Paperless maps

[+The Auclair Family]

I am just about to begin to go paperless but i don't know what to do about my maps. what do most people do? do they put all the caches into their pda or ppc and then just print off a couple maps that show all caches? this way you will at least reduce the paper you are carrying with you. I really am not sure but i use an etrex H so i don't have to option to use city navigator or anything.

[+briansnat]

Since you have an eTrex H, I can't help you.

 

That's why I use a mapping GPS. All the caches are right on the screen for me with roads (City Navigator) and terrain features (Topo). I'd be willing to bet that's what most paperless geocachers use.

 

I know some people who run Streets and Trips or similar apps on their laptop, but the idea of carting around a laptop for geocaching is not appealing to me.

Edited February 27, 2008 by briansnat

[+StarBrand]

Sometimes much of the fun of Geocaching is plunging down unknown roads following the arrow on the GPS to see if you can get near enough to the cache to get out and go for it. My wife and I found over 500 using that method.

[+SLO Trekker]

That's why I use a mapping GPS. All the caches are right on the screen for me with roads (City Navigator) and terrain features (Topo). I'd be willing to bet that's what most paperless geocachers use.

 

Ditto that. I have a Garmin 60CS with both city and topo maps, and it has worked great so far. I do wish my vehicle had an in-dash GPS navigation system as well for navigating between caches.

[+JohnnyVegas]

I run Pocket Streets and trips in my pocket PC, But I also have a mapping GPS.

I find the maps in the pocket pc a little easier to use compared to the maps in my gps if I am trying to look at a large area, if I am looking at a small area I use the maps in the GPS.

 

As Brian pointed out, you do not have a lot of options, you will need a Pocket PC, PDA or a Lap Top.

If you have a Pocket PC or a PDA you could buy software to will allow you to load maps in it that will include the caches.

 

Or you could by another GPS that will display maps

[+Arndtwe]

If you're looking for mapping software for your PDA then I would highly suggest "EarthComber". It's completely free and runs on most any PDA (Palm, Windows mobile, Linux...). And a plus, if you buy a cable that can connect your GPS to your PDA, then you can get real-time on the maps through your PDA. You can also load GPX files into EarthComber, allowing you to see where they are on a very detailed map.

[+Too Tall John]

Sometimes much of the fun of Geocaching is plunging down unknown roads following the arrow on the GPS to see if you can get near enough to the cache to get out and go for it. My wife and I found over 500 using that method.

While I agree this method is a fun way to explore, I've found that since I got my Legend HCx and the mapping software to go along with it, my gas bill has gone down significantly and my ability to find more caches per day has gone up.

 

Now if only the weather would cooperate...

 

To the OP: Short of buying a new GPSr, your best bet is mapping software for your PDA or, as you suggested, printing off the maps with the caches on it.

 

I must admit, there is something nice about being able to hold a map in your hands, although an electronic map (on either GPSr or PDA) is much more dynamic.

 

You could, of course, do what my wife and I did on our first caches, and what some do exclusively: Leave the GPSr at home.

 

Edit to add:The etrex H has a serial connection. With the proper cables and PDA applications, you can hook your GPSr to your PDA and do the mapping bit on your PDA.

 

I think...

Edited February 27, 2008 by Too Tall John

[+The Auclair Family]

I have a palm IIIxe and a Handpring visor both have 8mb of memory. do youthink this just one of the pda will run this earthcomber plus cachemate? Where can i earthcomber and do you use or know how well it works?

[+The Auclair Family]

I have a palm IIIxe and a Handpring visor both have 8mb of memory. do you think just one of the pdas will run this earthcomber plus cachemate? Where can i earthcomber and do you use or know how well it works? I guess otherwise i could just carry both and use one for caches and one for maps since once i get out of the car a person would only need one? On the other hand one could use a tomtom or something for driving between caches if you can enter coordinates into it somehow.

Edited February 27, 2008 by The Auclair Family

[+Arndtwe]

I have a palm IIIxe and a Handpring visor both have 8mb of memory. do youthink this just one of the pda will run this earthcomber plus cachemate? Where can i earthcomber and do you use or know how well it works?

Depending on how many counties you load from EarthComber it could take 2 Mb or all 8! It depends on where you live, that will determine how much detail is needed on the maps. If it is like where I live (out in the middle of no-where) then maps will take up very little memory.

 

CacheMate I have no clue how much memory it takes. Not very much. Chances are that you can run both CacheMate and Earthcomber on one. Earthcomber can be found on EarthComber.com. (<--- link) It is completely free.

 

Do either of your PDA's take memory SD cards? If you, then you can hold both programs for sure!

 

P.S. I do use EarthComber and am VERY pleased with it!

Edited February 27, 2008 by Arndtwe

[+The Auclair Family]

No, niether take sd cards, but i wish they did. I want to buy a new pda but i work construction and so i have no use for it at work or home for that matter and i just could not see spending much money on one if i am just going to take it out into the woods, but i will check it out thanks a lot.

[+Arndtwe]

No, niether take sd cards, but i wish they did. I want to buy a new pda but i work construction and so i have no use for it at work or home for that matter and i just could not see spending much money on one if i am just going to take it out into the woods, but i will check it out thanks a lot.

Ah-ha! CacheMate takes up a mere (approximately) 250 Kb. If you don't load to many EarthComber counties (or they don't take up much memory) then you should be able to hold both programs easily.

[+The Auclair Family]

awesome i just downloaded earthcomber and the 3 counties i choose maybe take up about 2mb!! do you know how to send caches to earthcomber?

[+Too Tall John]

No, niether take sd cards, but i wish they did. I want to buy a new pda but i work construction and so i have no use for it at work or home for that matter and i just could not see spending much money on one if i am just going to take it out into the woods, but i will check it out thanks a lot.

I had a Handspring and a memory expansion module for it. If memory becomes a problem, one of these would be a cheap way to add some. I might even still have it floating around somewhere...

 

Edit:Whoops.. Not a problem! Less than 3 megs total! Sweet!

Edited February 27, 2008 by Too Tall John

[+The Auclair Family]

No, niether take sd cards, but i wish they did. I want to buy a new pda but i work construction and so i have no use for it at work or home for that matter and i just could not see spending much money on one if i am just going to take it out into the woods, but i will check it out thanks a lot.

I had a Handspring and a memory expansion module for it. If memory becomes a problem, one of these would be a cheap way to add some. I might even still have it floating around somewhere...

if you have it laying around and granted they are all the same let me know if you want to get rid of it

[+Too Tall John]

No, niether take sd cards, but i wish they did. I want to buy a new pda but i work construction and so i have no use for it at work or home for that matter and i just could not see spending much money on one if i am just going to take it out into the woods, but i will check it out thanks a lot.

I had a Handspring and a memory expansion module for it. If memory becomes a problem, one of these would be a cheap way to add some. I might even still have it floating around somewhere...

if you have it laying around and granted they are all the same let me know if you want to get rid of it

Since the topic came up, and I just bought on eBay the GPSr module for the Handspring ($11 including shipping!) I decided I better try and dig the thing out. I found it.

 

The module has only 2 mb of memory, and comes with a vibrating alarm. Interesting combo...

 

You can read about it here.

 

Oh, and the GPS mod? Even back in it's day it had poor reception, according to reviews. I saw it, knew I had the Visor that it'll work with, and was curious what I could make it do. Maybe someone'll develop a Palm-based Wherigo reader and I'll be in for cheap... My point is, I wouldn't recommend caching with it on a regular basis. When I get it & find differently, I'll let ya know...

 

So, looks like I'll have 2 mods and only one slot to put them in. If you're interested in 2 mb, PM me. Honestly not sure it'll be worth the cost of shipping, but I guess if you need it, then it is, eh?

[+The Auclair Family]

I have a palm IIIxe and a Handpring visor both have 8mb of memory. do youthink this just one of the pda will run this earthcomber plus cachemate? Where can i earthcomber and do you use or know how well it works?

Depending on how many counties you load from EarthComber it could take 2 Mb or all 8! It depends on where you live, that will determine how much detail is needed on the maps. If it is like where I live (out in the middle of no-where) then maps will take up very little memory.

 

CacheMate I have no clue how much memory it takes. Not very much. Chances are that you can run both CacheMate and Earthcomber on one. Earthcomber can be found on EarthComber.com. (<--- link) It is completely free.

 

Do either of your PDA's take memory SD cards? If you, then you can hold both programs for sure!

 

P.S. I do use EarthComber and am VERY pleased with it!

do you know how to send caches to Earthcomber? or could you look at google maps and see what cross street the cache is by then go into earthcomber and set a POI at that particular intersection?

[+Arndtwe]

I have a palm IIIxe and a Handpring visor both have 8mb of memory. do youthink this just one of the pda will run this earthcomber plus cachemate? Where can i earthcomber and do you use or know how well it works?

Depending on how many counties you load from EarthComber it could take 2 Mb or all 8! It depends on where you live, that will determine how much detail is needed on the maps. If it is like where I live (out in the middle of no-where) then maps will take up very little memory.

 

CacheMate I have no clue how much memory it takes. Not very much. Chances are that you can run both CacheMate and Earthcomber on one. Earthcomber can be found on EarthComber.com. (<--- link) It is completely free.

 

Do either of your PDA's take memory SD cards? If you, then you can hold both programs for sure!

 

P.S. I do use EarthComber and am VERY pleased with it!

do you know how to send caches to Earthcomber? or could you look at google maps and see what cross street the cache is by then go into earthcomber and set a POI at that particular intersection?

It is kinda of tricky on how to put them in. On the EarthComber website there are different groups that people can start. One of those groups is called something like "Geocaching" (duh). In there it tells how to do it. If you get stuck, just ask in here and I'll help you through it. It's kinda complicated so take your time.

[+Arndtwe]

Just to add a link (<--- link).

[+Barbarnero]

ok I have figured out everything except how to get locations from a group into a look list so that i can download it to my PDA. could anyone help please

[+Arndtwe]

ok I have figured out everything except how to get locations from a group into a look list so that i can download it to my PDA. could anyone help please

Ok, wellas you know, you have to load the GPX file through the "updater" icon on your desktop. Once you have done this, do back to the group (not the homepage of Earthcomber) and on the right hand side, there is a "dashboard". One of the links says "inbox". Go there and select "check all". From here I can't remember if you click "move to groups" or "copy to groups". Both will probably work, but I would test both just to make sure.

[+theosus]

I have a palm IIIxe and a Handpring visor both have 8mb of memory. do youthink this just one of the pda will run this earthcomber plus cachemate? Where can i earthcomber and do you use or know how well it works?

Depending on how many counties you load from EarthComber it could take 2 Mb or all 8! It depends on where you live, that will determine how much detail is needed on the maps. If it is like where I live (out in the middle of no-where) then maps will take up very little memory.

 

CacheMate I have no clue how much memory it takes. Not very much. Chances are that you can run both CacheMate and Earthcomber on one. Earthcomber can be found on EarthComber.com. (<--- link) It is completely free.

 

Do either of your PDA's take memory SD cards? If you, then you can hold both programs for sure!

 

P.S. I do use EarthComber and am VERY pleased with it!

do you know how to send caches to Earthcomber? or could you look at google maps and see what cross street the cache is by then go into earthcomber and set a POI at that particular intersection?

It is kinda of tricky on how to put them in. On the EarthComber website there are different groups that people can start. One of those groups is called something like "Geocaching" (duh). In there it tells how to do it. If you get stuck, just ask in here and I'll help you through it. It's kinda complicated so take your time.

 

Here's what I did to solve the Earthcomber/Caching dilemma: Load the caches into your GPS. I usually keep the area I live in always loaded on my GPS. I can hold about 1/3 of my state on my SportTrack.

Otherwise, I load counties I'll be travelling through onto my Tungsten e2's memory card. It can take up to a 1GB card.

I plug my GPS into my PDA, and once I'm out of my home area, I can still use the earthcomber moving maps to drive around, etc. But I can unplug it and swtich to the GPS only when I get close enough to the cache that its time to get out of the car.

That way you can leave that expensive PDA in the trunk, in your pocket, or shoved under the seat where it wont get hurt.

The nicest thing about earthcomber is that its free...

[+Barbarnero]

ok I have figured out everything except how to get locations from a group into a look list so that i can download it to my PDA. could anyone help please

Ok, wellas you know, you have to load the GPX file through the "updater" icon on your desktop. Once you have done this, do back to the group (not the homepage of Earthcomber) and on the right hand side, there is a "dashboard". One of the links says "inbox". Go there and select "check all". From here I can't remember if you click "move to groups" or "copy to groups". Both will probably work, but I would test both just to make sure.

I did all that and now that is where I am left stuck

[+Barbarnero]

ok I have figured out everything except how to get locations from a group into a look list so that i can download it to my PDA. could anyone help please

Ok, wellas you know, you have to load the GPX file through the "updater" icon on your desktop. Once you have done this, do back to the group (not the homepage of Earthcomber) and on the right hand side, there is a "dashboard". One of the links says "inbox". Go there and select "check all". From here I can't remember if you click "move to groups" or "copy to groups". Both will probably work, but I would test both just to make sure.

I did all that and now that is where I am left stuck

opp nevermind i figured it out i had to go to the look lists on the pda. none of this is intuitive though

[+Arndtwe]

ok I have figured out everything except how to get locations from a group into a look list so that i can download it to my PDA. could anyone help please

Ok, wellas you know, you have to load the GPX file through the "updater" icon on your desktop. Once you have done this, do back to the group (not the homepage of Earthcomber) and on the right hand side, there is a "dashboard". One of the links says "inbox". Go there and select "check all". From here I can't remember if you click "move to groups" or "copy to groups". Both will probably work, but I would test both just to make sure.

I did all that and now that is where I am left stuck

opp nevermind i figured it out i had to go to the look lists on the pda. none of this is intuitive though

That's the one thing I don't like about EarthComber.... It only displays a green dot for all geocaches. Not even a treasure box! In fact, I don't even use EarthComber for loading caches in, Just detailed maps and such.