Loc vs Gpx on etrex legend

[Knox_Rebel]

After a long break from geocaching i finally got my unit back. I see now that they have an option with the premium membership to download all caches at 1 time rather than page by page. Do you have to get the premium membership to get the tips and hints feature with gpx file even though you can send single gpx from search page to gps? Also can my etrex legend hcx read the extra info,(tips hints) if so where is it?

Edited July 1, 2011 by Knox_Rebel

[jholly]

After a long break from geocaching i finally got my unit back. I see now that they have an option with the premium membership to download all caches at 1 time rather than page by page. Do you have to get the premium membership to get the tips and hints feature with gpx file even though you can send single gpx from search page to gps? Also can my etrex legend hcx read the extra info,(tips hints) if so where is it?

You can not get the hints, descriptions, logs and other information without a premium membership. It does not matter how you try to download, it won't be there. As a regular member your limited to the information in a .loc file. If you were to get a premium membership your gps unit does not support paperless geocaching and therefore can not display the extra information.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

After a long break from geocaching i finally got my unit back. I see now that they have an option with the premium membership to download all caches at 1 time rather than page by page. Do you have to get the premium membership to get the tips and hints feature with gpx file even though you can send single gpx from search page to gps? Also can my etrex legend hcx read the extra info,(tips hints) if so where is it?

 

Both loc and gpx files are types of xml (eXtensible Markup Language) files. Many xml files have a "schema" associated with them which defines which elements ant attributes are required/allowed, among other things. A GPX file is a format for representing waypoints, routes, and tracks and wasn't created specifically for geocaches. Taking advantage of the eXtensible feature of xml files, Groundspeak has extended the GPX format by including a Groundspeak schema, which essentially defines a set of elements and attributes that can be used to describe geocaches, and specifically geocache information found on the geocaching.com web site. When a schema is added to a xml file it's referred to as a "namespace" and there will be a prefix associated with every namespace. In this case, that prefix is "Groundspeak". Since xml files are in plain text you can look at the contents with a text editor. All of the elements which start with <Groundspeak: are part of the Groundspeak namespace, including the <Groundspeak:encoded_hint> element. As far as I know, Groundspeak doesn't have a different schema for premium and non-premium members. They could, however, make a version of the GPX file which does not include the Groundspeak namespace, but it would still contain more information than a loc file.

[+ngrrfan]

Also can my etrex legend hcx read the extra info,(tips hints) if so where is it?

No it can't.

[Knox_Rebel]

Thanks for the tips, I now remember that the reason I never got the membership is because my unit doesnt support paper-less caching as you stated. I downloaded all the loc's page by page and then used a script to merge them into one loc file stripping the xml header so i only had to push it to my gps once.

 

Thanks again.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Thanks for the tips, I now remember that the reason I never got the membership is because my unit doesnt support paper-less caching as you stated. I downloaded all the loc's page by page and then used a script to merge them into one loc file stripping the xml header so i only had to push it to my gps once.

 

Thanks again.

 

I'd suggest using a waypoint manager such as EasyGPS or GSAK to create that list of geocaches you want to push to your GPS. You can save all the loc's page by page then open them in the way point manager the send the entire batch to your GPS. No editing necessary. You might also want to look for an command line utility called GPSBabel. I does all sorts of things with waypoints, including converting loc files to gpx, kml to gpx, and can merge gpx files as well (don't know about merging loc files).

 

I used a GPS for several years that didn't support paperless caching, and being able to do Pocket Queries and helping to support the web site were all the reasons that I needed to become a premium member. Even without a device which does paperless caching, if you use GSAK you can construct a comment that is sent to your GPS that can contain information such s the D/T rating, cache type, and cache size.

[+Lovejoy and Tinker]

Also can my etrex legend hcx read the extra info,(tips hints) if so where is it?

No it can't.

The Etrex Legend hcx can show hints. We have one and it shows the hints just fine. You just have to load it up in the right way.

 

We export caches from a GSAK database using the Garmin POI macro and then use the Garmin POI loader to push the info onto the Legend.

It will take the waypoints from over 10,000 caches (which is around 24,000 with all the child waypoints) and it puts the hints on just fine.

You just use the "Search for Custom POI's" feature rather than the caches feature on the device.

 

I believe there are other tricks you can do to get some of the other cache info into the POI data such as difficulty and terrain rating.

 

No you won't get past logs and cache page info, but we usually find having the cache code, name, coords and hint to be enough to find most caches. (The smartphone is there for when we need a bit more help).

[+ngrrfan]

Also can my etrex legend hcx read the extra info,(tips hints) if so where is it?

No it can't.

The Etrex Legend hcx can show hints. We have one and it shows the hints just fine. You just have to load it up in the right way.

I stand corrected. I didn't know this, thank you.

[+Inexeng]

 

The Etrex Legend hcx can show hints. We have one and it shows the hints just fine. You just have to load it up in the right way.

 

We export caches from a GSAK database using the Garmin POI macro and then use the Garmin POI loader to push the info onto the Legend.

It will take the waypoints from over 10,000 caches (which is around 24,000 with all the child waypoints) and it puts the hints on just fine.

You just use the "Search for Custom POI's" feature rather than the caches feature on the device.

 

I believe there are other tricks you can do to get some of the other cache info into the POI data such as difficulty and terrain rating.

 

No you won't get past logs and cache page info, but we usually find having the cache code, name, coords and hint to be enough to find most caches. (The smartphone is there for when we need a bit more help).

 

Hello Newbie here

I have the said eTrex Legend HCx and have tried the GSAK database Garmin Poi Macro then the Garmin POI loader, seems to work

BUT I can't see where the hints are ?

Only the custom POI's

 

Any more detail would be helpful thanks

[+CacheFreakTim]

 

The Etrex Legend hcx can show hints. We have one and it shows the hints just fine. You just have to load it up in the right way.

 

We export caches from a GSAK database using the Garmin POI macro and then use the Garmin POI loader to push the info onto the Legend.

It will take the waypoints from over 10,000 caches (which is around 24,000 with all the child waypoints) and it puts the hints on just fine.

You just use the "Search for Custom POI's" feature rather than the caches feature on the device.

 

I believe there are other tricks you can do to get some of the other cache info into the POI data such as difficulty and terrain rating.

 

No you won't get past logs and cache page info, but we usually find having the cache code, name, coords and hint to be enough to find most caches. (The smartphone is there for when we need a bit more help).

 

Hello Newbie here

I have the said eTrex Legend HCx and have tried the GSAK database Garmin Poi Macro then the Garmin POI loader, seems to work

BUT I can't see where the hints are ?

Only the custom POI's

 

Any more detail would be helpful thanks

 

To get hints, descriptions, etc. onto your etrex unit you have to do a couple extra steps. this video should help.

[+Lovejoy and Tinker]

Hello Newbie here

I have the said eTrex Legend HCx and have tried the GSAK database Garmin Poi Macro then the Garmin POI loader, seems to work

BUT I can't see where the hints are ?

Only the custom POI's

 

Any more detail would be helpful thanks

On the POI export macro we use the {HINT} tab in the starting dialog and tell it to include the hints. The hints then show up as a separate waypoints but are always adjacent to the cache in the list so are easy to find.