Geomate.jr
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Posts posted by Geomate.jr
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I think everyone on this forum has already picked up on it, but we are offering a rebate on an Update Kit. It's our way of saying "thanks for being one of the first to own a Geomate.jr!" Details can be found here: http://www.mygeomate.com/update_kit
Oh, and there is also an FAQ's about the Update Kit on the same page to help give a little more Update Kit insight.
Cheers
Warren
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(Apologies if I've missed the answer somewhere in this thread...)
Do you have plans for a European version of the Geomate.jr?
MrsB
As you can probably guess, we are starting off in the US first to see how everything goes. As much as we would love to open up distribution in Europe and other places immediately, we already have our hands full for some time.
Even though the Geomate.jr comes loaded with US geocaches by default, with an Update Kit you will be able to load any geocache list (including Europe). So if you managed to acquire a Geomate.jr and Update Kit, Europe is good to go! Oh, you will also be able to change the units to metric.
Cheers
Warren
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This seemed like a really fun little hobby for me for one main reason, my 5yo daughter Erika. I took her for a walk recently in a nice wooded park near our home, and she loved running through the brush, lifting logs looking for bugs and snakes, I had to grab her to keep her from jumping in the pond after a bullfrog she saw!
This is awesome. Thank you so much for sharing. If I had to point to one reason why we developed the Geomate.jr, this is it - to give an affordable and easy way for parents and kids to enjoy geocaching and the outdoors together.
BTW, when you setup the Jr to recognize your current location as your HOME location, does it list the lat/long? If it doesn't, that would be great, then people could use it to place caches as well. (Forgive my ignorance if it does, haven't even powered it on yet!)
Yep, you can totally use the HOME feature to quickly mark a location of your own hidden geocache and then put it into the hands of someone else to go find. I have done this numerous times with various kids and adults. It's quick, easy, and fun!
To do this, simply press and hold both buttons to mark a HOME position. By default, that will then be your selected target and you're good to go! You can go to the next closest geocache by hitting the NEXT button (the big one on the left). And by pressing and holding the NEXT button, it will take you back to HOME. You will know you are heading HOME as it shows a little HO on the screen.
Good luck! I'm sure you and your daughter will have a blast.
Cheers
Warren
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Last week, as a test, I tried out my Geomate.jr on three caches I had already found. Worked perfectly. Yeasterday, I looked for three caches for real and they were not uploaded on the GPSr. This was a little disappointing, however, I realize that the uploaded caches have been filtered. I wouldn't think that there would be any problems like this when the upload kit becomes available.
Yep, the most likely reason the caches were not part of the default list is that they haven't been in place long enough. To try to give the default list some staying power, we only include caches that have been around for at least 4 to 6 months. But the magic of Update Kit will fix that - we will create new lists every 24hrs and you will have the ability to select an ALL geocache list. This way you will be sure to have every geocache (Premium Member Caches excluded) that are currently in place up to the last 24hr window.
Just between you and me, I'm really looking forward to the Update Kit as well! It's going to be awesome to be able to update my Geomate.jr before I head out for the weekend - the best bet is I don't even need to know where I'm going! (Which suits my planning style perfectly...)
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Yes, it keeps track of what you've found, but, you can't access the list unless you're outdoors (it just keeps flashing 'gps srch! find clear sky!") (Warren!! Can you fix that?!?!) And I dont have any way of knowing what i didn't find, unless i keep the thing on til I get home (& then we're back to the same problem!).
G'day Mahini
First, thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with both geocaching and the Geomate.jr! It is very much appreciated and I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts.
As for your question above, it is possible to review your found list without needing to go outside! Keep pushing the page button (the small one on the right) until you see the list icon appear (it looks like a list with a little smiley on it and the word FOUND will be shown on the display). This is your found list. Now just press the NEXT button (the big one on the left) and you can scroll through all of the geocaches that you have marked as found. You will see the GC code and the date you found that geocache.
As for the ones you didn't find, this is a good point and one we want to address - not sure how just yet, but working on it. We are looking at implementing better geocache management ability through the update kit as well. This way we can keep the product very easy to use but have more powerful features for those 'advanced' users.
I hope this helps!
Cheers
Warren
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How come that this product sheet: http://www.mygeomate.com/GeoMateJr_Product_Sheet.pdf and this QuickStart: http://www.mygeomate.com/quick_start_guide.pdf doesn't even mention geocaching.com or anything about logging online?
And in the UsersGuide (who reads it anyway?): http://www.mygeomate.com/GeomatejrUsersGuide.pdf it is mentioned in a copyright message on page 3, mentioned briefly on page 16 and the twice on page 20. Not much of the online part of geocaching is explained.
I find this very strange since getting the priviligie of being a geocacher for me meant that I had to agree to the "TERMS OF USE" for geocaching.com, create an account and even then, get a message about a disclaimer that I need to agree to on every single cache I view.
Does this disclaimer not apply to those who bought a Geomate.jr? Perhaps a similar disclaimer is shipped with the product?
Some kind of activation system where you needed to create a geocaching.com account before activation your Geomate.jr would have forced the new Geomate.jr owner to become more aware of what Geocaching is before they head out for their first find.
As I cache owner I want cache finds on my caches to be logged online and I want to know that the ones that find it have a basic knowledge of geocaching. Luckily I live in Sweden and are not (yet?) affected by this product.
You bring up some very good points and are ones that we have been discussing in great length with other geocaches, Groundspeak, and on other forum threads. The bottom line is that you are right and we are working away at developing additional material to help educate any newbie the least of which is a "Pocket Guide to Geocaching" that will ship with all Geomate.jrs that is designed to cover things like guidelines, ethics, trackables, muggles, etc.
Cheers
Warren
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so... i have a question...
What's the difference between what the geomate jr does & a pocket query?
Pocket query=500 caches, logs, description and hint. Different types of caches permitted. Customizable to which caches you want returned. Must load on your own GPS
Geomate Jr=250,000 caches, difficulty and terrain only. Traditional caches, selected by Apisphere. Loaded on the Geomate JR, you don't need another GPS.
Just a couple quick corrections...
250,000 caches, difficulty, terrain, size, and GC code. The proloaded default 250,000 are prefiltered by us (geocaches need to have been in place for about 4 to 6 months, have been found relatively recently, and we typically don't include 4's or 5's). But, with the Update Kit, you will have the option to load an unfiltered list - so any and every traditional geocache (premium member caches excluded) will be yours - even the ones just posted yesterday. Pretty cool hey!
Cheers
Warren
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Warren, so I take it from the lack of an answer there is no way to mark a cache as unfound if you accidentally mark it as found?
Sorry about the 'no response' thing - needed to get away from the computer for a bit and take in some fresh air. Added a few more geocaches to my found list though!
Unfortunately at this point there is no way to mark an individual geocache as 'unfound'. You can however clear the entire found list by pressing and holding the found button (the small button on the right) for about 6 or so seconds.
We are looking into doing a lot more to manage the found list with the Update Kit though.
I hope this helps!
Cheers
Warren
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G'day All
I noticed a bit of a Geomate.jr thread going here and I wanted to make myself available for any questions anyone may have. My name is Warren and I work for Apisphere (the company that released the Geomate.jr) and I am the Geomate.jr product lead. Please feel free to post any questions you may have and I'll do my best to answer them. I would also like to hear any suggestions anyone may have so we can better support the geocaching community.
Cheers
Warren
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Yep, micros are included in the default database. It was a tough call, as we want the best experience possible out of the box for a newbie, but this also means keeping the geocache density up. The size of the goecache is displayed clearly, so it is very easy to skip over the micros and go for something a little more substantial.
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Warren, I have a question... mine is a month off for the date! It thinks its April! Is there anyway for me to change this? (Not that it matters, really.... just gonna bug me!)
I'm not sure what you are referring to. Do you mean the date that is displayed when you mark a geocache as found? Or the date that is displayed at start up.
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My apologies if people have already seen this posting on other threads, but I'm anxious to get everyone's opinions. There have been some great suggestions on various topics and I would love to hear what people think of the following ideas:
Rebate - we would have loved to offer the Update Kit at the same time as the Geomate.jr but alas, reality took hold and we are still a few weeks away. We are seriously thinking of offering a rebate to those daring enough to venture out and try the Geomate.jr before the Update Kit is released. Anyone interested?
Trackable ID card - to help people learn more about geocaching, drive people back to Geocaching.com, and to ensure newbies don't think the shiny coins are prizes, we would like to include something like a "Trackable ID card" that educates people on trackables and what to do with them. Thoughts?
Inclusion of a trackable - I'm really liking the idea of actually including a geocoin or TB with each unit sold. Could go a long way to getting people back to GC.com and establish a greater appreciation for trackables. Obviously there is a cost consideration, but perhaps a possibility will present itself.
Your thoughts and opinions on the above would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Warren
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There have been some great suggestions on various topics and I would love to hear what people think of the following ideas:
Rebate - we would have loved to offer the Update Kit at the same time as the Geomate.jr but alas, reality took hold and we are still a few weeks away. We are seriously thinking of offering a rebate to those daring enough to venture out and try the Geomate.jr before the Update Kit is released. Anyone interested?
Trackable ID card - to help people learn more about geocaching, drive people back to Geocaching.com, and to ensure newbies don't think the shiny coins are prizes, we would like to include something like a "Trackable ID card" that educates people on trackables and what to do with them. Thoughts?
Inclusion of a trackable - I'm really liking the idea of actually including a geocoin or TB with each unit sold. Could go a long way to getting people back to GC.com and establish a greater appreciation for trackables. Obviously there is a cost consideration, but perhaps a possibility will present itself.
Your thoughts and opinions on the above would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Warren
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I do have a couple question for Warren. Which thank you Warren for stepping up to answer question's for us. That's very helpful and I do find that as a company you guy's are willing to go above and beyond to make us cacher's happy. Kudos to ya.
Anyway, I was thinking about getting one of these for my son and you may not have this information till the update kit is out. I noticed you said the database is unfiltered. Does that include caches that a cacher has already found? I would like to be able to filter out already found caches for him.
The database is it a standard GPX file? And if so can a customer's GPX file be uploaded to it. (this could open up the use on other cache listing site's as well) Sorry, but I enjoy the whole game and not just the site's. If a customer's own GPX file can be added to it they could do all the "found" filtering via a program such as GSAK, and other GPX files from other site's could be loaded onto it.
Also in case I missed it somewhere, can we add a cache or two manually if one pop's up near us? Maybe we can enter a multi then work the different stage's just by added another waypoint or "cache" in this case.
Again thanks, for taking the time to answer questions here and not just refer us to another website with just a bunch of FAQ's. I do think very highly of that.
Thanks for the kudos! We try...
The file format is not just a straight GPX file - there's a lot of clever (and my software engineer paid me to say that) compression and data manipulation going on in order to be able to provide efficient cache search and ordering as well as the 250k support.
That said, with the Update Kit, we have plans to support Pocket Queries and GPX files from other sources. As you have picked up on, this will definately help people who want to filter out their found list and also make sure that your kids have the exact same list as you. I can't promise it will be day one of the Update Kit release, but we are shooting for it.
As for manually entering a waypoint in the field, unfortunately no. This was a tough compromise to make but we opted for keeping it simple rather than increasing complexity. Other possibilities will exist with the Update Kit but that won't help with multi's.
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Elsewhere you stated that "unfiltered" downloads of specific areas will be available. Is that unfiltered Traditional caches, or would it include other types (Multi-stage caches, and Puzzle caches, for example). If the latter, how would one get around the inability to input coordinates?
Ah, yes, sorry, traditional caches only.
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Please note however that this list does not include premium member caches.
and only traditional caches - correct?
Yep, that's correct, traditional caches only.
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So, anyway... yeah
Hi! And a hi to you too! Thanks for making the post and sharing with us your experience and decision making process. I look forward to hearing about your adventures with the Geomate.jr and how it works out for you.
There is also another thread from geocachers who actually have been using the Geomate.jr. You may find it an interesting read: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=222113
Cheers
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You will also be able to select unfiltered regions
What's this about? I don't remember hearing about unfiltered regions.
Details, please!
No worries, I'm happy to provide some more details.
The Geomate.jr comes pre-loaded with about 250,000 geocaches that cover all 50 states - but we know that. Rather than selecting a random 250,000 geocaches, we spent a lot of time developing a filtering algorithm that will develop a list that is family-friendly, has staying power, and results in a list that will provide a first time user with an experience that is as favorable as possible. The end result roughly resulted in a list that has no 4's or 5's, only includes caches that have been in place for about 4 to 6 months (for staying power) and caches that have been found within a reasonable time.
But as we know, geocaches are being added all of the time. So with the Update Kit, you will be able to update the default database that the unit ships with (that has been filtered based on the above parameters) or select to load an unfiltered list (a list that has not been filtered based on age of geocache, difficultly, etc). Please note however that this list does not include premium member caches.
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That would answer my "next question" most conveniently lol.. the question was, will the GeoMate Jr work in Canada?
At the moment we don't sell direct into Canada as I haven't quite finished my 'French for Dummies' book - but I'm working on it!!
With an Update Kit, you will be able to load a database for Canada. So if you managed to 'acquire' a Geomate.jr and an Update Kit, you're good to go!! I won't tell anyone...
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How will the updates work? ie, will they totally over-write the existing database, to clear archived caches, and if so, will it NOT add back "found" caches?
Is it possible to mark a cache Found, then mark it Unfound - so it's still on the list for other cacher's use. Or does marking a cache found even remove it from the list?
I'm liking these questions - thanks guys.
When the device is updated, we completely replace the existing list with the new one to ensure only the latest and greatest are available. But we do implement some smarts to make sure that any geocache that has previously been marked as found remains 'found'.
At this point we don't actually remove the found cache or have the ability to change an individual geocache from found to unfound. Again, no promises, but we are looking at some options here to allow users to customize the Geomate.jr to suit their needs - after all, one size really does not fit all...
That said, you can clear your found list from the device if you want someone else to take it for a spin and mark their own found caches - no Update Kit needed...
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Cool beanz! I gotta to ask... will you be able to filter out your finds?
Good question. No promises just yet, but we are working on a number of different possibilities, but let me ask you this. If we supported Pocket Queries, would that be helpful??
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Are there Alaskan caches on the Geomate.jr?
Yep. The Geomate.jr ships with about 250,000 geocache locations that cover all 50 states - Alaska and Hawaii included.
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Does anyone know about the update costs?
I heard it was a cable and it will cost $20. Besides that, all you need is 2 AAA batteries and you're G2G, but remember this little unit shows you "as the crow flys" not turn by turn so you'll also need a nice pair of shoes!
Can Warren or anybody verify this? How often will they be available.
Plus there are other questions in this thread.
Sorry guys, I'm back - I forgot what color the sky is and needed to step out and check...
The cost of the Update Kit will be $24.95 and it is a one time fee - no subscription, no service fees - just $24.95. There will be no restriction on quantity or frequency of updates and the lists will be refreshed every 24hrs. You will be able to use the Update Kit with multiple Geomate.jr's. You will be able to update the default list that the unit ships with or select from other lists including lists that have not been filtered on difficulty etc, and for other countries. There will also be a lot of other cool stuff, but I need to leave some surprises right?
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Does anyone know about the update costs?
I heard it was a cable and it will cost $20. Besides that, all you need is 2 AAA batteries and you're G2G, but remember this little unit shows you "as the crow flys" not turn by turn so you'll also need a nice pair of shoes!
Can Warren or anybody verify this? How often will they be available.
Plus there are other questions in this thread.
Sorry guys, I'm back - I forgot what color the sky is and needed to step out and check...
The cost of the Update Kit will be $24.95 and it is a one time fee - no subscription, no service fees - just $24.95. There will be no restriction on quantity or frequency of updates and the lists will be refreshed every 24hrs. You will be able to use the Update Kit with multiple Geomate.jr's. You will be able to update the default list that the unit ships with or select from other lists including lists that have not been filtered on difficulty etc, and for other countries. There will also be a lot of other cool stuff, but I need to leave some surprises right?
Hi!
Geomate.jr Owners Report
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
Sorry for not getting back to you earlier on this, it slipped through the cracks. The reason you don't see these Geocaches is the filtering we apply to the default database. As a rule, we don't include geocaches that haven't been around for at least 4 to 6 months at the time of the current list creation (for staying power) and we don't include difficulty above 3 (family-friendliness). Looking at the caches you mentioned:
GC17EGQ: Difficulty too high
GC1PR26: Hasn't been in place long enough
GC1NX5R: Hasn't been in place long enough
But the good news is that with the Update Kit (http://www.mygeomate.com/update_kit) you will be able to select a US database that is unfiltered so you will get all of the hard ones and caches that have been placed up to 24hrs prior the update.