jri
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Posts posted by jri
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Each cache page has two maps. The first shows the position of the icon in the context of the area - usually good enough to identify a local town... The second shows the detail of the area and includes car parking places, reference points et al. This second map has a link above it "View larger map".
However it does not show the same thing on a larger map. It takes you to the standard geocaching map, with the cache icons in the locality. When I want that, I click on "For online maps... [Geocaching.com Map]". Can one get a larger map which includes car parking places, reference points et al. I don't care if other cache icons are present as well.
This is something that the Geocaching Map Enhancements userscript can help with. With GME installed, when you click "View larger map" from a cache that has additional waypoints, the map shows all those waypoints as markers. If you had corrected the coordinates of the cache, it also shows both the original and corrected location.
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Hi, I've been using the GME for a long time now but in the last couple of weeks I have noticed that I no longer have the additional map overlays. I have tried removing the userscript and reinstalling it but still no joy. I am using Firefox and have Greasemonkey installed. Any ideas???
If by "additional map overlays" you mean you can't see any of the maps added by GME, try the suggestions on the troubleshooting page. In particular, check that you are using Leaflet Maps, then resetting your GME configuration to the defaults (instruction on that page).
If you can see the normal selection of GME maps, and its the actual overlays that have gone (i.e. extra information displayed on top of the base map), then try re-entering them in the "Manage additional maps" section of GME's configuration screen. Failing that, you'll have to give more details of precisely what you are trying to do and what's (not) happening.
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If you are using the Geocaching Map Enhancements add-on, and you are in the USA, you can get data from the Nexrad weather radar as an overlay to the geocaching map. See http://geo.inge.org.uk/gme_maps.htm for instructions how to add custom maps and overlays. The configuration code for Nexrad is
{"alt":"Nexrad Weather","tileUrl":"http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/cgi-bin/wms/nexrad/n0r.cgi", "layers":"nexrad-n0r-900913", "format":"image/png", "transparent": true, "attribution": "Weather data © 2012 IEM Nexrad", "maxZoom":16, "overlay":true}Nexrad doesn't give a forecast as such, but it lets you see the storms coming in.
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I've been using these map enhancements with Chrome for a while now on my laptop and have found them very useful. Today I decided to install the GME script on my main PC, but I got a message saying that Google Chrome has recently changed its policy and now only accepts extensions if they came from the Google Chrome webstore. There are some geocaching scripts in the webstore but not the GME, so I guess I'll have to try it with Firefox instead, unless anyone has any other ways round this problem?
Thanks for letting me know about this. There are a few ways round the problem. Basically, you can either use a userscript manager like Tampermonkey (a bit like Greasemonkey, but for Chrome), or install the script manually. I've updated the installation instructions on the script's homepage at http://userscripts.o...pts/show/109145 and put detailed instructions for Chrome at http://userscripts.org/topics/115329
Alternatively, you can try using GME with Firefox or Opera. I've even started getting the script working with Internet Explorer!
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This sounds like an interesting idea to me. Some of the security concerns could be got around by showing a preview of the track before making it public,or by allowing tracks to be shared only with friends, but I think the problem of spoilers would always be an issue. Also, there would be the technical challenge for Groundspeak to manage all the track data: depending on the settings you use to record your logs, the files can be quite big.
I do like the idea of being able to show track logs on the map though. I've already got a Greasemonkey script that will let me drag and drop a GPX file onto the map to see the waypoints it holds. In the next version, I'm planning to extend it to display GPX format tracks and routes. That will give similar functionality to what FraenCache suggested, but without the tracks actually being shared (which removes the privacy issue). You can always email GPX files to your mates to share them, and I guess that that's not going to be any worse a spoiler than phoning a friend.
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What is the protocol with members only caches??? I have found and logged three so far. Can I backdate my online log to the real log signature dates. The caches were found with a little local knowledge and a little ability to track and think. Can't wait to get hold of GPS and start geting some bigger hauls [
].Wifey and Betty are now onboard with the fun and we now have a swapping ground for the hordes of treasure we bring home from frequent visits to the seaside tuppeny shuffles [
]According to this post, so long as you've signed the log book, Groundspeak are happy with you logging them online. You're just not allowed to see the listing page for a Premium cache unless you're a Premium Member.
This post shows how to do it (I've not tried myself, but assume it still works).
When you log online, it would be normal to use the date you actually found the cache.
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I have just discovered GME and it is a great add on giving me some really useful features.
However, I have a slight problem in that the Configuration icon link does not work.
I have tried re-installing and restarting the script.
I am using Chrome and just get a blank screen (if opened in a new tab)
http://www.geocachin...&z=14#GME_popup
is the link that is generated by the icon.
Any suggestions gratefully received.
Many thanks
Allan
Does the icon work if you just click on it normally (i.e. don't try to open it in a new tab)? The configuration screen is supposed to open in the same tab as the map.
If that doesn't fix it, post which version of Chrome you see, and whether there are any error messages in the Chrome console (press Ctrl-Shift-I). NB It's normal to have a load of error messages about viewport arguments.
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How did you, and what element did you inspect? I'm wondering how that request changes when the map is first scrolled. (I'm using Chrome too.)
These requests were "map.info" in Mapgeust and "9322.info" (or maybe the other map tile number) in OSM. The lattered requests failed always.
@GWRoss: Look in the Net tab of Chrome's console. The requests are made every time you move the mouse over a new tile on the map.
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Hello,
Before they made changes to the map, we always used aerial view to help find the geocaches. This is because we don't have a GPS and therefore being able to see where it was in relation to gateposts, trees, distance from path etc was very useful.
However, now whenever we click aerial the screen is blank - we can still see the caches but the background is completely grey, with an image of a camera with a line through it. Is this problem repairable? Is it no longer available to non-premium members? Any answers?!
Many thanks,
FartimusBowel
Unfortunately the problem is that you don't live in America, and Mapquest only serve up high resolution aerial photos in North America. Your options are limited:
1) Move to North America;
2) Zoom the map out to the point where you can't see any detail anyway;
3) Get Premium Membership of Geocaching.com, so you can use Google's satellite view; or
4) Install an add-on script like Geocaching Map Enhancements that lets you choose other sources of maps and aerial photos.
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Happens to me ALL the time on Chrome. No amount of zooming/panning will help. Works OK on Firefox.
Well, I toyed around with Chrome's "Inspect element". This is what I discovered:
OSM map:
Request URL:http://a.tile.openstreetmap.org/14/9322/4733.info?callback=grid
Request Method:GET
Status Code:404 Not Found
Mapquest map:
Request URL:http://www.geocaching.com/map/map.info?x=9321&y=4733&z=14&k=gtHK...EhU81&ep=1&callback=grid
Request Method:GET
Status Code:200 OK
grid({"grid":[" ",...."],
"keys":["","(42, 34)",...
"data":{"(42, 34)":[{"i":"GC36BFB","n":"OMSAUT"}],"(43, 34)":[{"i":"GC36BFB","n":"OMSAUT"}],...
]}});
I wonder, whether openstreetmap.org is supposed to know the name and GC-code of the cache-bubbles that are displayed?
OTH I really don't know what I'm doing, so this may be a completely false alarm
No, you are correct: this is a valid bug. Unfortunately, it's intermittent and I haven't quite worked out the sequence of events that reliably triggers it. It doesn't just happen with OpenStreetMaps - sometimes the website asks Mapquest or one of the other map servers for the cache info. I've also seen it in Opera and Firefox, so it isn't specific to Chrome. I think it's been reported on a few threads now, but I've not noticed the management pick up on it yet...
The URLs you've quoted are related to the URLs of the map tile that you moved your mouse over. They are supposed to be derived from the geocache icon tiles, but sometimes the website gets confused and uses the basemap tiles - hence the requests to OSM et al. It seems to be related to the way the Leaflet API swaps layers on the map (which is why zooming or changing map source helps).
Although I'm not sure what the underlying problem is, I did come up with a workaround. It is possible to write a script that intercepts the dodgy data requests and redirects them to the correct server. I've added this bugfix into the latest version of my Geocaching Map Enhancements userscript (which has various other useful features too).
Unfortunately, this bug is not the end of the story. Even when the website is using the correct URL, it seems to get a nil response back fairly often, which could be a server loading issue. Once the website fails to get the data for a tile, it doesn't seem to try again (although panning to new areas may work).
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I like the geocaching.com maps and I use them frequently. Since geocaching is a sport of maps and distance, why don't the maps have a scale included to show distance. This is a feature I think should be included on the geocaching.com maps. Or am I just missing a setting that I could change to see the scale?
There should be a scale already. If you're using Google Maps, it should be at the bottom-right of the main Geocaching Maps page. On the cache pages, and on the main map if you've set your map preference to Leaflet, it's at the bottom-left.
If you can't see it, post details of which browser you are using.
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I don't know enough about the internals of the location API, but my impression of the advantage of a native mobile app vs. a mobile web application (using HTML5) is that the former can talk directly to the native device hardware (GPS, Camera, the local "file system", etc.). Will the Location API attempt to use the native GPS if it's available?
The API just provides a standard method for a web page to get location information from a web browser. It's up to the browser to figure out what that location is the best it can. Browsers are native apps, so they can use whatever hardware the operating system made available (and various other methods of guessing).
Mobile operating systems tend to know about GPSrs, but whether their security model lets the browser get at the data is another matter. When I was writing widgets for a Nokia S60 platform, you couldn't get at GPS info through the web browser, you had to write a native app. However, I've tested the API using Firefox Mobile and Opera Mobile on an Asus Transformer TF101 (Android 4.0.3) and an HTC Desire (Android 2.2), using my GME script. In both cases, it worked fine with the internal GPS on the device and the result was perfectly adequate for geocaching.
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Modern browsers support (most of) HTML5 - even mobile browsers. It would be nice if Geocaching.com would use the Location API (http://www.w3.org/TR/geolocation-API/).
Erm, it does...
On the Geocaching Maps page, there is a "Find my location" button (crosshair icon) in the top-left of the map. It only appears if your browser supports the Geolocation API and if you have selected Leaflet rather than Google as your map preference (if you are a Premium Member). It's a bit of a gimmick on a desktop browser (as you're likely to be sat at your home location anyway), but it's much more useful on a mobile platform like a tablet.
How well it works depends on your browser and operating system. While you may have GPS hardware, your browser needs to be able to figure out how to connect to it. Mobile browsers tend to be good at that. If the browser can't figure out how to connect to GPS (a common Windows issue), it can still try by looking up your IP address (might be 100s of miles out) or the details of nearby cellphone or wifi signals (accuracy between several miles to 10s of meters).
Geocaching.com doesn't use the Geolocation API directly. It just uses the widget built into the Leaflet API. One problem with the way it does this is that it does not allow a long enough timeout to wake up the GPS hardware on my Android tablet and wait for the first fix (this is a GC.com flaw, not a problem with Leaflet). I've built a fix for this issue into my Geocaching Map Enhancements userscript. GME also goes one step further and has an option to continuously update the map location. If you're getting location data from GPS, this turns Geocaching Maps into a moving maps app!
There's no reason why Groundspeak couldn't add a similar function to the Google Maps view. As Google Maps is default for Premium Members, it's a bit odd that you get fewer features! It could also be used elsewhere on the website, so that e.g. listing pages show distance from your current location, or you could do a location-based search from the Hide&Seek page. I might look at adding some of these features to a future version of GME...
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Not sure if it's a bug...or by design.
I dropped a GPX file, and it does show on the map...but it only shows the icon with no data associated with it. Clicking the icon just brings up the standard 'i' info.
It's not a bug as such, but I wouldn't go as far as saying it was by design either!
Let's just say it's not a feature I've implemented yet...When you drop a file in, you ought to at least get some information about each point as a tooltip when you hover the mouse over its marker. However, what information you get is a bit inconsistent depending on whether you dropped a LOC file (giving the name) or a GPX (giving the GC-code).
I'll see if I can make the tooltip more informative for this release, and maybe look at something more complicated in a future update. I'm a little wary of causing confusion between popups from points you drag onto the map, and the usual popups from the live cache data - especially when both relate to the same point.
BTW - you should also be drag able to drag the title of a cache from a listing page onto the map page, to display markers for it and any associated waypoints, using corrected coordinates if applicable!
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I've got GME v0.6.0 nearly ready to go, but it still needs some testing. If you're feeling brave, you can try out the preview at this link: http://geo.inge.org.uk/GeocachingMapEnhancements.user.js
The new version should add in support for dragging and dropping GPX or LOC files onto the map for display (in browsers that support HTML5 drag'n'drop), improve display of Geograph photos, add Panoramio photos, and move the cache list function onto the i menu, rather than giving it its own icon. It will also work around the website bug that often stops geocache details being shown when you point at cache icons, as well as the Opera and distance measurement bugs mentioned in the posts above.
This version should also run under Internet Explorer 8 using the Trixie extension. Unfortunately, the amount of work I had to do to make it work with IE8 means that there's a fair chance I've introduced new bugs. Hence I'm posting the preview here for early adopters. If you try it, please send me a message through my profile if you do come across any bugs. If I don't come across any I can't fix, at the weekend I'll update the official version at userscripts.org to v0.6.0, and update the instructions to match.
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There are actually a whole host of independent problems here:
- Sometimes the server is slow at serving up tiles from the map's geocache layer, so the icons either appear slowly, partially (chopped in half on the edge of tiles!) or not at all.
- Sometimes the server is slow at serving up the data about caches. As you move the mouse over the map, the website only asks for data about the places you move the mouse to, so if the response is slow, you don't see the icon change shape before you've moved the mouse away. If you click on the icon before the data has been received, nothing happens.
- There is a bug on the website that means it sometimes uses the wrong URLs for the geocache data (i.e. it asks MapQuest or OSM, rather than Geocaching.com!) This means that the cache details don't pop up at all.
- When zoomed in, the clickable hotspots for the icons are smaller than the icons themselves. This means you might think you clicked in the right place, but you didn't.
There's not really a lot you can do about the first two problems. The third one you can work around by either changing the zoom level or switching to a different map source. I've also got a techy fix for it that I will build into the next version of my Geocaching Map Enhancements script. I'm not sure if I can fix the last one with a script - you just have to aim your clicking in the middle of the icons.
It would be nice if it all worked out of the box though, wouldn't it?
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I've just noticed there is a problem (0.5.10), when I try to view the GME options all I see is a black screen. I think it's related to the recent upgrade to Opera 12 as it was fine before.
On another PC (also Windows 7/ Opera 12) I get a similar issue, but the 'i' menu pops up.
After a quick bit of googling, this appears to be a bug in the JQuery Mobile javascript library, that has been triggered by the Opera 12 update. It seems to be fine in other browsers. See here for the gory detail: https://github.com/j...ile/issues/4521
At some point, the JQuery folk will built a fix into their library, eventually Groundspeak might update the version of JQuery Mobile they use on Geocaching.com and the problem will go away. In the meantime, you will be glad to hear that there is a workaround:
In Opera, load Geocaching Maps, then open the Dragonfly console (Ctrl-Shift-I). Click on the 'console' tab, and type in the following:
$.support.cssTransitions = false;
After that, you can close the console and the GME config dialog should pop up as normal. The downside to this is that you need to redo it each time you reload the page (if you want to use the config dialog, that is). Alternatively, you could just switch to Chrome or Firefox
I am currently working on GME v0.6.0, which will include this workaround, fix various other bugs, add some new features, and possibly even work in Internet Explorer!
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It looks like someone else has been thinking that a Geocaching app for Pebble would be a good idea. It's one of the examples mentioned in the preview of the Android SDK at http://developer.getpebble.com/
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So for the clueless, can we get these maps onto our GPS??
I guess so. It's not something I've tried, as I don't have a standard GPSr, but the instructions at http://mobac.sourceforge.net/MOBAC/README.HTM look hopeful. You need to read the bits about using custom WMS map sources with MOBAC, and set up a configuration file using the parameters from the GME configuration code.
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With the recent re-working of maps, the Cache Description bubble that normally displays when you mouse over a cache symbol has now become flakey. I'm running Win 7 / Chrome, which is normally totally reliable. However, if I change to one of the non-default map displays, like OpenCycleMaps, and scroll in/scroll out, it stops doing any of the mouse over expands -- which makes it so that I can't get details for any of the caches on the screen.
To fix, I normally just start over again by refreshing screen, move the map back to the location I was just looking at, and then everything will display properly. But if I change map displays again, especially if I scroll in / out, it will stop working again.
Makes it very difficult to work, as I'm constantly having to change back to the default (undesired) map display in order to get information, and then go back to OpenCycleMap to get terrain topology.
I was going to report this myself, once I'd figured out why it is happening.
What I've figured out so far is that normally, when you move the mouse over each map tile, the web page fires a request to the geocaching.com servers for data about any caches that may be in the area covered by that tile, and uses it to pop up the cache titles and descriptions. The URL for the data it asks for is based on the URL of the map tile. It is supposed to use the map tiles from the geocache icon layer but from time to time it uses the tiles from the base map instead. This means that the web page starts asking Mapquest or OpenStreetMap for cache details, rather than Geocaching.com
What I've not yet figured out is precisely why this happens. It seems to be related to adding or removing layers on the map, which happens when you zoom, change map type, or add different overlays (like filtering out your finds). However, it doesn't happen every time you do one of these things...
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- Details of my configuration (browser and version, application version, etc.):
- Firefox 12.0 / WinXP,
- Opera 11.64 / WinXP
- Chrome 19.0.1084.56 m / WinXP
[*]Specific steps leading to the observed behaviour:
- In Geocaching Maps, zoom in to level 14 or greater
[*]Details of the observed behaviour:
- When you move the mouse over a geocache icon, the hot spots (the regions where the mouse pointer changes, the cache name tool-tip is shown and the icon is clickable) are only in the middle of the cache icons and do not extend all the way to the edges.
- Where cache icons are close enough to overlap, this means that the mouse can sometimes appear to be over the top icon, but only the details from the bottom icon are shown.
- This bug also makes the website harder for less dexterous people use.
[*]Details of the expected behaviour, i.e. what you believe should be happening instead:
- I believe that at zoom levels 14 and greater, the hot spots should be made the same size as the cache icons, so that if the mouse is over any area where icons overlap, the tool-tips for all the icons will be displayed.
- This already happens at zoom levels 13 and smaller, where the cache icons are smaller and the hot spots cover the full extent of the icon.
- Details of my configuration (browser and version, application version, etc.):
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Thanks jri, I assume by host cable you mean like a OTG USB adapter?
Not quite - I think you may have mixed up my reply with one on another thread!
In the past, USB used a master/slave architecture, where only the master (or host, i.e. a computer) could set up a connection to a slave device (memory stick, bluetooth dongle, GPSr, etc). OTG is the technology that lets one device act as both a master and a slave, depending on what you plug it in to.
Old Android devices were just slaves - you could plug them in to a computer and read them like a memory stick, but they weren't able to use other USB peripherals. Newer Android devices have OTG: you can still plug them into a computer as a slave, but you can also use them as a master for other devices. AFAIK OTG is only supported in Android 3.1 and above.
From what I can see, the OTG adapters only change the size of the USB socket, so that you can physically plug in a standard device. I don't think they will add OTG functions if your tablet didn't support them in the first place.
I hear a lots about Bluetooth GPSr, does anyone know if bluetooth dongles work on android tablets though a OTG USB adapter?
I don't think so. I can use a bluetooth GPSr via the internal bluetooth on my Asus Transformer, and I can use the same GPSr with a D-Link DBT-120 bluetooth dongle on my PC. However, when I try plugging the dongle into my tablet, nothing happens...
If your tablet supports OTG, then the hardware should be compatible, but you probably need driver software installed on the tablet to tell it what to do next. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that these drivers exist - but hopefully someone can prove me wrong.
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Are there external GPSr's that can plug directly into a tablets micro USB port?
Possibly, depending on your tablet.
First you need to check that your tablet has the right hardware. It has to be able to act as a USB host. If it can read a memory stick, that's fine, but some devices just have USB so they can act as a peripheral for a desktop computer.
Next, you need software that knows what to do with a USB GPSr. For high-end tablets that run Windows, that ought not to be a problem. I've not come across any Android software that can use a USB GPS, even if the hardware is physically compatible (probably because a lot of Android tablets have built-in GPSrs), and I don't have any experience of Macs.
You may have more luck with a Bluetooth GPSr. I have got a Globalsat BT-338and a Qstarz BT-Q1000, which I have used with Windows and Linux laptops, a Palm Tungsten T3 PDA, and an Android tablet. The Qstarz GPSr also has a USB connection, but I've only got this working on Windows and Linux. For Android, there is a handy Bluetooth GPS app that makes either device work.
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A digressive random suggestion ... how about the option to include miniature photos on the map, as in panoramio.com?
I mean, wouldn't it be nice to see at a glance what the countryside's like around the area of a potential afternoon's caching without having to open another tab in your browser to visit panoramio or similar? Just a thought.
Miniature Panoramio photos, you can do already: click on GME's gear icon, go to 'Add more maps', cut'n'paste the code below into the box, and hit 'Add mapsource'.
{"alt":"Panoramio", "tileUrl":"http://mt{s}.google.com/mapslt?lyrs=com.panoramio.all|pv:2|tag:piles&x={x}&y={y}&z={z}&w=256&h=256", "subdomains":"0123", "attribution":"<a href='http://www.panoramio.com'><img src='http://www.panoramio.com/img/logo-tos.png' alt='Panoramio'></a> Photos are copyrighted by their owners", "minZoom":0, "maxZoom":22, "overlay":true}That should add the Panoramio thumbnail overlay into your list of maps.
However, the thumbnails are very diddy, and they aren't clickable. I'll have a look at how easy it is to use their API to properly integrate Panoramio photos into a future version of the script. Failing that, it would be easy to add an option to GME's Info tool to open Panoramio at the same coordinates and zoom level as the Geocaching map (albeit in a new tab).
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Let's just say it's not a feature I've implemented yet...
Geocaching and transportation
in General geocaching topics
Posted
I live in Bristol, UK. Although it is officially a "cycle city", its traffic is not known for being especially friendly to cyclists, or cars for that matter. Nonetheless, cycling is often the fastest way to get around the city, and over half my finds are within 25km of home, most of them made by bike or on foot. Most of the rest of my finds are made when I happen to have been travelling somewhere (by train, plane, car, or whatever else) and then collect local caches on foot. Whether at home or away, caching gives something to add direction to a morning run, or to point out interesting places on a wander.
There are occasional caches where I've been on a road trip, stopped somewhere, and picked up a cache nearby, but very rarely will I drive directly to a cache . That said, I do do the odd day trip where I will drive somewhere, park up, and hike to the caches nearby. Obviously using a car lets me get to fun places you might not otherwise see. But equally, there are fun places I can get to by train or other means, and I do that too.
Having travelled and cached a little in America, I can appreciate that it's not the most comfortable place for getting around by any other means than by car. I've also cycled and cached in India, and found that a whole different experience!