Help Getting Setup

[Team BGFG]

Hey all, I am completely new here, and have only done a couple of simple urban/grab & dash caches so far, but I am hooked, and am looking forward to much enjoyment.

 

I am thinking that I would like to get my setup to be an "all-in-one" paperless & GPS. As such I am looking for advice on the simplest/easiest way to achieve this. Funds are limited, and I don't know enough about all the different models of PDA's out there to know which ones to look for used on ebay.

 

So, What PDA should I look for used? Or at least minimum features?

What GPS accessary do I need?

What software?

 

Thanks, looking forward to a lot of good fun.

[+StarBrand]

You really don't want an all-in-one solution. PDAs and the add on GPS receivers just aren't built very tough. Most of the handheld GPSr on the market today can withstand falls and submersion into water. PDAs can't.

 

What most of us do is: order a cheap PDA from ebay for something like $20 so you don't cry if it gets broken. That way you can carry all of the listing details with you but then use a separate GPS unit.

 

I would suggest somethinglike the Garmin eTrex Venture. Good solid all around unit and rugged.

 

$20 for PDA

$190 for GPS

$4 for cachemate (program for PDA)

[Team BGFG]

I guess the reason I was thinking to do all in one is I am likely to do a lot of last minute caching. I am on the road/out & about a lot and figured if I could download a hole bunch of caches to the unit, find ones near where I am when I have some free time, check the details to decide which ones to go for and then go.

 

In other words I am not likely to spend much if any research time on the computer at home and thus won't have internet to research the caches, so I figured it would be easier going "all-in-one" rather than going back & forth between GPS & PDA to figure out which ones are nearby & check the details.

 

I do see that cachemate says "'Nearest caches' search with GPS support" not sure if that means GPS on the Palm or some other type of interface.

 

Based on these new facts, do your recommendations remain the same?

[+Luke77]

I use an old Palm IIIxe I got for $20 off craigslist, Cachemate ($8) and a Magellan Explorist 210.

 

What I do is get my current location off the GPS, enter those coords into the PDA and then call up the closest caches to those coords. Then I can check the details, recent logs etc. Yeah, it's a bit clunky going back and forth, but I got used to it.

[Team BGFG]

can a PDA interface with a standalone GPS? I never thought of that before. If so, what software/features are needed on each?

Edited February 19, 2007 by Team BGFG

[+briansnat]

I think Starbrand gives good advice. PDAs are built for the office and not for the rigors of the outdoors. In the course of geocaching your unit will get rained on, snowed on, dragged through brush, dropped, dunked in streams and generally knocked around. They are built to withstand this.

 

You're best off getting an inexpensive PDA on Ebay, putting Cachemate on it and sinking your money into a decent dedicated handheld GPS.

 

I bring a PDA along on my cache hunts, but it stays safely in my pack unless I need it.

 

I recently started using GSAK to manipulate my waypoint names so that I can tell the type, size, difficulty and terrain ratings for a cache just from the waypoint name, so now I only need my PDA for the hint, or if I encounter a puzzle cache.

Edited February 19, 2007 by briansnat

[Neos2]

The PDA will hold all the information from the cache page--some programs even set up the info to look like the cache page at gc. You can even use your PDA to write yourself a note about each cache, if you want, so you remember what you traded at each cache, for example.

 

You can search for nearest caches from the one you are one from either the PDA or the GPS.

 

I keep about 1000 of the nearest caches to me (that I haven't found yet) loaded into my PDA and my GPS so I can do some spur of the moment caching anytime I'm out with a few spares momemts.

 

And that still leaves me room to pull up a quick PQ and run it through GSAK if we go somewhere outside our local area. Takes me about 5 minutes to do that. I highly recommend a nice cheap PDA (I use a Palm IIIxe I picke dup cheap on the garage forum here) and the GPS of your choice (I started with a Garmin eTrex Legend, now I use a Garmin gpsmap 76CS or a Garmin 60CSx--they all take me to the caches, some just have more bells and whistles).

[Team BGFG]

Ok, so any particular recommendations on Palm models to look for cheap on ebay?

 

Is there a limit, practical or otherwise, on the number of caches you can have on your Palm and GPS, or is it only limited by memory? I consistently travel in probably at least a 100 mile square covering 2-3 states, and it would be nice to load all (or at least most) of the caches in that geography.

 

Thanks.

[+Driver Carries Cache]

If you carry a cel phone... I was looking for the same convenience when I started paperless. I upgraded my phone to a Palm Treo 650 which runs the Palm operating system and will allow you to keep your paperless info without carrying anything extra around. If I've got a quick cache in mind, all I need is my phone (which I always have) and my GPS! One caveat... the Palm Treo is not cheap, close to $400, but my Cingular service allowed me to upgrade and they were offering refurb units directly from Palm... $90!

 

Driver Carries Cache

(madmike)

[+StarBrand]

Ok, so any particular recommendations on Palm models to look for cheap on ebay?

 

Is there a limit, practical or otherwise, on the number of caches you can have on your Palm and GPS, or is it only limited by memory? I consistently travel in probably at least a 100 mile square covering 2-3 states, and it would be nice to load all (or at least most) of the caches in that geography.

 

Thanks.

Any Palm with at least 8MB of memory should work fine. Any other features are just a bonus.

 

Most GPS units can hold either 500 or 1000 waypoints in them ready to use. A Palm is limited by memory but 8MB can easily hold 3 or 4 thousand cache descriptions.

[Team BGFG]

Any Palm with at least 8MB of memory should work fine. Any other features are just a bonus.

 

Most GPS units can hold either 500 or 1000 waypoints in them ready to use. A Palm is limited by memory but 8MB can easily hold 3 or 4 thousand cache descriptions.

 

Did I read somewhere that you could have a unlimted amount of POI's though? At that point would it be limited to the size of memory card?

 

What about with memory cards for Palm, you can do that right? I guess one question is also is it practical, i.e. would having such a huge number make it combersome to search?