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goin2drt

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There is not the large selection of software with which to use the GPS on a Mac as there is on Windows. Linux users get the same hit, though I like (and have) Ubuntu Linux as a dual boot on this machine.

 

Windows has THE BEST available suite of applications for GPS use. It wasn't long ago that Garmin didn't even have Mac software available. You can't use GSAK...right now, that's the biggest loss of functionality for non-Windows GPS users.

 

On my machine, I have close to a dozen GPS and GIS applications. Only maybe 1 or 2 of them have Mac versions available.

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I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the GPS and Technology forum.

 

I use a Mac, Oregon 400T and GC.com with no problems at all. The only thing I can't do is run GSAK.

 

So how do you manage your own personally waypoints and such? That is what I was using GSAK for. I know I can just keep them on my Garmin but what if I want to remove them from the Garmin and same them to some software. For the simple GC.com geocaching it seems like I will be fine. Correct?

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So how do you manage your own personally waypoints and such? That is what I was using GSAK for. I know I can just keep them on my Garmin but what if I want to remove them from the Garmin and same them to some software. For the simple GC.com geocaching it seems like I will be fine. Correct?

 

Yes, you can do everything with GC.com that you did on Windows. GSAK will not run at all on a Mac operating system. The only option to run GSAK on your Mac is to install Windows with Parallel Desktop or Boot Camp. I have not done this because I don't want to introduce Windows and deal with all of its issues again. I will keep a PC around just to run GSAK.

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Garmin has a selection of Mac software. I use RoadTrip to manage non-geocache waypoints on my Colorado 400T. You can load pocket query GPX files straight into the GPS without using GSAK.

 

I do run GSAK through Parallels on my Mac, but that's an expensive option.

 

I have purchased Parallel Desktop but have not installed it yet. How does it work and would you recommend it?

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Garmin has a selection of Mac software. I use RoadTrip to manage non-geocache waypoints on my Colorado 400T. You can load pocket query GPX files straight into the GPS without using GSAK.

 

I do run GSAK through Parallels on my Mac, but that's an expensive option.

 

That is awesome. That is what I was looking for. Pocket query option, own waypoints that I load manually into my Garmin and GC ability. That is really all I use. Thanks for that.

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<snip>

 

I do run GSAK through Parallels on my Mac, but that's an expensive option.

 

I have purchased Parallel Desktop but have not installed it yet. How does it work and would you recommend it?

Windows is a separate purchase over and above Parallels, it's not included.

If you have an Intel Mac and BootCamp installed one option is to install Windows

under BootCamp. Also, with a Parallels install you can target that copy of Windows,

allowing "dual-boot", or emulation, depending on your whim.

Another option is to install Parallels and then Windows within Parallels.

I use the second option, so far DeLorme's Topo software works ok, for the most part.

For me 3D was fine after going to Parallels 4, but tracks wouldn't move off device,

others have seen the exact opposite.

I've not moved up to Topo 8, or to Parallels 5 yet, but will when life priorities settle out.

 

Norm

Edited by RRLover
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you made a mistake with the Mac, IMO. You're going to lose GPS functionality with it, regardless of what software you use.

 

Huh, All of my GPSrs work just the same as do ones that have been hooked up to a windoze computer, plus I like my computer to runs well. Macs do not make GPSr slower, less accurate, or jumpy. GSAK is only an organizational software that can also do a little cache stats work too. I like looking for caches in the field better then sitting at a computer and organizing them. I find MacCaching great uploading caches into my 60csx and a straight GC PQ into my Oregon and I get all the cache filtering I need via the GC PQ page. The paperless works just the same Oregon no matter what computer platform you may use to upload your GPSr. For cache stats I like itsnotaboutthenumbers.com. I have never not found a cache because I use a Mac.

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VirtualBox is an alternative to Parallels which is free. I use it on a MacBook Pro with a copy of WIndows XP Pro in order to run Topo 8 for me DeLorme PN-20. It takes a minute of fiddling to get the USB working, but that's par for the course with Windows. Now if there was a way to run this on Solaris I would be excited. :7)

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It has nothing to do with losing functionality of the GPS by using a Mac. It is about losing functionality on your PC. Yes, GSAK is an organizational program...but you don't get that functionality on a Mac with any programs I know of.

 

Topofusion is another program I like to use. Again...no Mac version. So I lose the trail "network" algorithm (among a few other things) if I use a Mac. I use a lot of GIS software. Only program I know of that works on Mac is QGIS. It's really limited in its functionality. I lose the ability to truly design a map in my GIS. I also lose the ability to use certain data formats. The better programs, Manifold and ArcGIS, only work on a Windows platform. ArcGIS is the current industry standard.

 

I also can't use MN DNR Garmin on a Mac. While there are probably other programs that can eventually convert Garmin GPS data into shapefiles, MN DNR Garmin does it easiest. While I may not lose that functionality entirely, I do lose ease of use.

 

I was pointing out that it wasn't long ago that GPS receivers didn't work with Mac computers at all. It had nothing to do with the GPS at all. Everything to do with Apple and the crappy set of GPS programs that are available for them.

 

When I'm at school, there is absolutely no way for me to use my Trimble survey GPS on a Mac. None whatsoever. I work in ESRI geodatabases and use Trimble's own software and extensions for ArcGIS. Windows-only. The GPS itself runs Windows Mobile, so of course it wouldn't work on a Mac. But I get subfoot accuracy with it.

 

All you Mac fanboys just don't like hearing that there's at least one thing that Windows is a better option for.

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It had nothing to do with the GPS at all. Everything to do with Apple and the crappy set of GPS programs that are available for them.
That's not Apple's fault, it's the developers of those applications tying their applications so tightly to Windows that they can't offer a MacOS version.

 

When I'm at school, there is absolutely no way for me to use my Trimble survey GPS on a Mac. None whatsoever. I work in ESRI geodatabases and use Trimble's own software and extensions for ArcGIS. Windows-only. The GPS itself runs Windows Mobile, so of course it wouldn't work on a Mac. But I get subfoot accuracy with it.
Now you're talking about a very narrow-market device which has very, very specific requirements. The fact that a device runs Windows Mobile does not mean that it's impossible for it to interface with a non-Microsoft OS (Windows Mobile shares zero code with Windows for your PC) - the iPhone runs OS X, yet you can connect to a Windows computer with it. There are probably specific versions of Windows that your Trimble doesn't even work with. You can't make this comparison vs. consumer devices, so this whole thing is a red herring.

 

You're really trying to incite a Mac vs. PC flamewar here; tread carefully.

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It's partly a software developer issue. IMO, Apple's corporate behavior stifles innovation by 3rd parties to some degree.

 

The software I know to transfer files to my Windows Mobile device only has Windows versions available, and the only versions of Windows it won't work with are old ones (probably pre-98, but at least pre-95). AFAIK, to install software onto it, you have to run the install package on a computer (Windows-based). Newer versions may be different.

 

It really is a simple truth that there are not the same software solutions for a GPS on a Mac or Linux as there are for Windows. Is that so hard to grasp?

 

There are options nowadays (even though I've pointed out that up until just a few years ago there were none), but the options are still not equal to those in Windows. And by that, there are some things that specific programs can do exclusively that do not have alternatives for the mac.

 

And running a dual boot system or a virtual machine doesn't count. You folks STILL run Windows for the functions you need. I'm talking about stuff running natively in OSX, and there aren't many choices.

 

And unrelated to the topic at hand, it irked me when I built my last system (built it myself) that I could not buy a copy of OSX to try out even as a dual boot system with Windows or Linux. Only way to do this on non-Mac hardware is to download a hacked version because regardless of what Apple tells you, it does not use exactly the same hardware as other machines. Apple requires a special tag (I believe it's in the processor) indicating that it was made for them specifically.

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Well I tried the Garmin Road Trip. That is awesome for what I need my GPS for. I ran a PQ and imported it into Road Trip and downloaded the caches to my Colorado. Worked great and WAAAAAY easier than GSAK. I was never a fan of GSAK as my brain just didn't get it. My only gripe so far is when you import the PQ it lists the caches in Road Trip by cache NUMBER instead of cache NAME.

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I've found lots of geocaches, almost none of which pitstopped on Windows systems or the associated software which is, admittedly, more plentiful than on Mac or Linux. To the specific questions paraphrased from above:

 

1) How do I load a PQ onto a Colorado? Attach the GPS, wait for it to appear in Finder. Drag n Drop your GPX into /Volumes/Garmin/Garmin/GPX. Eject. You're done. "But I can't filter.." "But I can't ignore." Do that in the PQ itself.

 

2) How do I load supplemental points, such as home and friends and family and solved pozzles? Just keep a file of those in whatever format you find convenient and script the copy to always copy that set of points after the PQ itself or just leave it on the device and don't remove it. (THe latter is easier with mass-storage devices that support multiple GPX files than for the protocol-oriented devices.)

 

The script I used for loading my Colorado on Mac is:

 

$ cat ~/bin/toco

OUTDIR=/Volumes/Garmin/Garmin/GPX/

for i in "$@"

do

case $i in

*.gpx)

cp "$i" "$OUTDIR/$i"

;;

*)

cp "$i" "$OUTDIR/${i}.gpx"

;;

esac

done

 

gpsbabel -i gpsutil -f ~/default.wpt -o gpx -F $OUTDIR/default.gpx

 

 

The script for loading my 60CSx/StreetPilot family devices is a little more hairy but similar: send geocaches to the device and then send my default.wpt to the unit.

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Thanks Robert, for addressing the OP's questions. I'll add that if the OP wants some semblance of the functionality of gsak, but running natively on the mac, they might try maccaching, or perhaps geojournal.

 

Mtbikernate, the OP asked some pretty specific questions, and you have proceeded to lash out in a totally off topic way, apparently attempting to derail the OP's questions. If you want to have an os debate, find an appropriate forum for it, but it's not here.

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I neither lashed nor attempted to derail. I was just pointing out that the previous Windows machine was better for utilizing software associated with the GPS. I was subsequently defending my statement from the fanboys who didn't understand what I was pointing out.

 

So if you'd like to chastise me for my behavior, that chastising ought to be directed at all who argued with my point, not just me.

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