Geocaching simplified

Having so many pre-loaded caches eliminates the need to download them from geocaching.com and transfer them to your GPS, making this the ultimate grab n’ go solution.

Priced at a reasonable $69.95, the Geomate.jr is a lightweight one trick pony. It’s not designed to be used like a traditional GPS, though you can store one custom location in it (home, a trailhead, etc.) to direct you back to your starting point.

Using the Geomate.jr

Getting started with the Geomate.jr is simple. Turn it on, let it lock onto GPS satellites, and it will point you to the nearest cache. Push the Next button and it will guide you to the second closest cache. You can scroll through the 20 nearest caches in this manner.

On the main screen, shown at right, you’ll see ratings for Find Difficulty, Terrain Difficulty and Cache Size. Inside the compass circle is an indicator of satellite signal strength, distance to cache, and which cache you are viewing (1 through 20).

The Navigation screen allows you to scroll through latitude, longitude, elevation and the number of satellites being tracked and used.

A Found screen displays the number of found caches, the geocaching.com GC code, the date a cache was marked as found and the order it appears in the found list.

The Geomate.jr compass on the main screen points you to the nearest geocache, but it’s not an electronic compass, so it doesn’t know which way you are facing. You have to take a few steps before it will point you in the correct direction.

An update kit will allow you load an updated database of geocaches, load caches for other countries and more.

Geomate.jr specifications

The 1.2” x 1.2” monochrome screen is not what you’d want on a full-featured GPS, but it works just fine for what the Geomate.jr is. It has a 12 hour rated battery life (2 AAAs) and weighs a scant 3.2 ounces with batteries.

More Geomate.jr reviews

• A number of Geomate.jr reviews have been posted at REI
• CNet gives a 3-1/2 out of 5 star rating in their Geomate.jr review
• Geocaching.com’s discussion board has a Geomate.jr review thread
• I’ll post links to more Geomate.jr reviews as they appear; for now, here are some other…

Geomate.jr resources

• A PDF version of the Geomate.jr owners manual
• Geomate.jr update kit FAQ (PDF)

Conclusion and recommendation

I was very impressed with the Geomate.jr. Sturdy and accurate, it directed me right to ground zero for the caches I sought. It is an excellent choice for a wide range of people including:

• The casual geocacher who wants a grab n’ go unit
• Families who want a sturdy and inexpensive unit to put in kids hands
• Seasoned geocachers who want to keep a unit in the car, for those unexpected geocaching opportunities

Buy the Geomate.jr

• Get the Apisphere Geomate.jr Geocacher from REI.com

The Dakota series seems to be filling the eTrex niche. They are rated as having a 20 hour battery life (vs. 16 for the Oregon series) and they will not come with pre-loaded detailed maps – only a basemap. Screen size is 2.6” (diagonal) vs. 3” for the Oregon series. Both Dakota models support paperless geocaching, but not Wherigo cartridges. One interesting thing – they both will store up to 200 tracks compared to the Oregon’s 20!

Features found on the Dakota 20, but not the entry level model include:

• Micro-SD card slot
• Electronic compass (3-axis)
• Barometric altimeter
• Wireless data transfer with compatible units

Availability is listed as 3rd quarter, with prices of $299.99 and $349.99.

Here’s the news release:

Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), the global leader in satellite navigation, today announced the Dakota 10 and Dakota 20 handheld GPS navigators, packing a high-sensitivity GPS receiver, worldwide basemap and color touchscreen display into a compact, waterproof device with up to 20 hours of battery life.

“As families and friends explore the outdoors – from an exotic locale to the local park – Dakota helps keep their adventures affordable and enjoyable,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of worldwide sales.

“While kids have fun with Dakota’s small size and simple interface, parents can take comfort in never losing their way thanks to high-sensitivity GPS and extended battery life.”

Lightweight, rugged and waterproof, Garmin’s new Dakota devices quickly acquire and maintain satellite reception – even in heavy tree cover or deep canyons – thanks to a high-sensitivity GPS receiver with HotFix TM , which automatically calculates and stores critical satellite information and can use that information to quickly calculate a position. Everyone from geocachers and youth scouts to surveyors and hunters can take advantage of Dakota’s 850 MB of internal memory, which can store up to 1,000 waypoints, 50 routes, 2,000 geocaches and an active tracklog of up to 10,000 points and 200 saved tracks.

Based on the innovative interface of Garmin’s award-winning Oregon series, Dakota’s glove-friendly, color 2.6-inch touchscreen display is easy to read and use in all conditions, responsive to the touch of your finger, yet resistant to the forces of nature. Weighing only 6.75 ounces, Dakota lasts up to 20 hours on two AA batteries and can connect to your PC or Mac via USB connection.

Dakota 20 adds even more features, including a 3-axis compass, barometric altimeter, a microSD card slot for increased mapping and memory storage, and wireless unit-to-unit connectivity for sharing your waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches wirelessly with compatible Dakota, Oregon, Colorado and Foretrex devices. Dakota 20’s 3-axis, tilt-compensated electronic compass shows your heading even when you’re standing still, without needing to hold it level.

It’s fun and easy to get into paperless geocaching with Dakota. You can download up to 2,000 caches, with information such as location, terrain, difficulty, hints and description — no more paper print outs and manually entered coordinates. Visit Garmin.com/geocache for more information.

Dakota comes preloaded with a worldwide basemap and is compatible with Garmin City Navigator NT for turn-by-turn directions on city streets, Blue Chart g2 for marine charting, and TOPO U.S. 24K and 100K map software for incredible terrain detail (each sold separately).

Thanks to GPS Review for the image.

Had to pass this along - a new book has been released and has an accompanying set of progressive Geocaches that correspond to events in the book. The first Geocache is located in the MD area, and offers the clue to the next Geocache, and so on. The book, "Book of Lies" is a mystery novel that offers a bit of intrigue, using Bible stories as a backdrop for the modern day tale. You can read more about the Geocaching, the plot and read the first chapter for free at the author's website.

Check out Brad Meltzer's website for more information.