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How Do You Use Your Garmin Nuvi-type device For Caching


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My Nuvi 54 developed a usb jack problem.  It won’t connect to my pc or to a power cord.  So I bought a new Garmin Drive 50 which doesn’t let me use it the way I have been.  (I have another forum topic regarding that).

 

So now I’m interested in what others do; what other methods I might be able to use.  I’d appreciate information on what you do and how you use the Nuvi/Drive to navigate the streets.  How you choose which cache to go to next is one of the things that interests me.

 

Here is how my wife and I cache in our local area:

My navigational (driving) GPSr is a Garmin Nuvi 54 (just replaced with Garmin Drive 50)

My caching GPSr is a GPSMAP 62.

 

  • I have a living GSAK database that consists of local caches that we are interested in finding.

  • I add to the database when new caches are published (via new cache notification)

  • I remove caches when we have found them or they have been archived.

  • I review the new caches added to the GSAK database to see if the Nuvi can get me to the cache.  I’ll add parking coordinates if necessary.

  • The database usually has around 300 caches and gets refreshed weekly.

  •  I use GSAK  Send Waypoints to load both the Nuvi and the GPSMAP 62.  

  • The Nuvi get’s child waypoints so parking coordinates are included in the GPX file that goes to the Nuvi.   - Parking coordinates have a different map symbol then the caches.

 

- I use the Nuvi Map, much like a pocket query map, to determine what area we are going to cache.  While caching I use the Nuvi map to determine which cache to go to next.  I look at the map, touch the symbol and GO.   When I find the cache I delete the waypoint in the Nuvi.  So the Nuvi always reflects only caches that we have NOT found.  The GPSMAP 62 is only used when we leave the car (or for looking up information about the cache).

 

This has worked well for us for 10 years.  I’ve played with POIs and some of the GSAK macros for loading NUVis, but I haven’t found anything that works for us as well as the method that I’m using.

 

The key features that I want/like are:  1) The ability  to delete an individual waypoint once it has been found, and 2) The ability to have parking coordinates in addition to the cache itself – with a different map symbol.

 

Thanks for what you have to offer.  Please include what GPSr devices you are using.

 

 

 

 

 

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My set-up is a bit different, but it works for me and I only use a single device.

I use a Garmin Oregon 600. It's a touch screen handheld GPS, and because it's a handheld, it's designed with geocaching in mind. The Oregon has a dashboard that mimics the look of a Nuvi device, so it works alright for automotive navigation. Mind you, it's not my primary navigation device and I do use a regular Nuvi in the car for everyday driving. But when I'm geocaching, I pull out the Oregon, switch it over to the geocaching driving profile that I made and head to the cache or parking area using routable maps that I installed on the device. When I get there, I switch over to my regular geocaching profile which disables the road map and enables a topographic map and sets routing to "direct" rather than "driving." User waypoints are different from geocaches, just like with your GPSMAP 62, and are therefore displayed with a different symbol.


I can't delete my finds directly, but the Oregon does have filters that apply to the map and lists, so I have my finds filtered out. I remove found geocaches by simply excluding them (filtering them out) from my iCaching database when exporting to the gps. You can do the same with GSAK. I just simply export my files with the same file name each week and it overwrites the old one.

I know it's not what you're used to, but in my mind, using one GPS for geocaching is much simpler than trying to manage two devices. You don't have to go out and buy an Oregon to achieve this. The 62 will accept routable maps ( free at https://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/ ), and you can make profiles for geocaching while driving and not driving. However, I can't remember if geocaching filters remain in effect when applied or if they only affect what you see in the list. But at least your found caches have a different icon than your unfound caches. Keep the Drive 54, though because you'll want it for every day navigation and trip routing.

Edited by Mineral2
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I keep a database of local caches as well, maintained similarly to yours.  I either use PQs or the "get logs" or "refresh cache data" function on GSAK to keep them fresh.  Using get logs or refresh cache data also helps flag the ones I've found - they show up with the yellow highlight, which makes it easy to filter them out and then delete them after I find them.

I use the Send to Garmin macro to send caches to my Montana 610.  Before I do, I always turn on the GPSr, plug it into my computer, and then go into the GPX folder and erase both the archive GPX files (old tracks) and the old caches.gpx file.  I then unplug and reboot the GPSr so that it reloads its database and finds that there are no geocaches loaded - by forcing my Montana to refresh its database, this tends to mitigate against database corruption, which can play havoc in the field.  Then I reconnect in spanner mode and run the Send to Garmin macro to load the geocaches and waypoints from my local caches database in GSAK.

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