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E = Mc2

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Posts posted by E = Mc2

    Spinner, Plucker, Gsak, Cachemate....argh!!

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    Not quite unanimous, but GSAK is the way to go for being an all-around program. The only things that I don't like with GSAK is that another program such as Plucker or Cachemate is required to get the pages to the PDA, and I can't get all those little %xxx tags straight.(I know, PICKY, PICKY !) GSAK lets me load the waypoints into all 3 of my GPSrs (both Garmin and Magellan), project the waypoints in Mapsend so I can get a visual of what's where, and then send a file to Plucker to upload to my PDA. All told, I can have the PQ loaded into everything in less than 5 minutes with GSAK. GREAT PROGRAM CLYDE!

     

    Try using the instructions that Cybret provides at GU just to learn how to set up Plucker (since it's help file is useless to those who don't speak assembly language), and then get GSAK instead of (what is it? EasyGPS? Spinner?)... to convert your PQ's

    Ne1 Intrested In A Magellan Meridian

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted · Edited by E = Mc2

    I got the yellow at Outpost also & it has mapping. No difference in the two.

    What they said. There is a 2MB basemap installed in the yellow/green. Both accept SD cards for near-unlimited mapping as well.

     

    In other notes, eBay is sellers market? I got my MeriPlat for $205 w/shipping, and I saw one go just this week for -are you ready for this?- $172! That's for the PLATINUM! One just has to be patient.

     

    I think the OP must have just been testing the waters. Not really interested in selling, or they would have checked back by now.

     

    Edited for context.

    Paper Caching

    in How do I...?

    Posted

    I got a plastic folder to keep the pages in. After running all over the place with the page in my sweaty hands (or a paper folder), the ink would start to run, and... :blink: I would do a search of the area I intended to go, print out the (printer friendly) pages, download a .LOC file so I could upload the coords to the GPSr, and then go. I actually had different folders for different areas in a three-ring binder, so if I happened to be running around, I had it all with me.

     

    Now, I have an inexpensive PDA (Sony SJ-22 w/16MB memory and color display is now roughly $40 on eBay) which takes up a lot less space than the binder ever did! :) My advice would be to forget paper caching (except for the quickie FTF's where you can't wait the five minutes for a PQ to run) and start enjoying that premium membership.

    Is There A Way To Search For Nearest Unfound Cache

    in How do I...?

    Posted

    Sorry about the length...

     

    I keep a link to the state search page results, which shows the most recently approved caches in chronological order. I just click on the link and BAM! I'm there. From any GC.com (not the forums) page, click on "Hide & Seek a Cache", then do a search by State. Your State's page is located here, BTW. Just copy the address and add it to your favorites. Unfortunately, because of where you live there will be a lot of new caches that are as much as 600 miles away... that are still in the state! That's a lot of caches to look through on the off chance that there's a new one near you.

     

    In order to simplify your life and searching, I would highly recommend becoming a Premium Member, which will allow you to run Pocket Queries(PQ's). PQ's are very customizable searches of the GC.com database, which only return the results you are looking for. You can have up to 20 different searches set up and saved to run when you need them. For instance, you can create a search that returns only unfound caches - in order of distance from your home coordinates or, search for "only those caches with TB's" or "exclude micros". After running a PQ, I then upload all the waypoints electronically to my GPS'rs(3 of them) in seconds! I then upload the cache pages into my PDA. No more waiting to print ---each ---individual ---page ---out!

     

    You can read about Premium Membership here. It's only $3.00 per month, even less ($2.50/month) if you opt to 'take the plunge' and opt for an annual membership. It well worth the money, IMHO. (just make certain to read the whole page; WHY they put the 'enter your number here' at the top of the page is beyond me) Oh, there are 2 unfound caches within 12 miles of California and S. Arroyo in Pasadena. GCJH15 and GCK7WA, in case you are interested. There are also 30 unfound caches within a 100 mile radius and 229 total caches within ten miles of that intersection. You've got your work cut out for you. :D

     

    :D WELCOME TO THE ADDICTION! :blink:

    Meridian Color

    in How do I...?

    Posted

    Almost certainly your problem is with the Baud Rate setting. EasyGPS requires 4800, your meridian is probably set to 9600.

    And in case you're wondering what that means, baud rate is the speed at which your GPSr communicates with the computer it's hooked up to. GSAK allows speeds with the Meridian of 115200, but my copy of Mapsend topo only goes to 19200. In any case, the problem is probably with the baud rate, since you state that the other programs on your machine can communicate with the GPSr. If they couldn't then it would be a problem with the port you'd selected (COM1, COM2, etc.). If the baud rates don't match, the two will not talk to each other.

     

    In answer to your earlier question about NMEA, it stands for National Maritime Electronic Association. Why it interferes with uploading/downloading to the GPSr is beyond my ken, but it does need to be disabled.

    Multicache With 60cs

    in How do I...?

    Posted

    1. Is it common for the waypoint given in .gpx files to be a starting point and not the first waypoint in a multicache?

    The waypoint that shows up in a .GPX file is whatever is at the top of the cache page. Any other waypoints on that page must be entered into the GPSr manually. If you are going paperless then this isn't a major problem, usually, since the cache page is in your PDA.

     

    How close do you get before a GPSMAP 60CS says Arriving?

    I would suppose that depends on what you have your alarm distance set at. I can't quite afford a 60 or 76 unless I sell my other three receivers (eTrex camo, MeriGreen, MeriPlat), so I can't tell you how to do that. Perhaps there's a manual somewhere? :blink:

    Pip's Party

    in Midwest

    Posted

    The wife and I are -tentatively- planning on attending. It all boils down to whether or not I can take off work to come up there and whether or not we can get her Dad to watch the kids. We'll definitely have to get a hotel room, too. I'll try to keep updated as time flies by.

    How To Get A Gps Reciever Cheap!!!

    in GPS technology and devices

    Posted

    Yeah, I got my MeriPlat on eBay for $205. It's a great place to shop around, and if you have patience, you can score some really good deals occasionally. Here I thought you were going to say to buy a junk unit on eBay and have the manufacturer refurb it. Garmin has set prices for their refurbs, Magellan I'm not so sure about.

     

    BTW, Radio Shack has the Magellan SporTrak Map on clearance for $160something in my area...

    Jeep Contest

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    Well, the overnight mail never arrived at my door, so you know it isn't me!

     

    Seriously, though, unless the winner chooses to come forward here in the forums, I doubt that they will release the information. In order to get the list of winners, you have to send a S.A.S.E. to Jeep at this address by 12/31, and you won't get the results until February.

     

    I'm just hoping it's a Geocacher!

    Amway & Geocaching

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    I think the biggest difference between Geocaching and Scamway is that Geocaching actually works!

    Oh, c'mon now. I know quite a few people making money with Amway, especially since they introduced the web-based part. I got into it myself some years back, but just couldn't devote the time to take care of my downline. At the time, I had a hard time taking care of myself (PTSD). Actually, the total number of people in your downline to make "Diamond Direct" is 48, with each doing only 100 PV/BV (?) per month. (me-you 6-4-2)

     

    I'm sure you all wanted to know that. :unsure:

     

    In answer to the original question, I'm very wide, just not deep. :ph34r:

    Caches That Make You Go...hummm...

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    One of our locals took a 2x6 inch piece of magnetic tape, added some adhesive-backed numbers to the front, a piece of paper (for the log) to the back, and stuck the thing on a telephone junction box. He can check the cache from 500 feet away, because it's in plain view, but it takes most people quite a while to figure it out. As a hint, the numbers on the tape are the GC.com waypoint... :P

     

    Another area cacher owns/runs a business that provides voice mail to other companies. Finding the final stage requires calling the voice mail and getting messages about the next stage. The final is right outside the buildin where he works, so he can watch you look for it. :D

    New Error

    in Website

    Posted · Edited by E = Mc2

    On that note, what's a PQ? how can that help me with the need to print the cache pages?

     

    If it has to do with a PDA I don't have that, but I'm curious.

    Brian pretty much explained what you do with a PQ, but not what one is:

     

    Pocket Queries are basically searches of the site that are fully customizable (sp?). You can specify what type of cache, the cache size, who placed it, whether or not you've found it, if it contains TB's... ohhh, the list just goes on and on! They are the greatest thing since pull tab beer cans! If you are a premium member, try running some, but don't click on a day to generate. You can still run the search (preview) and see what you get. Basically, what a PQ does is allow you to tailor which caches you wish to search for and where you wish to look. The file you get from the query contains all the information that is on the cache page, so you can do all manner of things with that information.

     

    You receive the PQ as a file in your email (usually takes a couple of minutes) which you can then run through the various programs that Brian talked about. I use the "Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK) myself. With GSAK, I can then upload the coordinates (and notes!) directly to any reciever, and load the cache pages directly to my PDA (Color 16MB for $70), and view the waypoints in Mapsend. I've not tried Cachemate, so I can't speak of it personally, but I've heard good things about it. GSAK does everything I need it for.

     

    As far as going paperless is concerned: when I was on vacation last March, my father and I went caching. One day, we went to Columbia, SC; the next day, Beaufort and Savannah. It took maybe fifteen minutes a day for me to create and run a query and load 500 waypoints to FOUR GPSr's and then load the cache pages to my PDA. How long would that take if you printed the pages and manually entered the coordinates???

    Jeep Contest

    in General geocaching topics

    Posted

    I'm not sure how privacy works with announcing winners, but I'll check with Jeep and Rodale.

    The Official Rules state in part, that "Grand Prize winners will be notified by overnight mail, and will be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility & Liability and, unless prohibited, a Publicity Release within 14 days of date printed on notification."

     

    They also go on to say "For a list of winners (available by 2/28/05) send a self-addressed, stamped, envelope by 12/31/04 to: Jeep 4x4 Cache-In Adventure Sweepstakes Winners, c/o Rodale Inc., 733 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017."

     

    I'm just sitting here waiting for the 'overnight mailman' to arrive at my door. Should be tomorrow, all things considered, since I don't know of any type of overnight mail that picks up on Sunday...

     

    Let's just hope it's a cacher! (it'll figure, some grandma in Bugtussle, OK who just happened to see the ad in 'Cycling' will win the darned thing)

    Travel Bugs

    in How do I...?

    Posted · Edited by E = Mc2

    Ah, so what you're saying n0wae, is that "grabbing" for grabbing's sake isn't condoned.

     

    Correct.

     

    But handy for when you happen to know the TB# and know that somebody is sitting on a TB and not moving it.

     

    Not exactly. The reasons for "Grabbing" a TB are:

     

    1) You've found it in a cache that it was never logged into. I've made the mistake, myself, of logging a bug into the wrong cache and not realizing it until later. By the time I realized it, I no longer had the bug number. The next person to find the bug "Grabbed" it. This put it in their possesion, and removed it from the cache I'd logged (versus placed) it into.

     

    2) You received it from another cacher. Say someone picks it up and then for whatever reason, can't move it on. They hand it to you and you "Grab" it from them.

     

    3) It's a new travel bug that hasn't been released into the wild yet, and you receive it at an event (as a prize) or from another cacher who wants it to start out far from their home...

     

    Then the "grabbing" is just a matter of you taking it virtually through the gc site in order to fully complete both the electronic and the physical transfer.

     

    BINGO! "Grabbing a TB puts it into your possesion on the site so it can be tracked correctly.

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