from remote areas world-wide.

So next time some geocachers go to Maple Mountain we’ll have to see if someone brings one of these along!

Tags: Beacon, DeLorme, GPS Hardware
Posted in GPS Hardware | 1 Comment »

When I attend geocaching group events it would appear that Garmin is the manufacturer of choice for geocachers.  It’s no wonder that is the case.  Garmin makes an excellent handheld GPS receiver. I did my first Geocache yesterday with my new Colorado 300.  Overall the experience was pretty good but I can tell you that setting the back-light every time is very frustrating!  It just so happens that the cache I was doing was  a night cache so the back-light was very important.

I’ll keep my review short as I’ve only had the Colorado 300 in the field once my opinions may change over time.  Here are some annoyances I’ve discovered with the Colorado 300.

1. The shortcut and options button are hard to depress when wearing gloves.  It some ways it is nice that these buttons are flush with the case it does make using them a little harder.
2. Sharing wirelessly was the main reason that I upgraded from my GPSMAP 60CSx.  This outing was my first chance to share a waypoint wirelessly.  This is an excellent feature except for the fact that the description is not transfered along with the waypoint.
3. The compass requires that you hold the unit level.  It is very sensitive in this regard.  The compass is also very sensitive to battery changes (which you will do often).
4. I”m a little on the fence regarding the carabiner mounting clip.  I liked having the lanyard and slip on clip with the 60CSx.  That way I could clip it to my backpack and use the lanyard as a safety strap.  I would have lost my 60CSx in a river once if it wasn’t attached via the lanyard to my backpack.  Warning:  only change the batteries over solid ground.
5. Why does the unit turn off when I unplug it from the computer?  Grrr.
6. Navigating when editing a waypoint was not intuitive.  When you are entering numbers using the wheel you don’t immediately think to use the rocker to move left and right.  Once that’s discovered editing geocache stages becomes straightforward, and easier than on the GPSMAP 60Csx.

It’s not all bad.  In fact I quite like the Garmin Colorado.  Here are some of my positive impressions of the unit.

1. The fully rubberized housing makes for a more secure grip.
2. Using the soft buttons (on screen buttons) is quite intuitive.
3. You can’t beat the paperless caching aspect of this unit.  I long ago abandoned printing cache pages primarily because I frequently cache with my friend Bakers Dozen who already has a Colorado.  I’m sure he’ll be relieved that I’ll no longer be calling to him with “do we know what size it is?”.
4. Zooming on the map is both intuitive and fast.
5. The rocker wheel is definitely a highlight of the unit.  It takes some getting used to if you are like me and need to reprogram your brain.  Data input is fast with this interface.
6. Profiles make it easier to use this unit both in the car and on the trail.  Once inside a profile type you can customize things like the trip computer to your liking for each role.  In this way your trip computer for Geocaching can have different data fields than your automotive profile.
7. The compass overlay on the map screen is a nice feature.
8. The ability to log notes with your finds.  Even though the rocker wheel allows for fast data input I don’t think you’ll be writing long logs with it.  It is a good way to note if you dropped or picked up a trackable item.

Overall I am very pleased with my decision to upgrade to a Garmin Colorado GPSr.  The feature I had the most difficulty with was myself.  After three years with a GPSMAP 60CSx I have to unlearn all that I’ve learned.  The interfaces are radically different.   You will find little similarity if you are used to using a different Garmin unit.  What you will find is an interface that works very hard to make the administration and execution of your geocaching activities easier.

NOTE:  Regardless of when you get your Garmin Colorado be sure and update the firmware.  Many past annoyances have already be addressed in the most recent firmware.

UPDATE:  The Garmin Colorado has a very temperamental compass.  It requires frequent calibration.  If you find that your compass is not working you should try recalibrating the compass.  When there are no letters on your compass as in the image to the right it indicates that you did NOT successfully calibrate  the compass.  It must be held flat and rotated at the correct speed for the calibration to be effective.

If you take your Colorado GPSr in the car be sure to set the interface mode to Garmin Spanner.  Once you do this the unit will prompt you for Mass Storage mode when you plug in a USB cable.

Here’s how to activate Garmin Spanner:
Setup>System>Interface>Garmin Spanner

The Garmin Colorado includes the option to take screen shots of your device.  To take a screenshot hold the right soft key for about 5 seconds.  If you have sounds on  you will hear a beep confirming capture.  These images are found in the SCRN folder on the device.   This is very handy for illustrating stories and for troubleshooting.

Tags: Colorado 300, Garmin, GPSMAP 60CSx, GPSr, Night Caching, review, Spanner
Posted in GPS Hardware | 2 Comments »

I recently discovered that the strain relief on my Garmin external power cable had failed.   The wire was still okay but it wouldn’t be for long if I didn’t do something about it.  While thinking about how to fix this problem I realized that the underlying issue was there there isn’t enough of the connector to allow me to grasp the solid part in order to remove the connector from my GPS60CSx.  Instead I’ve been pulling on the wire which has caused it to fail.  What I needed to do was add a pull-tab to the connector so that I wouldn’t be pulling on the wire.   The following is a description of how I went about doing that.

Completed Pull-Tab for Garmin GPS 60CSx external power cable

To begin you will need something to act as the pull-tab.  I used part of a weather cover for a CATV connector.  You could also use the washer from a garden hose.  I choose a rubber fitting so that there was some give in the event the pull-tab hit something hard.

Roughen surface of connector to create a better bonding surface for the adhesive.

Rough up the top of the connector.  The adhesive will bond better if the surface a bit rough.  You don’t have to be too aggressive at this stage.

Tape bottom of connector to prevent glue from leaking onto bottom of connector

I was solving two problems when I did this project.  First I was trying to fix the crack in the strain relief and second I was adding the pull-tab.  The elastic in the picture above was used to keep pressure on the strain relief once the glue was applied.  I used Loctite Sumo Glue which expands when it cures.

Clamp connector and pull tab as this glue will expand when cured.

I needed to clamp the connector and pull-tab so that I could maintain the correct alignment.  The adhesive I used will expand when it cures and this can cause a few problems.

The Sumo adhesive expands. Make sure you tape off any exposed surfaces.

You can see in this (slightly out of focus) image that the glue expanded considerably where I tried to fix the strain relief.  Luckily I had taped off the bottom of the connector.  That is the part that inserts into the GPS 60Csx.  Any glue on that part would have made inserting the connector into my unit difficult.  I trimmed off the excess adhesive using a sharp knife.  You have to be very careful if you are going to use a knife as a slip could slice the cable and that would ruin the whole project.

The adhesive dries white so I used a marker to color it black. This gives it a little better finish.

I finished things off by colouring over the white adhesive with a black marker.  Coloring the adhesive really helps to give a clean finished appearance even when there is a little glue seepage.

Finished connector inserted into GPS 60CSx

Finished pull-tab on the connector inserted into the GPS unit. piece inserted.  Now if only Garmin had thought of this!

Here is what the bottle looks like if you are looking for Loctite Sumo Adhesive.

You can find higher resolution images in my Flickr photostream – mycachemania

Tags: 60CSx, Garmin, GPS Hardware, GPSr, power cable
Posted in GPS Hardware, help | 2 Comments »

I went out and did a first to find last night.  I was reading the logs to see who has found the cache since then and I just had to chuckle at what was in the logs.

mine:  ”I saw this in my inbox and called Bakers Dozen”

Bakers Dozen:  ”The email came in on the iphone, then the call came in from teamvoyagr.”

kguppy:  ”The blackberry went off, so I decided to jump in the car ans try a ftf.”

So we have traditional email, blackberry push email, iPhone email and a couple of phone calls for good measure.  When we got to the cache site there were multiple GPSr and smart phones for three people.  How much technology do we really need to find tupperware in the woods?  Sometimes that absurdity of it all just strikes me as funny.

Tags: gadgets, humour
Posted in GPS Hardware, Rants | 1 Comment »