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Garmin Montana 610 - not showing geocaches?


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hello I have been geocachig for many years with my trusty Garmin oregon but have just upgraded to a Montana 610 and which ever method I try the geocaches are not showing up on my new unit. Any ideas why?

I have tried zooming into the map where the pocket query made all the caches but they are not there. 

I have managed to add one geocache manually by adding it to a list and sending it over that way - but I could not see how to get my pocket query of 500 caches into a list to do that and I dont have the time nor patience to move over 500 caches individually.

Any ideas would be gratefully revived.

I did contact garmin support line but they couldnt help. Tried drag and drop the files - that didnt work. Installed basecamp which they assured me would work - and even though I can see the PQ caches on the base camp map - they are not in my Garmin Montana. HELP 

Thanks in advance

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51 minutes ago, scrap happy annie said:

hello I have been geocachig for many years with my trusty Garmin oregon but have just upgraded to a Montana 610 and which ever method I try the geocaches are not showing up on my new unit. Any ideas why?

No idea but it may help if you said how you are transferring files/caches.

2 things spring to mind. Did you put the files in the correct directory and did you check for any filters that may have been set?

 

Edited by on4bam
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5 minutes ago, scrap happy annie said:

I have tried transferring he files by GSAK - my usual method - failed. By Basecamp on advice of Garmin support - failed. By drag and drop - failed. and lists from geocaching.com.

Do you see the files when looking at the directory structure on your GPS when it's connected to your computer?

Did you check filters on the GPS?

 

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Have you checked your filters? On the old Oregons (up to 450/550), filters only returned a list of filtered caches when you selected it. With the new Oregons and the newest Montana line, filters take a more permanent effect until they are changed again. That means your cache list will be filtered as well as what appears on the map. In the geocaching "app," go to the filters area and choose "show all", or enable all cache types, D/T combinations, and found statuses.

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The Montana 610 has the same distance limits on showing caches than the Oregon 6xx and 7xx series.
IE: Caches located more than appr. 100 miles are not shown. Drag your map to the location where the caches should be, zoom in.

Hans

Edited by HHL
Typo
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First you should identify whether they are on the GPSr in the first place.  How is GSAK set to transfer your geocaches -- what file name does it use, and what is the destination folder on the GPSr?  Hook up the GPSr to your computer, then explore its contents.  Look in the folder to which GSAK purportedly sent the cache file -- is it there?

Additionally, using the menu, locate the Geocaching shortcut.  Does it list the caches or does it report none found in the GPSr's database?

If they are in the GPSr and just aren't showing up on the map, you should check the filter settings on the geocaching shortcut.  Even if you only set them for a quick search, that's not how that setting works -- it's actually the filter for any caches you want to find, and if you want to see them all, you need to reset the filter.

If the caches are there and the filter is fine, and you just can't see them on the map, you may just need to fiddle with the map detail settings.  I have found that my Montana 610 likes to reset the detail level on the map, such that geocaches are visible only at low zoom levels and not at my preferred setting (2 miles).  When caches disappear from my map screen, this has been the culprit more than once.

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The Send to Garmin macro works great for me on my 600. Also, you should see tour GPX files in the file system under Garmin -> GPX. If the geocaches are showing under find geocaches but not on the map, on the map screen adjust the map settings so that user waypoints are not auto but more mile 0.3 miles or so at a minimum. 

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4 hours ago, scrap happy annie said:

Hello

I have tried transferring he files by GSAK - my usual method - failed. By Basecamp on advice of Garmin support - failed. By drag and drop - failed. and lists from geocaching.com.

 

thanks

 

Check the Garmin/GPX folder as on4bam mentioned.  Are the GPX files arriving in the folder?

I wonder if there are simply some cache filters set as Mineral2 said.  If files are in the folder, look at the various filters for cache size, type, stuff like that.

And, you could try backing up everything in "Garmin/GPX" (Hey, might as well back up the whole GPSr while you're at it.  Really.), then delete all the files in that "GPX" folder.  Now shut off and restart a couple of times, then place GPX files in whatever way you find most convenient.  If there was a leetle database glitch, that tends to clear it up.

Good luck!

 

Edited by kunarion
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I am having an issue after one of the last updates (even with a bran new GPS) where after I load the GPX and or GZZ files it will work for a little bit, but if the GPS turns off then it will fail to find the GPX or  GZZ files claiming there are no geocaches on the unit. When I get home I have to remove and reload the files but if your out Geocaching its a little hard to do this. 

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7 hours ago, EveningKiss said:

I am having an issue after one of the last updates (even with a bran new GPS) where after I load the GPX and or GZZ files it will work for a little bit, but if the GPS turns off then it will fail to find the GPX or  GZZ files claiming there are no geocaches on the unit. When I get home I have to remove and reload the files but if your out Geocaching its a little hard to do this. 

Sometimes the SQL database in the GPSr can be corrupted and needs to be completely rewritten/indexed.

With your Garmin GPSr connected to your computer, browse to the Device\Garmin\ directory and rename the \SQL\ directory to something like \SQLold\, then disconnect and reboot the GPSr. Allow time for the unit to reload all installed data and let us know if you have better results from this point on.

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16 minutes ago, Atlas Cached said:

Sometimes the SQL database in the GPSr can be corrupted and needs to be completely rewritten/indexed.

With your Garmin GPSr connected to your computer, browse to the Device\Garmin\ directory and rename the \SQL\ directory to something like \SQLold\, then disconnect and reboot the GPSr. Allow time for the unit to reload all installed data and let us know if you have better results from this point on.

ill try this but the really annoying thing is this happened with my 680T so I returned it and got the 610 and it did the same thing. It didn't do this before the last update which makes me think it has to do with the last update. 

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I don't know if this is the same issue but I was having trouble with getting geocache symbols to appear on my Montana 610t map, though caches were loaded to the device. I discovered I had inadvertently set the geocaching quick filter status to "did not find" only.  Hit your geocaching icon on the main page, then quick filter, then select status at the bottom,   then I selected "unattempted" and "found"  - viola - there they are !

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13 minutes ago, GreeneTeam said:

Having the same issue as the initial post;  loaded geocaches but my new Montana 680t does not recognize them. Very frustrating.

 

Loaded how?

Did you check the file(s) are on your GPS in the right directory?

How far away are the caches?

Have you checked your filters?

OS? Browser?

 

 

At least give some info if you need help.

 

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Files are in correct directory. Filters are correct. Software up to date. Hard reset completed twice.  I’ve spent a lot of time with Garmin support and was told GSAK never works (I’ve been using it successfully for years) and GGZ format is for Garmins use only. I was finally able to successfully load a GSAK GPX file into the units GPX folder one time but the next day that same file was not recognized and screen displayed “no geocaches found”. No changes to GPS unit other than turning it off and back on the next day. I imported the file from unit into GSAK and then loaded from GSAK to an old Oregon 550 and it worked fine. Exorcist needed.

Edited by GreeneTeam
Addl info
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43 minutes ago, GreeneTeam said:

Files are in correct directory. Filters are correct. Software up to date. Hard reset completed twice.  I’ve spent a lot of time with Garmin support and was told GSAK never works (I’ve been using it successfully for years) and GGZ format is for Garmins use only. I was finally able to successfully load a GSAK GPX file into the units GPX folder one time but the next day that same file was not recognized and screen displayed “no geocaches found”. No changes to GPS unit other than turning it off and back on the next day. I imported the file from unit into GSAK and then loaded from GSAK to an old Oregon 550 and it worked fine. Exorcist needed.

 

Garmin is clueless concerning GSAK. They see it as an easy way out if people have problems.

I use GSAK since 2006/2007 and never had a problem loading caches with it. I use the Garminexport macro to have better control over the export (WPs as POI and favorites added to cachename). Since I have an Oregon600 I've been using GGZ files.

What I always do is manually delete the POI files in both POI directories and the GGZ file(s) in the GGZ directory. I never use GPX files. After exporting (garminexport) I just unplug, switch the GPS on and check if the main target cache is loaded (it always is). I also always load caches on internal memory and keep all OSM maps on the extra SD card.

 

How far away are the loaded caches? Did you wait until you had a satellite lock?

 

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5 hours ago, GreeneTeam said:

Files are in correct directory. Filters are correct. Software up to date. Hard reset completed twice.  I’ve spent a lot of time with Garmin support and was told GSAK never works (I’ve been using it successfully for years) and GGZ format is for Garmins use only. I was finally able to successfully load a GSAK GPX file into the units GPX folder one time but the next day that same file was not recognized and screen displayed “no geocaches found”. No changes to GPS unit other than turning it off and back on the next day. I imported the file from unit into GSAK and then loaded from GSAK to an old Oregon 550 and it worked fine. Exorcist needed.

 

Make a small test file with GSAK and share it on a file hosting site so others here can test it.

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9 hours ago, on4bam said:

How far away are the loaded caches? Did you wait until you had a satellite lock?

Thanks for your feedback and information. I'm able to load a gpx via GSAK but only some caches are available (tried to filter on name etc). I imported the caches from 680t to GSAK and the caches that don't show on 680t are visible on the GSAK file. I used the same file to load to husband's Montana 650t and all the caches are available when I search. I also loaded the cache file via Garminexport macro as GGZ!! THANKS!!  Garmin Helpdesk is misinformed (said only Garmin can load/use GGZ and that I should delete the entire GGZ folder). Unfortunately, the same caches are still  not available 680t when I search.

 

The caches I cannot see on the 680t are approximately 100 miles away. I haven't found any map filters and I have not created any geocache filters.  I'm not sure if I had satellite lock since I completed hard reset while attempting this loading process. Thanks again for all the info!

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2 hours ago, GreeneTeam said:

The caches I cannot see on the 680t are approximately 100 miles away.

 

I guess that's the problem.  Try to scroll the map to where the missing caches are or use "search near" a place where the missing caches are. The newer Garmin's only show caches within a 100 Mile radius.

 

 

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17 minutes ago, on4bam said:

 

I guess that's the problem.  Try to scroll the map to where the missing caches are or use "search near" a place where the missing caches are. The newer Garmin's only show caches within a 100 Mile radius.

 

 

Many thanks for the information! We're driving to that area tomorrow to cache; hopefully the caches will show one we are within the 100 mile range.  Thanks so very much for dealing with my variety of issues. I was very frustrated and your patience and knowledge sharing got me through the darkness. Thank you thank you thank you!

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Just now, GreeneTeam said:

Many thanks for the information! We're driving to that area tomorrow to cache; hopefully the caches will show one we are within the 100 mile range. 

You can check that now, just zoom out, scroll the map to the general area and zoom in again. I'm almost sure they will show up.

 

 

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5 hours ago, on4bam said:

 

I guess that's the problem.  Try to scroll the map to where the missing caches are or use "search near" a place where the missing caches are. The newer Garmin's only show caches within a 100 Mile radius.

 

 

The Geocache LIST only shows caches within (approximately) a 100 mile radius of the GPSr current location, the map should always show all geocaches, respective of any active filters (intentionally set or not).

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4 hours ago, GreeneTeam said:

Many thanks for the information! We're driving to that area tomorrow to cache; hopefully the caches will show one we are within the 100 mile range.  Thanks so very much for dealing with my variety of issues. I was very frustrated and your patience and knowledge sharing got me through the darkness. Thank you thank you thank you!

You can always try a different profile and start the geocaching app there. Filters should be profile dependent, thus you should be starting with a clean slate, unless you have previously set filters in the other profile.

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We have had the same problem twice with a Garmin Montana 610, usually after charging the device on a USB wall socket or in the car, i.e. where the charging device does not see a file system.  The SQL folder and zooming suggestions did not work for us, but were appreciated.  Since the files were still there under the GPX folder, geohubby copied them to a folder on the PC, deleted them from the GPX folder, and copied them back from the PC.  Voilà, the Garmin took ages to load them at startup, and all were there.  Geohubby ejected and rebooted the Garmin between all the stages above but that may not be necessary.  We check that we can see the geocaches before going out for the day.  This recovery method means that we have to take a laptop with us on holiday, but it is better that ruined days.

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