Paperless Benchmark Hunting?

[+cheerose]

I am hoping to get a Oregon 400t in the next couple of days and definitely plan to get back into cache hunting.

 

However, I am also interested in benchmark hunting. Is there a way to have the benchmarks loaded into the 400t (like through a PQ for example)... or do you need to enter each one-at-a-time ... and have the survey data sheet handy?

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff

[+Black Dog Trackers]

jmdshort -

 

Hopefully some of the paperless experts will answer you here, but the basics are to get datasheets from the NGS site by one of the modes listed on that page.

 

Groundspeak has never offered a PQ for benchmarks, so we get files of datasheets from the NGS site instead. There are several programs for converting the NGS files to put them in a paperless machine.

 

Never go benchmark hunting without paper or electronic copies of the datasheets in NGS format !

The GC copy of the datasheet does not include the 'box score' for triangulation stations - a critical omission.

[Papa-Bear-NYC]

 

The GC copy of the datasheet does not include the 'box score' for triangulation stations - a critical omission.

Ah, but it does. Just click on "View original datasheet". True, the box score is not with the abbreviated summary of recovery logs at the bottom of the page, but the whole datasheet (or to be precise, the 2000 GC captured version) is all there, just a click away.

 

Here's the one from a recent station I visited a couple of weeks ago: MY2540 datasheet on GC

Edited May 6, 2009 by Papa-Bear-NYC

[+Black Dog Trackers]

True, but I didn't want to recommend using that, since it is a third kind of datasheet.

The best one to bring, especially electronically, is the current NGS datasheet.

[+billwallace]

The program NGS>>GPX will convert NGS datasheets to GPX files that you can put on your 400t.

 

I have a Colorado 300 and have only been doing this for a few months - there have been a couple of times I wished I had a paper copy of the datasheet with me, it seems to take a little more effort to read the datasheets off that small screen.

 

gl

[+LSUFan]

We put a little tutorial on our local geocaching website, about converting the NGS .dat files to gpx files.

 

http://www.nelageo.net/index.php?topic=245.msg6841#msg6841

[NGS Surveyor]

Whether it be paper or digital, the point here is to take a copy of the datasheet with you when searching for survey marks. Almost every day I see here people lamenting that the mark is not where there GPSr takes them - but the description on the datasheet would have taken them to the mark.

 

GeorgeL

NGS

[+Klemmer]

Once you have the .gpx file, GSAK or other software can easily tranlate it into a .pdb file for Cachemate, and you can have an almost unlimted number of datasheets on a Palm OS PDA. I have 20,000+ datasheets typically on mine (most of SoCal, by counties), on just a 1GB SD card w/ room left, no delays sorting, etc. Great.

 

OR: Delorme PN-40 GPS now takes up to 15,000 characters per "cache" from a .gpx file (for the moment, using 3rd party website based "hack"). Up to 1000 "caches" in theory (there may be a memory limit, but with the 8GB internal in my PN-40SE, so far OK). The GPS thinks the datasheets are caches, but all the data is there, except for the really long datasheets. Slow loading at the moment, but a (faster?) direct from Delorme loader coming "soon". You can nap while 500 load. Doing it from Topo USA 7 still only gets you 800 characters per datasheet, not enough for most Benchmarks. Version 8 promised soon should do all 15,000 characters. At 15,000 characters per BM, pretty good load of "in the GPS" datasheets.

 

Curious: How many / how large each datasheets from a .gpx can you get onto a Oregon 400t? Maybe I should look at one....

[+Klemmer]

Once you have the .gpx file, GSAK or other software can easily tranlate it into a .pdb file for Cachemate, and you can have an almost unlimted number of datasheets on a Palm OS PDA. I have 20,000+ datasheets typically on mine (most of SoCal, by counties), on just a 1GB SD card w/ room left, no delays sorting, etc. Great.

 

OR: Delorme PN-40 GPS now takes up to 15,000 characters per "cache" from a .gpx file (for the moment, using 3rd party website based "hack"). Up to 1000 "caches" in theory (there may be a memory limit, but with the 8GB internal in my PN-40SE, so far OK). The GPS thinks the datasheets are caches, but all the data is there, except for the really long datasheets. Slow loading at the moment, but a (faster?) direct from Delorme loader coming "soon". You can nap while 500 load. Doing it from Topo USA 7 still only gets you 800 characters per datasheet, not enough for most Benchmarks. Version 8 promised soon should do all 15,000 characters. At 15,000 characters per BM, pretty good load of "in the GPS" datasheets.

 

Curious: How many / how large each datasheets from a .gpx can you get onto a Oregon 400t? Maybe I should look at one....

[mloser]

For those of you with cell phones that have internet connectivity I can offer http://www.pacyber.com/bmx.cgi. My brother wrote a tiny program that pulls the NGS datasheet. Of course you need connectivity where you are. I use it whenever I am out of my regular hunting area.