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Garmin Nuvi - True Paperless Geocaching


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Thanks for the program--only have two questions---I have a 750 nuvi and the description of the caches does not appear or the co-ords---second--can I choose to add only a current filter? or do I just have to stop the action? I am sure these have been answered but I can't seem to find them. thanks Twisty

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Just catching up on some old posts:

 

1 - Is there a way to add my User Notes ($d_UserNote) to the output?

2 - Is there a way to use a smiley face, instead of a cache icon, to represent any found caches that I have loaded?

 

Using jjreds advanced macro does both of these things. As I am not adding any new features, I suggest moving onto his script.

 

necessary programs and updates to run everything and it loads great. My question is the proximity alerts don't load when I run the macro anyway I don't have the option on my nuvi to turn the alerts on or off as my guide book tells me I should. Wondering if You had any ideas? Also How do I get the geocaches in the

 

On my nuvi to turn on/off the prox alerts, I goto TOOLS -> SETTINGS -> Proximity Points -> Tourguide -> and set it to Auto or off depending if I want them to pop up.

 

Remember this will ONLY make any difference if you had asked FOR the alerts to be added in the script (by specifying the alert distance). If you have not done this, then changing the above option on the Nuvi will do nothing.

 

geocache folder on the nuvi? Figured out how to put them in poi's and favorites but not in the geocache folder. Thanks in advance snowball 58

Edit to add I have ran the macro three different ways with proximity on the macro, the proximity manually on the poi loader and the auto run on the poi loader

 

I'm not quite sure what you are doing/asking here, Using my script and uploading the output to the Nuvi with POILOADER, will only show points in WHERE TO-> Extras ->"CUSTOM POI's" (some subtle differences from nuvi version to nuvi version).

 

They will never be shown in "Favourites" as that is limited to 500 points and there are other limitations as well.

 

(Note the Nuvi 3xx series and some others are in WHERE TO -> Favourites -> Custom POIs which is still NOT in "favourites" directly, so the above statement still holds true)

 

If you follow the instructions carefully, you will see all your uploads there.

 

Can this macro be run automatically using the current defaults without having to click the Start button?

I would like to create a macro to run several different filters then call this macro each time and have the output file name be prefixed by the filter name.

 

Are your filters going to be things like Cache type etc ? If so, go directly to jjreds macro. Otherwise, I'm sure you can start the script instantly, I just never looked into it. The macro is very easily edited, and GSAK provides very very detailed help for the macro language.

 

I was also considering modifying the macro to replace the coord info on the second line with the cache type, recent finds, difficulty and terrain rating. Looking at the code, I realized that I will need to really focus to figure out what changes to make. Maybe I will take another look when my life is less cluttered.

 

The second line is taken from the words between the

 

<gpxx:PostalCode></gpxx:PostalCode>

 

tags. So take a look around line 300 to 310 for the necessary edits.

 

 

Thanks for the program--only have two questions---I have a 750 nuvi and the description of the caches does not appear or the co-ords---second--can I choose to add only a current filter? or do I just have to stop the action? I am sure these have been answered but I can't seem to find them. thanks Twisty

 

You've done something wrong during the process, we have dozens or hundreds of people using 7xx series very successful (including me) so you need to go over those steps again to see what you did wrong. It'll only be something small.

 

Remember it MUST be POILOADER 2.5.2.

 

Also, just select a filter that you want to create an output from first, then click my Nuvi button. It will only use the caches displayed in your current view.

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Attn: Pilotsnipes, I have used your program once or twice with great success but now I am having a problem. I have deleted the custom POI's from my Nuvi 350 and did a query for 20 new caches from Geocaching.com. I go through all the steps to load the new POI's into my Nuvi but I keep getting the ones that I had just deleted. They keep coming back. I can't get rid of them. I even uninstalled the GSAK program and reinstalled it. Still the same thing. What am I doing wrong? Anyone out there, please help me out here. I have some newbie geocachers waiting on me. Now I look like a newbie too. I will be waiting hopefully for your help. Thanks,

Ray

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If you used the new version of my macro the output folder has changed from

 

C:\<where you installed gsak>\poiloader to

C:\<where you installed gsak>\garminpoi

 

Make sure when you are running POILOADER the program, you select the new output folder and not your old one. Ie. "garminpoi"

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Thanks Pilot, that did the trick. This thread is 16 pages long and I didn't re-read all 16 pages so I guess I missed the new file name somewhere. All is well now. Thanks for your help. I posted on here a long while back thanking you for all your hard work on this project. It works great. I also have a Garmin GPSmap 60CSx. Will this work with my other unit? Sure love to try it.

Thanks again,

 

Ray

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I was surfing the web this morning and noticed that PilotSnipes had issued a recent update to his macro, I quickly downloaded it. I'm running a Nuvi 660 and was wondering if anybody else was using this macro on the same series. What I'm experiencing is the GPX file that is being uploaded to my unit is using the "$waypointnamesmallscren" option instead of the "$waypointnamewidescreen" option.

 

If you are unfamiliar with the code, use the GSAK Macroeditor and open up the macro file. On lines 43 & 44, you will see where the macro calls out two different screen sizes. On version 1.3 of the macro, it was using the widescreen option, but on the latest 2.0 version it looks like the smallscreen is being used. How you can tell which option is being used is look at a cache on your Nuvi with a long name, if it only shows the first 7 characters then you are using the smallscreen version, but if you see 14 characters then you got the widescreen.

 

I searched the entire 2.0 version macro and could not find anywhere in the code where it was using the "$waypointwidescreen" call out. I did find one instance where you called out the "$waypointnamesmallscreen" on line 290.

 

I don't understand the entire code, so I could be completely wrong on how it is supposed to work. Just wanted to find out if anyone else is seeing a difference between version 1.3 and 2.0.

 

The macro works great anyways, thanks for all the hard work you put into this project.

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QUOTE(snowball 58 @ Jan 7 2009, 07:27 PM)

 

necessary programs and updates to run everything and it loads great. My question is the proximity alerts don't load when I run the macro anyway I don't have the option on my nuvi to turn the alerts on or off as my guide book tells me I should. Wondering if You had any ideas? Also How do I get the geocaches in the

 

 

On my nuvi to turn on/off the prox alerts, I goto TOOLS -> SETTINGS -> Proximity Points -> Tourguide -> and set it to Auto or off depending if I want them to pop up.

 

Remember this will ONLY make any difference if you had asked FOR the alerts to be added in the script (by specifying the alert distance). If you have not done this, then changing the above option on the Nuvi will do nothing.

 

Pilotsnipes,

When I run the macro I specify the alert distance in the macro and in the poi loader . Then on my Nuvi 500 I goto TOOLS->SETTINGS- there is no proximity points option to select. The guide says that this feature is only available if you have loaded proximity points on your nuvi. Thanks for the reply.

Edited by snowball 58
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QUOTE(snowball 58 @ Jan 7 2009, 07:27 PM)

 

necessary programs and updates to run everything and it loads great. My question is the proximity alerts don't load when I run the macro anyway I don't have the option on my nuvi to turn the alerts on or off as my guide book tells me I should. Wondering if You had any ideas? Also How do I get the geocaches in the

 

 

On my nuvi to turn on/off the prox alerts, I goto TOOLS -> SETTINGS -> Proximity Points -> Tourguide -> and set it to Auto or off depending if I want them to pop up.

 

Remember this will ONLY make any difference if you had asked FOR the alerts to be added in the script (by specifying the alert distance). If you have not done this, then changing the above option on the Nuvi will do nothing.

 

Pilotsnipes,

When I run the macro I specify the alert distance in the macro and in the poi loader . Then on my Nuvi 500 I goto TOOLS->SETTINGS- there is no proximity points option to select. The guide says that this feature is only available if you have proximity points on your nuvi. Thanks for the reply.

 

 

Yes I am having the same problem on my 200w...i cant find the proximity alert option on the gps...i set it for 200 meters in the macro...

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Hi

This way of paperless geocaching sounds real good just wondering what garmin nuvi I should buy. Looking to spend as little as I can but want it to work pretty good. I use a 60csx for geocaching now but want to go paperless. thanks in advance

It can be a Street Pilot, too. I picked up a c550 for $159 (refurb'd) and it has Bluetooth for hands-off cell phone use and text-to-voice commands. Pretty sweet setup at a low cost!

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Hi...Just wanted to drop by and say "Thanks" for this great Macro and beautifully written and illustrated tutorial!

 

I actually got into geocaching because I had purchased a Nuvi 760 a couple of months ago and ran into your tutorial as I was researching GPSrs on the internet. Sounded like an interesting use for my new toy so I set everything up.....and it worked perfectly! I now have it set up on both XP and Windows 7 Beta machines and it works on both. As you warned about Vista, I did have to manually open the ZIP file to expand the data into GSAK on the Windows 7 machine......but again, your directions were perfect!

 

I'm still a Newbie at all this but have logged 67 "Finds" to date and have really enjoyed the new hobbie. I kinda forgot that I originally bought the Nuvi for car navigation!

 

Thanks Again,

 

Sincerely, Larry

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I got it all working in the POI database. This has been great but I have a couple of questions?

 

I have a Nuvi 500. I don't know if it does the tourguide feature that was talked about? Is that maybe why I may not be geting the proximity alerts? I had the proximty alerts working for a little while.

 

I see all the data in the custom POI database. I have the geocaching icon as part of the Nuvi 500 regular feature set when in walking mode. I see that still, but if I go look at descriptions, I get a blank screen. I did have 1300 waypoints in GSAK.

 

I even tried just adding in the pocket queries .GSX files onto the Nuvi 500. I am at a loss as to why I don't get the descriptions. Any help would be great.

 

This is so close to being paperless for me. While I can get the info I want, by switching from the POI to the regular geocaching, it is a little frustrating.

 

Can we also rename the POI database name displayed instead of just custom POIs? It might be nice to have a different list or FILTER for say

HOME

WORK

VACATION

etc...

Edited by weylan
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How did you reset the macro value? Was it for the POI loader or the macro?

 

The Nuvi 500 does not support MP3 which is what Tour Guide requires for proximity alerts. Change the setting in the macro windo to read Proximity (On Route). That did the trick for me. I have 3000' and set to loud.
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Hey that helps a lot! It works now. I had to have the option to not override the internal speed beep alert because the Nuvi 500 does not play back MP3 files. Is there a way in the JJreds macro to make it beep more then once. i seem to have seen that at some point, but have not been able to find it since. I was wondering if that was in the pilotsnipes macro?

 

 

Thanks everyone for answering my questions so far!

 

 

Don't get confused guys...there's TWO macros, mine is the simple one, and jjreds is the advanced one.

 

weylan - Try using jjreds macro and see if that fixes problems for the 500.

Edited by weylan
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Thanks everyone. I got it to work and figured out what the problem was-the hint on a wrong drive was a big help. But I am pretty sure the problem was related to the new version of GSAK.

 

In November I got a new computer and I now have my POI files on my C drive. They used to be on my G drive. Now my G drive is assigned to my card reader. When I started the macro somehow or the other the field for where the POI files were reverted back to my G drive. So I was getting the error message since it said the G drive instead of C. It worked fine before I upgraded to 7.5 so I suspect it had something to do with 7.5. I changed it back to the C drive and it worked again. When I start it again, it keeps the c drive.

 

Is it just my imgination or is the macro running much slower under 7.5? I've got a quad core processor so I have more than enough CPU power and it took forever to run. It seemed like many times as long as it used to. It took 25 minutes to process 2754 caches and most of the time my CPU was using less than 1/4 of its power.

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I'm almost at a loss for words...this is the most amazing geocaching tool! I bought a reconditioned Nuvi 750 in September to use in my car and motorhome. Then in October, I bought DH a 76Csx for hunting. That's when I remembered geocaching. I did the paper thing very briefly...it wasn't very convenient (especially when I left all those printouts at home before going on a camping trip!) and was time-consuming. Next I tried getting a Palm and using it to cache paperless with DH's unit...good but not the best....especially since I would run off with his GPS when he wanted to use it for hunting.

Enter your fabulous, wonderful, fantastic Macro and tutorials. I have no idea how all of these things work together but I don't need to know because your tutorials are so incredibly easy to follow! Keep in mind, I've only really been doing this since the end of October, work full time and have little time left for caching. Up until yesterday, all our caching had been done using the 76Csx and the printouts or the Palm. DH left his unit in the boat at the lake. We wanted to do some caching while shopping in a nearby town. Until yesterday, our largest number of finds in a day was 8. Using my Nuvi 750 and your very wonderful tutorials, we found 12 yesterday! Including a very tiny nano. The 750 was spot-on all day and super easy to use. I rarely had to resort to using the coords/sattelite page since it generally put us right on top of the cache without them.

:angry: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! :D

Now I can cache wherever I go even if DH wants to go hunting. I can't wait to see how the two units compare side by side. :D

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Is it just my imgination or is the macro running much slower under 7.5? I've got a quad core processor so I have more than enough CPU power and it took forever to run. It seemed like many times as long as it used to. It took 25 minutes to process 2754 caches and most of the time my CPU was using less than 1/4 of its power.

 

You are using version 2 of the macro?

 

On my system (far slower than your quads!!) it takes about 5 mins for 4000ish caches...

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Is it just my imgination or is the macro running much slower under 7.5? I've got a quad core processor so I have more than enough CPU power and it took forever to run. It seemed like many times as long as it used to. It took 25 minutes to process 2754 caches and most of the time my CPU was using less than 1/4 of its power.

 

You are using version 2 of the macro?

 

On my system (far slower than your quads!!) it takes about 5 mins for 4000ish caches...

 

Thanks! That was it. I did not know there was a new version. Only took a couple of minutes with the new version. I was about to go back to the earleir version of GSAK.

 

My user notes still did not show up in version 2. Has anyone figured out how to get user notes to show in the logs?

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I dont know if this has been addressed in this macro forum or not. Is there a way to make it so that the child waypoints do not sound an alert without having GSAK not load them? I want the macro to show them on my screen, I just dont want to pull over and find that the actual waypoint is 1000 feet vertical climb and only 1500 feet away, BUT the parking spot is right where Im at :D

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First off I just want to say I am a huge fan of this macro and it has helped me out on many occasions.

 

I have a question/request for this macro. I like to break down my custom POIs into folders by state in order to have a little more organization. Currently, the way I have to do this is a little tedious since I have to rename several files each time I load up a different state of caches. I was wandering if their could be an automated way to name the "tourguide" files something else such as the database name on export as well as the ability to load several databases at a time with this feature.

The only thing I'm not sure if you can do or not is change the filename for garmin's POI loader poi.gpi. That file needs to be changed to something different in order for me to have other databases.

 

I hope I explained that well enough but if not let me know and I will try to re-explain with some pictures. Also, I am using a garmin colorado 400t and 200w nuvi. Thanks!

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I have a question/request for this macro. I like to break down my custom POIs into folders by state in order to have a little more organization. Currently, the way I have to do this is a little tedious since I have to rename several files each time I load up a different state of caches. I was wandering if their could be an automated

 

jjreds macro does this :D

 

http://jjreds01.googlepages.com/download

 

Support thread: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=195389

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Has anyone ever figured out why you must run the macro twice when making a large POI file? It has always been this way for me and the new version did not fix it.

 

Well?

 

I know it is not just me, I have read about it earlier in this thread.

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I normally run around 1200, but this happens well before that. The first run give the "invalid" meassage for that GPX file. The second run go without a hitch. 100% of the time.

 

Here are two posts of the same problem.

Post 571: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...t&p=3666995

Post 627: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...t&p=3703843

 

Leads to this thread: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...0&p=3650890

Edited by Red90
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Hi!

 

Have just had my Nuvi 760 for around a week, but have got the macro demonstrated before, one big reason for buying just the Nuvi 760.

 

But, of cause, I have a few questions/ideas...

 

Having the same length in the Nuvi as in my 60CSx was not a big problem, just a small change in the macro, as well as get the tour guide to be on top of the POI list in the device, just to change the output file names, so really THANKS A LOT for the macro, that are well written and easy to understand (well, part of it anyway....)!!

 

But...

As now, I got the symbol for the traditional cach on all points, parking areas, mysterys etc.

Any way to change that?

Know that the POILoader demands to have the same filename on the POI file as the bit map file, this means that a solution needs to be different files.

 

So, firts I was thinking of running the macro 3 times, with different filters in GSAK, for traditional, mystery and multi, and I do not think it is hard for me to change the macro to run 3 times, but, any idea how to deal with the child waypoints, to get them also a uniqe symbol (thinking of parking space?)

 

Does this make seans?

 

And, ones more, Thanks for the time you already spent on this macro!!

 

/Mikael

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But...

As now, I got the symbol for the traditional cach on all points, parking areas, mysterys etc.

Any way to change that?

Know that the POILoader demands to have the same filename on the POI file as the bit map file, this means that a solution needs to be different files.

/Mikael

 

This has already been done for you mikr!!

 

jjreds macro does this:

 

http://jjreds01.googlepages.com/download

 

Support thread: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=195389

 

 

@Red90

 

I honestly don't have a clue what could be causing that. I have 4000+ caches in my database, when I run my macro it never needs a second go to get it to work.

 

At this stage though, now that you are a "veteran" of paperless nuvi geocaching, you too should be trying jjreds macro. It might fix whatever problems you were having and has bunch of new features too!

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But...

As now, I got the symbol for the traditional cach on all points, parking areas, mysterys etc.

Any way to change that?

Know that the POILoader demands to have the same filename on the POI file as the bit map file, this means that a solution needs to be different files.

/Mikael

 

This has already been done for you mikr!!

 

jjreds macro does this:

 

http://jjreds01.googlepages.com/download

 

Support thread: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=195389

 

Thanks!

Both for a fast solution as whell as for you effort!!

 

However, I still not got uniq symbols for child waypoints (parking space).

 

Have 15 pages in the forum still to read, and I want to go caching before the dark arrives...

 

Not yet happy with the settings, but have only downloaded it twice, looks nice anyway!

 

Thanks!

 

Mikael

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At this stage though, now that you are a "veteran" of paperless nuvi geocaching, you too should be trying jjreds macro. It might fix whatever problems you were having and has bunch of new features too!

 

The problem is that his macro does not do what I want. I run the macro on selected filters only. His runs on a whole DB and it is just too time consuming making it work how I want. I also don't want the "slice and dice" as it creates too many categories.

 

The dreaded "invalid" error is due to weird characters in cache names, like the "<" symbol, etc. It's fixed in jjreds macro.

:D

 

Thanks. I'll probably try and copy the appropriate code over to this macro then.

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