Topic: Steve's Latest Toy!

[Skhilled (OP)]

Garmin eTrex Legend H

It has a monochrome screen but has a ton of features! I can load goecache info into it. It also has games, a calendar, rises and sets for the moon and sun and best times for fishing for a particular area, stopwatch, calculator, and trip planner for running, cycling, and cars.

After I bought it we went to the pool. I played with it there and then we had to pickup Christina (tina14) from the mall...shopping with her friends.  :yikes:

I wanted to see how it tracks my steps so I turned it on when we left the pool and watched as we drove to the mall. I turned it off after we picked her up. After we got home I checked out the website and downloaded a few things for the PC to detect it and all. I ran the software and discovered that it logged each and every time I turned it on! Once I was walking around the pool and it traced my every step which I found very amusing! 

I also checked the log for when we went to the mall. It showed me our average speed as well as our max speed. Also, it showed the time it took and mileage. I did not show this to Lealer but told her how fast she was going when we went there...50.8 mph. Of course, she gave me a strange look. Then I printed out the report and showed it to her and she was amazed! I told her I was going to hide it under the car seat and track her when she goes out on her own.  :rofl:

Of course, she didn't find it as amusing as I did! 

You can actually save these logs and every lock them from prying eyes!!! There is also functions for tracking jogging, cycling, heart rate, etc.

Anyways, now that I've got a few caches loaded into it I'll have to find some time to search for some. I'll also have to get used to all of the features, etc. first...too many to mention.

[Ken]

Sounds like a great little unit Steve, and the price is not that high.  :2thumbs:

Making me wish for one.  :08:

[Skhilled (OP)]

Yeah, they tried to sell me one for about $80 (same brand) but it did not have nearly as many features. One thing I did notice is that not all of the features are on the box for GPS's. It is best to go online and check out the specs first. I read that the $80 one was good but saw that this one had a bit more features so I got it and was glad it did. Nice surprise to find the extras that it did not mention. LOL

btw, FOR LES. Geocaching is now worldwide. Check your area and see if there are any there.

[Lesmond]

Sounds good Steve, I would like one of those, might see it Lisa will buy me one for Xmas

I have seen some Geocaching around my area, but not tried to find any.

[Skhilled (OP)]

If I have the time, I'll try again this weekend.

[Skhilled (OP)]

We went yesterday looking for one but didn't find it. However, we did find a very nice (and very large) park/forest area that we had not been to before complete with a bike trail. There are many wildlife there including herons, frogs, turtles, deer, muskrats, people. LOL

The kids had a great time trying to catch frogs. Too bad we forgot to take a camera. There are a few old buildings there from the 1700's. We are going back today. At least, we'll get some good pics...if we remember to take the camera. LOL

[Ken]

I've been wanting to get back into this and the Garmin eTrex like yours may be just the unit that I need. 

[Skhilled (OP)]

I'm still getting used to it. Has 6 buttons and they all do different things depending on the screen you are on. LOL

[Ken]

Have you tried using it as a travel GPS, like for a trip?

[Skhilled (OP)]

Sort of, yes. I didn't plot the course, per se. I just used it to follow the route we were taking.

btw, I forgot to check out the logs for the trip we took yesterday. I'll try to plot a course today and see how it goes.

[Ken]

I like the idea of a handheld device like yours, but would want to use it as a 'regular' GPS for plotting trip routes as well. It's nice to have a GPS for long trips of course, but it's even more useful for around town stuff, like finding a store or office that you've never been to before.

[Skhilled (OP)]

It does work like that but it is a hiking GPS more than an auto one.

Auto GPS's tell you street by street and "usually" (depending on the model) with voice.

Most hiking ones do not have voice (more expensive one may have this) and may show less streets...the smaller streets. Mine does not show all of the really small streets. Then again I may not have it set correctly. LOL It does have a zoom and shows all major roads. When I zoomed in it did not show some of the smaller streets I was on. However, it did still show my direction, speed, etc.

When viewing the logs, it shows it on Google Maps and does show all of the streets you were on and the exact route you took...even if you are walking around in circles. LMAO!

[Burgundyrose]

 :innocent: I'm still waiting for you guys to catch up. 187 and holding, but the itch to go out and get some more is getting pretty bad, hehehe.

[Skhilled (OP)]

LOL, we did go on Saturday again and did not find the cache yet. However, we had a wonderful time just walking around and exploring this area that were were not used to. We did see all kinds of nice things like flowers we've never seen before as well as finches (yellow and black...I think they were finches, lol), woodpeckers, buildings from the early 1800's, brown frogs and a lot more.

We will go back this weekend and try again.

btw, I'm still getting used to how this thing works. It's a bit different than an auto one.

[Burgundyrose]

I think the main idea is to go out and explore area's you haven't really taken the time to go to. For me though I have already explored most of the local area's, I just didn't know there were caches there at the time. I am very glad you are out at it, and hopefully you'll find the cache next time. It makes the trip just that much more fun. It also makes for some really good quality time. Ok, I can't take it anymore, I am just gonna have to go out and get some more, hehehehe. Once you find the first few, then you'll really get a kick out of some of the "hides" people come up with. I think that is some of the most fun for me, to see what the person has come up with to hide it in. I am still working on my first hide. I am wanting it to be totally unique for our area. After some of the one's I have found it is going to be very hard to out do them. I have containers of all sizes and shapes ready to go. I even have a few items to put in my cache, I just haven't found that "really great" hiding spot yet. Most of them have been taken already. Good luck to you, and I will be waiting to hear all about your find.