+Stripes17 Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 (edited) I have two questions about going to a paperless environment. #1) Do I want to use a serial or USB connection for the PDA? I have both ports available on my home PC. What are the pro's & con's on either? #2) Having always used paper and entered coord's into my Garmin eTrex Legend manually, how do you download waypoints into the GPS electronically? Is it through the PC or the PDA? Edited July 9, 2006 by Stripes17 Quote Link to comment
+embra Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 1. USB will be faster, but I don't think the time difference for this type of data is a big enough deal to be the primary determinant of your purchase. You could live with serial. 2. You download through the PC. GSAK recommended. Quote Link to comment
+AlbanyDuck Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 Yup, I concur with embra. GSAK is the way to go! 1. I download all my cache waypoints from geocaching.com using pocket queries (you'll need a premium account for that - HIGHLY recommended). 2. I import the waypoint coordinates + detailed cache info directly into GSAK. 3. Then I sort out (using filters) the types of caches I want and export them as a GPX file. 4. I copy this GPX file onto my PDA (I'm using a Windows Mobile PDA instead of a Palm but Palm OS will also work), then import it into CacheMate (running on my PDA). 5. CacheMate allows me to bring along all the info concerning the caches I'm hunting for right on my PDA, along with other people's logs and hints. It also allow me to log finds and travel bug entries. 6. GSAK will also upload the cache waypoints directly to my Garmin GPSMAp 76Csx for navigation purposes. 7. When I get home from my day of geocaching, I export the log entries I made in Cachemate as a GPX file, and import it directly back into GSAK. GSAK acts as the central repository of all cache info. It is GREAT!!! I highly recommend paying for the registration to support the author of the program. He has done a great service to the geocaching community and deserves all of our support. All I need in the field is my GPSr and my PDA. No stacks of paper to waste and carry around. Quote Link to comment
+Hynr Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 #1) Do I want to use a serial or USB connection for the PDA? I have both ports available on my home PC. What are the pro's & con's on either? #2) Having always used paper and entered coord's into my Garmin eTrex Legend manually, how do you download waypoints into the GPS electronically? Is it through the PC or the PDA? Go with the USB connection. You will save yourself grief since a serial PDA will have to share the serial port with your Legend. It sounds like you have not found the cable that is supposed to come with your Etrex Legend (or do you have the USB Legend C?). If you do have the Legend, then this is a serial cable. Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 (edited) #1) Do I want to use a serial or USB connection for the PDA? I have both ports available on my home PC. What are the pro's & con's on either? #2) Having always used paper and entered coord's into my Garmin eTrex Legend manually, how do you download waypoints into the GPS electronically? Is it through the PC or the PDA? Go with the USB connection. You will save yourself grief since a serial PDA will have to share the serial port with your Legend. It sounds like you have not found the cable that is supposed to come with your Etrex Legend (or do you have the USB Legend C?). If you do have the Legend, then this is a serial cable. I agree, go with USB if you can. I use GSAK to convert the GC name to a smartname that tells me the cache type, container type and the terrain rating (%typ1%con1%drop2 %ter1). Then I dump that to my Palm. I also export this to Mapsource. I then add in my solved puzzles and then I dump that file into my GPS. Using Mapsource also gives me a visual so I can easily trim away caches so I have less then the 1000 maximum that the 60CS allows. Edited July 9, 2006 by TrailGators Quote Link to comment
+Stripes17 Posted July 9, 2006 Author Share Posted July 9, 2006 Great replies. I have the "old" blue Legend. The cable is around here somewhere (never had need to use it). Too bad it doesn't have listed coord's so I can find it easier! I am also going to re-register for Premium membership. I let it run out last year as my 'one-man" protest to the direction GC.com was taking the game (introduction of Waymarking). Now it's time to get back on board. Thanks again for the information! Quote Link to comment
+Team Shadowbox Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I just recently became a premium member and haved enjoyed using EasyGPS and the free ebook ready recommended by Groundspeak(Mobipocket) What is the benefit to using GSAK over EasyGPS? Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted July 9, 2006 Share Posted July 9, 2006 I just recently became a premium member and haved enjoyed using EasyGPS and the free ebook ready recommended by Groundspeak(Mobipocket) What is the benefit to using GSAK over EasyGPS? Easy GPS can't do what I mentioned doing in my post above. Quote Link to comment
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