Explorist 600 and Loc files

[+Native-Explorer]

This is my first post and I searched the forums to see if this problem was discussed before but found nothing.

 

My problem is I can not load .loc files directly to my gps device. Magellan included a conversion program but I cant get it to work correctly. How do I get .loc files onto my explorist 600?? Any help would be great!!

[Dale_Lynn]

This is my first post and I searched the forums to see if this problem was discussed before but found nothing.

 

My problem is I can not load .loc files directly to my gps device. Magellan included a conversion program but I cant get it to work correctly. How do I get .loc files onto my explorist 600?? Any help would be great!!

 

You may want to try a few different software programs.... Try EasyGPS or GSAK... Both programs accept .loc files and both programs can access gps unit....

 

http://www.easygps.com/

 

http://www.gsak.net/

 

Dale

[Dale_Lynn]

Oops!

Edited January 3, 2007 by Dale_Lynn

[+embra]

My problem is I can not load .loc files directly to my gps device. Magellan included a conversion program but I cant get it to work correctly. How do I get .loc files onto my explorist 600?? Any help would be great!!

The Conversion Manager applet that may have come with your 600 won't be of any help here, but you should have something called Geocache Manager that can read loc or gpx files and will send .gs (geocaching POI) files to the Explorist.

 

The programs that Dale Lynn metioned would probably work better.

[+Jhwk]

This is my first post and I searched the forums to see if this problem was discussed before but found nothing.

 

My problem is I can not load .loc files directly to my gps device. Magellan included a conversion program but I cant get it to work correctly. How do I get .loc files onto my explorist 600?? Any help would be great!!

Your 600 should have come with a software program called the Geocache manager. It 'should' read the .loc file, then allow you to upload the data. the conversion program is more for maps.

[+Native-Explorer]

Thanks for the support. I just have to manually put the .gs files into the sd card now cause the conversion manager doesn't work to well with uploading.

 

The other suggested programs are horrible and very confusing but maybe i just need more patience.

 

Thanks.

[+embra]

Thanks for the support. I just have to manually put the .gs files into the sd card now cause the conversion manager doesn't work to well with uploading.

 

The other suggested programs are horrible and very confusing but maybe i just need more patience.

 

Thanks.

What are you using to create the .gs files? We can probably tell you how to have it place the files directly onto the SD card. If it's writing .gs files to your hard drive, it's virtually as easy to write them to the SD card or GPS internal memory.

[+FamilyDNA]

Thanks for the support. I just have to manually put the .gs files into the sd card now cause the conversion manager doesn't work to well with uploading.

 

The other suggested programs are horrible and very confusing but maybe i just need more patience.

 

Thanks.

Did you try the Magellan Geocache Manager (NOT the conversion manager) for uploading? I find it very, very easy: open file, send to GPS.

[+Native-Explorer]

I use the Magellan Geocache Manager with the .loc files. I load them into that and when I save them they become .gs files When I use the upload to gps button, It doesnt load them correctly to the point where I can not locate them with the gps device.

[Meckers]

I've noticed a problem with geocache files with my Explorist 210. I recently upgraded the firmware to the European version (even tho I live in US). I find that when I select "Goto" then "Geocaches" it doesn't always allow me to go up one level in the file structure. I'm writing this from work and don't have my unit in front of me so this may not be exactly correct. Nevertheless, the new firmware first gives an option of selecting geocaches from either "nearest" or "alphabetical." It only fails if I select alpha (I think). After I select my geocaching group (the gs file), it puts me within the gs file to the individual geocaches and won't let me get out (up one level). However, if I select the "nearest" option, it works fine.

 

I may have this in reverse, but the concept is the same. If anyone has any insights, I'd appreciate it. Also, perhaps this is what is happening to Native-Explorer.

[+embra]

I use the Magellan Geocache Manager with the .loc files. I load them into that and when I save them they become .gs files When I use the upload to gps button, It doesnt load them correctly to the point where I can not locate them with the gps device.

These are some critical things that I see go on when I use Geocache Manager to send a gs file to my 500. Do you see all of them happen, or is there some place where you can see that things go wrong?

 

1. I turn on the 500 (already hooked up to the computer) and go into data transfer/SD card mode.

2. I open Geocache Manager and click on the "Send to GPS" icon in the toolbar (you could also choose it from the menu).

3. I choose "all geocaches" (I only have a half dozen in this file)

4. A "Save As" window open with the Geocaches folder active; I can name the file whatever I want...say, "Local caches.gs".

5. I get a "Transfer succeeded" confirmation.

 

Then I shut down Geocache Mangager, press the clickstick on the Explorist to get back to power only mode, and go to Menu/Preferences/Active Setup and choose "Loacal caches" as my active geocaches file.

 

The Save As window should confirm to you where your gs file is going. The Geocaches folder or a subfolder within it are the only places you can put .gs files such that the Explorist will recognize them. If you are in Data Transfer/SD memory, then they're being placed in the Geocaches folder on the SD card; if connecting to Data Transfer/Internal memory, then they're going to the Geocaches folder in internal memory.

 

You might have some more specific information to help us figure out what's wrong, but from what little you've said my guess is that you are looking in the internal memory of your 600, but wrote the file to SD card...that would explain why you don't see it even though it is successfully written. I made this mistake when I first got my 500, and it confused the heck out of me. I finally figured out in Active setup to go up a level until I could choose between Internal and SD memory...then my .gs file surfaced once I specified SD memory.

[+embra]

I've noticed a problem with geocache files with my Explorist 210. I recently upgraded the firmware to the European version (even tho I live in US). I find that when I select "Goto" then "Geocaches" it doesn't always allow me to go up one level in the file structure. I'm writing this from work and don't have my unit in front of me so this may not be exactly correct. Nevertheless, the new firmware first gives an option of selecting geocaches from either "nearest" or "alphabetical." It only fails if I select alpha (I think). After I select my geocaching group (the gs file), it puts me within the gs file to the individual geocaches and won't let me get out (up one level). However, if I select the "nearest" option, it works fine.

 

I may have this in reverse, but the concept is the same. If anyone has any insights, I'd appreciate it. Also, perhaps this is what is happening to Native-Explorer.

On my 500 with the 2.03 firmware, I have to push enter on the click-stick in alpha sort to move from the editable top line down to the sorted list...then I can move up to the "Up one level" icon-line and push enter to accept that action. The thing I have to watch out for is that if I toggle up or down in that first line, the GPS searches on the displayed character and jumps down the list, scrolling the "up one level" line off the top of the display.

 

I'm starting that process with an active gs file, but I can go into other gs files and come back out of them again as long as I keep choosing "up one level". Are you seeing anything different?

[Meckers]

Embra, if I select goto, geocaches and search by "Alphabetical", it goes (into) a gs file and won't let me get out of the geocaches listed in that gs file. Within the gs file are all of its geocaches and the "Up One Level" icon but if I try to select that icon, it disappears completely and I can't get out. I have to esc and cancel the goto. When I next try a goto, I have to remember to change to "Nearest." Nearest works fine and shows me all of my gs files and provides access to "up one level" at any point in the process.

 

One other thing. The gs file that it goes to (and won't let me out) is bold while all of the others are normal. Does this indicate anything? Furthermore, the problem gs file isn't even the first one alphabetically. Very strange but I suspect there is an explanation.

[+embra]

Embra, if I select goto, geocaches and search by "Alphabetical", it goes (into) a gs file and won't let me get out of the geocaches listed in that gs file. Within the gs file are all of its geocaches and the "Up One Level" icon but if I try to select that icon, it disappears completely and I can't get out. I have to esc and cancel the goto. When I next try a goto, I have to remember to change to "Nearest." Nearest works fine and shows me all of my gs files and provides access to "up one level" at any point in the process.

 

One other thing. The gs file that it goes to (and won't let me out) is bold while all of the others are normal. Does this indicate anything? Furthermore, the problem gs file isn't even the first one alphabetically. Very strange but I suspect there is an explanation.

Last part first: I think the bolded file is the one designated in Active Setup as your current geocaching file. That would explain why you're plunked in there in the first place.

 

What you describe in your alpha sort does sound weird. Maybe someone who installed the European firmware on their 210 can verify what happens for them. You can, if you want to experiment a little, re-install the older firmware to see if that makes a difference.

[Meckers]

I just had to delete the bold file. I couldn't figure out what was happening. I think there is a flaw in the firmware for the "goto" "geocaches" function because I still have a problem. If you select alphabetical, then a gs file, it won't let you out via "Up One Level." If you select by "Nearest" then it works just fine.

 

Which brings up one question. Given that you are encouraged to use the Geocache Manager software in which you can group geocaches (conceiveably of hugely different locations) into individual files, what is "nearest" in this sense? How does it sort a nearest grouping of varied files? In fact, it doesn't. There seems to be no logical order to the list of geocache (gs) files. The closest group isn't first and the first group isn't the highest apha.

 

Nevertheless, I love my 210. It just has a few quirks.

[+embra]

Which brings up one question. Given that you are encouraged to use the Geocache Manager software in which you can group geocaches (conceiveably of hugely different locations) into individual files, what is "nearest" in this sense? How does it sort a nearest grouping of varied files? In fact, it doesn't. There seems to be no logical order to the list of geocache (gs) files. The closest group isn't first and the first group isn't the highest apha.

Looks like this is a quirk, of sorts (or a quirk of *lack* of sorts ). The alpha sort apparently applies to the POIs, but not the file names. I think that the files are listed in the physical order in which they are placed in memory. If one were doing an alpha sort, it would seem they could include that parameter for the file name display as well.

 

I'd let them off the hook for the "nearest" sort, though. Although that might be a meaningful sort parameter if POIs were grouped by location, it would take a lot of CPU resources to average the location for each file. And if POIs were grouped in some other manner, distance might not be a meaningful or useful term.

[Meckers]

I agree and this will be my last post on the subject as it is a little bit of a hijack.

 

I'll let them off the hook. I'm starting to think I should unclutter my gps anyway. Although I like to geocache, I really don't do it that often and don't need a huge library of them in my unit. I think I'm going to forgo the gs files and just load individual geocaches by name. When found, out they go.

[+mfmchen101]

Lots of interesting "how to" info here - thanks to the contributors. I find the navigation to be a bit of a challange too - may just need more time using it.

 

My question is somewhat related - once I use Geocache Manager (GM) to create a cache list, can I open it in MapSend? Seems not. Both MapSend and GM can read LOC files, but it looks like they natively use different formats - GEO and GS - one is text and one binary. The Explorist 500 seems to recognize both. Is the solution to use another applicaition to create a common format?

[+Native-Explorer]

I ended up using Mapsend Lite which takes the topo map from Mapsend Topo USA and then takes the loc or gsx or gs files and reads them and shows you where they are.

 

Works great for me!

[+CopperPenny]

May be off-topic... but

 

Is there a way to show the cache size on the explorist (400) models? I was trying to replace the owner field with the cache size but having problems.

[+EScout]

May be off-topic... but

 

Is there a way to show the cache size on the explorist (400) models? I was trying to replace the owner field with the cache size but having problems.

Yes. When using GSAK, use the Export to Magellan Explorist and SD Card. Under the set up for Geocache name, put this: %smart=18 %con1

 

Since the name can be 20 characters, this makes it 18 max with a space and a letter: S for small, R for regulare, M for micro. When you do a search or look at the map, the icon will show you the type of cache (multi, mystery etc) and after the name you will see the size.

[+CopperPenny]

Thank you EScout.

 

This is brilliant !

 

Thanks. Now I can really use the explorist to find the cache.