Getting info onto a portable device?

[+luigi752]

We're leaving on vacation in three days, and I've spent a lot of time trying to find the answer to this question, but now I must see if I can get help here. I don't have a smartphone, so I'm using a handheld GPS. I know how to manually enter the coordinates, so I'm okay there. My question is this: is there any way for me to save the info from a search onto my son's iPod -- we are going camping so will not have access to internet. Is my only recourse to print out the pages of info? I upgraded membership to premium because one of the benefits is going "paperless" but I am not sure I understand how to use that, I fear I won't have time (having spent hours and hours trying to figure this out) to pick and choose which ones to load into the GPS (besides, I can't get my GPS hooked up to my computer), etc.

I feel a bit like an idiot, esp. after today's fail at "beginner cache" near our home, but I'm determined to do this, b/c I used to love to hike, before son, and he doesn't like hiking, but I'm hoping this will change his mind about it!!

Appreciate any help you could give to this newbie!!!

Thanks,

Jeannie

P.S. I see there is a gc app for $9.99, but my sense is that is for smartphone -- again, I'm not going to have any internet access once we are at campsites.

[+redwoodkestrel]

I don't know if a regular iPod would be able to read a GPX file. If it's an iPod Touch and you have a geocaching app, then yes, you could store the cache info.

 

But since you have a handheld GPS unit, and you're a premium member now, running a pocket query for the area you're going camping in and loading that onto your GPS unit would be ideal... IF you have a paperless unit and IF it can, in fact, be connected to your computer.

 

What kind of GPS unit do you have? Maybe we can help you get the cache information loaded onto it.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

There are lots of GPSr units.... some are paperless, some are not. It helps to know the make and model you have.

The app is for a smartphone. It would do you no good without one.

 

We hand-entered caches into a GPSr for a year or more before upgrading. Yes, we printed pages and carried them with us on a clip-board. There is nothing wrong with doing that, nothing at all. It is still a viable method of geocaching. It also provides you of a means of writing notes and info on EACH particular cache page for logging when you have terminal access. That way, you will always have a writing implement with you as many caches do not contain one!

 

All-in-all, starting out in the "stone-age" is a good thing to do. Three days does not provide you with enough time to learn the techniques and nuances in depth. Trying to do so would overload your noggin' and make you horribly frustrated (probably).

-----

 

Learnin' you to find a cache, that's a story in itself. We can tell you (an awful lot) but in the end, it matters naught until you have found a few yourself. Not unlike learning to play the piano by reading "How to Play a Piano".

Edited July 8, 2013 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+luigi752]

I have a Magellan Meridian Color. I may try to get the stuff onto an SD card and then get it onto the GPS. It came with a 9-pin female port, but I've got no male on my PC. Since I've never loaded the pocket queries onto GPS, I guess I worry that I won't know which ones are where, or, I don't know how to explain it. Maybe the bottom line is I'm being too ambitious for this particular trip. Maybe I should just spend some more time and pick some and load them manually into the GPS. Maybe I should stop fretting overmuch about this vaca!!!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

I agree. Vacation, as well as geocaching is for r-e-l-a-x-i-n-g.

Don't rush it. Once you find a couple, things will get much easier.

 

Your unit needs a serial/USB adapter cord. It's hard to find a computer these days with a serial port. They (cords) are available online, pretty cheaply.

 

Hint:

If you do intend to print out cache pages, use the sizing option in your print menu. You can usually fit the entire page -- or as much of it as you need on a single sheet. Too, you can reverse the page and use it to print another cache page on it.

Edited July 8, 2013 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+luigi752]

Your points are all well-taken, G-G. Many thanks to you and Redwood for the prompt responses. I did do a search for the adapters, and you're right, they are cheap. I'll leave that for when we return.

I'm not going to print anything out (i'm a bit loony about paper -- I've freecycled scrap paper!), I'm just going to pick a few tomorrow and enter them into the GPS.

Thanks again, and happy caching! Can't wait to find our first!!

Cheers,

Jeannie

P.S. I got my chuckle of the day with naked bacon-frying

[+Fombellchicks]

We have been using our daughter's ipod touch (4th gen). We put the geocaching app on it. At home, when we have internet access on it, we search for geocaches in a certain area and then save them to an offline list. We save them with all the info that is available for the cache (hints, photos, logs etc) and also the maps (incl. the aerial map). When we are out on the road on in the woods, she pulls out her iPod (now without internet access and without gps)and she can at least look up all the info and also get an idea where it may be located due to the map. We do this in advance when we know where we are going. You can save them in various lists (name them by location)for offline use. We recently saved over 200 geocaches for a trip from PA to VA and it helped quite a bit. You can save them individually or a group of 10, 20 etc (I believe you can select how many geocaches it shows and saves on a map in the ipod (there is a setting somewhere for this) or when you are a premium member, you can use a pocket querie.Hope this helps.

[+Team Taran]

There are lots of ways to get information on portable devices. It all depends on what devices you have access to and how long you are willing to experiment. People use everything from old palm pilots to a variety of ereaders. The quickest way to find this information is to figure out what devices you have access to and then post your question with more details in the technology section of the forum. I would strongly suggest that if you want to hook your son on the hobby it's important to let him be in control of the gps. Also the accuracy of gps units has increased a lot since your unit was manufactured.