July 13, 2009
Edit: The show was recorded and posted online. Visit geocachingpodcast.info for more information and to listen.
——————————————————–
Tomorrow evening at 9:30 I’ll be talking with the folks from Geocaching Podcast. We’ll be talking about the PN-Series devices and taking calls from listeners.
To listen to the podcast live, join the text chat, or to call in (via telephone or internet) to ask questions, visit geocachingpodcast.info. The phones and chat are open at 9:15 PM Eastern and the show begins at 9:30. The show is also recorded and is usually available for download the following day.
I might even have a few Eartha 2D geocoins to give out if anyone feels like calling in to chat. I hope you can make it!
Chip Noble
Team DeLorme
1 Comment | 
Fun Stuff | Tagged: DeLorme, Earthmate, Geocaching, PN-20, PN-30, PN-40 | 
Permalink
Posted by Chip Noble - Design
July 7, 2009
I spent last week camping at Sebago Lake State Park and decided to celebrate the 4th of July with a little moonlight paddle on the Songo River. I left from the Songo Lock (pic 1, pic 2) with three friends in two canoes at around 10:30 PM and enjoyed a peaceful trip to the sand bar on the group camping side of the state park where we were staying.
Knowing that we would be paddling in the dark, I took the time to create a track in Topo USA that I would be able to follow with my PN-40. I was very pleased to see how useful the aerial imagery was in planning my route. The river has changed course in a few places since I was a boy so it was very helpful to see the shortcuts.
I was also very excited to see the Navionics Hot Maps lake chart data in action. The chart data for the Songo River was very helpful in showing us the deep sections of the river. Even though we were paddling canoes, it was still reassuring to know we were in the channel given the strong current and the fact that we were paddling at night! In a rare moment of clear thinking I passed on capturing screenshots while I was navigating the canoe but I have since gone back and captured shots showing some areas where the imagery and lake charts were most helpful.
This next screenshot shows the high detail aerial imagery that is available from the Maine GIS site. I loaded this map on the PN using XMap… an upgrade to Topo USA that is available direct from DeLorme.
The last picture shows my Earthmate PN-40 SE on the floor of the canoe. Keep in mind that because the Navionics SD card is locked all other maps need to be stored on the internal memory. This is why I use the SE model with 8 GB of internal memory for all of my maps and aerial imagery.
Remember to install the latest 2.6 Navionics firmware update on your Earthmate PN-40 if you are looking to use the Navionics lake or marine chart SD cards. If you haven’t purchased a PN-40 yet, give the SE model some consideration. These devices sold out when the PN-40 first released but have been brought back for a limited time with the Navionics release. Having the larger internal memory available will give you more flexibility when you have to swap your map SD card out for your Navionics card.
Let me know if you have any questions about how I set the device up with aerial imagery and Navionics Hot Maps for the Songo River and if you are ever staying at Sebago Lake State Park be sure to take a trip to the Songo Lock and paddle the Songo River, it’s a great adventure… day or night!
Chip Noble
DeLorme
Leave a Comment » | GPS In Use | Tagged: Canoeing, DeLorme, Earthmate PN-40, GPS, Navionics, Songo River | Permalink
Posted by Chip Noble - Design
June 18, 2009
I’m headed out for the Trek Across Maine in a few hours, and I just wanted to make a quick blog entry to show everyone the route and let you know that I bought a new gadget to go along with my Earthmate PN-40 GPS… I’ll be SPOT Casting my way from Sunday River in Bethel to Steamboat Landing in Belfast! The ride is a 3-day, 180 mile trek to raise money for the Maine Lung Association to help them with their fight against lung disease. This is our fifth year riding as a team. We’ve been making the Trek maps for much longer than that and are proud to be Gold Level sponsors of the event. We’ll be giving away two PN-40s with bike mounts along with all the data for the ride so that two people can join Team DeLorme in knowing exactly how far it is to the next rest stop! Learn more about the Trek and Team DeLorme.
I’ve created a few posts in the past with information about how our Earthmate PN-Series devices provide turn-by-turn directions, making them great navigation aids on long bike rides. I’ve also shared posts about the athletic data options in our Topo USA product. Here’s a screenshot from our Sunday River Training Ride that took place two weeks ago. You’ll see in the graph that my heart rate hit 196 while I was trying to stay ahead of one of the other riders… I’m submitting the profile to the Tour because I think this climb would be Beyond Category! It sure felt like it anyway…
So keep your eye out for Team DeLorme if you live between Bethel and Belfast… if you’re further away than that you can see our trek play out on our SPOT Adventures page where I’ll be SPOT Casting my location throughout the weekend. There will be an update every 10 minutes… pretty cool stuff.
Chip Noble
Team DeLorme
1 Comment | Fun Stuff | Tagged: American Lung Association, DeLorme, Earthmate PN-40, SPOT, Trek Across Maine | Permalink
Posted by Chip Noble - Design
May 31, 2009
I created a short video of the Cache Register widget for those that couldn’t make it to Bell Buckle, Tennessee to see the demo at GeoWoodstock VII. Check it out here or by clicking on the screen shot below…
A few answers to good questions that have come up since I created the video…
-The widget is cross platform, it will work on your Mac as well as your PC!
-Cache Register will work with all of our PN-Series devices.
-The widget will cost $9.95 and will be downloadable from our website.
-You will need a premium membership if you want to make Pocket Queries on Geocaching.com’s site.
The ability to load 500 geocaches at a time is well worth it and you get all the hints!
-You will be able to load GPX files with your custom filters from GSAK.
-Cache Register is scheduled to release on our website this week! Edit: Released!
Edited to add: -Cache Register will also transfer the Additional Waypoints for geocaches with the associated cache name as a prefix to help you keep track of waypoint and geocaches!
Let us know if you have any questions about the new Geocaching widget. We’re very excited to hear what everyone has to say once they’ve had a chance to try it out!
Thanks,
Chip Noble
Team DeLorme
20 Comments | PN-20 News, PN-40 News | Permalink
Posted by Chip Noble - Design
RSS Feed
