Dan_Edwards

Yes they do include the found logs for the requesting person. If the person has changed the name they use on Geocaching.com, be sure to use the GC ID number for the sorting. I use it to show caches along a route that none of us have found. GSAK does use the user ID for the found count, so you can import them all without issue.

Looking at the images from the "Where are they" topic of the Geocache manager, it will load everything from a pocket query except the cache description and past logs. Cache type, owner, date placed, found, and hint are there though.

That is odd that the description is not included. I can understand leaving out logs because they would take up a lot of space and mostly include spoilers, but it would be nice to have the option to include. But the description? Leaving that out kinda goes against the point having a Geocache manager. For most Geocaches you *should* read the description before taking them on, but even I have been known to try some when I see the waypoint on the GPSr nearby. And then there are those who would have a 1GB card in the Explorist, why not have all of the above and let the user decided if they want it. That said, the explorist really has me drooling. I am almost glad they did not included the description because I might be trying to do something stupid like buy one before I can afford it

Well since someone reported it will take GPX files, worst cast you could export a GPX file from GSAK into it.

I would have to disagree, the examples you sighted are people having somewhat calm conversations in stressful situations. So the operator said they had police on the line, rather then 911. With the child falling? My kid falls all the time onto his face and many other parts and is fine. Asking if they are hurt is at least not a stupid question to ask. People call 911 because Bugerking did not get the order right, asking if someone is really hurt before bothering the police sounds pretty smart. Onstar is the only reason I would want to buy a GM car, It's the only thing innovative in them.

Oh great this is in direct conflict with what someone else quoted Magellan as saying thier now mapsize limit. Wonder which it is. That said... Wow the info coming out about this is really cool. I think I am going to have to start saving money because I think this is pretty much everything I want in a GPS. Since it has a external batter port, it should be real easy to create a AA pack that charges the unit during the night on hikes solving the only reservation I might have about the unit.

While this would be a huge undertaking, it might make a great user supported project. Creating the program itself is huge, but you would only need one version. Just have that version tied to one user. If they have a friend with a different GPS and want to share thats fine. I mean they would have to come to that persons house anytime they wanted to update the GPS, and I know I am not that friendly with very many people. The really, really hard part is the data, and this is the user supported part of my idea. By default you know every Geocacher has a GPS, have then create and update a central topo database. Kinda like Wikipedia, only for topo data. That would end all the data issues, leaving only huge task of making the software.

There is no explicit support in GPSBabel for anything involving Whistler and this is the first request for such a thing that I can recall in all my years in Babelsville. Send sample files, any pertinent doc you have, and offers for beer (I drink stouts) to the GPSBabel mailing lists. csv formats are pretty easy to stamp out these days. Binary formats remain substantially harder. No problem. We will look at the files created first to what they are. I was the one you helped with the first xmap imports (Thanks again by the way). Even if the file is binary we will figure out the details of the file format before we contact you with offers of beers in hand ;-) We both used to program in the Commodore 64 days so we can handle a Hex editor pretty well, but lost interest in programming when the Amiga came out. Actually I guess the GPS is fairly new and I have to admit the ability to landscape the map, compact flash storage for detailed maps and waypoints, and USB support for under $100 really has me very interested. If it has better memory card management I may just pick one up for myself. I've long been puzzled by that. Some of the Delorme products document that as required and some don't. Evidently, the xmap products require it. (That's the GPSBabel format called "xmap") The Street Atlas & Topo products document it as required, but some of the products actually choke on it if it's there. So GPSBabel actually leaves the BEGIN/END decorations out of the (admittedly poorly named) "csv" and "saplus" formats as it appears to be MORE compatible with the menagerie of DeLorme products than following their recommendation. It's a real mess. ...stuff like this is WHY I drink stouts. I understand. Hmmm I wonder if they are ISO 9000 certified? If so then maybe they could get them to follow the standard, or at least cause a paper pusher a bad day

I did a search through the forums and could find nothing on this. It's a bit of GPSbabel/GASK question. Is there any support to create files for the Whistler GPS units? I have a friend who just bought one for Geocaching on the way, but we have been looking at the manual. It looks like it can upload waypoints to the compact flash directly like Meridians in something called a .lst file. Sounds like anouther CSV file type so there is hope that it might work without modification using one of the many other formats that the programs support. That is unless it is like the stupid Delorme format that just adds "Begin" and "End" to the file in order to use extra hard drive space Anyone have exeriance with a Whistler and GSAK? I could only find one topic in the entire forums and it was how to enter a single waypoint, and thats covered in the manual.

I would love to see a screenshot of the new Geocaching features. I would even settle for a nice text writeup.

You might try using a program like GSAK to write a file to a SD card in the Meridians waypoint format. Maybe it supports it?

I know your just kidding but it did get me thinking. If they did not get it Friday, then we will have to wait till Monday at the earliest. Dang. I really want to hear about the new Geocaching features. I would love screen shots of the various different screens. Pretty please, with spare battery packs on top? Wish Magellan would put the manual online, since the unit is shipping that should have been a given.

2 But since I use Cachemate for right now, its not that big a deal to me. But that does have me thinking about having one less electronic device with me while hiking since I always have my iPod. Wait me *not* carry a device if I can at all! Thats like saying Magellan will start releasing firmware updates as often as Garmin!

If you want to go cheap, USAPhotomaps will do it as well with more varied maps then any of the Topo programs.

Well from what I have observed from behavior it looks like Magellan is a hardware company and software is not as supported within the company. When I worked at Hewlett-Packard in the early '90's they were that way. They would release a killer hardware product, but would not understand what to do with software side of things. And just to stay somewhat on topic... Someone PLEASE post a review soon! I really want to hear if I should start saving pennies now!

On the phyical side of things, I would like to see a unit shapped to fit the hand very nicely. Think like a stopwatch only a little bigger. Each of the buttons for the functions would land where your fingers naturally land so it would allow for natural one handed operation. Also the buttons and unit would be easy to hold/used with gloved hands for Snowshoeing.

I don't think anyone here is *expecting* much but I know there is a lot of hope. It would make a lot of sense to Magellan because just about every Geocacher I know has family members asking them what GPS they should get. And a nock your socks off effort here could really equal many recomendations. On the subject of GPX files though, I was the one that mentioned that it would need tweeks to really do it right, and thats true, but it is a very nice standard even without updates it would work well, it just would ignore the new information (if programmed to the standard). Since nearly all the waypoint software that loads .loc files exports gpx I would much rather see gpx in the Explorist series since so much more could be included.

So no takers? Someone must have dreams about what the cache manager could do. I wanna hear them, even the really pie in the sky ones. How about... Show me only Geocaches I can find within 20 minutes :-) Geocaches that won't be a "no-find"

I never timed the process on my USB cell phone (Treo 300), but I though it took the same amount of time as though I had it plugged in. I could use it while it was plugged in too.

What NavMan? Did you mean the PiN? Here is a review for that.

Don't get me wrong I love the memory card feature of the Meridian. It's why I own one. But to really get the most out of it, you need to be a power user, and most people just want to have fun finding a few caches, or need maps for a area near home. Now this new Geocaching file system would really make the memory card useful any geocacher, even casual ones. As for batter life. When I am out with my GPS it is on nearly 24/7, thats why I have a lot of rechargables. If Magellan is stupid enough to release the Explorist without good battery options, you can count on the fact that third party people will step in and take the money that Magellan could have had

Yea I don't think anyone who can talk (not under NDA) has seen it. That said, lets jot down what our hopes are that it does, so we can compair it to the real thing when it comes out. For me it would be... GPX file import, with short, long cache descriptions, and hint (with decode). This alone would have me drooling. Nock my socks off stuff... Past logs. Found/Not Found counts in the memo for the cache. Sort by difficulty Any kind of filtering, the more the better. Caches along a route! (WOOT!) Calculator of common codes. 1=A, 2=B, etc. and others. Record notes for log entry. How about a screen that pops up and says "Your close enough to ground zero, put down the GPS and open your eyes!" Ok, that one is a little specific to me I guess

Yea I am in exactly the same boat. Ready to buy a new GPS, dreaming that that Geocaching funtion will import GPX files directly with logs, hint decode, basic calculation for waypoints (projection, conversion, etc). Notes for your log... This could make me really love my GPS. To the point of being obsesive about recomending Magellans over other GPSr units. Right now I recomend Garmin models unless I think the person really would use the memory card. To really make this a cool feature though, they would need to update the firmware too keep up with GPX format updates... Yea right! Magellan update firmware on a regular basis... Hold on it's going to take me a while to stop laughing... No I need more time hold on... Still going... Well I guess I just going to have to type while I continue to laugh. If they make even half as cool as I am dreaming, I will buy one that day. I mean I only get out to do a few geocaches a year due to newborn (soon to be newborn(s)) and I would still upgrade because it would be that cool! Here's to hoping.

Well in order to give specific instructions we need specific details. What GPSr do you use (We now know Garmin 60 series) What OS on the computer, Windows/Mac OSX/Linux/BSD/Amiga? What do the computers you want to share with use? What GPSr's do they use (we know at least one Magellan)? What software do you have in common if any? That said, the most powerful solution has been stated. GPSBabel. But what you want to do with the data depends on the software you use. If you all use windows and a GPSr supported by it (so far yes), you could use EasyGPS to create the file. It's free so you both can download it.

Yes, POP3 support is due in the next full release (5.2 not the next maintenace release) However, you do have me wondering what you mean by "very demanding compared to other services". Is there some extra support required to access the GMAIL POP3 I also notice GMAIL is not yet fully available to the public. How did you get your account (I think it would be a good idea if I could also get one to test this out) Actually I included a link in the message to the Gmail FAQ for POP access with the port number details just to be nice, but I probably should have just said that rather then just linking in the middle of the message trying to be slick. I see that several people have already sent you invites, but I thought I saw that Google had opened everyone to the Gmail beta, but maybe that was something "the are considering" or something like that. If you need someone to test Gmail access let me know. Dan