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swapping gpx files in the field on an Oregon


ChileHead

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I just bought a 450 because of a great sale and haven't gotten it yet. I have a question on how to manage gpx files on the device. I believe that you can load up to 5000 caches in one or more gpx files on the device. If I wanted have more, is it possible to swap in different gpx files from the sd card while in the field (without a computer.)

 

I assume any files with a gpx automatically get loaded, so if I had 4 gpx files with 5000 caches each, it would blow up the device (or bad things would happen.)

 

I was wondering if there was a way of putting files on the device like:

file1.gpx.x

file2.gpx.x

file3.gpx.x

file4.gpx.x

 

and rename only the file I want to bring in and then reboot the device to have it load. Or some procedure like this?

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I just bought a 450 because of a great sale and haven't gotten it yet. I have a question on how to manage gpx files on the device. I believe that you can load up to 5000 caches in one or more gpx files on the device. If I wanted have more, is it possible to swap in different gpx files from the sd card while in the field (without a computer.)

 

I assume any files with a gpx automatically get loaded, so if I had 4 gpx files with 5000 caches each, it would blow up the device (or bad things would happen.)

 

I was wondering if there was a way of putting files on the device like:

file1.gpx.x

file2.gpx.x

file3.gpx.x

file4.gpx.x

 

and rename only the file I want to bring in and then reboot the device to have it load. Or some procedure like this?

 

It's my understanding that you may be able to accomplish this with multiple SD cards, preloaded with the individual .gpx files.

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Sounds doable, but you'd need a computer or a tablet that could mount the GPS as a UDB drive to be able to rename the file(s).

And if you have that you just keep the extra files on the device and move them back and forth. With most androids you can do that with a OTG cord if you hyve one.

 

Actually I hadn't thought about using my android ... I could just pop in the micro-sd card and rename on the device itself, then pop back into the GPS.

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Removing the micro SD card in the Oregon requires you to take out the batteries and fiddle with the flimsy locking cover on the card holder. Although it is doable, I would try to avoid changing SD cards in the field. It is pretty easy to drop the micro SD into a pile of leaves, and it is gone forever. I would prefer to hook the Oregon up via USB to a tablet or laptop and rename the files that way.

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Hmm ... looks like the OTG would be the way to go. I wasn't familiar with that type of cable.

 

So it looks like I could use that to connect my GPS to my Galaxy S4, and the GPS would show up as a connected drive/device, and I could just copy files onto it from my phone.

That is correct. I keep it with me in case I need to do a quick pq and download it to the Montana using my Galaxy S3 and now 4. Although I recently bought a netbook at Office Depot for about $250 that I take with me just to handle GSAK and loading caches. Nice and small and light.

Edited by Walts Hunting
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Hmm ... looks like the OTG would be the way to go. I wasn't familiar with that type of cable.

 

So it looks like I could use that to connect my GPS to my Galaxy S4, and the GPS would show up as a connected drive/device, and I could just copy files onto it from my phone.

That is correct. I keep it with me in case I need to do a quick pq and download it to the Montana using my Galaxy S3 and now 4. Although I recently bought a netbook at Office Depot for about $250 that I take with me just to handle GSAK and loading caches. Nice and small and light.

Is there a way to tell the GPS to not use the USB 5v power from the phone? I use OTG for camera pic transfers. The gallery opens with the camera as an album when I plug in the camera and I don't think the camera takes phone power.
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Hmm ... looks like the OTG would be the way to go. I wasn't familiar with that type of cable.

 

So it looks like I could use that to connect my GPS to my Galaxy S4, and the GPS would show up as a connected drive/device, and I could just copy files onto it from my phone.

That is correct. I keep it with me in case I need to do a quick pq and download it to the Montana using my Galaxy S3 and now 4. Although I recently bought a netbook at Office Depot for about $250 that I take with me just to handle GSAK and loading caches. Nice and small and light.

Is there a way to tell the GPS to not use the USB 5v power from the phone? I use OTG for camera pic transfers. The gallery opens with the camera as an album when I plug in the camera and I don't think the camera takes phone power.

You have to add a powered USB between the gpsr and the tablet. This is what I did with my Galaxy tab.

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If you are going to carry both your GPS and your android just to change name then try this. Download the c:geo app for your android. Now save a huge database of all the caches you would like to hit. It will download all of the details of the cache. Then when you want to navigate to one of the just navigate to the coordinates on the cache description. I do this on my blackberry however the reason I carry 2 devices is because all the caches here are in German and I need to translate some of them.

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Hmm ... looks like the OTG would be the way to go. I wasn't familiar with that type of cable.

 

So it looks like I could use that to connect my GPS to my Galaxy S4, and the GPS would show up as a connected drive/device, and I could just copy files onto it from my phone.

That is correct. I keep it with me in case I need to do a quick pq and download it to the Montana using my Galaxy S3 and now 4. Although I recently bought a netbook at Office Depot for about $250 that I take with me just to handle GSAK and loading caches. Nice and small and light.

Is there a way to tell the GPS to not use the USB 5v power from the phone? I use OTG for camera pic transfers. The gallery opens with the camera as an album when I plug in the camera and I don't think the camera takes phone power.

You have to add a powered USB between the gpsr and the tablet. This is what I did with my Galaxy tab.

 

What device do you have? I downloaded caches to my oregon with just an OTG plus basic usb cord. My Montana requires the double power usb hookup since it draws more than my Galaxy S3 and 4 could put out, I believe the galaxy tab has a standard USB output so basic cord should do most devcices.

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And then there's this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQUMZRA/

 

Battery power and a wifi connection for your GPS to net book, tablet, or smartphone. I usually tout this as a good thing for iOS users, but it's applicable here also.

 

Edit to add.... Well, shucks. Not available on amazon at this time. Guess I'd check newegg for similar... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1HD0HM8076

Edited by user13371
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I have an Oregon 450. For a few years now i carry two different SD cards with me (one always in the oregon). one card contains pocket queries for geocaches in the northern half of the state that i live in and the other card is for the southern half. it has been simple for me to change cards in the field as needed. infrequently have i had my oregon freeze up on me when loading pocket queries. it is a pain when that happens, but i have found a workaround that isnt too bad.

 

if the oregon freezes up: remove the batteries, remove the sd card. put batteries back in and turn on. let oregon boot up completely. turn off, remove batteries, put sd card back in, then batteries, then turn on. oregon works fine after that.

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Hmm ... looks like the OTG would be the way to go. I wasn't familiar with that type of cable.

 

So it looks like I could use that to connect my GPS to my Galaxy S4, and the GPS would show up as a connected drive/device, and I could just copy files onto it from my phone.

Works like a charm with a Galaxy S3 and eTrex 30 and OTG cable. I can even use the Android app CacheSense to do a location search, output a GPX of that to the eTrex. I typically have multiple GPX files from Basecamp saved to Dropbox and then can access them on the the phone and send to the eTrex on demand.

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Hmm ... looks like the OTG would be the way to go. I wasn't familiar with that type of cable.

 

So it looks like I could use that to connect my GPS to my Galaxy S4, and the GPS would show up as a connected drive/device, and I could just copy files onto it from my phone.

That is correct. I keep it with me in case I need to do a quick pq and download it to the Montana using my Galaxy S3 and now 4. Although I recently bought a netbook at Office Depot for about $250 that I take with me just to handle GSAK and loading caches. Nice and small and light.

 

+ 2 on the netbook. On trips the netbook has GSAK with about 40 databases ready to go....I've only needed to use it once in the field in the last several years. The netbook also serves as backup to the laptop I travel with.

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