Caching overseas with my Android

[+kelly&scott]

This is a question that could be answered by calling my cell phone provider, but I'm hoping other cachers will provide some alternate solutions for me!

 

Scott and I are traveling to Germany, Switzerland, and South Africa for the Christmas/New Years holidays and are looking forward to doing some caching while we are away. I use my HTC EVO to do all my caching (I see no reason to buy a traditional GPSr as long as I have this phone... it works great!), but I'm not sure if my GPS will work when I'm out of the service area. Has anyone had any luck caching with their phone while out of the country? If not, what are some methods I can use to cache without having to buy a GPSr just for the trip? Should we print out maps before we leave? How would you tackle something like this?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

This is a question that could be answered by calling my cell phone provider, but I'm hoping other cachers will provide some alternate solutions for me!

 

Scott and I are traveling to Germany, Switzerland, and South Africa for the Christmas/New Years holidays and are looking forward to doing some caching while we are away. I use my HTC EVO to do all my caching (I see no reason to buy a traditional GPSr as long as I have this phone... it works great!), but I'm not sure if my GPS will work when I'm out of the service area. Has anyone had any luck caching with their phone while out of the country? If not, what are some methods I can use to cache without having to buy a GPSr just for the trip? Should we print out maps before we leave? How would you tackle something like this?

[/quote

 

Yes, you *can* use your Android phone for geocaching in Germany, Switzerland, and South Africa (I've found caches in German and SA but not Switzerland) but the biggest issue will be that it requires the use of your data plan to navigate to the cache. Data roaming charges in most other countries can get very expensive. I think I turned on data roaming 4-5 times for only 10-20 seconds each time while I was in China a few weeks ago and had about $50 in data charges by the time I got home. I've had similar charges when I've been in Africa.

 

You might check with your cell phone provider to see if there is a "custom" plan you can get that'll get some reasonable data plans prices while you're gone. I considered one for the last time I was in Africa (South Africa and Tanzania) and found that it wouldn't have saved me much as long as I wasn't too liberal about turning on data roaming. There might be something reasonable though for Germany/Switzerland.

 

If you use the official geocaching app you wouldn't need to download any additional maps but when I have done any geocaching out the the country I spend quite a bit of time looking at the cache descriptions for specific caches. I want to make sure that it doesn't have many recent DNFs, that it's in a safe area (especially worth checking out for some areas in South Africa), and translate any cache pages (including hints) into English if necessary.

 

When I've gone geocaching in other countries (11 so far) I usually just hand pick a few that I want to get in each area, usually those that are near sights I want to see anyway. Download the listings for caches in the specific areas you'll be visiting and use EasyGPS or something like it to create a GPX file so that they can be displayed on a map. It'll help even though you're not going to use that map for navigation.

 

Enjoy your travels.

[+LukeTrocity]

You should generate pocket queries before you go, then just use those on your trip. No data needed.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

You should generate pocket queries before you go, then just use those on your trip. No data needed.

 

Maybe the Android app works different than the iPhone app but although one can pre-download PQs into the application (one of the nicer features) it still seems to want to load additional data from the server and map data needs to be downloaded if one attempts to navigate using the maps. When I've tried to navigate by compass this morning it's telling me that the destination coordinates are 000 00.000 000 00.000 and 5526 miles away. That's *with* data turned on. It might be worth trying to download some local PQs before going, then turn off data and see if you can navigate to a cache just using the compass screen.

 

Obviously, a handheld dedicated GPS wouldn't have these data issues.

[+LukeTrocity]

You should generate pocket queries before you go, then just use those on your trip. No data needed.

 

Maybe the Android app works different than the iPhone app but although one can pre-download PQs into the application (one of the nicer features) it still seems to want to load additional data from the server and map data needs to be downloaded if one attempts to navigate using the maps. When I've tried to navigate by compass this morning it's telling me that the destination coordinates are 000 00.000 000 00.000 and 5526 miles away. That's *with* data turned on. It might be worth trying to download some local PQs before going, then turn off data and see if you can navigate to a cache just using the compass screen.

 

Obviously, a handheld dedicated GPS wouldn't have these data issues.

 

On the android phone you can go into "airplane mode" which will shut down all wireless connections. Then just open geobeagle and select the pocket query your would like to run. I did it when I went to Alaska and it worked great.

 

(although at one point I did turn on wireless and got slammed with a huge bill after entering some logs...)

[+MaxiP]

Your phone will function perfectly well as a GPS in other contries BUT you won't have assisted GPS (speeds up location fixing) unless you use data services. Configure a profile (locale / Tasker / other) to only allow GPS when activated to make sure you don't accidentally download huge chunks of data and incur cost.

 

AFAIK, the GC App requires some data connectivity even after the PQ's have been loaded - I would suggest you consider using a different app as many of them handle off-line caching better. GeoHunter (free), GeoBeagle (free) or GeOrg (paid) would be my recommendations - GeOrg allows you to create a cache database & import PQ's into it so you could create a database for each country / area you are visiting and pre-load all your PQ's before you go. This avoids having a single cache listing of several thousand caches and you simply select the database you need and these can be updated as required if / when you get to a PC with Internet connection & USB.

 

HTH

[+Jedi_Find_Trick]

You should generate pocket queries before you go, then just use those on your trip. No data needed.

 

Maybe the Android app works different than the iPhone app but although one can pre-download PQs into the application (one of the nicer features) it still seems to want to load additional data from the server and map data needs to be downloaded if one attempts to navigate using the maps. When I've tried to navigate by compass this morning it's telling me that the destination coordinates are 000 00.000 000 00.000 and 5526 miles away. That's *with* data turned on. It might be worth trying to download some local PQs before going, then turn off data and see if you can navigate to a cache just using the compass screen.

 

Obviously, a handheld dedicated GPS wouldn't have these data issues.

 

On the android phone you can go into "airplane mode" which will shut down all wireless connections. Then just open geobeagle and select the pocket query your would like to run. I did it when I went to Alaska and it worked great.

 

(although at one point I did turn on wireless and got slammed with a huge bill after entering some logs...)

 

Geobeagle will work fine, but you won't be able to use maps without data, just the radar/compass of your Hero.

[+Jedi_Find_Trick]

Sorry for the double post.

Edited December 6, 2010 by Jedi_Find_Trick

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Your phone will function perfectly well as a GPS in other contries BUT you won't have assisted GPS (speeds up location fixing) unless you use data services. Configure a profile (locale / Tasker / other) to only allow GPS when activated to make sure you don't accidentally download huge chunks of data and incur cost.

 

AFAIK, the GC App requires some data connectivity even after the PQ's have been loaded - I would suggest you consider using a different app as many of them handle off-line caching better. GeoHunter (free), GeoBeagle (free) or GeOrg (paid) would be my recommendations - GeOrg allows you to create a cache database & import PQ's into it so you could create a database for each country / area you are visiting and pre-load all your PQ's before you go. This avoids having a single cache listing of several thousand caches and you simply select the database you need and these can be updated as required if / when you get to a PC with Internet connection & USB.

 

HTH

 

Since I have an iPhone and the official app I haven't looked at GeoBeagle, GeoHunter, or GeOrg. Does anyone know of any geocachings apps like these that could be used on an iPhone without data turned on?

[+kelly&scott]

Wow, I really appreciate all the tips! The app I use is c:geo, and I can use it to pull my PQs. I will probably just access the web from a computer while I'm there if I need any extra help with maps, and will use the compass on my phone to search. I am super worried about inccurring huge data charges... I am on an unlimited data plan, but I know they will hit me hard with those roaming fees!

 

Anyway, thanks for all the help!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Wow, I really appreciate all the tips! The app I use is c:geo, and I can use it to pull my PQs. I will probably just access the web from a computer while I'm there if I need any extra help with maps, and will use the compass on my phone to search. I am super worried about inccurring huge data charges... I am on an unlimited data plan, but I know they will hit me hard with those roaming fees!

 

Anyway, thanks for all the help!

 

You might do something like this:

 

Create pocket queries for each of the countries (BTW, where are you going in South Africa?) before you leave.

 

Download the PQs to your computer and load them into a waypoint manager such as EasyGPS or GSAK and/or extract the GPX files from the PQs. You can drag a GPX file onto Google Earth and review cache locations on your computer while your there. You can also import the separate GPX files as needed as you travel.

 

I'd suggest trying this with some local PQs before you leave, then put your phone into airplane mode and see if you can navigate to a cache using the compass screen in the c:geo app. If you can, you're pretty much all set. If not, you might want to try one of the other apps suggested (Geobeagle, GeOrg...)

 

You might want to print off some maps for specific areas before you leave since you won't be able to get map data once your abroad without turning on the data plan.

 

Of course, if you want to use your phone to talk to someone you'll have to take it out of airplane mode but leave data off. I don't know how the Droid phones work but on my I can turn off data roaming and data separately.

 

You could also just bite the bullet and see if you can find (possibly even borrow or rent) an inexpensive handheld gps before you go.

[+Bear and Ragged]

Another option...

(Please do a bit of research on it, I make no claims as to if it works or not!!!)

 

Buy a cheap SIM card when you get there, that uses the local services.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Another option...

(Please do a bit of research on it, I make no claims as to if it works or not!!!)

 

Buy a cheap SIM card when you get there, that uses the local services.

 

That's a good idea if you want to use the phone to make phone calls. You can also rent them. There are lots of places in South Africa that sell or rent them (and you can buy them on the Internet prior to travel). There was a place at the airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania that rented them which made it pretty convenient if you're traveling in/out of the same airport. However, those sim cards only provide a local number, allow incoming calls (often free), and text messaging but not any other data. Shop around though. The prices vary widely.

[+LukeTrocity]

C geo allows the use of offline maps. You can get a third party app and use that with it. Osm works well.

[+Ecylram]

I'm late to the party, but...I don't believe data & cell phone use will work.

 

The HTC Evo 4G (I can't find a reference to a non-4G evo) is a Sprint phone that runs on Wimax and CDMA cellular networks. The phone DOES NOT support GMS cellular networks which are used on most European counties.

 

If your phone does support data connections in Europe, be aware that you may ring up $100's in charges in just a few days.

 

Check with your Cell Phone Provider to get the accurate information and have a great trip!

 

P.S. Luketrocity has great advice in his post on what to do.