My hubby bought me a GPS and I have no idea what it is

[+superstella]

So, I've been talking about wanting to get a GPS and try geocaching for quite a while, and my hubby thought it would be nice to surprise me with a gift. The problem is that it has no accompanying information, and the only thing I'm able to determine is that it does have SiRF Star III chipset. He bought it from ebay, and it came from Hong Kong...

 

Here is a link to a page with a description and pics. http://www.lweshop.com/gps4373bnfn.html

 

It has a USB cable, but I am unable to find a way to enter coordinates into it and don't know what it is to look for a tutorial or how-to! Can anyone help?

[+splashy]

It must have a Menu, 'where to' or something like that.

It is possible however you can't input coördinates, because it looks like a street to street navigator, not for spot to spot, something many navigators don't do.

 

You can try this out by going 200 - 300 hunderd yards offroad, there must be a way to mark the spot where you are, once you marked this spot go to a paved spot, now there must be a way to start navigating, input start place, your current address and destination the offroad spot you made before, if the gps is making a straight line to the offroad spot you can geocache.

 

On the site they claim hints and tips are in the device and you should have a DvD with a manual

 

http://www.e-lw.co.uk/gps_map.html

[+Knight2000]

I would be surprised if it worked half way decent for driving. I would guess that it wouldn't be usable for geocaching. I really hate to say that. I hope i am wrong though.

 

It appears to not have a brand, unless "China" is a brand.

[+superstella]

Well, since it came from ebay it didn't come with the dvd unfortunately. It did come with a pathetic little manual in poor English! I'm feeling bad for my hubby now, he wanted so much to surprise me. It's raining here at the moment so it will probably be tomorrow before I can do the experiment above. It *does* list my coordinates, and it does have a place for waypoints but I don't know how to download waypoints into it and seeing as how there's no name brand...

[+wkmccall]

I would be surprised if it worked half way decent for driving. I would guess that it wouldn't be usable for geocaching. I really hate to say that. I hope i am wrong though.

 

It appears to not have a brand, unless "China" is a brand.

 

That was my problem with it; no manufacture or "brand". I guess the description is the "Brand" )

I was looking to see if I could find the company that made it to find a manual, but nothing I came up with had a company.

[+splashy]

Just connect it to the usb and see if you can browse the gps part. Just look if you can find some folder(s) related to navigation. The waypoints might be stored at a logical place

 

If it does what they say it's not bad at all, so when the weather is ok go outside navigating and start working with it and slowly you will discover the gps, remember there are many ways to geocache new and old gps'es, paper and paperless so don't dispair, this gps and with an Oregon you would also have starting problems, because you have to learn first. Later you wonder what the problem was.

 

Contact the dealer and ask for a manual

 

http://www.lweshop.com/aboutus.html#contactus

 

Email: gps@e-lw.com

 

MSN: longwaycn@gmail.com

 

They have a Positive Feedback: 98.1% on Ebay

[+Team CowboyPapa]

It appears to not have a brand, unless "China" is a brand.

If it has wires and takes batteries and doesn't say China, it isn't.

[+coggins]

Model No: GPS-4373BNFN.

 

VTEC ELECTRONICS HK CO. LTD, GPS-4373BNFN

[+superstella]

Model No: GPS-4373BNFN.

 

VTEC ELECTRONICS HK CO. LTD, GPS-4373BNFN

 

Thank you, I sent an inquiry through their website asking how to enter coordinates directly.

[+superstella]

No reply this morning yet, but I was thinking while I lay in bed trying to sleep last night - since it shows my current coordinates, I could (in theory) take a map to get to the starting point, and then start walking until my coordinates start changing to reflect that I'm going the right way. Might take longer, but I'm sure I can get started this way. There's a park with a LOT of caches close to me, I think I'll start there as soon as the weather breaks. Thanks for the feedback.

[+superstella]

Oh, also I hooked it up to my computer and was able to find a folder with POIs but then I don't know how to put something *in* there so that the system will read it. I did try downloading the waypoint from the member page as both LOC and GPX and put them in that folder in my GPS thingy but no dice. They don't show up when I bring up my POIs.

[+splashy]

A poi and a waypoint are basically the same, but a poi is most of the time a combination of a large amount of waypoints compressed in one poi file.

In Garmin this will have a gpi extension, TomTom calls them poi.dat, if you find out the extension you know the type of poi.

 

The reason you don't see your data might be the gps does not know/read the extension.

Once we know the extension we might be able to help a little more.

Edited March 29, 2009 by splashy

[+superstella]

I got this message from the manufacturer:

Good Day, and thanks for your kind inquiry!

 

Sir, may I ask you one question: Where did you buy this gps4373bnfn?

 

Maybe you can follow my steps:

1. SMS a position command to your GPS sim card number

2. You will get a reply with long.& lati.

3. Fill in long.& lati. To Google earth to find the car position

the better to ask your supplier how to do.

 

What does #1 mean, does anyone know?

 

When I open files and explore, I have in there a .poi a .xml ... the map itself seems to be a .prm - is any of that helpful?

 

I had to drive to pick up my son last night, and I used it for driving and it worked great for that, it was very accurate. Also, I found a way to enter current location as a waypoint and save it, but it saves it as an address and not coordinates, but then I can see the coordinates where I am, so I think if I have a paper copy of where I'm going I can do it the hard way. It will get me started today, I'm going to give it a shot using this method even if it's not optimal lol.

 

Thanks for your help and encouragement trying to sort this out!

[Ken in Regina]

#1 means to send a text message containing a "Position" request to the GPS receiver.

 

#2 means the receiver will send back a text message containing the latitude and longitude of the receiver's current position.

 

#3 means to manually enter the latitude and longitude from the text message into Google Earth and you will see the receiver's (then) current position displayed in Google Earth.

 

It's pretty clear from their web page and their reply to you that they are focused on their vehicle tracking system that uses the GPS receiver together with Google Earth to allow for realtime tracking of a vehicle's location. That's not what you are looking for, of course.

 

I think the last line of their response is the one to pay attention to. Another poster gave you the link to contact the eBay seller you bought the device from. I recommend you do that. The manufacturer clearly does not understand English very well and did not understand your question. That's not a criticism of the manufacturer; simply an observation that you should take the manufacturer's good advice and contact the seller.

 

Of course you may not get much help from the seller, either. But they can't be much less help than the manufacturer was.

 

...ken...

[+superstella]

Thanks Ken, I have sent a message to the seller as well. We were able to log a find today using the "walk until the coordinates match" method with a paper printout. So it's doable, even if I can't figure out how to enter coordinates directly.

[+splashy]

Be sure to COPY the poi and xml files to your computer, if anything goes wrong you have a backup.

 

Can you edit the coordinates ?

 

.Prm might be a Route 66 map

 

Maybe another reader who is familiar with route 66 (pois) ??

Edited March 30, 2009 by splashy

[+splashy]

2 X

Edited March 30, 2009 by splashy

[+superstella]

Oh I did find a route 66 map. Have no idea what that means.

[+superstella]

I never got a reply from the seller, and I still haven't figured out how (if it's even possible?) to enter coordinates into this thing, but I have been able to log a few finds now using paper and walking til the coordinates start to match. It was really accurate, so as long as I print out a decent starting point I think I'll be okay for now. I'm disabled (lung disease) and unable to do a lot of the more complicated hikes anyway, so I think this is actually going to be okay after a few days of frustration.

 

[+Red90]

Try making an XML file in Google Earth of some waypoints, and then save it to the device. See if they show up.

[+splashy]

Maybe this helps, to learn about the gps a bit more.

 

http://www.66.com/route66/

http://www.66.com/support/index.php?cid=US&opt=manuals

 

Remember waypoint and Pois are free available on the net, you have to find out you ext. for either poi or waypoint, the problem is, when you google route 66 poi, YES a zillion!!

 

I just find out at poiplaza, they claim you have a csv poifile

 

Try

 

http://www.poiplaza.com/index.php?p=dc&c=49

 

Select 7-eleven ; download ; locate route 66 ; download ; unzip ; read the textfile

Now, if you don't have a 7-eleven nearby look for another.

 

When you found out how the gps can read this data, (where to place it in the gps) your problem is solved, because cvs is VERY available and easy to handle yourself.

 

When you found out, tell us and I tell you how to do the rest.

[+superstella]

Maybe this helps, to learn about the gps a bit more.

 

http://www.66.com/route66/

http://www.66.com/support/index.php?cid=US&opt=manuals

 

Remember waypoint and Pois are free available on the net, you have to find out you ext. for either poi or waypoint, the problem is, when you google route 66 poi, YES a zillion!!

 

I just find out at poiplaza, they claim you have a csv poifile

 

Try

 

http://www.poiplaza.com/index.php?p=dc&c=49

 

Select 7-eleven ; download ; locate route 66 ; download ; unzip ; read the textfile

Now, if you don't have a 7-eleven nearby look for another.

 

When you found out how the gps can read this data, (where to place it in the gps) your problem is solved, because cvs is VERY available and easy to handle yourself.

 

When you found out, tell us and I tell you how to do the rest.

 

All right! I have 7elevens on my POIs now lol!

 

I downloaded the map, it was a .bmp and .csv and then I dragged them into my USA map. The readme said to activate it by going to POIalarms on my device and checking it, so I did that, and voila, I can now navigate to any 7eleven.

[+storm180]

I know someone who actually has a similiar one to this. It is unusable for geocaches because the map have snap to roads which you cannot disable. Also you cannot enter coords in manually. Another thing once your actually close to your destination, there is no screen to let you zero in on your targeted coords off the road.

[+splashy]

Ok, problem solved. The Bmp is the 7-eleven Icon you see on the Gps

 

Goto http://www.poiedit.com/downloads.htm

download the program

 

Have the 7-eleven program somewhere on you Hd and open it with the Poiedit program

the first time it will error select the > Navman comma separated <

 

Now you see a list with 7- eleven and coördinates Lat and - Long (west is neg.)

 

1 click on the first 7 eleven line

 

On top you see the same info, this info you can edit, once you're finished click on another line but not the one you're editing, remember you can also edit the name, so give it a try and call it home.

 

Your changed data should now be in the line you clicked

 

You can also delete lines and insert lines with poiedit

 

Save the data from Poiedit under another name, like my-waypoints.csv

Select the 7-eleven.bmp CTR-C and CTRL-V, rename the copy my-waypoints.bmp

 

Save both in the same folder like you did the org. 7-eleven

 

The only thing, in time you have to find or make a bmp icon for your waypointfile, but there are many, so that's no problem.

 

To go back on the geocache, you are now able to input them yourself.

 

You should be fine now.

[+superstella]

Ok, problem solved. The Bmp is the 7-eleven Icon you see on the Gps

 

Goto http://www.poiedit.com/downloads.htm

download the program

 

Have the 7-eleven program somewhere on you Hd and open it with the Poiedit program

the first time it will error select the > Navman comma separated <

 

Now you see a list with 7- eleven and coördinates Lat and - Long (west is neg.)

 

1 click on the first 7 eleven line

 

On top you see the same info, this info you can edit, once you're finished click on another line but not the one you're editing, remember you can also edit the name, so give it a try and call it home.

 

Your changed data should now be in the line you clicked

 

You can also delete lines and insert lines with poiedit

 

Save the data from Poiedit under another name, like my-waypoints.csv

Select the 7-eleven.bmp CTR-C and CTRL-V, rename the copy my-waypoints.bmp

 

Save both in the same folder like you did the org. 7-eleven

 

The only thing, in time you have to find or make a bmp icon for your waypointfile, but there are many, so that's no problem.

 

To go back on the geocache, you are now able to input them yourself.

 

You should be fine now.

 

Splashy, you're a genius! It worked! Thank you so, so much for that, wish I could give you a cookie (or coin or something lol!)

[+splashy]

Really happy to hear that, not important, but I still like to know if you can navigate off the road.

 

Thanks for the cookie, the nice thing was, you can handle a computer, that made things easier.

 

Happy caching

 

Forgot to tell you, in PoiEdit the description can be the name of the waypoint PLUS the paperles cache info if needed.

Edited April 2, 2009 by splashy

[+superstella]

Really happy to hear that, not important, but I still like to know if you can navigate off the road.

 

Thanks for the cookie, the nice thing was, you can handle a computer, that made things easier.

 

Happy caching

 

Forgot to tell you, in PoiEdit the description can be the name of the waypoint PLUS the paperles cache info if needed.

 

I can navigate off the road, it just displays a message that says I'm not on a road (when I leave the road) and I have to exit that and then it's okay.

Edited April 2, 2009 by superstella

[+superstella]

I hate that I'm back again, but here I am. I keep saying I'm going to the pawn shop "tomorrow" lol!

 

Any idea why all of a sudden it just stopped working with the 7eleven file? Should I try again with a different file? I've been going along just fine and had all the local ones that I planned to get to in my system and now it just doesn't work.

 

Hubby did have it for the weekend but he swears he didn't do anything other than input a hotel address and drive there.

[+Red90]

Hubby did have it for the weekend but he swears he didn't do anything other than input a hotel address and drive there.

 

So tempting to respond........

 

I have no idea though.

[+superstella]

Hubby did have it for the weekend but he swears he didn't do anything other than input a hotel address and drive there.

 

So tempting to respond........

 

I have no idea though.

 

I know, right? Poor hubby looks really, really bad in this thread.

[+superstella]

Here's what I tried so far:

 

Resending the file to the GPS system (the backup file I had on my desktop from POIedit)

 

A soft reset on the GPS

 

Moving things from one folder to another (and eventually back) (in the memory card of the GPS)

 

Downloading a new csv file from that site linked above and trying it again like before from scratch

 

Nothing! It just says No Search Results on the POS GPS that I am ready to throw in the river...

 

The GPS just doesn't recognize the files anymore, all of a sudden? This thing has been so frustrating and I do truly truly wish hubby had let me make this purchase myself. Maybe I'll give this one to him and buy myself a mother's day present.

[namiboy]

Here's what I tried so far:

 

Resending the file to the GPS system (the backup file I had on my desktop from POIedit)

 

A soft reset on the GPS

 

Moving things from one folder to another (and eventually back) (in the memory card of the GPS)

 

Downloading a new csv file from that site linked above and trying it again like before from scratch

 

Nothing! It just says No Search Results on the POS GPS that I am ready to throw in the river...

 

The GPS just doesn't recognize the files anymore, all of a sudden? This thing has been so frustrating and I do truly truly wish hubby had let me make this purchase myself. Maybe I'll give this one to him and buy myself a mother's day present.

 

assuming you have the means to purchase another gpsr, why don't you just say to him something like "honey, i know you meant well, and i really appreciate it and all, but this gpsr is just too much trouble, i hope you understand. i do feel really badly about it, but let's just put it down as a lesson learned and move on. i love you".

[+altoviola]

Here's what I tried so far:

 

Resending the file to the GPS system (the backup file I had on my desktop from POIedit)

 

A soft reset on the GPS

 

Moving things from one folder to another (and eventually back) (in the memory card of the GPS)

 

Downloading a new csv file from that site linked above and trying it again like before from scratch

 

Nothing! It just says No Search Results on the POS GPS that I am ready to throw in the river...

 

The GPS just doesn't recognize the files anymore, all of a sudden? This thing has been so frustrating and I do truly truly wish hubby had let me make this purchase myself. Maybe I'll give this one to him and buy myself a mother's day present.

 

assuming you have the means to purchase another gpsr, why don't you just say to him something like "honey, i know you meant well, and i really appreciate it and all, but this gpsr is just too much trouble, i hope you understand. i do feel really badly about it, but let's just put it down as a lesson learned and move on. i love you".

 

I've got to agree! I wasn't going to reply, because I couldn't help with the technical aspects of things, but I've been reading the thread thinking "Who buys a no name GPS off of ebay from Hong Kong?" I'm sure hubby meant well, but it really seems like its more trouble than it's worth at this point.

 

I think a mother's day gift to yourself is a PERFECT idea! There are lots of GPSr that you can get for a really reasonable amount of money that are actually made for what you're trying to do. Geocaching is supposed to be fun, not a PITA! (I personally can recommend the DeLorme PN-20 Great reception, and paperless caching almost right out of the box. If you can make it through all the stuff you had to do to make yours 'work' however briefly, I'm confident you'll rock the PN-20. Really reasonably priced too (and there's even a good deal on them at JR.com now!)

 

*edited because I can't spell *

Edited April 29, 2009 by altoviola

[+superstella]

Here's what I tried so far:

 

Resending the file to the GPS system (the backup file I had on my desktop from POIedit)

 

A soft reset on the GPS

 

Moving things from one folder to another (and eventually back) (in the memory card of the GPS)

 

Downloading a new csv file from that site linked above and trying it again like before from scratch

 

Nothing! It just says No Search Results on the POS GPS that I am ready to throw in the river...

 

The GPS just doesn't recognize the files anymore, all of a sudden? This thing has been so frustrating and I do truly truly wish hubby had let me make this purchase myself. Maybe I'll give this one to him and buy myself a mother's day present.

 

assuming you have the means to purchase another gpsr, why don't you just say to him something like "honey, i know you meant well, and i really appreciate it and all, but this gpsr is just too much trouble, i hope you understand. i do feel really badly about it, but let's just put it down as a lesson learned and move on. i love you".

 

I've got to agree! I wasn't going to reply, because I couldn't help with the technical aspects of things, but I've been reading the thread thinking "Who buys a no name GPS off of ebay from Hong Kong?" I'm sure hubby meant well, but it really seems like its more trouble than it's worth at this point.

 

I think a mother's day gift to yourself is a PERFECT idea! There are lots of GPSr that you can get for a really reasonable amount of money that are actually made for what you're trying to do. Geocaching is supposed to be fun, not a PITA! (I personally can recommend the DeLorme PN-20 Great reception, and paperless caching almost right out of the box. If you can make it through all the stuff you had to do to make yours 'work' however briefly, I'm confident you'll rock the PN-20. Really reasonably priced too (and there's even a good deal on them at JR.com now!)

 

*edited because I can't spell *

 

That'd be my hubby! He is the single most gullible person I know, which is both endearing and frustrating depending on the day. I think I may take your recommendation on the DeLorme and treat myself. It'll save him the trouble of buying me something and I'll get what I wanted in the first place.

[+splashy]

Can you actually SEE ALL the waypoints from the poifile in poiedit????

Problems always are a combo, so what did you do more?

Can you see other waypoints on the Gps, supposed you made any.

 

If you can open the file in poiedit, have a look if the waypoints are all in range, maybe one is pointing to China or Australia, being outside the map might upset the gps.

Did you have some (automatic) update on the gps or related?

 

If you get another Gps I would take a Garmin, Routable and Topo maps for the garmin models are freely available in the Us, also have a look in this forum what you can find about deLorme and Garmin

The cheaper Garmins have almost no problems, because there's not much you can do wrong.

 

Have a look at http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/

Edited April 29, 2009 by splashy

[+superstella]

Can you actually SEE ALL the waypoints from the poifile in poiedit????

Problems always are a combo, so what did you do more?

Can you see other waypoints on the Gps, supposed you made any.

 

If you can open the file in poiedit, have a look if the waypoints are all in range, maybe one is pointing to China or Australia, being outside the map might upset the gps.

Did you have some (automatic) update on the gps or related?

 

If you get another Gps I would take a Garmin, Routable and Topo maps for the garmin models are freely available in the Us, also have a look in this forum what you can find about deLorme and Garmin

The cheaper Garmins have almost no problems, because there's not much you can do wrong.

 

Have a look at http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/

 

No splashy, I can't see any of the waypoints I've added, but the preloaded POIs are still fine. Everything looks fine in POIedit. Obviously I've done something or hubby has done something but now even the 7elevens won't show. I didn't update the 7elevens, as I renamed my POIs "GeocachingPOI" so before this debacle I could still see an occasional 7eleven as well as my lovely POI icon. I had it working beautifully, and I am so frustrated because I don't know what happened! I had gotten accustomed to the lady's British accent telling me, "You are now entering a non fully coded area and may receive wrong driving instructions" which is what it says when you go off road.

 

I'll play around with it a little longer as I won't be able to get to the caching again until next week anyway. Will let you know if I figure it out, in case anyone else is ever gullible enough to buy a no-name GPS from Hong Kong off of ebay!

[+superstella]

I really only needed to do that once...

Edited April 30, 2009 by superstella

[+superstella]

Holy triple post batman!

Edited April 30, 2009 by superstella