JeremyA

Uraca - In CMConvert, whilst you can't select the caches that you want to delete, you CAN select only the caches that you want to keep (thereby deleting the ones that you don't want). Cmconvert on the command-line has relatively good filtering abilities (GSAK uses cmconvert to do its conversions too) and the last time I tried the windows GUI there seemed to be access to most of the filtering options there too. The makers of cachemate (Smittyware) have a forum on their website which is probably a better place than here to get the answers that you want. JeremyA

I too have always found the 4 character search limit annoying. In particular it makes searching these forums for posts relating to the use of Apple Macintosh computers in geocaching very difficult - Why? well because very few people put the words 'Apple Macintosh' in their post, they usually just put 'Mac'. JeremyA

Trogdor2 - This webpage is by no means comprehensive or complete but it might give you some pointers for using your Mac for geocaching: http://www.jfatherton.co.uk/MacCMConvert/geomac.html JeremyA

The Garmin software won't work with Macs (except for with Virtual PC), but there is plenty on Mac software out there that happily communicates with Garmin units via the serial connection. The only things that you can't (currently) do without resorting to Virtual PC is upload new maps to your GPSr and use the USB connection... It looks like gpsbabel will soon solve the USB issues, however I think that hell will freeze over before Garmin writes software to allow Mac users to upload maps to their units. But then I have always found the base-map that comes with the GPSr perfectly adequate for what I do with it. Try searching for GPS at VersionTracker to see a selection of the available software. JeremyA

You can find the answer here. JeremyA

Yes, such a good idea that the author of Cachemate has already done it JeremyA

If you save from excel as a csv file, gpsbabel should be able to convert it to almost any format you can think of. For doing things like this in gpsbabel there is quite a steep learning curve but they have a very helpful mailing list whose members will give you answers to any questions that you may have. JeremyA

For upload/download of waypoints and tracks you might try gpsbabel. If you download the version called MacGPSBabel you will get the front-end that I wrote for it - nothing fancy but it does the job. Once I have waypoints/tracks on my Mac I use either Terrabrowser or GPS Visualizer. At one time I started a web page detailing options for using a GPSr and a Mac. I never finished it but some people have found it useful. You can view it at http://www.jfatherton.co.uk/MacCMConvert/geomac.html. JeremyA

Scratch everything that I wrote above: I decided that adding smart names to the MacGPSBabel GUI would be quite easy so, as I have lots to procrastinate about today, I did it. Email me and I will send you a version of MacGPSBabel that has the smart names feature. JeremyA

You're not missing something - MacGPSBabel is! I haven't enabled smart names in the MacGPSBabel GUI yet - it's on the to do list. --- EDIT--- Forget all the stuff that I wrote here - I fixed it, see message below ------------ JeremyA

Once you have downloaded datasheets from the NGS and used bmgpx to convert to a GPX file, they can easily be transferred to a Palm OS device using CacheMate. JeremyA

From your photos I take the reverse to be true: RD0386_MARKER: DH = HORIZONTAL CONTROL DISK RD0386_SETTING: 7 = SET IN TOP OF CONCRETE MONUMENT RD0386_STAMPING: HILLSBORO 1962 RD0386_MARK LOGO: CGS DF5628_MARKER: DH = HORIZONTAL CONTROL DISK DF5628_SETTING: 7 = SET IN TOP OF CONCRETE MONUMENT DF5628_STAMPING: HILLSBORO 1962 1975 DF5628_MARK LOGO: NGS The disk in your photo is an NGS disk stamped HILSBORO 1962 1975 so surely this is DF5628 (HILLSBORO RESET) and not RD0386 (HILLSBORO). JeremyA

I have two pretty bad newbie goofs - but they were a year ago so I'm not quite so embarrassed any more. When I first discovered the benchmarking section of the geocaching site I decided to give it a go, so I picked a disk that was close by and set off to look for it. Not knowing anything about triangulation stations and reference/azimuth marks, the disk that I chose was one called FRONT RM 2. I found this very easily and went home pleased with myself (it was very close to my apartment). So I decided to have another go, I looked at the website and was amazed to find a station called FRONT. So I set off to find this one - now, not only was it on the same wall as FRONT RM 2, not only was it only about 10 feet away from FRONT RM 2, it was also marked with a bright orange witness post, which I would have to have walked past to get to RM2. How I missed it one my first visit I will never know but I was so embarrassed that I made sure that my photos in the logs don't show the close proximity of the two marks. As if that wasn't enough to send me running to the opticians, two weeks later I went looking for FF0341 which is designated F 261. I looked for ages, I was looking at the sidewalk and at the various walls around about but I couldn't find it. So I decided to take a few pictures of the area and log a 'not found' along with the pictures. It was only whilst preparing the pictures for my log that I noticed the orange paint on the wall with letters nearly a foot high saying 'F 261'! The disk was behind the wall - I hadn't looked there because there was a large drop which I had assumed was shear, but in fact there is a ledge which has the disk on it. At that point I should have decided that maybe this hobby wasn't for me. But after that poor start I think that I have got a lot better now. JeremyA

Of course, as the unit it in French, you should follow the previous posters instructions but looking for 'Menu principal', 'Paramétrage', 'Système', and 'Langue' in that order. JeremyA

I have a bookmarklet that does a similar thing: javascript:BmURL=document.URL;theLength=BmURL.length;Bm=BmURL.substring(theLength-6,theLength);location.href='http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox='+Bm It's tailored to Apple's Safari web browser but it could probably be altered to work in other browsers. Set up a bookmark for anything, change the target to the above code, then whilst viewing a benchmark on the geocaching site click the bookmark and you will be taken to the datasheet for that PID at the NGS site. JeremyA

I have a similar set-up (Powerbook G4 and Garmin eTrex Legend). I connect the two using an IOGear USB to serial adapter (IOGear Model #: GUC232A), there are a number of other companies (e.g. Keyspan) that make similar adapters that will also work fine. In addition to the software recommended above (I usually use GPSBabel for upload/download of files) I would recommend Terrabrowser and the GPS Visualizer website. JeremyA

On a recent trip home to England I visited the Greenwich Observatory in London for the first time. At the observatory I found the following bench mark, however I was a little disappointed by my GPS unit: For those that don't know, Greenwich is where the prime meridian for longitude was established. I had the geeky idea to photograph my GPSr on the meridian showing 0.00 latitude. So I was surprised to find that my GPSr zeroed out about 300 feet east of the meridian. I had a clear view of the sky and my GPSr was showing around 17 feet estimated accuracy. It was only a little later that I realised that I still had my GPSr set to the WGS84 datum. When I switched it to the British Ordnance Survey datum everything was fine. So my question is this - is WGS84 really 300 feet off with respect to the prime meridian or was my GPS unit playing tricks on me? Foolishly perhaps, whilst realising that there are differences between the different datums, I had assumed that they would all zero out in the same place: on the equator for north/south, and at the prime meridian for east/west. thanks, JeremyA

Here's one I found recently in Normandy. I found a few British benchmarks and trig points on my travels too. JeremyA

Cachemate is definitely a good investment for getting PQs from your Mac onto your Clie. If you prefer a freeware option it is possible to use the Spinner/Plucker method that many of the PC users use. There are a number of Mac OS X applications that will get the waypoints from your Mac to your Magellan. GPSBabel is my weapon of choice (I use a Garmin though), there is also Magellan Waypoint Manager, and MacGPS Pro. I wrote the Mac front-ends for Cachemate's CMConvert and GPSBabel and so I would be happy to provide any assistance you need if you choose to use either of these apps. JeremyA

I might be wrong, but I don't think that there are currently cables available to connect PalmOne's Zire models to a Garmin eTrex. I have a Tungsten T and that can connect to my Legend through its universal connecter - for some reason PalmOne decided not to include the universal connector in the Zire line (except perhaps the Zire 71). JeremyA

I don't know if this is what you want, but you could replicate the functions of a toolbar using bookmarklets The following work for me, but I am using a Mac and the Safari web browser: Search by waypoint: javascript:inText=window.getSelection();if(!inText){void(inText=prompt('Waypoint...',''))};if(inText){void(window.open('http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp='+escape(inText),'_blank',''))} Search by zip code: javascript:inText=window.getSelection();if(!inText){void(inText=prompt('Zip...',''))};if(inText){void(window.open('http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?zip='+escape(inText),'_blank',''))} I think that these, if modified as follows, will work in Internet Explorer: Search by waypoint: javascript:Qr=document.getSelection();if(!Qr)%7Bvoid(Qr=prompt('Waypoint...',''))%7D;if(Qr)location.href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp='+escape(Qr) Search by zip code: javascript:Qr=document.getSelection();if(!Qr)%7Bvoid(Qr=prompt('Zip...',''))%7D;if(Qr)location.href='http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?zip='+escape(Qr) To make a bookmarklet, just make a regular bookmark, put it in your bookmarks bar, and add the above code instead of a regular URL (http://... etc). JeremyA

I would suggest that you just log what you found and let it be. I once had the opposite situation: I found a triangulation station which people had been logging as if it were the RM1 disk (this was back in the days of the confusing skulls). I decided not to contact the previous 'finders', but instead to just log the triangulation station and post a not found on the reference mark. I was quite pleased later to see that one of the previous finders changed their log to agree with me, so I felt that that strategy had worked. JeremyA

Have you tried the Windows GUI for gpsbabel? There are many more missing features there. Because it was written as a command-line program, there are many features of gpsbabel that would be very difficult to implement in a GUI. I suspect that you will never see a GUI that implements 100% of the features of the command-line version of gpsbabel. What undocumented features? I programmed all of the features of MacGPSBabel and as far as I am aware I documented them all. A debug mode is not a feature it is a debug mode. It is intended for developers, and if you d/l the sourcecode (freely available at sourceforge) you will find a file called README.MacGPSBabel that includes instructions to developers as to using the debug mode. I am not aware of any software houses that publish details of how to debug their applications. For me, the idea of having a debug mode came from Apple's own Safari browser - please show me where they document the method for enabling the debug mode in that app. Granted, if you want to use gpsbabel from the command-line you are going to have to work out how to use the terminal. However, I believe the situation for Mac users now is much improved over what it was when I first found gpsbabel a little over six months ago. At that time, if you wanted to use gpsbabel on a Mac you first had to download, compile and install a set of libraries called expat, then you had to download, compile and install gpsbabel itself (of course, that is assuming that you had first installed Apples developer tools and you know how to compile C programs). My intent in building a GUI was to make this multi-step process into a single step (download MacGPSBabel). If, in doing so I have actually made life more difficult then perhaps I have wasted my effort. JeremyA

Running gpsbabel from the command-line is not a feature of MacGPSBabel. MacGPSBabel is a GUI plain and simple. MacGPSBabel and gpsbabel are, in fact, two different programs. What MacGPSBabel does is assemble a shell script which is then sent to gpsbabel. Gpsbabel then does all of the hard work in converting one file to another. To do this MacGPSBabel needs to know where gpsbabel is. As I decided that it was desirable for MacGPSBabel to work 'out-of-the-box', the simplest way to do this was to embed gpsbabel within the MacGPSBabel application. Therefore moving gpsbabel out of MacGPSBabel will break it - unless you go into the Applescript and tell MacGPSBabel where you put the gpsbabel binary. However, copying the gpsbabel binary to another place can be done as simple as copying any other file, and will not break MacGPSBabel. The underlying assumption is that anyone who wants the more advanced features of gpsbabel, and is able to understand how to run gpsbabel from the command-line, would also be able to do one of the options that has been suggested in the previous replies, i.e. set up a path, set up a symbolic link, or just copy the binary from one folder to another. As Robert has said, perhaps also having a binary download of gpsbabel available on the sourceforge site would be a solution. But as this file would be exactly the same file as the one that is already found in MacGPSBabel, I don't know how this would help you. JeremyA

They do, its just that it is inside MacGPSBabel (Mac OS X applications are actually folders full of files). In the terminal do: cd <path to MacGPSBabel>/MacGPSBabel.app/Contents/Resources So if MacGPSBabel was on your desktop you would type: cd ~/Desktop/MacGPSBabel.app/Contents/Resources then do 'ls' and you will see the binary in this directory. If you want to see the compiled gpsbabel binary in the finder, just right-click (or control-click for a single-button mouse) on the MacGPSBabel icon and select 'show package contents'. Then double-click on the 'Contents' folder and then on the 'Resources' folder. You can copy the binary to somewhere that is in your path (e.g. /usr/local/bin) and then have command-line access from the terminal in exactly the same way as you would have if you had built it yourself. JeremyA