Paperless Geocaching with an iPod Touch

[+CortandTrent]

 

I think this post is a little misleading. You won't have free wireless internet everywhere. The only places around here that do it (I have the same thing because of my iPhone) are Starbucks and Barnes and Noble and those are pretty far in between.

 

See this is the thing I don't think anyone understands so let me make it more clear. It's not free "wifi" you get, but free Internet via the cell towers. Anywhere you are in the U.S.A that gets AT&T cell phone coverege will have free Internet with the Kindle. I have taken mine deep in the woods and still been able to find caches off of

groundspeaks site.

 

I think most people think it uses wifi like an iPod touch. No it's free Internet anywere you can get cell phone coverege.

 

Oh wow! I totally misunderstood that then. How in the heck did they do that without charging people for a monthly data service? Thats pretty awesome

[+CacheFreakTim]

Oh wow! I totally misunderstood that then. How in the heck did they do that without charging people for a monthly data service? Thats pretty awesome

 

I have no idea. I would imagine they have a deal with AT&T where they get a few cents of every book they sell. I would also think this works because you can't watch videos or view color images so it's not like its a lot of bandwidth.

[+The Tramp S]

Go to the store in iTunes for an app for GeoCaching on your Phone, iPod touch, and iPad.

 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/geocaching/id292242503?mt=8

 

The app is made by Groundspeak so I think it will work well.

 

My son plans to get an iPod touch after Christmas. We will try it out and update this discussion.

I look forward reading what other members using the app have to say.

[+northernpenguin]

 

I think this post is a little misleading. You won't have free wireless internet everywhere. The only places around here that do it (I have the same thing because of my iPhone) are Starbucks and Barnes and Noble and those are pretty far in between.

 

See this is the thing I don't think anyone understands so let me make it more clear. It's not free "wifi" you get, but free Internet via the cell towers. Anywhere you are in the U.S.A that gets AT&T cell phone coverege will have free Internet with the Kindle. I have taken mine deep in the woods and still been able to find caches off of

groundspeaks site.

 

I think most people think it uses wifi like an iPod touch. No it's free Internet anywere you can get cell phone coverege.

 

Um. Gotta muddy up the waters a bit here, but the 3rd Generation Kindle DOES have Wifi in addition to Whispernet. I can disable the 3G connection when I'm say, travelling internationally and use the WiFi connection to still purchase books without incurring charges. Amazon DOES charge data fees when you leave your home country and try to use Whispernet.

 

You can also use WiFi to have books you already own (outside the Kindle store) converted and/or sent to your Kindle for free vs a fee when sending over 3G.

 

Edit: Gotta read those Post dates more carefully. The 3rd Generation Kindle came out in June.

Edited December 11, 2010 by northernpenguin

[+TeamMagicParrot]

I don't mean to speak for everyone here, but I tend to guess that this is the way many people start- they hear about it somehow, and they buy the app. THIS is EXACTLY how I started, I definently thought the same thing as you

 

There is no GPS satellite receiver- you need wifi everywhere.

 

Unless you have that new verizon mobile hotspot (and even then it's not as accurate), I reccommend an actual GPS.

 

If you're not interested in spending the money because you might get out of Geocaching, I can tell you that I spent almost 200 dollars on mine, a lot for me at least, and it encouraged me to cache more and gave me better experiences and better results. I have 200 finds in the 6 months I've been caching, and I would have never done that with an iPod Touch.

[+dsuperfan23]

I bought the Magellan Toughcase that was advertised and on sale on the recent Groundspeak newsletter. It is being shipped but I have endlessly searched the web for a way to do this. I do not only want to use paperless geocaching, but have a route to get there. There are MANY apps on iTunes that are available, however this is the best solution that I could find and will test next week.

 

The best routing offline application that I could find was the TomTom application. Before my PN-40 I had a TomTom as my GPSr. The application works the same way as any other TomTom when loading PQ's.

 

For paperless geocaching I will use the application Geosphere. You can download PQ's directly from your email. All information is available. Another application I will download is PiGo. It is a Wherigo cartridge holder and reader. Looked cool and will give both a try.

[+Anke&Didi]

Hi!

 

I installed Geosphere two weeks ago and it's a really useful tool for paperless geocaching. Meanwhile we did some geocaching tours and using the app was really fun!

Generate a PQ on geocaching.com, follow the link in the mail or select the PQ in the built-in browser, download the gpx file and you're done!

All needed information including pictures, the last few logs etc. are vizualized very good and you can also record field notes and upload them directly from the app. On geocaching.com you can afterwards convert the field notes into logs. Very nice!

Filtering for cache types, difficulty, terrain, etc. directly in the app is also very useful!

 

I can really recommend the app - but you should take some minutes to get familiar with it before you start your first trip in the field!

 

Have fun,

Anke&Didi

Edited December 22, 2010 by Anke&Didi

[+DR4]

I bought the Magellan Toughcase that was advertised and on sale on the recent Groundspeak newsletter. It is being shipped but I have endlessly searched the web for a way to do this. I do not only want to use paperless geocaching, but have a route to get there. There are MANY apps on iTunes that are available, however this is the best solution that I could find and will test next week.

 

The best routing offline application that I could find was the TomTom application. Before my PN-40 I had a TomTom as my GPSr. The application works the same way as any other TomTom when loading PQ's.

 

For paperless geocaching I will use the application Geosphere. You can download PQ's directly from your email. All information is available. Another application I will download is PiGo. It is a Wherigo cartridge holder and reader. Looked cool and will give both a try.

I bought the Magellan Toughcase unit too. I'm now using it with the Groundspeak Geocaching app and an iPod Touch but find it difficult to use when offline without maps. For those of you who have been doing this for sometime, what are my options or the best method to get offline maps? Any advise would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.. DR4

[+dsuperfan23]

Does the Toughcase work well with the Groundpeak app. I am using geosphere and it doesn't update my coords well enough to do any decent geocaching. To do offline maps, after hours of researching you can use the tomtom to get to the geocache. The app is onsale for 39.99. You can access the app by manipulating and downloading a POI file using an .loc .gpx converter. Takes awhile but it makes it nice. My review of the Toughcase is the same as this guy.

 

http://www.habitationofjustice.com/magellan-toughcase-review-what-you-need-to-know

 

I bought the Magellan Toughcase that was advertised and on sale on the recent Groundspeak newsletter. It is being shipped but I have endlessly searched the web for a way to do this. I do not only want to use paperless geocaching, but have a route to get there. There are MANY apps on iTunes that are available, however this is the best solution that I could find and will test next week.

 

The best routing offline application that I could find was the TomTom application. Before my PN-40 I had a TomTom as my GPSr. The application works the same way as any other TomTom when loading PQ's.

 

For paperless geocaching I will use the application Geosphere. You can download PQ's directly from your email. All information is available. Another application I will download is PiGo. It is a Wherigo cartridge holder and reader. Looked cool and will give both a try.

I bought the Magellan Toughcase unit too. I'm now using it with the Groundspeak Geocaching app and an iPod Touch but find it difficult to use when offline without maps. For those of you who have been doing this for sometime, what are my options or the best method to get offline maps? Any advise would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.. DR4

[+DR4]

Does the Toughcase work well with the Groundpeak app. I am using geosphere and it doesn't update my coords well enough to do any decent geocaching. To do offline maps, after hours of researching you can use the tomtom to get to the geocache. The app is onsale for 39.99. You can access the app by manipulating and downloading a POI file using an .loc .gpx converter. Takes awhile but it makes it nice. My review of the Toughcase is the same as this guy.

 

http://www.habitationofjustice.com/magellan-toughcase-review-what-you-need-to-know

 

I bought the Magellan Toughcase that was advertised and on sale on the recent Groundspeak newsletter. It is being shipped but I have endlessly searched the web for a way to do this. I do not only want to use paperless geocaching, but have a route to get there. There are MANY apps on iTunes that are available, however this is the best solution that I could find and will test next week.

 

The best routing offline application that I could find was the TomTom application. Before my PN-40 I had a TomTom as my GPSr. The application works the same way as any other TomTom when loading PQ's.

 

For paperless geocaching I will use the application Geosphere. You can download PQ's directly from your email. All information is available. Another application I will download is PiGo. It is a Wherigo cartridge holder and reader. Looked cool and will give both a try.

I bought the Magellan Toughcase unit too. I'm now using it with the Groundspeak Geocaching app and an iPod Touch but find it difficult to use when offline without maps. For those of you who have been doing this for sometime, what are my options or the best method to get offline maps? Any advise would be appreciated.

 

Thanks.. DR4

 

No it doesn't work with Groundspeak's Geocaching app. I took it out again today for the second time and experienced the lack of updates while walking as described, and yet it appears to work fine in the car at speeds of just under 10km/hr. I'm hoping this can be fixed by someone (Magellan, Groundspeak or Apple iOS?). It doesn't seem fair to have been promoted by Magellan and Groundspeak but not work for Geocaching. Hoping I don't have another electronic boat anchor to add to my collection.

 

DR4

[+dsuperfan23]

I agree with you too. This would be a great addition to my gps collection if it worked as stated. It was promoted by Groundspeak and by magellan as an outdoor, handheld, hiking, geocaching gps system that would work. When I emailed magellan they said for ME to contact apple and that they never tested it for outdoor use. I emailed them again and told them to take care of the problem or I want my money back. If they don't take care of it I will never purchase anything made by a lazy company like that.

 

 

No it doesn't work with Groundspeak's Geocaching app. I took it out again today for the second time and experienced the lack of updates while walking as described, and yet it appears to work fine in the car at speeds of just under 10km/hr. I'm hoping this can be fixed by someone (Magellan, Groundspeak or Apple iOS?). It doesn't seem fair to have been promoted by Magellan and Groundspeak but not work for Geocaching. Hoping I don't have another electronic boat anchor to add to my collection.

Edited December 28, 2010 by dsuperfan23

[+G & E]

For what it is worth, I have been using an Ipod Touch for paperless caching for a couple of years. First I bought that app "Files". At the time I bought it there were no others but now I think that Files is just one of many options. The app tells you what address to use for loading anything while connected to your PC or Mac. So, I would use the same GSAK data but instead of send to GPS, I would use Export to Html. This creates a file somewhere on your computer. You then find that file and likely change the name to something more meaningful than cache. Keep my documents open while you go to the Start Menu (Windows XP) and select my network places. If this is your first time loading the Ipod, you will need to map it by typing in the address that Files will give you if you press help. Once the connection is made (the Files program must be open), you just drag and drop the file from my documents to my network places. You can create several so that you have one for local caches, solved mystery caches, and caches for an out of town destination. You will have all the information you would normally have with an internet connection.

 

I would think that you can do this without GSAK but I haven't need to figure that out so I don't know how. By the way, Files is also a great place to put the PDF version of the manual for your GPS, your camera, your Ipod or whatever else you occasionally need to refer to.

[+vt-spike]

So what does everyone use for a gps receiver on their ipod?

[+CacheFreakTim]

So what does everyone use for a gps receiver on their ipod?

 

I don't own one personally but the Bad Elf GPS is getting really good reviews and only costs a hundred bucks.

[+hardyp3]

Thought I'd add my $0.02 worth. I'm using the 'official' geocaching app from iTunes with my iPod Touch and my old ancient Explorist 200 GPSr for final positioning in the field, and my NEW Nuvi 1300 GPSr while driving. Totally paperless. Well, almost. I still resort to an odd paper note now and then! The Nuvi has been worth its weight in gold and has improved my caching experience greatly. I normally keep a bunch of local caches loaded up on the Nuvi at all times. When I'm out of my home range and looking for the odd remote cache, I can quickly add one or two using the goto coordinates option on the Nuvi. No more trying to figure out which street or road to take to get to GZ. I keep the same batch of local caches loaded on my iPod to read cache descriptions,logs,hints, etc. The Nuvi can hold more than just coordinates but it doesn't do nearly as good a job at displaying the extra info as the iPod. If I find myself out in unfamiliar territory with no nearby caches on my iPod, a trip to the nearest McD for an icecream cone and free wifi will satisfy both hungers.

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to use the extensive processing capability of GSAK to not only produce a file of waypoints I can load into my Nuvi (I can do that) but also produce a GPX file I can load into my iPod. So far I've only been able to download PQ output with the iPod's geocaching app but PQ's just aren't as powerful as GSAK.

[+hardyp3]

Oh I love it when I answer my own questions! Sometimes it helps just to write things down. It also helps to RTFM. GSAK works very nicely with PQ's. I just created an empty bookmark at geocaching.com, called GSAK of all things. Next I gather my group of caches I want to work with using a filter or other means. I'm working with a series, so I just used the name as a filter to create a list of all caches in the series in GSAK. Next select Geocaching.com Access/Add to Bookmark from the menu, select 'all in current filter' and the bookmark I want (GSAK), click on 'Add' and voila, a bookmark list of the caches I want. Next use the bookmark to create a PQ, sit back and wait for it to run, and then download to the iPod. Problem solved. Ready to go snag that batch of caches!