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Geocaching 101 - Help!


mosquito51

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I accompanied a friend of a friend from out of town who introduced me to the world of geocaching. She had her Garmin GPS ready with info and then we enjoyed a couple of hunts. She left before she could show me how to get started on my own. I researched your forums and the web and chose the Magellan Explorist 210 because I liked the navigation buttons better than the Garmins in my price range. So, now I have the unit. So far, I put the batteries in and turned it on outside to locate my position. I installed the 2 CD's- The Explorist Installation Wizard and one called Magellan MapSend software (It installed MapSend Lite).

 

Next, I connected my GPSr to my PC, went to GC. com , and chose some caches to download, but have not been able to do it- nothing happens! Also, no detail of maps show up on the MapSend Lite program when I zoom in - just the outline of continents.

 

I have looked and looked at the manuals and forums, but I guess I need some kind of: "open the box and do this" help. Can you help me of refer a good beginner book to me? I understand how GPS works, but cannot get started searching!

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The MapSend Lite program will convert .loc and .gpx files downloaded from geocaching.com to the Geocaching POI format for the eXplorist. Since you are a regular member, you will only have access to the .loc files. I have not used the MapSend Lite program, but the general workflow should be like this: Open/add the .loc files you want in MapSend Lite. Export to eXplorist. That's it. The MapSend Lite program should be able to find the Geocaching POIs folder on your eXplorist 210. The .loc files only contain the basic information about the cache like GC ID and coordinates, so all the data fields in the Geocache POI won't be used.

 

On your receiver, you need to make the Geocaching POI file active. You do this by going into Preferences > Active Setup and scroll down to Geocaches and press the Enter button. Choose your Geocache POI file and press Enter again. Press GOTO and choose Geocaches. You should now see the individual cache POIs. Scroll to the cache you want to go to and press Enter.

 

At some point, you probably want to try EasyGPS (free) or GSAK (free for a while, $20 to get rid of nag screen). EasyGPS is easy to use, and GSAK is more powerful than MapSend Lite or Magellan Geocache Manager.

 

As for maps not showing up in MapSend Lite, you have to purchase detail maps like DirectRoute or Topo 3D to see any sort of detail in MapSend or on your eXplorist.

 

If you cannot wait to figure out how to download and really want to go out and find a cache, you can still enter coordinates manually into your receiver by pressing Mark and scrolling down and pressing Enter to begin editing the POI. Scroll up and down to adjust the coordinate values and POI name. Press GOTO and choose Points of Interest.

 

If the above paragraphs don't help you out, what are your exact steps for downloading the caches from geocaching.com, putting them into MapSend Lite, and then exporting to the GPSr? This will help us pinpoint where you may be going wrong.

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The MapSend Lite program will convert .loc and .gpx files downloaded from geocaching.com to the Geocaching POI format for the eXplorist. Since you are a regular member, you will only have access to the .loc files. I have not used the MapSend Lite program, but the general workflow should be like this: Open/add the .loc files you want in MapSend Lite. Export to eXplorist. That's it. The MapSend Lite program should be able to find the Geocaching POIs folder on your eXplorist 210. The .loc files only contain the basic information about the cache like GC ID and coordinates, so all the data fields in the Geocache POI won't be used.

 

On your receiver, you need to make the Geocaching POI file active. You do this by going into Preferences > Active Setup and scroll down to Geocaches and press the Enter button. Choose your Geocache POI file and press Enter again. Press GOTO and choose Geocaches. You should now see the individual cache POIs. Scroll to the cache you want to go to and press Enter.

 

At some point, you probably want to try EasyGPS (free) or GSAK (free for a while, $20 to get rid of nag screen). EasyGPS is easy to use, and GSAK is more powerful than MapSend Lite or Magellan Geocache Manager.

 

As for maps not showing up in MapSend Lite, you have to purchase detail maps like DirectRoute or Topo 3D to see any sort of detail in MapSend or on your eXplorist.

 

If you cannot wait to figure out how to download and really want to go out and find a cache, you can still enter coordinates manually into your receiver by pressing Mark and scrolling down and pressing Enter to begin editing the POI. Scroll up and down to adjust the coordinate values and POI name. Press GOTO and choose Points of Interest.

 

If the above paragraphs don't help you out, what are your exact steps for downloading the caches from geocaching.com, putting them into MapSend Lite, and then exporting to the GPSr? This will help us pinpoint where you may be going wrong.

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I have the same gps unit, I didn't load that mapsend program at all I just use the Magellan Geocaching Manager. On the geocache site I download the .loc file then in the geocache manager I open the loc file and then click the little satallite to upload it to my gps, then on the gps I hit the goto button and select my geocache from the geocache folder and it shows up on the screen as a little box. the only other thing I can think of is that you'll need to go into the menu and map setup and make sure its setup to show the geocaching pts hope this helps!

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I have the same gps unit, I didn't load that mapsend program at all I just use the Magellan Geocaching Manager. On the geocache site I download the .loc file then in the geocache manager I open the loc file and then click the little satallite to upload it to my gps, then on the gps I hit the goto button and select my geocache from the geocache folder and it shows up on the screen as a little box. the only other thing I can think of is that you'll need to go into the menu and map setup and make sure its setup to show the geocaching pts hope this helps!

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