[Green Bay Paddlers]

Hello all! I wanted to let you know that the grant proposal found approval and we are now the proud owners of 10 new Garm Etrex H units with rechargeable batteries.

We will be using these in our classes this fall. I have a GPS activity that we did with our rented units last fall. It involves a satellite image of the area and basic Latitude/Longitude lines. Students need to plot (in the classroom) where they believe the caches are going to be located (on the satellite image) using the lat/long coordinates. Then, it’s off to the field for the rest of the exercise. We had a lot of luck with this last year. This year, we’re probably going to include a wooded area as well.

Many thanks for all of the suggestions!

Jeff

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Wow – I have to say THANKS for all of the great information in such a short time. I look forward to others’ input should anyone else have some thoughts on the topic.

I’m going to be writing the grant this winter and will be doing the homework on the units you have described. In addition, I’m getting in touch with our district’s insurance liaison to see what they have to say about damage to the units during a class lesson or (more likely) during a period of time we check out the units to the kids for the weekend.

We check out library books to kids, but they’re on the hook if the book is damaged. I really don’t want parents telling kids they can’t check out a GPS for fear of having to replace it should trouble or misfortune befall the unit. I’ve got a bit of homework there.

I’m a casual geocacher (100+ finds) and would love to extend the experience to kids and their families.

Thanks again for all of the replies.

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Hello!

I’m back with a follow-up question.

We raised $300+ through fundraising and rented ten Garmin yellow E-Trex units from Lowergear.com. Our lesson went off without a hitch and the kids learned a great deal. Myself and two other 9th grade geography teachers used the units with their classes. Roughly 400 students were exposed to the uses of GPS through a fun outdoor geocaching activity.

I’m writing a grant for us to purchase 10 GPS units. The E-Trex worked beautifully, but the units all had to be programmed individually by hand. I would have loved to have used EasyGPS.

Now that we’re looking to purchase ten units, I’m asking for some advice. What are the cheapest, USB programming-enabled, accurate, and intuitive units on the market? If you could buy ten units (and spend roughly $1,000+) for a high school geography class, what make/model would you buy?

By owning the units, we’re able to spread out the use of the units versus being limited to a one-week rental period. In addition, we can check units out to kids for use on their hiking/camping/hunting/fishing trips. It really can be a great way to get kids to learn to use GPS.

Any help would be appreciated. Many thanks!

GBPaddlers

[Green Bay Paddlers]

We log once for every cache found.

[Green Bay Paddlers]

It’s funny. I log into these forums a few times a year to see what is new in the WGA. Imagine my amazement that I see that we are now caving to outside pressure on the issue of logging temps. I always admired the WGA for standing up against those who flame away in the GC.com forums about those that log temps.

Temp caches are caches. You plug in the coordinates, you find it, you log it. Pretty simple philosophy in my eyes.

The WGA can take this new approach if they would like. However, I have no intention of going back and deleting my finds. I’d much rather see people deleting parking lot micros at Wal-Mart. But that’s another argument! 🙂

Glad to be back in the forum. Hopefully we’ll see some of you out on the trails.

🙂

Jeff

[Green Bay Paddlers]

The nice thing about micros is that you don’t hear about bomb squads being called in on them too often. In addition, should the hider decide to walk away from geocaching, micros have a much smaller impact on the environment than some jumbo tupperware container.

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Tell me about it. I’ve been eyeing up those aviation systems for awhile. The reason I’m so excited about this Onix400 is that it seems to be “reasonably” priced!

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Buckhorn State Park has a bunch of secluded sites that you have to hike to. However, they give you a large-wheeled cart so you can pack coolers, etc… You really get away from it all and you have your own beach. Something to consider.

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Heck – it might even be time for the Green Bay Paddlers to make a return to the WGA Campout. I’ve been known to flip some pancakes in the past, and mommy and Spencer would have a blast out caching. Much to discuss…

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Our Meridian Gold has been from one end of the country to the other. It is fantastic. I won’t leave home without it. We’ll probably upgrade eventually, but that is awhile off. Good stuff!

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Happy Holidays everyone – from the Green Bay Paddlers

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Thanks for the tip. For those of you who go through a ton of batteries and feel guily about dumping them in the landfills, we’ve had a great deal of luck with the Energizer rechargable alkalines. I’ve got AA’s from two years ago and that have gone through about 50 charges and they’re still going strong.

[Green Bay Paddlers]

Well done Brian – Kudos.

[Green Bay Paddlers]

I use the Energizer rechargables in my Meridian Gold. I’ve been very pleased with how long they’ve lasted. I could usually get a full day out of them while we were on the road out west last summer. The GPS only took 2 AA batteries. I would always charge one pair while using the other. It worked well…

[Green Bay Paddlers]

We came across one somewhere over the summer. I don’t even bother taking bugs or jeeps anymore. I never seem to get a chance to put them in other caches since we don’t get out caching a whole lot anymore.

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