› Forums › Geocaching in Wisconsin › Help › Suggestions/Feedback … GPSrs in state park office

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • 11/07/2009 at 6:41 pm #1729105
    EnergySaver

      My local state park would like to purchase a couple GPS receivers and have them for loan/rent in the park office. I have 10 caches in the park and the park just recently opened a campground (thus greatly increasing hours the office is open), so they went to “step up” promotion of geocaching as a activity in the park and asked for my assistance. So ….

      (1) What GPS units should I get? Likely only 2 to start with and likely low cost units (the local Friends group will likely pay for them). I’d like to stick with Garmin units, unless I hear a strong reason not to.

      (2) My plan is to preload them with the park’s 10 caches and have handout sheets that list the 10 caches in a condensed format (2 or 3 pages total). One thought I have is that the park staff/volunteer will always need to “reset” the GPSr after it has been loaned out, getting it back to just the original 10 waypoints (eliminating any extra waypoints marked and/or changed in error). I’m thinking I’ll have to give the park office a brief procedure to follow (ie. do this to delete all waypoints, then plug in this cable to the office computer, and do this to reload the waypoints). Anyone have comments and suggestions on this. Also, the need to do this might have some bearing in what GPSr units are purchased (but I’m guessing low cost units are no harder/easier to “reset” to my 10 waypoints than other more advanced units).

      (3) My 10 caches in the park include 3 that are multi-caches in one form or another. Is that going to be problematic with “rookies”? At the very least it means providing instructions (maybe on the cache listing handout) on how to enter waypoints. Would I be better off “skipping” those 3 caches all together. Ideas?

      11/07/2009 at 9:14 pm #1916500
      hogrod

        You might want to check out this recent thread, it covers allot of the cheaper garmin units.
        http://wi-geocaching.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=9925

        1. Venture HC, last time I looked walmart.com has them for $118, a bit more than the $80 Etrex H but a much better buy. You have to buy the serial cable separately for the etrex H & hope their PC has that hookup. I believe garmins retail on the serial cable is $38, so the slightly more expensive unit with USB is well worth the added cost.

        2. If you didn’t load the waypoints as caches(by using garmins default treasure chest icons) & used a different icon the unit would not need to be reset unless someone accidentally moved a waypoint. By not using these icons it removes the found/note from the compass page so there is no way to mark caches as found.

        3. I would avoid the multicaches, even if someone is tech savy it might take a bit to figure out how to input coordinates and could end up leading them somewhere they shouldn’t be.

        Since the ventureHC is a mapping unit(24mb storage) it will hold about half the state worth of topo maps. you could use the free topo maps from gpsfile depot & have a decent map of the park on the gps too. http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/150/

        11/07/2009 at 11:02 pm #1916501
        Buy_The_Tie

          The DNR has already bought GPSr kits for some of the properties. I had a chance to work with these units (I don’t remember what they were), but they had the “good” antenna and worked well for geocaching.

          You could probably contact Jackie S. at the Ice Age Center and she could tell you what they already have bought.

          11/07/2009 at 11:57 pm #1916502
          sandlanders

            The units the DNR bought for their properties were eTrex H yellow units. They had all sorts of diagrams and instructions (laminated) that went along with the units for check-out. We, along with Gramps, held training sessions for many of the DNR properties naturalists/activities people who gathered at Hartman Creek in June. They had hands-on time to find some practice caches hidden close by after the instructional time.

            I think the units at Roche-A-Cri and Buckhorn near us had the parks’ permanent caches loaded on them by volunteers. The serial to USB cable connection is a big drawback to the units. Don’t know how the parks are handling it if people want to find close caches that are off the property.

            When checked-out units are returned, I would think that someone in the park office would know how to check them over, maybe remove any extra waypoints, erase tracks, make sure battery power is OK.

            As far as multis go, if there was anything in the instruction hand-outs on how to mark waypoints and change the coords, that would be easy enough to do by hand on the units. Most first-timers probably wouldn’t want to start off with a multi, though, but I’d still include them. They’re part of the park’s geocaching experience.

          • Author
            Posts
          Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
          • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.