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Gsak (geocaching Swiss Army Knife)


ClydeE

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GSAK version 5.6 is a minor update, mainly to add full Magellan eXplorist support (Thanks to the latest version of GPSBabel).

 

However, there are also some fixes and a few new features which would still make this a recommended upgrade for all GSAK users. For a full list of changes please see http://gsak.net/help/hs1060.htm

 

Download here http://gsak.net

Edited by ClydeE
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If you could just make it so the explorist would take more than 200 geocaches
.

 

I must confess that one baffles me :) , I just can't understand why they made that limitation. I guess we can only hope this will be addressed in a firmware update.

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If you could just make it so the explorist would take more than 200 geocaches.

Unfortunately, that's not our problem to fix. GPSBabel (and thus GSAK) can create files of the right shape with an unbounded number of points. I tested it on out to about 2500 points and boy, does the unit get slow reading that! The problem is that the unit reads them all, keeps the bottom 200 GC#'s, and tosses the rest.

 

Call and/or write Magellan to get them to 'fix' the firmware to hold a more reasonable number of caches in core at the same time. Bank switching - esp. since they're unedtable- doesn't cut it.

 

(Actually, while you're complaining, pipe up on that uneditable/undeletable thing, too. I wouldn't mind not being able to edit if I could mark found caches in a prompt way....)

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CacheRaid Macro.

 

I'm having a problem running the CacheRaid macro. It needs to use the CacheRaid filter, but can't find it. There are no filters in the saved section called CacheRaid. Does anyone know the settings so I can create and save it myself?

 

Thanks!

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I just got my kid a Geko 201 and was looking for a way to load waypoints into it. I didnt see an option is GSAK. Im not real familiar with Garmin. The only thing I have found to do it was USA Photo Maps but I didnt like the way it loaded the waypoints. I tried EasyGPS but it didnt seem to recognize the GPS.

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I just got my kid a Geko 201 and was looking for a way to load waypoints into it. I didnt see an option is GSAK. Im not real familiar with Garmin. The only thing I have found to do it was USA Photo Maps but I didnt like the way it loaded the waypoints. I tried EasyGPS but it didnt seem to recognize the GPS.

The Geko 201 works fine with GSAK (I have one that I download waypoints regularly)

 

Just go to GPS=>Setup and select the brand "Garmin" and the serial port you will be connecting it to.

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CacheRaid Macro.

 

I'm having a problem running the CacheRaid macro. It needs to use the CacheRaid filter, but can't find it. There are no filters in the saved section called CacheRaid. Does anyone know the settings so I can create and save it myself?

 

Thanks!

As per the instruction in the macro, just save a filter that represents the selection of caches you want to include in your cache raid. The reason this is not a standard filter is becuase the selection criteria will usually be different for each user.

 

For example you may want to set this filter to contain all unfound caches that are in a 50 mile radius from your home coordinates. Your just need to decide what your slection criteria will be, then create and save a filter to match.

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I was trying to load a collection of GPX files (e.g. C:\Caches\Finds\*.gpx) using the wildcard method. But I can't navigate to just a folder via the browse dialog, specify *.gpx, and have it return to the load dialog. Instead I must explicitly type out the whole path and wildcard. I may be confused, but I thought I could do this in the previous version. Is this a PICNIC? (Problem In Chair, Not In Computer)

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I was trying to load a collection of GPX files (e.g. C:\Caches\Finds\*.gpx) using the wildcard method.  But I can't navigate to just a folder via the browse dialog, specify *.gpx, and have it return to the load dialog.  Instead I must explicitly type out the whole path and wildcard.  I may be confused, but I thought I could do this in the previous version.  Is this a PICNIC?  (Problem In Chair, Not In Computer)

GSAK uses a standard windows api call to that dialog and that is the way it works - this was the same behaviour as in previous releases.

 

The work around would be to use the browse dialog to navigate the folders and then just select any file. When you are returned to the load dialog then just change via the keyboard the file part to *.gpx

 

As wild card support is only a recent addition I suspect the source of confusion is that you previously used the "load a folder of files" option rather than "load file" using a wild card.

Edited by ClydeE
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I was just adding some corrected waypoints and had a couple of values for one of the puzzles that I am working on. I knew by looking at a map which one would be the right one and which one wouldn't. But I wanted to look at it using ExpertGPS. I found the Custom Export dialog and got it to work like a charm.

 

A hint if you are using this option. You can prefix your command with

 

start "Title"

 

where you can replace Title (IN quotes) with your choice of a name, though you won't see a difference. This will cause your application to run as expected, but will immediately allow GSAK to continue to run.

 

OK, now my request. :mad: I would like an option to be able to add the saved export settings to the Export submenu. Even if there were a limited number of settings, it would still be useful. I guess you could create a macro though.

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OK, now my request.  :mad: I would like an option to be able to add the saved export settings to the Export submenu. Even if there were a limited number of settings, it would still be useful. I guess you could create a macro though.

Yes, just create a macro and allocate it to a tool button. You can add this button to the tool bar and then your custom export is only one mouse click away.

Edited by ClydeE
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What happened to the HTML generation progress bar?  It was there in the previous version?

 

It is still there.

 

Perhaps the number of waypoints generated was so small it didn't register.

The number of waypoints is nearly 3000. I tried it twice. I will try again & then back up to GSAK 5.5.1 & try it on that version.

 

Thx for your prompt response,

 

Dean

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What happened to the HTML generation progress bar?  It was there in the previous version?

 

It is still there.

 

Perhaps the number of waypoints generated was so small it didn't register.

The number of waypoints is nearly 3000. I tried it twice. I will try again & then back up to GSAK 5.5.1 & try it on that version.

 

Thx for your prompt response,

 

Dean

I went back to Ver. 5.5.1 and all was well with 2725 waypoints. I reinstalled Ver. 5.6.0 and now all is well.

 

GSAK, Pocket Queries, Delorme SA 2005, TOPO USA 5.0, SA 2005 Handheld, and GPXSonar provide a great offline paperless environment.

 

Thanks for a terrific product; the glue that ties it all together.

 

Thanks again, Clyde,

 

Dean

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Feature Request (minor/really low priority):

 

I use the heck out of exporting to Delorme and Mapsource. Normally, I only export "notfounds", so I only see blue pushpins. Every once in awhile, I'll export my whole big GSAK DB, with everything. This gen's 4 pushpins (found, not found, archived/unavailable, and placed). WAD, and quite well.

 

Request: A fifth pin, "found, but archived/unavailable." Red+Grey = um, Orange maybe? Brown?

 

Purely for fun, not important at all. But hey, if easily doable then cool. If not, no biggie.

 

Thanks Clyde! Keep up the good work!

Edited by Cymbaline
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Feature Request (minor/really low priority):

 

I use the heck out of exporting to Delorme and Mapsource. Normally, I only export "notfounds", so I only see blue pushpins. Every once in awhile, I'll export my whole big GSAK DB, with everything. This gen's 4 pushpins (found, not found, archived/unavailable, and placed). WAD, and quite well.

 

Request: A fifth pin, "found, but archived/unavailable." Red+Grey = um, Orange maybe? Brown?

 

Purely for fun, not important at all. But hey, if easily doable then cool. If not, no biggie.

 

Thanks Clyde! Keep up the good work!

You can do this now with the help if Icon overrides. There is a little bit of work up front to get it right, but you only need to do it once and you can also put the lot in a macro so it then becomes a one click action.

 

We will go through the process for MapSouce, but the procedure is just about the same for the Delorme export

 

Firstly save you current MapSource settings (File=>Export=>MapSource then click on the "save" button) - lets call them "normal"

 

Now, with the MapSource dialog showing click on the "change" button.

 

If you can't see the "Override icons" at the bottom of the screen, click on the "Advanced" icons button.

 

In the type drop down box, select "All waypoints". Then in the icon drop down box select the icon you want to allocate to your required selection criteria (In your case this is found unavailable caches). Now click on the green arrow pointing to the right so that the "All waypoints = xxxx" now shows as the last item in your active box (it may well be the only item)

 

Click on the "save" button to return to the MapSource dialog, then click on the MapSource "Save" button to save these settings - lets give them a name of "unavailable"

 

Now to generate a MapSource file that has all the found but archived/unavailable caches first set a filter that matches this criteria, then do the MapSource export making sure to select the "unavailable" settings from the drop down box.

 

Now to generate a MapSource file that has all the normal icons (excluding found unavailable caches) set the filter as above but also tick the box "Reverse filter" , then do the MapSource export making sure to select the "normal" settings from the drop down box.

 

By using the icon override section you can effectively generate different icons for any group of waypoints that you can set a filter on.

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Just to mention (couldn't find it elsewhere on the forum) that by doing a custom export you can export cache data to kml format to use with the excellent keyhole program.

Just use the syntax below

 

"C:\Program Files\GSAK\GPSBabel.exe" -i gpx -f "c:\program files\gsak\temp\babel.gpx" -o kml -F c:\temp\25.kml

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I don't know if this is the right place to ask such a basic/noob question but what the heck.

 

I have a Garmin Vista C and use GSAK to transfer waypoints. Last night I got a message on the GPSr that I'd maxed out the number of waypoints it would accept.

In GSAK I have a number of databases, is there a way I can easily delete selected waypoints from the GPSr without dumping them all?

I really like GSAK, I like it a lot.

Thanks in advance.

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I don't know if this is the right place to ask such a basic/noob question but what the heck.

 

I have a Garmin Vista C and use GSAK to transfer waypoints. Last night I got a message on the GPSr that I'd maxed out the number of waypoints it would accept.

In GSAK I have a number of databases, is there a way I can easily delete selected waypoints from the GPSr without dumping them all?

I really like GSAK, I like it a lot.

Thanks in advance.

Recdiver,

 

I use GSAK with a Vista C.

 

The problem is the Vista C only holds 500 caches. After a while, you need to delete all your found caches from the GPSr because you don't need them anymore and they take up room.

 

In GSAK, you can keep your found caches in the database, but then you need to adjust your filters so they don't re-export the waypoints to the GPSr.

 

It took awhile for me to fine tune my filters, but its not too difficult, and my GPSr is much happier.

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Just to mention (couldn't find it elsewhere on the forum) that by doing a custom export you can export cache data to kml format to use with the excellent keyhole program.

Glad you dig it. Keyhole/Google has actually been helpful to GPSBabel - they're very aware of it. Google Earth includes a copy of GPSBabel for handling receiver I/O and selected file imports in much the same way that GSAK does.

 

I've mentioned the KML support a few times, but I suspect most people don't immediately recognize that much of my GPSBabel babbling applies to GSAK and custom exports. Power GSAK users may do well to scan http://gpsbabel.org/changes.html from time to time to notice new gems appearing.

 

I don't keep that file up to the minute and that any given GSAK may have a newer version than is described on that page.

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Is there a way I can easily delete selected waypoints from the GPSr without dumping them all?

If the waypoints you want to delete all have the same symbols, and none of the ones you want to keep have that symbol, you can choose "Delete by Symbol" in the waypoint delete menu on the GPSr. I use this to delete generic waypoints that I set in the field (e.g. to mark my car, or corrected coordinates for a cache) at the end of a day of caching.

 

But if the ones you want to delete are not neatly labeled with a unique symbol (they usually aren't), GSAK comes to the rescue:

 

1) Create a new database in GSAK (database>new) - let's call it "Special".

 

2) Change to the "Special" database, connect your GPSr to the computer, turn it on and click "GPS>receive waypoints" in GSAK. This will upload all the waypoints in your GPSr to your "special" database in GSAK.

 

3) Since you can always load fresh "to be found" cache waypoints from GSAK, I'll assume that you have relatively few waypoints that you want to keep on your GPSr, like a "Home" waypoint and maybe a few others (work, Aunt Martha's, etc). In GSAK:

  • Go to User Flags>Set All User Flags
  • Unmark the waypoints you want to keep (e.g. home, work, Aunt Martha's) by clicking in the user flag column for that waypoint so that the checkmark goes away
  • Delete the other (marked) waypoints (Waypoint>Delete>All User Ticked)

4) Once you're sure that the GSAK "special" database has all of the waypoints you want to keep on your GPSr, go to the waypoint delete menu in the Vista-C and "delete ALL waypoints".

 

5) From the "Special" database in GSAK, go to GPS>Send Waypoints. This will restore the desired (special) waypoints to your GPSr.

 

6) Go to your default database and set a filter for any other waypoints (unfound caches) you want to add to your GPSr, and go to GPS>Send Waypoints.

 

The beauty of this approach is that once you've created your "special" database with the waypoints you always want on your GPSr, you can just delete all waypoints on the GPSr and restore your "special" ones from this database (i.e. you don't have to go through the process of sorting them out each time).

Edited by Kai Team
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Feature Request (minor/really low priority):

 

(snip)

Request:  A fifth pin, "found, but archived/unavailable."  Red+Grey = um, Orange maybe?  Brown? 

(snip)

You can do this now with the help if Icon overrides. There is a little bit of work up front to get it right, but you only need to do it once and you can also put the lot in a macro so it then becomes a one click action.

 

(snip of the rest of Clyde's very informative answer - see his post)

Thanks Clyde! I'm going to read through that a few times and then give it a shot.

 

Also, someone contacted me via email with a macro they've already put together (Thanks!) so I'll use all the newfound knowledge and see what I can come up with.

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New question - is it possible to cancel the centre point of a saved filter? I have a filter setup that has the center point of where I used to live. Now that I've moved 3000miles the distances are a long way off. I can't see any interface to change the center point for this filter.

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As I understand it, the centerpoint is used to sort any results returned by a filter and not a part of that filter itself. If you need to update your "Home" coords (or any other for that matter), got to Tools --> Options --> Locations and update the coords for the item in question. That should bring things back to the way they used to be.

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New question - is it possible to cancel the centre point of a saved filter? I have a filter setup that has the center point of where I used to live. Now that I've moved 3000miles the distances are a long way off. I can't see any interface to change the center point for this filter.

A filter will contain a center point if you checked "Save (and restore) current centre point with this filter" when you originally saved it (save filter dialog).

 

To change the center point, define a new "location" (Tools>Options>Locations). Then apply the filter, choose your new center point through the locations drop down, and save the filter using the same name (i.e. overwrite the old filter).

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Clyde: I had several files in the past that I used with GSAK, and later deleted from my geocaching folder. However, when I click on the Open GPX/LOC button and click on the Most Recent arrow, these files are still listed there. Is there any way to remove them from this list?

 

Also, I have a GPX file "Benchmarks in Chautauqua County". Two times now, I have loaded and updated this file, by adding some finds; changing some colors to archived (I use this to mark those I couldn't find); changing the icons; etc. However, each time when I reloaded the file, it was missing the updated changes. Doesn't the file keep the updated info? If not, how do I save the updated file so my new info doesn't disappear again?

 

Thanks for your help, and for a great program!

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A filter will contain a center point if you checked "Save (and restore) current centre point with this filter" when you originally saved it (save filter dialog).

 

To change the center point, define a new "location" (Tools>Options>Locations). Then apply the filter, choose your new center point through the locations drop down, and save the filter using the same name (i.e. overwrite the old filter).

Good call. I neglected to look at the "Save" option and didn't recall that option.

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Clyde, is there a way to export my filters? I have several filters that I would like to share with with others... actually, I want to share my macro but without the proper filters it will not work.

This one is on "the list" (perhaps next release :lol: ).

 

Unfortunately at the moment the only way you can transfer filters from one computer to another is to do a backup and check the "setttings" box. However, the problem when you restore those settings on the destination computer is that is restores all your settings (filters, views, gps icons, sticky settings, etc). What we need on the restore is options to select (or not) these individual items.

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I had several files in the past that I used with GSAK, and later deleted from my geocaching folder. However, when I click on the Open GPX/LOC button and click on the Most Recent arrow, these files are still listed there. Is there any way to remove them from this list?

Open the file GSAK.ini (in the install folder of GSAK) with your favorite text editor (or notepad will do the job)

 

Now search for [TfmGpxLoad.cbxRecent.Items]

 

You will now see all these files (starting at item0=). Just delete the ones you don't want, but make sure to change the Count= item to reflect the number left. Also when deleting the items and you are left with say 5, make sure you renumber them to be Item0, Item1, Item2, Item3, and Item4

 

Now save the file and start GSAK. The deleted items should no longer be in your most recent items list.

 

Also, I have a GPX file "Benchmarks in Chautauqua County". Two times now, I have loaded and updated this file, by adding some finds; changing some colors to archived (I use this to mark those I couldn't find); changing the icons; etc. However, each time when I reloaded the file, it was missing the updated changes. Doesn't the file keep the updated info? If not, how do I save the updated file so my new info doesn't disappear again?

Changes you make in GSAK are updated in the GSAK database, not the GPX file you load. The GPX files you load into GSAK are used to update your databases are a completely separate identity. However, if you want to regenerate your GPX file so it reflects all the changes you made to in your GSAK database, then export that database (File=>Export=>GPX) and overwrite your old GPX file with the GSAK generated one. If you are going to use this GPX file to load into GSAK again, make sure you also tick the "include user notes in export" and "include GSAK extra fields in export"

Edited by ClydeE
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Clyde, is there a way to export my filters?  I have several filters that I would like to share with with others... actually, I want to share my macro but without the proper filters it will not work.

This one is on "the list" (perhaps next release :lol: ).

 

Unfortunately at the moment the only way you can transfer filters from one computer to another is to do a backup and check the "setttings" box. However, the problem when you restore those settings on the destination computer is that is restores all your settings (filters, views, gps icons, sticky settings, etc). What we need on the restore is options to select (or not) these individual items.

You haven't let me down yet. When this happens, I should be able create a zip file with everything someone would need to use one of my macros. Thanks.

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I've installed version 5.6 and I get the summary information at the end of each GETMAIL with the LOAD option checked. I saw this in the version info:

Summary totals of load of GPX files now shows if you select the load option on the getmail dialog (when not running in macro mode)

But I am running it as a macro, from a toolbar button, so why am I getting the summary for each database I update? :lol:

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I've installed version 5.6 and I get the summary information at the end of each GETMAIL with the LOAD option checked. I saw this in the version info:
Summary totals of load of GPX files now shows if you select the load option on the getmail dialog (when not running in macro mode)

But I am running it as a macro, from a toolbar button, so why am I getting the summary for each database I update? :lol:

If this is happening then it is a bug. I will see if I can replicate and then fix in the next releasel

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A bug and a request if possible:

 

BUG: The Microsoft Streets & Trips CSV file export current exports a tab seperated CSV file as opposed to a comma seperated CSV file.

 

The resulting file then has to be converted back to comma seperated file for what I then do to it to import it into Destinator as a Favourites file, which brings around the feature request...

 

REQUEST: In the Destinator 3.0.75 you can import favourites from a CSV file. An export option with the fields in the following order would make life much easier:

 

Cache Name (option in export to use special tags)

Comment (option in export to use special tags)

Longitude (decimal minutes)

Latitude (decimal minutes)

Zip

City

Street

House number

 

The last four fields can be exported blank obviously, as the data's not available in GSAK. Currently, I've had to swap some fields about in the Microsoft Streets & Trips CSV file, as it exports Latitude then Longitude and has other fields including URL included.

 

I'd also be interested to hear from other users of Destinator who may or may not have used the favourites feature by exporting from GSAK, and whether they've found other ways to do it with existing features.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Partic

Patrick Jackson

geocaching@kpsystems.com.au

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A bug and a request if possible:

 

BUG: The Microsoft Streets & Trips CSV file export current exports a tab seperated CSV file as opposed to a comma seperated CSV file.

 

The resulting file then has to be converted back to comma seperated file for what I then do to it to import it into Destinator as a Favourites file, which brings around the feature request...

 

REQUEST: In the Destinator 3.0.75 you can import favourites from a CSV file. An export option with the fields in the following order would make life much easier:

 

This is not a bug. GSAK uses GPSBabel under the hood to do this conversion. GPSBabel changed the separator from comma to tab because many European users have the comma as their decimal separator and this causes problems when importing into S&T.

 

You can get around your problem for Destinator now by generating a custom CSV file (with comma as the separator) using a custom GPSBabel export and the use of a style file. For an example of this please see this post

Edited by ClydeE
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BUG: The Microsoft Streets & Trips CSV file export current exports a tab seperated CSV file as opposed to a comma seperated CSV file.

 

The resulting file then has to be converted back to comma seperated file for what I then do to it to import it into Destinator as a Favourites

How exactly is it a bug that a Streets & Trips file that imports perfectly into Streets & Trips (and the European Autoroute product, unlike earlier versions) doesn't import into some other program?

REQUEST: In the Destinator 3.0.75 you can import favourites from a CSV file. An export option with the fields in the following order would make life much easier:

 

Cache Name (option in export to use special tags)

Comment (option in export to use special tags)

Longitude (decimal minutes)

Latitude (decimal minutes)

If you have a feature request for a new format to be added, it would be more well received (at least by the GPSBabel guy) if you were upfront about it and didn't try to smuggle it in as a "BUG:" for a completely different format.

 

What you described can be added trivially via the xcsv style mechanism in GPSBabel and then driven as a custom export in GSAK. At a glance, this Destinator format looks like a superset of either the gpsman or saplus formats. If it turns out it isn't a benign superset, those examples would be a lovely starting place for whomever turns the crank on this.

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Stupid noob question, but... :yikes:

Am trying to automate MSST pushpins. How do I delete saved filters that I screwed up? Or pull them back up so I can delete them? Are they saved in separately named files somewhere in GSAK? like TraditionalLarge.xxx

 

Thanks - love the software - just have to keep tinkering with it.

 

NEVER Mind... Found it. :P

Edited by Be-a-Jayhawk
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Hmmmm, I've hit a roadblock with a problem exporting waypoints in GSAK.

 

I've been downloading the 500 caches closest to my home via GC.com and when I go to export the waypoints to a Magellan SD card format (for a meridian) is when I've been having a problem. The output file takes the caches in order by code (which is the GC.com waypoint name) and when it reaches a certain point (about halfway through) it drops the text for the cache name. So all I get for about half the caches is "GCP132" and the position plotted.

 

I'm only exporting about 450 of the waypoints to leave some space for manual adds while out and about. I've tried seting the number of waypoints in the export dialog screen and also by using the user flat and the select number of waypoints to view macro. I've tried changing the sort order on the display as well as the sort field and it still exports the exact same data with the "problem" starting at the exact same point everytime.

 

It appears to drop the data after the 200th cache exported to the file. Did I miss some limitation in GSAK or GPSBabel? I have tried to export all my waypoints (about 576) in different formats and it seems to work correctly so the problem seems to be with the Magellan SD card format.

 

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the program but it remains a 200 waypoint ceiling.

 

Any suggestions?

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