Struggling to geocache on a new GPS unit

[Benz145]

So I recently got a new Magellan Crossover GPS unit as recommended by a few people here on the forums, thanks! So far I've tested it out for road navigation and it works great. What I'm having a hard time doing is figuring out how to use it effectively for geocaching...

 

I'm a geocaching novice and for the few caches that I have found I simply entered the cords into the device and manually looked at where the cache was, then drove according to how I thought I could get there using the roads on the map (ie: it didn't give me directions, I just drove toward it). So now that I have this great new unit which has a Road mode and a Trail mode, I thought it would be great for geocaching. The problem is that in the Road mode, there is no way to enter cordinates, the only place you can put in cordinates is in trail mode, which won't tell me how to drive toward the location, and this device does not work well for just looking at the map on the GPS unit and driving toward the marker.

 

So here is my first question - do you pro geocachers out there manually put the cords into your device, or do you download them and transfer them over the computer? If you are downloading and transferring as a way point, what is the easiest way to go about that?

 

Now the real issue is that I can enter cordinates in Trail mode, but all that gives me is topo maps and a straight line to a point that is several miles away. I want to put in the cords and have it take me to the closest road near the point, then guide me from there, but I haven't found any good way to do that yet. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[cowboyshootist]

I no longer have my Crossover unit but there is a way to download .loc files from geocaching.com and convert them for use on the Crossover. You can use GSAK to do this.

 

As I recall I created a POI file which I imported for Vehicle nav and that allowed me to route to the closest point to the cache via roads. I also imported this file into the Outdoor nav mode as Waypoints and from there you can route to the waypoint in Outdoor mode.

 

I did have to play around with GSAK to use the geocaching.com names for the caches, otherwise I think it created names using the first 12 letters of the description which wouldn't match up with the POI in Vehicle nav mode.

 

So the short answer is Yes you can do this but you'll have to do some research to figure it out since I can't walk you through it without a unit at hand. Sorry...

[+pigpen4x4]

First let me say I know less than nothing about Maggi's, and even less than that about the Crossover, so I will make absolutly no comment about it.

But I will tell you what my solution was.

I have a Garmin 60CSx with mapping, and it works great.

I also needed (or was it wanted?) a car GPS to anounce turns, so I bought first a Mio (yuck) then exchanged it for a Garmin Nuvi 200w.

I can enter coords in the prefered format, get turn by turn, hop out with my handheld and be off. Yea I spent a bit more than your price point, but I can GSAK the PQ's into my 60 super easily, then just punch them into the Nuvi with the touch screen as neeeded. Works great. The hardest part is putting the Nuvi on the floor when I leave the car so it is not visable to theives.

PP4x4

[+JetSkier]

I have a crossover and I usually download .loc files and convert them to .upt files using gpsbabel. Then I load the .upt file onto my SD card, via a card reader, and load them in Outdoor mode. If you want to navigate to them you can do one of two things ...

 

1) Convert them to .wpt file or .gpx, load them in the POI editor that came with the unit. Upload them directly to the unit as Custom POIs. Then you can select them and route to them.

 

2) The Crossover stores an Address book and a Waypoint book. They are both accessible from either Nav mode or Outdoor mode. To move a Waypoint to the Address book (so you can route to it), you simply need to go into Nav mode, select Enter Address, My Addresses, Address Book, List Waypoint. Find the one you want to route to and select it. Press Save and it's now in the Address book. Back up to the Address Book, select List All, find it and select it. You now have the option to Route to it.

 

It's a little lengthy but if you're only doing a few geocaches at a time, it's not bad.

 

Hope this helps,

JetSkier

[+Miragee]

If you become a Premium Member, you can get hundreds of caches in Pocket Queries. Then, using a program like GSAK, you can Export the data in the correct format for your GPS unit. I load up to 900 waypoints into my GPS unit from GSAK, then using the POI loader for my GPS, load another 2000, or so, POIs because I can get more information with those, including the hint, the cache owner's name, and the GC number, something I don't include on the cache waypoint "Smart Name."

[Benz145]

I have a crossover and I usually download .loc files and convert them to .upt files using gpsbabel. Then I load the .upt file onto my SD card, via a card reader, and load them in Outdoor mode. If you want to navigate to them you can do one of two things ...

 

1) Convert them to .wpt file or .gpx, load them in the POI editor that came with the unit. Upload them directly to the unit as Custom POIs. Then you can select them and route to them.

 

2) The Crossover stores an Address book and a Waypoint book. They are both accessible from either Nav mode or Outdoor mode. To move a Waypoint to the Address book (so you can route to it), you simply need to go into Nav mode, select Enter Address, My Addresses, Address Book, List Waypoint. Find the one you want to route to and select it. Press Save and it's now in the Address book. Back up to the Address Book, select List All, find it and select it. You now have the option to Route to it.

 

It's a little lengthy but if you're only doing a few geocaches at a time, it's not bad.

 

Hope this helps,

JetSkier

 

Thanks for the great tips, I'm going to give that a try when I have a chance.