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pocket PC


Jimmywi1

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Hello

 

I'm not sure if I am doing this right, so here goes I was giving a pocket PC and I am wondering what I need to use it for geo cashing? hear you could, I'm not a premium member yet but I will be come pay day. I am also a little confused how I would go about putting the info from the cashes in my pocket PC. I could buy a cheap GPS but knowing nothing about them and vary little about geo cashing at this point I am not sire what to get or what the GPS unit has to be able to do. my budget would be right around 40 bucks for a GPS and or course the free pocket PC

thanks

Jimmy

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There is an excellent pocket PC caching app called CacheMate (www.smittyware.com) that can hold a database of caches but to get the best from it you need to be a premium member.

Buy a GPS that allows waypoints to be downloaded using a serial or USB connection. It's a real pain to do it manually for more than a few waypoints.

 

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Hi, welcome aboard! First let's get you straight on the terminology....it's "cache", not "cash"....😊

 

Now, back to your question....I don't think I recall anyone asking about caching with a PDA recently. I've heard of some who use then to organize their cache information so they don't have to carry printed cache pages in the field (paperless caching), but that's usually in conjunction with a seperate GPS device.

 

Does the Pocket PC have a GPS? That's the first question you need to answer. I'm not familiar with them, I haven't used a PDA in years. Second, does it have any connectivity away from Wi Fi? Like 3G? Again, I don't know much about them. But you'll for sure need GPS.

 

Now, if it does, I don't know if there are any Geocaching apps for the Pocket PC. I know there is one for smart phones operating on the Windows system. Is the Pocket PC compatible with Windows smart phone apps?

 

You might be looking at a bit of a tall order here. Many hurdles to clear....the existing Geocaching apps are designed for smart phones, not PDA's. A standalone GPS may be a better bet in your case. You could save the cache iinfo to the PDA for reference so as not to have to carry a bunch of printouts in the field and then use the handheld GPS for the actual navigation. Some folks do it that way. But for $40, you're definitely looking at a used unit. Check EBay or the Garage Sale forum here at Groundspeak.

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They key to all of your requirements is pocket queries which are only available to premium members. You then need a GPS with a serial/USB connection, a PC application called EasyGPS (free) and a Pocket PC application called CacheMate (small fee).

 

1. Run a pocket query which specifies the type of caches you wish to seek.

2. The result of a pocket query is a file in "gpx" format and can contain the details of up to 1000 caches

3. Load the gpx file into EasyGPS where you can view and sort the data and select which are to be transferred to your GPS.

4. Use EasyGPS to transfer the selected cache co-ordinates to your GPS via serial/USB connection.

5. Load the same gpx file via USB into CacheMate on the pocket PC.

 

Your GPS now contains the name and co-ordinates of the caches and CacheMate holds all of the cache descriptions, clues, logs etc. It's the way things were done before the smartphone was invented. :rolleyes:

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To the OP: Just FYI and a heads up if you aren't aware.

Google your ham call sign. You'll find there's a lot of info available on the web that identifies you more than you may want.

If that's OK with you then at least it's your choice. If you don't want to be so readily identified who you really are then you might want to change your user name.

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I got my hands on a Dell Axim X5 its a pretty old unit but its in good working order and I made sure I had all the cables and what not. There are many geocaching apps for pocket PCs way more than I thought. It does have wifi so I can get on the net to get PQ's and use one of the many apps out there to see everything on geocaching.com. Its also my understanding that there are GPS add on and apps to find the cache or at least get close. I may try this until I find an GPS unit in my budget. There are mixed review on it from reading on geocaching.com. There are allot more cachers out there using the GPS add on for the X5 or another PPPC in one forum or another. I am not sure I totally understand that yet. I did upgrade my member ship and got a pocket PC to at the vary least keep track of and keep updated PQ's. I can try some of these GPS apps until I get my GPS unit which will end up being a Garmin etrex in one model or another. Then use it along side my PPC to do paperless geocaching.

Jimmy

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