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A question about using PDA's


nwflycaster

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Being a newbie at caching I don't know all the gadgets. I use a Magellen Explorist 600 GPSr and have seen a lot of mention of "going paperless". Having never had or used a PDA before, is this something as easy as just downloading selected files and transfering? I have seen the Z22's on E-Bay for about 50 bucks but know nothing about them. Can some of you with experience with these enlighten me?

 

Thank You,

NWFLYCASTER

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Yes, so easy. You download GSAK and also Cachemate (you can register both to stop the nag screen for GSAK, I think $25 for GSAK and $8 for Cachemate. Then it's a matter of 3 clicks from an emailed pocket query and you have 500 caches on both your GPS AND your PDA, shows all of the description, hints and the last 5 logs, VERY helpful We boughta M550 off of Ebay for $20 shipped.

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First of all....welcome the wonderful sport of Geocaching! I hope you will enjoy it as much as many of us do.

 

For many of us, paperless caching is the way to go, because it eliminates having to carry those crazy description sheets for each cache. When I first started caching, I printed a copy of every cache I wanted to find that day and carried them in an expandable folder. Some people use notebooks. Frankly, I hated having to carry more "stuff" so using my PDA was a wonderful option....I didn't have to fumble through all that paper to get the information I needed. Many cacher's (including myself) will tell you that paperless caching is the way to go, but as you have already discovered, it requires another piece of hardware...so if you are on a limited budget, that might not be an option. Although affordable, PDA's are not real cheap...I think they may start at around $200.00....others on this string will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

As far as learning how to use a PDA...they are pretty straight forward and simple. Believe me, I tend to avoid those things that are considered difficult anymore...I need simplicity in my life!! You will also need to purchase specialized software....a program called CacheMate (www.smittyware.com). Cachemate comes two basic versions ...one version for PDA's the other for PPC (Personal Pocket Computers). Fortunately the software download (without the nags) is very reasonable....I think somewhere around $20.00...it's been so long ago I've forgotten.

 

If you know of someone in your community or group who uses paperless caching...I recommend that you visit with them. Have them explain and demonstrate the process to you. It's really pretty simple. Just remember the process for downloading caches on a PPC are a little more involved compared to a PDA...so it will make a difference if you buy a PPC or PDA. Hope this helps....happy caching!

<_<

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I just started geocaching less than two weeks ago. The first few days I printed out tons of paper to go caching, and it was a real pain. I already had a PDA cell phone, so I downloaded some free GPXView software which was listed on the geocaching.com website. Then I created a query and downloaded it to my computer and saved it to my PDA.

 

I like this way a lot better. If you are in an area and then get lost and end up somewhere else (which happens to me often, being new to this area), then you always have all the caches in the whole area with you in your PDA. So if you end up somewhere else and want to hunt, you don't have to go home and print out more. You have them right there in your pocket with all the details.

 

Here is the link to the software page on geocaching.com: Software

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You can go paperless without a PDA. I download from GSAK into my GPSr the following info about a cache: the type, the size, the difficulty, the terrain, and the cache name. With just that I have a 50% or better find rate.
...and with a PDA with Cachemate you'll have a 80% or better find rate. With the price of gas these days, it'll pay off quick!

 

Hey, you can also just Google the coords, use the hints and find caches without a GPSr. When I first started caching I did just that and had a 100% find rate. Well, until I bought a GPSr. Come to think of it, if my find rate pre-GPSr-Ownership is better than now, should I get rid of it? Hrm.... <_<

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Being a newbie at caching I don't know all the gadgets. I use a Magellen Explorist 600 GPSr and have seen a lot of mention of "going paperless". Having never had or used a PDA before, is this something as easy as just downloading selected files and transfering? I have seen the Z22's on E-Bay for about 50 bucks but know nothing about them. Can some of you with experience with these enlighten me?

 

Thank You,

NWFLYCASTER

The Z22 is hard to see in bright sunlight, as compared to the Palm M500, which is even cheaper to purchase. Add Cachemate for $8.00 and a hard case, and you are ready to go. If you get an older Palm, even if it comes with the software disk, you won't need it. You will want to visit the Palm site and download the newest version of the Palm Desktop software.

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Yes, so easy. You download GSAK and also Cachemate (you can register both to stop the nag screen for GSAK, I think $25 for GSAK and $8 for Cachemate. Then it's a matter of 3 clicks from an emailed pocket query and you have 500 caches on both your GPS AND your PDA, shows all of the description, hints and the last 5 logs, VERY helpful We boughta M550 off of Ebay for $20 shipped.

 

You don't even need GSAK. Cachemate comes with a program called CMConvert that does the transferring and it's free with Cachemate. GSAK is a great app to have, but not a requirement for going paperless.

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You don't even need GSAK. Cachemate comes with a program called CMConvert that does the transferring and it's free with Cachemate. GSAK is a great app to have, but not a requirement for going paperless.

 

I have an eXplorist 600 too, and I got a hardy old M130 Palm for a bottle of bourbon <_< from a mate! (can get them cheaply on eBay)

 

I use cachemate/CMConvert on the palm, and Magellan's MapSend for the GPS and it's great! No more reams of paper. I have given GSAK a trial, and I may register that in the future, but for the moment, the current combo works very well.

 

Good luck.

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I,ve been paperless for a while now. I use a Magellan clipon gps "sled" for a palm pilot with an old tungsten T and have an M125 as a backup. for software I use Cetus GPS http://www.cetusgps.dk on the pda, and GPSBabel http://www.gpsbabel.org on the PC to convert the gpx files from pocket queries to the Cetus specific pdb files for the pda.

I also carry an Sd chip that can be used to backup the palm pilot, with freeware backup progrom on the chip. When the battery gets low on the Tungsten, I backup to the card, pop the card into the M125, and do a restore to "clone the programs and files to the M125.

 

Cetus GPS allow you to work with multiple waypoint databases. I usually have four.

 

All,pdb has the gaches I haven't looked for.

found.pdb has the ones I have found but not logged on the website

dnf.pdb has the did not find caches that I haven't logged

and

Offsets.pdb has the calculated coordinates for offsets caches and puzzle caches.

 

I have a batch file on the PC that I run after I save the gpx email attachment. This batch file unzips the pq file and then uses GPSBabel to create All.pdb, All.html, and All.kml. the kml file is used with google earth to identify cluster of caches that I might want to work. the html file lets me preview the cache listings on the pc and the pdb file is sent to the palmpilot.

 

When I'm in the field and am searching fo a cache. I can view the description and other info on the palm. With the GOPSr attached, I can also get all the usual gps info except for maps (Cetus doesn't do maps)

When I find a cache, I then simply move the entry from the All dataabse to the found database. Similarly, when I give up on a cache, I move the entry to the dnf database.

 

Cetus GPS is coprighted Freeware.

GPSBalel is open sources and works on windows Linux and Mac OSX

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I forgot to mention on my previoous post: The Tungsten T (not the T|X but an older model) is one of the palm pdas with a transflective color display that is veiwable in direct sunlight. the M125 has a monochrome display. both feature the an sd card slot and have the "universal" sync connector. The Tungsten T has a non removable rechargable battery, and the M125 uses 2 alkaline AAA batteries. The Magellan GPSr attaches to the back of the pda and is powered by 2 alkaline AAA batteries

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I tried the Z22. I liked Cachemate, but entering notes by drawing letters on the screen with the stylus slowed me down. It was time to get a new cell phone anyway, so I bought a Treo 755p. Now I can use Cachemate even in bright sunlight, and I type notes on a keyboard. (And I have a phone, an MP3 player, an email/web platform, and a camera.)

Edited by klossner
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I use the Dell Axim 5. There are several on eBay.

 

Got mine for $40 and upgraded the OS to Win 2003 (upgrade software also available on eBay) so I could run GPXSonar. (all underlined are links, click to follow).

 

You will need Microsoft's Active Sync

 

upgraded the OS to Win 2003

 

GPXSonar.

 

Dell Axim 5

 

Dell Axim 5

 

Dell Axim

 

Search eBay on Dell Axim x5.

 

I have a feeling this thread is going to get move to the "software" area.

Edited by Rattlebars
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My laptop died and the new computer has Windows Vista. Palm offers no support for the Lifedrive on Vista. Try as I may with the drive mode I could not get cachemate to see any of the files. So I started exporting out of GSAK onto an Sd card in HTML format. Plugging that into the PDA and using the browser to view. Other than not being able to write notes directly, I use the note pad function, it functions as well as cachemate. With better graphics and easier searching.

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