Geocaching software for pda's

[+gazzNsam]

I've been geocaching with my garmin nuvi 250W for a week, used the gsak thingy to load the caches as poi's, and the garmin has let me find the caches i want ok, but i've never liked the garmin interface or maps much.

 

So i've just bought an ipaq RX5935 gps pda off eBay, wont get it till after the weekend,

 

Is there a list of usefull proggies for windows mobile 5 to use when geo-caching?

the pda has tomtom6 on it as standard, but i'll want to find a topo map that i can switch to for the final hunting stage of the cache,

 

i want something to load the cache details into from a pocket queery, which will give me as much info as possible (the nuvi can only handle about 1500 charecters as it's a bit of a cheat to get the details loaded to display out in the field)

idealy something that can load all the info you see on the 'search for a cache' page on geocaching.com, i.e. photo's, click the reveal the hint etc.. so for the photo's it'll have to download them and store them for off line viewing (theres plenty of memory on the pda i'm getting, 2 gigs as standard, and i'll bung a 4 gig sd card in it)

 

I also want to be able to write my logs for the finds there and then, that's the main reason i dont want to be using the nuvi, when i do more than 5 caches in a day, i forget the details to make an on-line log entry better than a tftc.

[+SparkyInCali]

The only software I have seen to combine it all in one like that is geoscout but I haven't used it much so I don't know how well it works.I thought it was interesting because is can download cache data and maps for wherever you are but it does require an internet connection to do so and I am not sure if it will preload maps.If you don't need a Topo map you can check out Cachemate it is a very popular program that can do everything besides the mapping that you want.Both of these offer a free trial of some sort as well.

[+storm180]

I've been geocaching with my garmin nuvi 250W for a week, used the gsak thingy to load the caches as poi's, and the garmin has let me find the caches i want ok, but i've never liked the garmin interface or maps much.

 

So i've just bought an ipaq RX5935 gps pda off eBay, wont get it till after the weekend,

 

Is there a list of usefull proggies for windows mobile 5 to use when geo-caching?

the pda has tomtom6 on it as standard, but i'll want to find a topo map that i can switch to for the final hunting stage of the cache,

 

i want something to load the cache details into from a pocket queery, which will give me as much info as possible (the nuvi can only handle about 1500 charecters as it's a bit of a cheat to get the details loaded to display out in the field)

idealy something that can load all the info you see on the 'search for a cache' page on geocaching.com, i.e. photo's, click the reveal the hint etc.. so for the photo's it'll have to download them and store them for off line viewing (theres plenty of memory on the pda i'm getting, 2 gigs as standard, and i'll bung a 4 gig sd card in it)

 

I also want to be able to write my logs for the finds there and then, that's the main reason i dont want to be using the nuvi, when i do more than 5 caches in a day, i forget the details to make an on-line log entry better than a tftc.

 

I use on mine Cachemate for WM. Works really well only costs $8.00. There is an addon for picture hints its called spoiler sync which really works well.

[+Team Wolf Clan]

I've been geocaching with my garmin nuvi 250W for a week, used the gsak thingy to load the caches as poi's, and the garmin has let me find the caches i want ok, but i've never liked the garmin interface or maps much.

 

So i've just bought an ipaq RX5935 gps pda off eBay, wont get it till after the weekend,

 

Is there a list of usefull proggies for windows mobile 5 to use when geo-caching?

the pda has tomtom6 on it as standard, but i'll want to find a topo map that i can switch to for the final hunting stage of the cache,

 

i want something to load the cache details into from a pocket queery, which will give me as much info as possible (the nuvi can only handle about 1500 charecters as it's a bit of a cheat to get the details loaded to display out in the field)

idealy something that can load all the info you see on the 'search for a cache' page on geocaching.com, i.e. photo's, click the reveal the hint etc.. so for the photo's it'll have to download them and store them for off line viewing (theres plenty of memory on the pda i'm getting, 2 gigs as standard, and i'll bung a 4 gig sd card in it)

 

I also want to be able to write my logs for the finds there and then, that's the main reason i dont want to be using the nuvi, when i do more than 5 caches in a day, i forget the details to make an on-line log entry better than a tftc.

 

I use on mine Cachemate for WM. Works really well only costs $8.00. There is an addon for picture hints its called spoiler sync which really works well.

 

I also use cachemate, but it was pretty disapointing, I still have to download the PDF file for each cache. I'm a new user so I may be doing something wrong. I tried to get support and that was more of a joke than help. I don't know if the devoloper is writeing the software parttime or what. I checked the .gpx files that I have in EasyGPS and GSAK and they are not .loc files. I get the same useless cache info in both and with cachemate. For $8.00 cachemate is still worth the money for a mobile data base eventhough you can use your GPS for almost the same database info that cachemate can be used for. The only advantage with cachemate is that you can put your DNF's into a separate folder so you know what caches to go back and look for again. Unless I figure out that I'm doing something wrong, cachemate will not be used very much on my phone.

[+gazzNsam]

Cheers for those suggestions,

 

i like the sound of geoscout, but i've just checked it out, and stopped reading when i saw the price,

 

looked at cachemate, i like the look of that, but he mentioned gpxsonar, saying the cachemate software is for editing everything, gpxsonar is really just a viewer and logger,

 

so i'm currently looking at gpxsonar, the main site is down, so dunno whats happened, it's mirrored in a few places, but is for WM2003, so i guess work has stopped on that project,

 

but from what i've seen so far, it's just what i want for the logging, TB logging, finding etc part of the game,

 

i'll look into what i can use for topo maps, and use the proggies seperately.

Edited May 31, 2008 by gazz292

[+fidjit]

Cheers for those suggestions,

 

i like the sound of geoscout, but i've just checked it out, and stopped reading when i saw the price,

 

looked at cachemate, i like the look of that, but he mentioned gpxsonar, saying the cachemate software is for editing everything, gpxsonar is really just a viewer and logger,

 

so i'm currently looking at gpxsonar, the main site is down, so dunno whats happened, it's mirrored in a few places, but is for WM2003, so i guess work has stopped on that project,

 

but from what i've seen so far, it's just what i want for the logging, TB logging, finding etc part of the game,

 

i'll look into what i can use for topo maps, and use the proggies seperately.

 

Have a look at BeelineGPS. Holds all the cache info, hints and last few logs. Also can then do tracking/guidance to Waypoints. Only thing it doesn't support is topo maps as far as I can see. I'm mucking around with Oziexplorer for proper maps , then Beeline for waypoint/cache management.

 

Cheers.

[+SparkyInCali]

I also use cachemate, but it was pretty disapointing, I still have to download the PDF file for each cache. I'm a new user so I may be doing something wrong. I tried to get support and that was more of a joke than help. I don't know if the devoloper is writeing the software parttime or what. I checked the .gpx files that I have in EasyGPS and GSAK and they are not .loc files. I get the same useless cache info in both and with cachemate. For $8.00 cachemate is still worth the money for a mobile data base eventhough you can use your GPS for almost the same database info that cachemate can be used for. The only advantage with cachemate is that you can put your DNF's into a separate folder so you know what caches to go back and look for again. Unless I figure out that I'm doing something wrong, cachemate will not be used very much on my phone.

Something must be going wrong somewhere for you.Cachemate should have all the info in it.There was also an update released today that adds a few more options as well.If you need help with it feel free to email me or ask on the board and I will see if I can help.

GPXSonar is pretty much dead you can still use the last version which is floating around and it works but for me the intgration with gsak made Cachemate the better choice.Now that I have my Colorado though I might not be using it quite as much.The mirror site for it is down at times I do have the cab file if you need it just let me know

Too bad your PDA didnt use the Garmin mobile Xt software then you could use topo maps made for Garmin

 

CrazyOn2Wheels

Edited June 1, 2008 by CrazyOn2Wheels

[+Team Wolf Clan]

I also use cachemate, but it was pretty disapointing, I still have to download the PDF file for each cache. I'm a new user so I may be doing something wrong. I tried to get support and that was more of a joke than help. I don't know if the devoloper is writeing the software parttime or what. I checked the .gpx files that I have in EasyGPS and GSAK and they are not .loc files. I get the same useless cache info in both and with cachemate. For $8.00 cachemate is still worth the money for a mobile data base eventhough you can use your GPS for almost the same database info that cachemate can be used for. The only advantage with cachemate is that you can put your DNF's into a separate folder so you know what caches to go back and look for again. Unless I figure out that I'm doing something wrong, cachemate will not be used very much on my phone.

Something must be going wrong somewhere for you.Cachemate should have all the info in it.There was also an update released today that adds a few more options as well.If you need help with it feel free to email me or ask on the board and I will see if I can help.

GPXSonar is pretty much dead you can still use the last version which is floating around and it works but for me the intgration with gsak made Cachemate the better choice.Now that I have my Colorado though I might not be using it quite as much.The mirror site for it is down at times I do have the cab file if you need it just let me know

Too bad your PDA didnt use the Garmin mobile Xt software then you could use topo maps made for Garmin

 

I'm useing a WM 5.0 smartphone. I got the email about the update, but when I checked it out it looked like the update was for the Palm O.S. I used GSAK to convert I guess to the cachemate file format. But even with GSAK I'm not getting all of the cache info. I checked to make sure the files were .gpx and I think they are. I get the same cache info on my phone that I get in GSAK, I checked easyGPS and get the same info in that sofware that I get with GSAK and cachemate. When I go to geocacheing.com I see all of the cache info I should be getting like hints and logs but I don't get that same info in a .gpx file for some reason. Am I confused about what info is in a .gpx file?? I know that a .loc file is not what I want. All of the fields are in all of the .gpx files but they have useless info in them. I get a field that is supposed to have the type of cache, the hint, and logs, and discription but none of the info is what I see at geocaching.com. The PDF files have almost all of the info in them that you see at geocaching.com. So I dunno. Thanks for any help and or advise. If I can explain this better let me know. I have not used GSAK or easyGPS for very long, GSAK makes a good database and that is what I will use it for, I'll continue to put the PDF files on my phone for mobile reference it takes a few minutes to pull them up because of all of the button pushes, I was hopeing cachemate would make things easier.

 

CrazyOn2Wheels

[+Miragee]

I also use cachemate, but it was pretty disapointing, I still have to download the PDF file for each cache. I'm a new user so I may be doing something wrong. I tried to get support and that was more of a joke than help. I don't know if the devoloper is writeing the software parttime or what. I checked the .gpx files that I have in EasyGPS and GSAK and they are not .loc files. I get the same useless cache info in both and with cachemate. For $8.00 cachemate is still worth the money for a mobile data base eventhough you can use your GPS for almost the same database info that cachemate can be used for. The only advantage with cachemate is that you can put your DNF's into a separate folder so you know what caches to go back and look for again. Unless I figure out that I'm doing something wrong, cachemate will not be used very much on my phone.

I think you must be doing something very wrong. You should be getting the .gpx files, either from the individual cache pages, or in Pocket Queries. Then, if you use GSAK, all you have to do is Export the data in the correct format for your PDA and Cachemate will have all the cache information including the Hint and as many Past Logs as you have in your database.

 

You do not have to do anything with the .pdf files . . .

 

I have been using Cachemate from the very beginning of my "paperless" career and find it to be a very useful program. I update it when I refresh my GSAK database with my "Date Placed" PQs so I have current data on my GPSr and Palm m515.

 

Edit for typo . . .

Edited June 1, 2008 by Miragee

[+Team Wolf Clan]

I also use cachemate, but it was pretty disapointing, I still have to download the PDF file for each cache. I'm a new user so I may be doing something wrong. I tried to get support and that was more of a joke than help. I don't know if the devoloper is writeing the software parttime or what. I checked the .gpx files that I have in EasyGPS and GSAK and they are not .loc files. I get the same useless cache info in both and with cachemate. For $8.00 cachemate is still worth the money for a mobile data base eventhough you can use your GPS for almost the same database info that cachemate can be used for. The only advantage with cachemate is that you can put your DNF's into a separate folder so you know what caches to go back and look for again. Unless I figure out that I'm doing something wrong, cachemate will not be used very much on my phone.

I think you must be doing something very wrong. You should be getting the .gpx files, either from the individual cache pages, or in Pocket Queries. Then, if you use GSAK, all you have to do is Export the data in the correct format for your PDA and Cachemate will have all the cache information including the Hint and as many Past Logs as you have in your database.

 

You do not have to do anything with the .pdf files . . .

 

I have been using Cachemate from the very beginning of my "paperless" career and find it to be a very useful program. I update it when I refresh my GSAK database with my "Date Placed" PQs so I have current data on my GPSr and Palm m515.

 

Edit for typo . . .

I probbaly am doing something wrong from what your saying it sounds like I am. I've tried to download 2 different .gpx files from caches I already have, separatly directly from geocaching.com and got the same info. I guess I could open a compleatly different (empty) database folder and try to download more than 2 .gpx files and see what I get. All of the .gpx files I have I downloaded from geocaching.com but by the page full. Could they get corrupted downloading them like that? I'll print my database list so I know what to download and then try my idea. I've tried Queries before but couldn't keep up with all of the caches so I decided to find the 250 or 300 that I have and then get more to find. Thanks for any help.

[+Miragee]

Because caches get Disabled and Archived all the time, it is best to get new data at least every week. That is about how often I get my "Date Placed" PQs. I load those into my GSAK database and then Delete any that did not update according to the "Last .gpx Update" filter.

 

After refreshing the GSAK database, I Delete the Waypoints on my GPS and send new data. I also Export a new .pdb file for the Palm.

 

Since I have an 'x' GPS unit, I also Export .gpx files for the Garmin POI Loader. I send almost 10,000 POIs to my GPS unit when I refresh everything.

[+SparkyInCali]

All of the .gpx files I have I downloaded from geocaching.com but by the page full. Could they get corrupted downloading them like that?

 

So are you downloading by checking the boxes next to a list of caches when you search and then hitting the download button at the bottom of the page? If so that is only getting you the .loc files. Download them either by doing pocket quieries or by clicking on the get gpx file link when viewing the page. I will post up some screen shots of what the ppc version of CM looks like for me when I get back from dinner

[+Team Wolf Clan]

All of the .gpx files I have I downloaded from geocaching.com but by the page full. Could they get corrupted downloading them like that?

 

So are you downloading by checking the boxes next to a list of caches when you search and then hitting the download button at the bottom of the page? If so that is only getting you the .loc files. Download them either by doing pocket quieries or by clicking on the get gpx file link when viewing the page. I will post up some screen shots of what the ppc version of CM looks like for me when I get back from dinner

 

Yes, that is exactly what I have been doing. I've learned something, THANK YOU I did'nt know that I was getting .loc files by downloading the files that way. I'll open GSAK and click on each cache and open the page online and download the .gpx files indivually or try to figure how to get the same files by quieries. If I remember correctly the last time I tried to use quieries not only was I getting overloaded with caches but I was also getting a few caches that were so far away that I would never look for them. It's been a very long time since I tried quieries. Of course I didn't really know what I was doing, the system that I have been useing with excell files is getting really tireing so I'm trying to find an easier way to keep an ongoing database. Having to enter found, or not found, dates, notes, cache names, etc. etc. into an excell spreadsheet is a lot of work and I don't want to take the time anymore. I'll look foward to looking at the screen shots. Thanks Again.

[+Miragee]

Here is how I set up one section of the PQ form:

 

 

This area is very cache-rich, so it is easy to drive out of a 500-cache circle. Consequently, to cover this area adequately, I get several "Date Placed" PQs based on centrally-located coordinates, as opposed to my Home Coordinates.

 

I have more than 3000 caches in my GSAK databases, but I can choose any one of those as the "centerpoint" for my day's adventure, putting two caches in the GPSr or 950.

 

The rest can go into the GPSr as POIs . . . just in case . . .

[+SparkyInCali]

Team Wolf what version of GSAK are you using 6 or 7 ?

 

Here are some screen shots of cachemate on a PPC

The main list view

 

Viewing a cache

 

The logs and hint section

 

The area for logging

 

And if you have a gps attached the cachenav plugin for locating the cache

 

I really like Cm but see myself using it a lot less now that my Colorado can do most of what CM does for me

[+Trucker Lee]

Using the GSAK, do not try to massage the files. Download your PQ into GSAK, and set up your filter. Then, to send the info to your PDA, go to the "File" dropdown, "Export", and use the top line. Your files should go to your hot-sync for downloading.

[+Team Wolf Clan]

Team Wolf what version of GSAK are you using 6 or 7 ?

 

Here are some screen shots of cachemate on a PPC

The main list view

 

Viewing a cache

 

The logs and hint section

 

The area for logging

 

And if you have a gps attached the cachenav plugin for locating the cache

 

I really like Cm but see myself using it a lot less now that my Colorado can do most of what CM does for me

 

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you but between a new GPS'r I recieved in the mail this past Monday and working on your suggestions in the previous message I got really busy trying to get all of my cache info right. Right now I don't have that many caches in GSAK because I wasn't sure that I was going to keep useing it, I've got 50 or 60 caches saved and one by one I clicked on the "Open URL" link in GSAK and redownloaded all of the .gpx files and downloaded them to my new GPS'r. Between work and other things going on it took me 3 days. Anyway all is done and thanks to you all is good, I'm going to purchase a full version of GSAK ASAP. Cachemate is displaying the same info on my Motoq that your screen shots show. After I downloaded everything to a different folder than the .loc files I dumped the entire GSAK contents and reloaded the folder with the .gpx files and deleted all of the .loc files from my computer . I won't make the same mistake again. I can finally get rid of that d**med excell spreadsheet and all of the equally aggravating PDF's. I can read PDF files on my Motoq but can't edit them so I was still caching paperless, but it took a couple of minutes to open the folder that all of them were in because of all of the buttons I had to push, and then I had to scroll the list to find the cache that I was looking for, my next smartphone is going to be a touch screen. The next thing on my to do list is to look at my found list at geocaching.com and download all of the caches I've already found so my database is complete. I really think that I'm going to like Cachemate & GSAK now, and I really appreciate you taking the time to help. I almost forgot, I'm useing version 7 of GSAK.

Edited June 4, 2008 by Team Wolf Clan

[+The Unpleasables]

No one has mentioned Smache (http://www.cyancanyon.com/software/smache/) or RichesseGPS (http://pda.jasnapaka.com/richessegps/) for PPC and paperless caching. Both are freeware. I d/l Cachemate and from what I can tell Smache does just about the same and RichesseGPS adds the cache finding arrow / compass just a bit better than the one built in to Smache. Has anyone used Smache and then migrated to Cachemate? If so, why? I have all my info in Smache and can't seem to find a good reason to change to Cachemate (other than many other folks using it). Any info would be appreciated.

Edited June 7, 2008 by Hal, Eve, and Jordan

[+gazzNsam]

Right now i have the caches loaded into my tomtom software so i can brows a map and see where they are in relation to me, and also i can see any near my route as a drive/ride somewhere, but i cant find a way to get tomtom to offer anymore info on the caches like the garmins can,

 

And i also use geoscout at the moment, just left the pda for almost 23 hours downloading the logs, cache details and map tiles for my 950 caches i have in the area i ride or drive the most... this makes geoscout take a good 3 minutes to start up due to all the data, not helped by it being on a cheapo unbranded memory card,

 

so far i like how geoscout will get all the info off the web for me with a button click, update the caches logs and status off the web without running a new pocket queery, and will get the topo map tiles for the cache areas.

 

but i'm not too impressed by the maps, but that could be due to my pda having a qvga 3.5 inch screen, i'm sure on a 4 inch vga screen they'd look great, but i think i'd rather get some proper topo mapping software that can zoom in and out with layers, i.e. giving more or less detail as you zoom, rather than just magnifying a scan or a paper map.

 

The bearing compas is excelent, but i believe most other geocache proggies do that as well,

 

what i'd really like is a way to integrate the cache data into tomtom, so that i can search for caches on the map, then click them and have the relevent details brought up in another proggie like cachemate.

[+Team Wolf Clan]

Right now i have the caches loaded into my tomtom software so i can brows a map and see where they are in relation to me, and also i can see any near my route as a drive/ride somewhere, but i cant find a way to get tomtom to offer anymore info on the caches like the garmins can,

 

And i also use geoscout at the moment, just left the pda for almost 23 hours downloading the logs, cache details and map tiles for my 950 caches i have in the area i ride or drive the most... this makes geoscout take a good 3 minutes to start up due to all the data, not helped by it being on a cheapo unbranded memory card,

 

so far i like how geoscout will get all the info off the web for me with a button click, update the caches logs and status off the web without running a new pocket queery, and will get the topo map tiles for the cache areas.

 

but i'm not too impressed by the maps, but that could be due to my pda having a qvga 3.5 inch screen, i'm sure on a 4 inch vga screen they'd look great, but i think i'd rather get some proper topo mapping software that can zoom in and out with layers, i.e. giving more or less detail as you zoom, rather than just magnifying a scan or a paper map.

 

The bearing compas is excelent, but i believe most other geocache proggies do that as well,

 

what i'd really like is a way to integrate the cache data into tomtom, so that i can search for caches on the map, then click them and have the relevent details brought up in another proggie like cachemate.

 

I don't know much about the TomTom GPS'r but I know I can't do anything like that with the Magellan Crossover GPS'r. All I can do is put the cache Cords. into it and then drive to the cache, and then switch to a heldheld because the Crossover stop's navigating 50ft. from the cache location. For me that's to much to have to search, I get a lot closer with a handheld. Of course I would use the Crossover as a backup GPS'r if I had to. You might be like me and have to use 3 different devices to cache with my mobile, database is on my smartphone. But I would wait if you can give Garmin a while to work out the bugs on there new GPS'rs and then you can cache with one unit from what I understand anyway reading about Garmin's and Magellan's new GPS'rs .There new ones sound like they have a lot of problems.

[+fsubartender]

http://www.cyancanyon.com/software/smache/

 

I think this is a great paper less cache program.

Just download the Pocket Queries from geocaching.com in GPX file format.

Sync or send the file to your pda/smartphone and open the file using SMACHE.

You can log the visit in realtime!

It is great when you have the 20 find days

 

I use a Sportrak map and a HTC mogul.

[+Alan2]

Here is how I set up one section of the PQ form:

 

 

This area is very cache-rich, so it is easy to drive out of a 500-cache circle. Consequently, to cover this area adequately, I get several "Date Placed" PQs based on centrally-located coordinates, as opposed to my Home Coordinates.

 

I have more than 3000 caches in my GSAK databases, but I can choose any one of those as the "centerpoint" for my day's adventure, putting two caches in the GPSr or 950.

 

The rest can go into the GPSr as POIs . . . just in case . . .

 

How do you save mor than a 1000 in your GPS? I have a Vista HCx.

[+Miragee]

I Export a .gpx file, using different "smart name" codes from those I use for the Waypoints, and use Garmin's POI Loader to send all the caches I have not Found, all the caches I have Found (divided by those that are Active and those that are Archived), all the caches I Own, and nearby Benchmarks to my Vista HCx.

 

I put each of those separate .gpx files, along with a corresponding .bmp file for each, into an Update folder I point the POI Loader to.

[+Alan2]

Sorry I don't understand. These separate .gpx files tehn contain lots of points but how do I point to them to "go to"?

[+Miragee]

Once you use Garmin's POI Loader, the POIs will show up under "Custom Points of Interest" instead of under Waypoints or Geocaches.

 

If you are looking for the Custom POIs and hit the Menu button, you will have a choice to Select Database. That is when I can choose to look for Found, Found Archived, Unfound, Owned, or Benchmarks.