Magellan eXplorist GC not showing PQs

[+LoveYourHate]

I have had my eXplorist GC since Christmas of last year, and it has always worked great. Pocket Queries were easy to figure out -- just drag and drop into the geocache folder. LATELY, this has not been working like it should. On a recent trip, I loaded two queries of the two places I was visiting. I even deleted some old PQs in order to make sure that I had room enough on the unit for the new ones. When I arrived, I turned on my GPSr to realize that NEITHER of the pocket queries were showing up. I was frustrated, but figured I had made a mistake in loading them or something. When I got home, I checked to see if the queries were actually there, and they were. They were the correct file size for queries as well, so I know that it was not a downloading error or a fault of geocaching.com. I deleted the queries and turned on the unit. I found that now the queries from around my home town are not showing up, only one query I had on the unit from a trip to Cape Cod. I am very frustrated that my unit does not seem to be working correctly anymore. Does anyone have any advice? Have I been doing something wrong all along? Help!

[+mpilchfamily]

How far away from home was the trip? Did you give the unit about 30 minutes or more to fully update its location? If the unit still thought you where near your home and you tired to look up caches that are more then 10 or more miles away from where the unit thought it was. Then they may not show up in the list but they are still on the unit. Once the unit updated it location and you tried to view the caches around your home they might be outside the range and not show in the list but they are still there.

[+LoveYourHate]

I gave it plenty of time to aquire satellites and update the location. I also tried this at least once a day for the entire trip.

[+underdogelvis]

I'm having the same problem on my magellan explorist gc. I just discovered it. Any solution?

[+mpilchfamily]

Try clearing out the Geocaching folder. Turn the unit off and back on again then load your PQ.

[+no1dogluvr]

got it

Edited September 10, 2011 by no1dogluvr

[+WeMightBeGiants]

I too, have an eXplorist gc. I have no idea how to even load a PQ into my GPSr from my laptop. I have Vista on the laptop. Someone PLEASE explain to me, step by step from beginning to end, how to do this!! I had been dl'ing all geocaches to my GPSr one at a time & had just recently heard from someone that I can dl whole batches of gc's to my GPSr at one time in just a few minutes, but being computer illiterate, I don't have a clue how this is even done. I have a PQ ready for dl, just need to know how to do it in detail.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

WeMightBeGiants

[+DazeDnFamily]

Here's the method I use with my GC:

 

1. Ensure that your PC and GC are powered on.

2. Ensure that your PQ(s) are downloaded, and unzipped into a folder you can find. (I use a folder on my desktop.)

3. Plug the USB cable to the computer and GC. When the option window comes up, select "Connect to PC".

4. A window should pop up in Windows, that gives you options. Choose "Open Folder to View Files".

5. Navigate to the /Geocaches folder on the GC. Copy the PQ .gpx file here.

6. Navigate to the Waypoints folder on the GC. Copy the wpts.gpx file here.

7. Disconnect the cable, and the GC should restart. You should see all of your caches on the list.

8. Also of note, the GC will hold 10,000 caches. I, however, delete all of the gpx files in mine, and do a clean load every time. Easier for me to keep track of that way.

 

I have never even seen VantagePoint, so I have no clue how it works.

 

Hope this helps!

[+WeMightBeGiants]

Ok, so how do I "unzip" the folder? You've lost me at this point, but plugging the GPSr into the computer is something I already do when I dl caches one at a time. I apologize for not knowing this stuff. I'm lucky to know how to send/receive email & do facebook.

[+DazeDnFamily]

Ok, so how do I "unzip" the folder? You've lost me at this point, but plugging the GPSr into the computer is something I already do when I dl caches one at a time. I apologize for not knowing this stuff. I'm lucky to know how to send/receive email & do facebook.

 

When you download the PQ file from geocaching.com, it should come down as a .zip (WinZip) file. If you are using Windows XP or later, you can open it by double clicking on it. It should open a new window that has two files. One is [filename].gpx. This is your Geocaches gpx file. The other is [filename]-wpts.gpx. This is the Waypoints file. To "unzip" the PQ file, you copy these files into a folder where you can easily find it. The easiest way is to select both files (shift+click, or click and drag) and drag them in to the folder. Like I said, I have a folder on my desktop that I copy them in to.

 

If you need more clarification, I can screen cap some pictures, but if this is good I'll save the effort. ^^

 

Hope this helps!