Waypoint Management on 60csx

[+TheWinterTrio]

Hi, I'm just getting started and am wondering how people handle the 1000 waypoint limit... I like to just load it up and then not have to touch it for a while, but I end up filling the memory and having to delete things in the field to make space...

 

I was wondering how most people go about getting rid of the ones you don't want on the unit anymore. (say after a vacation someplace you will not be going back to anytime soon).

 

I was thinking of just deleting ALL waypoints and then just reload the ones I want with GSAK... Is there a better way? I've got about 900 in there right now (after deleting inactive caches), but I'm going on Vacation in a couple weeks and will want to load a bunch in the areas were going....

 

Thanks.

 

-S

[+randco]

I have not found a need for the 1000 waypoint limit. I created a PQ for 500 caches nearest my home. I have it run once a week. I run it through GSAK and download it to my GPS'r. If I am going some place in particular I will delete the waypoints in my GPS'r, then write a query for the area I am going to, then open in GSAK, download to GPS'r and send the file to Mapsource. Using Mapsource I create a route in the order in which I want to hunt. When I have completed the route I transfer just the route because I already have the waypoints in the GPS'r.

[+Chokecherry]

I've never hit the 1000 limit. I tend to hand pick the caches I'm going to look for when I go some place (we just don't have that high of saturation here). So I never come anywhere near it. Anyhow, I delete them as I find them and at the end of my trip they are all wiped off of my unit.

[+cron]

No matter if people are telling you that you don't need the 1000+ waypoints, when there's a will, there's a way.

 

Unfortunately, the 1000 waypoints limit is strict. You won't be able to change that. You can cheat, though.

 

There is something called POI (Point of Interest) which you can load on the unit. It will go on the microSD card and is almost unlimited.

 

There are many ways to load POIs on the GPSr (most from GSAK). I did create a macro a long time ago and I know a lot more we're also published later on. You have the choice.

 

How does it work?

 

- export all the caches you want from GSAK to POIs in a specific directory on your PC

- run POILoader (Garmin tool to upload POIs on the GPSr)

 

This will remove all the previously loaded custom POIs and replace them with the new ones. Here's what I do when I go geocaching:

 

1- delete all waypoints from the GPSr (to start fresh)

2- export POIs from GSAK

3- load POIs on GPSr

4- search for a cache in POI format (BTW, POIs contain more information than waypoints)

5- save the POI as a waypoint

6- navigate to the waypoint

7- mark as "Found" if found, stop navigating if DNF

 

Repeat 4-7 for each subsequent caches.

 

At the end of the day (or weekend), you can come back to the computer and upload all your waypoints and tracks from the GPSr to Mapsource. There you go, now you have all the caches you looked for in your trip. The ones with an open chest have been found, the ones with the closed chest are DNFs. You can follow your track on the screen to see in which order you attempted the caches (if it matters to you).

 

POIs have different icons for each database, so macros will usually export the caches with their distinctive icons. This makes it easy to navigate on the GPSr's screen.

 

I usually load about 12,000 POIs on my GPSr. I've been using this system for over 5 years and I can tell you it works great for a few finds or 100 finds a day.

 

The only downside is if you're using a mapping product that also contains POIs. This will clutter the screen. You need to turn them off in order to only see the custom POIs (geocaches). If you're using waypoints to store important information (relatives' addresses, etc), you would need to put them in GSAK so they could be exported as POIs.

 

Here's what it looks like (in French, but you get the concept):

 

Edited September 13, 2010 by cron