Going paperless?

[j2smith]

I am wanting to go paperless and I have a few questions. Is it as easy as everyone says(I am not all that computer savy)? I use GSAK do I use that or in conjunction with cachemate on a PDA.

[+osubrownsfan]

not being very computer savvy myself, i thought it was easy to set up and go paperless. i use GSAK on my computer and have Cachemate on the PDA. the 1st couple of times it was tricky but i got the hang of it now and can download 500 caches into both in less than 5 minutes

[sanramonhunter]

GSAK actually has a export as cachemate option. So you'd just do what you do now and export to your PDA then when that's finished select export to cachemate. It will create a palm database file that will update cachemate on your pda next time you hotsysnc. Couldn't be easier.

[+ventura_kids]

You are almost there already.

If you export your caches into Mapsource from GSAK, just do the same thing.....ie, export them into cachemate (the same way).

You can dump thousands of caches into your pda and use it as your backup (in case the gps fails).

[j2smith]

You are almost there already.

If you export your caches into Mapsource from GSAK, just do the same thing.....ie, export them into cachemate (the same way).

You can dump thousands of caches into your pda and use it as your backup (in case the gps fails).

I have one more question. Can I download the hints and description into cachemate

[sanramonhunter]

 

I have one more question. Can I download the hints and description into cachemate

That's pretty much what you use cachemate for. With a pocket query gpx file output from GSAK you will get the following.

 

Info, Description, Hint, and past 5 logs. Basically everything you see on a cache's webpage will be in cachemate. That's why it's cool. No pictures or graphics from the cache site will be uploaded, just the text.

[+ventura_kids]

...and if for some reason you want more than 5 logs, you can keep dumping queries into gsak, and it will save more logs...although since you only have 7 minutes to hunt for each cache, You will run out of time while reading the pda

[j2smith]

...and if for some reason you want more than 5 logs, you can keep dumping queries into gsak, and it will save more logs...although since you only have 7 minutes to hunt for each cache, You will run out of time while reading the pda

Thanks for all your help now I just need to find a pda that will work for this application. Will a Palm Zire or Palm Zire 72 work well for this?

[+Miragee]

A Palm m500, m515, or Zire 72 will all work just fine. The program you will want to get for the PDA is Cachemate. GSAK is the program you will use on your PC.

[sanramonhunter]

 

Thanks for all your help now I just need to find a pda that will work for this application. Will a Palm Zire or Palm Zire 72 work well for this?

I use an old Palm Vx I got for $20 on ebay. The only downside to this unit is speed of transfer (serial vs. USB) and speed of sorting. I had the Vx for another purpose. If I were buying for cachemate I'd go with the ones Miragee mentioned.

[+SidAndBob]

Cachemate requires Palm 3.0 or later, so pretty much any Palm will do the job.

I often find more than 5 logs very useful. I only read them when I'm really stuck though. Often there's a clue in there somewhere or even alternative coordinates sometimes.

Paperless Palm Guide

[cliff_hanger]

Yet another paperless caching tutorial with lots of details and links

http://ctcachers.com/wiki/index.php?title=Paperless_Caching

[+naviguesser74]

if you get a Palm with BT, you don't even need another GPSr. Use a BT GPSr "puck" like from USGlobalsat and GeoNiche on your Palm. GeoNiche does what CacheMate and a handheld GPS do seamlessly.