+Geckolovers Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 I am a new cacher---just a couple of months---I am working with an Explorist 300. My friend has about the same tenure and the same equipment. Right now I look up caches online, print the "print-friendly" page, then go to Delorme Street atlas and using the lat/long, put it on a map which I then print off. If I am having a big cache day, I can go out with a lot of paper in hand. Plus for some caches, I am familiar with the territory, while others require a broader view map to get me in the area, and then something more detailed to get me in the cache vicinity. My friend was talking to another cacher who told him he should download GSAK and use it with a mapping program. Well, he can't figure out GSAK so he asked me to try, assuming (incorrectly) that I am more computer-literate than he. (It's just sometimes I get lucky with a lot of mad clicking.) I have downloaded GSAK, downloaded 8 caches from geo-caching.com, and now I am stuck. I find the manual about as understandable as the schematics for the space shuttle. Also, I am wondering, after wandering around the forums, if GSAK is of any benefit to us. As far as we know, we can't download anything into our GPS's. I can flag all my prospective caches on Delorme with info. So I guess my first question is: Is there any benefit to trying to work with GSAK with the GPS's we have now, as opposed to our present geo-caching.com/Delorme process? And my second question is: If there are benefits, can someone please explain in simple, child-friendly terms exactly what we need to do to experience these benefits? OH! My friend does have a laptop---right now he pulls up Delorme with the flagged caches on the screen, rather than printing the pages as I do. TIA and HH! Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Since you are a Premium Member, you can create Pocket Queries. These contain up to 500 caches in the .gpx format which includes the Hint and Past Logs. Then, open those in GSAK and see if this rudimentary GSAK tutorial will help you get started. Quote Link to comment
+Ramblin Ramsey's Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 First off Welcome. Set up a pocket query for a given distance from your home zip code. When you get that mailed to you, it will be probably be in a zip file.. open this zip file and you will see a XXXXX.gpx file, this is the file you want for GSAK. If you double click on that file it will ask what program you want to use to open it. leat it to gsak.. Note"create a database name in GSAK first. Name it whatever you want. The new gpx file will be imported into GSAK. Once it is in GSAK you will be able to see all the caches including the logs if you double click on the cache name. From there you will be able to filter and or export the caches stats to Delorme usable files. Open delorme and under the draw tab import the file and all will show up on the map...Hope I have not confused you too much.. Good luck and enjoy GSAK and GeoCaching. Quote Link to comment
vagabond Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 First off Welcome. Set up a pocket query for a given distance from your home zip code. When you get that mailed to you, it will be probably be in a zip file.. open this zip file and you will see a XXXXX.gpx file, this is the file you want for GSAK. If you double click on that file it will ask what program you want to use to open it. leat it to gsak.. Note"create a database name in GSAK first. Name it whatever you want. The new gpx file will be imported into GSAK. Once it is in GSAK you will be able to see all the caches including the logs if you double click on the cache name. From there you will be able to filter and or export the caches stats to Delorme usable files. Open delorme and under the draw tab import the file and all will show up on the map...Hope I have not confused you too much.. Good luck and enjoy GSAK and GeoCaching. About the only thing I would do different is download the zipfile to my desktop and then you can just drag it to GSAK, GSAK wil unzip the file by itself. Welcome to the insanity Quote Link to comment
+Jhwk Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 (edited) Or, to go even one step further, you can do what is called "paperless" caching. With GSAK and a palmpilot handheld organizer loaded with Cachemate you can have all of the cache data at you fingertips, including the cache overview, all text from the web page, the hints, past logs, and a log file to document your own find. Here is a great tutorial, if you are interested. Good luck and have fun! Edited March 22, 2006 by Jhwk Quote Link to comment
+Semper Questio Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 (edited) My first recommendation is to spend some time just playing with GSAK. It's a very powerful tool and is ver "feature-rich." The documentation is not the best I have ever seen, but it is by no means the worst, either. By just playing around with it for a little while you'll start getting a feel for it and the documentation will start making a little more sense. Also, don't forget to read the help about using the help and the documentation. Another major resource is the GSAK Support Forum where you can get all kinds of help on all things GSAK. Edited March 22, 2006 by Semper Questio Quote Link to comment
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