Paperless caching options?

[+Dovsport]

Just looking for a few opinions really.

 

Im still relatively new to geocaching, however Im well and truly hooked.

A couple of months back when I started I purchased a Garmin Etrex Venture HC.

Now I get on pretty well with this my only complaints being it can be a bit indecisive with the compass at times and there have been couple of occasions where it just wouldnt zero in (maybe gps just has off days like the rest of us). Anyway, it does pretty much everything I want with the exception of paperless caching, now Im getting more into caching paperless certainly looks like a route I'd like to go as:

a) it saves carrying around bits of paper with clues etc. on, which have the downside of having to have them with you, need to plan ahead and also last week whilst out I got soaked and the notes disintegrated.

Im not the most organised at times and twice Ive went out without my scribbled out bits of paper where the hints would have helped.

c) I dont have an i-phone etc. just a basic nokia so paperless caching that way is a no go.

 

So Im looking for suggestions. My main idea was to upgrade to a Garmin 62s which seems to tick the box's Im looking for (plus its available locally, I dont really want to order another model online then discover I dislike it, Id like to get a look at it first), but are there any recommended alternatives that would be usable along with my current Garmin that would be water proof etc.

 

Thanks for any replies in advance.

[+Semper Questio]

If you don't want to invest in a new GPSr, you can buy a PDA pretty cheaply and use Cachemate to get the cache info to it. Alternatively, if you have a smartphone, you can load descriptions to it. Personally, I use Cachemate for Android to put cache descriptions on my 'droid LG Optimus phone.

 

I'm sure someone will be along shortly to expound upon the virtues of one paperless gizmo over another, but I use my trusty ol' 60csx.

 

Good luck and welcome to the madness.

[+mpilchfamily]

First i just want to say that the GPSr will rarely put you right on top of the cache but it will get you within about 30 feet of it. Also the compass on the Venture isn't a true electronic compass. As you noted it doesn't adjust its heading till you have moved around a bit. So its good to walk a few steps in a straight line then stop and let the unit settle to get a better idea of the direction you need to head. But the pointer will point in the correct compass heading even if you not facing that way. So having an actual compass on hand can be helpful.

 

If you want to go paperless you'll have to spend some more money. Used Palm Pilots go fairly cheap now. You can even use a 2nd gen or newer iPod Touch.

[+not2worried]

I like my Garmin Dakota...

[+CacheFreakTim]

Any of the newer Garmin Oregons, Dakota's, or 62 series would be paperless and are great units.

[+Nature Kids]

Get the Garmin Nuvi 295W from Amazon for $79.00.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

I think you're idea of getting a 62S is a good one.

[+michaelnel]

I think you're idea of getting a 62S is a good one.

 

I do too. I am delighted with mine, and it is the 13th GPSR I have owned.

[+Chrysalides]

I think you're idea of getting a 62S is a good one.

I do too. I am delighted with mine, and it is the 13th GPSR I have owned.

To the OP : I think you should take a look at the Oregon 450 first and try it out before deciding. Maybe you'll find the touch screen easier to use, maybe you'll hate it and prefer buttons. But give it a try first and decide for yourself.

 

The Oregon has a screen that is dimmer, but it is larger and much higher resolution.

[+Dovsport]

Thanks for the replies and the advice.

I bought a 62S yesterday. I did look at the Oregon 450 when I was in, but the touch screen put me off, in general Im not a big touch screen fan.

Had a play around with the 62s lastnight and am delighted with it.

[+Chrysalides]

Thanks for the replies and the advice.

I bought a 62S yesterday. I did look at the Oregon 450 when I was in, but the touch screen put me off, in general Im not a big touch screen fan.

Had a play around with the 62s lastnight and am delighted with it.

Congratulations on your purchase

[+webgeos]

Just looking for a few opinions really.

 

Im still relatively new to geocaching, however Im well and truly hooked.

A couple of months back when I started I purchased a Garmin Etrex Venture HC.

Now I get on pretty well with this my only complaints being it can be a bit indecisive with the compass at times and there have been couple of occasions where it just wouldnt zero in (maybe gps just has off days like the rest of us). Anyway, it does pretty much everything I want with the exception of paperless caching, now Im getting more into caching paperless certainly looks like a route I'd like to go as:

a) it saves carrying around bits of paper with clues etc. on, which have the downside of having to have them with you, need to plan ahead and also last week whilst out I got soaked and the notes disintegrated.

Im not the most organised at times and twice Ive went out without my scribbled out bits of paper where the hints would have helped.

c) I dont have an i-phone etc. just a basic nokia so paperless caching that way is a no go.

 

So Im looking for suggestions. My main idea was to upgrade to a Garmin 62s which seems to tick the box's Im looking for (plus its available locally, I dont really want to order another model online then discover I dislike it, Id like to get a look at it first), but are there any recommended alternatives that would be usable along with my current Garmin that would be water proof etc.

 

Thanks for any replies in advance.

 

I have a Garmin 62s......used to have a 62st till I dropped it in a raging river oh well.

 

It is nice to be able to view that cache listing page and the hints but there are two things I can't stand about the unit.

The 62s does not show you the attribute data ( winter friendly,dogs allowed,tics,etc)when you download a cache listing to the unit.

 

The thing that bugs the crap out of me is even though the unit has a double helix antenna like the 60csx it is not NEARLY as accurate.

If you go caching on trails with heavy leaf canopy it is consistently off compared to the 60csx like about 25 feet off.

 

If you want to find caches get a 60csx.....if you want to read the hints and sizes get the 62s.

[+Chrysalides]

The thing that bugs the crap out of me is even though the unit has a double helix antenna like the 60csx it is not NEARLY as accurate.

If you go caching on trails with heavy leaf canopy it is consistently off compared to the 60csx like about 25 feet off.

That's quad helix, not double helix. Which version of the 60csx do you have? The older one with SiRFstar III or the newer one?

 

Anyway, give Garmin a break. Apparently they need a couple of years to whip the firmware into shape. The 60csx was pretty bad when it was first released, from what I hear. (that's sarcasm towards Garmin, not you, just in case of misunderstanding)

[+webgeos]

The thing that bugs the crap out of me is even though the unit has a double helix antenna like the 60csx it is not NEARLY as accurate.

If you go caching on trails with heavy leaf canopy it is consistently off compared to the 60csx like about 25 feet off.

That's quad helix, not double helix. Which version of the 60csx do you have? The older one with SiRFstar III or the newer one?

 

Anyway, give Garmin a break. Apparently they need a couple of years to whip the firmware into shape. The 60csx was pretty bad when it was first released, from what I hear. (that's sarcasm towards Garmin, not you, just in case of misunderstanding)

 

I'm not sure what chip set I have. What I can tell you is we used to make Garmin's SiRFstar chip set here at IBM Burlington, Vermont.

I heard they make there own chips now.

I bought my 60scx in December 2009 and I don't know what chip set it had. What I can tell you is the 60csx blows the 62s out of the water as far as accuracy is concerned. I carry both with me when caching. I use the 60csx when hunting for the cache and the 62s if I want to read a hint or a log.

[+ecanderson]

 

The 62s does not show you the attribute data ( winter friendly,dogs allowed,tics,etc)when you download a cache listing to the unit.

Neither will the rest of the lineup - it's nothing unique to the 62. It's yet another reason that GSAK has become my friend. I run a macro called CacheAttributes before loading caches to my Dakota 20 and/or Oregon 450, and all of the attributes appear as the first log in the log history. The macro creates one extra log of that data and prepends it to the rest. Does require pulling down the PQ data in 1.0.1 format, of course. If I'm in the field and curious to know about attributes, I just take a peek at the logs.

[+ecanderson]

I heard they make there own chips now.

 

Nope - just getting them from yet another vendor. They've used SiRF, MediaTek and STMicro chips in handhelds. Garmin doesn't own a chip foundry.

 

I bought my 60scx in December 2009 and I don't know what chip set it had.

 

60Cx, 60Csx, 76 Cx, 76 Csx = SiRF III (or for 60 series, possibly MediaTek (MTK3329) - depends upon age)

eTrex Hcx series, Colorado = MediaTek (MTK3318)

Dakota, Oregon = ST Micro (Cartesio)

 

A December 2009 unit may well NOT have the SiRF chip - could well be the MediaTek chip instead. The MediaTek unit started to appear in the summer of 2009. You can tell by checking what chip firmware version you've got. Setting -> System. See if there is an "m" suffix on the chip firmware version.

[+webgeos]

 

The 62s does not show you the attribute data ( winter friendly,dogs allowed,tics,etc)when you download a cache listing to the unit.

Neither will the rest of the lineup - it's nothing unique to the 62. It's yet another reason that GSAK has become my friend. I run a macro called CacheAttributes before loading caches to my Dakota 20 and/or Oregon 450, and all of the attributes appear as the first log in the log history. The macro creates one extra log of that data and prepends it to the rest. Does require pulling down the PQ data in 1.0.1 format, of course. If I'm in the field and curious to know about attributes, I just take a peek at the logs.

 

When was the last time you tried the CacheAttributes macro in GSAK anyway?? I had an Oregon 450 and a Garmin 62st. I used to run a macro from GSAK called logfile that created a dummy log and showed me the attributes. It worked very well. Then Geocaching.com kept changing the website and that macro NO LONGER WORKS. What happens now when you run the macro is it takes you to the log page of the first cache in your list and stops.

I have the latest registered version of GSAK. I tried writing Clyde the owner of GSAK and he no longer responds to notes you send him.

 

So when was the last time you tried running that GSAK macro????? If it still works for you please send me a link to the macro and I will load it into GSAK and give it a try.

 

Thanks

Webgeos

Edited June 21, 2011 by webgeos

[+webgeos]

 

The 62s does not show you the attribute data ( winter friendly,dogs allowed,tics,etc)when you download a cache listing to the unit.

Neither will the rest of the lineup - it's nothing unique to the 62. It's yet another reason that GSAK has become my friend. I run a macro called CacheAttributes before loading caches to my Dakota 20 and/or Oregon 450, and all of the attributes appear as the first log in the log history. The macro creates one extra log of that data and prepends it to the rest. Does require pulling down the PQ data in 1.0.1 format, of course. If I'm in the field and curious to know about attributes, I just take a peek at the logs.

 

When was the last time you tried the CacheAttributes macro in GSAK anyway?? I had an Oregon 450 and a Garmin 62st. I used to run a macro from GSAK called logfile that created a dummy log and showed me the attributes. It worked very well. Then Geocaching.com kept changing the website and that macro NO LONGER WORKS. What happens now when you run the macro is it takes you to the log page of the first cache in your list and stops.

I have the latest registered version of GSAK. I tried writing Clyde the owner of GSAK and he no longer responds to notes you send him.

 

So when was the last time you tried running that GSAK macro????? If it still works for you please send me a link to the macro and I will load it into GSAK and give it a try.

 

Thanks

Webgeos

[+ecanderson]

When was the last time you tried the CacheAttributes macro in GSAK anyway??

Every week when I run my PQ. So last time would have been last Wednesday before I made another cache run. And I'm using an Oregon 450. I'm running version 1.4 of CacheAttributes.gsk on version 7.7.3.53 of GSAK. It's never failed me yet.

 

So when was the last time you tried running that GSAK macro????? If it still works for you please send me a link to the macro and I will load it into GSAK and give it a try.

 

Thanks

Webgeos

No different than the link anyone else uses: http://www.gsak.net/board/MacroIndex.php

 

The description there is a bit odd vs. what I get based upon how GSAK operates. It talks about adding the info to the GSAK user notes, but it really appends that log entry. I always use it with the parameter set to "0" since my unit wouldn't support the icons anyway.

 

Are you sure you're even getting attributes in your Pocket Queries? Are the icons showing up there? If gc.com hosed your configuration and you're set to 1.0 format (even though it may appear you're in 1.0.1 format on your gc.com user config screen), that would do it.

[+ecanderson]

FWIW, here's what the first log entry looks like in GSAK after the macro has been run:

 

6/15/2011 by GSAK

*Cache Attributes*

Dogs allowed

Recommended for kids

Takes less than an hour

Parking available

Bicycles

Stealth required

*End Cache Attributes*

 

I have no idea what broke on your end. If it had stopped working, I'd be one unhappy camper.

 

Rather than contacting Clyde, it would serve you better to contact the author of the macro itself. Here's the thread that the author is using for that macro at gsak.net - you can get 1.4 from there as well: http://gsak.net/board/index.php?showtopic=13361&st=60entry113567

[+webgeos]

 

I have no idea what broke on your end. If it had stopped working, I'd be one unhappy camper.

 

Rather than contacting Clyde, it would serve you better to contact the author of the macro itself. Here's the thread that the author is using for that macro at gsak.net - you can get 1.4 from there as well: http://gsak.net/board/index.php?showtopic=13361&st=60entry113567

Thanks for the help. I followed the link and downloaded the macro.

Then I book marked some caches and ran a query. I loaded the cache listings in GSAK and ran the macro. The dummy log was there along with the attribute data.

 

Thanks Again,

Webgeos

 

If only Garmin would come out with some firmware that would make the accuracy of the 62s the same as the 60csx......maybe someday.