First post and first question!

[onemilmhz]

I am a newbie (only 5 finds so far) and I want to start downloading coordinates directly to my Garmin 60CSx instead of having to manually imput them every time. What is the best way to go about doing this? Do I need to first download an application of somekind to my PC and if so, which one? Thanks in advance!

 

M@tt

[+DNova]

I am a newbie (only 5 finds so far) and I want to start downloading coordinates directly to my Garmin 60CSx instead of having to manually imput them every time. What is the best way to go about doing this? Do I need to first download an application of somekind to my PC and if so, which one? Thanks in advance!

 

M@tt

 

http://www.geocaching.com/waypoints/

 

That should help you

[onemilmhz]

http://www.geocaching.com/waypoints/

 

That should help you

Yeah, that's where I have started but it's a little unclear about what the downoads actually do. Will I be able to simply hook up my receiver to the PC and use the software to download the needed data or will I also need to download something to my GPS? Which application and format is the most widely used and user friendly?

[+DNova]

I use easygps. That program is free, lightweight, and sends/receives waypoints to/from your GPS. It's pretty straightforward to use, too.

 

If you download .loc files from geocaching.com, you open them in easygps and then it will send them to your unit. No manual entry required!

[+Miragee]

If you become a Premium Member of the site, for only $3.00 a month, you can create Pocket Queries. Each PQ can contain information on as many as 500 caches.

 

If you are a Premium Member you also have access to the .gpx files available from the individual cache pages, instead of just the .loc files which contain limited information.

 

EasyGPS works very well for transfering the waypoints to your GPSr. Just make sure you have the Garmin USB drivers installed first.

 

Although it has a bit of a steep learning curve, many people use GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) which is a powerful database program that can slice and dice and filter the data from your Pocket Queries and then send the specified waypoints to your GPSr. Using it, you can even get the hint on your GPSr.

 

Caching "paperless" is when you use a program like GSAK to send information to your Palm or Pocket PC so you don't have to print out cache pages. Cachemate is a very handy program for either Palm or Pocket PC devices.

 

Good luck and welcome to the addiction!

[+jsndrsn]

I am new to this too.I have found 2 so far, one with help from the person owning the cache, and one virtual. tried finding my first one with Garmin nuvi 360, but it didn't work too well. Now have Garmin legend. How can I load gpx files from easygps to the unit with names instead of cache code? All help appreciated.

[+Kryten]

To answer the missing bit of the question. It isn't possible to download co-ordinates straight from the website onto your GPS. You must downlad a file from the site onto your PC and then use a program such as EasyGPS or GSAK to transfer the file data to your GPS.

[+Miragee]

I am new to this too.I have found 2 so far, one with help from the person owning the cache, and one virtual. tried finding my first one with Garmin nuvi 360, but it didn't work too well. Now have Garmin legend. How can I load gpx files from easygps to the unit with names instead of cache code? All help appreciated.

If you use GSAK, you can use special codes to put the name of the cache on your GPSr, along with other information:

 

%smart=6 %con1%typ1%dif1%ter1

 

That gives you a portion of the Name, the Size of the container, Type of cache, the Difficulty, and the Terrain (based on a 10-point scale).

 

In the "Notes" field, using this code:

 

%Name=10 %hint

 

You get the name followed by a portion of the hint, depending on how many characters your GPSr accepts in that field.

 

Happy caching . . .

[onemilmhz]

To answer the missing bit of the question. It isn't possible to download co-ordinates straight from the website onto your GPS. You must downlad a file from the site onto your PC and then use a program such as EasyGPS or GSAK to transfer the file data to your GPS.

This was pretty much the gist of my question and I figured it out after playing around with GSAK for a while. I can download and use waypoints without any problems but thats about it. GSAK is a bit two sofistikaytid fer me! I may try EasyGPS and see if it is a little more user friendly unless I can find a ReadMe file somewhere for GSAK. I read somewhere that it is also possible to download clues. Can this be done with either of these programs?

[+jsndrsn]

I am new to this too.I have found 2 so far, one with help from the person owning the cache, and one virtual. tried finding my first one with Garmin nuvi 360, but it didn't work too well. Now have Garmin legend. How can I load gpx files from easygps to the unit with names instead of cache code? All help appreciated.

If you use GSAK, you can use special codes to put the name of the cache on your GPSr, along with other information:

 

%smart=6 %con1%typ1%dif1%ter1

 

That gives you a portion of the Name, the Size of the container, Type of cache, the Difficulty, and the Terrain (based on a 10-point scale).

 

In the "Notes" field, using this code:

 

%Name=10 %hint

 

You get the name followed by a portion of the hint, depending on how many characters your GPSr accepts in that field.

 

Happy caching . . .

 

I have read about a program called Spinner. Does anyone know anything about it? If I read it right, you can download names to the GPSr.

[+Miragee]

Spinner is a free (I think) program that helps manage the cache data. I got started wtih GSAK and since it did everything I needed, and a lot, lot more, I never used Spinner.

[+Cardinal Red]

<snip> I read somewhere that it is also possible to download clues. Can this be done with either of these programs?

 

Not without a Premium Membership. Right now you only have access to .loc files. They contain very limited information. A .gpx file will contain nearly the full spectrum of information on the cache page. But .gpx files are only available to paying members.

[+cosninocanines]

GSAK is a super program that you can download from the geocaching.com web site. Go to Resources, Geocaching software and click on Geocaching Swiss Army Knife. We keep several data bases (local areas) on ours so we can quickly download the data to our GPS'r when ever we are headed to that area.

 

You can build Pocket Queries from your Account Details page and download the gpx files directly into your GSAK data base. An example, we have a pocket query for the city our in-laws live in, whenever we plan to visit we run the query for that city download it to GSAK then download to our GPS'r and walla we have the cache's in that city.

[+StarBrand]

The first year or more that I used GSAK, I used it simply to open the GPX and load the waypoints to my GPS. Although there are a lot of options - it is a great program for doing just that simple task.