Magellan 500 frustration

[+stushell]

I am keen to get out there, but can't get my Vista computer to "see" the device! The manual seems very short on guidance - i tried too, to transfer geocache info to the sd card and then insert it in the thing, but when i look for geocaches on the device it seems to want to look only at internal memory, which it says is "empty". I am about to list the device on ebay and seek another machine. Anyone out there who can guide me to a start?? I dare say i'm not the first to have this experience - i have an XP Computer too, but still can't get geocache info transferred - i am a klutz i know, but it is a lovely day and i'd like to go hunting!

[+JackQuest]

I am keen to get out there, but can't get my Vista computer to "see" the device! The manual seems very short on guidance - i tried too, to transfer geocache info to the sd card and then insert it in the thing, but when i look for geocaches on the device it seems to want to look only at internal memory, which it says is "empty". I am about to list the device on ebay and seek another machine. Anyone out there who can guide me to a start?? I dare say i'm not the first to have this experience - i have an XP Computer too, but still can't get geocache info transferred - i am a klutz i know, but it is a lovely day and i'd like to go hunting!

If it is a Triton 500 you can use Magellan's Vantage Point. Download the GC gpx file to pc, import the gpx file into Vantage Point and export the gpx file to gps. I don't think the GC data is stored on the sd card, Tritons don't have that functionality.

 

I have a Triton 400 and this is what i have been doing. No problems at all, it even converted this old bird over to mostly paperless caching. I know there are other ways to do more than one gc at a time using pocket queries and/or 3rd party software but I haven't made that leap yet.

[+SkellyCA]

This might help...

 

You have to use Magellan's VantagePoint software.

 

You need to be a premium member to download gpx files. If you are not a premium member, follow the same procedure using the .loc files, except for the use of pocket queries; and you will not get the info listed at the bottom, only the location of the caches..

 

You can use either step 2a, 2b or 2c to get the caches from the website in VP.

 

1. On the page of a cache, click GPX eXchange File and save it to your hard drive; I organized mine into different folders, basically by city(I usually name them the same as on the website; make sure that the file name ends in .gpx)

 

2a. Upload the .gpx file into Vantage point; from Vantage Point software, click the library tab, select Import to import the file into VP; then select the file from your hard drive. You can only do one file at a time, pain in the butt.

 

2b. To import multiple gpx files at once, open the folder that contains the gpx files and open VP; click the library tab, then select geocaches(Treasure Chest icon). Select the files(hold down CTRL and click the ones you want; then drag them into VP

 

2c. Create a Pocket Query; unzip zip it; then import in into VP.

 

3. Transfer the file to GPSr. Connect your unit the the computer via usb; then from VP, click the MyGps tab. Then Click Transfer From PC to My GPS on the left where it says Snyc. Then a window will popup and to can select waypoints or geocaches; I uncheck both boxes. Then click the plus sign next to geocaches; then chech the boxes next to all the caches you want to transfer; it'll do how many ever you select. Then click OK and let it do it's thing.

 

What you will get on your Triton is…

 

1. Name

2. Cache Type

3. Coordinates

4. Distance from current location

5. Hint

6. Short Description

7. Long Description

 

Changes for V1.60…

 

Note: VP just did an upgrade to V1.60. Changes are... On step 2 the Library tab is gone, click My Journal on the left side instead of the Library tab. In step3 the MyGPS tab is gone and the icons are at the top. The section that says Sync is where you will find the Transfer From PC to My GPS icon

[+JackQuest]

I did not know about 2b. Excellent!

[sabrefan7]

I used to have the Magellan Triton 500 I got it second hand from ebay at a great price. I tried to update it once and it froze up. I was then stuck with a useless piece of plastic, because Magellan wont fix any of its products.

I now own a garmin gpsmap60 csx It works wonderful with firefox and my iMac I was never happy with the 2 other Magellan products I owned. They make it way to complicated to do any thing with it

Garmin= plug in,, "click" send to device ,, go walk in the woods

[+briansnat]

moving to the appropriate forum

[+briansnat]

moving to the appropriate forum

[+stushell]

I am keen to get out there, but can't get my Vista computer to "see" the device! The manual seems very short on guidance - i tried too, to transfer geocache info to the sd card and then insert it in the thing, but when i look for geocaches on the device it seems to want to look only at internal memory, which it says is "empty". I am about to list the device on ebay and seek another machine. Anyone out there who can guide me to a start?? I dare say i'm not the first to have this experience - i have an XP Computer too, but still can't get geocache info transferred - i am a klutz i know, but it is a lovely day and i'd like to go hunting!

If it is a Triton 500 you can use Magellan's Vantage Point. Download the GC gpx file to pc, import the gpx file into Vantage Point and export the gpx file to gps. I don't think the GC data is stored on the sd card, Tritons don't have that functionality.

 

I have a Triton 400 and this is what i have been doing. No problems at all, it even converted this old bird over to mostly paperless caching. I know there are other ways to do more than one gc at a time using pocket queries and/or 3rd party software but I haven't made that leap yet.

 

Hi - my unit is an Explorist 500, so i'm not sure whether Vantage Point works with it - but on my Vista machine i am not even there yet, as the vista computer still can't "see" the Explorist!

[sanramonhunter]

Try this link

 

http://www.magellangps.com/support/faqdeta...amp;prodid=1071

[+stushell]

moving to the appropriate forum

I'm not sure what this post means, but you seem to be an expert in this area - i phoned Magellan tech support and was told that i have to remove the sd card from my unit before downloading geocache points - did this, and sure enough the points are now in the internal memory and accessible - but if this is the standard procedure, what good is the sd card? The tech guy said it was just for maps, which may be reasonable, but that means thta the unit is only going to hold a limited number of geocache points, and i can't see any of the other info associated with each cache -- what am i missing here?

[+Woodstramp]

moving to the appropriate forum

I'm not sure what this post means, but you seem to be an expert in this area - i phoned Magellan tech support and was told that i have to remove the sd card from my unit before downloading geocache points - did this, and sure enough the points are now in the internal memory and accessible - but if this is the standard procedure, what good is the sd card? The tech guy said it was just for maps, which may be reasonable, but that means thta the unit is only going to hold a limited number of geocache points, and i can't see any of the other info associated with each cache -- what am i missing here?

 

Bad news is you will only be able to have 200 caches per file. Good news is you can have as many (200 sized) cache files as you can fit on the SD. Bad news is you won't be able to go paperless with the Explorist. It will hold the Name, Number and short decrypted Hint.

 

A paperless option you might consider is using a cheap, used Palm PDA to use with your 500. You can use Cachemate to load several PQ's in the Palm. I did that until I got a Delorme PN-20.

[+stushell]

moving to the appropriate forum

I'm not sure what this post means, but you seem to be an expert in this area - i phoned Magellan tech support and was told that i have to remove the sd card from my unit before downloading geocache points - did this, and sure enough the points are now in the internal memory and accessible - but if this is the standard procedure, what good is the sd card? The tech guy said it was just for maps, which may be reasonable, but that means thta the unit is only going to hold a limited number of geocache points, and i can't see any of the other info associated with each cache -- what am i missing here?

 

Bad news is you will only be able to have 200 caches per file. Good news is you can have as many (200 sized) cache files as you can fit on the SD. Bad news is you won't be able to go paperless with the Explorist. It will hold the Name, Number and short decrypted Hint.

 

A paperless option you might consider is using a cheap, used Palm PDA to use with your 500. You can use Cachemate to load several PQ's in the Palm. I did that until I got a Delorme PN-20.

can you advise as to which units will allow me to go paperless? And to your knowledge are they compatible with Vista??

[+Woodstramp]

can you advise as to which units will allow me to go paperless? And to your knowledge are they compatible with Vista??

 

The Delorme handhelds (PN-20, -30, -40) will do paperless nicely. The -30 and -40 being the better options.

 

The only Garmin product that I've used is the car unit called the Nuvi. If you load caches using GSAK and Pilotsnipe's macro for the Nuvi's they work great for routing. That macro also stores full cache descriptions on the Nuvi. Matter of fact I used a Nuvi and an Explorist together and that worked really well. Road route close with the Nuvi and finish the hunt on foot with the Explorist.

 

Many of the Garmin handhelds will do Paperless, but I have no experience with those. Maybe some other Garmin users will see this and chime in.

[+stushell]

moving to the appropriate forum

I'm not sure what this post means, but you seem to be an expert in this area - i phoned Magellan tech support and was told that i have to remove the sd card from my unit before downloading geocache points - did this, and sure enough the points are now in the internal memory and accessible - but if this is the standard procedure, what good is the sd card? The tech guy said it was just for maps, which may be reasonable, but that means thta the unit is only going to hold a limited number of geocache points, and i can't see any of the other info associated with each cache -- what am i missing here?

 

Bad news is you will only be able to have 200 caches per file. Good news is you can have as many (200 sized) cache files as you can fit on the SD. Bad news is you won't be able to go paperless with the Explorist. It will hold the Name, Number and short decrypted Hint.

 

A paperless option you might consider is using a cheap, used Palm PDA to use with your 500. You can use Cachemate to load several PQ's in the Palm. I did that until I got a Delorme PN-20.

can you advise as to which units will allow me to go paperless? And to your knowledge are they compatible with Vista??

 

RE SD storage - the tech support people (well, person) at Magellan said that i can't store geocaches on the SD card - he seemed to be right, because when i did, the unit wouldn't "see" the files! It onlly seems to like geocaches that are in the small internal memory. Any adviceA?

[+Woodstramp]

 

RE SD storage - the tech support people (well, person) at Magellan said that i can't store geocaches on the SD card - he seemed to be right, because when i did, the unit wouldn't "see" the files! It onlly seems to like geocaches that are in the small internal memory. Any adviceA?

 

If you do have one of the Explorist 500's then the tech you talked to doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

You can store (size limited) geocache files on SD or internal memory. The files will have a ".gs " extention.

 

Note: this works on Windows XP......Power up the unit, connect to the unit to USB. In a bit a communication screen should show asking you to select 3 options. Power Only, NMEA, or File Transfer. Select FT. Then select SD. This will set the unit to transfer a (200 cache max) file to SD. A windows popup may show listing unit files. One should be a Geocaches folder. That is where the .gs file will go if loaded to the unit.

 

Here is a tutorial I made a while back for sending caches to an Explorist using EasyGPS. It should work for your Exp500. This works with Windows XP (what I have) and I've heard that EasyGPS works with Vista systems. Hope it helps.

 

--------

 

210,400 Explorist---downloading PQ using EasyGPS.

 

EasyGPS is free and besides, with an Explorist, GSAK is kind of overkill because the Explorists can't load descriptions for paperless.

 

First, you need EasyGPS, a GC.com PQ (with less than 200 caches on it because of the 400's limit per cache file) saved to Desktop.

 

Right Click the saved PQ .zip file....select Open With, then EasyGPS. WHen you see the individual caches in the E-GPS screen the hints all need to be decrypted. Left click one cache, it highlights....left click EDIT at the top left of the E-GPS screen....select Select All...now left click Geocache (next to Edit at top) ....select Decrypt Hint...they all decrypt.

 

They are ready to send to the unit. The first time you want to send them to the Explorist using EasyGPS you have to click Edit>Preferences>Add GPS>select Magellan>Explorist(model #) so that EasyGPS can set the file correctly so that the unit can read the files you're sending it. After that first time you can just click Send. WHen you click Send a "Send to GPS" box appears....make sure Geocaches box has a green check and your "Magellan Explorist (your model #) is in the box below.....OK it. A "Save AS" box appears.

 

At this time connect the unit to the USB..power it up...select "File Transfer"....(Note: on a 210 you will only have the option to see Internal Memory...On 400's an above you can save in the IM or SD.)

 

At the top of the Save AS box look in the 'Save In' box and find whatever drive your unit shows up in once in File Transfer. (Mine shows up on drive E as a Removable Disk) Double click "Removable DisK' then double click "Geocaches" file. This is where you will save the EasyGPS cache files. Name the new file and save it there. Go to the GPS and push the joystick, select Power Only, then disconnect the unit. Now to see if the files made it push Menu, Points of Interest, Geocache Pts, Nearest To>Position and you should be able to see them.

[+lilpdx]

I'm currently using the Magellan Explorist 500 with a macbook - it's taken a while to learn its quirks, but I love it now.

 

Take no offense here, it's a basic, "got gas in the tank?" question... Are you attaching the screw thingy on the usb cord the correct way on the unit? When the tab is up, it's in file transfer mode, when the tab is down (looks like how it should "fit"), it's charging and the computer won't recognize it.

 

This "upside down" cord attachment almost made me jump up and down on the darn thing out of frustration.

 

Secondly, I store all my pocket queries on the SD card. I've noticed that my computer will see the SD card when the GPS is attached for file transfer. Once I have unzipped the gpx file, I'm able to drop it right into the card if I wish.

 

I use an ipod for paperless caching.

Edited August 5, 2009 by lilpdx

[+Woodstramp]

I've read here and in other threads that Vista won't recognize an Explorist.

 

My PC has XP. Just to test Vista I connected my Explorist 400 to my daughter's Vista laptop and had no problem seeing the 400's SD or Internal memory files.

 

Lilpdx,

 

How do you get caches to the Ipod. Sounds interesting.

[+lilpdx]

 

Lilpdx,

 

How do you get caches to the Ipod. Sounds interesting.

 

The MacCaching application for OS X has an option when sending PQs to the GPS to send info to an ipod via itunes as notes or contacts.

 

Read here:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=227572

[+Woodstramp]

 

Lilpdx,

 

How do you get caches to the Ipod. Sounds interesting.

 

The MacCaching application for OS X has an option when sending PQs to the GPS to send info to an ipod via itunes as notes or contacts.

 

Read here:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=227572

 

Thanks.

[+stushell]

 

RE SD storage - the tech support people (well, person) at Magellan said that i can't store geocaches on the SD card - he seemed to be right, because when i did, the unit wouldn't "see" the files! It onlly seems to like geocaches that are in the small internal memory. Any adviceA?

 

If you do have one of the Explorist 500's then the tech you talked to doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

You can store (size limited) geocache files on SD or internal memory. The files will have a ".gs " extention.

 

Note: this works on Windows XP......Power up the unit, connect to the unit to USB. In a bit a communication screen should show asking you to select 3 options. Power Only, NMEA, or File Transfer. Select FT. Then select SD. This will set the unit to transfer a (200 cache max) file to SD. A windows popup may show listing unit files. One should be a Geocaches folder. That is where the .gs file will go if loaded to the unit.

 

Here is a tutorial I made a while back for sending caches to an Explorist using EasyGPS. It should work for your Exp500. This works with Windows XP (what I have) and I've heard that EasyGPS works with Vista systems. Hope it helps.

 

--------

 

210,400 Explorist---downloading PQ using EasyGPS.

 

EasyGPS is free and besides, with an Explorist, GSAK is kind of overkill because the Explorists can't load descriptions for paperless.

 

First, you need EasyGPS, a GC.com PQ (with less than 200 caches on it because of the 400's limit per cache file) saved to Desktop.

 

Right Click the saved PQ .zip file....select Open With, then EasyGPS. WHen you see the individual caches in the E-GPS screen the hints all need to be decrypted. Left click one cache, it highlights....left click EDIT at the top left of the E-GPS screen....select Select All...now left click Geocache (next to Edit at top) ....select Decrypt Hint...they all decrypt.

 

They are ready to send to the unit. The first time you want to send them to the Explorist using EasyGPS you have to click Edit>Preferences>Add GPS>select Magellan>Explorist(model #) so that EasyGPS can set the file correctly so that the unit can read the files you're sending it. After that first time you can just click Send. WHen you click Send a "Send to GPS" box appears....make sure Geocaches box has a green check and your "Magellan Explorist (your model #) is in the box below.....OK it. A "Save AS" box appears.

 

At this time connect the unit to the USB..power it up...select "File Transfer"....(Note: on a 210 you will only have the option to see Internal Memory...On 400's an above you can save in the IM or SD.)

 

At the top of the Save AS box look in the 'Save In' box and find whatever drive your unit shows up in once in File Transfer. (Mine shows up on drive E as a Removable Disk) Double click "Removable DisK' then double click "Geocaches" file. This is where you will save the EasyGPS cache files. Name the new file and save it there. Go to the GPS and push the joystick, select Power Only, then disconnect the unit. Now to see if the files made it push Menu, Points of Interest, Geocache Pts, Nearest To>Position and you should be able to see them.

 

Thanks so much for a very complete answer - i was afraid the Magellan guy was not correct, but doubted myself too! I'll try this and let you know if i have figured it out successfully! Thanks again.

[+Starruby]

I have an eXplorist 600 and my neighbour a eX500 - both work fine with Vista. I can store multiple cache files containing up to 200 caches in either internal memory or on the SD card. I NEVER need to remove the SD card.

 

I load them using GSAK. I also have an old Palm M130 for paperless - unfortunately this doesn't work on Vista. I run a virtual machine with Windows XP in a window on my Vista desktop to load this.

 

I wrote a little instruction manual for my neighbours on how to use their eX500 for geocaching. If you would like a copy - PM me.

 

Good luck.

 

Sean

[+Surferjo]

I have the Explorist 600 and 210 both work fine for me on XP and Vista. My 600 just died while doing a firmware upgrade.

 

Magellan tech support sent me a free Triton 500. Except for losing the windows file structure on the 600 and the tiny buttons on the Triton, it’s a pretty nice unit.

 

I do have a few questions if you don’t mind.

 

1. How many Geocache’s can be stored on the Triton 500? I loaded up a 500 cache GPX file no problem but I'm not sure how many more it can hold

2. Can you view logs on the Triton 500? I get all the cache info except that.

 

 

Thanks

[+SkellyCA]

I have the Explorist 600 and 210 both work fine for me on XP and Vista. My 600 just died while doing a firmware upgrade.

 

Magellan tech support sent me a free Triton 500. Except for losing the windows file structure on the 600 and the tiny buttons on the Triton, it’s a pretty nice unit.

 

I do have a few questions if you don’t mind.

 

1. How many Geocache’s can be stored on the Triton 500? I loaded up a 500 cache GPX file no problem but I'm not sure how many more it can hold

2. Can you view logs on the Triton 500? I get all the cache info except that.

 

 

Thanks

 

I have a Triton 400, basically the same except I have no barometer or compass.

 

1. It can hold 3,000 caches I believe.

 

2. No logs yet, maybe with the next firmware updates due out in the next few months