downloading caches to palm pilots

[+INDIANA GEO JONES]

I don't know if this topic has been brought up or not but.....

 

Can you buy one of the cheap palms from somwhere like Walmart or Radio Shack that cost around $20.00 and be able to download all the info to them? Just wandering.

 

Didn't want to go out and spend hundreds of dollars if I can get by the cheap way.

[+pppingme]

I don't know if this topic has been brought up or not but.....

 

Can you buy one of the cheap palms from somwhere like Walmart or Radio Shack that cost around $20.00 and be able to download all the info to them? Just wandering.

 

Didn't want to go out and spend hundreds of dollars if I can get by the cheap way.

Palm has a unit for < $100 new at any office store... cheaper online...

 

That aside, the main programs out there are either for units running palmOS OR PocketPC's OS...

 

If the unit your looking at runs one of those, then your OK, but for $20/new I'm doubting it....

 

Now, if the unit has a built in web browser (that can view html files), then you can still convert the .gpx file to html files (lots of programs do this).

 

OR you can just create text files if the unit can do that...

[+NightPilot]

The $20 units aren't Palms, they're just basic organizers - electronic Rolodexes, and don't do anything else. I don't think they can even communicate with a PC. You could probably put cache information in them manually, but it would be tedious.

 

OTOH, you can get a real Palm, although a very old model, on ebay for about that much, and those will work very well. You might also check the Garage Sale forum here, there are always people selling Palms for very little money.

[vagabond]

You might check with this Guy he was selling used or refurbished units,you might also try ebay.

I'm using a Palm M125 which has 8 megs of memory and a SD card slot which is real nice. hope this helps.

[Keystone]

Not a Geocaching.com website issue, so I am moving this to the GPS Units and Software forum.

[+Sputnik 57]

IIRC, Cachemate (the most commonly used program to review cache data on a palm) requires Palm operating system 3.0 or higher to run. It won't work on a generic organizer that doesn't have the Palm operating system on it.

 

Check E-bay for a Palm 500 or 505. These are older units that lots of people no longer use, but Cachemate works great on them. If you fall on your butt with a 500 in your back pocket, well, you're only out $25 or $30 bucks.

[+fratermus]

idn't want to go out and spend hundreds of dollars if I can get by the cheap way.

 

Like the others noted, they are cheap on eBay when bought used. I got a couple that way, then bumped up to a used Treo. Works great.

[+TheManInStripes]

IIRC, Cachemate (the most commonly used program to review cache data on a palm) requires Palm operating system 3.0 or higher to run. It won't work on a generic organizer that doesn't have the Palm operating system on it.

 

Check E-bay for a Palm 500 or 505. These are older units that lots of people no longer use, but Cachemate works great on them. If you fall on your butt with a 500 in your back pocket, well, you're only out $25 or $30 bucks.

Where can I download Cachemate? I have this funny feeling that Santa's bringing me a new Palm Tungsten E2.

Edited December 24, 2006 by TheManInStripes

[+beerbrewer737]

(Please understand that I am somewhat computer dumb and this question will prove it...)

 

Question: So if I get a (cheap) Palm Pilot...say a Palm 500 or 505...I can download geocache.com info right to it and go paperless? Using a usb connection? Do I need any other software? [/b]About how many caches can be stored this way?

Thanks for any info!

[vagabond]

Here's one answer premium membership $30.00 a year you get PQs and gpx files which you can download to GSAK $20.00 one time expense with GSAK you can slice and dice your files just about anyway you want then load the files to your GPSR and a lot of different mapping programs and to cachemate $8.00 one time expense then load to your palm.

I have a palm M125 which has a slot for a SD card I'm using a 128meg card I have over 2900 benchmarks loaded with all the information from the data sheets on it, probably over 1000 caches in 4 different files with all the info plus the last 4 logs, and I update those whenever I know I'm going to be in a certain area.

Just one answer but well worth the money in the time and headaches saved

[+Cheminer Will]

CacheMate http://www.smittyware.com/palm/cachemate/

 

GSAK http://gsak.net/

 

A match made in Heaven!

[+beerbrewer737]

2 great answers in less than a hour! Thanks!

[+fratermus]

Question: So if I get a (cheap) Palm Pilot...say a Palm 500 or 505...I can download geocache.com info right to it and go paperless? Using a usb connection? Do I need any other software? [/b]About how many caches can be stored this way?

 

Here is the basic workflow.

 

Do not be alarmed; it looks bad but is only confusing at first. After that you can automate the process and do very little actual work.

There are commercial products like GSAK and geobuddy that simplify things a great deal. But I prefer completely free solutions that generally require noodling.

 

* use geocaching.com pocket queries to generate .gpx files

* convert the .gpx to indexed .html pages (GSAK, gpxspinner, gpx2html, etc)

* convert the .html to Palm format (plucker distiller, sunrise, prolly gsak)

* sync to your palm

* view with a palm viewer of some kind (plucker viewer)

 

Paperless caching is definitely worth the upfront work it requires.

 

http://www.geobuddy.com/

http://gsak.net/

http://www.plkr.org/

http://sourceforge.net/projects/sunrisexp

http://www.fizzymagic.net/Geocaching/gpx2html/gpx2html.html

http://www.gpxspinner.com/

[+beerbrewer737]

Once again, thanks!

[+biosearch]

I have to second that eBay for a cheap Palm idea. I've picked up a number of 100's 105's and 125 for next to nothing (a couple of them I got two of them for a penny each, a couple with the cradles for 5.00, no more than 15.00 for any of them including shipping). They work fine, the 100's and 105's have less memory space, but I've got cachemate on one of them with a good number of caches loaded. Right now there is a 100 on ebay with the sync cable, etc. running for about 11.00 (as the bid stands) with a day left. You can find these all the time. Well worth looking into. In any case it is only a loss of 10 or 12 bucks.....

[+RheS]

Question: So if I get a (cheap) Palm Pilot...say a Palm 500 or 505...I can download geocache.com info right to it and go paperless? Using a usb connection? Do I need any other software? [/b]About how many caches can be stored this way?

 

Here is the basic workflow.

 

Do not be alarmed; it looks bad but is only confusing at first. After that you can automate the process and do very little actual work.

There are commercial products like GSAK and geobuddy that simplify things a great deal. But I prefer completely free solutions that generally require noodling.

 

* use geocaching.com pocket queries to generate .gpx files

* convert the .gpx to indexed .html pages (GSAK, gpxspinner, gpx2html, etc)

* convert the .html to Palm format (plucker distiller, sunrise, prolly gsak)

* sync to your palm

* view with a palm viewer of some kind (plucker viewer)

 

Paperless caching is definitely worth the upfront work it requires.

 

http://www.geobuddy.com/

http://gsak.net/

http://www.plkr.org/

http://sourceforge.net/projects/sunrisexp

http://www.fizzymagic.net/Geocaching/gpx2html/gpx2html.html

http://www.gpxspinner.com/

 

 

NO!!!! Don't waste your time with converting to web pages. That's the slow and awkward way.

 

It's much easier to convert and download from GPX files (or download directly from GSAK) to CacheMate. Use CacheMate to read the cache descriptions and logs on your Palm directly.

 

Advantages of CacheMate: Much faster searching... you can search for nearest cache to location, and sort caches by location... you can save logging data for later transfer back to your PC. Data is stored much more compactly, so more caches fit in the Palm memory.

 

Advantages of converting to Plucker or similar web-like format (or downloading the "ebook" format from the pocket query): What you see looks more like what you see on a gc.com cache page... sometimes, if you have a puzzle cache that depends on a graphic in the cache description, this kind of conversion will work, and you'll be able to see the graphic. But usually, the graphics for those sort of caches don't work well for either method on the Palm... and you'll still need to look at the web site or (more likely) make printout.

 

The other advantage of not using CacheMate: you'll save $8. Those eight dollars are well spent. You're likely to want GSAK regardless ($25 more), although you don't need it for either method (if you don't use it, you'll want gpsbabel, which is a free program, to do file format conversions).

 

I've tried working both ways. I currently carry about 5000 unfound caches (I travel all over the Chicago area for work, and like to cache between jobs) in my Palm IIIxe. I gave up on the web-format as memory wasting, slow to download and slow to use. I've found almost 1100 caches with this setup... fully paperless except for a few races for FTF when printing the paper and running out the door is quicker than waiting for a PQ.

 

 

If you're looking for an old Palm to cache with, I can recommend the model IIIxe... which has 8 Meg of memory, and runs off AAA batteries. It requires a serial port to communicate with, but USB-to-serial adapters are readily available if your computers don't have serial. I've found Palms of this generation for sale on eBay at reasonable prices... $35 or less. The Model 100 series that somebody recommends is one generation newer, and also works perfectly well. I would resist older Palms with builtin rechargable batteries... I've found that they don't have good battery life under caching conditions, especially in colder weather.... and many of those older batteries have not aged well generally.

 

 

For the advanced (or nerdly), it is also possible to attach a GPS device to your Palm's serial port, and either (1) use the Palm as your entire GPS, or (2) use it to feed coordinates to the Palm to support the "nearest caches" function. A cheap and slow display-less GPS sensor will do find for either of these functions, which are somewhat trickier than just using the Palm to support paperless caching. This is what I do, but you don't need to mess with it.

 

 

I'm happy to consult on Palm questions... caching or otherwise. Send email.

 

Dick "RheS" Smith

[+fratermus]

 

NO!!!! Don't waste your time with converting to web pages. That's the slow and awkward way.

 

No need to shout to make your point.

 

Slow and awkward? My machine does it with one script in a few seconds. And for free. And it displays just fine in my Palm.

 

My intention was to lay out the basic process for the new user so he could pick the apps he wanted, for whatever price point he wanted. I did mention there were apps that could make it simpler.

[+NightPilot]

If you set up Plucker right, you get much better search capabilities than Cachemate offers. It depends on how much you want. Cachemate is simpler to set up, and does offer integration with your GPS if you have the capability to connect it with your Palm. If I'm going to be doing a number of caches in one trip, I often do it both ways, but I'm using Plucker less these days, because I find I need less as time goes by. One nice thing Cachemate does is export the cache coordinates to your addressbook, where Mapopolis can import it and give you turn by turn voice driving directions, if you have a capable Palm. For me, this requires putting Cachemate and the cache database on two Palms - my T3 for the driving directions, and my M105 for carrying to the caches. Not a problem, one export from GSAK queues the hotsync for my M105 and I just copy the file to my SD card for use in my T3.

[+INDIANA GEO JONES]

Thanks to evryone for all of the info. I actually got a palm tungsten e2 from santa and it took my awhile to find out how to load caches into it with all of the software needed. I used GDX Spinner and Plucker to convert and load the pages to my palm.

 

Once again..thnks for all the info.

[+beerbrewer737]

I have my Palm and I'm ready to go paperless...is there a way to load waypoints from the palm to my eTrex Vista?

[+DustyWalker]

I have a Palm Vx. Will it work?

[+gnbrotz]

I have my Palm and I'm ready to go paperless...is there a way to load waypoints from the palm to my eTrex Vista?

 

Yes. I bought my pda/gps interface cable from PC-Mobile. Select your gps type from the top of the page, then check the results for one that matches your pda model.

[+beerbrewer737]

Thanks gnbrotz for the info.

 

I looked on pc-mobile and I got confused quick! I have a e-trex vista and a palm m105. I want to connect my palm to my gps so I don't have to enter all the lat/longs manually. Which cable(s) should I order?

 

I think the cable GEDC would connect to my palm but I'm not sure which one that would connect to my gps.

 

Help!

[+traildad]

Thanks gnbrotz for the info.

I want to connect my palm to my gps so I don't have to enter all the lat/longs manually..

 

Help!

On the other hand, you can use GSAK to send waypoints to both your palm and your GPSr.

[+Train_Man]

Heres my problem with cachemate:

 

I have interfaced my gps to my palm so i can just tap 'get from gps' and it sorts the order, but it takes about 1.5 minutes to sort and reorganize the caches. This takes too long for practical use. (That's on a 500 cache GPX).

 

Does anyone know of software that is DESIGNED specifically for gps interface?

[+beerbrewer737]

"On the other hand, you can use GSAK to send waypoints to both your palm and your GPSr"

 

 

My intent is to have my palm loaded and when I'm on the road get cache info sent from palm to gpsr.

Edited February 25, 2007 by beerbrewer737

[+Red90]

Heres my problem with cachemate:

 

I have interfaced my gps to my palm so i can just tap 'get from gps' and it sorts the order, but it takes about 1.5 minutes to sort and reorganize the caches. This takes too long for practical use. (That's on a 500 cache GPX).

 

Does anyone know of software that is DESIGNED specifically for gps interface?

 

What kind of Palm? That is really slow. On my Palm, 500 caches would take around 5 to 10 seconds.

[+gnbrotz]

Thanks gnbrotz for the info.

 

I looked on pc-mobile and I got confused quick! I have a e-trex vista and a palm m105. I want to connect my palm to my gps so I don't have to enter all the lat/longs manually. Which cable(s) should I order?

 

I think the cable GEDC would connect to my palm but I'm not sure which one that would connect to my gps.

 

Help!

 

I agree that the PC-Mobile website is far from user-friendly! It appears that the GEDC cable is for your etrex, not your m105. I didn't see one listed for the m105, but I thought is was basically the same is the m125 (which I have) except it doesn't have the SD slot. IF this is correct, the GP50 should be the correct end for your pda. Code GEP50 is actually a package consisting of one GEDC etrex end and one GP50 pda end, and is a couple of bucks cheaper than ordering each one individually. Again, while I believe this to be correct, you should confirm the compatibility of the pda end with your model before ordering.

 

Remember when you start loading them onto your palm for on the road transfer that you'll need to have them in groups smaller than your total gps capacity. If you take along 10,000 waypoints in a single file, it will be very difficult and/or time consuming to get the ones you want to your pda.

[+gnbrotz]

Heres my problem with cachemate:

 

I have interfaced my gps to my palm so i can just tap 'get from gps' and it sorts the order, but it takes about 1.5 minutes to sort and reorganize the caches. This takes too long for practical use. (That's on a 500 cache GPX).

 

Does anyone know of software that is DESIGNED specifically for gps interface?

 

CacheMate is specifically designed for gps interface (via CacheNav), but apparently isn't doing what you want it to do satisfactorily. It sounds like your asking CacheMate to get your current position from your gps, than sort your database by distance.

 

Why not just get the list of nearest caches directly from your gps, then wait until you actually choose a cache to hunt to pull up the page you need in CacheMate. I'm not sure why you're trying to do this in CacheMate. To me, that doesn't seem efficient (though technically it is possible). If I'm missing something, please clarify, and I'll try to adjust my response accordingly.

[+Train_Man]

Heres my problem with cachemate:

 

I have interfaced my gps to my palm so i can just tap 'get from gps' and it sorts the order, but it takes about 1.5 minutes to sort and reorganize the caches. This takes too long for practical use. (That's on a 500 cache GPX).

 

Does anyone know of software that is DESIGNED specifically for gps interface?

 

CacheMate is specifically designed for gps interface (via CacheNav), but apparently isn't doing what you want it to do satisfactorily. It sounds like your asking CacheMate to get your current position from your gps, than sort your database by distance.

 

Why not just get the list of nearest caches directly from your gps, then wait until you actually choose a cache to hunt to pull up the page you need in CacheMate. I'm not sure why you're trying to do this in CacheMate. To me, that doesn't seem efficient (though technically it is possible). If I'm missing something, please clarify, and I'll try to adjust my response accordingly.

Problem with that is you have to 'write' in the 6 digit code of every one, and I'm a little picky when it comes to finding a cache (with difficulty and stuff). I'd like a list ON THE PALM in closest order so I can find one without ever looking at the gps. It's a plam M125, perhaps I need a faster one like the Tungsten?

[+NightPilot]

The M105 is very old and very slow. It will take a long time to do anything, no matter what you do with it. I have one, and also a T3, and the difference is amazing. The M105 runs a a nominal 16MHz, while the T3 runs at 400MHz. It's the difference between an old IBM XT and a new PC, virtually. You just can't do a lot with an M105, especially with modern programs. There is a good reason they're cheap.

[+fratermus]

The M105 is very old and very slow. It will take a long time to do anything, no matter what you do with it.

 

The processor is different between the m105 and modern palms so cpu MHz are not directly comparable, but there is no doubt older ones are slower and newer ones are faster.

 

I've got two 33mHz palms on the desk here and they are quite serviceable for geocaching and normal PIM needs. I use one as an ebook reader.

 

My main problem with the 105 is I think it uses AAA batts {shivering}.

[+TheBattons]

My main problem with the 105 is I think it uses AAA batts {shivering}.

 

Why does that bother you? Active runtime on a pair of AAA batteries in a M105 is 6-8 WEEKS! Couple that with the fact that the M105 can store thousands of caches in CacheMate make it a very good option for paperless caching.

[+fratermus]

Why does that bother you? Active runtime on a pair of AAA batteries in a M105 is 6-8 WEEKS!

 

Personal quirkmore than anything else.

 

I also don't buy things that run on an odd number of batteries; too hard to keep up with the orphans and most rechargers are happiest charging in pairs.

 

And I tend to keep my food seperated on my plate rather than running all together, but that's a whole different neurosis. :-)

[+TheBattons]

Why does that bother you? Active runtime on a pair of AAA batteries in a M105 is 6-8 WEEKS!

 

Personal quirkmore than anything else.

 

I also don't buy things that run on an odd number of batteries; too hard to keep up with the orphans and most rechargers are happiest charging in pairs.

 

And I tend to keep my food seperated on my plate rather than running all together, but that's a whole different neurosis. :-)

 

um..ok...

 

you DO realize that a PDA with a rechargeable battery has only a single unit inside, right?

[+fratermus]

um..ok...

you DO realize that a PDA with a rechargeable battery has only a single unit inside, right?

 

I don't fear odd numbers of batteries. I dislike having to keep up with them; they are inconvenient to buy/store/replace/charge.

 

I am familiar with internals of lithium-tech batteries (and most of them in non-PDA applications are actually bundles of individual "cells" shrinkwrapped together, like a cordless phone "battery".

 

You do understand I'm on the "m125 is fine for paperless" side of the argument, right? Same team (as my lacrosse-playing business partner used to say).

[+Train_Man]

While an M125 might be ok, when interfaced to a gps, using cachemate is way too slow if you expect to be 're grouping' the caches often in order of where they are based on gps coords.

 

Is there a faster program designed for geocaching on older palms with gps interfaces?.

[+TheBattons]

You do understand I'm on the "m125 is fine for paperless" side of the argument, right? Same team (as my lacrosse-playing business partner used to say).

 

Yup, just poking fun a the battery comment...no harm intended

 

While an M125 might be ok, when interfaced to a gps, using cachemate is way too slow if you expect to be 're grouping' the caches often in order of where they are based on gps coords.

 

Train Man,

I didn't know you could interface an M125 with a GPS, can you describe the setup (GPSr model, where you got the cable, etc).

 

And why would you want to be interfaced when sorting caches, wouldn't you just do a "find nearest" when viewing the current cache ?

 

Cheers

[+NightPilot]

No, there isn't a faster program. What you need is a faster CPU, and an M125 is never going to be fast doing anything. It's like trying to run a new program on an 8086 computer. The CPU just can't handle the load.

[+fratermus]

No, there isn't a faster program.

 

Unscientific Anecdote 1: I just loaded a 600k pile of caches onto my old 33mHz m500, and timed myself looking up any specific cache:

 

start kitchen timer

turn Palm on

open Plucker from main page

select Sorted by Name index

Select M (first letter of the cache in this experiment)

Select Marsh Pit (GCNXNE) - the cache info page is displayed

stop kitchen timer

Elapsed time (including time fumbling with timer): 8 seconds. Not bad.

 

Even assuming that a 16mHz machine would take 2x as long to do this same process, it really doesn't seem that horrific.

 

Unscientific Anecdote 2: I have two different mp3 players on my Treo. One hammers the cpu and battery and the other does not.

Exact same hardware. Exact same MP3 files. One set of software is faster than the other.

 

Unscientific Anecdote 3: For kicks I installed a lightweight linux distribution on an old p233 Thinkpad yesterday. On win2k it was like walking through jello. On linux and a lightweight window manager like IceWM or fluxbox it is useful once again.

Exact same hardware. Exact same tasks. One set of software is faster than the other.

 

Software makes a huge difference, even on the exact same hardware. I am not encouraging people to go out and buy dinosarurs. I am encouraging people to pick software and processes that make the most of the hardware they have.

[+gnbrotz]

Problem with that is you have to 'write' in the 6 digit code of every one, and I'm a little picky when it comes to finding a cache (with difficulty and stuff). I'd like a list ON THE PALM in closest order so I can find one without ever looking at the gps. It's a plam M125, perhaps I need a faster one like the Tungsten?

 

I'm going to make a couple of assumptions again (yeah, I know what can happen there ) and offer some more advice based on those assumptions. Again, please correct me if I'm off base.

 

From the quote above, it sounds like your caches are listed in CacheMate by their GCxxxx(x) number, which (for most of us) makes it difficult to scroll down the list and find a specific listing, thus the need for you to do a 'find' and write in the 6-digit code to get what you want.

 

You didn't mention how your converting the data for your pda. There are third party tools that let you tweak this info, making it easier to use. I use a program called GSAK. With it, I use "Smart Names" to re-name my waypoints for both my gps and pda. For the cache "Devil's Racecourse", I see "DevilsRace" on my gps and pda, instead of "GC1531". The CacheMate list sorts alphabetically, so after my gps tells me what cache is closest, it's very easy so zip down the list and find the correct listing. Also, writing any letter on the grafitti pad will jump you to that part of the list.

 

A newer pda will likely do any task faster than the one you have, but the suggestions I've made may appeal to you whether you decide to upgrade your pda or not.