Newb Palm Questions

[+Gillian708]

I have a Palm Treo 650 that I want to use for geocaching. I understand I'll need a GPS device (so far I've been looking at the BT 338).

 

As far as software I need, there seem to be so many options...

 

What do I need and what do they do? I've heard talk in the forums of Cachemate, SwissArmyKnife, etc. but are these for mapping or...? If not I'm guessing I need maps as well, the BT 338 has an option to come bundled with Mapopolis but I've also heard some talk of TomTom.

 

Any reccomendations or advice anyone can give?

 

Thank you

[+dhbaird]

I have a Palm Treo 650 that I want to use for geocaching. I understand I'll need a GPS device (so far I've been looking at the BT 338).

 

As far as software I need, there seem to be so many options...

 

What do I need and what do they do? I've heard talk in the forums of Cachemate, SwissArmyKnife, etc. but are these for mapping or...? If not I'm guessing I need maps as well, the BT 338 has an option to come bundled with Mapopolis but I've also heard some talk of TomTom.

 

Any reccomendations or advice anyone can give?

 

Thank you

 

If I were looking for a Blue tooth GPS with an interface to my Palm I think I would look at the Delorme Blue Tooth Logger that comes bundled with a couple of options of maps and PDA access software. Five years ago I used my Palm III with a GPS for a couple of years and loved the maps that Delorme puts out for real time tracking and routing. My only regret was that back then was that Delorme did not make a GPS unit that could interact with my Palm and so I purchased another make. When my old Palm III died, the GPS was useless because it was dedicated to that model of Palm only. The Blue Tooth Logger will work with any Blue Tooth PDA, so you have built in protection for not going obsolete like that.

 

I still have a Palm, but I chose a more rugged Garmin handheld GPS for my caching and hiking. I rely upon the Palm for so much these days that I would be completely lost if I ruined it while crossing a stream or dropping it on a rock.

[+The Dellars]

No offense, but you might want to check with others who have used that unit before. There are much better units for a few extra dollars. I would stick with a reputable company when it comes to a unit, that way if you have trouble, you can ask the group and use their knowledge base. Just my 2 cents.

[+WhereRWe? & RULOST2?]

 

What do I need and what do they do? I've heard talk in the forums of Cachemate, SwissArmyKnife, etc. but are these for mapping or...? If not I'm guessing I need maps as well, the BT 338 has an option to come bundled with Mapopolis but I've also heard some talk of TomTom.

 

Any reccomendations or advice anyone can give?

 

 

Having CacheMate on your Palm is like having a fistfull of printouts of cache listings. It has almost all of the information of the online listing, plus the ability to make notes on your cache find - date, time, left/took what, etc.

 

GSAK is a waypoint management tool. If you're a premium member of Geocaching.com, you can create and download "pocket queries", which are databases of selected caches. GSAK allows you to sort, filter, and other wise manage waypoints (it is VERY comprehensive - shall I say complex?). You cal also export file types to Cachemate on your PDA, to your computer mapping software to display caches, to your GPSr, etc.

 

Both are a great investment (a cheap one, too). Don't go paperless without them!

 

Edited April 9, 2006 by WhereRWe? & RULOST2?

[+GeekAndKids]

I have used a Palm Zire 72 and now a Tungsten E22 for geocaching with bluetooth GPSrs. I used delorme's blue tooth, which came with street atlas handheld. But I use cachemate with cachenav to help me find caches. As a mapping program, I use the usb GPSr on my laptop with Street Atlas. For geocaching, I switched to the holux 235 bluetooth GPS, it seems faster, but the direction can be off 180 degrees. I go by distance to the cache. I use GSAK to export cachemate files. The most accuracy I've gotten is about 21' or so.