eXplorist 500 Question

[+fishgeek]

I've had my 500 since 2006 and thought I knew everything that there was to know about it. As a recent PM, I just started uploading PQ's to my SD card using MapSend Lite. I have been loading the cache waypoint file and the caches themselves, deleting caches if there are more than 200, and them saving them to the GPS. When I tried to GoTo one of the waypoints, I could not find them. They are not in the Geocache file, and I cannot find anywhere in the Waypoint menu.

 

As an experiment, I created a geocache file that had only waypoints. After selecting it in Active Setup, I tried to GoTo Geocaches and there were no points to go to.

 

I am stumped.

 

I have been limiting my PQ's to 180 caches to leave spaces for the waypoints. I guess that I'll get the other 20 caches back.

[+ace862]

First thing that comes to mind is SD card. It could be the difference between looking in internal memory or the SD card? Other than that, you've got me stumped too. However I've never used MapSend to load caches. I've always used GSAK. GSAK will export the correct file format and then it's a matter of just dragging and dropping into the Geocache directory.

If I can think of anything else I'll let you know.

Cheers!

[+fishgeek]

I figured out the problem, but I don't have a good solution for it. The 500 doesn't display them because they do not have a name. I opened a .gs file in Notepad and all of the waypoints were there. I copied the ID and pasted it one comma over where the name should be. The cache waypoints were now shown in both the GoTo and Waypoint-Geocache menus. They can also be edited in MapSend. Either process is a PITA, and I can't see redoing it each week after I re-run the PQ.

 

Can GSAK be made to upload all of the data for waypoints? I'm either going to stop worrying about the waypoints or have to look at GSAK. It would also be nice to have the cache size. There's a space in MapSend, but not on the 500.

 

First thing that comes to mind is SD card. It could be the difference between looking in internal memory or the SD card? Other than that, you've got me stumped too. However I've never used MapSend to load caches. I've always used GSAK. GSAK will export the correct file format and then it's a matter of just dragging and dropping into the Geocache directory.

If I can think of anything else I'll let you know.

Cheers!

[+ace862]

 

Can GSAK be made to upload all of the data for waypoints? I'm either going to stop worrying about the waypoints or have to look at GSAK. It would also be nice to have the cache size. There's a space in MapSend, but not on the 500.

 

Yes, GSAK will upload all the info for caches. It includes cache name, coordinates, difficulty, terrain, owner, date placed, last found and the hint (up to 50 characters). As well it will include any child waypoints associated with the cache (parking coords, trailhead, etc.) But those will show up like a cache and take up the space of a cache out of your 200 maximum per geocache file. I don't generally include the child waypoints for caches when I upload them. I use CacheMate for paperless caching and they are normally listed on the cache page. If I really need them then I manually enter them as a POI.

It may sound confusing at first but it's really quite simple once you've done it a couple of times. If you need, my local geocaching site has some great simple tutorials on GSAK that I can share with you.

Hope this helps some.

Cheers!

Edited March 18, 2010 by ace862

[+fishgeek]

Thanks for the info. I'd appreciate the links to the GSAK tutorials.

 

 

Can GSAK be made to upload all of the data for waypoints? I'm either going to stop worrying about the waypoints or have to look at GSAK. It would also be nice to have the cache size. There's a space in MapSend, but not on the 500.

 

Yes, GSAK will upload all the info for caches. It includes cache name, coordinates, difficulty, terrain, owner, date placed, last found and the hint (up to 50 characters). As well it will include any child waypoints associated with the cache (parking coords, trailhead, etc.) But those will show up like a cache and take up the space of a cache out of your 200 maximum per geocache file. I don't generally include the child waypoints for caches when I upload them. I use CacheMate for paperless caching and they are normally listed on the cache page. If I really need them then I manually enter them as a POI.

It may sound confusing at first but it's really quite simple once you've done it a couple of times. If you need, my local geocaching site has some great simple tutorials on GSAK that I can share with you.

Hope this helps some.

Cheers!

[+ace862]

Sure thing. The tutorials are flash videos and go through some step by step processes. GSAK - First Steps and some more advanced stuff here GSAK - Cool Stuff

If you need anything else just ask.

[+Woodstramp]

I've had my 500 since 2006 and thought I knew everything that there was to know about it. As a recent PM, I just started uploading PQ's to my SD card using MapSend Lite. I have been loading the cache waypoint file and the caches themselves, deleting caches if there are more than 200, and them saving them to the GPS. When I tried to GoTo one of the waypoints, I could not find them. They are not in the Geocache file, and I cannot find anywhere in the Waypoint menu.

 

As an experiment, I created a geocache file that had only waypoints. After selecting it in Active Setup, I tried to GoTo Geocaches and there were no points to go to.

 

I am stumped.

 

I have been limiting my PQ's to 180 caches to leave spaces for the waypoints. I guess that I'll get the other 20 caches back.

 

Fishgeek,

 

I recently had strange PQ problems with my Delorme PN-20. Found out that Groundspeak had made some programming change on the type of GPX files we receive. Check this thread for the solution I used: http://forum.delorme.com/viewtopic.php?p=147961#p147961

 

Also, GSAK is kind of overkill for sending caches to an Explorist. I use EasyGPS. Make sure to "mass" decrypt hints before sending to the GPS.