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The Geomate.jr Update Kit


Geomate.jr

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Does anyone know if there are there any physical retail stores that sell the update kit, or do you only sell it online through places like Target, Rei, Groundspeak, etc?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

We didn't find any locally, but haven't looked since we bought ours online. HTH

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I would agree with Hakali, I'm 60 plus years old and find I'm using the Geomate more than I do my Garmin. It's quick to grab and go; I can keep track of my finds and the fact that I don't have to manually put in the coordinates is a great plus. I sure can't complain that it lacks accuracy either. It works for me.

I thought ,I would add this tidbit.I use an garmin etrex legend for hiking (because it works) and an geomate jr. for caching (because it works). I have an english pointer (dog),(because he works). I trained him to find hidden caches,I get him close and he goes and sits by the cache. I think the geomate jr. is simple and accurate and I may teach him how to use it. :):wub: Oh did I mention ?I'm retired,I(don't work)..Ha,Ha,Ha

Edited by yellow-bird
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Forgive me if this question was answered. I skimmed most of the thread but not the whole thread.

 

I'm a geocaching noob. My boys and I did it in scouts and had a blast, so I bought a Geomate.jr.

 

Last week I got a map from geocaching.com of four geocaches that were close together and close by and took three of my boys (have four!) out. The geomate.jr couldn't locate any of them. All of them were easy difficulty and listed on geocaching.com so I was a little surprised it couldn't find them.

 

I quickly loaded a Trimble geocaching ap to my Blackberry. That saved the day and we had a great time finding two geocaches.

 

I did order the Update Kit for the geomate.jr and just updated it.

 

Will the geomate.jr now be able to find the geocaches it couldn't find before but the Trimble could find? What does the update include?

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I did order the Update Kit for the geomate.jr and just updated it.

 

Will the geomate.jr now be able to find the geocaches it couldn't find before but the Trimble could find? What does the update include?

 

Most likely. The caches may not have been available when your unit was originally loaded, or didn't meet the original filtering criteria. The update should take care of that. The only way to know for sure would be to see if it's in the 20 closest (assuming they are close to home). Otherwise, you'd need to get in position for them to be in the 20. Good luck with your searches!

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It's just a TOY. I should have realized that when I looked at the web page where you order this thing. The pages show little children. AND if you read the words on the page - it's like the person who created the pages didn't really know what the TOY was supposed to do. I really don't like the thing at all. Even though it has only three buttons, it's hard to operate. The 2 buttons on the front are too simplistic so you can push the wrong button and change the cache on the screen and then you have to go all the way around through all 20 of them to get back to the cache you want. The arrow that tells the direction to the cache is never reliable. And the lat/long coordinates are so small that you can't see them unless you are in bright sunlight.

I'll say it again - It's Just a TOY.

Sometimes ,You can learn from children. <_<

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It's just a TOY. I should have realized that when I looked at the web page where you order this thing. The pages show little children. AND if you read the words on the page - it's like the person who created the pages didn't really know what the TOY was supposed to do. I really don't like the thing at all. Even though it has only three buttons, it's hard to operate. The 2 buttons on the front are too simplistic so you can push the wrong button and change the cache on the screen and then you have to go all the way around through all 20 of them to get back to the cache you want. The arrow that tells the direction to the cache is never reliable. And the lat/long coordinates are so small that you can't see them unless you are in bright sunlight.

I'll say it again - It's Just a TOY.

Sometimes ,You can learn from children. <_<

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It's just a TOY. I should have realized that when I looked at the web page where you order this thing. The pages show little children. AND if you read the words on the page - it's like the person who created the pages didn't really know what the TOY was supposed to do. I really don't like the thing at all. Even though it has only three buttons, it's hard to operate. The 2 buttons on the front are too simplistic so you can push the wrong button and change the cache on the screen and then you have to go all the way around through all 20 of them to get back to the cache you want. The arrow that tells the direction to the cache is never reliable. And the lat/long coordinates are so small that you can't see them unless you are in bright sunlight.

I'll say it again - It's Just a TOY.

Sometimes ,You can learn from children. :huh:

 

Works fine for us!

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I got a Geomate Jr. & the update cable from Amazon the other day for $46 shipped. I was kinda leery about getting at first because of its lack of features but for $46 I figured what the heck. I'm about ready to send it back. When I update it it will do nothing and if i press the update button while it isn't doing anything i get "You are currently updating your device. We recommend you wait till update is complete", or I get a "NAVIT_STATUS_ERROR". If i select an update i get "Type Error: "Null" is null or not an object". I've already gone through one set of batteries trying to update it. Batteries in my Etrex will easily last a year so i find it discouraging that batteries in this thing only last a few hours. Lame is to nice of a word to describe Geomates "support" pages on their website. If i don't get it figured out in the next couple of days (or the second set of batteries) it will be going back to Amazon.

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I picked one of these up from Amazon as well and am really impressed. I used the update kit to load the Canadian database and then loaded my car GPS with all the local caches. I drove to one and turned on the Geomate, it quickly acquired the satellites and started pointing us to the cache we were planning on. I handed it to my five year old and he got us there with little direction from me.

I got this as an inexpensive way to try out geocaching with my kids and I don't foresee needing anything else. I think I'll buy another one for my daughter.

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which internet browser are you using.

 

Mine belched when using Google Chrome ... fortunately the PC did it in front of the repair person and he could never get it to work on Google Chrome.

 

I have had to download the geomate software each time I have up-dated. Sooooooo try downloading the software again and just for grins try another browser.

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I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to update my daughter's Geomate and here is what I found:

1) You must use Internet Explorer

2) Turn off the Geomate, plug it in, turn it on and then fire up IE.

 

The key thing is that the software does not seem compatible with Firefox or Chrome.

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The geomate jr and update kit that I got from Amazon for Christmas worked fine with IE 8 and Windows 7. I fiddled a bit since I was confused by the Geomate.Jr Settings page. I couldn't tell what the 5 characters max field was for. So I looked at the page source and saw that there were some hidden rows in the table. Using IE's developer tools I unhid those rows and turned on the bonus page (as well as setting the device nickname to NIKJR). It has some interesting bits that you can scroll through, such as HDP (?) and SPD along with UTC and Local time and a few other things I didn't have a clue about (I'm pretty new to GPS and geocaching).

 

Is it possible to just let users pick existing caches from the geocaching.com website on the custom caches page?

 

John

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A bit more fiddling and I see that the locations that I add to a custom cache list are stored here:

 

http://geomatejr.locationsmart.com/

 

Same username and password as used on mygeomate.com. That's great and all but the locations are all owned by Apisphere/Geomate and as far as I can tell I can see and/or delete any of the locations from the Zones tab after I login to this site. Apisphere may want to do something about that.

 

The rest of the tabs are a little bit worrisome since they seem to be related to mass SMS campaigns or something along those lines.

 

John

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Just got my geomate jr and update kit. When I plug the update cord up to the computer it does nothing. Does anyone know what am I missing? I also can't figure out how to log my find????

 

Thanks for any help:)

 

Hi,

 

I work for Apisphere and I would like to help, but can you give me some more details.... does the geomate do nothing, or is it the computer not reconizing the Update Kit?

 

To log your cache as found press and hold the small button, until 'cache saved' pops up on the screen.

 

Email me at jo.vaughn@apipshere.com and we can get you updated in no time!

 

Thanks,

 

Jo

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which internet browser are you using.

 

Mine belched when using Google Chrome ... fortunately the PC did it in front of the repair person and he could never get it to work on Google Chrome.

 

I have had to download the geomate software each time I have up-dated. Sooooooo try downloading the software again and just for grins try another browser.

 

Hey,

 

I work for Apisphere and i just wanted to offer some support. The Update process is meant to be very simple and is meant to require only 1 download. if you want to contact me directly we can see if we can resolve this issue. Jo.vaughn@apisphere.com

 

Thanks!

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I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to update my daughter's Geomate and here is what I found:

1) You must use Internet Explorer

2) Turn off the Geomate, plug it in, turn it on and then fire up IE.

 

The key thing is that the software does not seem compatible with Firefox or Chrome.

 

Hi,

 

I just wanted to let you know that we do work with Firefox, there is just one setting that needs to be changed. Here is what needs to be changed. (Dont worry it is simple!) We are continuing to work on eliminating this step.

 

You will need to change some security settings on Firefox. You will need to:

1.Type "about:config" into the URL address field and hit "enter". After saying "yes, I'll be careful", This will open up and new window.

2.Now find the entry labeled "signed.applets.codebase_principal_support" (It’s near the bottom)

3.Change the value to "true" by double clicking "false". You are now ready to go.

 

I hope this helps, we know it isn't perfect, but as i said we are working on getting it to be a simple smooth update.

 

Thanks,

Jo

 

if you have any questions please email me at jo.vaughn@apisphere.com

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I felt like I have written this and tried to explain this to many times, lol.....here goes again......

I have a dakota 10, but I bought a geomate jr for my son to use when we cache. I also am seeing how it works because i'm a school teacher and am thinking about purchasing a few to start caching in our school come the spring.

 

i have tried DL'ing custom caches around our school into the geomate through the website, but everytime I do it, I get a "Flash Programming Failed" response after it says it's working for 5 minutes. I'm computer able and I think I have done all that I can do to try and figure it out. It has loaded on it the Eastern US cache update. I have read this gets taken out when you put in custom caches. i'm wondering if I have to manually delete them before trying to load customs? I can't see a spot to delete them anyhow, lol. I updated software, read all the troubleshooting stuff, I hope I'm just overlooking something very simple. Thank you to anyone who can assist.

 

Happy caching :D ,

 

Thompy8

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I went home and tried to do the updates as well. I was told that it may be the school firewall that was effecting it, but it wasn't.................. A very nice and quick response from Geomate Central was greatly appreciated as we were a little worried. Thank you and I hope the site gets up quickly!

 

Thompy8

Edited by Thompy8
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I was unable to get my update kit to work, it seems as though the chip failed. The first time I plugged it in my computer detected it but I had issues with the software so I had to unplug the cable and try again.

 

When I plugged it back in my computer did not detect that the cable was plugged into the USB ports I tried it on 3 different computers and had the same results. I tried every single tip and trick on the net and couldn't get it to work.

 

Finally I e-mailed support. Jo you are awesome! Thank you so much for taking care of everything for me. Even though we will have to wait for the unit I really appreciate Geomate Jr.'s support staff for all of their assistance.

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Is there a general helpbox one can email to? or a chat room? I have just purchased a geomate jr and update kit (together) and I cannot get the update to wrok. Error 2203 and flash issues, etc.... I have installed, uninstalled, re-installed; wasted about 4 hours already.... HELP!!!

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I was unable to get my update kit to work, it seems as though the chip failed. The first time I plugged it in my computer detected it but I had issues with the software so I had to unplug the cable and try again.

 

When I plugged it back in my computer did not detect that the cable was plugged into the USB ports I tried it on 3 different computers and had the same results. I tried every single tip and trick on the net and couldn't get it to work.

 

Finally I e-mailed support. Jo you are awesome! Thank you so much for taking care of everything for me. Even though we will have to wait for the unit I really appreciate Geomate Jr.'s support staff for all of their assistance.

 

They should have designed and be making better software available. What a frustrating experience it is attempting to download and use the Geomate Jr. Software Kit . . . .

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I have been using a Geomate Jr. since July and love it for its ease of use. I also go it through Amazon for $49 - but now it is back up to $63 - so the $25 for the update kit (cord) was worth it.

 

You need to register at mygeomate.com. Plug the update cord to your geomate jr. (keep it turned off). Plug it into your computer and turn on your geomate jr. Go to to the website (mygeomate.com) and click on the update link. It will take you to the update page. Set the location (east, central, west, etc.) the date (current) and it will update.

 

Geomate updated their website about 2 months ago and that caused problems for me but now I am able to use it with no problem. Good luck. I just bought a Garmin eTrex10 but have not taken it out of the boxs yet.

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Quick question that I didn't see answered...when using the update kit, say to import a PQ, do the caches in that PQ get added to the 250,000 already in the Geomate Jr., or do they replace the 250,000 that's already there? I would hope it just adds them to the ones already listed.....

 

In any case, I already purchased a Geomate Jr. and an update kit for my sons to use, but wanted to get some additional clarification.

 

Thanks

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Just got my geomate jr and update kit. When I plug the update cord up to the computer it does nothing. Does anyone know what am I missing? I also can't figure out how to log my find????

 

Thanks for any help:)

 

This is Waz here. Disclaimer: I work for Geomate.jr! Just letting you know that we are here to help. So if you have any questions about the update process or are having problems making your computer cooperate, please email us at geomate.support@apisphere.com and we'll have you up and running in no time.

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Is there a general helpbox one can email to? or a chat room? I have just purchased a geomate jr and update kit (together) and I cannot get the update to wrok. Error 2203 and flash issues, etc.... I have installed, uninstalled, re-installed; wasted about 4 hours already.... HELP!!!

 

Waz from Geomate.jr here - we are here to help! Please feel free to email geomate.support@apisphere.com anytime and we'll get you up and running in no time.

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Quick question that I didn't see answered...when using the update kit, say to import a PQ, do the caches in that PQ get added to the 250,000 already in the Geomate Jr., or do they replace the 250,000 that's already there? I would hope it just adds them to the ones already listed.....

 

In any case, I already purchased a Geomate Jr. and an update kit for my sons to use, but wanted to get some additional clarification.

 

Thanks

 

G'day Fyguy1111

 

It's Waz here, and I work for Geomate.jr. To answer your question, a Pocket Query will actually replace your loaded 250,000 caches. But once you have finished with your PQ, just use the update kit to select a region of the world and reload another 250,000 geocaches.

 

I hope this helps!

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Quick question that I didn't see answered...when using the update kit, say to import a PQ, do the caches in that PQ get added to the 250,000 already in the Geomate Jr., or do they replace the 250,000 that's already there? I would hope it just adds them to the ones already listed.....

 

In any case, I already purchased a Geomate Jr. and an update kit for my sons to use, but wanted to get some additional clarification.

 

Thanks

 

G'day Fyguy1111

 

It's Waz here, and I work for Geomate.jr. To answer your question, a Pocket Query will actually replace your loaded 250,000 caches. But once you have finished with your PQ, just use the update kit to select a region of the world and reload another 250,000 geocaches.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Thanks, Waz. But as a parent of a new user of the Geomate Jr., I don't think we'd ever go an upload the 250,000 caches again once we start using PQs. The issue I can see is the inability of the 250,000 download to differentiate between their own "found" caches and new ones, and the possibility of "finding" a cache a 2nd time.

 

But thanks for the info and I'm sure my boys will look forward to trying it out on December 25th...probably bright and early :D

Edited by Fryguy1111
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Am wondering if anyone can help me with my updating issues that I am having with my Geomate jr. When I go to get a update the date for the update is 12/30. For some reason it is not giving me a update with todays date. I have tried contacting Geomate Jr people for about two weeks with no luck. Any help would be appreciated

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I noticed the same problem today. Been asking for years for some utility to let me load my own caches to the device(NOT JUST ONE PQ). If they are out of business maybe they could at least release that utility now or talk to Clyde at GSAK to allow some updating thru GSAK. Was always inconvenient having to upload caches thru their website. Sort of backwards in fact. Love the device though with current caches loaded.

 

If the website goes down, the device will be dead though.

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:( So what do we do now? I guess I'll have to hurry and order an update kit...when I click on the link on the website, I get a message that 'this type of file could harm my system', and the computer keeps warning me the further along I got. So I'm assuming the update software is safe to download? And how long will this be good for? Can we keep downloading new caches to the geomate in the years to come, long after this company's demise? Is the company totally dissolving, or is it being restructured/reorganized under new management/owners?
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On another link someone got the following web site (geomatejr.com) that has a update that allows you to load a PQ on to your JR. I am having issues loading it on my computer as my Norton antivirus wont let me load it. Don't know if it is the geomate jr software with the issue or it is my computer.

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Hello,

 

I bought two of these and the update cable. The update cable drivers installed and seems to be working (red light and it says The Geomate jr. update Kit detected) but when I attempt to update either of the two units I get an error that says "Flash programming failed. ...Cannot open port."

Please let me know if there is anyone who can help me get these updated for my boys.

 

Thanks,

 

Greg

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Hello,

 

I bought two of these and the update cable. The update cable drivers installed and seems to be working (red light and it says The Geomate jr. update Kit detected) but when I attempt to update either of the two units I get an error that says "Flash programming failed. ...Cannot open port."

Please let me know if there is anyone who can help me get these updated for my boys.

 

Thanks,

 

Greg

 

hello

It might be a win7 error, I have the same error on a win7-32bit but it work on win-xp in virtualbox.

By the way, the latest europe update (8/21) give an error in the geomate (bad db)

 

Good luck, pleas report back if you find a solution

 

PT

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Hello,

 

I bought two of these and the update cable. The update cable drivers installed and seems to be working (red light and it says The Geomate jr. update Kit detected) but when I attempt to update either of the two units I get an error that says "Flash programming failed. ...Cannot open port."

Please let me know if there is anyone who can help me get these updated for my boys.

 

Thanks,

 

Greg

 

try making sure the com port is set to a low number for the update cable - solved the problem for me! see another post I just made

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