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Sending gpx files to My Colorado


Artsifrtsy

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I noticed this weekend that only some of the cache files that I clicked through actually loaded onto my Colorado. I tried loading them on again this morning and some of them take several tries to load - I am using the send to GPS button. I have downloaded the plug-in and updated the unit's software - What am I doing wrong? Is there any way to do these in batches?

 

The caches that made it onto the unit worked like a dream.

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Each time you click 'send to GPS' you have to let the Garmin Communicator find the device and then click the box in Communicator to send it. If you leave Communicator open after the first click it hides and you have to switch back to it to send the next one. Also, you can't click 'send to GPS' multiple times and then send it once with Communicator. Kind of slow if you want to do multiple caches, but fine for one or two.

 

Best deal is to become a premium member and do the pocket queries -- up to 500 caches at one time, plus you can pick and chose which type you want.

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So you are saying that I need to close the communicator window each time to use the sent to GPS feature?

 

I am a premium member - I'm on a Mac. What do I need to do to send batches or is it even possible on a Mac?

 

Just do a Pocket Query, and load the .gpx file directly under Garmin/GPX. Nothing special necessary. I've got 500 caches in my Colorado this way with a few steps, some people have more. Way more.

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I know I should know more about this - but I can't find any directions on how to do a pocket query. Is this a PC thing? I was so thrilled to just click each one - but if there's a way to batch it terrific!

 

Is there any reason that they won't transfer when I click them? Some I have tried to send to GPS over 20 times with no success. Some work after 3 or 4 tries.

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Have no idea about Macs -- your mileage may vary. but it works fine on the PC -- here is what I see:

 

You must have Garmin Communicator installed and it must pass the test where it finds your GPS.

 

When you are on geocaching.com and looking at the list of caches, there is an icon on the far right of each line item that should say 'Send to GPS' when you mouse over it. Click this icon and Garmin Communicator should pop up in a small window. It will find your device, and there should be a 'Send' button there somewhere (I don't have my GPS available to see the exact wording). This sends the one cache to the GPS as GCxxx.GPX file. Communicator will tell you if the transfer was successful.

 

You can close the Communicator or leave it open. But if you leave it open, it will stay in the background and not pop to the foreground when you click the next 'Send to GPS' icon. You will have to bring it to the foreground manually and click the 'Send' button to transfer the file. If you close it, it will pop up the next time you click the 'Send to GPS' icon. Seems to take about the same amount of time whether you close it or not.

 

I'm guessing Groundspeak doesn't want you to be able to send more than one GPX file at a time because they want you to be a premium member, which makes financial sense. I only use it when I need to upload a particular cache thats not in my local area.

 

What Garmin should do is set up Communicator to transfer the pocket queries for you. They should also have a way in MapSource to upload and download geocaches like you do maps, tracks and waypoints .

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I am a premium member. I installed the plug in and the test shows it is installed correctly. The problem I have been having is that only about a third of the caches I sent actually loaded on my unit. Some would load if I continued to send them multiple times. I did the pocket query so I loaded up a good amount. It just seems random that some will load individually and some will not.

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I read a couple of posts that said that geocaches can be put on an sd card and read by the Colorado. I tried this with no luck. Am I missing something?

 

I think it works as long as you create a [sD drive]:\garmin\gpx folder on the SD card and put the gpx files in this folder.

 

GO$Rs

 

Interesting, has anyone tried this yet? Does that mean we could be 2,000 + on geocaches?

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I read a couple of posts that said that geocaches can be put on an sd card and read by the Colorado. I tried this with no luck. Am I missing something?

 

I think it works as long as you create a [sD drive]:\garmin\gpx folder on the SD card and put the gpx files in this folder.

 

GO$Rs

 

Interesting, has anyone tried this yet? Does that mean we could be 2,000 + on geocaches?

 

I don't think so. My guess is that the Colorado looks in [CO drive]:\garmin\gpx and [sD drive]:\garmin\gpx at boot time and loads all the gpx files that it finds. If the sum total of all geocaches in those files is > 2000 then you will start to see missing caches.

 

GO$Rs

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Interesting, has anyone tried this yet? Does that mean we could be 2,000 + on geocaches?
I don't think so. My guess is that the Colorado looks in [CO drive]:\garmin\gpx and [sD drive]:\garmin\gpx at boot time and loads all the gpx files that it finds. If the sum total of all geocaches in those files is > 2000 then you will start to see missing caches.

That's correct, but you could have < 2000 on separate SD cards, and swap them out in the field, so could access > 2000 without having to return to a computer. I think that is what BiT is referring to.

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Interesting, has anyone tried this yet? Does that mean we could be 2,000 + on geocaches?
I don't think so. My guess is that the Colorado looks in [CO drive]:\garmin\gpx and [sD drive]:\garmin\gpx at boot time and loads all the gpx files that it finds. If the sum total of all geocaches in those files is > 2000 then you will start to see missing caches.

That's correct, but you could have < 2000 on separate SD cards, and swap them out in the field, so could access > 2000 without having to return to a computer. I think that is what BiT is referring to.

 

I got this to work flawlessly. Thanks!! I wonder if the GPS would get confused if you had caches on a card and on the GPS?

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I've just been dropping the results of my Pocket Queries onto the Colorado directly - works like a charm. Just get them in the right directory (folder) on the device.

 

How do you drop the results directly to the Colorado?

And where do I find the "(folder)" on the device?

Also, do I have to unzip the pocket queries?

I'm sorry for the stupid questions. I've owned a Magellan, need I say more?

Edited by Riggtown53
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I've just been dropping the results of my Pocket Queries onto the Colorado directly - works like a charm. Just get them in the right directory (folder) on the device.

 

How do you drop the results directly to the Colorado?

And where do I find the "(folder)" on the device?

Also, do I have to unzip the pocket queries?

I'm sorry for the stupid questions. I've owned a Magellan, need I say more?

 

Yes, you have to unzip it first (if you're on Windows XP or Vista it will do this directly, not sure about Macs.) Extract to the Colorado drive (usually E:) under Garmin\GPX, (E:\Garmin\GPX, again as an example.) Power up and go. This is the simplest way to do it--I've had trouble with GSAK exports, seemed not to navigate to some caches.

 

Good upgrade from Magellan. :(

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To clarify:

 

When you connect the Colorado to a Windows box, one or two new drive letters will appear in My Computer. The first drive will be the internal memory of the Colorado. The second drive will be the SD card, if you have one inserted. You can move / copy / delete files from these drives just like a PC. Just don't delete or overwrite the wrong files.

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To further clarify (also in relation to the post above the previous one):

 

Which drive letter Windows assigns to the Colorado's internal drive(s) depends upon which other drives you have. On my computer, which has a diskette drive, four harddrives (one split in two logical drives), two DVD players, four flashdrives (card readers) in the computer, one card reader in a printer, one or more USB drives, one network drive in a router and some drives mounted on other computers in the network, the Colorado often shows up as P: and Q:.

Look for the Garmin icon (blue triangle) in the list in Windows Explorer, and you'll find it.

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Greetings, Colorado owners-

 

I received several different emails from forum users, trying to get caches onto their Colorado. After helping resolve this for a third time, I realized the consistent difficulty is finding the right drive / folder to place the GPX file - whether just a single PQ from gc.com, or a converged one containing 2000 caches generated from GSAK.

 

I've been working on a couple of different GSAK macros supporting the Colorado. First was the Colorado Field Notes import macro, leveraging the new field logs.

 

I struggled a bit on how to get by the ambiguity of which drive letter the Colorado would be assigned on any given connection - based on other USB devices, etc. I finally came up with method that seems to work - but would appreciate any feedback.

 

You'll find this early version discussed, and available for download, in this thread. Would appreciate any thoughts/feedback - and understand that this macro is less than a day old. ;-)

 

The macro scans for a particular file on the Colorado, and then 'calculates' the appropriate path for the GPX file. A front-end form allows the user to select the source database, location, and filter to select the 2000 caches they want to export - and then exports a GPX file to the relevant directory.

 

Ooh - OOH! I just thought of the next option: Need to attempt to detect the SD card, as well (a little less 'certain', given that there aren't any files that HAVE to be there). Hmm - maybe I wouldn't have to 'detect' the SD card: Rather, just "add a letter" to the detected Colorado drive.

 

Has anyone seen a situation where the SD card wasn't assigned the drive letter immediately following the internal memory?

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I've just been dropping the results of my Pocket Queries onto the Colorado directly - works like a charm. Just get them in the right directory (folder) on the device.

 

How do you drop the results directly to the Colorado?

And where do I find the "(folder)" on the device?

Also, do I have to unzip the pocket queries?

I'm sorry for the stupid questions. I've owned a Magellan, need I say more?

 

Yes, you have to unzip it first (if you're on Windows XP or Vista it will do this directly, not sure about Macs.) Extract to the Colorado drive (usually E:) under Garmin\GPX, (E:\Garmin\GPX, again as an example.) Power up and go. This is the simplest way to do it--I've had trouble with GSAK exports, seemed not to navigate to some caches.

 

Good upgrade from Magellan. :(

 

 

Okay, First: I have Vista, I'm not sure if that's the problem or not.

Second: As soon as I plug in my Colorado a window pops up (AutoPlay) it shows a triangle and next to it (Garmin Colorado (F): ) Then below it "Picture options": Import Pictures, View pictures using windows, View using windows media center, Import and view your pictures, or Create disk and edit image. Thats it!!

 

Nothing else pops up and I can't find anything that says Extract to the Colorado Drive.

I'm not a computer wiz by any means, So maybe you could explaine it a little better for someone that's not so great with a computer.

 

Thanks for all your help so far.

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I've just been dropping the results of my Pocket Queries onto the Colorado directly - works like a charm. Just get them in the right directory (folder) on the device.

 

How do you drop the results directly to the Colorado?

And where do I find the "(folder)" on the device?

Also, do I have to unzip the pocket queries?

I'm sorry for the stupid questions. I've owned a Magellan, need I say more?

 

Yes, you have to unzip it first (if you're on Windows XP or Vista it will do this directly, not sure about Macs.) Extract to the Colorado drive (usually E:) under Garmin\GPX, (E:\Garmin\GPX, again as an example.) Power up and go. This is the simplest way to do it--I've had trouble with GSAK exports, seemed not to navigate to some caches.

 

Good upgrade from Magellan. :(

 

 

Okay, First: I have Vista, I'm not sure if that's the problem or not.

Second: As soon as I plug in my Colorado a window pops up (AutoPlay) it shows a triangle and next to it (Garmin Colorado (F): ) Then below it "Picture options": Import Pictures, View pictures using windows, View using windows media center, Import and view your pictures, or Create disk and edit image. Thats it!!

 

Nothing else pops up and I can't find anything that says Extract to the Colorado Drive.

I'm not a computer wiz by any means, So maybe you could explaine it a little better for someone that's not so great with a computer.

 

Thanks for all your help so far.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear. After you plug in the Colorado, close the window that appears a apersson states. Okay, this is how it works in XP, hopefully Vista is similar. Double click on the zip file you got from Groundspeak, a window should open. Right click on the main .gpx file, select 'Extract'. A window should pop up where you can select the path. Navigate to the F:\Garmin\GPX and click 'Extract'. You may verify a big .gpx file is in the Colorado using the file explorer.

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I've just been dropping the results of my Pocket Queries onto the Colorado directly - works like a charm. Just get them in the right directory (folder) on the device.

 

How do you drop the results directly to the Colorado?

And where do I find the "(folder)" on the device?

Also, do I have to unzip the pocket queries?

I'm sorry for the stupid questions. I've owned a Magellan, need I say more?

 

Yes, you have to unzip it first (if you're on Windows XP or Vista it will do this directly, not sure about Macs.) Extract to the Colorado drive (usually E:) under Garmin\GPX, (E:\Garmin\GPX, again as an example.) Power up and go. This is the simplest way to do it--I've had trouble with GSAK exports, seemed not to navigate to some caches.

 

Good upgrade from Magellan. :anibad:

 

 

Okay, First: I have Vista, I'm not sure if that's the problem or not.

Second: As soon as I plug in my Colorado a window pops up (AutoPlay) it shows a triangle and next to it (Garmin Colorado (F): ) Then below it "Picture options": Import Pictures, View pictures using windows, View using windows media center, Import and view your pictures, or Create disk and edit image. Thats it!!

 

Nothing else pops up and I can't find anything that says Extract to the Colorado Drive.

I'm not a computer wiz by any means, So maybe you could explaine it a little better for someone that's not so great with a computer.

 

Thanks for all your help so far.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear. After you plug in the Colorado, close the window that appears a apersson states. Okay, this is how it works in XP, hopefully Vista is similar. Double click on the zip file you got from Groundspeak, a window should open. Right click on the main .gpx file, select 'Extract'. A window should pop up where you can select the path. Navigate to the F:\Garmin\GPX and click 'Extract'. You may verify a big .gpx file is in the Colorado using the file explorer.

 

I got it!!! :laughing: It took a few tries, but I figured it out. I don't think I would have figured it out without everyones help.

Thank You!!! :laughing:

That was a lot easier than doing it one by one.

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Sorry I wasn't clear. After you plug in the Colorado, close the window that appears a apersson states. Okay, this is how it works in XP, hopefully Vista is similar. Double click on the zip file you got from Groundspeak, a window should open. Right click on the main .gpx file, select 'Extract'. A window should pop up where you can select the path. Navigate to the F:\Garmin\GPX and click 'Extract'. You may verify a big .gpx file is in the Colorado using the file explorer.

 

Just as a point of clarification: It may not ALWAYS be "Drive F": Obviously, this value will vary from user to user based on machine configuration, installed devices, etc - however, it can even change for a given user, from day to day.

 

For example, I created some "saved settings" in GSAK to export a GPX file to the proper location (G:\garmin\GPX). However, the next day - the Garmin was mapped as a different drive letter, and my saved settings were 'broken'.

 

That's precisely why I developed the GSAK macro - so, if you're a Windows, GSAK user - this can really eliminate the complexities of this, and make it a 'single click' operation, properly detecting the Colorado, and depositing the GPX file in the appropriate location.

 

I'm working on combining the two macros (The Colorado Field Notes Import and newly-created Colorado Export) into a single "Colorado Command Centre" type of tool - where you could manage ALL aspects of the Colorado. In addition to the existing functionality, I would like to include a 'modify geocache_visits.txt (load logs) and upload to gc.com' function, as well as options to delete the geocache_visits.txt file, and... ultimately, perhaps even manage POIs, etc.

 

It's unfortunate that the 'dynamic' nature of the USB drive mapping is causing folks so much headache. Hopefully, it can be minimized... otherwise, I'm never going to upgrade my geocaching Mom from the 60CSx to a Colorado. :laughing:

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otherwise, I'm never going to upgrade my geocaching Mom from the 60CSx to a Colorado. <_<

Maybe you should upgrade her to a Mac and a Colorado. Problem solved. :) She didn't need GSAK anyway, right?

 

--Marky

HEHEHEHE-

 

Ironically - I DID get her a Macbook for Christmas last year. Lucky her: she's even got an Intel-based one (my slightly older Powerbook is PowerPC-based). But - since I was never quite successful doing the 'data' side of caching from my Mac - neither does she. She's still using her Windoze desktop and GSAK for managing PQs, pushing caches to CacheMate and 60CSx, etc.

 

I've been reading about the recent developments on the Mac and some new capabilities - I need to power mine up and check it out.

 

Thanks for reminding me! ;-)

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Yes, it happens quite often on my system

 

Internal is Drive E, SD Card is drive G.

 

F is my Exteral Drive.

 

I don't know why it gets ordered this way. Both devices were plugged in when the computer was booted.

 

I think I did a lousy job of explaining myself.

 

I'm successfully able to automate the detection of the Colorado, by testing for the existence of a particular file / path (e.g. G:\Garmin\GarminDevice.xml). So - as the device 'bounces around' from drive letter to drive letter - no worries, I can detect it every time, and automate pushing my GPX file(s) to the correct location.

 

My 400t has enough internal memory, that I'm not sure when or why I'll start using the 2GB SD card I bought for it. However, other 400t owners (with less available memory), or a fully-loaded 300, may need to write the geocache GPX file(s) out to the SD card... which LACKS any obvious, identifiable characteristics (e.g. specific files that must exist). I would hate to test for the existence of a \Garmin folder - because that could be the case on any number of either local or network drives. Rather...

 

Since at any given point in time, I know, for certain, which drive letter the Colorado is (let's say G:, for my example) - then I'm wondering if the Colorado SD card is every anything except the drive immediately following the internal memory (in this example, H:). I've had the Colorado come up as F: (but then, the SD card was G:) and I think H: once (and the SD card was I:). My question was - has anyone seen that not be the case - for example:

 

Colorado internal memory: Drive E

Colorado SD card: Drive G

 

See where I'm headed? If I can assume that the "next drive up" from the Colorado is the SD card - then I can provide an option checkbox on the front end of the macro, asking:

 

__ : Upload GPX file(s) to SD card? (instead of internal memory)

 

Make sense?

 

Thanks!!

Billy

 

Note: Seems I also did a lousy job of reading and interpreting Right Wing Wacko's post, above. On second read, it sounds like this is exactly the scenario being observed. Hmmm - worst case, I can always make it a "file selector" control, and force the user to navigate to the \Garmin\GPX folder on the SD card - but I'm trying to save them the trouble (and/or confusion, based on emails I've received asking for help).

Edited by SnoWake
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I have an additional question:

 

I seem to have no problem loading geocaches from "communicator" one at a time, although a few seem to never load or show up for some reason.

 

The bigger issue I have is that if I do a pocket query and get a nice impressive list of caches when I load those into my colorado they show up fine but they load as waypoints and are not listed on the geocaches page on the device and I cannot access the description/log/hints as I can with the ones that load properly as geocaches.

 

what am I doing wrong here?

 

thanks in advance.

 

edit: in addition how do i tell the difference between waypoints that I have entered on my colorado and these random geocaches? Is there a way to identify them in the gpx folder on the device so I can easily delete all the caches that are not showing as actual caches on the colorado?

Edited by Red Crow
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The bigger issue I have is that if I do a pocket query and get a nice impressive list of caches when I load those into my colorado they show up fine but they load as waypoints and are not listed on the geocaches page on the device and I cannot access the description/log/hints as I can with the ones that load properly as geocaches.

 

what am I doing wrong here?

You'd have to give us the steps of how you get the caches from the GPX to the Colorado. The correct way is to just take the GPX file and put it in the Garmin/GPX folder on the Colorado's internal member, or the SD card. Is that how you are doing it? Is the GPX file from Groundspeak? Or generated from some tool like GSAK?

 

--Marky

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I am copy the GPX files to the correct folder on the colorado but they download from geocaching.com as a .loc file which I am converting to GPX with GPSBabel? Is there a way to just download a big pile of GPX files in one go and not have to download the .loc file?

 

maybe that's what I need

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I am copy the GPX files to the correct folder on the colorado but they download from geocaching.com as a .loc file which I am converting to GPX with GPSBabel? Is there a way to just download a big pile of GPX files in one go and not have to download the .loc file?

 

maybe that's what I need

 

When you run a pocket query chose format as GPS Exchange Format(*.gpx).

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I am copy the GPX files to the correct folder on the colorado but they download from geocaching.com as a .loc file which I am converting to GPX with GPSBabel? Is there a way to just download a big pile of GPX files in one go and not have to download the .loc file?

 

maybe that's what I need

 

When you run a pocket query chose format as GPS Exchange Format(*.gpx).

 

Okay so for the most part that worked, thank you.

 

But, of course there's a but, when I run a pq for 500 caches, starting at my home coordinates, I get the list of 500 caches starting from just down the street from me. When I copy the downloaded GPX file to my colorado though (in the garmin/gpx/ folder) all that shows up are about 10 caches and the closest one is 50 miles away. Any idea what is going on there? In the zip file that I download there is a 1xxxxxx.gpx file and a 1xxxxxx-wpts.gpx file. I am guessing the file with the "wpts" in it would load as waypoints and not as geocaches and therefor I only loaded the 1xxxxxx.gpx file. Is that correct?

 

thanks again

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Okay so for the most part that worked, thank you.

 

But, of course there's a but, when I run a pq for 500 caches, starting at my home coordinates, I get the list of 500 caches starting from just down the street from me. When I copy the downloaded GPX file to my colorado though (in the garmin/gpx/ folder) all that shows up are about 10 caches and the closest one is 50 miles away. Any idea what is going on there? In the zip file that I download there is a 1xxxxxx.gpx file and a 1xxxxxx-wpts.gpx file. I am guessing the file with the "wpts" in it would load as waypoints and not as geocaches and therefor I only loaded the 1xxxxxx.gpx file. Is that correct?

 

thanks again

 

I did a PQ for about 100 local caches and I unzipped and copied both files to the Garmin/GPX folder on the internal memory. They all appear to be there. Maybe you do need the other GPX file as well?

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I did a PQ for about 100 local caches and I unzipped and copied both files to the Garmin/GPX folder on the internal memory. They all appear to be there. Maybe you do need the other GPX file as well?

 

I just tried that and as I suspected it just put them in as waypoints, the number of caches that show up under the geocaches menu did not change at all.

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I did a PQ for about 100 local caches and I unzipped and copied both files to the Garmin/GPX folder on the internal memory. They all appear to be there. Maybe you do need the other GPX file as well?

 

I just tried that and as I suspected it just put them in as waypoints, the number of caches that show up under the geocaches menu did not change at all.

 

That's right, the wpts file just gets loaded as waypoints. As for the issue with the gpx file not loading geocaches it should just work. Double check your [drive]:\Garmin\GPX folder and delete everything (or rename everything) except the single PQ gpx file in that directory. Restart and see if that fixes it. If not can you email me the PQ through my profile? I'll give it a shot.

 

Here's one more thing to try. When you are viewing the geocache list go to Options->Spell... and spell out the name (or part of the name) of one of the missing geocaches to see if you can find it that way.

 

GO$Rs

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That's right, the wpts file just gets loaded as waypoints. As for the issue with the gpx file not loading geocaches it should just work. Double check your [drive]:\Garmin\GPX folder and delete everything (or rename everything) except the single PQ gpx file in that directory. Restart and see if that fixes it. If not can you email me the PQ through my profile? I'll give it a shot.

 

Here's one more thing to try. When you are viewing the geocache list go to Options->Spell... and spell out the name (or part of the name) of one of the missing geocaches to see if you can find it that way.

 

GO$Rs

 

Perfect! That totally fixed it. I renamed the entire gpx folder to oldgpx (just in case anything should go wrong), made a new gpx folder and copied the pq gpx files over and they were all there. I then just deleted the oldgpx folder.

 

I wonder why that was necessary

 

thanks for your help.

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