GPSmap 60CSx - download hints.

[+KCVentura]

New GPS and new to Geocashing.. Ran into other geocacher's today.. they had the hints etc. from the Geocache website downloaded to their GPS (other garmin model) We thought that I didn't have additional info because I was a basic member. Now signed up for premium and still no additional hint info downloaded.. or is it that I don't know where to find it. Can you tell me if this GPS unit downloads hints etc. and if so.. how do you do it and find it.

Thanks

[+briansnat]

Some other units are "paperless" meaning they show the entire cache page, including the hint. The 60CSX is not a paperless unit. You can however get the hint on the unit using GSAK macros and the Garmin POI loader.

 

I'm moving this to the GPS forum where the experts can point you in the right direction.

[+Thrak]

Some other units are "paperless" meaning they show the entire cache page, including the hint. The 60CSX is not a paperless unit. You can however get the hint on the unit using GSAK macros and the Garmin POI loader.

 

I'm moving this to the GPS forum where the experts can point you in the right direction.

 

Download as a .gpx file and use GSAK. You can set GSAK to send various info depending on the number of characters your unit can display. Your 60CSx should display the same as my 76CSx. Sadly, there isn't much room. If you like using the GC number rather than the cache name you can have it send the GC number and the hint and it will likely fit. You can sometimes fit the GC number, the difficulty, terrain, cache size and the hint depending on how you set it up and how long the hint is. If you just use the "download to gps" link (or whatever it says) you only get a .loc file and won't get squat for info. You NEED to get the caches as a .gpx file.

 

Look into GSAK. It will become your friend.

[+jimnsusie]

New GPS and new to Geocashing.. Ran into other geocacher's today.. they had the hints etc. from the Geocache website downloaded to their GPS (other garmin model) We thought that I didn't have additional info because I was a basic member. Now signed up for premium and still no additional hint info downloaded.. or is it that I don't know where to find it. Can you tell me if this GPS unit downloads hints etc. and if so.. how do you do it and find it.

Thanks

 

I also reccomend you use gsak. With it you can load your pocket queries into your 60csx. Also look up the smart tags. I think there is another name for them but I will put what I use on my 60csx which gives me the smart name for the cache and type of cache and size of container and then some of the hint depending on how long the hint is. When you hit send to gps using gsak, you can set up the format for the gps that you are using. Each gps seems to be different in what you should use to get the info you might want.

 

%smart

 

%typ1%con1-%hint

 

I use the dash in that to separate the hint from the size. Works very well. I recently got an Oregon and really like it since when I load the queries into it, I have just about all the info about the cache. Before I was using a palm with cachemate along with the 60csx and also the iphone with the geocaching app and also geosphere. Kind of a learning curve that keeps changing pretty much for the better.

[+Chuy!]

If you only load up a few waypoints at a time, you can add the hint yourself manually by using MapSource, EasyGPS, or some other software. Each waypoint will have a comment or note field. The fields may hold lots of info but only the first 30 characters get downloaded, plus the first 14 characters in the title.

 

If you save the file as a gpx file and load the waypoints as POIs, then you can add something like 30 characters in the title and 77 in the comment/hint field. But, you must use POI Loader (freeware), to download the waypoints, more commonly referred to as POIs.

 

When you start working with large # of waypoints, GSAK is well worth the $25.

[+briansnat]

If you only load up a few waypoints at a time, you can add the hint yourself manually by using MapSource, EasyGPS, or some other software. Each waypoint will have a comment or note field. The fields may hold lots of info but only the first 30 characters get downloaded, plus the first 14 characters in the title.

 

If you save the file as a gpx file and load the waypoints as POIs, then you can add something like 30 characters in the title and 77 in the comment/hint field. But, you must use POI Loader (freeware), to download the waypoints, more commonly referred to as POIs.

 

When you start working with large # of waypoints, GSAK is well worth the $25.

 

What I've seen people do is load caches twice. First as a regular waypoint, then again as a POI.

 

Using smart tags they massage the waypoint name to add cache size, type, difficulty and terrain and the hint goes into the POI because the comment field is much larger. I've never bothered with this but I hear there are macros out there that will take care of this with a few mouse clicks.

Edited February 21, 2010 by briansnat

[+Chuy!]

 

What I've seen people do is load caches twice. First as a regular waypoint, then again as a POI.

 

Using smart tags they massage the waypoint name to add cache size, type, difficulty and terrain and the hint goes into the POI because the comment field is much larger. I've never bothered with this but I hear there are macros out there that will take care of this with a few mouse clicks.

 

Yep, I do the same thing. I download the closest 950 caches as regular waypoints because I like the geocaching-friendly features, and the waypoint gets logged in my calendar in the order I find them. As a backup, I download the nearest 2000 caches as custom POIs using GSAK's 60CSxPOI macro which loads up the cache description, up to last 6 logs, hints, user logs, and several other optional data. For the few minutes it takes to load all this up, it's worth the time and effort in the field - if you do alot of caching. For the occasional cacher, it may not be worth the extra time and effort.