Garmin is stepping up it's game with CHIRP what do ya think?

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11-15-2010, 03:21 PM
jclaudii

Garmin is stepping up it's game with CHIRP what do ya think?

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID ... pvID=75243

Small Excerpt from Garmin:

Quote:

chirp is a one-of-a-kind wireless beacon designed specifically for the outdoor adventures of geocaching. Affordable, durable and waterproof, chirp can communicate with, and be programmed by, any compatible wireless-enabled Garmin handheld (sold separately). chirp stores hints, multicache coordinates, counts visitors and confirms the cache is nearby. chirp is password protected and has a battery life of up to one year.

They cost about 23 bucks, battery last a year and were designed by geocachers so they should be tough.

But it seems that this could be an extra theft item even if the owner is the only one who can unlock it, but if it's stolen your still out 23 bucks!

It would be nice on the more remote caches that are higher difficulty and you can broadcast some extra hints if the seeker wishes to use them vs what is put up on the caching page and uploaded to the gpsr. But then again, here in our state we have the phone a friend list and know, or know someone, who knows the geocacher that placed it usually! What do yall think?
11-15-2010, 03:36 PM
kcackler

I like the idea but not the implementation. If all GPSrs had the technology implemented then it would be far more useful. As it is, only a select few can actually utilize the device.

As far as theft is concerned - with proper placement of the device, theft should not be an issue. They are quite small and could be tucked nearly anywhere...especially in the middle of the woods.
03-02-2011, 10:10 PM
dexterjg

Does anyone know where there is a list of GPSrs that will receive the chirp? Or what wording to look for in a manual to know? Thanks in advance.
03-03-2011, 10:23 AM
jclaudii

As far as I know it is a Garmin only thing and runs using ANT+ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANT%2B) wireless technology. There was a company and a few developers trying to get a beta app out for chirp using existing ANT+ sensors. http://www.wahoofitness.com/Fisica/W...Sensor-Key.asp is one of those sensors, but I feel there will be very few people using it, plus considering there is alot more one can do with the extra money for CHIRP sensors and such.