cache_r_joe

Just a tought, but I hear people wanting to have different databases for their caches. I now have over 28,000 caches in my database and the filters make it very easy to sort and work with the caches in the various areas I want. For example if I am going to Town A and I do so quite a bit, I save a filter with a cache in that town as the centre point. From there I can decide how many I want and upload them. Filters can be saved so you only have to create them once. I do have mulitple databases but the other databases are used for things other than caches.

Canadian Tire can be a bit expensive and can be out of date with their products (they are still selling the Metroguide Canda v4). I would suggest looking to another location like GPSCity.ca and see that they have available. Joe

I'm not sure the difference between the NT version and the normal version. There is an active thread on that so you may be able to find more info there on that part. I do agree that CN8 is the way to go though. Another thought would be getting the Topo maps, they may help you out when you are on the trail. As for the card size, I don't think you would need much more than a 1Gig card, but that would depend on having the Topos and how many map sets you are going to upload to your unit. The Topo maps take much more room than the CN maps. Joe

The external power source does not charge the batteries. The setting in the set up is only so that the battery indicator is more accurate. You should re-calibrate when you change the batteries, I believe this is more because it may loose calibration from the power loss than the batteries being metal, only because you are replacing them with metal batteries again, I may be wrong though. You shouldn't have to recalibrate when you connect to the external power source and the batteries remain in the unit. Joe

The RAM mount as shipped is very hard to get the unit out. My suggestion would be to try to unscrew the button off the back of the gps to release it from the cradle, then the button will fall from teh cradle. You can also place one finter on the little flap on the top and the other on the hump on the back of the arm and bend it back. You may need to use some force, but it will come off. Once you have it off, look in the little hole. There is a little flap of plastic hanging down. Out of the box the cradle is ment to be tight for those who are using it on ATV's and Motorcycles, etc. For those of us who use them in vehicles you have to file down that plastic piece that hooks on the button. I questioned this with the RAM people when I first got mine and this is what they told me to do. They tell me that this in no way would void the warranty. If you would like a copy of the email, email me via my profile and I'll forward it to you. I did it on mine and it works great now. You will have to file a bit and try it. A bit of trial and error and you will get it to where you like it. Joe

Make sure your interface language is correct. I'm not sure what Easy GPS uses and a send language (haven't used it since I discovered GSAK), but if you check that, you have to make sure your GPS is set the same or they won't talk. Joe

I would go with CN8 and not on a pre-programmed card. With the Garmin units you only need to put on the maps you want. In most cases you don't need much, because you are not using much. Yes you can only put 1000 waypoints, however if you learn how you can put almost unlimited Custom POIs. Currenly I have about 28,000 caches in my GPS as Custom POIs. You ask why.... because I can no other reason. I would purchase a 1gig card, I can't see you needing any more than that even with maps and Custom POIs installed. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask! Joe

Since you have CN8, why bother, just do the autorouting on the GPS itself. Before I had an autorouting GPS I found it hard to deal with the laptop on the seat, etc. Worked but still hard to deal with unless there was someone dealing with the laptop. Joe

I use cachemate and love it. I'd look there first. Joe

You are assuming they are vagrants. What if if it is just someone who wants to be alone and live in the woods. There are times I wished I had that. I would suggest that unless there is a chance of violence, medical issue or childern involved I would do nothing. The person could have a grade 2 education or be a Yale grad, you never know. I would suggest in the absence of a discussion with the occupant(s), find another place for your cache. Joe

You have a maximum of 1000 waypoints that you can put on the gps. If you have less than that in Mapsource (each PQ will only give you a max of 500) than all you have to do is connect the gps to the computer, turn it on, and click the "send to gps" button. Mapsource will do the rest. I would suggest that you look at sofware to organize your caches. There are several out there. I use GSAK personally, but look around and use what works for you. The reason for this is that you will quickly have more than 1000 caches to work with, the software should be able to store, update and organize them for you. This way you can choose the area you are going to be caching in and upload the appropriate caches to your gps. Good Luck and Happy New Year! Joe

Someone may have already asked this, but here it goes anyway.... I've got the uploading POIs down pat, however the icons have a pink border? I use the same icon file for Custom Waypoint Symbols and they don't show up that way, only when I use them through POILoader. Any thoughts? Joe

You could open the Legend and Overview frame. You can then select the area that you are going to be driving through and they will be listed there. also you can go into find nearby places and de-select everything. If you then run a find, I believe you will get a list of all your push pins. I think this is the closest you are going to get. Problem with having all the balloons showing is that you won't be able to see much of the map for all the balloons. Joe

I believe if you select to have the log file saved to the memory card, after the file is writen to the file (one file per day automatically is saved) then I believe you would have the information you were looking for. You may have to do some calculation (i.e., track start time and end time to get your duration). There are also some programs that will save the active log on the computer. g72win is one that comes to mind. Hope this helps. Joe

I started to use GSAK (I am a registered user already). I also downloaded some POI files, but I can't seem to find many for Canada, or should I say, all of Canada. There are some out there for Ontario and West, but not much for Atlantic Canada. Yes I was looking for something to organize the POIs. I like GSAK but I'm not sure it will cut it for POIs. Anyone have any thoughts?

I was having trouble getting the icons to show up. For anyone else having the same problem, you have to put the bmp file in the same directory with the csv file BEFORE IMPORTING WITH POI LOADER. POI Loader combines the csv and bmp on import. J

If you are asking how you get them to show up as Geocaches on the 60CSx and also use the geocaching utility on the unit, you have to load them all as the same icon. Most use the icon that looks like a closed treasure chest. If you go into the geocaching set up in your gpsr you can set which icon represents the found and unfound geocaches. This way when you choose to "goto" any waypoint with this icon, you will automatically get a found button at the bottom of the compass screen. Once you have found the cache and click the found button it will change the icon to the whatever you selected as your found icon and if you selected the option it will also set a calendar entry for the found geocache. Hope this helps. Joe

Mine is the same. I had to add another number onto the rebate form. My rebate was accepted and "the check is in the mail". Does take quite some time for the check to be issued and updated on the web site, but according to the web site my check has been issued. With my luck it will get stuck in customs for a month....LOL Joe

You want to convert the Loc or GPX file to a csv or xls file. You can import those files into Streets and Trips. I do this all the time, but use GSAK to do it. GSAK has GPSbabel under the hood. As an FYI, you can also connect a garmin USB GPSr to use with Streets and Trips. Download Spanner from Garmin's web site.... works great. Joe

Another option would be to build some PQs for the provinces/areas that you are going to me in. I have a spreadsheet that will enable you to build PQs by date for any Canadian Province and get all the caches for that province. For my purposes I then load into my GPSr and also via POI Macro load into Streets and Trips. I find Streets and Trips is a better map to use to visualize things on the computer. If you would like a copy of the spreadsheet let me know and I'll email it to you. PM or email me your email address. Joe

I have ToPo Canada and Metroguide v4 Canada. Neither needs an unlock code and can be installed on multiple computers and GPSrs without problem. That being said the License Agreement would tell you what the acceptable use is. Joe

Can I ask why you are exporting to Mapsource? I assume it is to view the waypoints on a map. I would suggest getting Streets and Trips. It is reasonably priced and the maps are so much better for that kind of thing. GSAK will export to a csv file and S&T does the rest. I'm currently working on a personal project that when done I'll have all the caches in Canada (I know it won't be up to date long and that's ok with me) in my GSAK database and can export them to POI files and also import them to S&T. I currently have all of Atlantic Canada and some of Ontario and some of Quebec. The limit of 5 PQs per day and 40 total will mean that I have to do this over time. Joe

Really it depends on what format you need. I usually use the format mentioned above, but there may be times when you are given a waypoint in a different format and/or need to enter the coordinates into a program or web site using something different that you normally use. Use what ever works best for you. Joe

I will often import the track into Streets and Trips. From there you can save the map as a BMP, maybe a jpg.

Most of the time nothing at all. Sometimes I'll load it into Mapsource or into GPSVisualizer or another program to visualize the hike or drive I took. I usually only load the track if there is something specific or a specific reason I want to keep or look at it. J