naviguesser74

Just spent my first day using globalsat BT 359W with MacBook Pro, MacGPS Pro, TomTom Navigator and GeoNiche (the last two on a Palm). I find the 359W to be a good improvement over the TomTom BT GPSr that I was using before, especially with GeoNiche when walking/geocaching. GeoNiche seems to update more quickly. Satelites were acquired more quickly and it seemed to work better in the woods. I think the TomTom is SiRF III, too, but I think there is definely a difference. Great fun to see all the targets on the Mac and the high quality maps from MacGPS Pro. Read the gpx converted to html using Mac and Safari. Plan where to go. Pick up Palm, select the cache and TomTom gives voice navigation. Then start hiking using GeoNiche. I know I am a geek, but I get almost as much fun out of the technology as I do the walk and the find.

use GPSVisualizer, a facade that makes GPSBabel easy to use. I use a Palm with a BT GPSr, so I am no help to you. People on the Yahoo macmap group will be able to help you.

I am using MacGPS Pro and its maps to view all the cache locations on the maps. Those locations are also in a Palm with a BT GPSr to take into the field. But I like seeing them on the map, planning the trip, reading the clue and notes, etc, on the Mac first.

I, too, use a Treo 650 and I think it gives me WAY more capability than a Garmin. With a BT GPSr and GeoNiche, I manage an infinite number of waypoints. In addition, GeoNiche does all the GPS stuff. I use TomTom Navigator and get voice/street navigation to the cache. I use GPS Pilot's Tracker program with scanned maps. SD card managment is simple and easy with a card reader. I put in about 1500 cache locations into GeoNiche and TomTom this morning. I have Planetarium if I want to know about any celestial body. It goies on and on.

I've got an Excel spreadsheet that calculates the direction and distance between two lats and longs if you need it. PM me.

since no one has answer (and I can't help you with first hand info), you might try joining the macmaps group on yahoo. they are always talking about issues you are asking about

convert the gpx file to an html file using GPSVisualizer. Then "find" the cache info using the GCXXXX title gleaned from your MacGPS Pro map.

Like "Curious" above, I use TomTom on a Treo. Wonderful. I put the cache locations in as POIs and then get voice prompts to them. When close, I switch to GeoNiche. It does the CacheMate stuff in addition to making the Palm a functional and very customizable GPS. True, it is not rugged or waterproof, but there are waterproof bags and cases made specifically to address that shortcoming.

By the way, with help, I was able to include in my Excel spreadsheet calculations for direction and distance between the two lats and longs. That part works great and I would be easy to read in tab-delineated info, but I CAN'T READ THE CLUE!

Well, I've made some progress. Trying to use Excel or FileMaker on a Mac to find, sort, and otherwise manage downloaded .gpx cache info. I want to be able to read the hint, clue, description, notes etc. By converting (using GPSVisualizer/GPSBabel) the gpx file into a number of different formats, I have determined that all the info on a cache page comes over in the downloaded .gpx file. But converting it sometimes limits its usefullness. In a .txt file, you can see it is all there but, obviously, you can't do calculations (e.g., distance). In a .pdb file, it won't open with typical Mac apps. In a tab or comma-delineated format, the clue and hint get cut off and contain only the title. What is curious about this one is that a month ago I tried converting gpx into tab-delineated and put it in Excel and I got the full clue/hint in one of the cells. But I can't duplicated that now. Don't know what changed. One of the interesting coversion output formats is html. The converted file opens in Safari. Everything from the cache page comes over, even pictures. And you can "find" the cache you are looking for using its GCXXXX title. I would have prefered using Excel or FileMaker and having all the cache info in one place, but I may resort to using Excel to see a quick list that would include direction and distance from current location so I can plan. I can also import the gpx file into maps and see it that way. Then I could use Safari and the html file to read the clue. Interesting that I can do all this with GeoNiche on a Palm with a BT GPSr, but I am having so much difficulty using just a Mac.

Well, I've made some progress. Trying to use Excel or FileMaker on a Mac to find, sort, and otherwise manage downloaded .gpx cache info. I want to be able to read the hint, clue, description, notes etc. By converting (using GPSVisualizer/GPSBabel) the gpx file into a number of different formats, I have determined that all the info on a cache page comes over in the downloaded .gpx file. But converting it sometimes limits its usefullness. In a .txt file, you can see it is all there but, obviously, you can't do calculations (e.g., distance). In a .pdb file, it won't open with typical Mac apps. In a tab or comma-delineated format, the clue and hint get cut off and contain only the title. What is curious about this one is that a month ago I tried converting gpx into tab-delineated and put it in Excel and I got the full clue/hint in one of the cells. But I can't duplicated that now. Don't know what changed. One of the interesting coversion output formats is html. The converted file opens in Safari. Everything from the cache page comes over, even pictures. And you can "find" the cache you are looking for using its GCXXXX title. I would have prefered using Excel or FileMaker and having all the cache info in one place, but I may resort to using Excel to see a quick list that would include direction and distance from current location so I can plan. I can also import the gpx file into maps and see it that way. Then I could use Safari and the html file to read the clue. Interesting that I can do all this with GeoNiche on a Palm with a BT GPSr, but I am having so much difficulty using just a Mac.

A few weeks ago I converted a PQ .gpx file to a tab delineated file using GPSVisualizer (Babel). The text or clue came over in the "Notes" field. I was able to put the file into Excel so as to calculate the distance and direction of the cache from my home lat and long and when I clicked on the notes field I saw the entire clue. I tried to retrace my steps using a new PQ .gpx file. Now the notes field is there but without the entire contents. Did the .gpx info change? What am I missing? Anyone converted to a format that will work in Excel and have the clue survive? HELP!

thanks, sbell111!

when i receive the zipped PQ there are two files: xxxxxx.gpx and xxxxxx - waypoint.gpx. what's the difference?

GeoNiche turns your Palm device into a great GPS device. Very customizable. Good for all GPS uses, but it is especially good for geocaching because, unlike anything else I've seen, not only can you navigate to the cache like any GPSr, but also you can find, sort, read the clue, etc.

won't do the calculation you are seeking, but try GeoNiche for your Palm. Good for geocaching and much more.

As a Mac user, GSAK is not available to me, but I convert the .gpx files .ov2 (tomtom) files and insert them into tomtom on a Palm Treo. Works great. John Clease tells you exactly how to get there and zooming in is amazingly accurate.

Chuinga, I posted an excel spreadsheet that calculates direction and distance between two points. It is in the Yahoo mac maps utilities. Or, I'll email it to you.

gpsvisualizer puts a web face on babel converts about everything. geoniche (in Java, I believe) will converted .loc and .gpx into .pdb for Palms.

to elaborate a little. my simple spreadsheet starts with a Lat1 & Long1 (i use my home coordinates) and shows the direction and distance to all the included caches (using their respective Lat2 & Long2). then i can find, sort, add a field for "found", date added, date found, etc. etc. if anyone wants it, i'll send via email. hopefully, someone can improve on it. it's not GSAK, that's for sure, but it manages the caches AND it runs on anything that will run excel, unlike GSAK

in case anyone is interested, i have made progress. fishermanbob is right. waypointworkbench, linked above, does everything i had envisioned, and much more. but i have made a simple excel spreadsheet. i take the lat and long from the downloaded .gpx file and paste into the correct columns. i did 100 from a recent PQ. i do the same with the name of the cache and the corresponding notes and clue. i don't have the geocache alpha/numeric (cryptic) reference, which i am going to need because that is what shows on the map programs that show the cache locations. i also need to figure out how to decode the encoded portion of the notes/clue. anyone know how to do that in excel?

flat is fine with me. to get from one geocache to the next, I am not worried about great circle routes or the curvature of the earth.

Thanks, All, for the info. I just want to make a simple GSAK-type Excel spreadsheet or FileMaker database so that I can manage geocache locations on a Mac. I was able to convert a .gpx file to tab delineated info. With help from the macmap group on Yahoo, I found an Excel distance spreadsheet here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/macmap/...er%20Utilities/ Now I just need to do a similar calculation for direction. Distance to next cache will be so small that I am willing to assume flat surface.

I have lat and long of my position and lat and long of target. Using Excel, I want to calculate direction and distance to target. I know there are web pages that do it for you. I don't need this to be extremely accurate. I am willing to use, for example, where I am that one degree of lat is 69 miles and one degree of long is 52 miles. I can subract point two from pointt one and calculate the hypotenus to calculate distance. The direction is trickier. Four "if/then" statements depeding on which quadrent the target is in? Has any done this? Share the formula?

If it is not in your mail program's in box, check the junk box. that's where I find mine.