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How many PQ files can I load on a Garmin?


RufusClupea

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The short answer is yes. Most, if not all, of the current handheld models have a limit of 2000 .gpx files. You'll start to notice a performance drop before you ever get to that limit if you're trying to load up with 2000 pocket query files. Not to mention that by the time you actually get 2000 PQ files, your first ones will be over 6 months out of date.

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How much weight can I load into my pickup.? Depends on the model and options.  

The resource mentioned by HHL is great, plus the pointers that things get bogged down when you approach those numbers. I had a lot on an old garmin oregon 300 (200 file limit).  It seemed to randomly drop some of the files when I approached and went over its limits.  (I had a number of quick one geocache GPX files for some caches).  I don't know how it chose.  Perhaps it stopped loading, or when I hit a limit it started to drop the early ones.  However eventually tried to stay way under the limit to be safe. 

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Thanks, that is a handy reference.  Some of the data I already had on spreadsheet from when I was choosing a model, but # of GPX files wasn't mentioned for any of them.  Should be no problems then.  My current task required 16-18 PQs, which means 32-36 files.  Even combined with a few lists & one-offs, I won't even be close.

Thanks folks.

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6 hours ago, RufusClupea said:

[...] My current task required 16-18 PQs, which means 32-36 files.  Even combined with a few lists & one-offs, I won't even be close.

Thanks folks.

Please have in mind that the content also counts against the limit. That is:
Assuming a theoretical content of 1000 caches per PQ: 16 PQs contain 16,000 caches which definitely hits the limit.
Also have in mind that the additional waypoint part could hold more than 1000 waypoints (That could be some thousands of waypoints).
Having said that: It's the best advantage using a third party app (like GSAK) when you're dealing with a lot of PQs. That way you could filter the content (database) to stay just a bit below the limit and then populate your GPSr with that content.

Example for a smart filter for a 3 weeks holiday trip (Less than 6000 caches):

92b56779fcad3f63d9bb14b1985a9258.png

Hans

Edited by HHL
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19 hours ago, HHL said:

Please have in mind that the content also counts against the limit. That is:
Assuming a theoretical content of 1000 caches per PQ: 16 PQs contain 16,000 caches which definitely hits the limit.
Also have in mind that the additional waypoint part could hold more than 1000 waypoints (That could be some thousands of waypoints).

I'm not sure where you're getting those numbers (unless assuming a different model).  According to the site above (and info I already had from Garmin), there is "No limit on geocaches (outside of max number of GPX files supported and memory available)"  I don't have any supplemental maps (yet), so I don't think memory (with 8 GB) is an issue at this time.

The PQs I ran hold ~11,000 caches.  Waypoints may be a problem; I don't have an exact # (or how much memory is used per waypoint), but the files total ~1800 KB.  If that exceeds the 5000 Waypoints, I would think re-running the PQs w/o multi-caches should solve that problem(?)  I spoze it depends if the cache coords of each cache are considered waypoints toward that 5,000 limit. 

I prefer to filter content when creating the PQs

There is a problem someplace; I don't know if it's related or not, but it wouldn't surprise me if it is.  We went out today, and noticed that one cache that should have been in memory was not.  That cache is 80 mi. from origin; radius of PQ is 200 mi. from origin.  The cache appears in the PQ, and on a map of the PQ, but not in the GPSr list (we drove past it, and wondered why it didn't show up).

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2 hours ago, RufusClupea said:

Waypoints may be a problem; I don't have an exact # (or how much memory is used per waypoint), but the files total ~1800 KB.  If that exceeds the 5000 Waypoints, I would think re-running the PQs w/o multi-caches should solve that problem(?)  I spoze it depends if the cache coords of each cache are considered waypoints toward that 5,000 limit. 

Waypoints are counted separately, and I believe that the handhelds all have a 2000 waypoint limit (edit: the Oregon 700 series has a 10,000 waypoint limit). Honestly, I don't even bother with the waypoints file as it just clutters up the map with waypoints that take some serious effort to figure out which cache listings they belong with. If there are multi-caches with multiple visible waypoints to visit, I'll collect those ahead of time and make a route. Otherwise I stick to the traditional multis that make you go to the first stage to get coordinates for the second... and so forth... when I'm traveling or caching on the fly.

Edited by Mineral2
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29 minutes ago, Mineral2 said:

Waypoints are counted separately, and I believe that the handhelds all have a 2000 waypoint limit (edit: the Oregon 700 series has a 10,000 waypoint limit).

From my spreadsheet:

  • eTrex® series have a 2000 waypoint limit
  • eTrex® Touch series have a 4000 waypoint limit
  • Montana® series have a 4000 waypoint limit.
  • GPSMAP® 64 series have a 5000 waypoint limit.
  • Oregon® series have a 10,000 waypoint limit

I'm a little thick here (not to mention technologically bereft/challenged).  Just so I understand this... Are you saying that (e.g.) traditional cache coords. do or do not count against the waypoint limit?  From HHL's post (above):

Quote

Assuming a theoretical content of 1000 caches per PQ: 16 PQs contain 16,000 caches which definitely hits the limit.

That sounds like cache coords do count against the waypoint limit--or am I misreading that?

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4 minutes ago, RufusClupea said:

From my spreadsheet:

  • eTrex® series have a 2000 waypoint limit
  • eTrex® Touch series have a 4000 waypoint limit
  • Montana® series have a 4000 waypoint limit.
  • GPSMAP® 64 series have a 5000 waypoint limit.
  • Oregon® series have a 10,000 waypoint limit

I'm a little thick here (not to mention technologically bereft/challenged).  Just so I understand this... Are you saying that (e.g.) traditional cache coords. do or do not count against the waypoint limit?  From HHL's post (above):

That sounds like cache coords do count against the waypoint limit--or am I misreading that?

Garmin units have three limits: Waypoints, Geocaches (populated from GPX files) and Geocaches (popuated from GGZ files).

You're spreadsheet confuses waypoint limits with geocache limits.

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3 minutes ago, HHL said:

Garmin units have three limits: Waypoints, Geocaches (populated from GPX files) and Geocaches (popuated from GGZ files).

You're spreadsheet confuses waypoint limits with geocache limits.

Where do you find the Geocache (GPX) limits? For the 64 series and Oregon 600/700 series, Garmin only lists the geocache limit as unlimited (or 4 million in the case of the Oregon 600). As far as I know, there's no imposed geocache limit on these models regardless of file format.

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14 minutes ago, Mineral2 said:

Where do you find the Geocache (GPX) limits? For the 64 series and Oregon 600/700 series, Garmin only lists the geocache limit as unlimited (or 4 million in the case of the Oregon 600). As far as I know, there's no imposed geocache limit on these models regardless of file format.

Garmin uses a cheap marketing trick: they just told you about the highest limit (which is for GGZ files and virtually unlimited). Nonetheless the other limits are valid as well.
The GPX files has to be limited because the units have to build their own geocache index from the GPX files (and that is very processor task intensive) whereas the GGZ files contain their geocache index within the file itself.

Hans

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33 minutes ago, HHL said:

Garmin units have three limits: Waypoints, Geocaches (populated from GPX files) and Geocaches (popuated from GGZ files).

You're spreadsheet confuses waypoint limits with geocache limits.

I don't think so.  The waypoint limits come directly from the respective spec tabs on Garmin's site (as per 5000 waypoint limit for GPSMAP® 64 series above).  The only other "limits" they specify are routes (200 for GPSMAP® 64 series) and Track log (10,000 points, 200 saved tracks Ibid.

Likewise, the only other "limit" I see mentioned on Navigation Professional is 2,000 .gpx files for GPSMAP® 64 series.  That says, "No limit on geocaches (outside of max number of GPX files supported and memory available)".

From the last few responses, it appears (to me) that there may be confusion between geocaches and .gpx files(?)

Edited by RufusClupea
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Ok, so what is the Geocache by GPX limit on the Oregon 600? I've loaded it up with over 5,000 caches once, so the limit must be higher than the older traditional limit. I guess now that I've been using iCaching to load a larger home range via ggz, I can experiment with some different quantities exporting as gpx.

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4 minutes ago, RufusClupea said:

I don't think so.  The waypoint limits come directly from the respective spec tabs on Garmin's site (as per 5000 waypoint limit for GPSMAP® 64 series above).  The only other "limits" they specify are routes (200 for GPSMAP® 64 series) and Track log (10,000 points, 200 saved tracks Ibid.

Likewise, the only other "limit" I see mentioned on Navigation Professional is 2,000 .gpx files for GPSMAP® 64 series.  That says, "No limit on geocaches (outside of max number of GPX files supported and memory available)".

From the last few responses, it appears (to me) that there may be confusion between geocaches and .gpx files(?)

For each of the units you are interested in purchasing, or the units that you own, go to http://support.garmin.com , type in the name of the unit, and then where it says "Enter Topic (keywords)" type in "File limitations." It'll bring up the full limitation specs for that series of units. It was much easier to compare when Garmin listed it all on a single page.

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19 minutes ago, HHL said:

Garmin uses a cheap marketing trick: they just told you about the highest limit (which is for GGZ files and virtually unlimited). Nonetheless the other limits are valid as well.
The GPX files has to be limited because the units have to build their own geocache index from the GPX files (and that is very processor task intensive) whereas the GGZ files contain their geocache index within the file itself.

Hans

https://support.garmin.com/faqSearch/en-US/faq/content/rFMnK0E1GOAC7SG3rGhV0A

For the gpsMap 64 series:

  • No limit on geocaches (outside of max number of GPX  files supported and memory available)

I'm pretty sure that applies to the Oregon 600 and 700 as well. Sounds like there's not a limit, regardless of file format. Of course, that now brings up the question as to why other data types are limited

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9 hours ago, Mineral2 said:

For each of the units you are interested in purchasing, or the units that you own, go to http://support.garmin.com , type in the name of the unit, and then where it says "Enter Topic (keywords)" type in "File limitations." It'll bring up the full limitation specs for that series of units. It was much easier to compare when Garmin listed it all on a single page.

That was one reason (among many) that I created the spreadsheet. ;)

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25 minutes ago, GeoTrekker26 said:

Geocache and GPX are two different animals.  GPX is a file that holds the cache data and can contain one to many thousands of caches.  As such the limits of each are different and are not directly related.

No no, HHL is claiming that the number of geocaches you can load on the latest devices are limited if loaded in a GPX file, vs unlimited if loaded in a GGZ file. The information from Garmin suggests otherwise.

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