Paperless

[+taxabel]

I want to try paperless. Which Palm is best? I'm not to electronically inclined if you know what I mean. Is there one I can use for caching and other things?

[+Renegade Knight]

I want to try paperless. Which Palm is best? I'm not to electronically inclined if you know what I mean. Is there one I can use for caching and other things?

The best one for caching is an old junky one you don't mind breaking you got for 25 bucks off eBay.

 

The other things though could help you pick out which palm you want. Alas I"m a pocket PC guy and can't help figure out which one would work best other than to say just about all of them will all work for geocaching.

[+Miragee]

I have a Palm M500 I have had for more than five years. I've been using it for more than two years for caching, with Cachemate installed on it. A friend got one of those on eBay for $30.00, including the shipping. Getting an inexpensive hard case for whatever Palm you buy is a good idea.

[+Cardinal Red]

I also have a Palm M500. Works great. You can plug a memory card into this unit, but it will hold thousands of caches in just the base memory. This unit has USB connectivity. There are older Palms available with less memory and Serial connectivity. Less memory isn't so bad, but be careful about Serial connectivity. Many newer computers don't even have Serial ports any more. Serial/USB converters are available, but Serial is slower.

 

The M500 is NOT a color unit. It is very easy to read in direct sunlight. I have heard some of the older color units are not as easy to read in direct sunlight. The charging cradle is bulky, and is generally a pain. But I have gotten flexible inexpensive Charge/Sync cables off ebay. Makes it much easier to access data on the Palm while it is charging (and communicating) from of the USB port. I also use CacheMate and love it.

[+traildad]

but be careful about Serial connectivity. Many newer computers don't even have Serial ports any more. Serial/USB converters are available, but Serial is slower.

I think this is a good thought. Trying to hook up a serial device to a computer that only has USB is an extra hassle. I added a serial port card to give myself a second serial port on my old computer and it works great so there are ways.

 

The M500 is NOT a color unit. It is very easy to read in direct sunlight. I have heard some of the older color units are not as easy to read in direct sunlight.

 

I would be very careful about this. I know with my color cell phone screens they are impossible to read in daylight. Since most of the caching I do is in daylight I would stay clear of them unless you are sure it is ok in daylight.

 

I have also heard about some problems with used units that use a rechargeable battery. If the battery is bad and doesn't hold a good charge you would have to replace it if you can and it might be expensive.

 

The Palm IIIxe I use cost under $30 on ebay, has a black and white screen 8 megs of memory and takes AAA batteries. If you get an older palm try to get one with at least 8 megs of memory.

[+wavector]

I use a Palm IIIxe which I purchased at a liquidation store for $19.99.

It has 8Meg of memory and holds thousands of caches. It has a monochrome display and it is easy to read in the sunlight. It came with a cable but the cable is for an RS232 interface so it didn't work with my laptop until I purchased a USB->COM converter cable.

If you need a handheld for other things then most modern handhelds handle caching related duties with ease, if you don't use one for anything else then getting a real cheapy as suggested by RK is the way to go. I don't use mine except for travelling. I like the Palm IIIxe because it uses regular AAA batteries and they last a long time however the it loses all data if it is left too long without replacing the batteries.

Edited April 18, 2007 by wavector

[+Jedi Cacher]

This is all very good information. I am also in the market for buying a palm. Do you have to be a premium member to download the info to the palm? I am most likely going to become one anyways but just wondering. Also when you download the info to the palm does it transfer everything you see on the cache page like descriptions and such or just the coordinates?

[+TrailGators]

This is all very good information. I am also in the market for buying a palm. Do you have to be a premium member to download the info to the palm? I am most likely going to become one anyways but just wondering. Also when you download the info to the palm does it transfer everything you see on the cache page like descriptions and such or just the coordinates?

Yes, you need to be a premium member to download PQs, which you would convery with GSAK and upload into your Palm.

[+TrailGators]

I would be very careful about this. I know with my color cell phone screens they are impossible to read in daylight. Since most of the caching I do is in daylight I would stay clear of them unless you are sure it is ok in daylight.

You just have to get a Palm with an active matrix LCD to avoid that issue. Also keep in mind that if you want to use your Palm for other things besides caching then color is nice to have.

[+Cardinal Red]

This is all very good information. I am also in the market for buying a palm. Do you have to be a premium member to download the info to the palm? I am most likely going to become one anyways but just wondering. Also when you download the info to the palm does it transfer everything you see on the cache page like descriptions and such or just the coordinates?

 

Right now as a "Regular" member you can download .loc files. The file selection process leaves a lot to be desired and the amount of information about the cache is very limited.

 

That is why we pay $30 per year (or $3 per month) for the Premium Membership. It gives you access to PQ's and .gpx files. On CacheMate I get nearly everything you can see in the Cache page.

 

You do NOT get pictures. You do NOT get maps. You do NOT get attributes. You only get the last 5 logs (but there is a way to accumulate more logs over time with subsequent PQ's). I am not sure how much if any TB or Coin informaton is included. Everything else will be there. Full Descriptions. Complete Hints. Additional waypoints are a little clunky, but they are there. Well worth the price.

[+Jedi Cacher]

This is all very good information. I am also in the market for buying a palm. Do you have to be a premium member to download the info to the palm? I am most likely going to become one anyways but just wondering. Also when you download the info to the palm does it transfer everything you see on the cache page like descriptions and such or just the coordinates?

 

Right now as a "Regular" member you can download .loc files. The file selection process leaves a lot to be desired and the amount of information about the cache is very limited.

 

That is why we pay $30 per year (or $3 per month) for the Premium Membership. It gives you access to PQ's and .gpx files. On CacheMate I get nearly everything you can see in the Cache page.

 

You do NOT get pictures. You do NOT get maps. You do NOT get attributes. You only get the last 5 logs (but there is a way to accumulate more logs over time with subsequent PQ's). I am not sure how much if any TB or Coin informaton is included. Everything else will be there. Full Descriptions. Complete Hints. Additional waypoints are a little clunky, but they are there. Well worth the price.

 

 

I have so much geo paper clutter going on that this would be the way to go. This also would save me allot of time to go this route. Less ink and paper, woooohoooo! Thanks for the info Cardinal Red & TrailGators.

[+wavector]

This is all very good information. I am also in the market for buying a palm. Do you have to be a premium member to download the info to the palm? I am most likely going to become one anyways but just wondering. Also when you download the info to the palm does it transfer everything you see on the cache page like descriptions and such or just the coordinates?

 

There are several approaches to getting the data on to your Palm. If you intend to use GSAK then you will want to pay for it because for practical purposes the "nag" makes the program unuseable after a certain amount of time. CyBret has a great section on setting up for paperless on the Geocacher U website and his step by step instructions really are simple and easy to follow. There are actually a lot of good solutions and your approach is best determined by your caching style and your intent.

 

You need to be a Premium Member of this listing service to use the PQ feature (Pocket Queries). The PQ's return GPX files as opposed to the free LOC files and the GPX format is the one you need (want) for paperless caching.

[+kf4oox]

I have gone paperless as well. I got a Palm Z22 off of eBay. It has 24 Meg of Memory and I use Cachemate on the Z22 and GSAK on my PC. I also have gotten other programs for the Z22 and use it now to keep my checkbook and track car gas and maintenance, and the other normal PDA stuff.

 

I do not have any trouble with seeing the display in the daylight. I normally look up the cache on the PDA before I get out of the car. Then the PDA goes into my pocket.

 

This is the way to go.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Paul

 

KF4OOX

[+eyesofice2us]

I have a Palm Vx I bought here on this forum for $25.00 I had been using paper for 1&1/2 years.. (Man I had that paper down! I twice went out on camp-outs with my son with like a book! of paper logs) now I went paperless with the VX Palm. MAN-O-MAN! Why didn’t I do this sooner.. It’s a hard case and yes I have already dropped it down a cliff and it still works great. I have cachemate, Gsak working along with home PC MS-2000, working like a champ...last week-end went caching with my DAD, Son, ME -> 3 Generation cachers< already.... got stuck on about 7 caches and brought out the Palm, WAALAAA~~~1 minute, found them. and the wind was blowing like a Banshee and didn’t blow the Palm outa my hand like paper!!. Man goooo Palm!!!~~~~~~eyes~~

[+Fuchsiamagic]

I have a Palm M505 with all my local caches on it, but I've never used it in anger yet. The problem I find is when I have a spare couple of hours to go caching, how do I find one on the Palm which is near me if I don't know it's name already? Or have I missed the point somewhere?

[+geognerd]

I have a Palm M505 with all my local caches on it, but I've never used it in anger yet. The problem I find is when I have a spare couple of hours to go caching, how do I find one on the Palm which is near me if I don't know it's name already? Or have I missed the point somewhere?

Going a little off-topic, but if you are using Cachemate, there is a way to search for caches on the palm using coordinates and a radius. I don't know how to do it off hand because I use the GPSr to find caches near me and use the cache's name to look it up on the Palm.

[+Fuchsiamagic]

I have a Palm M505 with all my local caches on it, but I've never used it in anger yet. The problem I find is when I have a spare couple of hours to go caching, how do I find one on the Palm which is near me if I don't know it's name already? Or have I missed the point somewhere?

Going a little off-topic, but if you are using Cachemate, there is a way to search for caches on the palm using coordinates and a radius. I don't know how to do it off hand because I use the GPSr to find caches near me and use the cache's name to look it up on the Palm.

That's how I would do it, but the waypoints are displayed as GC numbers on the GPSr and by names on the Palm. There doesn't seem to be any way of cross-referencing them.

[+Miragee]

You can use the Smart Name feature of GSAK to have the same Waypoints on the Palm and the GPSr. If you are using GSAK, these tags give you part of the cache name, the Size of the container, the Type of the cache, the Difficulty and the Terrain, based on a 10-point scale:

 

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

 

You can even put the Hint on your GPSr if it has that capability.

[+Jollylolly]

That's how I would do it, but the waypoints are displayed as GC numbers on the GPSr and by names on the Palm. There doesn't seem to be any way of cross-referencing them.

 

I have found that the caches can be sorted by name, waypoint, ID etc. Just a matter of asking all the right questions when requesting a PQ.

 

I'm still learning all this "techie stuff", but (and don't ask me how I did it, I guess I have just checked the right boxes when doing the PQ) with my Legend, Zire 21, Spinner and Plucker I'm paperless.

 

Jollylolly

[+Cardinal Red]

I have a Palm M505 with all my local caches on it, but I've never used it in anger yet. The problem I find is when I have a spare couple of hours to go caching, how do I find one on the Palm which is near me if I don't know it's name already? Or have I missed the point somewhere?

Going a little off-topic, but if you are using Cachemate, there is a way to search for caches on the palm using coordinates and a radius. I don't know how to do it off hand because I use the GPSr to find caches near me and use the cache's name to look it up on the Palm.

That's how I would do it, but the waypoints are displayed as GC numbers on the GPSr and by names on the Palm. There doesn't seem to be any way of cross-referencing them.

 

OK. A lot of information to cover. I am using the Palm version of Cachemate. In the lower right hand corner of the screen it says Sort By: Name / Wpt. You can select NAME or WAYPOINT, but in order for this to work you must tap CACHEMATE, OPTION, LIST OPTIONS. There are several checkboxes. Right now we are only interested in two Display waypoint as name, and When sorted by waypoint. If you ONLY check Display waypoint as name you will ONLY get the GC Number, no matter which tab (NAME or WPT) you select. If you DO NOT HAVE EITHER BOX CHECKED, you will ONLY get the Cache Name, no matter which tab (NAME or WPT) you select. BUT, if you CHECKED BOTH BOXES, you will be able to toggle back and forth between GC Number and Cache Name with the NAME and WPT tabs.

 

Now find a Cache on the Palm (alphabetically or by GC#) and tap to select it. If you tap CACHEMATE, there is now a NEAREST CACHES option. Tap it. The coordinates for the Cache you had selected are displayed. You can use them as the center point of your search or you can edit them and use that instead. (Then I always check FORCE LIST REBUILD out of habit. Not 100% certain that is necessary). Tap OK. There are several filtering options available to you. Play with them. But most importantly, there are 8 selectable directions, plus Maximum Distance and Maximum Records. For now leave all 8 directions checked and Max Distance and Records blank. Tap OK and watch it go to work.

 

Cachemate will remember your last search. After checking out a Cache, when you return to the list it is alphabetical again. If you tap CACHEMATE, SRCH, LAST SEARCH you are instantly presented with the results of your last search. If you are actually looking at a record it's a slightly different path of CACHEMATE, LAST SEARCH.

 

I am only aware of all this because I took the time to search through all the options and experimented.

[+michigansnorkelers]

 

Cachemate will remember your last search. After checking out a Cache, when you return to the list it is alphabetical again. If you tap CACHEMATE, SRCH, LAST SEARCH you are instantly presented with the results of your last search. If you are actually looking at a record it's a slightly different path of CACHEMATE, LAST SEARCH.

 

I am only aware of all this because I took the time to search through all the options and experimented.

 

A LOT of good advice there! But you're working too hard!

 

After checking out a cache, you only need to write /e to find the nearest caches

 

And to repeat what you did last, you only need to write /a

[+traildad]

I have a Palm M505 with all my local caches on it, but I've never used it in anger yet. The problem I find is when I have a spare couple of hours to go caching, how do I find one on the Palm which is near me if I don't know it's name already? Or have I missed the point somewhere?

When in cachemate looking at the list of cache names or waypoint names tap "cachemate" at the top then tap "Srch" then "nearest caches". /E is the shortcut. A window opens up where you enter the coordinates of where you are or where you want to go caching at. You will then get a list of caches nearest that spot. With my GPSr I can press GoTo and choose sort by distance and the caches that are closest to me will be at the top of the list.

[ephect]

I was thinking about getting a used Palm M500 to use for paperless caching. Where can i find the cachemate program that you are talking about? Thanks for any help! Looking forward to warm weather and getting.

[+The Pirate Krew]

I was thinking about getting a used Palm M500 to use for paperless caching. Where can i find the cachemate program that you are talking about? Thanks for any help! Looking forward to warm weather and getting.

 

Oops This is me! I meant to use this screen name. My girlfriends kids had to pick us a new name

[+Cardinal Red]

Download of CacheMate available here.

 

For an m500 choose the Palm OS format.

[+The Pirate Krew]

Thanks!

[+RCujoS]

I just started trying to go paperless. I'm downloading the GPX files to my GPSr and the cache information to my Palm as an ebook.

 

What advantages does Cachemate have over this setup?

Edited April 24, 2007 by RCujoS

[+Miragee]

Many.

 

At least I think so. I've been using it for more than two years and have never had a problem with it at all. Cachemate gives you separate "pages" to view, including one with Past Logs, a page for the Hint, and a Page with the Description. There is also a page where you can record the time of the find and notes from your experience at that cache.

 

For people who use the Express Logger, those notes can be used when logging the cache on GC.com.

 

I use GSAK to Export the data in the correct .pdb format for my Palm M500. It works very fast and is really easy . . . everything happens automatically at the next HotSync.

[+hide_from_the_kids]

Thanks for the info as I am also considering going paperless!