I need an alternative to BeeLineGPS (I think)

[+muggleb]

Hello everyone,

 

We have only been geocaching for a couple of weeks, so please excuse the dumb questions!

 

We bought an HP iPAQ rx 5935 which came ready loaded with TomTom Navigator 6 and is perfect for getting us near to the caches by road.

 

I was told that BeeLineGPS was the best thing to use to pin-point the waypoints. I downloaded it and to be quite honest it's rubbish. It seems to take ages to locate where we are and then will say something like 980 feet from waypoint and then do nothing for five minutes even though we are walking. It will then burst into life and start jumping around all over the place and will then tell us we are anything from 14 feet to over 1000 feet from our target. Then it stops again for 5 minutes and repeats the process etc. The caches we have found so far have mainly been more by luck than judgement.

 

Can somebody either tell me what we are doing wrong with BeeLine, or recommend a programme that is more accurate in locating where the caches are hiiden.

 

Thanks for your time

 

Andy & Mary

[+keehotee]

BeeLine works fine for me - boot is almost instant, and the goto arrow is the best I've used....

 

You need to tell us more about your configuration - GPS, settings, how big's your database, are you running GPSGate or shutting down TomTom first instead, etc......

[+Team Balders]

I use a Bluetooth GPS with my iPaq PDA running memory map (MM).

 

MM is great with the OS maps and getting your current position right on top of the icon for the waypoint usually get you within a metre of so - time to start searching.

 

I have, in the past, used CacheNav (optional part of Cachemate) and BeeLine. As Muggleb has found, I also found CacheNav and BeeLine pretty useless for homing in on a cache; too much delay - you move all over the place and the needle stays put.

 

I access the GPS directly (no GPS sharing) via Serial Port Protocol (SPP).

[+Master Mariner]

If you are using a Sirf III GPS receiver ensure that "static navigation" is turned off. There are various utilities that can allow you to do this.

[+hiho9]

i also have the rx5935

 

i use gpx view and memory map to navigate to a cache which i dont use is i use the gps 60

[+muggleb]

i also have the rx5935

 

i use gpx view and memory map to navigate to a cache which i dont use is i use the gps 60

 

Sounds like the set-up I'm looking for, can you give me a bit more information about it, please. I'm new to all this and don't understand it all yet.

 

Thanks

[+hiho9]

smache is also another navigation program that i have used in the past

 

smache

gpx view

[+Moote]

Hello everyone,

 

We have only been geocaching for a couple of weeks, so please excuse the dumb questions!

 

We bought an HP iPAQ rx 5935 which came ready loaded with TomTom Navigator 6 and is perfect for getting us near to the caches by road.

 

I was told that BeeLineGPS was the best thing to use to pin-point the waypoints. I downloaded it and to be quite honest it's rubbish. It seems to take ages to locate where we are and then will say something like 980 feet from waypoint and then do nothing for five minutes even though we are walking. It will then burst into life and start jumping around all over the place and will then tell us we are anything from 14 feet to over 1000 feet from our target. Then it stops again for 5 minutes and repeats the process etc. The caches we have found so far have mainly been more by luck than judgement.

 

Can somebody either tell me what we are doing wrong with BeeLine, or recommend a programme that is more accurate in locating where the caches are hiiden.

 

Thanks for your time

 

Andy & Mary

I use Beeline as a backup. no issues here; It might be one of several issues.

1. 
   [1]Bad install
   [2]Device issue
   [3]GPS issue
   [4]Application using the same GPS port on the device
   

The standard port sharing is not very good on PPC

[+Team Balders]

I use a Bluetooth GPS with my iPaq PDA running memory map (MM).

 

MM is great with the OS maps and getting your current position right on top of the icon for the waypoint usually get you within a metre of so - time to start searching.

 

I have, in the past, used CacheNav (optional part of Cachemate) and BeeLine. As Muggleb has found, I also found CacheNav and BeeLine pretty useless for homing in on a cache; too much delay - you move all over the place and the needle stays put.

 

I access the GPS directly (no GPS sharing) via Serial Port Protocol (SPP).

 

It appears that STATIC NAVIGATION (SN) is enabled. I have tried all the utillities listed here (and many others) this evening but all fail to write the new settings to my BT GPS. The unit is from MAPLINS and is badged NIKKAI.

 

I could do with turning SN off but it appears that this unit (even though it uses the Sirf III chipset) cannot be altered. Any units that can?

[+PopUpPirate]

There's a patch for Memory Map that turns Static Navigation off, irrespective of PDA. Then, it's the only app you *need*.

[+molfrew-mosstoad]

Try this, I had the same problem. go to the HP website and check for updates. There should be a firmware update to the GPS this sorted the problem for me

[+Team Balders]

There's a patch for Memory Map that turns Static Navigation off, irrespective of PDA. Then, it's the only app you *need*.

 

I've tried this patch and I get an error saying that the program could not communicate with the GPS. Tried numerous baud rates (starting with 38400). I'm using an iPaq Rx4240.

[+Guanajuato]

I could do with turning SN off but it appears that this unit (even though it uses the Sirf III chipset) cannot be altered. Any units that can?

 

My setup is a WM2003SE with a BT GPS. I don't try & use two GPS programs at once - if I'm using the route software, I don't need my caching software & vice versa, so no port sharing conflicts. Can you exit Tomtom properly, or does it still hang around in memory like so many PPC programs do?

 

From memory (I used Beeline for a while), I think there's an option within Beeline to turn static nav off. It might be the 'Manufacturer Specific' option.

 

Personally I use Geoscout, as this gives me the location of the cache on OS Maps but is significantly cheaper than MemoryMap or Anquet. At times the map is very slightly offset (sometimes shows the cache one side of a stream/path when its on the other, but well within GPS accuracy), but for identifying paths/routes its great!

 

Good luck!

[+thsalbert]

Hello everyone,

 

We have only been geocaching for a couple of weeks, so please excuse the dumb questions!

 

We bought an HP iPAQ rx 5935 which came ready loaded with TomTom Navigator 6 and is perfect for getting us near to the caches by road.

 

I was told that BeeLineGPS was the best thing to use to pin-point the waypoints. I downloaded it and to be quite honest it's rubbish. It seems to take ages to locate where we are and then will say something like 980 feet from waypoint and then do nothing for five minutes even though we are walking. It will then burst into life and start jumping around all over the place and will then tell us we are anything from 14 feet to over 1000 feet from our target. Then it stops again for 5 minutes and repeats the process etc. The caches we have found so far have mainly been more by luck than judgement.

 

Can somebody either tell me what we are doing wrong with BeeLine, or recommend a programme that is more accurate in locating where the caches are hiiden.

 

Thanks for your time

 

Andy & Mary

Used cachemate, it have a build in programme cacheNav, Then you can have paperless geocaching within cachemate, Once the cache selected, tap the Nav buttom, it will give you the Navegation screen with distance and bearing indication. I was a happy user of cachemate on my IPAQ 6965 for the pass two months.

[+Team Balders]

I've just tried to access the SirfIII chip in my Maplin sold, Nikkai BT GPS, this time with an XDA II and I get the same problem. I'm starting to think that either the Nikkai has been disabled in some way or it doesn't actually contain the Sirf III chipset.

[+Team Balders]

I've just seen this on Geolex (http://geolex.locusprime.net/)...

 

Hula Wave – Some GPS receivers (mostly Magellan units) automatically engage a location averaging function when it detects that the unit is moving slower than a certain speed. To avoid this, the “hula wave” is used. This involves holding the unit to your extreme right, then quickly moving it to your extreme left (or vice-versa). The unit will detect this as movement greater than the prescribed speed limit for averaging, and will temporarily turn averaging off.

Edited February 18, 2008 by Team Balders

[+muggleb]

Thanks everyone for your help, it's much appreciated.

 

Andy & Mary

[+Team Balders]

 

Can you exit Tomtom properly, or does it still hang around in memory like so many PPC programs do?

 

 

Just taken delivery of TomTom 5 and installed it on my iPaq. Works fine and when it is closed, I can access the GPS for Memory Map.

 

The only "problem" is that when TomTom is running, activesync doesn't.