Custheyder

Hi A little utility which will convert GPX files into Memory Map CSV files with the bonus of being able to hotlink to Cachemate. It also converts icon references to use GSAK icons, or LorDelph's icon set if your not a GSAK user. The utility is free, all donations will be put back into Geocaches as improved camo, containers and swag. I wrote this little utility for myself because I was confused by the GSAK macros which have been made available. I originally posted the link into the UK forum to begin with to test it out. Now that there are a couple of folk using it and are happy it's working I'm dropping the link in here so that everyone else who might be interested can grab a copy. Have fun! Linky Thingy Cust.

My P550 is Windows Mobile 5. I've no problem with MM and Cachemate. I paid the extra for the Wifi so I can sit in the free hotspots round the Island and surf to my hearts content. I'd be an HTC TyTN II user if I had the cash to afford it and wanted a phone capability as well as everything the P550 does. Cust.

You read the instructions!!!!!

oh ... forgot to add I have a tick removal tool as well as a small 1st aid kit. Always carry drinks and snacks for the kids. Oxygen for me if there's a steep climb involved. Where can I get a defib? ... or perhaps I should lose weight and get fitter.

Heavy duty pair of gloves .. nettle proof. Torch Spare batteries for GPS Zip lock bags Pens and pencils. Never go caching without your own writing implement! Swag. Cust.

I'll have a look and see what I can do. Might be able to add them somethere, after decoding them. Cust. Edit: Wish granted! .... Hints will now appear in the comments. I had to strip out the line feeds though to make it work. Good luck!

It was a little sensative to the / on the end of the directory. I've changed it now so that it won't worry. New setup also allows to you to install wherever you like. Cust.

If you put "C:\Program Files\GSAK\ICONS\" into the "Memory Map Icons Directory" box, all should be fine when you import the file. Let me know how you get on. Cust.

Fair enough, could someone pass me my toys back please?.... got the format for the mmo fils handy? I can do ppc apps as well. I was considering GPX back to HTML files and hotlink to those from Memory Map for non Cachmate people. All simple click the button stuff. Cust.

Custom directory is easy... can do that in a few moments. If you don't use CacheMate, you don't have to use my app and can quite happily import the GPX directly. No one is forcing you! I wrote it for myself and have put it out for anyone else interested. It's FREE for goodness sake! I don't use GSAK and I don't use GPSBabel. If your happy with what you do... crack on! It might be pointless to many... but f it's useful to just one other person, great! Cust. (not feeling encouraged to anything else for the community)

Because GPSBabel doesn't support custom icons like Lordelph's or hotlinking as far as I'm aware. I stand to be corrected though. I did it as an exercise... because I could ...and now offering it back to the Geocaching community. Anything wrong with giving something back to the community? If you have other methods, that's fine. It's just another one that some folks might find easier. Cust.

Okay I've written it. Now it's yours for FREE. It's a desktop PC application that converts Pocket Query GPX files into CSV files that Memory Map can import. Optional support for either hotlinking to CacheMate or to Geocaching.com cache page. This is an initial release, so let me know what you think or how you'd like to improve it. I'll post into "GPS Devices and Software" once a few folk have had a play and we're happy it's playing as "most" people want it to. Linky Thingy to GPXtoMM Cheers Cust.

I thought a grave marker/stone was a memorial to the person buried so see no difference.

My first cache hide was a church/graveyard cache. The Vicar was very keen for me to hide the cache under a tomb cover where there was a gap I pointed out as it was a game many children participate in, it might be a little creepy for the youngsters (although I suspected it'd be the adults who are most creeped out) Reading the headstones is an act of remembrance and some of them show remarkable skill in their carving and design. I've no problem with cemetery caches. The dead "rarely" bother the living. The caches we do are all about personal choice as has been pointed out again and again. If you don't like the location, don't do it. However, be tolerant of others who do not share the same phobias or social conditioning. Cust.

Santa just delivered a Mio P550 and I believe their are a set on Memory Maps on the way to compliment Tomtom Navigator 6.... just don't tell the Missus! I promise I'll wrap it up and hide it under the tree on Christmas Eve. Excellent bit of kit... had fun with it today. Much easier than my Palm III to see in daylight Cust.

Thanks roolku Thats a great help. Im still waiting for my DVD to turn up. Cust.

Yup already spotted that one thanks. There are of course other icon sets about as well ... LordDelph's for example. I just need to adjus the script to say where the icons live. I might just create this as a stand alone app, just for the heck of it... and release it for free, of course.

Thanks for that.... I will do when the DVD arrives! I'm trying to get everything sorted in advance. I have GeoBuddy on my desktop and I'm hoping I can pursuade them to to create an output file I can import but they need more info and I hadn't been able to track it down "ontinternet". If GoeBuddy won't oblige I'll write a little stand alone desktop app that'll just do a straight conversion. It's what bored programmers do it their spare time! Cheers Cust.

Excellent thanks. Lets see if I got this straight: Waypoint, longitude, latitude, icon, title, GC Code, File .... then I'm lost as I see the GC code again and numbers. Do you know what the other columns are? Thanks Cust. Edit: BTW What are the icons prefixed with O? F-Found, N-Not Found, U-Unavailable .... O-Archived?

Hi Any chance of an example of the csv format text file you import into memory map (version 5) which has the cachemate loader bit in it? ...or even a list of what each column is? Cheers Cust.

Quite true, but as I couldn't find it in a search of the forum I thought someone might already of asked the question and had a response. I also thought it might be an interesting discussion instead of just sticking it behind closed doors between a reviewer and myself. Cust.

Yes, it is. I think you've confused EXIF data tagging with steganography. Absolutely. "School" is a stenography puzzle and although there are free stenographic tools to hide and unhide information in a picture I've discounted that as an option as it does break the Groundspeak guidelines about having to run a program to extract the code. That particular puzzle you can solve with a reasonably spec'd image processing package like Photoshop or The Gimp but I'm still not comfortable with the idea as I feel it is a little close to breaking the rule. Please note I am not saying that it does break the rule or even making a complaint about it. I'm talking about EXIF data tagging as you correctly point out PS. There are a number of FREE editors and readers available and most modern image editors can read them. Of course there are many more fields in the EXIF standard, who says I have to use the co-ordinates to contain the clue. So allowed or not? ... all votes for "yes" so far. Cust.

Yes I would of put it down as a puzzle cache, and yes the EXIF headers that hold the geotag data do come through when you upload. You might think I'm giving away the mystery, but it'll be many months ahead that I *might* use this technique. I have several other puzzles to post first so this thread will hopefully be long forgotten..... or risk being called "elephant". Cust.

If you have an image in your cache description. Is it acceptable to have the geotag information give the clue. That is to say the co-ordinates of the cache hidden in the image that way? Thought I better ask this one as it does require running a program to read the tags (which is against the rules), but geotagging is very close to what we do and not tied to any specific program, just one capable of reading the information. Wondered if it might be in a grey area. Cust.

I've made a couple of fake rocks.... big ones, well, big'sh. One is about the size of a large soe box, the other is twice the size and slightly larger than the boxes you'd buy reams of paper in. My method was to first stick together sheets of polystyrene wiith waterproof PVA glue to about the size you need. Then sculpt them into something roughly rock shaped. My concrete mix is a standad bag you can buy for small jobs, about 10kg, so no idea what the actual mix ratio is. The difference is that I thin out my waterproof PVA glue very slightly and use that as the wetting agent. The resulting concrete is very sticky and sticks easily to the polystyrene. It also has a slightly elastic quality when set to reduce cracking. They are in the field now. Now problems so far! Cust. Edit: I should add I hollowed out the rocks and have a plastic container in each. The smaller one is housing 670ml the larger one is holding a container of 4L with space to spare. These fake rocka are really just covers/camo for the cache.