Help with downloaded querys on Garmin etrex 20

[+D'Hedgerunners]

Just got the Garmin etrex 20. Can not figure out how to download a whole query. Can only down load one cache at a time. Using window 7

[+jepp2]

Just got the Garmin etrex 20. Can not figure out how to download a whole query. Can only down load one cache at a time. Using window 7

 

I load the query into GSAK then send them all at once to my eTrex 20.

[+New Jersey TJ]

I have an Oregon. Should be the same. Copy the .gpx to \garmin\gpx on the GPS.

[+Hasty Javelinas]

I have an Oregon. Should be the same. Copy the .gpx to \garmin\gpx on the GPS.

This is how I do it with my new Etrex 20.

[+enduringcharm]

I have an Oregon. Should be the same. Copy the .gpx to \garmin\gpx on the GPS.

This is how I do it with my new Etrex 20.

 

New to this site and geocaching .Looking at GPS units and have decided on the etrex 20. Is this a good choice?

[+The Frosties!]

Excellent choice, but please don't hijack other people's thread

 

@Hedgerunner

 

I've got an Etrex 20. All you need do is run a PQ and then pop the .gpx file in the Garmin/GPX folder or you can put them onto a card, again in the Garmin/GPX folder. No need to use GSAK or any other program.

If you don't use GASK (or anything else) to amend cache names (I use smartnames in GSAK) you might find a problem with long named cache series, as the screen only holds so many characters (I'm not too sure just how many, maybe 15?) leading to "Long titled series #1" showing as "Long titled serie", the same as #2 and #22.., making it tricky to know which is next (I learnt that the hard way, on a series that shared the same description for all the caches )

[+sktqch]

Also if you don't use GSAK you can't insert the attributes of the caches into the file so your gps can read them. Without attributes, you are hampered in your search. You use the Attrib_to_UserNoteLog.gsk macro to insert the attributes into the .gpx file.

Sktqch

[+Hasty Javelinas]

I have an Oregon. Should be the same. Copy the .gpx to \garmin\gpx on the GPS.

This is how I do it with my new Etrex 20.

 

New to this site and geocaching .Looking at GPS units and have decided on the etrex 20. Is this a good choice?

enjoying mine.

[+kbulgrien]

In case this bites you, I tried to put a current query .gpx file in my etrex 20 Garmin/GPX folder this weekend, and on boot, the GPS would hang even though I'd only dropped 100 caches on it (I waited a very, very long time before forcing it off). After that, it would boot, but no caches were registered in the device. I retried many times, even resetting. This was new behavior as I had been doing this routinely a couple of months ago. I checked for new firmware and found there was some. I loaded it, and the .gpx file imported just like it used to... so... if you have trouble, you might want to update it.

 

eTrex 20 is an awesome value. It's great for supporting cache hiding. I'm sure the pricier ones are nice, but I prefer this price range, and can't really imagine needing or using the more expensive options (except perhaps the compass).

Edited March 14, 2012 by kbulgrien

[+Happy Humphrey]

kbulgrien - thanks for the tip.

That happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I'd travelled 1000 miles for a holiday, with a couple of days caching lined up. PQ loaded, checked, all ready to go. On arrival, the 20 took a long time to boot up and eventually hung so I was forced to try again. No caches now, just (oddly) child waypoints. What a nuisance! Luckily I had a copy of the GPX file on the Satnav, so at least I could read the description and then manually input the coordinates into the Etrex.

I've updated the firmware now, so this shouldn't happen again (I hope!).

[+Happy Humphrey]

N.B. If anyone knows how to load caches easily onto the unit, I'd love to find out. The only way I've succeeded is by loading them into GSAK first and then sending them to the unit from there; which is OK, but not always the most convenient.

I've tried copying GPX files to the unit directly but without success, despite trying various folders and file names. The file copies fine but no geocaches are recognised by the Etrex.

[+Lineman101]

kbulgrien - thanks for the tip.

That happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I'd travelled 1000 miles for a holiday, with a couple of days caching lined up. PQ loaded, checked, all ready to go. On arrival, the 20 took a long time to boot up and eventually hung so I was forced to try again. No caches now, just (oddly) child waypoints. What a nuisance! Luckily I had a copy of the GPX file on the Satnav, so at least I could read the description and then manually input the coordinates into the Etrex.

I've updated the firmware now, so this shouldn't happen again (I hope!).

 

I use "Easy GPS". Works like a charm.

[+Happy Humphrey]

GSAK works like a charm as well, but isn't there a way of simply copying a GPX file into a folder? I can do that to the micro SD card but the Etrex only sees them as waypoints. If they're copied to the unit's memory then it doesn't recognise them as geocaches, even if you name the file "Geocaches.gpx".

[+BlackRose67]

I had to remove all the other GPX files related to caches from the Garmin\GPX folder first.

 

I then placed my pocket query GPX files in the Garmin\GPX folder and that did the trick.

[+Happy Humphrey]

I had to remove all the other GPX files related to caches from the Garmin\GPX folder first.

 

I then placed my pocket query GPX files in the Garmin\GPX folder and that did the trick.

Thanks; yes, that worked. I copied 2 PQ files in the way you suggested and it was no problem. I think I'd only tried using GPX files extracted from GSAK, and there's obviously something about them that the Etrex doesn't like. Odd.

[+MiVa]

I had to remove all the other GPX files related to caches from the Garmin\GPX folder first.

 

I then placed my pocket query GPX files in the Garmin\GPX folder and that did the trick.

Thanks; yes, that worked. I copied 2 PQ files in the way you suggested and it was no problem. I think I'd only tried using GPX files extracted from GSAK, and there's obviously something about them that the Etrex doesn't like. Odd.

 

Perhaps this will help you:

Try to export gpx from gsak using "%code" in "waypoint name" (inside options from export GPX). Probably you are using "%smart" option, which was great for old etrex, but useless with this new version.

Good luck !!

Edited May 9, 2012 by MiVa

[Wintertime]

I had to remove all the other GPX files related to caches from the Garmin\GPX folder first.

 

I then placed my pocket query GPX files in the Garmin\GPX folder and that did the trick.

"BlackRose," did you have a lot of GPX files? Because unless you were near the limit of what your GPSr can work with, there should have been no need to remove the old GPX files before adding the new one.

[+BlackRose67]

I had to remove all the other GPX files related to caches from the Garmin\GPX folder first.

 

I then placed my pocket query GPX files in the Garmin\GPX folder and that did the trick.

"BlackRose," did you have a lot of GPX files? Because unless you were near the limit of what your GPSr can work with, there should have been no need to remove the old GPX files before adding the new one.

I had around 10 individual GPX files (1 per cache) from before I became a premium member.

 

I found that after I became a premium member and loaded the PQ for my found caches and the one for caches near where I live, the old individual ones were the ones still being displayed by the GPSr.

[+Happy Humphrey]

I had to remove all the other GPX files related to caches from the Garmin\GPX folder first.

 

I then placed my pocket query GPX files in the Garmin\GPX folder and that did the trick.

Thanks; yes, that worked. I copied 2 PQ files in the way you suggested and it was no problem. I think I'd only tried using GPX files extracted from GSAK, and there's obviously something about them that the Etrex doesn't like. Odd.

 

Perhaps this will help you:

Try to export gpx from gsak using "%code" in "waypoint name" (inside options from export GPX). Probably you are using "%smart" option, which was great for old etrex, but useless with this new version.

Good luck !!

Thanks; but I did try that and it seems to make no difference. Perhaps the problem is in that area though.

 

N.B. If anyone knows how to load caches easily onto the unit, I'd love to find out. The only way I've succeeded is by loading them into GSAK first and then sending them to the unit from there; which is OK, but not always the most convenient.

I've tried copying GPX files to the unit directly but without success, despite trying various folders and file names. The file copies fine but no geocaches are recognised by the Etrex.

 

The most reliable way is to use Garmins Basecamp program. Load the PQ into that and then send it to your Etrex. Works a charm.

 

Also works on mine if I simply drag and drop the PQ into the GPX folder on the Etrex.

 

Any third party program could have problems, but it's the program at fault, not the Etrex

I did try loading the GPX file into Basecamp and I suspect that it will work OK when I then send it to the Etrex (I'll test that out when I get chance). Bit of a pain though, as there are 4500 caches in the file (extracted from the 12000 in the database) and Basecamp takes ages to load them! Also, I don't see the advantage when GSAK sends caches to the Etrex so easily. I was just after a way of extracting several files from GSAK and then copying them across; for instance I might have a trip to the Peak District one day where I'm just tackling a particular series, then the next day I'm off to North Yorkshire and want to have a few hundred caches available. Although I could combine the caches in a single database and then send them, a simple solution is to extract two GPX files and copy them both to the Etrex.

 

Just to make it clear, "straight" PQ files aren't much good really as they need filtering and amending before being useful; so I use GSAK. An example is that I store all solved puzzles in GSAK with corrected coordinates, so I can go out and find one just by using a filter (without having to remember which ones are solved). Another example is that I use GSAK to download and import all my PQ's to cover a wide area, which allows me a lot of flexibility as to which caches to load up.

[+Happy Humphrey]

After a little more experimentation with the GSAK export, it seems that Waypoint Name should be %name, and the Cache Description field should be blank. Now I can export a GPX file from GSAK, with exactly the caches I need (including corrected coordinates), and then simply copy to the Garmin\GPX folder on the Etrex.

[+Happy Humphrey]

kbulgrien - thanks for the tip.

That happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I'd travelled 1000 miles for a holiday, with a couple of days caching lined up. PQ loaded, checked, all ready to go. On arrival, the 20 took a long time to boot up and eventually hung so I was forced to try again. No caches now, just (oddly) child waypoints. What a nuisance! Luckily I had a copy of the GPX file on the Satnav, so at least I could read the description and then manually input the coordinates into the Etrex.

I've updated the firmware now, so this shouldn't happen again (I hope!).

It did happen again (this time in a non-critical situation), so I guess the firmware update hasn't fixed the problem. I have an Extrex Legend HCx, so I'll have to take that as backup in case the 20 fails again. I think that the problem can be reproduced by deleting the "geocaches.gpx" file from the Garmin\gpx folder. After a couple of attempts, the unit will reboot so that the file can be recreated.

Edited May 17, 2012 by Happy Humphrey

[+Happy Humphrey]

After a little more experimentation with the GSAK export, it seems that Waypoint Name should be %name, and the Cache Description field should be blank. Now I can export a GPX file from GSAK, with exactly the caches I need (including corrected coordinates), and then simply copy to the Garmin\GPX folder on the Etrex.

After success the first few times, this no longer works....no idea why.

[+Happy Humphrey]

Now I have more experience with the 20...

 

The way to export caches from GSAK is using "GPS...Send Waypoints". This gives you the opportunity to rename the file extracted (from geocaches.gpx to something more meaningful). The advantage of doing this is that you can extract several GPX files, and the unit will amalgamate them in memory. For instance, you might have half a dozen solved puzzles. Then there's that series you're meaning to complete. Then there are all the caches within 15 miles. Three extract files; one view on the Etrex is the result.

 

I can also reproduce the problem where there is a long wait for waypoints to load and then the unit seems to freeze. If there are too many waypoints in total, this freezing is the result. I think it happens when you're fairly near to the limit of geocaches, and you've also included child waypoints (parking etc). The export succeeds and the GPX files look fine but the unit fails to load them. I'm limiting the number of geocaches exported to the Etrex to about 3000 now and it seems to work. I tried loading 3800 and had the "freeze" problem.