Sue and Bernie

Our PQ are running once on the selected day then "switching" off. This is a bit of a blow because we've just started accumulating them in our gmail account and collecting them automatically with the GSAK built in function. I've looked over the PQ set-up but the only thing I've changed recently is the email address! Have we missed something? or turned something off in error? is this just us? or has the service been changed?

Also, GSAK sometimes does not pick up any caches that have been archieved since you found them. Compare your GC.com lists of found caches against GSAK. I corrected this by using my GC.com "my page" to list all the caches we've found. I used each link for a "missing" page to go to the GC.com record. Then we saved that log/page out as a seperate GPX file. The final step was to import each of the individual GPX files into GSAK and edit each one to make it "found". Bingo! Job's a good 'un...

Having just cracked a good dozen caches up north during a recent foray, I cannot concur with this generalisation! I was "travelling light" and therefore had not a lot to drop off - but over the week, I did end up leaving everything I carried in the caches up north. By the end of the week, I ended up taking nowt south. There were some well stocked caches, recently maintained by the owners, that impressed the newbies that were with me. Generally, the newbies were as unimpressed as I was with the contents of the caches swap-wise. ...but in the end, we don't care that we are "losing out"! Sue & I get a lot of fun out of this game just rooting out the caches. We are content to put a little more in - in the end, whatever the event, this is what makes the world go round. We don't want to get high and mighty about this, others do exactly the same in other far more important areas. We just feel good doing this little bit towards the cause...

Feet (and boots) up for us! Bernie has just got back from a week in the Cairngorms, being dragged all over the place by his younger and fitter co-workers. His short, stumpy legs got worn to a frazzle on the hills but he more than held his own on the climbs. Got to see a lot of familiar names there too - most of the East Anglia Caching Mafia seem to have been in the area recently! Fantastic area made even more so through a load of caches in many surprising backwaters and hillsides - a good week of caching, could have spent months... ...but the weather is unpredictable...no it's not! It just rains and sleets every other 10 mins...

Exactly one year ago I was out there too and bagged a couple of the Hornet caches. I wish I was there now...

Note that City Select (and City Navigator) programmes can be "unlocked" to work with 2 different Garmin units. I had a StreetPilot 3 with CN6. I used the second unlock for the software to use it with our Vista C - and it works brilliantly - for road guidance of course! So if you already have CS or CN that came with another unit, you can do the same and get maximum use out of the software. ...and if you have a friend with the software, perhaps you could persuade him to let you make use of the second unlock if they have no use for it themselves.

If you do consider a Vista C, do not buy it for "auto-routing" - or you may be in for a nasty surprise! The auto-routing capabilities of the Vista C are only available if you own either Garmin's City Select or City Navigator software. Both are very expensive to purchase as standalone products. If you already have one of these bits of software that came bundled with another Garmin product, you laughing! You are allowed to "unlock" the software for use to two different Garmin GPS units. I already had a Streetpilot with CN so the Vista C was a good choice for the bicycle and field use.

This is it in spades for us. Bernie travels with the RAF and get to see secluded corners all over the world. Back home, geo-geeking gets us into all the little corners that we would miss - it's brill! It takes our families to cracking locations in their own backyards of which they were oblivious (and dittoo us up here in East Anglia). Geo-geeking has opened our eyes to the little wonders on our own doorsteps (and those of our families). When we've suggested geo-geeking as a team, family effort, it has always been accepted by the whole group. It has pulled generations of my lot together in a way we never expected. Without a doubt, we have all collectively benefited from the eye-opening experience of geo-geeking... ...and we can now justify forking out for an Ipag!

Yep! We do that regularly. We often use these opportunities to scout out opportunities for laying caches. We are regularly suprised to fail! Bogs, too open, too busy - so many reasons to not lay a cache around Norfolk - but it is always brill to get out there on the Rights of Way to find out. We've lost count of the trails we've binned but we really enjoy tramping round the ROW that others so long in the past have laid down and won for us today. You've got to get along them and report any encroachment by landowners and farmers (bless 'em for trying it on).

Been there, done it, t-shirt etc. Bernie is well known at Stansted now, nearly every time he is caught out with the Leatherman Micro tied to his jeans. Twice now it has been popped into a jiffy bag and mailed home from the security checks. W H Smiths welcome him as an old friend now.... NOTE TO TERRORISTS: Take a sharpened, deep frozen bananna! That will pass through. Avoid 1" blades and tweezers. They're not bothered by the penknife but the tweezer could be deadly! ...sorry, been drinking this pm - may be out of order, sarky limiter disabled.

I found out why I did not get the little arrow - you have to delete Lordelph's original script! Once I did that - all as advertised. Super add-on. ...now I've got to try the new, improved version!!!

...and GSAK is a really good way of managing all of your waypoints. It can shove out custom selected sets of data in the appropriate format to all sorts of GPS units, Cachemate in your Palm, waypoints in Garmin software and MemoryMap - whatever! For example, we regularly import upteen PQs based on friends & family locations into GSAK and then use that programme to upload selected data into an Ipaq (in GPSonar and TT3 formats) and also squirt the locations into a Vista C too. Just for good measure, we push the same set of waypoints into MemoryMap and then transfer them out to be displayed in the PDA version on the Ipaq. It takes me longer to write this up than it does to do it in practise! GSAK has so many other whistles and bells that make it a super shareware buy. We certainly rate this programme as a good geo-caching best buy. P.S: We have no "interest" in the programme, just very please users.

Lordelph, ...I still do not have the arrow or marker on the map. You were going to review the code after I gave you the responses from the inputs you requested me to make. Any progress?

The only time we find have to resort to manually entering a waypoint is for multicaches where the destination varies along the route. All the "fixed" or predefined or start WPs we load directly from GSAK. This saves a lot of finger trouble in the field too. We find the information for the next nearest cache either through the Vista C (a built in function) or by using the current cache as the centre point in GPSonar in the Ipaq. The Cachemate programme in the Palm has a similar search for the next nearest location. Whichever solution you choose, you will like having current information on tons of caches on hand wherever you go. When visiting, we upload blanket coverage of the area we going to. When you meander off into the locale, you can always look up the nearest treasure....

We regularly used a Palm IIIxe to run Cachemate. Our field GPS is a Vista C so the two coulnd not be connect as the Vista C only has a mini USB port. However, this never caused a problem because we use GSAK to do all the waypoint management (this is where your Pocket Queries will most likely find a home too). Once your PQ data is loaded into GSAK, this programme can squirt the data out in multiple formats - for the Palm, your GPS, MemoryMap - whatever. When we plan an excursion, we select the caches via filters in GSAK, say 50 or so caches around my brother's home for a possible hit over a weekend visit. We then push the exact same subset of waypoint data into the Ipaq (that has displaced the Palm), MemoryMap, our Vista and the Streetpilot. Each bit of kit gets the same set of WP in the appropriate format. After the trip, we clear out all of the downloaded data ready for the next trip. This ensures we leave home with the latest, most up to date information in each of the bits. It takes longer to write this blurb than it does to load up the data...

Clyde E - the man who never sleeps! Get back to improving GSAK even more... stop lazing around these forums, you've got a job to do.

That's the trouble, I already was making a career out of my hobby ('planes and joined the RAF). When digital computers came along, I was already up to my ears in OU and there just weren't the hours in the day! ....Ahh! The Hisoft Assembler, LERM - I remember them well, we had it tough.... and you tell the kids of today - they won't believe you!

I originally went for the mega-cheap Palm IIIxe solution. It is effectively a standalone paperless database solution completely seperate from the GPS. I bought one Palm from eBay Germany for €17 - the postage cost more! I ended up kitting out the famiyl with the beasts because I was so impressed with the PDA bits it provided. Unfortunately, once you do get used to using one of these little marvels to run your life, it is hard to see an easy way of organising otherwise! You're hooked! Wanting to go for the total solution, I eventually upgraded to an Ipaq so that I could use MemoryMap out there too. I avoided all the cable faff by going for a Bluetooth connection to the little GPS unit. This in turn led to TomTom 3 for route guidance (and a few BT headaches that TT3 causes). Now we have one box that provide route guidance in the car, OS maps in the field along with a database (GPSonar) of caches and it even has a phone too! - although I have not reached the dizzy heights of using this box to access GC.COM in the field, it sounds expensive. The setup is ideal - expensive, flakey and tempremental but when it all works, it's lovely. Mind you, we do not use the Ipaq when moving - it is too delicate and lives in a metal hip case and only comes out when it's safe. A rugged litttle Vista C does all the field work.

I cannot agree with the rigid "No Sign - No Find" position. There are always exceptions that prove the rule. For example, we found the cache "GCJEK9 - For Lucy" after it had been vandalised (it is still archieved). We found the box, a few sad contents and a rude note. We hid the container nearby and contacted the owner to advise them of the situation. It was a definate find - but no sign since there was no book (or much else) left... and we claimed as such along with the pleasant thankyou's from the owner. ...so there! Nah!

a. Delete them all and start again. b. Once set up, a PQ will deliver consistent results - if nowt changes you'll get exactly the same output. c. The preview will list the same results for your perusal through the normal website views on your browser. A PQ will deliver a zipped *.loc or *.gpx file of the same information depending what you requested. This is then used in another viewing programme (I use GSAK). Not certain about the second part of your question! d. Er! the preview you mentioned in c. is the preview and no, you cannot see the answer before you've asked the question. Hope this assists you - do persist because without a doubt, PQ's are the route to the easiest way to take a mountain of the latest, up-to-date caching information around with you in a most portable form. By all means stay with the paper trail, many do. However, if you do get to travel about a bit, PQs a real boon (as per my recent unplanned, last-minute 24 hour jaunt to Shannon, Eire).

What a belter! These two monkeying about are really adding to the site - super work. Like Lacto, I too just marvel. How to go from Z80 machine code geek (Hail to Rodney Zaks) to amazed onlooker in 20 years! Trouble is, there are too many clever people out there and the call of the hammock and beer fridge it just too irresistable!!! Keep up the good work you two, we are all impressed.... and thank you.

Added SouthSeakers bit - very much improved. Added Lordeplh's improved script - don't seem to have the marker arrow! Is it me or what?

We second P&T take on MM. We use TT3 & MM in an Ipaq to do the route guidance thing, then resort to a Vista for the foot bit - backed up with the Ipaq (in a metal case) and its BT GPS for any off-road map referencing we need. MM is pretty clunky at handling waypoints. We find it easier to maintain various datasets of waypoints in a source folder and keep "Delete All..." to clear the lot out of the MM display each time. Then we re-import what we need fo the next session. Once we've got what we want back into MM, a simple "PDA/Export Data to PDA..." selection sends whatever waypoint data is currently in MM to the Ipaq.

You may be in for a nasty surprise! The Legend C (and Vista C) will auto-route ONLY when fed data from Garmin's City Select or City Navigator software discs. Both these packages are v. expensive, particularly when compared to the cost of the hardware. If you already own a Garmin unit that came with one of these software packages included, you can use the second "unlock" available with the software. You can then use it with your Legend. Note - I suspect that the 8 mb of memory in the Legend C would not be big enough for anything other than the smallest map "tile" in CN. City Select is the preferred software for the Legends. I have a StreetPilot 3 that included CN. I unlocked the software to my Vista C using the second "unlock". The software works superbly in it.

You will find that Geocaching.com will stick a note alongside any TBs you hold over 2 weeks. This is obviously the time frame that the site thinks appropriate. It also gives the previous holder time enough to get home from trips/holidays/visits and log any drops carried out. ...mind you, I recently picked up a number of TBs that had been held onto for over 6 months. Similarly, our one and only TB is stuck with some-one in the US who has ignored my gently prompting to put it out in the field again (a wee bit annoying that).