Kindle forGeocaching

[+geo-jedi]

Anybody out there playing with Amazon's Kindle? Yeah, I know they say it is for e-books but it also has this wireless internet built-in with no extra monthly fees...

 

It is very klunky but it can access www.geocaching.com. I've been trying to use it with wap.geocaching.com but it doesn't let me in to find or view caches although you can look up your travel bugs.

 

Anybody else doing this?

 

Jed

Team Geo-Jedi

Edited December 14, 2007 by geo-jedi

[+Cache Liberation Front]

Anybody out there playing with Amazon's Kindle? Yeah, I know they say it is for e-books but it also has this wireless internet built-in with no extra monthly fees...

 

It is very klunky but it can access www.geocaching.com. I've been trying to use it with wap.geocaching.com but it doesn't let me in to find or view caches although you can look up your travel bugs.

 

Anybody else doing this?

 

Jed

Team Geo-Jedi

 

My folks are in town visiting, and we're just now testing out wap.geocaching.com on the Kindle. The login process was a piece of cake and worked fine, but Viewing or Finding caches is proving more difficult.

 

MrW.

[+Polarbz]

With the Kindle 2 coming out, I wonder if anyone has been able to get to view cache pages on the Kindle yet. I'll be getting it as a reader, but it can't hurt to have all "always on" EVDO available for when I'm out reading in the woods and a new cache is published.

[+Cache Liberation Front]

With the Kindle 2 coming out, I wonder if anyone has been able to get to view cache pages on the Kindle yet. I'll be getting it as a reader, but it can't hurt to have all "always on" EVDO available for when I'm out reading in the woods and a new cache is published.

 

I have a Kindle 2 and using the WAP site, I logged in fine, searched for caches by zip code fine, found and logged a note on one of my caches just fine.

 

It wasn't a very fast endeavor, but then again, it wasn't all that slow either. I'm impressed.

[+TomServo3k]

With the Kindle 2 coming out, I wonder if anyone has been able to get to view cache pages on the Kindle yet. I'll be getting it as a reader, but it can't hurt to have all "always on" EVDO available for when I'm out reading in the woods and a new cache is published.

 

I have a Kindle 2 and using the WAP site, I logged in fine, searched for caches by zip code fine, found and logged a note on one of my caches just fine.

 

It wasn't a very fast endeavor, but then again, it wasn't all that slow either. I'm impressed.

 

I also have a Kindle2 and my experience was the same. In addition I was able to display the google map of the cache location. I was also impressed.

[+TeamGeoDweebs]

The wap.geocaching.com site works fine for my Kindle 1. I am able to find caches, looks at the google map and read logs.

 

I am poor and cheap, so the kindle is great for geocaching. It is slow and kind of klunky, but it sure beats paying a ton of money a month for an iPhone. Not like I have anything against iPhone cachers, I just can't afford it!

 

I wonder why you cannot find caches on your kindle 1? It has to be the same thing as mine. There is some kind of setting you can adjust for internet, maybe you need to do this?

 

-I checked to see what mode I was accessing it in. It works in default and advanced mode.

-JavaScript is disabled

-Images are enabled

 

I wonder what it could be...

 

TGD's

[+Polarbz]

I just got my K2 a few days ago and have been playing with the web functions. The wap.geocaching.com works fine to ID caches, but I've bookmarked " rtr.ca/geo/find_caches.html " as it seems a bit faster and gives more cache finding options. It doesn't allow a log-in for posting notes or any of that, but I think the majority of my KindleCaching would be "just in case" I was in an area that wasn't already loaded into the GPS. For logging, I'll just wait til I get to a hotspot.

[+TeamGeoDweebs]

Great! Thanks for the info! I can't wait to get home and try the new address out. The wap site works well, but I am ever looking for better!

[+OzGuff]

I received a Kindle 2 today as a birthday present from my family. It was a total surprise and I am sort of enjoying it! I hadn't even thought of using it as a geocaching accessory but I am able to access the regular site pretty easily and -- thought it is a little slow -- the graphics are decent enough. And the screen is way bigger than the crap cellphone I have been using to check gc.com when necessary.

[gitarmac]

I am about to get a kindle DX and wonder if I can store the cache sheets on it. My attempt at paperless caching with an old palm was a failure.

 

I will be getting the kindle whether it does this or not but I want to be utilize it as much as I can seeing as how much it costs. Since I have had no luck with the palm, my current method is to print the pages. Storing them on the kindle would be a step up, although a small one.

 

And I can use a map funtion too?

[+mahini]

oooh! I have a kindle 2! didn't think of using it for THIS!! sooooo excited!

[+dakboy]

I can't imagine dropping that kind of money on a Kindle and using it for caching, unless I left it in the car at every stop. Way too easy to damage it in places where your handheld GPS would bounce right back.

 

For the same money or less, you could get a brand-new 100% paperless GPS (Garmin OR/CO or DeLorme PN-series) which is ruggedized and the only thing you might miss is "what changed about this cache since I left the house?"

[gitarmac]

I can't imagine dropping that kind of money on a Kindle and using it for caching, unless I left it in the car at every stop. Way too easy to damage it in places where your handheld GPS would bounce right back.

 

For the same money or less, you could get a brand-new 100% paperless GPS (Garmin OR/CO or DeLorme PN-series) which is ruggedized and the only thing you might miss is "what changed about this cache since I left the house?"

 

In my case I am getting the kindle for doing kindle things, but if it can be uitilized for geocaching I will use it for that as well. I have a gps, a basic one. But cache sheets on the kindle would be pretty useful for me. It could fit in my pack with my other stuff. Or when I am out of town and don't have the interweb. I could store some sheets on the kindle.

[+jjpeg]

I got my Kindle last February and tried to use it like a Palm to put my geocache information on but I didn't like the format and found it hard to navigate. I found some info on the mobilereader forum that helped me a lot so now my Kindle is a super help when geocaching.

These are the steps I take to use my Kindle

1. I run a pocket query for the area I am hunting in and have it emailed to me in gpx format.

2. I use the gpx2html.exe program (which is free) to convert the gpx file to an html file for each cache and an index file.

3. I put all the converted files into a new folder I created on my Kindle named "html"

4. I start up the browser on the Kindle and access the "index.html" file in the folder I created.

Do this by entering the following address in the browser: file:///mnt/us/html/index.html

5. When this file opens in the browser window if provides a link to each of the caches in sorted order.

Each file has the full page for the cache to include decrypted hints and recent finds.

 

J.J. Moore

[+KTJJ83]

With the Kindle 2 coming out, I wonder if anyone has been able to get to view cache pages on the Kindle yet. I'll be getting it as a reader, but it can't hurt to have all "always on" EVDO available for when I'm out reading in the woods and a new cache is published.

 

I have a Kindle 2 and using the WAP site, I logged in fine, searched for caches by zip code fine, found and logged a note on one of my caches just fine.

 

It wasn't a very fast endeavor, but then again, it wasn't all that slow either. I'm impressed.

 

I also have a Kindle2 and my experience was the same. In addition I was able to display the google map of the cache location. I was also impressed.

 

I can get the cache site to display but not the google map that goes with it..... Help! Thx!

[+CacheFreakTim]

I received a Kindle 2 for Christmas. First let me say its awesome. I have thought about it for sometime but now that I have been using it for a few days I can honestly say it is amazing. If you have at all been interested in one I highly recommend it.

 

The Nook has some interesting features that that the Kindle does not have but I can say without hesitation that the Kindle is the way to go right now. My main complaint of the Nook is that it is sooooo slllooowwww. The Kindle is super snappy. I assume that the Nooks speed issues are due to it being so new and I would imagine it will get better with time but Im telling you honest to god I have never been so critical of an electronics speed as this. Just moving though the menus to open a book, you might as well go get a cup of coffee while waiting.

 

With that said I wondered how the Kindle would be for Geocaching. I have included some screen shots below to give you some idea how the screen look looking up caches on the wap.geocaching.com site.

 

 

As you can see it looks very good and shows all the info on one screen. I am not sure what is up with trying to view a map as it does not seem to work. I thought this might be the Kindle but when I try to view the WAP site on my computer I get the error:"This web site needs a different Google Maps API key. A new key can be generated at http://code.google.com/apis/maps/." Perhaps there is a problem with the site? If anyone else can view them or has a workaround for viewing cache images let us know.

 

Overall I think this will be very useful for us Geocachers. Sure the device costs $260 but it has one very important feature. The internet access is FREE!!! Thats right. No monthly fees or subscriptions. Once you buy the device it is included and as long as you are in Cell network range you can get access. I havent got to take it out caching yet since it has been so cold but once it warms up I will see how it does in the field.

 

If anyone is actively using this for caching or know any tips/tricks let us know!

[+Prime Suspect]

The nook (not Nook) just had an OS upgrade, simplifying access to your books (using the color touchscreen panel), and improving the speed. One of the nook's features is that it upgrades itself. No need to plug it into a PC or take it somewhere. The upgrade is sent wirelessly.

 

I've played around with the Kindle's browser, including on geocaching.com. The problems are that it's not a very complete browser, the navigation is clunky, and it's grayscale only. But worse of all, the Kindle doesn't support javascript, which means you're never going to get past the first page when you bring up a search list. Many other features of the site will be broken as well.

[+CacheFreakTim]

I played with the nook before and after the update. I read that it improved the speed but I just didnt see it. I'm really hoping it does well as any competition is good for everyone.

 

As for the web browser I should have mentioned that it is very very basic. You wont get animated images or videos on it. I didnt even try the main Geocaching page, I just assumed it wouldnt work. The WAP site does seem to work very nice in a pinch if you dont have a cell phone with web access on you. And as I mentioned above you cant beet free wireless internet coverege.

 

I am very interested in trying out jjpeg's method of creating an HTML file out of your GPX files. This would make a very nice offline paperless caching unit. I also wonder if this would work on an ipod touch?

[thetomino]

I use Amazon Kindle for offline paperless geocaching. See my blog for procedure how to get geocache listings into kindle as an ebook: http://turecek.me/?p=41

 

Procedure is not fully automated but it takes resonable time and effort to organize needed/wanted listings into single ebook.

 

Enjoy, TheTomino

 

 

Anybody out there playing with Amazon's Kindle? Yeah, I know they say it is for e-books but it also has this wireless internet built-in with no extra monthly fees...

 

It is very klunky but it can access www.geocaching.com. I've been trying to use it with wap.geocaching.com but it doesn't let me in to find or view caches although you can look up your travel bugs.

 

Anybody else doing this?

 

Jed

Team Geo-Jedi

[+bcblues]

Does the Kindle have a GPS?

[+Chrysalides]

Does the Kindle have a GPS?

No. The idea is to use it to browse cache details, either through the wireless data connection, or offline.