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Garmin Nuvi - True Paperless Geocaching


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Hi! I saw a reference to your tutorial on a GC forum thread. My wife got a Nuvi 200 for her car. I generally use my eXplorist 500 for both street and geocaching but now I want to set up the Nuvi for geocaching too!

Thanks for all the work you put into this! This is one of the most clearly written computer or geocaching tutorials I have ever seen!

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Updated Macro Released, v1.1

 

Just releasing a small update to my script to fix a couple of items. This will probably be the last one for a while, unless it introduces a major bug. Fingers crossed.

 

New/fix features.

  • Nuvi 6xx series confirmed working as designed.
  • Nuvi 2xx Wide Screen option added for Nuvi models.
  • Nuvi 2xx & 2xxWide series can now take over 11,000 characters!!
  • New option on form to allow you to switch hint location easily.
  • Advanced Users:
  • Ability to change max number of logs added to the cache info.
  • Ability to edit the waypoint name easily - instead of multiple places as before.
  • All advanced features need the ability of editing the macro, if you don't know what that means...don't try!

 

http://pilotsnipes.googlepages.com/downloads.html

 

Absolutely fantastic (no, not the TV show either)! It's like Christmas in May! Thanks again for your efforts on creating & updating this script.

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Did the new script resolve the tourguide alert feature issue for the Nuvi 7xx series - or does this require a fix from the wonderful folks at Garmin?

 

No it's a Garmin problem with the firmware for the Nuvi 7xx. The more people who complain the faster it might be solved.

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All is well - now! Upgraded nuvi 660 firmware to 4.40, POI Loader to 2.5.2.0 and new script. Now everything seems to be right! Not sure which upgrade did the trick as I did all three before testing (bad troubleshooting practice, I know). Now just need to test with a larger file and then field test.

 

P.S. Don't trust the POI Loader program to detect new software version availability - go directly to Garmin and look there. The "Check for Software Updates" in the Loader did not detect that I had an older version.

 

I was also having some trouble with the display on the 660 and had the POI ver2.5.2.0 and 660 Firmware ver 3.5. I uploaded ver 4.40 and it fixed my problem so that was the problem.

 

I also changed one line in the code to

 

$waypointnamewidescreen = "%ShortName=14 %typ1%con1 %dif1a%ter1a %last4 %datelf"

 

to this to match my 60CSx display for my personal needs. On the 60CSx I used %Smart=7 in place of %ShortName=14 due to screen size but the 660 does not like this so I switched to %ShortName=14 and it works well.

 

It still seems to cut off (lose one line of display) when you select the next page after the cache page is being displayed.

 

My experience using the 660 battery that it's life is not too long and I will probably not take it in the field with me but read it prior to leaving the vehicle.

 

My hats off to PS for a great job.

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No it's a Garmin problem with the firmware for the Nuvi 7xx. The more people who complain the faster it might be solved.

 

Ok - I can do that. How is the issue best communicated to them? Something like:

 

When creating a tour guide, custom alert values don't work? (or do you have a better way to present the issue??)

Edited by MassCache
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PilotSnipes thanks for all your work!! I have been using the macro for the past couple of weeks and it works great with my Nuvi 350. I love the proximity alerts.

 

Since I have young kids, when we go out as a family, I am only interested in caches with easy difficulty and terrain. I like to have others on the Nuvi for when I go out without kids.

 

I made the following change to the V1.2 macro to have it display the difficulty and terrain encoding into the waypoint name.

 

From:

$waypointnamesmallscreen = "%ShortName=7/%typ=3/%found/%code%bug=* "

$waypointnamewidescreen = "%ShortName=14/%typ=3/%found/%code%bug=* "

 

To:

$waypointnamesmallscreen = "%ShortName=7/%typ=3/%found/D%dif1/T%ter1/%code%bug=* "

$waypointnamewidescreen = "%ShortName=14/%typ=3/%found/D%dif1/T%ter1/%code%bug=* "

 

I used the %dif1 and %ter1 to encode the difficulty and terrain as 1 digit with 1 = 1, 1.5 = 2, 2 = 3, 2.5 = 4, etc.

 

This works well on my Nuvi 350. The GCxxxx typically will get cut off the screen when selecting "Custom POIs", but it is there when you display the details.

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Pilotsnipes ... I kneel before you and wish to pay homage. You rock!

 

I had been hunting around to see how this could be done and was beginning to realize this was NOT a 'for dummies' exercise. Then I stumbled upon your site.

 

Your documentation on how to duct-tape the elements of this solution together and elegant macro are outstanding. Worked like a charm.

 

many thanks for the 100's of hours you put into this, so that I don't have to

 

paul

 

PS: Only regret... my 200W won't do tourguide... I just wanted to experience the 'ding ding ding' just once :D

 

PPS: Could geocaching.com hire you to design the solution so that it you can do all this directly from their 'pocket query' page instead!

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Added travel bug description before logs with the following

 

# Lets set up the nice colour cache information section

 

$cacheinfo = "<font color=red>" + $d_Name + " by " + $d_OwnerName + ",</font><br><font color=#008000>%typ=3/%con=3/%last4/Tb:%bug, (D:%Dif/T:%Ter)</font><br><font color=blue>Pl:%datepl, LF:%datelf</font><br><font color=orange>%lat=M, %lon=M</font><br><br>"

#JS-------added 5.29.8-----------------------

IF $d_HasTravelBug

$d_TravelBugs = RegExReplace("&",$d_TravelBugs,"and")

$cacheinfo = $cacheinfo + "<font color=#FF00FF>**Travel Bug**$d_TravelBugs</font><br><br>"

ENDIF

#JS--------end 5.29.8-------------------------

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pilotsnipes,

 

Thanks for the macro. I have it working perfect on a 200W. I can only see 52 caches tho. I would like to see all 500.... Am I missing something? I have a SD card (1 gig) in the slot. I did not see anywhere to save data to that card. Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

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Odd... Nuvi200W, most recent version of the macro, recommended version of POILoader. GSAK 7.22.19. And I don't get the More button... only the first screen.

 

I have been working on this tonight and had the same problem with no 'more' button appearing. I upgraded to the latest POI loader version and it now works great. I have the 200W.

 

Rob

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Odd... Nuvi200W, most recent version of the macro, recommended version of POILoader. GSAK 7.22.19. And I don't get the More button... only the first screen.

 

I have been working on this tonight and had the same problem with no 'more' button appearing. I upgraded to the latest POI loader version and it now works great. I have the 200W.

 

Rob

 

I was using the POILoader version 2.4.2.0 that is recommended and linked on Pilotsnipes web page, but just tried again using the newest version on Garmin's site. Still no "More" button.

 

I admit that I haven't read all recent entries here so the answer may be right here... I'll have to take the time to do that.

 

PS: There were 82 waypoints in my export, if that matters. Upgraded my Nuvi firmware and chipset a couple weeks ago.

Edited by knowschad
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WOW!!! Where do I begin? A HUGE THANKS to Pilotsnipe for everything related to paperless geocaching! This is AWESOME! Now,if I could just get mine to work!

 

I got my Nuvi 650 for Christmas and had never heard of geocaching! When I finally registered my unit at Garmin in February, I found the link to Groundspeak/geocaching...the rest is history!

 

I attented an event on May 10th and heard a rumor that paperless geocaching is possible if you have a Nuvi so I have been following this thread. I've attempted to set up my Nuvi for the paperless caching but I'm not getting the same results everyone else is getting. I'm assuming it's operator error, but I'm not sure. If there's anyone who can help, I'd surely appreciate it.

Here's my problem:[/b]

 

Once I've loaded the Nuvi, the custom POI's has 3 lines: "all categories", my PQ#, my PQ#-wpts. Once I select my PQ#, it shows the cache numbers, then once I select a specific one, the screen shows the cache number, name, who placed it, the type of cache and the difficultly/terrain. The "more" button is not available so I'm not able to see hints, logs, etc. If I select my PQ#-wpts, it provides the parking coordinates and nothing more, however the "more" button is available. When selected, it just shows the same information on the screen only smaller. Any ideas, hints, or suggestions?

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Here's the things that seemed to trip me up before I got it to work correctly:

 

1. Make sure where you exported the file. When "playing" at this, it's easy to put exports in various subfolders and then forget to update the macro or the POI Loader.

 

2. Update your firmware on the nuvi. Check at Garmin to see what is the latest version. Don't rely on the Webupdater to do it.

 

3. Update your POI Loader (should be ver. 2.5.2.0). Again, check at Garmin. Don't rely on the WebUpdater here either - mine missed the update and said I was good to go - but there was an updated version at Garmin.

 

4. Don't speed through the macro or POI Loader even if you've done it so many times (like I did before it worked - heck, I knew what each screen said). Watch to make sure you have the right subfolder quoted in both and that you have selected the 6xx version in the macro - in your case). If you download a new version of the macro, it will be defaulted to the 2xx version again even though you reset it previously).

 

Hope this helps.....

Edited by Cache O'Plenty
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Here's the things that seemed to trip me up before I got it to work correctly:

 

1. Make sure where you exported the file. When "playing" at this, it's easy to put exports in various subfolders and then forget to update the macro or the POI Loader.

 

2. Update your firmware on the nuvi. Check at Garmin to see what is the latest version. Don't rely on the Webupdater to do it.

 

3. Update your POI Loader (should be ver. 2.5.2.0). Again, check at Garmin. Don't rely on the WebUpdater here either - mine missed the update and said I was good to go - but there was an updated version at Garmin.

 

4. Don't speed through the macro or POI Loader even if you've done it so many times (like I did before it worked - heck, I knew what each screen said). Watch to make sure you have the right subfolder quoted in both and that you have selected the 6xx version in the macro - in your case). If you download a new version of the macro, it will be defaulted to the 2xx version again even though you reset it previously).

 

Hope this helps.....

 

I am reasonably certain (although I'm at work & cannot verify at this time) that I was OK on those four points, but one thing that I'm wondering about... I had selected the Alert Feature, and the macro disabled it because I'm using a Nuvi200w. I proceeded with the process after getting the message that it has automatically disabled that feature for me, but I'm wondering now if that may be what is causing the problem with lack of a "More" button. That's the first thing that I will be checking when I get home tonight.

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Here's the things that seemed to trip me up before I got it to work correctly:

 

1. Make sure where you exported the file. When "playing" at this, it's easy to put exports in various subfolders and then forget to update the macro or the POI Loader.

 

2. Update your firmware on the nuvi. Check at Garmin to see what is the latest version. Don't rely on the Webupdater to do it.

 

3. Update your POI Loader (should be ver. 2.5.2.0). Again, check at Garmin. Don't rely on the WebUpdater here either - mine missed the update and said I was good to go - but there was an updated version at Garmin.

 

4. Don't speed through the macro or POI Loader even if you've done it so many times (like I did before it worked - heck, I knew what each screen said). Watch to make sure you have the right subfolder quoted in both and that you have selected the 6xx version in the macro - in your case). If you download a new version of the macro, it will be defaulted to the 2xx version again even though you reset it previously).

 

Hope this helps.....

 

I am reasonably certain (although I'm at work & cannot verify at this time) that I was OK on those four points, but one thing that I'm wondering about... I had selected the Alert Feature, and the macro disabled it because I'm using a Nuvi200w. I proceeded with the process after getting the message that it has automatically disabled that feature for me, but I'm wondering now if that may be what is causing the problem with lack of a "More" button. That's the first thing that I will be checking when I get home tonight.

 

It seems the "More" button occurs when the "splash" page exceeds a certain number of characters (like a long cache title) OR the "description, hints, logs, etc." are present. They seem to be extensions of the "splash" page info. It seems you are not generating the description portion of the output.

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It seems the "More" button occurs when the "splash" page exceeds a certain number of characters (like a long cache title) OR the "description, hints, logs, etc." are present. They seem to be extensions of the "splash" page info. It seems you are not generating the description portion of the output.

 

I have had the macro working in the past (although I did have the occasional lockup problem). You are right that the More button is only present when there really IS more to view. I should also take a look at the XML and see if the data is even being generated.

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Are you trying to use POILoader to send caches to your Nuvi?

 

If so, go back and read the tutorial again, NUVI 3XX users cannot do this at the moment, perhaps sometime in the future we will be able too...

 

There is a special section in the tutorial for 3xx users.

 

My 350 also only accepts 50 POI's while using the Garmin POI loader. I have searched this thread and tutorial for the special section for the 3xx users, and can not find it.

 

Can anyone help? Thank you...

 

And THANK YOU pilotsnipes and everyone else contributing to this excellent solution for paperless caching !!

 

- Kurt T

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No "More" Button

 

Cache O'Plenty had it right. While I had downloaded the new POI Loader, before I did so, I renamed my current version. The shortcut that I was using to load it also corrected itself to the new name. This was in a c:\garmin folder. Meanwhile, Garmin's installer installed the new one into c:\program files\garmin.

 

Bottom line is, I was still running the older version. Works now, and I love it!

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Are you trying to use POILoader to send caches to your Nuvi?

 

If so, go back and read the tutorial again, NUVI 3XX users cannot do this at the moment, perhaps sometime in the future we will be able too...

 

There is a special section in the tutorial for 3xx users.

 

My 350 also only accepts 50 POI's while using the Garmin POI loader. I have searched this thread and tutorial for the special section for the 3xx users, and can not find it.

 

Can anyone help? Thank you...

 

And THANK YOU pilotsnipes and everyone else contributing to this excellent solution for paperless caching !!

 

- Kurt T

 

According to earlier posts your 350 should be working. How are you determining 50 waypoints are being loaded?

 

Macro message?

POI Loader message?

 

The macro will load based on the active GSAK filter. In GSAK to load all the waypoints "Select a saved filter" should be set to "NONE"

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I hope I am putting this in the right place.

I went thru the new tutorial last night and this morn when I turned my nuvi on and selected extras then custom Poi's, there were three lists I had not seen before, 1 All Categories 2 Geocache TourGuide and 3 Geocaches. I am using a nuvi 260W.

 

The All Caches list contained caches that I had previously deleted in GSAK prior to loading my nuvi AND caches that I kept but are displayed with lat/log data and cache id Gcxx.

 

The Geocache TourGuide list displayed caches I had saved in GSAK but also had lat/log data and cache id Gcxx.

 

The Geocaches list displayed caches that I had previously deleted in my gsak lists.

 

Is this normal or as is probably the case, did I do/miss something or wrong?

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I hope I am putting this in the right place.

I went thru the new tutorial last night and this morn when I turned my nuvi on and selected extras then custom Poi's, there were three lists I had not seen before, 1 All Categories 2 Geocache TourGuide and 3 Geocaches. I am using a nuvi 260W.

 

The All Caches list contained caches that I had previously deleted in GSAK prior to loading my nuvi AND caches that I kept but are displayed with lat/log data and cache id Gcxx.

 

The Geocache TourGuide list displayed caches I had saved in GSAK but also had lat/log data and cache id Gcxx.

 

The Geocaches list displayed caches that I had previously deleted in my gsak lists.

 

Is this normal or as is probably the case, did I do/miss something or wrong?

 

Look at the folder where you point the POI Loader to. You have multiple files and/or subfolders.

You will find a file named Geocache Tourguide.gpx (thanks to pilotsnipes) and a file named Geocaches.gpx (something you created previously). Delete Geocaches.gpx and rerun POI Loader.

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Are you trying to use POILoader to send caches to your Nuvi?

 

If so, go back and read the tutorial again, NUVI 3XX users cannot do this at the moment, perhaps sometime in the future we will be able too...

 

There is a special section in the tutorial for 3xx users.

 

My 350 also only accepts 50 POI's while using the Garmin POI loader. I have searched this thread and tutorial for the special section for the 3xx users, and can not find it.

 

Can anyone help? Thank you...

 

And THANK YOU pilotsnipes and everyone else contributing to this excellent solution for paperless caching !!

 

- Kurt T

 

According to earlier posts your 350 should be working. How are you determining 50 waypoints are being loaded?

 

Macro message?

POI Loader message?

 

The macro will load based on the active GSAK filter. In GSAK to load all the waypoints "Select a saved filter" should be set to "NONE"

 

yep, 'select a saved filter' is set to 'none' in gsak. The macro and poi loader both confirmed 239 poi's being succesful. On my 350, under 'custom poi's', there are only 50 poi's loaded up. you search by scrolling with the down arrow. The POI's stop @ the 50th one.

 

In posts between jws2go & pilotsnipes it looks like there might of been a tutorial on converting files to a .gpi extension ??? and then copying and pasting them into the POI folder on the 350 ??? I cant find anything on that.

 

thanks for the help ...

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Are you trying to use POILoader to send caches to your Nuvi?

 

If so, go back and read the tutorial again, NUVI 3XX users cannot do this at the moment, perhaps sometime in the future we will be able too...

 

There is a special section in the tutorial for 3xx users.

 

My 350 also only accepts 50 POI's while using the Garmin POI loader. I have searched this thread and tutorial for the special section for the 3xx users, and can not find it.

 

Can anyone help? Thank you...

 

And THANK YOU pilotsnipes and everyone else contributing to this excellent solution for paperless caching !!

 

- Kurt T

 

According to earlier posts your 350 should be working. How are you determining 50 waypoints are being loaded?

 

Macro message?

POI Loader message?

 

The macro will load based on the active GSAK filter. In GSAK to load all the waypoints "Select a saved filter" should be set to "NONE"

 

yep, 'select a saved filter' is set to 'none' in gsak. The macro and poi loader both confirmed 239 poi's being succesful. On my 350, under 'custom poi's', there are only 50 poi's loaded up. you search by scrolling with the down arrow. The POI's stop @ the 50th one.

 

In posts between jws2go & pilotsnipes it looks like there might of been a tutorial on converting files to a .gpi extension ??? and then copying and pasting them into the POI folder on the 350 ??? I cant find anything on that.

 

thanks for the help ...

The Nuvi only displays the closest 50 or so. Press "spell" and search for one of the missing ones. It'll be there. Or put your Nuvi in simulation mode and set your loc 100 mi away, you'll see a different 50. Have fun!

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Are you trying to use POILoader to send caches to your Nuvi?

 

If so, go back and read the tutorial again, NUVI 3XX users cannot do this at the moment, perhaps sometime in the future we will be able too...

 

There is a special section in the tutorial for 3xx users.

 

My 350 also only accepts 50 POI's while using the Garmin POI loader. I have searched this thread and tutorial for the special section for the 3xx users, and can not find it.

 

Can anyone help? Thank you...

 

And THANK YOU pilotsnipes and everyone else contributing to this excellent solution for paperless caching !!

 

- Kurt T

 

According to earlier posts your 350 should be working. How are you determining 50 waypoints are being loaded?

 

Macro message?

POI Loader message?

 

The macro will load based on the active GSAK filter. In GSAK to load all the waypoints "Select a saved filter" should be set to "NONE"

 

yep, 'select a saved filter' is set to 'none' in gsak. The macro and poi loader both confirmed 239 poi's being succesful. On my 350, under 'custom poi's', there are only 50 poi's loaded up. you search by scrolling with the down arrow. The POI's stop @ the 50th one.

 

In posts between jws2go & pilotsnipes it looks like there might of been a tutorial on converting files to a .gpi extension ??? and then copying and pasting them into the POI folder on the 350 ??? I cant find anything on that.

 

thanks for the help ...

The Nuvi only displays the closest 50 or so. Press "spell" and search for one of the missing ones. It'll be there. Or put your Nuvi in simulation mode and set your loc 100 mi away, you'll see a different 50. Have fun!

 

Ta-Daaaa ask, and ye shall recieve... Sure enough, when i spell one I do not see in the gps, it comes up.

 

Thanks jjreds, i appreciate it !!

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I appreciate the others in his thread doing these support questions. Looks like I need to do a FAQ page soon on the website!

 

Pilotsnipes, I took another macro used as a front end to yours to select a database and a few options of what to include, calls your macro (with slight mods kept as clean as possible) to create the gpx files by all of the cache types in the database.

 

So now I can do things like create a PQ called "Easy Grabs" with D&T <=2, Load it into an Easy Grabs database, macroize it into the Easy Grabs folder under my POI folder, now let's say I want a travel bug quick, go to "Easy Grabs" on the Nuvi, go to "Traditional", spell "*", and there they are!! Plus now the icon matches the type. And I added the travel bugs to the description. You made this all possible with your excellent macro!

 

For advanced users:

A copy of these should be placed in your POI database destination folder(s).

 

Unzip these macros to the GSAK macro folder.

 

Run GPX_by_Cache_Type.gsk which uses pilotsnipes excellent macro named Sub-garmin-nuvi-exportgpx.gsk to create the gpx files.

 

Use Load Nuvi.gsk to run POI Loader in silent mode from GSAK. It will use whatever settings were used on the last run.

 

Since my 250W won't do the Tourguide thing I didn't pay much attention to that feature. So if I broke it sorry, let me know and we can fix it.

Edited by jjreds
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I hope I am putting this in the right place.

I went thru the new tutorial last night and this morn when I turned my nuvi on and selected extras then custom Poi's, there were three lists I had not seen before, 1 All Categories 2 Geocache TourGuide and 3 Geocaches. I am using a nuvi 260W.

 

The All Caches list contained caches that I had previously deleted in GSAK prior to loading my nuvi AND caches that I kept but are displayed with lat/log data and cache id Gcxx.

 

The Geocache TourGuide list displayed caches I had saved in GSAK but also had lat/log data and cache id Gcxx.

 

The Geocaches list displayed caches that I had previously deleted in my gsak lists.

 

Is this normal or as is probably the case, did I do/miss something or wrong?

 

Look at the folder where you point the POI Loader to. You have multiple files and/or subfolders.

You will find a file named Geocache Tourguide.gpx (thanks to pilotsnipes) and a file named Geocaches.gpx (something you created previously). Delete Geocaches.gpx and rerun POI Loader.

 

Thanks for the assist, will do it in the AM or asap.

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I hope I am putting this in the right place.

I went thru the new tutorial last night and this morn when I turned my nuvi on and selected extras then custom Poi's, there were three lists I had not seen before, 1 All Categories 2 Geocache TourGuide and 3 Geocaches. I am using a nuvi 260W.

 

The All Caches list contained caches that I had previously deleted in GSAK prior to loading my nuvi AND caches that I kept but are displayed with lat/log data and cache id Gcxx.

 

The Geocache TourGuide list displayed caches I had saved in GSAK but also had lat/log data and cache id Gcxx.

 

The Geocaches list displayed caches that I had previously deleted in my gsak lists.

 

Is this normal or as is probably the case, did I do/miss something or wrong?

 

That did the trick. Many thanks from us both.

 

Look at the folder where you point the POI Loader to. You have multiple files and/or subfolders.

You will find a file named Geocache Tourguide.gpx (thanks to pilotsnipes) and a file named Geocaches.gpx (something you created previously). Delete Geocaches.gpx and rerun POI Loader.

 

Thanks for the assist, will do it in the AM or asap.

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Thanks pilotsnipes for all your work on this (haven't really read other posts well but also others have helped? Thanks to them if this is the case). Went 100% paperless yesterday for the first time- worked great and a successful 10/11 finds. Going off for a mega 30 today with only 1 piece of paper. At first it seems daunting to sort all this stuff out, but now it only takes a few minutes to get what would have been an hours work for a caching trip. I have also ordered a second Nuvi, the 350 (I have a 300 atm) which will give me European mapping for my European trips this summer (and more battery life). The vast majority of cachers that think the Nuvi is unsuitable for caching are really missing out. I may get a "proper" GPS for detailed mapping/Wherigo at some point, but feel I can wait as long as I like for this.

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Thank you very much Pilotsnipes for your work!

 

I'm a user of Nuvi 610T, firmware version 2.60. I have tried your macro (version 6xx) with a GPX file from a pocket query and I have discovered a couple of things:

  • The Nuvi seems to ignore the <desc> section so it does not display the text of the cache
  • If you put that content in the <gpxx:PostalCode> section, it works as your tutorial says it had to work. Hoewever, there is a limit in size: descriptions of more than 3237 characters (I have done only a test and it has shown this number) are completely ignored.

 

Is any other user of Nuvi 610T experiencing the same issues? I am open to suggestions as well as to some tests, of course.

 

Thanks!

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1) Upgrade your nuvi firmware.

2) Make sure you use version 2.5.2 of POILoader

3) Are you using version 1.2 of my new macro or are you using an old one? (The new macro has it's own button in GSAK and it's own screen)

 

I would be surprised if the 610 needed a different file format to say the 660, which has been tested extensively and is known to work.

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WOW!!!

 

Truly a "complete idiots guide" I'm quite impressed with the quality and simplicity of your guide.

 

You had me up and running in no time.

 

Went caching with 1WhiteVette last night and I suspect he'll be out buying a Nuvi today.

 

POI snagged me 4 extra finds on the way home.

 

I think garmin owes you some sales royalties on this one.

 

Thanks for all your hard work it's greatly appreciated.

Edited by not_yourze
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1) Upgrade your nuvi firmware.

2) Make sure you use version 2.5.2 of POILoader

3) Are you using version 1.2 of my new macro or are you using an old one? (The new macro has it's own button in GSAK and it's own screen)

 

I would be surprised if the 610 needed a different file format to say the 660, which has been tested extensively and is known to work.

 

Mi Nuvi firmware was the latest one (I made a mistake and it was really 4.40) and the macro version is 1.2. However, POIloader was 2.4.2 insted of 2.5.2.

 

I have updated the version of POIloader and now it works! Thank you very much, pilotsnipes :)

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I think Garmin would be unsure as to whether to give Pilotsnipes royalties- his work could seriously increase Nuvi sales, on the other hand it could make a big dent in their non-auto GPS sales. Perhaps the fact that models have either been either a car device or a GPS and they haven't tried to bring out a hybrid recognises this. Even more pleased with my paperless Nuvi after today's big trip btw!

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I think Garmin would be unsure as to whether to give Pilotsnipes royalties- his work could seriously increase Nuvi sales, on the other hand it could make a big dent in their non-auto GPS sales. Perhaps the fact that models have either been either a car device or a GPS and they haven't tried to bring out a hybrid recognises this. Even more pleased with my paperless Nuvi after today's big trip btw!

 

I totally realize that some of you are using nothing but the Nuvi for caching, but in my opinion, while it is a great way to get to the cache site, and a great way to go paperless, it is NOT the best geocaching tool. It will work in a pinch, but it was not designed for that purpose. Yes, you can drive a screw with a hammer, but there's nothing quite like a screwdriver for that job. I would NEVER give up my handheld GPS for caching.

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Here's the things that seemed to trip me up before I got it to work correctly:

 

1. Make sure where you exported the file. When "playing" at this, it's easy to put exports in various subfolders and then forget to update the macro or the POI Loader.

 

2. Update your firmware on the nuvi. Check at Garmin to see what is the latest version. Don't rely on the Webupdater to do it.

 

3. Update your POI Loader (should be ver. 2.5.2.0). Again, check at Garmin. Don't rely on the WebUpdater here either - mine missed the update and said I was good to go - but there was an updated version at Garmin.

 

4. Don't speed through the macro or POI Loader even if you've done it so many times (like I did before it worked - heck, I knew what each screen said). Watch to make sure you have the right subfolder quoted in both and that you have selected the 6xx version in the macro - in your case). If you download a new version of the macro, it will be defaulted to the 2xx version again even though you reset it previously).

 

Hope this helps.....

Here's the things that seemed to trip me up before I got it to work correctly:

 

1. Make sure where you exported the file. When "playing" at this, it's easy to put exports in various subfolders and then forget to update the macro or the POI Loader.

 

2. Update your firmware on the nuvi. Check at Garmin to see what is the latest version. Don't rely on the Webupdater to do it.

 

3. Update your POI Loader (should be ver. 2.5.2.0). Again, check at Garmin. Don't rely on the WebUpdater here either - mine missed the update and said I was good to go - but there was an updated version at Garmin.

 

4. Don't speed through the macro or POI Loader even if you've done it so many times (like I did before it worked - heck, I knew what each screen said). Watch to make sure you have the right subfolder quoted in both and that you have selected the 6xx version in the macro - in your case). If you download a new version of the macro, it will be defaulted to the 2xx version again even though you reset it previously).

 

Hope this helps.....

 

Thank you, Cache O'plenty for getting me back on track. It appears #1 was where I had gone wrong.

 

The only problem now is that I get an error message that says I need to contact Garmin support-something about not having enough space on the disc. I deleted all of my favorites that were manually entered, as well as the previous files that were loaded into Custom POI's, but I still got the same message. I'll take care of that in the next couple of days and try again....and post the results.

 

Thanks again for your guidance!

 

haole122

NUVI 650 user

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I found my first few caches with my Nuvi only, then I saw a used garmin etrex on kijiji for $40 so I bought it. I love the fact that my nuvi maps out the caches and I can route my way there and use it for paperless caching. It does have some limitations though and I am afraid that I will make a $200 paperweight with it by taking it in the woods and dropping or getting it wet, right now it stays in the car and I use my etrex for the final hunt. The Kids also like to tag along and always want to hold the GPS, I feel a lot more comfortable handing them the etrex. :)

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