NEWBIE + MAC + Palm TX

[+Elemaris]

I am very interested in geocaching and would like to buy my first GPSr. I have been perusing the forums and soaking up as much information as possible, but perhaps getting more confused in the process.

 

I have a Mac Powerbook G4 running Mac OS X 10.3.9 (may be upgrading soon)

I also have a Palm TX.

 

I am looking to buy my first GPS and can afford one of the following units:

Garmin Etrex "Yellow"

Garmin Etrex Legend

Magellen Explorist 210

 

The geocaching website is great, so I would like to be able to get the waypoints to the unit using either my mac or the palm.

 

Any recommendations or suggestions between these units would be helpful.

 

Thanks!!!

[+Miragee]

Welcome to the Forums!

 

Because there can be difficulties getting computers to communicate using the Serial Port, not to mention that some computers don't even have one, I would recommend getting a GPSr that connects with USB.

 

The lowest prices would be on the Legend C or Vista C, which are excellent units, but which were discontinued last year when Garmin came out with their 'x' units.

 

The little "yellow" is good, but you have to buy the cable separately. The Legend comes with the Serial cable, but has very limited memory for maps, should you decide to purchase those.

[+fauxSteve]

The Legend C (at least the later versions) were USB, and I've never had a problem connecting mine directly to my Mac. I've also owned an older B&W Legend and have a Garmin Foretrex 101 that works well with a good Serial-USB connector (I have a Keyspan one). Mac users unfortunately don't have a good database-style program like GSAK as far as I know, so I use a combination of MacGPSPro (for talking to my GPS) and MacCMConvert (to talk to my Palm) with CacheMate. I haven't followed the Garmin MapSource options for OS X lately for uploading maps, but I remember Gamin announcing that they were starting to support Mac (maybe somebody else knows). I'm sure other people can also suggest a favorite set-up as well.

 

I have never used a Magellen, and don't know about compatibility.

[+brumbjorn]

The Legend C (at least the later versions) were USB, and I've never had a problem connecting mine directly to my Mac. I've also owned an older B&W Legend and have a Garmin Foretrex 101 that works well with a good Serial-USB connector (I have a Keyspan one). Mac users unfortunately don't have a good database-style program like GSAK as far as I know, so I use a combination of MacGPSPro (for talking to my GPS) and MacCMConvert (to talk to my Palm) with CacheMate. I haven't followed the Garmin MapSource options for OS X lately for uploading maps, but I remember Gamin announcing that they were starting to support Mac (maybe somebody else knows). I'm sure other people can also suggest a favorite set-up as well.

 

I have never used a Magellen, and don't know about compatibility.

 

Another Mac owner here!

 

I use GPS Babel to load waypoints into my Garmin off computers running Panther and Tiger with no problem (yes, I know I need to upgrade. I'm waiting for Leopard to come out. I wish Mac wouls stop futzing with the phone & TV and get back to the computer... but I digress...) I'll never got back to hand entry again.

 

I've got a cheapo Palm that I am having some IT issues with. As soon as I sort those out, I'll let you know how loading the PQ into it goes.

[+Crid]

I recently used an old Legend (probably at least 4 years old) with my Mac iBook G4. I used a Keyspan USB-Serial adapter and Mac SimpleGPS software (www.macsimplegps.com). The software itself is pretty, well, simple but it did the job of getting the waypoints into the Legend. I think the only problem I encountered was that I had to ensure I plugged the Keyspan into the Mac first, THEN plugged the Keyspan into the GPS. If I plugged it in to the GPS first SimpleGPS would tell me it wasn't responding.

[+admo1972]

I use a mac, and have a TX I use for caching. Gererally I use:

Premium membership ($30/year) - to get the gpx files and pocket queries

macCMConvert (free) - to convert said gpx files to palm database files.

cachemate ($8) - to view said palm files for paperless caching

 

As you can see, I don't generally have a way to send waypoints to my GPSr. I've been entering coordinates by hand as I need them. I haven't made a mistake yet, but am looking for a way to transfer waypoints to my GPSr. It's a Garmin Vista.

 

I have tried a few mac programs to send waypoints to my GPSr (using a palm usb-serial adapter) with no success. I think buying the keyspan adapter would solve my problem here. I do have a MacPro, and have booted into Windows XP and used Mapsource to send waypoints to the GPSr with no problem (once I downloaded the driver for the adapter from Palm's website).

 

So, I can send waypoints to my GPSr in XP, but I just haven't made it part of my routine.

[+THE G5]

I've just started using a program called maccaching (from macCaching.com) - it's similar in layout to GSAK but certainly doesn't have as many features - it may get there soon but it's better than just chucking waypoints across to the Garmin in a file from GPSbabel as you can do sorts/filters. There are still a few bugs (notably the one about distance from home co-ords) but it's freeware and worth a try. I then use mobipocket to sync to my ipaq for paperless caching.

However I do a cheat a little as use my school windows laptop to pop waypoints onto multimap on ipaq - roll on leopard when can use one machine to do all!

Hope that is some help (in the UK we have no mapping products that run on macs whereas in US you have some maps at least!)

[+salmondan]

I have a PowerBook G4. Started with an etrex, but now have a Legend Cx (upgraded to take advantage of pocket queries and mapping program). Had to load my maps to my GPS via son's PC, but other than that Mac native. Cord that came with the GPS is all I need to download onto to Mac.

Use:

Pocket Queries for the data

LoadMyTracks to get info onto my GPS (free simple program, could not figure out GPS Babel and could not find someone to help out a newbie- this program was up and running in seconds)

Have an old Palm500

MacCMConvert to translate the data

Use Cachemate to manipulate the data ($8 program and awesome, loads the logs, the hints, description etc, manipulatable data base that even a pretty point and shoot person like me can use functionally)

[+Elemaris]

Awesome info, Thanks!!

 

It looks as if no matter which unit I go with, there is a way to connect it to my Powerbook. I am leaning toward the Explorist 210 over the Legend, because of the USB, 22MB, and auto routing. Does this make sense to all you GeoVets out there? It's actually not going to cost me anything because I am "buying" it with "vitality bucks" I earned through my company health insurance. If I really get into this, I can always upgrade next year to a more powerful unit, If I so desire.

 

I can't wait to take my kids out and find our first cache!