Garmin nuvi 200 - easiest way to add geocaches?

[martygng]

I have a eTrex that I have been using for geocaching. I also just purchased a garmin nuvi 200 for my car. I thought that this combination of devices would be very handy for a geocaching road trip. I will be driving 500 miles, stopping to visit several different friends and to geocache with them. What's the easiest way to load caches onto these devices along a route? Should I load one city at a time as I go?

 

Optimally, I'd like to have everything loaded up on my devices and my phone (for paperless) before I hit the road. Any suggestions? (I am a premium subscriber).

 

I'm so excited that spring is here! This will be such a fun trip! Plus, I will be introducing 6 or 7 people to geocaching.

 

Thank you.

[+geognerd]

POI Loader is a nice solution for loading caches onto your nuvi 200 - that's what I do for routing to each cache. You can clear all the caches off the nuvi after the trip with POI Loader from the PC instead of having to manually delete each cache on the GPSr, which is what you'd have to do if each cache was loaded into Favorites.

 

What kind of phone do you have and what operating system does it use? That determine which program you can use to load cache descriptions.

[+ditchmedic]

Hey thnx geognerd,

I'll have to try that. I loaded all my caches once on a trip from NC to FL onto my nuvi. Everytime I'd go into the POI folder on Computer (when nuvi was hooked to computer); i'd see all the caches. I'd mass delete them, but when ever I disconnected my nuvi and powered it up there they were. So frustrating. I had to manually delete each one from the nuvi, talk about a head ache. Oh well, next time i'll try that program.

[+Miragee]

If you use GSAK, you can use the "smart name" codes to get a more useful Waypoint name for the caches you send to the Nuvi with the POI Loader. For the .gpx Export, I use this code for the Name: %smart=9 %con1%typ1%dif1%ter1 and this code for the Description: %By %Hint %Code That gives me the name of the cache, the Size, the Type, the Difficulty, the Terrain, then the Cache Owner's name, the Hint, and finally the GC code, should I need that.

 

Depending on your phone, you might be able to use Cachemate. I use Cachemate on my Palm m515, but there is another version for PPC.

[+Jeff60523]

I'm using a Nuvi as well (it is my only GPSr and as such, I don't know what I'm missing with other devices That hasn't stopped me from finding caches although it has made a few with elevation clues a star or two more challenging). My phone is a Treo 700P. My current configuration is EasyGPS to handle the .gpx files and CacheMate to go paperless. It is a bit clunky and I haven't worked the process enough times to be proficient at it but the KEY FOR ME and my NUVI...

 

...is to get the gpx file looking right in EasyGPS (sometimes I have to change a few icons from flags to caches) and then I import the file named "current" from the Nuvi and merge it with the new gpx file I want to add. I save that file and then delete "current" from the Nuvi using file manager, rename the new file "current" and boom, there are all my shiny new treasure chests right on my Nuvi!

 

I'd be happy to hear from others on a smoother way to do this.

 

Good luck,

Jeff60523