Upgrading to a new GPS & slightly confused....

[+RRRCT]

Hi All, I am Beck and I am pretty new to geocaching.

I have a Garmin Etrex, bought of Ebay to give the Iphone a rest as the battery gets chewed up quickly. I am looking at upgrading to a paperless model of GPS and really like the looks of the GPSMAP 62 or 62s.(Not a touch screen fan).

 

Please bear with me- This post will probably give you a scarily good insight into how my mind works...and that can be long-winded and confusing!

 

1.

I want to know- When the description says

:- 1.7 gig internal memory

-Waypoints/favorites/locations: 2000

-Routes:200

-Track log:10,000 points

- 200 saved tracks

 

How many "Geocahes" is that roughly.

The .GPX file- Is that one Geocache-including the hints and description & Including waypoints for a multi cache?

For instance- on my Etrex when I download a Multi - I get the GC code under one Tab- the "E-H" in the Waypoints folder-Then the "other" waypoints under the "U-Z" tab. So that says to me, that if there is a "Cache Number" GC-12345 & 4 waypoints (W112345 -W212345 etc) = Five "spaces" taken up.

--To exaggerate and to make it a little more "clear". Say I download GC12345-that has 1500 waypoints. Does that mean I have 499 "spaces" left or is it different to the Etrex in that regard? (1500 waypoint? Unrealistic?...still slightly exciting to think about!)

 

2.

I am going to Paris, Belgium & Greece next year ( I know- Jealous Much?? ).. and would like to have a hunt for a Geocache or 2 whilst there. The iphone issue with battery life still is the only thing stopping me there as I am sure there is some local pre-paid Wi-Fi I can get.

But if I down load a Paris/Belgium & Greece map- does that decrease the amount of Geocahes I can store? Not that I am going to hunt and find 2000-It's an amount of data question really. You know- The bigger the map- the less caches to pre-load.

 

3.

Does having the extra mem card allow you to store more Geocaches- or just more maps?

 

Also- This may qualify as THE silliest question of the day-

4.

If I go to Paris- and I don't download a map- But have saved the geoaches to the GPS- Will it still point me at least to the co-ords and give me the description?

 

We have a general idea of where exactly we will definitely be- For eg the Louvre-so I can pre-load some caches in Aust before we leave.

 

I have searched the forums and the internet and all I get are the "stats" of GPS units. Pretty frustrating to say the least.

 

I hope I haven't lost you half way through the post- So if you are still here....I would love your input.

Thanks so Much!

[+Highland Horde]

the gpx file can be anywhere from 1 to 1000 caches. If you use the link on a cache page "send to GPS" it will be one cache in the GPX. If you have a premium membership and run a pocket query they have a maximum of 1000 caches, the gpx file then would hold 1000 caches. The GPSMAP 62s has a limit of 5000 geocaches. I think that for a multi only the first is loaded as a cache and the rest are loaded as waypoints so it only counts as 1 against the 5000 (but i'm not sure).

 

No loading maps doesnt affect the amount of caches (unless you use all your memory but gpx files are pretty small - my last with 1000 caches was 5.2 MB)

 

The expandable memory allows you to hold maps or caches or both on the card. You are still limited to the 5000 but if you were going to a couple different countries you could load an SD card with the local maps and caches for each stop then upon arrival switch out the SD card (but test all before you leave just to make sure everything works - it can be terribly frustrating even 10 min from home)

 

Yes even with no maps loaded the gps will tell you what direction to go. you just wont know what is between you and the cache.

 

Hope this helps (and I could be mistaken on any of these points as this is simply my understanding and I've been having one of those weeks I guess I need to cache more and work less )

 

EDIT: I think the 62s is a great unit. I tried it for about 2 weeks but opted for the Dakota 20 cause of the price tag. I would defiantly get one with expandable memory.

Edited November 13, 2010 by Highland Horde

[+dfx]

wow, lots of questions, let's see...

 

GPX files can hold all kinds of GPS-related information, that can be geocaches, general waypoints, routes or tracks, and also several of those within a single file.

 

geocaches don't use up much space, for a GPX with 1000 caches and their waypoints you typically need less than 10 MB. so those 1.7 gig of storage aren't for holding caches, they're most useful for storing different maps (including birdseye maps).

 

the 62 handles geocaches and other waypoints seperately. it can hold up to 2000 general waypoints (parking, trailhead etc) and then additionally a number (i believe 5000, not totally sure) of geocaches. so if you store a GPX of a single geocache containing 1500 waypoints, you'd use up one geocache slot and 1500 waypoint slots, leaving you with 500 free waypoint slots and 4999 free geocache slots.

 

the 62 can handle up to 200 (i think - please correct me if i'm wrong) GPX files simultaneously. if you always only upload geocaches as "one geocache per GPX", then you'd get 200 geocaches max. that's where pocket queries come in handy: they provide an easy way to get a bulk download of geocaches, up to 1000 per GPX. or you can use a 3rd party application such as GSAK to handle your GPXs.

 

an extra memory card increases your raw storage and can be used for maps. the geocache/waypoint limit doesn't depend on how much storage is available.

 

the GPS will work fine even if you don't have maps for your area, you'll just have to navigate with a blank map screen. you can load up caches, waypoints and maps for any area of the world at any time.

[+Cacheoholic]

One correction, one GPX file can hold many thousands of caches. Actually, I doubt there is a limit. Your PQ’s (Pocket Queries) are limited to 1000 caches per GPX file but GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) can combine them into a single GPX file.

 

Geocaches take up very little memory compared to maps. Geocaches consume megabytes of memory while maps consume gigabytes. 1.7gb of memory would hold about 1/4 - ½ a billion geocaches while City Navigator North America NT2011.30 street detail maps would consume almost all of it (1.348gb). That means you could fit all of North America in street detail maps but almost nothing left for topos or other countries. That’s where the need for external memory comes from. MORE MAPS! Obviously if you don’t travel much then you don’t need many maps and therefore don’t need much memory. It always comes back to “what do I want to do with a GPS”.

[+Chrysalides]

One small addition to what's said above. the 62 series (and Oregon x50) can store 5000 geocaches in GPX, 2000 waypoints, and an unlimited number of custom points of interest (well, limited by available memory).

[+RRRCT]

One small addition to what's said above. the 62 series (and Oregon x50) can store 5000 geocaches in GPX, 2000 waypoints, and an unlimited number of custom points of interest (well, limited by available memory).

 

Hmmm the 62- or the 62s?

 

Thank you all for your replies.

 

I like to research before I buy,especially for "non-shoes & handbag items"

Imagine a poor salesman dealing with me?...

 

I don't think I will be travelling much out of Australia, so I could probably handle the GPSMAP 62.

 

Now in regards to Maps- is it possible to get say, a Map of a certain area in Paris, or is it a case of all or nothing?

 

You have all been truly helpful.

[+humboldt flier]

The 62s would be a better option.

 

You will have the ability to plop in a Micro SD chip preloaded with various map types, leaving your internal memory free.

 

ie: City Navigator for whatever region floats your boat ( very helpful for urban caching in places where you lack familiariy) . Topo Chips, although there are numerous other options

 

The 62 lacks the ability to accept a Micro SD chip which somewhat limits your options.

Edited November 14, 2010 by humboldt flier

[+dfx]

Hmmm the 62- or the 62s?

applies to both.

Now in regards to Maps- is it possible to get say, a Map of a certain area in Paris, or is it a case of all or nothing?

you can have many different maps installed, each containing different parts of the world. you can even have multiple maps for the same areas loaded. you can enable and disable them individually, you can layer them on top of each other. garmin units are generally strong in mapping, pretty much anything is possible.

[+bcblues]

The 62 does not have an electronic compass, while the 62s does. I like the electronic compass for geocaching.