Hynr
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Posts posted by Hynr
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I don't think this was the issue. I created a log and right away noticed that I forgot to drop a TB. The edit button was greyed out. I have done this at times before and I never had any problems.
Just now I noticed that it is now fixed and I can edit my logs again. Thanks.
I would say that being able to edit a log is a feature that should not disappear. I have created logs where I inadvertently said things I should not have said (or just included embarassing typos). It seems that I have always been able to edit these even weeks after the log was created. Maybe I don't understand the techincal issue here.
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After I create a log at a cachepage to document a find I cannot seem to go back to edit it. My only recours is to completely delete it and start from scratch.
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OK. got avatar selected .... but it is not showing up when I post to the forum. I logged out both at the forum and at GC, and then logged back in.
Also, I don't care of the "tadpole" moniker; how do I get rid of that insult?
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I am using GSAK to maintain my team's gpx data and it would help me for the file name to be the name of the query. That would help in getting the right data into the right database in GSAK, as well as in managing the attachment folder of my e-mail. It's not a really big deal, but it would be nice.
There is no need to have the names unique because e-mail clients automatically make attachements unique. But if some sort of number is appended, then I would rather have that be the number of times the query has run (or the day of the year of the run).
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proplem appears to be solved as I was able to set one up just now
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I've finally decided to create an avitar, but now the server won't accept it. I find the place where it let's me select the up-loaded image, I select it and then a button appears to "Select Avatar". When I do I get the following mumbo jumbo:
Server Error in '/' Application.
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UPDATE failed because the following SET options have incorrect settings: 'ARITHABORT'.
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.
Exception Details: System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: UPDATE failed because the following SET options have incorrect settings: 'ARITHABORT'.
Source Error:
An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.
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If there is 4 gig of RAM in the system, how much of it is being used to cache the database and its index files. Is there a way to get a dedicated cache for just those files?
Another way to address this issue is to see if there is a way to have less data transfer per user action. If we assume that the most common user action is the pulling up a single web page, then perhaps there is stuff on that web page that could be omitted. I notice that there are two maps on each cache page and I never ever look at one of them (the little one). Typically just under 2000 bytes. I wouldn’t even notice if you dropped that. Replace the yellow and green graphic stars (168 and 164 bytes respectively) with simple asterisk characters (1 byte each; and maybe 15 bytes more for the html code to make it colorful). I see other icons on that screen that can be eliminated/replaced as well. I know that you want to have a snazzy looking page, but I think it could be leaner.
Another common request is the “My Cache Page” listing. Give us more options to turn stuff off (e.g. I can live without the calendar display; most of the time I don’t even see the bottom 80% of that page (cache finds from a month ago) - give us a setting to show the last Y number of finds or just the last 10 days rather than 30 days. Suddenly there is 66% less stuff to look up in the database, and 66% less stuff to transmit to us.
The listing of caches (“Filter Finds” for instance) seems quite lean to me. I think it is very well done as it is, without any undue graphic glitz. Here I only wonder what database access occurred to make it happen and whether all the implied database look-up happened for the pages that are not displayed. I hope not. I’d hate to think that every time I run that page, the search engine goes and reads all 4216 records which it claims to have “found” as a result of my query. I’m going to assume it ain’t so; if it is in fact doing all that work, just to show me 25 records, then there is another place where some efficiencies could be generated.
I would also like to suggest that we get some sort of off-line mechanism for logging caches. If we could do all the work off-line, and transmit them in one batch, then that would save tons of server activity.
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I did this very thing a few weeks ago. I manage my pocketquery info with GSAK. I used a filter that selects all the caches in the area I was interested in and exported these waypoints to a file for Street Atlas (GSAK has that feature for several mapping products); then loaded that into Street Atlas. Now the really cool part: I set up the laptop in my car and hooked up my Garmin Etrex with the serial cable that I normally use for filling it with waypoints. Then I had to do some fiddling with settings on the GPS and the Street Atlas software, but I got it to work where I had an arrow showing my location and direction, and all the waypoints that I had loaded into the map. All this worked because my daughter was driving; I would certainly have had a wreck if I had tried that while driving.
But as cool as it was, I have not done it since. The reason: in daylight in the car the screen on the laptop is nearly impossible to see.
Also, I have another toy: the Garmin iQue, which does all this and more without any of the obscurity. But if I did not have that, I probably would put up with drawbacks of the PC and set it up. Moving maps with caches on them are VERY cool!
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I hate to state the obvious here, especially where caching seems to be everybody’s expertise,... but maybe the solution is to buy a couple of gigs of RAM and cache the whole db? I guess one obvious part about it is that it would be expensive. Is that the only limitation?
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I have to add my 10c..
With Cachemate the iQue is a formidable caching machine.
I download my pocketqueries use cmconvert to add them to the Que, this is painless and takes seconds.
The only drawback to the Que as far as I can see is that it isn't waterproof. But then neither am I.
-S.
I concur - it is very powerful. And I would not trade mine. I just downloaded cachemate and agree that that streamlines things to the point where one does not need to have computer programming experience. Why is it that Garmin does not indicate that this software exists? I have been looking for something like this on the web for several weeks.
But with the stuff that comes with the package you are left adding all cache site coordinates by hand. Unless, of course, you can figure out how to get them into your address book (I use Outlook) and that the GARMIN location codes needs to be in Field "user 4". Oh yes, and you have to guess at the formula for creating the item that goes there - it is not documented anywhere that I could find.
I do not cuncurr that the lack of waterproofing is the only problem. (1) The device is not rugged - mine already has a crack in the case from when it slipped out of my and and fell on the ground (my Etrex has tumbled several times and has no damage to show for it) and (2) it really is deficient in the length of time it can go between recharge if you use the GPS part of the device.
I would be curious how you handle the power management issue if you are geocaching for more than one or two hours. I find that I have turn the power off every minute that I don't absolutely need a GPS (which is very annoying because it takes the iQue very long to get a fix compared to my wife's Etrex), and even then I cannot go very long. I bought a powerinverter for my car which generates AC line voltage (it was much cheaper than the travel kit and I can plug in other stuff as well), but everytime the engine is off I feel like I am running on a short timer. If I am caching all day, I don't have use of the Garmin for a significant fraciton of that even if I am in my car a lot during the day. I am going hiking in a few days and would really like to find a way to get more juice to the iQue while I am hiking. Any ideas?
- Hynr
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I just got a Garmin Ique 3600 and I'm having some problems figuring out how to download waypoints from the site to the GPS unit. So far I have downloaded cetus and cachemate and I've created pocket queries. Palm won't let me download the .LOC files and I can't figure out how to convert them and by reading past posts I don't think that this is necessary anyway.
I have found geocaching with the iQue to be, how shall I put this, a love-hate relationship. I had not heard of cachemate, so I will probably try that after reading this. But I have the Cetus GPS software. I use it along with the built-in mapping software. Here is how I have been using these:
I use GPSbabel to convert gpx to the Cetus file format; then I find that new file; double click on it and the HotSync windows comes up to confirm that at the next hotsync this file will be installed. The information in this file consists of a short description (cache name etc) and coordinates. The CetusGPS software is only a compass emulator with a pointer in the direction of your target. I assume you have the latest CetusGPS version as there was a bug in an older version that made it work poorly with the iQue. This software is a must for geocaching.
I also use the built-in mapping capability. This capability allows identification of waypoints which end up on the map. It has been a real pain to figure out how to do this and it sounds like cachemate will do it for you. I do it manually by creating a Comma-Separated-Value file using Excel. But that involves a fairly complicated formula in the spreadsheet to generate the code for the coordinates. I am happy to share this info, but I would guess it is not of interst to most folks.
I find the mapping part of the iQue to be very useful to find my way to where to park the car when I go caching; but for the hunt I use Cetus. I recently found that if you select the Find feature and have it look for waypoints near the current location, then it will list them all and even show a little arrow beside each one to point to where that location is with respect to the current location.
Another piece of software you definitely need is software that turns the automatic power-down feature off. If you don't have this, then you will be walking along searching only to find the iQue turn itself off. The Cetus software has a feature to do this while it is running, but that doesn't affect the powerdown if you are using the maps. If you don't turn it on again fast enough, then you have to wait a few minutes before it is ready to navigate again.
All in all the iQue, while being a really cool gadget, is not designed for geocaching and you will learn that in several ways.
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Great enhancements, Jeremy. Each of the last few days has been exciting just to log in. And today, to have the number of finds show up front and center...awesome.
I also appreciate your fix of the alignment problem pointed out by others, and the various ones I had not noticed. I am lukewarm on the calendar feature - probably won’t use it much. But thanks anyway. One can never have too much functionality.
The most common click for me is the “Filter Finds” link. I wonder if it would be possible to also filter out the "disabled AND found" caches. When I search using the “Filter Finds” on the nearest caches most of them are disabled and I never want to see them. Many of them have been disabled the entire time I have been geocaching. I would suggest doing this either in a “Preferences” sections of one’s Profile or with a little check box just below where it says “Filter finds”.
In a similar way you could even add a toggle between “nearest” and “newest” - man that would be cool.
I also have a counterintuitive suggestion to improve through-put on Saturday and Sunday evenings. When clients log their finds, the current system shows the submitted log when one hits the submit button. Why not send that person directly back to the cache page where that log-entry has been added. I know that on sluggish evenings I prefer to verify that my comment ended up where it was supposed to. I know it’s stupid and slows things down even more, but I would bet I am not the only one doing that. If you take things back directly to the newly updated page, then you would not have to create the log submission verification page at all.
Hynr
Pocket Query Real Names
in Website
Posted
Jeremy,
In the PQs you trust us to give you an e-mail address that works; Why not just let us enter a filename that appeals to us. Then in the submit process, do a check and strip out any problem characters to make it a valid filename on the server. If someone leaves a field blank, then assign the name that you use now. This makes it completely backwards compatible.