garmin etrex: proximity alarms?

[bonj2]

I've discovered my etrex vista has a feature called 'proximity alarm tones', if this does what i think it does then it is exactly what I have been wishing that it does...
Am I right in thinking that it basically sounds an alarm when you get within a certain distance of a waypoint?
In the 'proximity alarm tones' menu, it's got:
* "UPcoming speed alert"
* "Proximity Alarm Beep"
* "Leaving proximity beep"
* "Approaching proximity beep"
on each one, it lets me assign a tone.
What the hell do they mean when they're at home??
i.e. what causes each tone to be fired...!?

 

[ColinJ]

From a quick look at the manual - you can define a proximity radius round chosen waypoints. I think one alarm will sound when you approach a marked waypoint, one when you actually get within that radius and another one will sound when you move back outside that radius.

On rides, you'd normally only want to be warned as you approach junctions etc. I don't think you'd need to be told that you were moving away again.

The leaving proximity feature would be useful though if you were using the gps for geocaching. I've been out walking with a mate who is into that but he uses the basic Etrex (like mine) which doesn't have audible alerts so he has to keep looking at the screen as he is wandering about looking for the geocache box (whatever). It would be quite good to have a warning that you were wandering too far from the cache site.

I could have done with a proximity alarm last Sunday on my ride with Alun and Calum. I was busy talking to Calum and forgot to look at the GPS screen for about 5 minutes and we rode straight past our turn.

 

[bonj2]

what's geocaching when it's at home?

 

[ColinJ]

what's geocaching when it's at home?

It's basically a bit of a treasure hunt played with the help of a GPS unit. People hide a container somewhere and give clues to its location. Sometimes the clues are obvious - like "It's a Tupperware box under the big stone at (some grid ref)" Sometimes, the clues might be cryptic.

The containers usually contain little trinkets that people leave. I think the tradition is that you leave something behind in the cache, and can in turn take something out. There is often a little notebook and a pencil so you can leave a message for fellow geocachers to read later.

It's makes country walks more interesting for children. They seem to get really excited when they track down the containers.

I've heard of some people finding quite valuable things in geocaches e.g. £10 notes. Usually, it would be things like little plastic toys or key-rings

Once you've visited a geocache, swapped trinkets, and signed the book, you re-hide the container and make your way to the next one.

Here's the official geocaching website.

You can locate geocaches in your area, for example geocaches near Hebden Bridge. A lot of those seem to have been set up by my friend John.

 

[Cromcruaich]

Thats what it does, but its next to useless as its not loud enough to hear in most instances.

And geocaching, like golf, best way to spoil a good walk.

 

[jpatterson]

We've done some hard and fast point to point off road group rides before using he garmin forerunner 305 and while I'd recommend it if you plan your route precisely in google earth it would have been fantastic if it had an audible notification that you could actually hear. It would save all the calls from the back of the back of "are we there yet?" and endless checking of the watch to make sure we hadn't overshot the next turn