Jump to content

Having cache info with you


Vibe2

Recommended Posts

Hi:

Any tips on having the info for the cache with you while out looking for it. I don't like using paper and printing everything off but there is a lot of information that is on the web listing that one should have with them, ie, tips for paths, problems past hunters have had, etc etc .. and if I have to print it, can I print a couple of lines per listing so I don't need a a page per listing.

Link to comment

You could highlight the info you'd like to print with your mouse and copy and paste it into another document and print that which would enable you to just carry the most important info for several caches on one or two pages rather than several pages for each.

 

Some people download cache listings to a PDA so they can carry all the listings along with them while caching and get to the data if necessary.

 

I also do not like to print gobs of cache listings out so I was using a small notebook to plan out my daily route and to note certain things about each (Name, #, size, location). But when I started randomly caching on the way to or from somewhere I ran into problems as I didn't have the info with me and had to call friends a few times so I got a PDA and keep that with me and it works great.

Edited by Buggheart
Link to comment

I second the idea of paperless. Been at it for almost a year now and paperless is awesome once you get it setup.

 

Grab a cheap PDA of Ebay for $20-30 (M500 or 505, 515) with a cradle to connect to PC. Then you can purchase GSAK for about $30, and you are golden. I hated to drop the money but it makes it really easy. A few clicks and you have all the page info in one palm, and the GPS in the other. It has the summary and description as well as the last 5 logs from other finders. You can even log your finds in your Palm by clicking the "found" checkbox, and record what you took/left. This way when you get back to the computer, you simply scroll to your "found" caches in the palm, and enter your notes.

 

Aren't gadgets great?

Edited by kraushad
Link to comment

I second the idea of paperless. Been at it for almost a year now and paperless is awesome once you get it setup.

 

Grab a cheap PDA of Ebay for $20-30 (M500 or 505, 515) with a cradle to connect to PC. Then you can purchase GSAK for about $30, and you are golden. I hated to drop the money but it makes it really easy. A few clicks and you have all the page info in one palm, and the GPS in the other. It has the summary and description as well as the last 5 logs from other finders. You can even log your finds in your Palm by clicking the "found" checkbox, and record what you took/left. This way when you get back to the computer, you simply scroll to your "found" caches in the palm, and enter your notes.

 

Aren't gadgets great?

 

You don't even need GSAK. Just a cheap PDA and Cachemate will do the job nicely.

Link to comment

After carrying about 20 pages of local cache info with me, I finally got smart and dug my old Palm M130 out of storage. Loaded everything up into it and cleaned a whole lot of paper out of my backpack. Cachemate is cool and definitely worth the $10. I can't wait to get out and actually use it on a search. Now I just need a case/lanyard so I can attach it to my backpack and I'll be set.

Link to comment

At this point, I am in the beginning stages of caching and print off information. I usually print just the first few pages and then if there is something in the logs I have not printed, I will write that on the first page.

 

Hmm, wonder if my old Palm is to old. Will have to check into that. Since I have a laptop, haven't used it in a long time, hmm.

Edited by Stripes
Link to comment

As you can see there are many different ways to go and it all boils down to personal preference.

 

Personally, I would love to go paperless but at this time I haven't.

 

Until I go paperless, I do it one of two different ways. If I will be out and about working and have a chance at only a couple caches, I will just note the important info (name, coordinates, D/T, size, & notes in text and hint) in a mini-notebook and head out to work. If I am heading on a long work related road trip or a specific cache run I will take all that info and put it on an Excel spreadsheet and just print that out. Recently we headed out on a 35+ cache run and all relevant info fit on 2 pages with enough room for notes we made on the way.

Link to comment

I agree that paperless may be more convenient, but I haven't gone that way yet. I usually do just a handfull at a time and do as Buggheart suggested: Copy and paste the significant data. Example: The family is going to my brothers house for Thanksgiving, and I selected some caches in his area to try. I have eight caches on only two sheets of paper (eight is more than we will have time for).

Link to comment

I love having all the cache info in my PDA. It even shows the last few logs and lets me keep the hint coded, but switch it over to clear with just a button click. I use an old Palm IIIxe and my husband uses a Zire.

 

Before we went paperless, I would copy the list of nearest caches and the map of nearest caches, and shrink it down to fit onto one or two pages. I'd take out all the unneeded info and shrink the font to help make it smaller. That would come out to one or two lines for each cache of size, type, name, GC ID, last date found, etc. I'd go through by hand and add a shortened version of the hint, any notes from the cache page and logs I thought would help, parking tips and so forth. I'd have twenty or thirty caches all located in a centralized area on the sheet or two.

 

It really didn't take that long to do that...or use that much paper...

 

but it was very nice when I didn't have to do that any longer!

Link to comment

I definitely agree that paperless is the way to go.

 

I bought an inexpensive Palm Z22 on eBay, loaded it with CacheMate and away I went. WELL worth the relatively small expense.

Every PM needs GSAK.....With GSAK and your GPSr, you can transfer cache information from GSAK to your GPSr and it becomes a mini PDA.....I carry a PDA, but very seldom refer to the PDA, because I have the info on my 60CSx GPSr.....Yes gadgets with there technology are great. .....Good hunting.

Link to comment

I definitely agree that paperless is the way to go.

 

I bought an inexpensive Palm Z22 on eBay, loaded it with CacheMate and away I went. WELL worth the relatively small expense.

Every PM needs GSAK.....With GSAK and your GPSr, you can transfer cache information from GSAK to your GPSr and it becomes a mini PDA.....I carry a PDA, but very seldom refer to the PDA, because I have the info on my 60CSx GPSr.....Yes gadgets with there technology are great. .....Good hunting.

I have GSAK and agree it is wonderful, but it is a bit of a stretch to claim that every cacher or PM needs it. Very useful product. There are alternatives. I use a Palm M125 but I do find that most of the time I end up printing the cache pages when I am only heading out to hunt a cache or a few. The Palm end up being used when we head out for a day of hunts or we are off on a trip.

Link to comment

I definitely agree that paperless is the way to go.

 

I bought an inexpensive Palm Z22 on ebay, loaded it with CacheMate and away I went. WELL worth the relatively small expense.

 

I got a PalmZ22 for Christmas two years ago. Today I bought CacheMate and tried to load it, but I was using the wrong cable to HotSync. The official cable is missing. I spent $10 on CacheMate for nothing!

 

By the way, when my Palm was new, it cost $100. Now I see the same exact thing on ebay for $.99.

 

The problem with using paper is keeping up with them all. I went out today and left one page behind. What a waste of time and energy. Plus, the wind likes to blow them away.

 

I used to use an Excel spreadsheet to do my pre-caching research. The columns would include name, code, hint, location, etc. I could get lots of info on one page, but it never seemed to be quite enough.

Edited by chemitzi
Link to comment

Another method is using "bookmarks"....Make a "bookmark" of the caches you will be searching for.....then copy, cut, and paste until you have one sheet of caches (about 15-20 caches, that is 1 line or 2 per cache) with just the minimum important information that you will need. TYPE, CONTAINER, AND HINT...Also serves as a "check-off list".... You will have 1 or 2 sheets of paper in the field....or, buy a PDA and download all the cache pages...I use both methods and it works for me...... Stay safe.

Link to comment

I definitely agree that paperless is the way to go.

 

I bought an inexpensive Palm Z22 on ebay, loaded it with CacheMate and away I went. WELL worth the relatively small expense.

 

I got a PalmZ22 for Christmas two years ago. Today I bought CacheMate and tried to load it, but I was using the wrong cable to HotSync. The official cable is missing. I spent $10 on CacheMate for nothing!

 

By the way, when my Palm was new, it cost $100. Now I see the same exact thing on ebay for $.99.

 

The problem with using paper is keeping up with them all. I went out today and left one page behind. What a waste of time and energy. Plus, the wind likes to blow them away.

 

I used to use an Excel spreadsheet to do my pre-caching research. The columns would include name, code, hint, location, etc. I could get lots of info on one page, but it never seemed to be quite enough.

I use a Garmin Map60CSx that I have set-up to show...type of cache....type of container....Hint. It is now serves as a mini PDA as well as a GPSr. Stay safe.
Link to comment

I definitely agree that paperless is the way to go.

 

I bought an inexpensive Palm Z22 on ebay, loaded it with CacheMate and away I went. WELL worth the relatively small expense.

 

I got a PalmZ22 for Christmas two years ago. Today I bought CacheMate and tried to load it, but I was using the wrong cable to HotSync. The official cable is missing. I spent $10 on CacheMate for nothing!

 

By the way, when my Palm was new, it cost $100. Now I see the same exact thing on ebay for $.99.

 

The problem with using paper is keeping up with them all. I went out today and left one page behind. What a waste of time and energy. Plus, the wind likes to blow them away.

 

I used to use an Excel spreadsheet to do my pre-caching research. The columns would include name, code, hint, location, etc. I could get lots of info on one page, but it never seemed to be quite enough.

I use a Garmin Map60CSx that I have set-up to show...type of cache....type of container....Hint. It is now serves as a mini PDA as well as a GPSr. Stay safe.
Link to comment

 

I got a PalmZ22 for Christmas two years ago. Today I bought CacheMate and tried to load it, but I was using the wrong cable to HotSync. The official cable is missing. I spent $10 on CacheMate for nothing!

 

 

You should be able to pick up a sync cable that will work rather cheaply somewhere on-line. I moved recently and thought I had lost a box that had my hotsync cable in it and found quite a few alternatives on line.

Link to comment

I definitely agree that paperless is the way to go.

 

I bought an inexpensive Palm Z22 on eBay, loaded it with CacheMate and away I went. WELL worth the relatively small expense.

Every PM needs GSAK.....With GSAK and your GPSr, you can transfer cache information from GSAK to your GPSr and it becomes a mini PDA.....I carry a PDA, but very seldom refer to the PDA, because I have the info on my 60CSx GPSr.....Yes gadgets with there technology are great. .....Good hunting.

I like the idea of using GSAK to output to my GPSr, and then having the additional info available, thus allowing me to go paperless. However, when I do the output from GSAK, all I see on the GPSr is the standard info. Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong, or steps I'm missing? I'm using a Garmin etrex Venture HC, if that makes a difference.

 

Thanks,

Quigquay

Link to comment

I definitely agree that paperless is the way to go.

 

I bought an inexpensive Palm Z22 on eBay, loaded it with CacheMate and away I went. WELL worth the relatively small expense.

Every PM needs GSAK.....With GSAK and your GPSr, you can transfer cache information from GSAK to your GPSr and it becomes a mini PDA.....I carry a PDA, but very seldom refer to the PDA, because I have the info on my 60CSx GPSr.....Yes gadgets with there technology are great. .....Good hunting.

I like the idea of using GSAK to output to my GPSr, and then having the additional info available, thus allowing me to go paperless. However, when I do the output from GSAK, all I see on the GPSr is the standard info. Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong, or steps I'm missing? I'm using a Garmin etrex Venture HC, if that makes a difference.

 

Thanks,

Quigquay

 

You can sort of "code" the information into the description field and name field. The name field can be something like 14 characters and the description 35. Use %hint% to put the hint in the description. Lots of other GSAK codes can be used in there as well. "Code" the name to include GC code, terrain, difficult and size - something like SD3E1/1LR = GCSD3E 1 Terrain 1 Difficulty Large size regular. It isn't paperless but you can get some info to take with you.

Link to comment

 

You can sort of "code" the information into the description field and name field. The name field can be something like 14 characters and the description 35. Use %hint% to put the hint in the description. Lots of other GSAK codes can be used in there as well. "Code" the name to include GC code, terrain, difficult and size - something like SD3E1/1LR = GCSD3E 1 Terrain 1 Difficulty Large size regular. It isn't paperless but you can get some info to take with you.

 

I posted this on another thread, but this page (http://www.geocacher-u.com/resources/paperless.html) contains great instructions on how to go paperless using two programs called GPX Spinner and Plucker.

Link to comment

I started with paper, moved to a PDA, but then even better, got a new Palm Centro cell phone! Downloaded Cachemate to it and now only have to go out with my GPS and phone. And, a pen, of course :)

What is this "pen" you reference? Don't you sign all logs in blood? :D

 

Its the pointy implement you dip into the blood in order to apply same to the paper / parchment / papyrus or whatever is handy... preferably some one elses blood!

 

Doug

Link to comment

Are there any GPSr that have the capability of storing webpages/notes?

 

Garmin Colorado & Oregon series.

 

I have the Colorado 400T. I have a couple of PQ's that I run weekly. I takes about 30 seconds for me to update the GPSr with the new PQ. I then have descriptions, hints, logs, etc. all at my finger tips. It still kind of seems like cheating to me as I started with a original Etrex (non-WAAS) & paper!

Link to comment

Hi:Any tips on having the info for the cache with you while out looking for it.

 

Lots of good suggestions, especially the ones on using a PDA.

 

Instead of getting a Palm, I'd suggest looking for a used Dell Axim on ebay. It's a Pocket PC, and and will also let you run some Windows apps such as an Excel sheet of caching contacts.

 

Both the Axim 30 and Axim 50 series also have an internal wireless receiver, so you can use wireless hotspots to access the internet. The Axim 50 is also GPS capable, so you could have a GPS backup. Both series also do Bluetooth, if that's of any use to you.

 

I recently purchased a like-new Axim 30 off ebay for less than $80.

 

GSAK (the paid version) is also the way to go.

 

Strong "amen" to the Cachemate suggestion. It's way underpriced for the job it does.

Link to comment

 

Instead of getting a Palm, I'd suggest looking for a used Dell Axim on ebay. It's a Pocket PC, and and will also let you run some Windows apps such as an Excel sheet of caching contacts.

 

 

How does the cache information appear in the Dell, are they they same as web pages. What if someone has created thier cache page with HTML so they have tables etc included, do these appear as they do on the internet? I'm thinking about getting a Dell from ebay also

Link to comment

 

Instead of getting a Palm, I'd suggest looking for a used Dell Axim on ebay. It's a Pocket PC, and and will also let you run some Windows apps such as an Excel sheet of caching contacts.

 

 

How does the cache information appear in the Dell, are they they same as web pages. What if someone has created thier cache page with HTML so they have tables etc included, do these appear as they do on the internet? I'm thinking about getting a Dell from ebay also

I use a Dell Axim (when I don't have my Oregon with me) - and I view the pages with GPXview or GPXSonar. Both make the cache pages appear very much like they are on the Internet but some HTML doesn't come out exactly right but for the most part very useable.

Link to comment

 

You can sort of "code" the information into the description field and name field. The name field can be something like 14 characters and the description 35. Use %hint% to put the hint in the description. Lots of other GSAK codes can be used in there as well. "Code" the name to include GC code, terrain, difficult and size - something like SD3E1/1LR = GCSD3E 1 Terrain 1 Difficulty Large size regular. It isn't paperless but you can get some info to take with you.

 

I posted this on another thread, but this page (http://www.geocacher-u.com/resources/paperless.html) contains great instructions on how to go paperless using two programs called GPX Spinner and Plucker.

While the Plucker Viewer works fine, I'd suggest using Sunrise XP, rather than the Plucker distiller. That's the program that takes the HTML pages and images, and converts them into a file that you can Hot-Sync to your Palm. Plucker distiller has been known to choke for no apparent reason. Sunrise XP is pretty rock-solid.

Link to comment

How does the cache information appear in the Dell, are they they same as web pages. What if someone has created thier cache page with HTML so they have tables etc included, do these appear as they do on the internet?

 

The Axim has Internet Explorer built in, so if you save the cache page (with images) it should show html pages pretty normally.

Link to comment

Hi:Any tips on having the info for the cache with you while out looking for it.

 

Lots of good suggestions, especially the ones on using a PDA.

 

Instead of getting a Palm, I'd suggest looking for a used Dell Axim on ebay. It's a Pocket PC, and and will also let you run some Windows apps such as an Excel sheet of caching contacts.

 

Both the Axim 30 and Axim 50 series also have an internal wireless receiver, so you can use wireless hotspots to access the internet. The Axim 50 is also GPS capable, so you could have a GPS backup. Both series also do Bluetooth, if that's of any use to you.

Of course, Palms can also run Excel spreadsheets, and have Bluetooth and 3G wireless browsers.

Link to comment

Are there any GPSr that have the capability of storing webpages/notes?

 

Garmin Colorado & Oregon series.

 

I have the Colorado 400T. I have a couple of PQ's that I run weekly. I takes about 30 seconds for me to update the GPSr with the new PQ. I then have descriptions, hints, logs, etc. all at my finger tips. It still kind of seems like cheating to me as I started with a original Etrex (non-WAAS) & paper!

 

I have the Oregon 400T and it makes paperless caching extremely easy. Everything is on 1 unit so you don't have to carry both the gps and the pda around. It's great. Also have a Nuvi in my vehicle to help me get there and I also load the cache info into it.

Edited by raslas
Link to comment

Are there any GPSr that have the capability of storing webpages/notes?

 

either of the DeLorme PN-xx's will hold all you need to find a cache. By the end of the year they will have new software that eliminates the current 800 character limit from the cache description. I may actually be able to retire my iPod Notes workaround when this becomes available.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...