How Do I Load Geocaches Into My 60cs?

[+scavok]

Do I really have to use mapsource and create a waypoint, call it a geocache and copy-paste the coords and everything into it?

 

with the magellin I could just download the file from the listing and load it right in there...

 

I'm new to the whole garmin thing so, please, enlighten me

[+paulamur]

I use GSAK and send them directly over to the GPS from there. GSAK will send them over and use the closed treasure chest icon so they will show up as Geocaches. I'm new to the Garmin world also, I found that it didn't take too long to get used to the interface of the 60 series, now I prefer it over the explorist that I had.

[+scavok]

Never used GSAK before either. Downloaded and tried it out, very nice

 

Does the garmin not have the functionality of displaying things like container type, difficulty, hints, ... That is a bit of a suprise

 

Thanks for the reply though, I'm set for caching tomorrow now

[+CJOttawa]

Never used GSAK before either. Downloaded and tried it out, very nice

 

Does the garmin not have the functionality of displaying things like container type, difficulty, hints, ... That is a bit of a suprise

 

Thanks for the reply though, I'm set for caching tomorrow now

 

scavok (is that a play on "CAVOK"?):

I'm trying to wrap my head around exactly this.

 

I see tons of articles on paperless geocaching and I DO own a Palm device.

My issue is that I'd rather not take yet another gizmo with me while caching.

 

The 60CSx (perhaps the 60CS) can store waypoints with a name and a description.

The two questions, as I see it, are:

- what's the limiting number of characters in the '60's description field?

- can cache info be "distilled" down to where it can fit into that description field?

 

I don't have enough geocaching experience to answer this. :\

Edited June 9, 2006 by af895

[+scavok]

scavok (is that a play on "CAVOK"?):

I'm trying to wrap my head around exactly this.

 

I see tons of articles on paperless geocaching and I DO own a Palm device.

My issue is that I'd rather not take yet another gizmo with me while caching.

 

The 60CSx (perhaps the 60CS) can store waypoints with a name and a description.

The two questions, as I see it, are:

- what's the limiting number of characters in the '60's description field?

- can cache info be "distilled" down to where it can fit into that description field?

 

I don't have enough geocaching experience to answer this. :\

 

My Name is Roger Kovacs - scavoK

 

It seems that the most limited part of a waypoint entry is the title, the description can hold a fair amount of info, but even with GSAK I have to type the hint, size and other attributes into it.

 

I have an iPaq but I feel the same way about lugging it out, easier to just print the listing

[+Miragee]

If you use this code for the name of the cache when you send the waypoints to your GPSr from GSAK:

 

%smart %con1%typ1%Dif1%Ter1

 

you will have a short, unique name, the Size of the container, the Type of the cache, and the Difficulty and Terrain ratings based on a 10-point scale.

 

You can put the Hint in the Waypoint Description.

 

Then, you don't need a Palm, although I take a Palm M500 with me loaded with all the local caches since it will hold more caches than my 500-waypoint limit Garmin Vista C. On the Palm I can make notes about the caches I found and write down TB numbers and other information.

[+Thrak]

Using GSAK you can completely customize what is sent to your unit. I just send base info such as the cache name, the d/t expressed as the short version such as 1.5 2.5 and the container type (m, s, r). I gave up on getting the hint because the units can only display a limited amount of text and so many of the cache names are soooooooooo long that there isn't room left for the hint. There is excellent help for GSAK - it has its own thread going and Clyde is awesome about helping folks. I'm a long time geek and have always had a certain aversion to paying for software ( ) but, after checking out GSAK, I gladly purchased the thing. I can't imagine caching without it.

 

In the "send waypoints" setup box change the name to "%smart=10" so you get a longer cache name and also change the max characters box to 10. You can change the Waypoint Description Format to something such as "%Name (%Dif/%Ter) %typ1". See the Help button on that page. There is a great list of tags you can use and what they do.

 

As for the hint, I use an old Palm Vx with Plucker. I love it. Many folks use Cachemate instead. Both are great programs. With that setup I get the cache page right on my palm and have the cache description, the hint, and the last few logs. Works great.

[+scavok]

I made the description %typ1/%con1 - %Dif/%Ter (%By) and works great. I know it will cut it off because they are generally long, but what is the %variable for the hint? Is there a list somewhere that gives all those variables. This GSAK thing is pretty dang cool, I think I will purchase it when the trial runs out. Very handy!

 

Thank you so much everyone!

[+theslowskys]

Just a couple alternatives if you are interested.

 

I bought a 60csx.

It came with a 64MB SD card.

I purchased a 1GB SD card of ebay so i put the 64GB in my old unused Palm M130!

 

I became a Premium member at www.geocaching.com for $30

That gives you the ability for pocket quieries. http://www.geocaching.com/pocket/

You can generate a query and suck down 500 caches with all the descriptions , hint and secify 4 logs or more and it puts it into a GPX or LOC file. I use GPX.

 

Then you can load GPX into Mapsource and see all your caches and download to your unit from there.

But it does not get all the detail in the logs and descriptions and stuff as mapsource cuts it out.

 

For the desctiptions and logs and hints and all the rest of the listing I use the Palm M130.

 

I bought for $8 the tool Cachemate http://www.smittyware.com/palm/cachemate/

It has a sample free version too that limits the caches in your DB file to 10 but if you load it you will see what it does. I like it. It tracks your finds and gives you all the data that is in the postings on www.geochcing.com. If you decide to get the full version it is just a key you add to the trail version and it then can generate and see the whole database.

 

To get the data into the palm you just have to run the windows PC tool from Cachemate that comes with Cachemate called Convert. It sucks in your GPX file you got from the pocket query and spits it out into your Palms input queue so that when you do your next HOTSYNC it gets loaded into the Palm.

 

Then start your Palm and double click on Cachemate program that you loaded earlier and it senses the new update, scans it and you can start looking at the caches. It is all indexed and sortable and works great.

 

This all seemed to be relatively easy for me and well worth the $8 and the $30. It just worked.

No manual entering of data or hard tools to switch between to force stuff to work.

 

Cachemate lets you search by nearest cache to your current waypoint, name or waypoint and the like. Pretty intuitive. I Loaded over 1200 caches in my 12 mile radious with all the data along with all my other applications and games on the 64MB card and still have 45 MB free in it.

 

Now I just need time to go hunt for caches!

 

I do not work for Cachemate I just liked the product.

[+ventura_kids]

I use the smart name in GSAK. Then I put the difficulty ratings and terrain ratings and types and the hints all in the description field. In this way you can dump 1000 waypoints (perfect for a 5 day trip) into the 60cs, and have good names.

 

Use cachemate and dump the entire cache pages into your pda to use as a backup.