Langy
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Posts posted by Langy
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The Trails Map is listed as using Open Source data.
When you search on this the only source I can find is the Open Street Map website. I've used this in the past to add in new paths for when I used my GPSr rather than the mobile which I now use these days.
I was out caching last night and the Trails Map had no sign of the footpath I needed to go on. When I checked another map that uses the Open Street Map the pathway was clearly marked on there.
Does anyone know how / where the source data is coming from on the Trails Map?
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I’ve tested this on both my iPhone 12 and iPad which has a SIM card in it.
Following any instructions I’ve found I’ve downloaded and refreshed a couple of lists (even tested this on a small list of 14 caches close to each other). When the download is complete I get the green tick showing that everything has downloaded.
When I put the device into airplane mode and switch off the WI-FI select to view the list on maps it doesn’t matter how much you zoom in or out you never get a map displayed. I’ve selected the premium trails map which should be the one that gets downloaded.
Can someone please fix this as at times it is required, especially as to how slow it is to view these maps when you are connected. I’m guessing that’s down to bandwidth restrictions on the server providing the maps.
Langy
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I’ve also got this issue on my iPhone 12.
Another issue is that the offline maps don’t work. I’ve downloaded a list and refreshed it, even left it a while. Switch the phone to airplane mode and no sign of a map at all.
As mentioned this is a premium feature which I recently upgraded for this among other things so it would be nice if it worked!🤔
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I don't think there is an option to scroll the map as you travel on the live version. Android still has the better app overall.
I've since upgraded to premium, only because I bought an etrex20. No phone app i have found works as well as something like the etrex20.
Another drawback I've found with the live version is downloading the PQs. On the live version it takes a very long time even over wifi and often doesn't finish. I can copy several thousands caches with waypoints, logs and descriptions to the etrex in a matter of minutes.
langy
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I decided to revisit Haweswater today to do a new mini series which was right where I wanted to walk.
Now I was in that area back in October last year where I did a walk that went Selside Pike, High Howes, Branstree and Harter Fell. I'm sure there were around 5 caches on that route that were all found and logged.
It wasn't until today when I was logging the visits that I had found today that when I looked at the map there are no signs of the caches on the map and looking at the caches I've logged they don't appear.
I did a search for Harter Fell which now shows as the CO changing this to a premium member cache.
Anyone any ideas why they don't show up for me? I became a premium member about a month ago.
Surely if I logged them when I was a basic member the log should still be exist and I should still be able to see the cache.
Will this of had any effect on my number of finds?
I'm not speculating but it's almost like my logs have been deleted and any map or general search blocks the caches from me. I'm sure there is a simple explanation of what has happened.
Code for the Harter Fell cache is GCX7NH
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Thanks
That's cleared a lot up.
Hopefully one last question which will relate to the settings on the GPSr.
A route is created in a straight line from A to B to C
How do changing settings on the route (on the GPSr settings/route) alter how it acts?
i.e. is there a set of settings that forces the GPSr to always go to A then B & C or always head to the next nearest point on the route and continue or maybe start at a certain point on the route?
Just thinking of different scenarios.
For example on a Zig Zag walk (Z shape walk) the starting point 1 could be closer to point 3 than it is to 2. If starting the route the GPPSr could see that you are past point 1 and point 3 is closer than point 2, therefore head to point 3.
Sorry for so many questions but I'm trying to work out the detailed little changes in the settings on how they work.
Paul
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Thanks for the quick replies, however I think I need to add some more information to get some more details.
I already have BaseCamp which I use on my work PC and the laptop at home. All devices also have the latest TalkyToaster UK maps so I'm down to footpath level.
I'll have a look into GSAK to manage all the PQ's though so thanks for that.
Here is what I currently do......
- View the website for where I want to go and have a plan in my head.
- On the day / trip I will navigate to the cache in one of the following ways
- Browse the Map section for the cache, click on it and Go
- Find the cache in the Geocaches section and click Go
- I will then flip between Map and Compass to get to GZ
- Whilst on route or at GZ I will often click on Geocaches and view the Hint or Logs to help find it.
- When I find or DNF I then select the Gepocaches again and select Log It to mark it off.
- I will then repeat the processes above to navigate to the next cache
Now what I would like to do is cut out a lot of what I do above.
However I would like the GPSr on a Route to
- Go to the selected cache until I tell it to move on.
- Be able to view the Cache Logs and Hints easily
- Log it on the GPSr before it moves to the next cache on the route
Now I'm not sure if all that can easily be done, but I also suspect that I may have to have specific settings set on the GPSr Setup / Routing for anything like that to work properly.
Paul
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Hello
Before I start I'll just point out something that I've found out with downloading the Pocket Queries in case someone else has the issue.
I have around 7 Pocket Queries setup on the site and these all run over two days. Initially they ran and installed correctly until one day I downloaded them all and copied them all at once to the GPSr. To my surprise when I went to use it the next day there were on Geocaches showing at all. To work around this I've found that if I downloaded and copy each one at a time, start up the unit so it processes the file, reconnect and do the next, repeating this process until all are complete. I now have several thousand caches stored on the GPS mostly covering Cumbria and across a wide band from Carlisle to Newcastle and it all works well installing them this way.
Just thought that might be of interest to someone,
Anyway the point of my post was to ask a question on the GPSr to see if something is possible.
What I would like to do is create a route or something similar so that I can work with the steps below. Not sure if all this will be possible so any help most appreciated.
- Create Route / Track on PC linking up a selection of caches to visit. An example may be to create a long list of drive by caches so that I can go to them all without wasting time finding each one on the GPSr.
- Download route to GPSr ready for use.
- On the day follow the route to each cache
- When the cache is found (or the dreaded DNF) mark as found on the GPSr and then go to the next one.
I would like to try and use the GPSr totally paperless and have that predefined route in place so that I can navigate and find each cache before heading on to the next one without having to remember which one I wanted to visit next.
Hope what I'm after is clear, I guess something similar must be possible even if it means flipping between settings etc a bit on the go.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Paul
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I think as most people have mentioned the Pocket Queries are the best think about being a premium member.
During the last year I have toyed about upgrading to a Premium Member, even after just recently changing phones from an Android to Samsung to an HTC Windows 8 Phone I still wasn't going to upgrade as I was able to get all the data I needed and stored on the phone before I left home quite quickly. The turning point for me was when I upgraded from my eTrex H to an eTrex 20. With the eTrex 20 I can simply copy over the GPX file generated by the pocket query and I have all the cache details I need. It still requires planning but is far quicker and easier for me when using a proper GPSr. If you just use a phone then it is possible to use free programs and download all the caches you want.
Also as mentioned the notification of new caches is also nice, along with the premium member caches. Before I moved to Cumbria from Suffolk there were a set of Premium member caches that I couldn't do. Now since I've upgraded to Premium last week I got a notification of a new cache (which was also a Premium member cache) when I got to work in the morning. Lunchtime I was out and got the FTF. Only my second FTF in the first 250 finds I've had.
It's not a lot of money each year if you are serious about the hobby, if you only plan to do it a few times a year then I'd go to the manual planning side.
Paul
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Yes I've noticed that it likes to take you down the sort of roads you wouldn't normally go down.
If I was still living in Suffolk I'm sure I'd have seen lots of roads with grass down the middle, done that plenty of time with a Caravan on the back of the car following a sat nav.
Thanks for the help.
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Thanks for the reply.
Initially I was trying to create a route for drive by caches. Happy to stop and change navigation as I reach each one and then start the route off again where hoping as I pass the cache it jumps to the next one.
I will also require the walking routing that I mentioned to start with, allowing me to walk near by a waypoint where the GPSr then realizes I've gone past it to point to the next waypoint.
Paul
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It's a setting you're missing
You want Setup>Routing>Off road transitions. Yours must be set on manual, choose one of the others depending on what you want. I have mine set to auto.
No I have the following settings for Routing....
Guidance Method: Off Road
Calculate Routes for: Car / Motorcycle
Lock On Road: No
Off Road Transistions: Auto
Avoidance Setup: Road Features
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Only had the eTrex 20 since Saturday and loving it. With the free UK maps from TalkToaster and then being able to update these for everyone on the openmapsource website is just great.
I have a question regarding using the eTrex 20 and routes.
On my older eTrex H when you created a route the GPSr would always head for the next available waypoint along the route (based on if which way of the routing you had told it to go to). This was ideal as you could create a walk and if you had the coordinates out slightly when you had reached near the waypoint and was then closer to the next one the GPSr would automatically give the new heading.
I played with a route yesterday to start at work and visit 3 caches and then return to work. Using to Where To on the eTrex 20 I selected the route. Even though I had left work it constantly tried to route me back to work before it would go to the next waypoint.
Is there a setting I'm missing somewhere? Will I need to edit the route as I travel and delete the waypoints from it as I reach / pass them if they are not actually hit on the route?
Thanks in advance.
Paul
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Found a sports shop in Ambleside that was slightly cheaper, even though it wasn't exactly the same package (OS voucher included) they price matched and knocked off 10%.
Now to try and download maps and install software,
Many thanks for everyones help.
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Many thanks for the screen shots, looks just what I'm after.
Hopefully last question, how easy is it to get cache details into the eTrex 20 based on caches from Geocaching.com if you are not a premium member?
Happy to do a bit of copy and paste between applications if I can get detail in.
Will be off to Go Outdoors this morning to buy one!
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Can someone give me some details about mapping on the eTrex 20?
I would like to be able to see footpaths and I'm sure there are plenty of free maps out there.
Will the free www.talkytoaster.co.ukUK maps be the best option?
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Hunted high and low and unable to find the cable, now thinking it was the older GPS that had the cable.
I've found a few sites to build a cable, but now the laptop I'm using at the moment doesn't have an RS232 socket.
So now looking again at the new GPS options. Looked at the eTrex 20 and it looks very good, so shopping around to see how cheap I can get it and ideally pay through PayPal.
If I'm paying three figures I'd like to get something that I want to keep for life and not upgrade for a very long time.
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Thanks for the quick reply. I didn't think that you could upload / download anything on the basic eTrex apart from software updates.
Just done a Google and found the Easy GPS software, this may take my experience to another level straight away, now where did I put the cable?
Not going to be easy as I moved a year ago and it's in a box somewhere.I think if I can enter the coordinates from my laptop etc first it's going to make using the GPS far more enjoyable.
I usually let the kids have the eTrex if they come out with me, and I know you have to learn how it behaves, as I've often found in my own hands that it takes me to the right spot. However these last few days on two caches we visited it was a bit out. The first was 100+ feet away from my phone and the true GZ, second was wrong side of a road. I did recheck the coordinates on them. The difference may well have been satellite coverage as when I have them in hand they usually get the best exposure, ie dashboard when driving etc.
The only reason I asked about the maps was for walking purposes in the Lake District. I usually use the eTrex, get all the coordinates off Geocaching.com for where the footpaths change direction and plot them all in. Then on the day of the walk start of a route and use it for backup, making sure I go where I should and don't get lost.
Paul
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Hello
A few GPS related questions too which may help some others on the answers.
Some history first.
I started seriously by buying a Garmin GPS 38 last year from eBay for under £15 delivered. This was initially to be used for walking in the Lake District as I was about to move form one end of the country to the other. With using it for Geocaching, it got me in to the hobby and I started searching for more. The battery life was pretty poor with using 4 AA batteries only lasting a few hours. The lock on time was a little slow but when you know how to use it I found was pretty accurate, in some cases it been better than my current GPS.
After a few months I upgraded to the basic Garmin eTrex (yellow one), which with only taking 2AA batteries the charge lasted for more hours per battery change, ideal you can go out for a very long time and maybe not need to change the batteries, but if you do it's only two which are easier to carry. The speed and accuracy were also better. Cost again around £50 from eBay.
Today I use a mixture of the eTrex along with a mobile. In the past I had a Samsung Mini 2 and now been given the HTC X8 Windows Phone. Not sure how long I will have this as I'm awaiting the go ahead to roll these out to all our sales staff. If that doesn't go ahead it may be a change of phone again.
Questions:
Is there much difference between the accuracy of GPS devices?
If so is this down to the number of satellites they lock on to or is there a step up in models where things become far more accurate?
What I'm Looking For
So here is a list of the things I'd really like from a GPS, it would be nice if people could fire some models back for which cover all or some of these features.
Maps:
It would be nice to have a mapping solution included, if maps are to be included then they need to be down to footpath level in the UK otherwise I might as well just use the phone for mapping.
Free map solutions for the above. If it means using software to download and install the latest map for a region then that is fine.
Accuracy
How much further up the model list do you need to go to have a more noticeable accuracy than the eTrex?
Which models work better in the poorer signal areas like tree cover?
Inputting Data
None of the GPS's I have have the capability of entering the coordinates from a computer. I would like options to either download them direct from the geocaching site or at the moment as I'm a basic member using a free third party software that will allow them to be input into a GPS.
I know that the price ranges will go right up but I'm on a budget of only spending what I really have to, therefore if models are listed that only have some of the required features it may be that I end up going for them based on cost.
Normally with expensive items I prefer to buy new, but with a source of funds in my PayPal account would consider good items from eBay.
Thanks in advance.
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History
I've been using a Samsung Mini 2 for about a year now which is an Android phone. For geocaching and walking I have an eTrex but also used the mobile. The app I used on there was c:geo which is a free app. It still has issues in not always showing all the caches but had a lot of good feature like storing for offline use etc so it was quicker to flip between the caches etc. Especially at the weekend there is a local series of 48 caches. I stored them all (even though we only did one loop half the caches) but it was only those that were shown on the map with all their data.
A couple of days ago I was sent the HTC 8X to test on the data side to see if we will issue it for our sales staff. The first thing after I got my two email accounts setup was to search for all the equivalent apps that I had on the Android. Now for those people who have experience of Android devices you will know that often one app will work on one device like my phone can run the Met Office app, but my tablet which is a newer Android build will not run that app. So knowing that Windows 8 doesn't have such an extensive app store I knew there were going to be several apps that are not available, like I'm struggling to find an app to control my wireless web cam that is broadcasting through the web.
I found this post and then decided I would try the two apps that were mentioned Geocaching Live and Geocaching Plus. I opted for the Live first as this was coming from the main site. First impressions I thought it was pretty good. That was until I got the message that only a basic member could download 3 caches every 24 hours. Now you can call me a skin flint if you like but I've thought about upgrading to a premium member and will do so when there is something extra that I want from the website. I will not be doing it for an app, especially if I end up going back to the Android in a few weeks. This quickly meant I had to install the Plus version. This also worked well. There are some minor differences between the two apps, the main being the different types of maps and the compass view. I've just been out lunchtime to test both of the apps. I decided to use the Plus first as it was fully free for all that I needed. It took me straight to GZ and was about 20 feet out. However it was partial tree cover and whilst standing still I flipped to the Live for a measurement to compare them both. The difference was 2 feet which considering the tree cover and flipping between apps was probably about the same as each other. I would be surprised if both apps reported different locations as they will both be using the same GPS device to record their current position.
So the end result is that Plus works very well for a basic member, I was able to log my visit whilst there and had all the information on the cache at hand whilst out in the field. The Live version is suited for premium members. However even as a basic member I would still have both installed as it's nice to flip between both for the maps. You can use either to navigate but after 3 downloads as a basic member you will have to rely on Plus for the cache info.
Two reasonably good apps as free versions for geocaching, I need to do further testing on their extra features to see which I prefer but for on the fly out in the field the Plus is the main use with the Live as a backup.
I still miss my Android apps especially as you can get a free app for almost anything that you may want.
Paul
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Firstly apologies to Drew and Kaz, I didn't mean any offence by the original post.
However as the original post went was that I had noticed the tag gong to several caches with the same catcher. I simply asked for people to look at the logs and give some advice. It was explained what was happening and I was happy with the advice.
As far as I was concerned the matter was resolved, no need to contact anyone, especially when I see that no one had held on to the tag for long.
Again apologies if this has caused anyone any harm, I was simply after advice which is what I thought the forums were for.
Langy
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OK I didn't realise that this was how it worked.
I've read posts in the past where someone was using the reference for trackables to log as many as possible.
I guess that they only get the one entry as finding the trackable but giving a history of where they have gone with it.
Just thought that the point was to pick one up and then drop it at another location.
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Looking at the log it seems that people pick them up, keep hold of the trackable and just post it as visiting a cache everytime they visit one.
I suppose that's one way of increasing your trackable count.
My way of thinking is that the only logs on a trackable should show one person picking it up and dropping it off at another cache allowing the next person to pick it up and drop it at another cache again.
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Hello Everyone
I started of a trackable (just dog tags) last year and seem to be getting a lot of log entries on it from the same user ID.
Hopefully this link will take you to the page Travel Bug Dog Tags but the reference for this is TB55PBV.
Now as much as I want it to travel all around the English Counties it seems that one person is holding it and logging it at every cache.
Perhaps someone can take a look at the log for the trackable and give some advice please.
Paul
Is there a setting I'm missing somewhere? Will I need to edit the route as I travel and delete the waypoints from it as I reach / pass them if they are not actually hit on the route?
Not going to be easy as I moved a year ago and it's in a box somewhere.
Trails Map - What Data Source
in Official Geocaching® apps
Posted
Thank you Viajero, that's good to hear.
The Geocaching Map lists the map as "Trails Premium Open-Source street and trails maps that you can download and use offline"
As the only search result I found on Open Source maps was the Open Street Maps I have took it that was the source.
I'm surprised that they only update these 2-3 times a year as there are changes being applied to these maps daily and do make a world of difference.