GC number versus name

[+DonB]

It would be nice if the send to gps on the cache page would give the option to show the name instead of the GC number. Unless you have a photographic memory a list of GC numbers are pretty useless.

[+Markwell]

Except that GC numbers are unique. There are 147 caches named "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" and 75 caches named "Where the Sidewalk Ends". My first GPS had waypoint names that could only be 6 characters. In the GONIL region alone if the GPS only took the first 6 characters of the cache name, there would be 147 caches out of over 7400 with the first 6 characters of "CHICAG", ten characters would be 55 caches starting with "ChicagoPar".

 

The GPS and your memory need something UNIQUE to identify the cache. Many times if I'm caching on the fly (traditional caches only) I don't even look at the cache name until I'm ready to log it.

Edited June 6, 2010 by Markwell

[+pppingme]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't imagine loading more than a couple of caches using the send to gps tool, its just too slow.

 

Knowing that, I don't think uniqueness of names would really be an issue?

 

The only thing I use it for is a last minute ftf's and such, and I do find the gc codes to be annoying.

[+DonB]

Except that GC numbers are unique. There are 147 caches named "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" and 75 caches named "Where the Sidewalk Ends". My first GPS had waypoint names that could only be 6 characters. In the GONIL region alone if the GPS only took the first 6 characters of the cache name, there would be 147 caches out of over 7400 with the first 6 characters of "CHICAG", ten characters would be 55 caches starting with "ChicagoPar".

 

The GPS and your memory need something UNIQUE to identify the cache. Many times if I'm caching on the fly (traditional caches only) I don't even look at the cache name until I'm ready to log it.

I don't do PQs that cover the whole U.S. and I don't think too many other people do either. The ones I do are for mostly a city with maybe a 50 mile radius, so I think the odds of two caches with the same name would be pretty slim. I have also done caches along a route from Wisconsin to Utah and don't remember ever having two caches with the same name. If you reread my original post you will see I did say make it an option to get GC number or name. EasyGPS does it with a gpx file so I'm sure the programmers at Groundspeak could do it

[+Markwell]

I don't do PQs that cover the whole U.S. and I don't think too many other people do either. The ones I do are for mostly a city with maybe a 50 mile radius, so I think the odds of two caches with the same name would be pretty slim. I have also done caches along a route from Wisconsin to Utah and don't remember ever having two caches with the same name. If you reread my original post you will see I did say make it an option to get GC number or name. EasyGPS does it with a gpx file so I'm sure the programmers at Groundspeak could do it

If you reread my original post you will see...

My first GPS had waypoint names that could only be 6 characters. In the GONIL region alone if the GPS only took the first 6 characters of the cache name, there would be 147 caches...with the first 6 characters of "CHICAG".

I guess I've never used the "load one GPX at a time" feature. That to me seems just shy of the laborious method of hand-entering. I can run a PQ of the area fresh, get the results for download in less than 5 minutes, take the GPX file, open in GSAK and push to my GPS with the spin I normally have - separate cache icons for sizes, the GC code with the second character stripped out and a D#T# tied to the end. The cache I found yesterday was labeled G284JZD2T2 with a "regular" icon.

 

In that 5-7 minutes of time, I loaded 950 caches.

[+dakboy]

It does on my DeLorme.

 

Take it up with your GPS manufacturer, it's their manipulation (or lack thereof) of the data you want changed in the plugin.

[+Team Cotati]

I don't believed that there are 75 geocaches named: "Where the Sidewalk Ends".

[+Markwell]

Yep - 45. Thirty of them have other portions to the name.

[+StarBrand]

I like the uniqueness of the GC code and much perfer it when Geocaching.

 

No need for a photographic memory - use the GC code as a reference to the friendly name.

 

Also keep in mind that in some areas - using the name isn't a good idea as cachers sometimes have series with names like "The wonderful tiki's best sidewalk accessible cache number 23" etc, etc - most units won't display enough of that to make it unique.

[+tzipora]

In my GPS, I can toggle back and forth so I can see either GC codes or cache names. There are handinesses to both, and I switch the display fairly frequently.

 

We've got several caches in my area named "oceanview" or "ocean view", and if I want to figure out if I've got a particular cache loaded into my GPS it's much easier to search by GC code. It's annoying to have to go through them one by one to see which is the right one.

 

That said, if I'm at Ocean View Park and want to see if I've got a cache by that name in my GPS because I met up with another geocacher who said it was pretty awesome, the GC code isn't particularly helpful.

 

Trust me, whichever way it's set up, you're going to find it annoying in some situation or another. Find out if you can switch the display in your GPS, and you're going to be much happier.

[+DonB]

It does on my DeLorme.

 

Take it up with your GPS manufacturer, it's their manipulation (or lack thereof) of the data you want changed in the plugin.

When I do a send to gps I'm not even sure that GS sends the name. I don't know why everyone is making a big deal out of my request, I did say make it an option, if you don't want the name stay with the GC number

[+dakboy]

It does on my DeLorme.

 

Take it up with your GPS manufacturer, it's their manipulation (or lack thereof) of the data you want changed in the plugin.

When I do a send to gps I'm not even sure that GS sends the name. I don't know why everyone is making a big deal out of my request, I did say make it an option, if you don't want the name stay with the GC number

Groundspeak does send the name. It's up to your GPS vendor's plug-in to decide how to handle the data. If you want an option, it has to come from that plug-in, which Groundspeak did not develop - the GPS vendor did.

[+briansnat]

Except that GC numbers are unique. There are 147 caches named "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" and 75 caches named "Where the Sidewalk Ends". My first GPS had waypoint names that could only be 6 characters. In the GONIL region alone if the GPS only took the first 6 characters of the cache name, there would be 147 caches out of over 7400 with the first 6 characters of "CHICAG", ten characters would be 55 caches starting with "ChicagoPar".

 

The GPS and your memory need something UNIQUE to identify the cache. Many times if I'm caching on the fly (traditional caches only) I don't even look at the cache name until I'm ready to log it.

 

I agree. The cache name is irrelevant to me unless I'm discussing caches with fellow cachers. But for practical purposes while geocaching and using this website, the GC number is all I need to know and sometimes it is all I do know until I log the cache. And finding the correct cache is so much easier on this website using the GC#.

 

Using the name also becomes a problem if you are looking for a series. "Markwell's Marvelous Multi Micro Series #1", "Markwell's Marvelous Multi Micro Series #2" and "Markwell's Marvelous Multi Micro Series #3" etc. all become something like "Markwell's Marvelous Multi Mic" on some of my units, miking it difficult to tell which one I'm looking for.

[MnCo]

Except that GC numbers are unique. There are 147 caches named "Between a Rock and a Hard Place" and 75 caches named "Where the Sidewalk Ends". My first GPS had waypoint names that could only be 6 characters. In the GONIL region alone if the GPS only took the first 6 characters of the cache name, there would be 147 caches out of over 7400 with the first 6 characters of "CHICAG", ten characters would be 55 caches starting with "ChicagoPar".

 

The GPS and your memory need something UNIQUE to identify the cache. Many times if I'm caching on the fly (traditional caches only) I don't even look at the cache name until I'm ready to log it.

 

If you use GSAK to send waypoints to your GPS, you can use smart names to make them all unique.

[+paleolith]

It's obvious that some people are happy looking at GC codes. Others are not. I've observed this disparity even among the few geocachers I know personally. General human interface guidelines say that people in general get along better with names than with codes.

 

When I download direct from the web page, I send it to GSAK -- I have the association set so that GSAK automatically gets that file type. Then the last thing that happens is I load the GPSr from GSAK, which as noted above adds a "smart name" which it guarantees to be unique in the chosen database yet is easily recognizable about 95% of the time. It still has trouble with "Marksick's Malleable Mumbling Mickey Sickies ###", but ... well, I have problems with those too.

 

Edward