Brand New And Have A Mac

[junkycow]

I have just learned about geocaching and I am looking into getting my first gps. The issue I have is that I use a Mac and am having a hard time finding a good handheld that is Mac compatible.

 

To complicate the issue my wife is placing a budget on the whole thing. That budget is as cheep as possible. If we play a lot we can upgrade later.

 

Any suggestions??

[+Indotguy]

I have just learned about geocaching and I am looking into getting my first gps. The issue I have is that I use a Mac and am having a hard time finding a good handheld that is Mac compatible.

 

To complicate the issue my wife is placing a budget on the whole thing. That budget is as cheep as possible. If we play a lot we can upgrade later.

 

Any suggestions??

 

I'm very sorry to hear that. You have my sincere condolence.

[Dale_Lynn]

I have just learned about geocaching and I am looking into getting my first gps. The issue I have is that I use a Mac and am having a hard time finding a good handheld that is Mac compatible.

 

To complicate the issue my wife is placing a budget on the whole thing. That budget is as cheep as possible. If we play a lot we can upgrade later.

 

Any suggestions??

 

Perhaps you can get the WINDOWS operating system upgrade for your MAC...

 

Dale

[ntobroken]

"'I'm very sorry to hear that. You have my sincere condolence."

 

What a witty response, I am still not laughing.

 

To my knowledge there are no "from the manufacturer" Mac ready GPSr's out there today, however Garmin is expected to release Mac specific software later this year so you may want to lean in that direction. As far as a solution right now, there are a number of Mac GPS applications available that you can use to transfer geocache waypoints from your Mac. I use GPSBabel which will work with both Magellan and Garmin units, and probably others. The topic is too broad to provide a lot of information so I will leave it up to you to scan the forums and glean the information, it is all there. It is a steep learning curve but certainly within reason if you truly have interest.

Edited July 15, 2006 by ntobroken

[junkycow]

"'I'm very sorry to hear that. You have my sincere condolence."

 

What a witty response, I am still not laughing.

 

To my knowledge there are no "from the manufacturer" Mac ready GPSr's out there today, however Garmin is expected to release Mac specific software later this year so you may want to lean in that direction. As far as a solution right now, there are a number of Mac GPS applications available that you can use to transfer geocache waypoints from your Mac. I use GPSBabel which will work with both Magellan and Garmin units, and probably others. The topic is too broad to provide a lot of information so I will leave it up to you to scan the forums and glean the information, it is all there. It is a steep learning curve but certainly within reason if you truly have interest.

 

Thank you ntobroken for taking my question seriously.

 

I appreciate the help.

 

I’ll keep reading for a few days before I run out and spend my money.

[Neo_Geo]

Your best bet would be to go with a Garmin as they are promising (AS IN THE FUTURE) to support Macs. They ain't there yet. You're not the first one to find yourself in that boat. There are a lot of other threads in here associated with Macs. You might search on "virtual" AND "support" - virtual as in "virtual PC" and support as in support for Macs. While you probably don't wanna (can't) go the virtual PC route, those threads MAY give you some hints at other possible work-arounds or software that'll work...

 

Hope it helps...

[+kb5zhh]

I use a Garmin eTrex Legend. The program Mac Simple GPS lets me send and receive waypoints form my ibook to my garmin. The only issue is that the legend has a serial cable not USB, but any of the cheap USB to serial cables use a proflion (sp?) based chip and have an OS X driver. I haven't tried paperless caching yet, but there's also mac to palm caching software.

[tttedzeins]

I have a MeriCol. Unfortunatley I had to use a PC to load maps onto my SD card, but I bought a few big ones so have Various countries on them. I use GPS MAC BABEL to load waypoints from my Powerbook.

 

When Garmin come out with the Mac compatible gps and maps as promised I shall probably buy one.

[+JohnInDC]

If you already have Virtual PC, you may find yourself with a bit more flexibility on programs, support, etc., but the setup is cumbersome and not always reliable and it's not worth buying VPC just for this purpose. Better, I think, to buy Garmin, use the few available Mac programs in the meantime, and wait for Garmin to come through on its promised OS X support.

[+ejnewman]

If the hardware/software industry has taught us nothing else, it's that buying something assuming that the "promised" support or upgrade will be released in a timely manner is an absolutely terrible idea.

[+IV_Warrior]

If the hardware/software industry has taught us nothing else, it's that buying something assuming that the "promised" support or upgrade will be released is an absolutely terrible idea.

Fixed.

 

You're in a tough spot, as you've noticed as there isn't much support out there for MAC in the GPS world. Another headache you may run into is if you start looking for mapping software. I don't think either of the big names support MAC. (M$ Streets and Trips or Delorme's Street or Topo offerings...Delorme has even dropped support for Win98/ME)

[+AirMonk]

I know your pain. I recently bought my 1st GPS & have run into the same issue. After all the research, I decided to get myself a Garmin due to their announcement that they will begin directly supporting OS X late this year. In the mean time, I've simply put an old copy of Win2K on an old junk machine so that I can upload waypoints, maps, etc. Virtual PC is worthless if you have USB based GPSr like I do. The driver just plain doesn't work across Virtual PC, so don't waste your time. I'm personally just toughing it out until [hopefully] later this year when Garmin begins supporting Mac.

[+Nero]

I would suggest ANY one the Garmin etrex series units, they are inexpensive, i would recomend a Legend from personal experience.

 

I also use a Mac, and i use a keyspan usb/serial adaptor and Link2gps and gpwrite myslf, but there are several programs that can upload waypoints.

[+NeverSummer]

Here's a question: What kind of Mac do you have? If you have a brand new dual core with Intel processors, you have some PC/Mac program options. (Check out apple.com)

 

As for any OSX programs, you are limited to what you can load, but there are waypoint loading programs out there written for Mac. I have NAtional Geographic Topo! Backroads Explorer, and it work great to map and plug in waypoints. It also does realtime map positioning when hooked up direct to the GPS.

 

You are limited, but not out of luck when using a Mac. I have a G4 desktop, and my better half's Gateway laptop. I've gotten used to using her laptop for most of the map uploads, pocket quieries, etc, but the Mac is not lumped in the corner unused! Don't worry, and, yes, go Garmin...but get a USB cord aftermarket, or just go for it and get any model with a USB included.

 

JM2C

 

-NS

[junkycow]

Here's a question: What kind of Mac do you have? If you have a brand new dual core with Intel processors, you have some PC/Mac program options. (Check out apple.com)

 

As for any OSX programs, you are limited to what you can load, but there are waypoint loading programs out there written for Mac. I have NAtional Geographic Topo! Backroads Explorer, and it work great to map and plug in waypoints. It also does realtime map positioning when hooked up direct to the GPS.

 

You are limited, but not out of luck when using a Mac. I have a G4 desktop, and my better half's Gateway laptop. I've gotten used to using her laptop for most of the map uploads, pocket quieries, etc, but the Mac is not lumped in the corner unused! Don't worry, and, yes, go Garmin...but get a USB cord aftermarket, or just go for it and get any model with a USB included.

 

JM2C

 

-NS

I have a dual core at work with boot camp and xp but I have so little time to play there. My machine is an ibook G4 with tiger. My better half also has a gateway and I have a very old Toshiba, which I am considering bringing back to life just for this purpose.

 

As far as the GPSr I was considering a Magellan 210 because it includes the USB cable. This takes 25.00 dollars off the cost because I will not need to buy an adapter but knowing what the story is with Garmin I might have to re-think that.

 

I appreciate the advice and using the better half's computer for loading up the GPSr is a perfectly good solution.

 

Thanks

[+groovetopia]

I have a mac and a Magellan Explorist 500. I use VPC for loading detail maps to an SD Card - this is a one-shot deal, since I was able to load every detail map I would ever need onto the SD card. I use a card reader to add caches and never have to boot into windoze ever again. I've backed up everything to hard drive. I use gps babel (mostly the web interface) and don't need to bother microsoft for my recreational endeavors. It is pretty poor of gps manufacturers not to support mac (though I understand garmin is working on it), but you don't really need a pc to get most of the job done.

 

everybody's got a friend with a pc for the initial detail map loading...then you don't need it.

[steveluscher]

I've been using Garmin's PC Mapsource software with my Garmin eTrex Legend on my Mac ever since I got it 3 years ago. I now use Parallels on my Intel Mac, but have done the same with Virtual PC on my old PowerPC Macs. The serial interface I use is the one from Keyspan (the USA-19QW). If anyone would like help configuring their system, please feel free to message me!

Edited July 29, 2006 by steveluscher

[+YuccaPatrol]

I don't know what the problem is. I've seen those recent Mac commercials and they tell me that Macs work with every possible accessory device automatically without having to do anything special whatsoever.

 

Are those commercials incorrect?

Edited July 29, 2006 by YuccaPatrol

[steveluscher]

Are those commercials incorrect?

 

Garmin doesn't make a Mac version of their Mapsource software. Further, their GPSrs don't have USB ports, only serial ports. That said, my (Intel) Mac can run Windows software and there is a piece of hardware that will allow you to add in a regular serial port through USB. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

[+YuccaPatrol]

Are those commercials incorrect?

 

Garmin doesn't make a Mac version of their Mapsource software. Further, their GPSrs don't have USB ports, only serial ports.

 

I think those same commercials also talk about how Macs can run windows software too. And I'm quite positive I have been using USB for my Garmin 60 series GPSr's for over 2 years.

 

Again, are those commercials incorrect when they claim Macs can run windows software and communicate with any accessory device designed to connect to a computer?

 

I'm not asking to be a jerk, but I've gotten a lot of pressure from others to switch back to Mac (I had Apple computers since the day my dad brought home one of the first ones hand built by the Woz himself until 1995 which I graduated from college and had to buy my own computer and Macs were way too expensive). If Macs really do work with everything under the sun automatically then that would be great, but if I can't download simple data like waypoints to a GPS then I'll stay with my windows machine for now.

[steveluscher]

YuccaPatrol: when you get your new Mac, I would be happy to teach you how to use Parallels, Garmin Mapsource, and a Keyspan USA-19QW to upload maps, waypoints, and tracks to your Garmin GPSr.

[+George1]

I have just gone paperless with a 5 year old Mac. This webpage was a real help. But if you have a USB Mac you have to use Macgpsbabel instead of Mac simple. It all worked very easy. I hope this helps considering all the Mac bashing. You have to forgive them they will just never know the joys of a Mac. Sometime we need a work around but it still beats a PC anyday.

 

Paperless with a Mac

[+George1]

I have just gone paperless with a 5 year old Mac. This webpage was a real help. But if you have a USB Garmin you have to use Macgpsbabel instead of Mac simple. It all worked very easy. I hope this helps considering all the Mac bashing. You have to forgive them they will just never know the joys of a Mac. Sometimes we need a work around but it still beats a PC anyday.

 

Paperless with a Mac

Edited July 30, 2006 by George1

[Michael Cook]

Garmin doesn't make a Mac version of their Mapsource software. Further, their GPSrs don't have USB ports, only serial ports.

Garmins do have USB ports. My 60csx is at present connected to my Mac via USB. I can download geocaching waypoints directly from the Internet with Geocaching Menu. I can transfer tracks or routes to and from the 60csx with LoadMyTracks. I'm trying out RouteBuddy which is a promising new mapping program for Mac. And if I turn on USB mass storage mode on the Garmin, it appears on the Mac desktop like any removable drive.

 

All this works straight away: no drivers to install, no hassle. For firmware updates and transferring maps via Mapsoure I still need VirtualPC and Windows, but Garmin have announced that they will be bringing out Mac versions of their software towards the end of the year: let's hope we don't have to wait too long.

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

Don't worry about the Mac-bashing. There are those that understand and those that mock what they don't understand. I am an XP, Vista, Linux (SUSE), and OSX user -- and that's just the desktop O/S's. Trust me: they all have their place. Maybe they are upset because they don't have "Freefall"

 

Anyhow...back on topic.

 

Which Mac do you have? If you want to get the biggest functionality, then you will indeed have to run an emulator and install XP. The reason for this is that the best tool (IMO) is GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) -- a Windows only application. Otherwise GPSBabel works fine, but lacks the total package. Virtualization also allows you to use MapSource now rather than wait.

 

1) if you have a PowerPC-based Mac then you would need VirtualPC and can run GSAK under it. Download and transfer waypoints.

 

2) if you have an Intel-Based Mac (newer one), then you can run a VERY cool program called Parallels which actually takes advantage of the virtualization built into the chip itself (ooooo---geek heaven). The very latest version (actually still in Beta at www.parallels.com) supports USB transfer from an emulated XP installation.

 

Sorry to say, that this is the best way to do things at the moment, so it isn't going to be a no-cost solution. I tend to run all three of my main Operating Systems using Parallels, and have really had no problems (plus, now I only have to carry one computer on the road with me)

Edited August 9, 2006 by Lemon Fresh Dog

[robertlipe]

There is _so_ much misinformation in this thread...

 

GPSBabel works fine, but lacks the total package.

I hear that now and again. GPSBabel doesn't try to be everything to everyone. Transfer and manipulation of waypoints, tracks, and routes is pretty much our goal - if "the total package" for you is beyond that (and apparently is it for one of the Mac packages listed in this very thread that uses GPSBabel for all GPS communications on Mac, yet has contributed zero code or dollars back to GPSBabel development), then GPSBabel probably isn't for you.

 

Since out of about three quarter million users, Mac users have directly put a total of under four hours worth of consulting time into my pocket, yet consumed hundreds of hours of development and support cost, Mac users should feel free to back "lacks the total package" with a visit to the 'donate' link with directed donations to convince me how large the Mac market _really_ is. From my seat, I watched about 1,300 Mac downloads in one weekend with a single $20 contribution, so please understand the developer perspective on what a "total package" for that crowd is.

 

GPSBabel is, to the best of my knowledge, the ONLY cross-platform and free (meaning both "open" and "gratis") major application that supports the transfer of waypoints, routes, and tracks on all the major operating systems _and_ the majority of GPSes in the market.

 

Now, to the OP's question, none of the GPS vendors currently provide any Mac support to speak of. Garmin has announced it, but not delivered it. If your working set of maps can be stored in the GPS you choose, just borrow a Windows system for the map upload and then use a Mac app to xfer your routes, waypoints, and tracks. The current generation of handhelds with large memory make that easier than the old ones.

[+March Brown]

Try MacGPS Pro it works well with my garmin 60cs and Mac G4

[+Lemon Fresh Dog]

There is _so_ much misinformation in this thread...

 

GPSBabel works fine, but lacks the total package.

I hear that now and again. GPSBabel doesn't try to be everything to everyone. Transfer and manipulation of waypoints, tracks, and routes is pretty much our goal - if "the total package" for you is beyond that (and apparently is it for one of the Mac packages listed in this very thread that uses GPSBabel for all GPS communications on Mac, yet has contributed zero code or dollars back to GPSBabel development), then GPSBabel probably isn't for you.

 

Since out of about three quarter million users, Mac users have directly put a total of under four hours worth of consulting time into my pocket, yet consumed hundreds of hours of development and support cost, Mac users should feel free to back "lacks the total package" with a visit to the 'donate' link with directed donations to convince me how large the Mac market _really_ is. From my seat, I watched about 1,300 Mac downloads in one weekend with a single $20 contribution, so please understand the developer perspective on what a "total package" for that crowd is.

 

GPSBabel is, to the best of my knowledge, the ONLY cross-platform and free (meaning both "open" and "gratis") major application that supports the transfer of waypoints, routes, and tracks on all the major operating systems _and_ the majority of GPSes in the market.

 

Now, to the OP's question, none of the GPS vendors currently provide any Mac support to speak of. Garmin has announced it, but not delivered it. If your working set of maps can be stored in the GPS you choose, just borrow a Windows system for the map upload and then use a Mac app to xfer your routes, waypoints, and tracks. The current generation of handhelds with large memory make that easier than the old ones.

 

I agree -- I wouldn't want to develop a free application for nothing. I also don't think that the creation of a Mac version of something like GSAK would make sense given market size.

 

I REALLY think that using free software to make a commercial application without donating back to the free software developer is in poor taste. Personally, I pay for GSAK (which I understand contributes to GPSBabel development) and use it in emulated mode on my Mac (and Vista PC).

 

This is what I intended to say as being the "complete package". If I was to use GPSBabel on my Mac natively, I would feel obligated to pay for it via a donation (as I do with all my DonationWare and ShareWare). I think GPSBabel is an excellent tool unto itself and especially enjoy using it when it is integrated into an application such as GSAK that builds upon and extends its functionality.

[+Wrench&Wench]

If your working set of maps can be stored in the GPS you choose, just borrow a Windows system for the map upload

 

I ask, why would I want to "borrow" a Windows system. Come on, give me a break. Then I would owe somebody.

[+Mikeylovespie]

This has been a very helpful thread for me as I've been trying to get my Garmin Etrex Legend and IMac to talk to each other. I have downloaded GPSBabel, but when I try to send waypoints to the GPSR, I'm told the progam can't find a Garmin. Could this be a driver issue for the Serial USB adapter? Can anyone tell me if I should be seeing a new volume icon on the desktop when I connect my Garmin to my Mac? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks to all!

-Michael

[+Mikeylovespie]

This has been a very helpful thread for me as I've been trying to get my Garmin Etrex Legend and IMac to talk to each other. I have downloaded GPSBabel, but when I try to send waypoints to the GPSR, I'm told the progam can't find a Garmin. Could this be a driver issue for the Serial USB adapter? Can anyone tell me if I should be seeing a new volume icon on the desktop when I connect my Garmin to my Mac? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks to all!

-Michael

 

Sorry... forgot to add some specs: I'm running Mac OSX 10.3.9 w/ 1.25GHz PowerPC G4. My GPSR is a Garmin Etrex Legend, and my Serial USB adapter is a Belkin pt#F5U409v1. Thanks again!

[+PhotoRoamer]

Garmin doesn't make a Mac version of their Mapsource software. Further, their GPSrs don't have USB ports, only serial ports.

Garmins do have USB ports. My 60csx is at present connected to my Mac via USB. I can download geocaching waypoints directly from the Internet with Geocaching Menu. I can transfer tracks or routes to and from the 60csx with LoadMyTracks. I'm trying out RouteBuddy which is a promising new mapping program for Mac. And if I turn on USB mass storage mode on the Garmin, it appears on the Mac desktop like any removable drive.

 

All this works straight away: no drivers to install, no hassle. For firmware updates and transferring maps via Mapsoure I still need VirtualPC and Windows, but Garmin have announced that they will be bringing out Mac versions of their software towards the end of the year: let's hope we don't have to wait too long.

[+PhotoRoamer]

My 60csx is at present connected to my Mac via USB. I can download geocaching waypoints directly from the Internet with Geocaching Menu. I can transfer tracks or routes to and from the 60csx with LoadMyTracks. I'm trying out RouteBuddy which is a promising new mapping program for Mac. And if I turn on USB mass storage mode on the Garmin, it appears on the Mac desktop like any removable drive.

 

How do you like RouteBuddy? Is it more of a road program? How well does it work for geocaching? How well does it work with your 60csx?

 

I'm a Mac user and I've been hesitant to hook my 60csx up to my computer for fear of damaging it somehow.

 

Thanks,

PhotoRoamer

Edited September 2, 2006 by PhotoRoamer

[+George1]

IT is possible that you are not converting the PQ with MacCMConvert. ( which is free ) If you do this with MacGpsbabel, select that converted file then, it should be able to see the file and convert it to put into the GPS.

 

When I run Babel I get a menu that says Magellen or Garmin, then serial or USB ( I have USB on my Legend ). Babel then loads the waypoints into the legend. Works fine for me. I have just, in the last month gone paperless with my Mac and a Legend C. It was easier than I thought.

Edited September 2, 2006 by George1

[Michael Cook]

How do you like RouteBuddy? Is it more of a road program? How well does it work for geocaching? How well does it work with your 60csx?

 

I'm a Mac user and I've been hesitant to hook my 60csx up to my computer for fear of damaging it somehow.

The main point of RouteBuddy seems to be the detailed road maps that you can use on the Mac. You can see your track on the map, or follow your position in real time. Note that these maps are only for use on the Mac: they can't be uploaded to the GPSr. There are no special features for geocaching: you can use it to transfer the waypoints, but other programs (including free ones) will do that as well. RouteBuddy communicates with the 60csx over USB: no problem. I'm not buying it for the moment: for me there are not (yet) enough features to make it worth the price, but I shall continue looking at it.

 

And my 60csx has certainly not suffered from being hooked up to the Mac.

[Barrikady]

 

Again, are those commercials incorrect when they claim Macs can run windows software and communicate with any accessory device designed to connect to a computer?

 

I'm not asking to be a jerk, but I've gotten a lot of pressure from others to switch back to Mac (I had Apple computers since the day my dad brought home one of the first ones hand built by the Woz himself until 1995 which I graduated from college and had to buy my own computer and Macs were way too expensive). If Macs really do work with everything under the sun automatically then that would be great, but if I can't download simple data like waypoints to a GPS then I'll stay with my windows machine for now.

 

I have a Mac G5, a MacBook and a Garmin 60Cx

 

I use my Garmin with my G5 and it works great. This is what I do: I can download waypoints, routes and tracks to my G5. I use LoadMyTracks to perform that task (free, use versiontracker.com to get it) I then take my tracks and upload them to Google Earth for the Mac. (free, use versiontracker.com to get it).

 

I also have National Geographic Topo 4 (state series) and it is able to communicate with my Garmin 60Cx via USB 2 or a Serial Port (using a Keyspan serial/usb device). My tracks and elevation profile are superimposed on the NG Topo map.

 

Go here: http://www.mishalov.com/tam-25may06/index.html to see an example of the final results.

 

My MacBook uses an Intel Core Duo CPU, and in addition to having Mac OSX 10.4.7 on the machine, I also have Windows XP Pro loaded on a different partition of the HD. I have used the MacBook to load CN8 and to update the Garmin 60Cx firmware on the Windows XP partition of my MacBook.

Edited September 2, 2006 by Barrikady

[+naviguesser74]

I download from geocaching.com onto my Mac then put the info into TomTom Navigator and GeoNiche on my Palm Treo 650. I'll put that combo up against any Garmin and any two other additional devices. That is, I have many many Palm apps available in the field, phone, web, email, 320x320 color screen, music worthy of an iPod, even a full length movie. It is true that a Palm is not a durable as a true GPSr, but there are cases and other protective devices.

[+groovetopia]

It is a windoze world, but those commercials are not incorrect - you can run windoze on your mac, but why would you want to? A copy of vista will run you somewhere between 120 bucks and 500 bucks...plus you'll have the unpleasant task of looking at windoze on your nice new mac. Instead you should just get gpsbabel and you can do all the basic tasks quite easily...and then instead of sending a hundred bucks to microsoft, you can send 5 or 10 or 20 to gpsbabel and prove to the developer community that it's worth developing for the mac. Then maybe gps manufactures will have no choice but to mac their gpsrs compatible with the mac, becuase really this is an issue with the manufacturer.

[GeoMapTom]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the heads up on RouteBuddy. I bought a copy and tho it could do with some more features I like the design and quality road maps. I emailed the developers about Geocaching support and they told me that they are working on supporting geocachers with file importation. That sonds good to me if I can download a .loc file, create a drive-to route and then a walk route and transfer it all to my 60CS. Cool.

 

Tom

[bluelava444]

Here's another nod for RouteBuddy. Definitely a worthwhile investment and more so when the GeoCache features are rolled out. Looks promising. I have a 60CS and it's the only program for Mac OSX I've used flawlessy from day one. As the Mac/Geo community grows I think this will be the app of choice for us.

[GeoMapTom]

They have done what they promised. Modern support for Mac geocaching at last. RouteBuddy emailed me about my update to1.1.1 and i can now just drag loc and gpx files onto the map, there is an import option in the menu but the dragging is so easy. I have found a link to geocaching site in Help menu.