Changing a POI after finding - How?

[+gcfishguy]

Hey there...

 

I have all my caches as POIs, around 4000 of them. No macros, special icons, etc....just grey dots. 60CSx

 

I have tags that generate the waypoint name and description with enough info that I hardly ever have to take out the Palm.

 

My question is, after i find a cache that's a POI, is there a way to flag it as found somehow? (Save as a 'geocache found', mark it somehow...?)

 

I've been carrying a small notebook and jotting down the GC code with each find, but I'd like to know if there's a way to modify a POI to something else to set it apart as a find....

 

Going caching after work, so if you have an answer right now, let's hear it. :-)

 

Thanks!!!!!

 

<><

 

Edit: Can't spell

Edited May 30, 2008 by gcfishguy

[O-Mega]

Hey there...

 

I have all my caches as POIs, around 4000 of them. No macros, special icons, etc....just grey dots. 60CSx

 

I have tags that generate the waypoint name and description with enough info that I hardly ever have to take out the Palm.

 

My question is, after i find a cache that's a POI, is there a way to flag it as found somehow? (Save as a 'geocache found', mark it somehow...?)

 

I've been carrying a small notebook and jotting down the GC code with each find, but I'd like to know if there's a way to modify a POI to something else to set it apart as a find....

 

Going caching after work, so if you have an answer right now, let's here it. :-)

 

Thanks!!!!!

 

<><

Short answer is you can't. The 60 csx treats the POI differently than a waypoint which you can change on the fly.

[+gcfishguy]

K. That's what I thought...

I saw someones post, and I was sure they said that they take a POI and save it as a "Geocache Found"...but they were likely not familiar with the difference between a waypoint and a POI.

 

Thanks!!!

 

<><

[+Langly]

 

My question is, after i find a cache that's a POI, is there a way to flag it as found somehow? (Save as a 'geocache found', mark it somehow...?)

 

<><

 

Edit: Can't spell

 

With my 60Cx, I select a custom POI. Then select "Save". Which converts the POI to a geocache. I use custom icons. I then select "Go To". Then select "Found" after finding the geocache.

 

Hope this helps.

[+Prime Suspect]

 

My question is, after i find a cache that's a POI, is there a way to flag it as found somehow? (Save as a 'geocache found', mark it somehow...?)

 

<><

 

Edit: Can't spell

 

With my 60Cx, I select a custom POI. Then select "Save". Which converts the POI to a geocache. I use custom icons. I then select "Go To". Then select "Found" after finding the geocache.

 

Hope this helps.

But that doesn't change the POI to indicate that's it's already been found. I think the OP wants some way to know when he's looking at a list of POIs, that he's not going back to one he's already found.

[+Miragee]

Long post . . .

 

Since data changes with each new set of PQs I get for my GSAK database, I update my POIs. Any cache I found since the last update, was moved to a "Found" database.

 

About once a week, I refresh my GSAK database with several "Date Placed" PQs. After that, I delete any caches that were "Disabled" or "Archived" using the "Last .gpx Update" filter. That way I know I have fresh data to put in my GPSr.

 

After that I Export new .gpx files for the Garmin POI Loader. I have separate icons for caches that are Unfound vs. the Benchmarks and the caches I found previously.

 

In the "Update Folder" for the Garmin POI loader, I have these files:

 

Unfound.gpx

Unfound.bmp (Treasure Chest icon)

Found.gpx

Found.bmp (Treasure Chest icon with Checkmark)

FoundArchived.gpx

FoundArchived.bmp (Little Tombstone)

Benchmarks.gpx

Benchmarks.bmp (Blue Dot)

 

If I was only using the POIs to find caches, I would "Save" the POI to a Geocache and give it the Treasure Chest icon so it would behave like a Geocache on the GPSr, changing to the Open Treasure Chest after I mark it as Found.

 

After I come back from a Geocaching adventure, I download my Tracks and Waypoints to Mapsource. Then, I can follow my tracks and log each "Found" cache in order.

[+Prime Suspect]

If I was only using the POIs to find caches, I would "Save" the POI to a Geocache and give it the Treasure Chest icon so it would behave like a Geocache on the GPSr, changing to the Open Treasure Chest after I mark it as Found.

Still not getting it...

The OP is looking at the list of nearest POIs to find caches, and he wants to be able to tag those entries in some way to mark the ones he's found, so he can ignore them. Saving a POI as a waypoint won't do that. Yes, it makes a record in the unit of which ones have been found (and wastes a waypoint), but you're better off just jotting down the IDs on a piece paper. At least you wouldn't have to flip back and forth between screens to see if a POI has been found yet.

[+gcfishguy]

Hi folks....I should clarify...

 

What I'm hoping for, is a way to 'change' a POI from a POI to something else on the fly. Or even to be able to rename a POI in the field, and add "F-" to the name or something.

 

I recently got a 60CSx, and have been playing around with tags, and have found that I can use tags to give a POI name and description enough info that I can just leave the Palm at home.

What I used to do was to write the CG codes for the caches I find, as I find them, on the back of a printed map. (yellow eTrex days) then I would use that list to log them when I got home.

Later, I got a palm and went paperless and would use a 'notepad' program on the palm to make note of the CG codes as I found caches, so it was easy to log the list when I got home.

I had (and still have) Cachemate, but to go into it each time and find the cache and mark it found, then go through Cachemate when I get home....well, I might as well just jot the GC number on a piece of paper. :-)

Now, with the 60CSx, I have everything I need right there, except a way to keep a list of my found caches out in the field.

 

I know, I could just carry a little notebook or something, but between the backpack, GPS, camera, I'd like to simplify things as much as i could.

Also, mosquitoes and black-flies are very thick and hungry in this area, so it would be great to just sign the log, replace the cache and get moving again, instead of having one more thing to do before I can get moving again. If you've ever stood in the woods signing a log and being eaten alive, you know what I mean.

 

I do keep several DBs running in GSAK; a few for unfound caches (one for each province right near me) and a 'Found' database for my found caches. I pull out my list, bring them up in GSAK, log them in the bottom window, set them as found and flag them. Once they're all logged, I move them to my Found database.

 

My hope is that I can somehow flag a POI as a found cache as I'm walking away from it....and be able to see the caches I found that day on my GPS when I get home.

 

Tracks are fine, but I have no way of knowing if I passed a cache up to get it on the way back, or if it was a DNF, or there were muggles around and I decide to try it again on the way home....and so on.

 

Sorry, I'm one of those people that almost likes the data management and techy side of caching more than the actual caching. (Almost...) :-)

[+Chuy!]

As has been mentioned, the GPS can not manipulate POIs in any form.

 

The cacher that stated, "...take a POI and save it as a "Geocache Found"" most likely meant what Langly stated about converting the POI into a waypoint and marking it as found. This is your closest solution as it can be done on the fly as you depart (or approach) the cache. The found icon (and the unfound icon as well) will also dominate the gray POI icon so that when you view the map screen, you'll be able to identify which caches you looked for and which ones you found.

[+gcfishguy]

I wrote up that reply and forgot to submit it while I was playing with the GPS. (Loaded up some new maps and was side-tracked...TopoCanada, CN North America 2009, Bluecharts, etc)

 

Anyway, I tried the 'Save as geocache found" idea, and that will actually do what I'm looking for....I think.

 

Look on the map, find the next cache (POI), find the cache, go back to the map, select the POI and hit "Save". Done deal.

I tried saving a POI as a waypoint before, but didn;t see a 'Save' option once you start editing it. I clued in that it saves as a waypoint as soon as you hit "Save" on the POI...I was thinking you had to save it after you edited it as a waypoint.

 

The POI stays as it was, but it creates a waypoint (Geocache Found) with the same name as the POI.

 

That will do what I want...when I get home, I can "Find, Waypoint, Select Symbol" and there will be a list of the caches I found. Then update my GSAK database, etc...

 

okay...that'll work, and eliminate the need for the Palm, and notebooks, etc. Everything's in the GPS.

 

If anyone has any comments on a different/easier way, please post...

And I know I'm long-winded, but I also know how much I've learned reading other people's posts (both the questions and the answers).....someone's likely going to have the same question as me, so maybe this will help them out also.

 

<><

 

Edit:

Chuy! - Exactly! :-)

Edited June 1, 2008 by gcfishguy

[Neos2]

okay...that'll work, and eliminate the need for the Palm, and notebooks, etc. Everything's in the GPS.

 

If anyone has any comments on a different/easier way, please post...

 

When you get home:

 

Go to your calendar on the gps and find the day's date. It will list all the caches you found in the order your found them (or reverse order, more preceisly).

 

It won't help in the field, you'll still have to mark the POI as found geocaches, but at least that will make your logging a little easier.

[+briansnat]

moving to appropriate forum

[+Langly]

 

My question is, after i find a cache that's a POI, is there a way to flag it as found somehow? (Save as a 'geocache found', mark it somehow...?)

 

<><

 

Edit: Can't spell

 

With my 60Cx, I select a custom POI. Then select "Save". Which converts the POI to a geocache. I use custom icons. I then select "Go To". Then select "Found" after finding the geocache.

 

Hope this helps.

But that doesn't change the POI to indicate that's it's already been found. I think the OP wants some way to know when he's looking at a list of POIs, that he's not going back to one he's already found.

 

Ahhh yes that conundrum.... I haven't figured out a workaround for that problem...

[+gcfishguy]

If anyone's reading this later on, here's the good word.....

It works.

 

I got out for a couple hours this afternoon, and tried it out.

 

It's exactly what I was looking for...

 

I use the POIs, find the cache, then select the POI that I'm at and save it as a 'Geocache Found'.

It doesn't actually modify that POI; it's still there, just the way it was....but the Geocache Found icon covers the dot on the map, and when I got home, I went to my waypoints, sorted by symbol, and logged all the caches listed there. Then I deleted the waypoints by symbol.

 

Super!

 

Of course, I mark the caches found and move them out of my 'unfound' GSAK database, and generate a new POI file, but I did that each time anyway.

 

Mainly what I needed was a way to flag a POI as found, and have a list of them on the GPS when I get home to log.

Worked great, and only one thing to carry around...the GPS. No palm, no paper, no notebooks.

 

Thanks all!!

 

<><

[+Blind Avocado]

What I do is when I select the cache that I am going to hunt from the POI database, I save it as a geocache with the closed treasure chest symbol then find it using the geocache feature of the 60cx. When I find it and select "found" it will automatically change it to the open "cache found" treasure chest and add an entry to the calendar. When I get home I just have to look at the day's calendar and there they all are in the order that I found them!