Waypoints & Names with EasyGPS

[+NDOkie]

I am attempting to move into the paperless phase of geocaching. When I load the GPS (Garmin 60 Csx) from EasyGPS, I get abbreviated waypoint descriptions instead of the usual GCxxxx names to which I have become accustomed. These would be easier to search out on the Palm rather than a jumble of abbreviations (I think so anyway). Is there any way to get EasyGPS to populate in the manner I am accustomed when downloading one by one from geocaching.com?

Thanks, in advance.

[+Miragee]

Since you are a Premium Member, you can get Pocket Queries, as well as getting the .gpx files from the individual cache pages. Then, you'll have 500, or more, caches to load into your GPSr.

 

With that much data, you might find that GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) works better than EasyGPS, and if you use GSAK, you can get a truly-useful waypoint name, and get the hint on your GPSr, by using the "smart name" codes.

 

This is the code I use for the Waypoint name on my Vista HCx: %smart=9 %con1%typ1%dif1%ter1

 

The information included is part of the Name, the Size of the container, the Type of cache (Traditional, Multi, Virtual, Puzzle), the Difficulty and Terrain (based on a 10-point scale). To get part of the hint, I use this code in the Waypoint Description blank of the "Send To GPS" dialogue box:

 

%Name=10 %hint

 

Since you have an 'x' GPSr, you can also use Garmin's POI loader to put even more information on your GPS by Exporting .gpx files from GSAK. The code I use for that .gpx Export includes the GC code, although I don't use that code myself, however others I cache with occasionally do use it for reference.

 

I Export the .pdb file for Cachemate from GSAK. For that Export I use the same "smart name" code as that for the Waypoint so finding the caches on my Palml is easy by looking by either waypoint, or name.

[+NDOkie]

thanks for the reply.

I reloaded the EasyGPS application and the waypoint name reverted to the format I expected. Don't know how or why this happened.

Again, thanks.

[+clevek]

concerning gsak and your above advice: This is the code I use for the Waypoint name on my Vista HCx: %smart=9 %con1%typ1%dif1%ter1

 

The information included is part of the Name, the Size of the container, the Type of cache (Traditional, Multi, Virtual, Puzzle), the Difficulty and Terrain (based on a 10-point scale). To get part of the hint, I use this code in the Waypoint Description blank of the "Send To GPS" dialogue box:

 

%Name=10 %hint

 

I do not see how or where to put this code you mention on the gsak page when looking at my stored way points. Can you please elaborate?

[+Miragee]

When you bring up the "Send to GPS" dialogue box, that code goes in the Waypoint Name blank. The Hint code goes into the blank for "Waypoint description format (Comments)".

 

For the POIs, you get more characters, so I use a different code for the Cache Description: %By %Hint %Code

 

That gives me the cache owner's name, the hint, and if there are any characters left, the GC code.

[+Quiggle]

Moving to GPS/Software forum.

[+the hermit crabs]

I am attempting to move into the paperless phase of geocaching. When I load the GPS (Garmin 60 Csx) from EasyGPS, I get abbreviated waypoint descriptions instead of the usual GCxxxx names to which I have become accustomed. These would be easier to search out on the Palm rather than a jumble of abbreviations (I think so anyway). Is there any way to get EasyGPS to populate in the manner I am accustomed when downloading one by one from geocaching.com?

Thanks, in advance.

I reloaded the EasyGPS application and the waypoint name reverted to the format I expected. Don't know how or why this happened.

In EasyGPS, the cache name can be downloaded as either the GCXXXX name or the text name (or an abbreviated version of it, if the name is long).

 

The way to choose between them is: Edit -> Preferences -> Geocaching... -> Waypoint, and then select either "Geocache Name" or "Geocache ID (GCXXXX)".

 

Maybe at some point you inadvertently switched from one option to the other, changing the format.

Edited March 20, 2008 by the hermit crabs