melmur
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Posts posted by melmur
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Yep, that's one way of doing it I suppose.
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This is what I use them for mostly - visualising a route after planning it. This is a view of Snowdon, Crib Goch and the caches along the ridge.
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I've used them, but they're more of a gimmick on the PPC than of actual use. They are pretty useful when viewing a 3D view on the PC though, especially if you need to explain ground relief and contours to people.
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Firstly there is the speed and way which you can search the caches, it's pretty similar to GSAK in the way you can get to the cache you need.
Secondly, if you us Memory Map, you can just click the icon of a cache on the map and be taken directly to the cachemate info, You can also navigate to caches with cachemate as it now includes cachenav as a part of the install.
I used to mess around with the html files but believe me, if you try cachemate you will never bother again. It's a free trial so go see for yourself!
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I thought that when I first tried it. I always thought GPX Sonar was better and looked prettier until I got to over 500 caches, then it slowed to a crawl. Cachemate knocks the spots off it as you would expect with an SQL database.
@ stora - there are 2 different ports your GPS will work on, a software one and a hardware one. The hardware one can't be shared and is usually COM2 or HW_COM or GPS_COM. With the software port (usually COM4 on Sirf III Mio devices) you can connect many apps to it. However, some apps can't wake up this port. Tomtom, Cachenav and Miomap are guilty of this, so if you want to share apps such as these on software port with MM, or similar, you need to open the port first with an app that can do it. MM can, so run that first.
There's more info here:
http://www.fourpages.co.uk/mioA701/viewtopic.php?t=330
It's relevant to the A701, but your device works in the same way, but the port numbers may differ.
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@ Moote, I agree the transflective screens are far superior to the transmissive affair on the A701. I still replaced my x51v with it though and would never go back. I just love having it all in one device. I never did get a CF GPS to work on the Dell either.
I also agree that roolku's GSAK export script with MM/Cachemate is the dog's nads.
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That's a shame, I was hoping a Palm user would convince us they were still camparable with the PPCs. I know very little about them apart from the old monochrome LCD ones of the late 80s.
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Surely you did that in your last post?Very good Milton - I still don't care if someone uses a Palm or PPC and am not about to justify my choice of a Palm.
It is on topic. The original poster wanted opinions on "Which PDA ???". Both PPCs and Palms are Personal Digital Assistants, so I think healthy discussion like this helps people to decide which way to go. Everyone has a favourite device, so this is the place to recommend it to us! So long as we don't get upset when people don't agree, like you said - personal tastes.How about we get this thread back on topic as debating Palm vs PPC never gets anyone anywhere as it's all down to what you need it for and personal tastes.
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My mistake, I thought the x50v was already WM5, was getting it mixed up with the x51v.
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As someone who owns both a MIO and iPaq, I can say the iPaq knocks spots off the MIO; try running TomTom, Memory Map, and a 78MB Cachemate Database on a MIO and it dies
Which Mio are we talking about here? I suspect a 168? Your 5550 has more RAM, but a slower processor than the A701, so I would expect a similar sort of benchmark from the two devices. I regularly run tomtom, MM, gpsdash & cachemate concurrently without any dramas on the a701. The only problem is a bit of GPS lag when they are all reading the NMEA data at once.
@ Alboy, why do you need GPS gate with the x50v? isn't that a WM5 device? WM5 can manage GPS connections without 3rd party software.
@ CrazyL200, if you already have the 5550 and are going to upgrade to another PDA with the same features, then I would just keep what you have and just go for the bigger card. All you will benefit is a slight increase in speed anyway. I would only consider upgrading when yours no longer runs what you need it to or you want extra features such as built in GPS, phone or whatever.
I would certainly consider a £40 4GB card off Ebay before splashing out £150 on one though. Maybe I could sell you one of the £40 ones for £100 and guarantee it will work for you removing the risk & saving you £50? You want to buy one too Moote?
RE: Tomtom. You need Tomtom 5.21 or above for WM5 as you discovered. So Tomtom 6 also works and has the whole of Europe on one map. Some people prefer Miomap, but I prefer Tomtom for it's full UK postcodes and amount of custom hacks & addons available.
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If you want more info on the A701, take a look at our forums here. There is a whole world of information on there, and as far as I remember out of our ~1800 members only one has said they regret buying one (and that was because he doesn't really know how to use it). That speaks volumes as people generally only register to post when they have a problem with their device.
The A701 does however have a competitor in the Eten G500, it is pretty similar spec but I have no experience with it, so can't advise either way. I went for the A701 instead as I had owned Mio devices before and the G500 is slightly bigger and uglier in my opinion.
As for SD cards, I personally buy mine off Ebay as I can't afford to pay ~£150, and I am currently using a 150x 2GB OEM card which cost me £21 and works fine. You can also get a 150x 4GB OEM card off Ebay for £34.50 off the same seller I got mine from. He has 85,500 positive feedback so I think he's fairly trustworthy!
Please note that although the spec of the A701 says 2GB max, it does work with 4GB cards as per the numerous reports on the above forum.
One thing I forgot to mention - as the A701 has a built in camera (albeit not the world's best) I have had a developer write an app for me that can easily stamp your lat/long onto a picture, or any .jpg file you want. You get something like this, with the notes you can add below the data...
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Value for money - p350 (around £170)
If you want BT & WIFI built in - p550 (around £230)
If you want one with phone built in, including GPRS for internet in the field - A701 (around £370)
All the above are made by Mio and have built in Sirf III GPS chipsets, which I have no affiliation to apart from I think they make the best value all round PDAs, with more stuff in the box than I have ever seen from any other manufacturer. I have owned a Mio 168, then a p350, and now an A701. In between the 350 & 701, I had a top of the range Dell Axim x51v which went back on Ebay within 6 days.
The only downsides you have are the screen on the A701 is not the biggest, but I use Tomtom & MM on it quite happily & the obvious battery life problem with integrated devices. With an extended 3000mAh battery in my A701 though, I can get around 7-8hrs of constant GPS use with the screen active. Mio's support is not brilliant either, but I have never needed to use them.
Or.............you could do what most people on here seem to be happy with and get one of those retro Palm thingys off Ebay for a tenner. Horses for courses.
I think if a lot of folks saw MM running on a PDA with a built in GPS & custom icons linked directly into Cachemate, they would consider upgrading.Edit to add....
All these devices run WM5, which has the added benefit of non-volatile memory. So if your battery goes flat, you no longer lose everything. I am assuming you have a 2003 device as you mention GPS Gate, which is also not needed on WM5.
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As the p350 has built in GPS, I think you will need a bit more than just Cachemate. Take a look at Memory Map, GPSDash, OZI Explorer, Navio, Pathaway to name a few.
I have tried them all and Memory Map is the best for mapping & transferring data to/from a PC, although it is expensive. I have found GPSDash is the best for actually nailing down a cache because it updates the arrow every second, MM only updates every 3 secs.
If you get MM working properly with custom icons & linked into Cachemate, you will never need to take a map or paper printout again.
You also need GSAK for your PC and need to be a premium member so you can get Pocket Queries.
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& just in case I'm right, here's the next question.....
where is bbroyġbvġw used?
and your best attempt at a 'PC' mnemonic please.
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Lamb (a long time ago but won it twice apparantly) & Nikolaus Silver (in the 60's). Neither of which I would have known if I had not been to a pub quiz tonight.
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They replace the standard GC which is the same for every cache, with meaningful ones. TR in your case means it's a Traditional cache in a Regular container.
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The OS also have an online version of the converter at National GPS Network
Yep, that's the one I was thinking of.
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Just seen the bit about magnetic variation in your first post:
It doesn't matter if you're just using lat/long & grid references. GMA (Grid/Magnetic Angle) only applies when converting grid bearings to a magnetic bearings & back.
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If you have a PPC, then OSGPS does it easily enough.
http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/barrydavies/osgps_main.html
So does Memory Map for the PC/PPC, but you have to pay for it.
You could also use something like this:
http://www.nearby.org.uk/conversions.cgi
of which there are hundreds around, just google for them. There is also one on the OS website, but I can't find it at the moment.
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It's now possible if anyone is interested.
info...
http://www.fourpages.co.uk/mioA701/viewtopic.php?t=229
download link...
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Well, it took a while, but it's now possible (on the a701 at least)...
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It's because Cachenav can't wake up a software port (COM4 for you) on a WM5 device. It should work on HW_COM (COM2) as stated above, but for COM4, you will have to wake up the port with another GPS app first, then open cachenav with it running in the background. Once cachenav has connected to the GPS, you can close the other app.
Don't use tomtom or igo for this as they also can't open COM4 unaided.
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I use this one:
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/...nemaps/1995.gif
imported and calibrated in Memory Map. It's also useful to see an overview of all your map boundaries as it has a plain background.
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I use a Mio a701 as mentioned above, and there are a few alternatives that are just as good depending on which features you need. I get around 3hrs constant use out of the battery, and if I need any more, I just plug this in to charge it:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=150012069124
I also keep it in an aquapac when it's raining which makes it waterproof down to 30m which does the job even if you drop it in a river. However, a simple lanyard will make sure you never drop it, so I can't see why everyone worries about PPCs breaking when they are dropped!
I think if a lot of folks saw MM running on a PDA with a built in GPS & custom icons linked directly into Cachemate, they would consider upgrading.
WANTED: GSAK and Memory Map users for a spot of testing
in United Kingdom and Ireland
Posted
As above, I use ver 5.