Jump to content

Free alternatives to GSAK


Recommended Posts

I'm wondering if there are any free alternatives to GSAK?

 

$30 is a lot of money to spend on something that I don't actually need - so far I've done reasonably well just copying pocket queries. I know GSAK has many loyal fans so I'm expected to get some abuse, since that seems to happen whenever anyone questions if there is another way, but still - is there?

 

Geobuddy (now ExpertGPS) has been suggested in the past, but is even more expensive, £52.95. Incredible.

 

I'm a supporter of FOSS and free software generally, both as a creator and user - so don't view this as just somebody being tight.

Link to comment

I'm wondering if there are any free alternatives to GSAK?

 

$30 is a lot of money to spend on something that I don't actually need - so far I've done reasonably well just copying pocket queries.

 

What are you looking to do with GSAK or something similiar? Just filtering your PQs before you load them onto your GPS?

Link to comment

I'm wondering if there are any free alternatives to GSAK?

 

$30 is a lot of money to spend on something that I don't actually need - so far I've done reasonably well just copying pocket queries. I know GSAK has many loyal fans so I'm expected to get some abuse, since that seems to happen whenever anyone questions if there is another way, but still - is there?

 

Geobuddy (now ExpertGPS) has been suggested in the past, but is even more expensive, £52.95. Incredible.

 

I'm a supporter of FOSS and free software generally, both as a creator and user - so don't view this as just somebody being tight.

 

I paid for GSAK and use it all the time, and consider it a great value.

 

However, if you want to look for other similar software titles, several are listed here.

 

One of my favorites is MGM.

Link to comment

Exactly... I'd recommend trying GSAK witht he nag screens (I used it that way for 6 months)if all your doing is sorting and loading caches....

 

I think you'll becaoem an addict just like the rest of us given time )

 

GSAK is free.

 

You only have to pay to get rid of the nag screen.

 

I used it in free mode for a long time:

 

ebf91ebf-56f4-41fc-99cb-2fe2d18b0e4b.jpg

 

When the API integration was included, that was a closer for me and I paid.

 

Worth every penny (if we still had pennies).

Link to comment

I'm a supporter of FOSS and free software generally, both as a creator and user - so don't view this as just somebody being tight.

If you're a software creator, it probably wouldn't be too hard to create your own database and just copy all of your PQs into it. You could even set up a merge algorithm to get rid of the duplicates.

 

I thought about doing that myself, but time is money, and I would have spent much more than $30 worth of time setting that up, and I still would have had a product inferior to GSAK.

Link to comment

The ONLY reason I would seek out an alternative to GSAK is that I own a Mac, so I have to run GSAK in a virtual machine (Parallels). Since I got my eTrex 30 Parallels doesn't remember the mapping of the USB port to the virtual machine so I typically have to plug/unplug the GPS a few times before I can load it. I put up with it though, because there is no real replacement for the capabilities GSAK gives me.

Link to comment

I'm a supporter of FOSS and free software generally, both as a creator and user - so don't view this as just somebody being tight.

If you're a software creator, it probably wouldn't be too hard to create your own database and just copy all of your PQs into it. You could even set up a merge algorithm to get rid of the duplicates.

 

I thought about doing that myself, but time is money, and I would have spent much more than $30 worth of time setting that up, and I still would have had a product inferior to GSAK.

 

Yes, and it's an idea I've been toying with for some time. Although as I generally code in perl and cgi, it would probably be a web page where files were uploaded, combined, and a new one spat out.

 

I'm also interested in whatever things caching tools are used for. I know there are some things like converting formats for various brands of gps but these aren't something I've really looked into.

 

Yes, these would cost me more than $30 of time, but that's really not important if it was interesting to do.

 

(Thanks for the other comments btw. I built a fast computer with SSDs so I don't wait for programs to load though, and it's quite a change in my user pattern to wait! I commend the rest of you for your patience though!)

Link to comment

The main thing that prevents me using GSAK is I don't use Windows (if I can help it), on Linux I use OpenCache Manager which is still being actively maintained, and geoqo which hasn't had any development for several years as far as I can tell.

 

(yes I know GASK will run in wine or a VM, but it's not worth the hassle as both the above do everything I want out of a cache management DB).

Edited by MartyBartfast
Link to comment

As for what I want to do. One thing is to combine all the PQs into one file, removing the dupes. Other things: not entirely sure.

 

GPSBabel has done this for years, is FOSS, and runs on about any reasonable host operating system. There's a command line for automation and a GUI for draggy droppy types.

 

For example, your request is:

 

gpsbabel -i gpx -f pq1.gpx -f pq2.gpx -f pq3.gpx -x duplicate,shortname,all -o gpx -F merged_with_no_duplicates.gpx.

 

There are a bunch of other nerdy geocaching tips at http://www.gpsbabel.org/tips/geocaching.html

Link to comment

Thanks, definitely need to take another look at gpsbabel.

 

Viking looked interesting, but once I loaded the OSM maps I couldn't get it to display both map and gps's together, no matter how I played with layers.

 

MyGeocachingManager crashes on start and won't run for me.

 

Opencache Manager looks really good. Unfortunately I don't have a linux desktop any more, only headless servers. Might try it on a VM anyway though!

Link to comment

As for what I want to do. One thing is to combine all the PQs into one file, removing the dupes. Other things: not entirely sure.

 

GPSBabel has done this for years, is FOSS, and runs on about any reasonable host operating system. There's a command line for automation and a GUI for draggy droppy types.

There are a bunch of other nerdy geocaching tips at http://www.gpsbabel.org/tips/geocaching.html

 

Thanks for the recommendation, and I note, all the work you've done on this project. It's very impressive and I like it immensely. With very little faffing (using the gui) I combined half a dozen overlapping 1,000 cache PQs into one .gpx and removed about a thousand dupes. (Useful because my Oregon will only accept 5,000 geocaches, and although it combines dupes itself, it's a very hit and miss affair to know how close to that limit you're getting)

 

Basecamp has a problem reading the resulting .gpx if I also combine .gpx's produced by opencaching.org and opencaching.org.uk, but in practice that wouldn't be a problem. (Probably a different input variant - I haven't looked)

 

Oh, and on the page you like, the first link within it to http://www.alancurry.com/gpsbabel now 404's. However, plenty of help on the main page.

 

Thanks, and this'll do!

Edited by dartymoor
Link to comment

Basecamp has a problem reading the resulting .gpx if I also combine .gpx's produced by opencaching.org and opencaching.org.uk, but in practice that wouldn't be a problem. (Probably a different input variant - I haven't looked)

Most likely they have incompatible schema. That'a actually called out in the gpxver option at GPSBabel's GPX documentation. It's funny you mention this as it's been that way in GPSBabel for probably ten years and only about last week did we "solve" this by tossing the schemaloc for odd files like that. But if you want to talk bits and bytes, let's do that on the GPSBabel support lists (with test cases as I don't think we have many people mixing formats like that) instead of here.

Oh, and on the page you like, the first link within it to http://www.alancurry.com/gpsbabel now 404's. However, plenty of help on the main page.

 

Alan had a "going out of business" sale several years ago and I actually adopted them. I just missed fixing all the links to his site. They're accessible via the links on the parent page at http://www.gpsbabel.org/tips/ (which has a couple of typos, too...)

 

So few people read the doc that the broken links never show up in my stats. I'll fix this in the next doc push.

 

Don't get me wrong, GPSBabel and GSAK solve very different problems, but for the uses you cite, GPSBabel handles those fine. GSAK is one of many programs using GPSBabel for some of its nerdy needs.

Link to comment

I know what I am about to give is a non-answer, but please indulge me.

 

When I first got GSAK, it was to "simply load PQs" while I built a database. Many others after me all started with GSAK for the same reason. While I won't say all, many ended up finding that it did things they didn't know they wanted, but now won't live without. Everything from parsing the PQs to statistics. Interfacing with maps to using GS's API to get caches in an area you will be visiting without having to use up a PQ (i.e. you can do it on the fly). Some use the API to do a quick update of their entire database (mine covers a 80 mile radius) before they head out the door to make sure they have the most up to date info.

 

OK, commercial over. Just think you might want to give the free version a try as you ook for something else. You may be surprised.

Link to comment

I'm surprised I'm the first to know after a few days that there is a free GSAK alternative. That would probably be because it's written by a developer from The Czech Republic. Anyways, it's called Geoget, and it is written in English. Geoget I have played with this program a little, but not too much. Oh, and the developer is a "trusted partner", and is allowed to use the Geocaching.com API.

Link to comment

Wow. Geoget is quite impressive, and is currently using the api to grab all my finds. Quite a range of plugins too, although the google translations give some interesting english, you can generally understand what's what and, as you say, the program itself is in english.

 

It's going to take a while to learn, but already it's generating stats of my own caches automatically. Very polished and impressive program, thanks!

Link to comment

Wow. Geoget is quite impressive, and is currently using the api to grab all my finds. Quite a range of plugins too, although the google translations give some interesting english, you can generally understand what's what and, as you say, the program itself is in english.

 

It's going to take a while to learn, but already it's generating stats of my own caches automatically. Very polished and impressive program, thanks!

 

Yeah, I forgot to mention the English grammar of the author is a little off in places. Spelling, I'm sure he uses a spell checker. I've seen that before when I had a foreign student lab partner for a couple classes in College many years ago. :lol:

Link to comment

Wow. Geoget is quite impressive, and is currently using the api to grab all my finds. Quite a range of plugins too, although the google translations give some interesting english, you can generally understand what's what and, as you say, the program itself is in english.

 

It's going to take a while to learn, but already it's generating stats of my own caches automatically. Very polished and impressive program, thanks!

 

It seemed to import all my find via API (took nearly an hour), but I cant for the life of me figure out how to make them show up in any database.

 

When you import data in GSAK, it is put in the open Database. Apparently, Geoget hides this data somewhere I cant see... so I have no idea how to move it to a database...

 

What am I missing?

Link to comment

Wow. Geoget is quite impressive, and is currently using the api to grab all my finds. Quite a range of plugins too, although the google translations give some interesting english, you can generally understand what's what and, as you say, the program itself is in english.

 

It's going to take a while to learn, but already it's generating stats of my own caches automatically. Very polished and impressive program, thanks!

 

It seemed to import all my find via API (took nearly an hour), but I cant for the life of me figure out how to make them show up in any database.

 

When you import data in GSAK, it is put in the open Database. Apparently, Geoget hides this data somewhere I cant see... so I have no idea how to move it to a database...

 

What am I missing?

 

You know what? I just opened it for the first time in about 2 months, and heck if I can find my database either!! I might be able to play with it this weekend, but to be honest, you're probably better off shooting an email to the developer. I'd expect a Google translate response though. :lol:

Link to comment

It seemed to import all my find via API (took nearly an hour), but I cant for the life of me figure out how to make them show up in any database.

 

When you import data in GSAK, it is put in the open Database. Apparently, Geoget hides this data somewhere I cant see... so I have no idea how to move it to a database...

 

What am I missing?

 

You not see big blue 'hint' at center of main window?

 

My hint - you can display list of caches by default filter (it hide archived caches and events - but you can change it as you wish!) by pressing F5.

Link to comment

I'd expect a Google translate response though. :lol:

 

Ha ha, it is very funny request for help! :o

 

Yes, my English is not perfect. However is much better then your Czech language! :D

 

95% of Geoget's web is Wiki created by community. And Czech community is very strong. So, lot of content exists in Czech language. Anyone can create English language too.

Link to comment

I'm wondering if there are any free alternatives to GSAK?

 

$30 is a lot of money to spend on something that I don't actually need - so far I've done reasonably well just copying pocket queries. I know GSAK has many loyal fans so I'm expected to get some abuse, since that seems to happen whenever anyone questions if there is another way, but still - is there?

 

Geobuddy (now ExpertGPS) has been suggested in the past, but is even more expensive, £52.95. Incredible.

 

I'm a supporter of FOSS and free software generally, both as a creator and user - so don't view this as just somebody being tight.

 

Hi, you can look at a software that i developped, not to compete with GSAK, but just to help my friends (and myself): http://mgmgeo.free.fr/en/

It's free (& ad-free), portable (as not messing up your registry), running on Windows only. You can give it a try if you want :rolleyes:

Link to comment

GSAK is free.

 

You only have to pay to get rid of the nag screen.

 

I used it in free mode for a long time:

 

ebf91ebf-56f4-41fc-99cb-2fe2d18b0e4b.jpg

 

When the API integration was included, that was a closer for me and I paid.

 

Worth every penny (if we still had pennies).

 

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

I used to run GSAK in the free mode, til I had the back-up battery in my laptop give-up the ghost, and it wasn't until I noticed the clock was running a the wrong time, and (gotta hate time travel) the wrong date (a good 3 years+ behind!) Then, I replaced the NiCAD pack, and reset the clock... Imagine waiting close to 15 minutes every step, before you can use GSAK? I figured it was time to finally pay the registration fee ($35.00 US) which, honestly, is fair. I used to use EasyGPS as well for loading/selecting/filtering caches but GSAK has made it so much easier (and a lot of the bells & whistles of EasyGPS have changed..) I still do a lot of what I used to do before I registered it, but I use GSAK for the main database handling & export to the GPS's. (especially with the eXplorist-GC.) Basecamp is good for putting a lay of the land, but as someone already said, it's best for track layouts.. I still haven't found a program which will display ALL map layers like my NuVI does, from selected map sections under MapSource. (I have the Topo-100K, IBYCUS-USA, and a few trail maps from off GPSFileDepot, which I would love to be able to view on my computer screen, instead of having to constantly switch between them & either IBYCUS or Topo. I want to be able to view them on the street or Topo!)

 

I still haven't fully tested a Linux based program I put on my other laptop (which is running Ultimate Edition version of UBUNTU).. But, I imagine it'll chose above a certain number of caches as I've found both EasyGPS, and when exporting from GSAK to other formats via GPSBabel, anything above 20,000 records, and they choke!)..

Link to comment

I still haven't fully tested a Linux based program I put on my other laptop (which is running Ultimate Edition version of UBUNTU).. But, I imagine it'll chose above a certain number of caches as I've found both EasyGPS, and when exporting from GSAK to other formats via GPSBabel, anything above 20,000 records, and they choke!)..

 

I've exercised GPSBabel with a few hundred thousand geocaches and many millions of waypoints and trackpionts. Obviously, you're not going to get away with that on a wimpy computer, but there's no known limit. You may run out of memory at some point, but 20K is a walk in the park.

 

If you have a reproducible way to "choke" GPSBabel with 20K , I'd consider that a bug and ask for a reproducible test case to the GPSBabel mailing list (not here).

 

Obviously, problems with GSAK or EasyGPS should be reported to those respective parties.

Link to comment

 

I still haven't fully tested a Linux based program I put on my other laptop (which is running Ultimate Edition version of UBUNTU)..

 

Interested to know what the Linux program is [:)]

 

I assume he is talking about OCM (a very solid program also): http://opencachemanage.sourceforge.net/

Thanks, I'm aware of OCM & recommended it in post #11 above, I was wondering if they might have something else.

Link to comment

I have been using the free GSAK for years until recently.

I used a Garmin ETrex Legend and it worked great with GSAK. My new computer does not have a serial port and a USB conversion cable didn't work, so that ended that!

Now I have a Magellan Triton 300. GSAK doesn't even recognize that it is USB! The only option is a COM port. So no GSAK with Magellan.

Geocaching.com doesn't recognize the Magellan Communicator, so I can't "send to GPS" anymore! I have downloaded the recommend plugin 3 times! Augh!!

 

Magellan has a program called VantagePoint that is free. It is graphic (map) based rather than just a list of names, although it does also have a list of names. I do miss some features of GSAK, but I'm still learning VP. One advantage to VP is that it monitors the Magellan GPS for updates. One big disadvantage is that the filter function totally pales in comparison to GSAK. Also, even though I turn off all but 90 caches in VP, when I try to transfer to the GPSr, it still wants to transfer all 889 caches, which is above the limit of the Triton 300! I have to delete all caches and then add just the Query that I need. It does handle PQs very well!

 

So, if you have a Magellan, this might work. Otherwise...sorry for wasting your time. B)

Link to comment

I have been using the free GSAK for years until recently.

I used a Garmin ETrex Legend and it worked great with GSAK. My new computer does not have a serial port and a USB conversion cable didn't work, so that ended that!

Now I have a Magellan Triton 300. GSAK doesn't even recognize that it is USB! The only option is a COM port. So no GSAK with Magellan.

Geocaching.com doesn't recognize the Magellan Communicator, so I can't "send to GPS" anymore! I have downloaded the recommend plugin 3 times! Augh!!

 

Magellan has a program called VantagePoint that is free. It is graphic (map) based rather than just a list of names, although it does also have a list of names. I do miss some features of GSAK, but I'm still learning VP. One advantage to VP is that it monitors the Magellan GPS for updates. One big disadvantage is that the filter function totally pales in comparison to GSAK. Also, even though I turn off all but 90 caches in VP, when I try to transfer to the GPSr, it still wants to transfer all 889 caches, which is above the limit of the Triton 300! I have to delete all caches and then add just the Query that I need. It does handle PQs very well!

 

So, if you have a Magellan, this might work. Otherwise...sorry for wasting your time. B)

 

Let's see, there's this:

TritonForums - GSAK

 

and this:

Triton Export Macro for GSAK

 

From this:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=magellan+triton+and+gsak

Link to comment

A couple of months down the line, and well, I bought GSAK.

 

Not to say the suggested options above weren't great, they all had something to give and were all improvements on the way I was working before. But on a local facebook group I was moaning about how long it takes to log and how often I have to flip back and forth to the maps to remind myself which cache I was logging so I could write a proper log - and geocaching.com was being horrendously slow and I mentioned "Wouldn't it be nice if there was an offline way to log?" and somebody said GSAK did that.

 

That was it - the killer feature I needed. So I paid my money and registered the thing.

 

And offline logging works like a dream. With split screens I can be writing the log on one monitor while the second automatically shows the cache on the satellite map, shows the description, name, hint (very good reminder, the hint) and previous logs. It's made things a world better.

 

And it's changed the way I prepare for caching. It downloads my PQs automatically, adds everything to one database, and I can fire off 5,000 live and updated caches around the area I have in mind in less than a minute.

 

So, as you've guessed, I'm a convert - and very quickly. I still favour FOSS before anything else, but this thing is actually worth spending money on. Be nice if it was cheaper of course, but it is good value even at $30us.

Link to comment

 

So, as you've guessed, I'm a convert - and very quickly. I still favour FOSS before anything else, but this thing is actually worth spending money on. Be nice if it was cheaper of course, but it is good value even at $30us.

That boggles my mind. At $30 for the depth of the program, the support, the continuous improvement and practically instantaneous bug fixing you would be hard pressed to find another program with anything near the value of this program. I feel guilty spending only $30 for this program.

Link to comment

A couple of months down the line, and well, I bought GSAK.

 

Not to say the suggested options above weren't great, they all had something to give and were all improvements on the way I was working before. But on a local facebook group I was moaning about how long it takes to log and how often I have to flip back and forth to the maps to remind myself which cache I was logging so I could write a proper log - and geocaching.com was being horrendously slow and I mentioned "Wouldn't it be nice if there was an offline way to log?" and somebody said GSAK did that.

 

That was it - the killer feature I needed. So I paid my money and registered the thing.

 

And offline logging works like a dream. With split screens I can be writing the log on one monitor while the second automatically shows the cache on the satellite map, shows the description, name, hint (very good reminder, the hint) and previous logs. It's made things a world better.

 

And it's changed the way I prepare for caching. It downloads my PQs automatically, adds everything to one database, and I can fire off 5,000 live and updated caches around the area I have in mind in less than a minute.

 

So, as you've guessed, I'm a convert - and very quickly. I still favour FOSS before anything else, but this thing is actually worth spending money on. Be nice if it was cheaper of course, but it is good value even at $30us.

 

Glad you decided to go for it and are finding it worthwhile. I also at first wasnt keen on the cost, but after thinking it through, a one off cost of $30 (i think that was about £22?) wasnt really a lot. The way I thought of it was, thats about 8x cooked breakfasts in the works canteen. So, I went on a diet, stopped having breakfast at work for a few weeks and saved the money to buy GSAK! :D

Link to comment

I'm wondering if there are any free alternatives to GSAK?

 

$30 is a lot of money to spend on something that I don't actually need - so far I've done reasonably well just copying pocket queries. I know GSAK has many loyal fans so I'm expected to get some abuse, since that seems to happen whenever anyone questions if there is another way, but still - is there?

 

Geobuddy (now ExpertGPS) has been suggested in the past, but is even more expensive, £52.95. Incredible.

 

I'm a supporter of FOSS and free software generally, both as a creator and user - so don't view this as just somebody being tight.

 

GAPP does the same and is absolutly free of charge. No nagscreens involved!

 

 

http://www.globalcaching.eu/GAPP/en

Edited by GEO-BREIN
Link to comment

I'm wondering if there are any free alternatives to GSAK?

 

$30 is a lot of money to spend on something that I don't actually need - so far I've done reasonably well just copying pocket queries. I know GSAK has many loyal fans so I'm expected to get some abuse, since that seems to happen whenever anyone questions if there is another way, but still - is there?

 

Geobuddy (now ExpertGPS) has been suggested in the past, but is even more expensive, £52.95. Incredible.

 

I'm a supporter of FOSS and free software generally, both as a creator and user - so don't view this as just somebody being tight.

 

I'm puzzled as to why you want an alternative if as you say it is "something that I don't actually need".

Edited by HEADLANDERS
Link to comment

As for what I want to do. One thing is to combine all the PQs into one file, removing the dupes. Other things: not entirely sure.

 

Is there a reason you need to do this? Duplicates across PQ files only get listed once in your GPS and don't count twice against your maximum geocache limit.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...