jri
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Posts posted by jri
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RaffeR has moved this topic across to the "Discussions with Groundspeak" forum - see here.
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I've not used the official app, but I have got an Asus Eee Pad Transformer. It's got a pretty good GPS built in, and the battery lasts ages. It's also got loads of memory to store offline maps. It doesn't have a 3G connection built in, but I can get that via an Android phone. That said, because it's got a 10" screen, it is a little bit too big for waving about while rummaging in bushes, so to actually find caches I tend to use an app on my phone instead.
Where the tablet comes into its own is showing maps on the big display, so you can plan a caching expedition. Actually, the Geocaching.com website would function as a pretty good geocaching app on its own, if I could get it to work. Most of the site is OK, but the Beta Maps page loads the cache details so slowly on the tablet that it's unusable.
Is anyone else having problems with Beta Maps on a tablet? This thread explains what I'm on about.
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So often people write about complaints here.
I'd like to see what has worked for people, for a change.
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Thank you Groundspeak for this great idea that is really improving the game!!
What else is working out there?
One improvement I've really enjoyed is the new Beta Maps. OK, there are still some bugs, but they've made a real difference to how easy it is to plan a geocaching trip.
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Screenshot from Firefox Mobile v9, taken on ASUS Eee Pad:
Here's the problem. This view should show four geocaches, with a fifth under the pop-up. As only one tile of the geocache overlay loaded, you can only see one and a half. But since I checked on my PC and clicked in the right place, I've popped up the details of one of the missing ones...
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I have also got this problem, and had been trying to figure out a workaround for a while. I am using an Asus Eee Pad Transformer.
Browsers tried:
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- Stock Android browser
- Firefox Mobile (Fennec) beta versions between v7.0.1 and 10.0.1
- Firefox Mobile (Fennec) release versions between v7.0.1 and 9.0.1
- Opera Mobile v11.50
The beta map website does work on all these browsers, it's just unusably slow. What normally happens is that the main page loads up fine, with the Google base map. However, the map tiles from the geocache overlay either take ages to load, or don't load at all. The best you can normally hope for is that after a few minutes, you end up with only one or two tiles of caches loaded - sometimes resulting in "sliced" cache icons, where the the cache was on the edge of a tile.
The cache location data is loaded separately from the geocache map overlay. Sometimes, if you happen to know where a cache is located, you can click on the map and see the cache details pop-up, even though you can't see the icon. However, this doesn't always seem to work either.
I know that there isn't some fundamental conflict between Android browsers and Beta Maps, because occasionally it works. Also the developers' desktop version of Fennec is fine. My guess is that something is causing the overlay tiles and geocache data to load so slowly on the tablet that they time-out and do not get displayed. I don't think that my internet connection is the issue, because I am using the same home wifi connection as my normal laptop. I don't think it's the processing power of the tablet either, because it is fine with other web apps that use the Google Maps API. Also, all the normal map features (scrolling, zooming, etc.) work fine on Geocaching.com - it's just the geocaching specific bits that are the problem. It's not a browser-specific issue either, as the problem happens in browsers with three different engines.
A few months ago, the Beta Maps were working OK on my tablet, but only when I used Firefox Mobile with the user agent set to spoof desktop Firefox. If I used the other browsers, or the normal user agent, I got the problems above. Unfortunately that workaround doesn't seem to work any more. This made me think it was a configuration issue with the geocaching.com servers, but I'm also suspicious of the number of errors and warnings you see in the browser console when you load the site (especially in Chrome). Maybe excessive error-handling is slowing things down?
It would be great to get this fixed - the Android tablet is fast becoming my browser of choice, both around the house and when on the road.
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I've not had this issue myself, but someone asked if it might be caused by one of my Greasemonkey scripts, so I did some poking around. It looks like it's being caused by geocaching.com itself, and is some time-related code triggered by leap years, which explains why it's just started today.
Since code comes from geocaching.com, there's not an easy way of avoiding it. On some browsers the "yes" alert may come with a tick box that you can use to stop further alerts, but this will only work until you re-load the page or Groundspeak fix the code properly (which should be trivial!).
For the nerdy, the main maps page downloads a utility script (with a really long address starting http://www.geocaching.com/ScriptResource.axd?d= followed by a string of random characters). This includes a DateTime module containing the offending function:
DateTime.isLeapYear = function (year) { if (((year % 4 == 0) && (year % 100 != 0)) || (year % 400 == 0)) { alert("yes"); return true; } return false; };Basically, every time this function runs during a leap year, it pops up "Yes" - it looks like a leftover bit of debugging code. From what I can guess, this will happen every ten minutes, but only for Premium Members (which may be why I've not seen the problem).
That's my guess at the explanation, hopefully there will be a fix along soon...
JRI
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News from Bing on the MSDN forums...
A data update we received was missing the higher detail data. It will be re-published as soon as a new copy is received and processed.
Well, I don't know how long we will have to wait, but it looks hopeful that it will get fixed without me having to do any alterations to the script
Further updates from MSDN...
This will likely be corrected in the next imagery update. Our team is well aware of this issue and are monitoring it.
Imagery updates occur in Bing Maps ever 3-4 months. The last one was around the end of September/ begining of October.
So it looks like the larger-scale maps could be back sometime in January / February...
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News from Bing on the MSDN forums...
A data update we received was missing the higher detail data. It will be re-published as soon as a new copy is received and processed.
Well, I don't know how long we will have to wait, but it looks hopeful that it will get fixed without me having to do any alterations to the script
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This is a great addition, thank you. How do I get Explorer maps up though as it appears to be landranger only. I use Firefox.
Thanks
It looks like Bing (where the script gets the maps from) has changed to only supply Landranger imagery. I'll have a look to see whether there are some tweaks I can do to get the Explorer maps back.
Ah. I noticed the other day that I could't zoom down to Explorer level; I assumed it was some temporary glitch. Would be great if you can get them back; I've become quite attached to this feature.
I've had a poke about, and unfortunately this looks non-trivial to fix. The problem is that most of the map sources I've found align OS map tiles to Grid North, while Google Map tiles align to True North. This doesn't normally matter too much if you're only interested in one point, but the further you go from that point, the greater the divergence. This means that if you want to do a simple overlay of Geocache locations (google-style map tiles) onto OS map tiles, they'll be OK at the centre of the screen, but increasingly mis-aligned towards the edges.
I do have a cunning plan, but it might take a while to put into practice.
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This is a great addition, thank you. How do I get Explorer maps up though as it appears to be landranger only. I use Firefox.
Thanks
It looks like Bing (where the script gets the maps from) has changed to only supply Landranger imagery. I'll have a look to see whether there are some tweaks I can do to get the Explorer maps back.
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On poor mobility days I look for lower terrain caches and make sure to pack things like my cane and knee braces.
Have you checked out the Handicaching website? It is helpful.
I have rated my hides on Handicaching, but it has not caught on enough in my area to be of a whole lot of assistance. I seem to be the only one that rates caches around here on it.
I've recently written a Greasemonkey script that might help Handicaching become a little more handy. It shows you the Handicaching rating as part of the geocache listing, and gives you a link to let you rate the cache. That might be a little less onerous than having to go to a different website to see the accessibility details for each cache (only to find that no-one's rated it yet). You can find out more at userscripts.com: Handicaching Userscript
Hope someone finds it useful.
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This is great, it even prints with the cache locations. No more trips to the library to get maps ( I'm a bit old school and have to have a map with me)
How do you print from the Beta Map?
Pressing Ctrl-P normally works.
In Firefox, you might have to check the Page Setup menu first, to make sure that your browser is set to print background images.
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Thanks for all the positive feedback.
I've tweaked the script again. v0.4 now lets you search the Beta Map by Ordnance Survey National Grid references.
If that sounds helpful, you can get the update at http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/109145
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Just a guess, but the slowness could be something to do with the fact that every time you look at a cache page, geocaching.com now has to serve up five extra avatar images and look up five sets of challenge stats, in addition to everything it used to do. It would be nice if they could actually be bothered to write the pages in valid HTML too, which might help them render a little quicker...
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There's now a way for people who use the Chrome browser to see Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain on Geocaching.com
I've written a Greasemonkey script that adds an OS map type option on the Geocaching Maps Beta page. It also works on geocache pages when you use dynamic maps. The script displays OS Landranger (1:50000) and Explorer (1:25000) imagery from Bing.
I've written the script to work with both Chrome and Firefox.
For Chrome, you don't need to install Greasemonkey - just install the script from userscripts.org (link below). Chrome and Chromium have been able to run userscripts directly since v4, but I've only tested with v13. For Firefox, you need to install the Greasemonkey extension ("How do I use this?" link on userscripts.org). I've tested with FF5 and 6 on Windows and FF3.6 on Linux. Firefox 5 broke Greasemonkey, but this has been fixed in Greasemonkey v0.9.8.
To find out more or install the script, visit the Geocaching Map Enhancements page on userscripts.org
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Right. v0.3 of my script is now live on userscripts.org - see Geocaching Map Enhancements. Now works for me on Firefox 5, Firefox 3.6 and even Chrome!
Just upgraded to Firefox 6 with Greasemonkey 0.9.8. Ordnance Survey Maps still seem to work. Phew!
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Right. v0.3 of my script is now live on userscripts.org - see Geocaching Map Enhancements. Now works for me on Firefox 5, Firefox 3.6 and even Chrome!
I still don't know what was stopping it working with FF 3.6. I've a few ideas, but they're all far too geeky for this forum! Anyway, the workaround I've used has had the added benefit of making the script work with the current version of Chrome. I'm impressed that Chrome runs the script natively, and doesn't even need Greasemonkey to be installed.
I've also a "session refresh" function. This lets you get back the found cache icons that disappear after you've had the website up for too long, but without losing your place on the map. More details at the link above!
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I've just had a play with my script on a linux machine with FF3.6.8, and confirmed it doesn't work properly on the main Geocaching Maps page. Unfortunately I'm not yet sure what is causing the error, so I'll fiddle with it over the next few days. However, it does still seem to work under FF3.6 for inserting dynamic OS maps onto cache pages.
If the script isn't working under FF5, first check that Geocaching.com is working as you expect with Greasemonkey turned off! I was having intermittent problems last night where the base maps all worked fine, but the geocache overlay didn't show up. As far as I can tell it was a problem with the website, not the script, as it's working fine again today.
If the website is OK, and you're using FF5, a possible problem could be a conflict with another Greasemonkey script that you have installed. You can check this by disabling all the other scripts that act on the same page, and seeing if the enhanced maps script works. If it does, re-enable the other scripts one at a time, re-loading the web page after each one, and see which one breaks my script.
If anyone spots any clues, let me know and I'll try to get it working for as many people as I can.
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I've had a go at writing a script that adds Ordnance Survey maps back into both the geocache listings and the Geocaching Maps Beta page. It's available from userscripts.org at http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/109145
It adds OS maps and Bing's aerial view into the list of Map Type options for Geocaching Maps Beta, and makes OS maps an option when you view the dynamic map on a cache page.
I've only tested it using Firefox 5, so any feedback is welcome!
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I've got a contract with Three that gives me 300 free minutes to phones on the same network, 300 minutes to other phones, 20 minutes of video calls, and (most importantly) pretty much unlimited 3G internet access for a total of £20 + VAT per month.
With the contract I got a free Nokia 6220c, which includes a built-in GPS. My favourite app for geocaching is Google maps. It's great to have a moving map with you that shows you a satellite photo with your location and the cache marked on, especially if it also gives you driving directions and traffic info. Sadly it only works when you have network reception and internet access, but otherwise you can use Nokia maps from a memory card, although this is pretty much just streetmaps, unless you want to pay extra. I can log caches from the phone using the web browser, but GC.com is so clunky that I normally use a full-size computer with a broadband connection instead.
The GPS on the 6220c works, but isn't great. Often it can only get a fix to the nearest 80m or so, and it doesn't work at all indoors. If you've got a phone signal, it can use Assisted GPS (the phone network helps the GPS get a better fix quicker), and it can also guess its location from the mobile network itself (accuracy in the range of km!). For actually geocaching I use the phone's Bluetooth connection to hook up a separate GPS (either a Globalsat BT-338 or a QStarz BT-Q1000X. These are much more accurate and sensitive, working under foliage and often indoors without problems. The latter is also a data-logger, which can be controlled by an app on the phone. I can also use the same receivers with either a laptop, or a PDA.
My experience with my mobile-phone GPSr hasn't been great, but using a mobile phone as a console for a bluetooth GPS works well for me. I'd choose a phone you like (with or without built-in GPS), but make sure that it has Bluetooth, and you can install decent navigation apps. Then get a proper Bluetooth GPSr. That way you have a GPS that does what it's good at, and you don't have to compromise on features on your phone just to get a GPS.
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Just to say I've had OpenWIG v0.3.07 working on my Nokia 6120c, using the "Internal" setting for GPS connection. The phone doesn't actually have built-in GPS, but the internal mode lets the Nokia handle the Bluetooth connection to my GPSr without me having to tweak any other settings. I did find a couple of minor bugs though, which I'll post in detail on the OpenWIG website.
Keep up the good work!
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I cache quite a lot in the dark, often by bike. My no. 1 tip is to always waymark the spot if I have to abandon the bike and go on on foot.
Like others have said, head torches are really useful and having several backup light sources is handy too. I prefer LED lamps, as they last for ages. Bike lights do the trick: white lamp for searching, red to avoid spoiling night vision (and taking them with me means anyone coming across the parked bike can't nick them). That said, I've found that I get on better walking in the dark without a light and only switching on when I start searching. With a torch, you can only see what's in the beam, but once my eyes have adjusted, I can see further and wider by starlight (or the light pollution from Bristol...). Closing one eye when I check my PDA screen also helps preserve my night vision.
In the countryside especially, it's also worth thinking about dressing in something bright / reflective if you're going to be near roads, to avoid getting run over.
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I've been having similar problems over the last few days: Search pages that just come up blank (viewing the source shows nothing, not even empty html tags). Sometimes the pages work after pressing F5 to refresh, but more often than not stay blank. Switching from Firefox to IE doesn't help either. Static web pages like www.geocaching.com/seek seem to be fine - it's searches and cache pages that have the problem. Other websites are unaffected. Leaving it and coming back later seemed to work, but as I write, everything's started to go pear-shaped again...
I am using OS: Windows XP MCE SP2
Browser: Firefox 2.0.0.14
Alt Browser: Internet Explorer 7.0.5730.11
Example problem URLs (both worked earlier today, but are now failing for me):
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=gc1a05m
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.asp...mp;lon=-2.61855
JRI.
Chrome OS Maps
in United Kingdom and Ireland
Posted
Not quite! OS Maps still seem to work on the cache pages - but sadly not on Beta Maps.
Partly, it must be said, because "Beta Maps" has become just plain "Maps", and partly because we're into the brave new world of using the Leaflet API rather than Google Maps. This is presumably because Google are going to start charging high-volume websites for using their API.
I've already figured out a way of making OS maps work with the basic Leaflet API. Unfortunately it may take me a few weeks to figure out how to integrate this with the new Geocaching Maps website. I'll see what I can do...