84gros33 Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 We just got a magellan maestro 3100 for christmas because my wife thought it would be fun for the family to go geocaching. We got on geocaching.com and found the geocaches in our area and clicked on the ones we thought we would like to go to, but it says it only I guess goes to garmin gps's and won't download to ours. Plugged in our unit with a usb cord, don't even know how to get information on to our unit. Very Very confused so far, haven't even been able to leave front yard. Quote Link to comment
+Miragee Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Welcome to the Forums! I don't know anything about that particular GPS unit and don't see it mentioned much in the Forums. You might find some of the software listed on that page useful. EasyGPS is very easy to use. Other people end up using GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) later on when they discover the merits of "paperless" caching with a PDA. Quote Link to comment
+Bad_CRC Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 yep, you need software to download the files to your GPSr. since you aren't a premium member (I'd recommend it) you can only use the LOC files. Download one of these, or several at a time from the search page, and then use a program to send those files to your GPS unit. I use EasyGPS, it's free and super easy to use. As was stated before, there are several options available for this. GSAK is a popular one, though it is not free. As an alternative, you can enter the coordinates into your GPSr manually. you'll see the coordinates listed on each cache page, and your GPS owner's manual will have instructions on how to enter them. This is more work, but at least for now, it may be a quick way to get out caching without downloading or installing anything. Quote Link to comment
+CSpenceFLY Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Or to get started you could just print out the cache page and learn to manually enter the cords. Quote Link to comment
Mag Magician Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 Or to get started you could just print out the cache page and learn to manually enter the cords. I just checked out Magellan's web site. Apparently, according to their help section, the Maestro 3100 is incapable of loading waypoints. I know it doesn't make sense, but that is what Magellan's "Maggie" has to say. Quote Link to comment
+michigansnorkelers Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 (edited) I think what you have is a car GPSr unit. I don't think that will get you geocaching. What you need is a handheld unit that you can take into the woods. Many of these handheld units can also be used for navigating in your car. I have the Garmin 60cs with the City Navigator maps and it can take me anywhere in the USA. It does not have voice directions though, you have to read the display messages. You don't need a Garmin unit. Magellan and others have GPSr units that many geocachers are happy with. Maybe you might need to exchange yours? Edited December 31, 2007 by michigansnorkeler Quote Link to comment
abhllnd Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I started with a garmin streetpilot. course the site would load right to it. try the software easygps it might take work. luck. Quote Link to comment
+HaLiJuSaPa Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I think what you have is a car GPSr unit. I don't think that will get you geocaching. What you need is a handheld unit that you can take into the woods. Many of these handheld units can also be used for navigating in your car. I have the Garmin 60cs with the City Navigator maps and it can take me anywhere in the USA. It does not have voice directions though, you have to read the display messages. You don't need a Garmin unit. Magellan and others have GPSr units that many geocachers are happy with. Maybe you might need to exchange yours? Most car GPS units (such as the Whistler WGPX-550 we use) will not navigate to a lat/long waypoint, only to an address or a built-in POI. They also will usually only direct you in terms of streets and turns, not "it's 550 ft. to the northeast" for example. A few out there will DO this (the discontinued Lowrance iWay 100M and most Mio Digiwalker series come to mind), but most won't. Some "hiking GPSrs" like the Garmin c/x series will do the car navigation except when used for the car they don't have voice prompts. Also, many "car only" GPSr's are not durable for the outdoors....they're usually not waterproof/resistant, and if they fall they break (yes, most hiking GPSr's are designed to survive a fall, etc. and can be accidentally dunked). Your best bet (and not as expensive as it sounds) is to have a GPS designed for using in the outdoors, and a separate one for the car if you want one for car navigation. Good luck! Quote Link to comment
+Cedar Grove Seekers Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Or to get started you could just print out the cache page and learn to manually enter the cords. We did our first 500 caches this way...and it works. Quote Link to comment
+PeachyPA Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 (edited) Same here. Actually, I found my first seven caches without a GPS unit, my next five or six with a borrowed unit, then got one for my birthday. I still hand-enter waypoints into my little yellow eTrex after 250+ finds. Welcome to the fun! Edited January 1, 2008 by PeachyPA Quote Link to comment
+TJ07 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I would just manually put them in as well. Good luck! Quote Link to comment
+jipow Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I'm a newbe also who got the same unit for Christmas from my wife so I could go Geocaching and I found out that it wont work for Geocaching, but it works good for driving. I went to WalMart and found a magellan Gold on sale for $99.00 and got it.(just had to convince wife that I needed two GPS's) Quote Link to comment
+HaLiJuSaPa Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 We still enter our coords manually too and we rarely if ever err..... Quote Link to comment
+tabulator32 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I'm a newbe also who got the same unit for Christmas from my wife so I could go Geocaching and I found out that it wont work for Geocaching, but it works good for driving. I went to WalMart and found a magellan Gold on sale for $99.00 and got it.(just had to convince wife that I needed two GPS's) I envy you just a bit because it would REALLY be nice to have an automobile GPS to get me as far as I can, then park and let my handheld take over. It would make it a lot easier to drive from cache to cache! Quote Link to comment
+Bad_CRC Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I envy you just a bit because it would REALLY be nice to have an automobile GPS to get me as far as I can, then park and let my handheld take over. It would make it a lot easier to drive from cache to cache! wouldn't it be great to have a GPS that was a regular car GPS between caches, showing roads and giving you directions (turn left here. You have reached the parking area.) and then switch to a caching interface... Maybe with the voice interface still. (you are 100 feet from the cache. Try over here. Check under that log.) Quote Link to comment
+jipow Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I'm a newbe also who got the same unit for Christmas from my wife so I could go Geocaching and I found out that it wont work for Geocaching, but it works good for driving. I went to WalMart and found a magellan Gold on sale for $99.00 and got it.(just had to convince wife that I needed two GPS's) I envy you just a bit because it would REALLY be nice to have an automobile GPS to get me as far as I can, then park and let my handheld take over. It would make it a lot easier to drive from cache to cache! That came in handy in SC this past weekend while out caching. Quote Link to comment
+tabulator32 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 That came in handy in SC this past weekend while out caching. Did it actually tell you to check under the log? Quote Link to comment
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