herbk
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Posts posted by herbk
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I'm really peeved by the guys who put square brackets around hints, especially long ones. Personally, I think they are idiots. The purpose of Rot13 is to prevent accidental reading of a hint, not to cause totally mindless work for the cacher who wants to read the hint.
I was caught by this when I went after such a cache, using CacheMate on a PDA. I didn't have a copy of the little Rot13 diagram on my PDA, an omission which I have since remedied. Still, I have seen a case of a hint which had multiple lines and "[]" around it. It would probably take at least five minutes work devoid of any semblance of intelligence to decode it. Bah!
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I am running Windows XP on an Intel iMac using Parallels. By much trial and error, I have been able to get all applications working except CacheMate. The problem is loading the .xml files. I have MacGPSPro on my Macintosh, and the files apparently acquire the file type of MacGPS Pro documents, a fact that may or may not be relevant. Is there anyone out there who has the same computer configuration and has succeeded in loading said files into Cachemate?
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I don't use a mac, so please excuse any ignorance/assumptions.
I use XP Pro/GSAK export GPX.
CacheMate PPC on my IPAQ 2215 will import the .GPX file(s) directly. If your PQ arrives in your email just unzip the two .gpx files and copy them to the storace card. Main memory does not have enough free space on mine.
Open Cachemate, on the bottom menu bar select the right-hand "red arrow pointing to folders" Import icon. Tap start and select your gpx file(s).
That *_should_* do it.
Hope it helps
To be specific, I am not running an email program on Windows, but only on my Mac. So the problem is, how do I transfer the .gpx files from Mac to Windows. Once they are on Windows, I know how to download them to the iPAQ
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After happily using CacheMate on a Palm, and having used Palms for about fifteen years, I have had to switch to an HP iPAQ.
I am running Windows XP on an Intel iMac using Parallels. By much trial and error, I have been able to get all applications working except CacheMate. The problem is loading the .xml files. I have MacGPSPro on my Macintosh, and the files apparently acquire the file type of MacGPS Pro documents, a fact that may or may not be relevant. Is there anyone out there who has the same computer configuration and has succeeded in loading said files into Cachemate?
You may wonder why I abandoned the wonderfully intuitive interface of Palm for that of a Windows Mobile. The details are too lengthy to state here, but in short, having gone through three Tungsten E2s in two years, the answer is poor quality control on the hardware and a very flaky memory manager in the current OS.
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Last month a power surge destroyed my iMac and I bought a new one; the new one has the Intel chip and an emulator called (not surprisingly) "Rosetta" for running PowerPC software. Well, on my old Mac, I had to run Virtual PC as an environment for Garmin's Mapsource. This was a painful process, because Virtual PC does not handle USB correctly and I had to use a Keystone USB/Serial converter to feed maps to the serial port on the Garmin--painful because it took four hours to download 56 M of maps to my GPSMap 60.
On the new machine, Virtual PC will not run. If I want to use MapSource before Garmin gets around to supporting the Macintosh, I will be forced to buy a copy of Windows, as it does not appear to be independently loadable from my Virtual PC CDs.
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There was a cache in the San Francisco Bay Area called "This Sucks." By the time I started looking for it, it had vanished and was archived shortly after. But, while searching, with my GPSMap 60C on my belt, I raised my left foot in order to step up on a pedestal so as to check the top of the cache site. My GPSr crashed to the ground. The only damage was a substantial crack on a plastic layer under the battery cover, resulting in the battery cover not seating properly. The unit still functioned.
Well, the first thing I tried was Garmin's 800 number. After being told that the wait would be thirty minutes, I tried the email route instead. The assurance was that I would get a reply in seven days at most. I did get a very polite reply in seven days, apologizing for an inability to help me and telling me to phone customer service. The only new thing was that, in addition to the 800 number, a direct number with a Kansas area code was included.
After getting over being pissed off, I decided that the hold might be shorter if I made the long distance call, so I did it for free using Skype-Out. The hold indeed was only a few minutes.
Now, things got very much better. Garmin has a flat fee for repairs and for this unit the fee was approximately $130. When I described the damage to the nice lady, including the fact that the unit still operated perfectly, she cut the repair fee in half. I expect the unit to be returned in between seven and ten days, so I'll either take a short vacation from caching or make do with my old GPS 12, which also needs repair as it has a bad habit of turning itself off spontaneously.
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Try setting up the USB/Serial on Com1. Possibly this advice is irrelevant, because I'm working on a Mac with Virtual PC, but the Windows version is XP Professional and the port in use is definitly COM1.
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I had just found two caches, which put them in the "found" list, and was hunting a third. When I switched from "on road" to "off road" navigation, a large compass rose with no panels below it appeared. That would be the compass page one would see if one were not navigating to anything. When I hit "find" I discovered that all waypoint had been wiped out, both the "found" list and the "unfound" list.
Has anyone else ever had this happen? I have found dozens of caches with this GPSr since I bought it, and until this event, it has worked as advertised.
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I just bought a 60C and Virtual PC with Windows. My Mac is OS X. My hardware is the same Keystone USB/Serial adapter and Garmin serial cable that I used with my old Garmin 12. With the Mac OS and that hardware, I have no problem downloading waypoints via MacGPS Pro. With Virtual PC, there is no problem downloading the maps.
There are two gotchas.
In MacGPSPro, Preferences, if the Keystone is plugged in when the application is launched, there should be two radio buttons in the upper left corner. One says "Modem", the other will have a funny designation for the Keystone. Make sure the latter is checked.
In Virtual PC, go to Preferences and then to a PC Settings button at the bottom left. In the settings list, select COM1, and make sure that it refers to the Keystone.
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There is another thing you need to do. I tripped on this one and Steve L straightened me out. In Virtual PC, go to Preferences and thenm at the bottom, hit the button called PC settings. In those, look for COM1. You should have had your Keystone adapter plugged in all this time. Now, in COM1, drag down to the adapter panel--I think I remember that when you clicked on COM1 there was a pop-up. If my memory of this is a bit faded, I think you will nevertheless find things clear at that point.
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I can second the kind words that have been said about the Invisible Shield. I messed up the first one, and was so annoyed that I phoned and asked for a refund. The person on the other end of the phone made some suggestions re installation and sent me a replacement gratis. I am very happy with it.
I had also tried it on my Palm. It would have satisfied me except for one quality. When sliding a stylus on it, there was a rubbery feel which I felt was inhibiting when playing a brick-out game. Many people wouldn't be bothered by that, in which case I would also recommend it for PDAs.
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Garmin claims something like a 28 hour battery life for the GPSMAP 60C. I don't seem to be getting anything like that. I wonder if the 28 hour figure is valid only for battere-saver mode.
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Thanks to all for your replies. Incidentally, I did discover that the Legend C can be plugged into a car's 12 V supply; Garmin apparently sells a cable that must have a voltage dropping resistor.
I finally decided on the Etrex Legend C. I think the small size, which I originally held against it, was a major factor when I realized that I could put it in a pocket and have it with me at times and places when I wouldn't have a larger unit.
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I had almost made up my mind to by a gpsmap 60 when I noticed the new etrex legend c. A direct comparison of features shows that in most respects the two units are identical. Here are the major differences: The etrex has color, but has a slightly smaller screen; the gpsmap has gray scale. The gpsmap can be plugged into a car's cigarette lighter socket; the etrex can't, but to compensate, the etrex has a considerably longer battery life. All of these sort of balance in my mind, so the deciding factor should be the antenna efficiency.
I now use a GPS 12, my caching buddy has a GPS V. Time after time, when we get under tree cover, he loses lock and I still have a usable signal. So, if any one has any idea how these units might compare in sensitivity, I'd love to hear from them.
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I am considering buying the GPSMAP 60. That is the model which doesn't have color, just four-level gray scale. I would be interested in gathering opinions from any cachers who have been using this unit. Which of the various car-mount hardware options do you recommend?
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I have to make a correction. Yesterday, when I used it, the map was not marked. I tried it again just now with the same set of coordinates, and this time the exact spot was marked.
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Google Maps have a search function, advertised as the way to locate an address, a resturant, etc. Without any great expectations, I tried entering into the search window the following: N 37 23.473 W 122 12.676. Lo and behold, I got a map whose center was the stated location. Unfortunately, the point isn't marked, but I can easily print the map and locate the center by drawing diagonal lines from corner to corner. This can be a useful assist in some instances. It certainly helped me find the trailhead for a cache.
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Two or more people have said that the shipping charge was displayed before the transaction was finalized. So I must conclude that I had eye/hand coordination problems. Sorry.
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I just ordered a log book from Groundspeak. The book was $2.50. The shipping and handling charges were almost $6.00. I understand that this can happen. What I don't think is fair play is that the shipping/handling and sales tax were not displayed until after I had irrevocably closed the deal. Every other site that I have ever used with a credit card gave me the opportunity to cancel the transaction after seeing what the total charges were.
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About a week ago, there was a front-page story in a local newspaper about geocaches left in areas in a San Mateo county park, areas that were posted as fragile and not to be entered. More than one geocacher did this. The park rangers confiscated the caches.
This is very upsetting in view of the campaign being waged to persuade the authorities to permit caching in places where it is not allowed, e.g. CA state parks. My opinion is that chachers who flagrantly break the rules should have their registration on geocaching.com suspended for at least six months.
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As a premium member, I have elected to have .gpx files for the 200 caches nearest my house (Palo Alto) and the 100 nearest a caching partner's house (Los Gatos). Once in a while, I get interested in a cache that is just a bit further from home and does not show up on the list. So, I find the cache on the web and ask for a download of it's data. All that comes is a .loc file; I am not given the opportunity to get a .gpx. It would be very nice is Premium Members had the choice to get a .gpx for an individual cache.
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The point is that with my Garmin 12, the Geocache icon does not appear and gets replaced by a little generic icon which is the same as the one I get when I press the "mark" button. So, I want something distinctive, and the one I chose is a little flag. I therefore have to replace the word "Geocache" by the word "Flag" in the .loc file that I generate from the .gpx file. I cannot do this edit on the .gpx file; the word "Geocache" appears in too many extra places and I don't know what harm modifying it in all places would do. In the case of the .loc file, it appears once for every cache in the file.
So my point is that I must generate a .loc file. Direct loading of the Garmin from the .gpx file is not satisfactory for me. If I ever upgrade from by beloved GPS 12, it will be a different story.
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I use a Macintosh and a Palm. As a charter member, I had been downloading the .loc and .prc files, the latter readable with MobiPocket (a most limited, annoying, and slightly flaky application). The .loc files I convert into waypoint files downloadable into my Garmin by using an application called MacGPS Pro.
My friend Steve L. one day sent me an email saying that he was dumping MobiPocket, that he was using a new application called Cachemate, and that processing the .gpx file was no more work than what we had been doing with the .loc file. He said that a freeware application called MacCMConvert would extract the .pdb file from the .gpx file, and that an animal called gpsbabel could extract .loc files from .gpx, and could also extract something that he could directly load into his Garmin, so that he didn't even need to create a .loc file unless he wanted to see the waypoint on a topographic map.
Well, for me, it was not that simple. He has a GPS V. I have a GPS 12. The difference is that I do not have all the icons on my Garmin, and the Geocache icon appears on my GPS unit as a little generic square icon. So, I use an editor on the .loc file and replace every occurrence of the string "Geocache" with the string "Flag."
The entire process is not too bad. geobabel is a UNIX application and I have to run it in terminal mode from a command line. It plants a .loc file wherever I want it. At that point, my process is the same as if I had requested a .loc file from geocaching.com. The other program, MacCMConvert produces the .pdb file that I load into my Palm.
I am ecstatic about Cachemate. With ModiPocket, all I could do was to look up the cache description with the "find" facility of the Palm. For the hint, this had to be done anew, as the hints were in a separate location. Stupid! With Cachemate, I can find any number of nearest caches to a given location, say home, can bookmark the ones I want for easy retrieval. The coordinates, description, and hint are separately accessible. I can log on that cache page the time of the find (both start and end times for the search) and any notes I want to make. I can mark the cache as "found," which puts it into a separate directory. Thus, when it is time to log my finds on the web site, I have all the information I need in the set of pages in the "found" directory. Truly makes life paperless except when I feel the need to print out a map before setting out.
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In Northern California, I find an error of roughly 300 feet in an East/West direction between NAD 27 and WGS 84. The web site www.lostoutdoors.com uses WGS 84 on its map creation page. You can see your cache's location on both topographic maps and aerial photographs.
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I don't understand your problem. The .prc files download to my Palm and are read by Mobipocket. I must say, though, that Mobipocket is a piece of crap. It generally produces a fatal alert condition after a "find." The loc files I process with a very capable Mac application called MacGPS Pro, which gets them in a form downloadable to a Garmin. Prior to using MacGPS Pro, a friend used a shareware product called something like Gypsy, but he said that MacGPS Pro was more capable, so I never looked into Gypsy.
Geocaching with Geosphere
in GPS technology and devices
Posted
I just started using Geosphere. Had no problem highlighting a subset of my Pocket Query, setting a target, and creating a "Found" Field Note with enough info to jog my memory when I'm logging the caches back home. What I couldn't figure out how to do, and it was something useful that I could do with CacheMate, was to reorder the found cache records in the order in which they were found. I couldn't find any option for sorting in time sequence. Is there a way?