Newbie help needed near Southampton

[+sydnsue]

Hi

Is there anyone in the Southampton area or better still near Chandlers Ford who would be able to offer guidance to us. I haven't even tried a cache yet as I am having major problems trying to get my computer to talk to an Etrex, which I gather is a well known problem. Possibly I need to change to a better GPS, but before I start spending large sums of money, it would be good to speak to someone face to face who could get us on the right track. If anyone has the time, me and the wife would be very grateful.

Regards

Syd & Sue

[+MartyBartfast]

Hi

Is there anyone in the Southampton area or better still near Chandlers Ford who would be able to offer guidance to us. I haven't even tried a cache yet as I am having major problems trying to get my computer to talk to an Etrex, which I gather is a well known problem. Possibly I need to change to a better GPS, but before I start spending large sums of money, it would be good to speak to someone face to face who could get us on the right track. If anyone has the time, me and the wife would be very grateful.

Regards

Syd & Sue

 

I'm the wrong side of Hampshire but if you can get to the Hampshire Midweek event in Old Portsmouth on the evening of June 9th there will be dozens of cachers there, and I'm sure you'll be able to find someone to help.

[GerritS]

Hi

Is there anyone in the Southampton area or better still near Chandlers Ford who would be able to offer guidance to us. I haven't even tried a cache yet as I am having major problems trying to get my computer to talk to an Etrex, which I gather is a well known problem. Possibly I need to change to a better GPS, but before I start spending large sums of money, it would be good to speak to someone face to face who could get us on the right track. If anyone has the time, me and the wife would be very grateful.

Regards

Syd & Sue

 

I'm the wrong side of Hampshire but if you can get to the Hampshire Midweek event in Old Portsmouth on the evening of June 9th there will be dozens of cachers there, and I'm sure you'll be able to find someone to help.

 

I had a yellow etrex fo a whilst, my solution was a serial to usb cable and EasyGPX. Although I think you need premium membership to get the GPX Files.

 

Or just do it the old fashioned way decide on an area near you with caches in. Read some logs look for comments like easy finds. Print the cache notes and plug the waypoints in manually before you set off or on the hoof...

 

Tichfield 10 K series is not a cache route if you fancy a day out lots of caches near there... But there are plenty all over, The grounds of Nettly Abbey are nice but there is one there I keep Not finding!

 

Also if you look North of burselden bridge some nice caches there(country park cannot remember the name)...

 

Tip for you I always used to cut and paste the essential information only... Coordinates last 5 or more logs and the clue decrypted. I used to copy and past them into word document saved lots of paper.Although for your first few might be worth having ALL the information then you can decide what you want.

 

The satisfaction of finding your first on your own is not to be missed...

 

GO FOR IT!

 

Presently I am at sea so cannot offer to help although the hampshire event is a friendly affair (like all cache events).

[+Bambography]

I too say go for the event, although your first is likely to be a little daunting. That said, us cachers are a friendly bunch! All of the advice above is good.

 

You don't have to get the GPS hooked up to get out there, tap them in by hand just to get a taster, then get technical later.

 

I'm up in Basingstoke and am willing to give you a hand and pointer if you want. However i'd have to ask you to come this way as i'm carless next week. If you are around Wednesday or Thursday (preferred) evening then you're welcome to come up here for a walk!

 

Drop me an email via my profile if you want and i'll get back to you Monday night as i'm going away for a couple of days.

[+MartyBartfast]

...

Or just do it the old fashioned way decide on an area near you with caches in. Read some logs look for comments like easy finds. Print the cache notes and plug the waypoints in manually before you set off or on the hoof...

...

The satisfaction of finding your first on your own is not to be missed...

...

 

Yep, that's the way I did it when I started too, so you can get out there and start hunting even if you haven't sorted out all the technology yet.

 

If you can't make the event I linked to, there's a regular monthly meet on the second Wednesday of every month, which moves round the county, so it will be coming your way soon. There's often around 30 people there both old lags and newbies, so there will be a wealth of experience to feed off, and people will always be happy to tell you of their favourite caches in the area

[team tisri]

Hi

Is there anyone in the Southampton area or better still near Chandlers Ford who would be able to offer guidance to us. I haven't even tried a cache yet as I am having major problems trying to get my computer to talk to an Etrex, which I gather is a well known problem. Possibly I need to change to a better GPS, but before I start spending large sums of money, it would be good to speak to someone face to face who could get us on the right track. If anyone has the time, me and the wife would be very grateful.

Regards

Syd & Sue

 

If you want an excuse to buy a better GPS then go for it. You should be able to get a computer to talk to an Etrex, as long as you've got the right data cable and configuration.

 

From what I recall the Etrex uses a serial cable, although I forget what connector on the GPS end of the cable. I remember having some problems when trying to use a USB cable to update by GPS with software that expected a serial cable. If your problems are just down to adapters they should be easy enough to fix. Unfortunately I'm not that close to Southampton so can't stop by and help you in person.

[+sydnsue]

Thanks for the replies everyone. We intended going to the meet down at Pompey tonight, but something has popped up so we can't make it. Maybe the next one. I delayed replying because it turned out the cable I bought was faulty, so I waited until the replacement arrived. Mixed success. I use Fugawi so I entered a route and it sent it to the Etrex no problem. I then tried sending coordinates from Geocaching, but it said no device found. I tried sending using EasyGPS but that also said no device found. Seems strange that Fugawi can see it, but not the other software. It looks laborious entering manually but I will try it just to get a few caches. If we enjoy it (I'm sure the dog will) then it looks like a more expensive GPS will be needed (unless the above has given anyone a clue to what is wrong). Thnaks for the replies, and if anyone has any more suggestions............

[+Bear and Ragged]

Its called EasyGPS but can be a little difficult to set up!

 

Have you set up the preferences for your GPS connection?

 

Start EasyGPS.

Connect GPS and turn on.

Edit > Preferences > My GPS receiver. Select or add from the list, click ok

 

Now, when you select GPS > Display GPS Information it should show the GPS info

 

Whilst in the Preferences, set the Units of Measure and My Coordinates format (WGS84), and Geocache Username.

 

Once done, this should all stay as set.

 

You should now be able to send and receive to/from your GPS.

[+jason johnson]

Welcome to the club

I found my first 800 or so by entering the co-ords manually into my etrex h. I used to write the cache name, coordinates and the decrypted clue down in a note book and tick them off as I found them. It is a bit restrictive doing it this way as I had to sit down and plan which caches I wanted to get and in what order.

I did get the cable and serial to usb converter for it but never had much success in getting the gps and the `puter to speak to each other and in the end just carried on with the notebook and the sore thumb.

[+londontavern]

Just a thought but if Fugawi can talk to the gps then for sure you have communication (cables ok etc).

 

However geocaching.com uses a different 'driver' to communicate with the device. This is the garmin communicator download from http://www8.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3607 simply download and install.

 

One other small point (if you already have communicator installed) Fugawi may have control of the 'port' that the device is connected to, so close the Fugawi program and try again. If that fails then switch the gps of then switch back on and try again.

[+sydnsue]

Hi Bear & Ragged - had already done all you suggested but still no luck. It will not show the GPS info, I just get an error stating no information was received from the unit.

 

Jason - As you say, a bit restrictive. I can see that and we haven't even started yet which is why I was trying to start the right way. I can see the benefit of being able to enter several caches in the form of a route. We have many many caches listed where we live.

 

Londontavern - The fact that Fugawi is talking to the Etrex, yet geocaching and EsyGPS are not, is what perplexes me. I know computers so I know it is a software or driver problem. The problems are still there after Fugawi has closed out. Believe me, I have tried everything.....I think. As Jason stated above, the serial/USB converters don't seem to be very reliable with some software. To be fair, Garmin Communicator that geocaching.com uses, states there may be incompatibility with serial/USB connections. Looks like I need a notebook and do it the hard way.

[+Bear and Ragged]

I'm flummuxed..!

 

Just a thought.

How are you setting the connection of the adaptor?

Although it is a USB connection, it still needs to have any connection preferences on the computer set as serial...

Strange I know, but has worked for others (including me!) previously.

[+sTeamTraen]

Jason - As you say, a bit restrictive. I can see that and we haven't even started yet which is why I was trying to start the right way. I can see the benefit of being able to enter several caches in the form of a route.

I suspect that you may be trying too hard. It's as if you decided that you want to learn to cook, so you spend a week trying to get the phone number of Jamie Oliver's agent. I've being caching for over 6 years and I have no idea how to enter caches in the form of a route.

 

Read the GPS manual and learn how to mark a waypoint and (manually) change its coordinates. Then do that, putting in the coordinates of one nearby "Traditional" cache, preferably one where the size is "Regular" and the Difficulty and Terrain are two stars or less. Tell the GPS to go to that waypoint. Find the cache. Repeat 6 times. At that point you will either be bored or hooked. When you're hooked, we'll be waiting for you here.

Edited June 11, 2010 by sTeamTraen

[+jason johnson]

I've being caching for over 6 years and I have no idea how to enter caches in the form of a route.

 

Mark a waypoint, but edit the location to that of the cache you want to find and save it as 1. same for the next in line but save it as number 2 etc. etc. then simply move along from 1 to 2 to 3. If you`re looking at a circular walk or series the order to do them should be obvious on the map screen.

 

To the op, best thing to do is enter a few manually and just get out there and find them, worry about the ins and outs once you`ve got a few under your belts

[+londontavern]

OK then, here is a another grasp at straws.

 

I seem to recall that geocaching .com had a problem with IE6.

 

If you are using this version ugrade to IE7 or later.

 

Or even better change to Mozilla Firefox and make use of the scripts that interact with the geocache pages.

[GerritS]

I've being caching for over 6 years and I have no idea how to enter caches in the form of a route.

 

Mark a waypoint, but edit the location to that of the cache you want to find and save it as 1. same for the next in line but save it as number 2 etc. etc. then simply move along from 1 to 2 to 3. If you`re looking at a circular walk or series the order to do them should be obvious on the map screen.

 

To the op, best thing to do is enter a few manually and just get out there and find them, worry about the ins and outs once you`ve got a few under your belts

 

Here Here... I have put caches into a route and found it a total pain, or am doing something wrong before I find the cache the GPS has decided I have arrived and jumped to the next one...

 

Find some caches enjoy.... When I started I planned my caching allot more yes I found more caches but now there are so many cache I just pic and choose and enjoy...

 

Start with paper decide what you like then go for resolving those pesky inputs...

[+jason johnson]

Here Here... I have put caches into a route and found it a total pain, or am doing something wrong before I find the cache the GPS has decided I have arrived and jumped to the next one...

 

Aahhh now I see, instead of using the routes feature on the gps navigate to the waypoints one at a time. E.G. if I did a series of 4 caches I would mark each one as a waypoint at home, making sure I entered the co-ords from the cache page in the order I wanted to do them and number them 1 to 4. Then when I went out I would select waypoints, number 1 and GOTO. This would lead me to the first cache. Once I`d found the first cache I would select waypoints, select waypoint number 2 and GOTO. this then takes you off to the next in the series, and so on.

Hope that`s a bit clearer.

[+sydnsue]

Once again, thanks for all the suggestions. We found our first few caches today, despite all the brambles. I found one immediate problem that confirms the idea of paperless. I entered a wrong coordinate. There was no way I was going to walk 64 miles to the next cache I pumped in 10 caches before we went, and it took a while. The bottom line is.......we enjoyed it instantly, so if I can't get this Etrex to talk nicely to the PC, then I shall Ebay it, and get a better model. I am sure there is a thread on here discussing the models, so more reading needed.

Edited June 13, 2010 by sydnsue

[+Bear and Ragged]

I tried sending using EasyGPS but that also said no device found. Seems strange that Fugawi can see it, but not the other software.

 

Is the connection/interface on the GPS set to Garmin connection?

[+sydnsue]

Is the connection/interface on the GPS set to Garmin connection?

 

Yes it is. In fact I tried all the other options also to no avail. LondonTavern has kindly offered to to visit us this evening after work as he has solved this problem for a couple of others. Fingers crossed.

[+Bear and Ragged]

Is the connection/interface on the GPS set to Garmin connection?

 

Yes it is. In fact I tried all the other options also to no avail. LondonTavern has kindly offered to to visit us this evening after work as he has solved this problem for a couple of others. Fingers crossed.

Good Luck!

Let us all know how it was solved -if it is solved!

 

The only other thing that comes to mind is USB.

It comes from the Apple/Mac stable, and is designed to be 'plug and play' and able to be used in any socket...

I have a Mac and it is so. Plug in, it's recognised, unplug and plug in to another socket -recognised.

 

However, on the PC lappy, it seems windoze/microsoft haven't been able to embrace things quite so well, as windoze machines still like to have their 'Ports' -plug in wait for it to be recognised, unplug and plug in another socket -unrecognised!

[+sydnsue]

Thanks to LondonTavern, problem solved but the mystery deepens. As promised he brought his laptop with him, logged in to geocaching, connected my Etrex and it worked perfectly. Transferred the Etrex to my PC and it works. We made no changes to laptop, PC or GPS. We didn't look at drivers, software, firmware...nothing. I know a lot about computers but this is unexplainable. Somehow his laptop "nudged" the Etrex with something. Sounds crazy but we did nothing else. We tried his cable and mine, and both work. Bottom line is that everything is working. Thanks LT and thanks everyone else for your time.

Edited June 17, 2010 by sydnsue