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Send to GPS on the map page.


Mn-treker

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Recently I have noticed that the send to GPS button in the cache bubble on the map no longer works. But if I go to the cache page the button works there.

Internet explorer still allows this function. Have you disabled this ability from the map page?

The other buttons work in the bubble but not send to GPS.

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19 hours ago, Mn-treker said:

Recently I have noticed that the send to GPS button in the cache bubble on the map no longer works. But if I go to the cache page the button works there.

Internet explorer still allows this function. Have you disabled this ability from the map page?

The other buttons work in the bubble but not send to GPS.

I am dealing with this same problem. I can get them from the individual cache pages but it takes longer.  I use the GPSr because of it's accuracy and we live where there is no good wireless reception. It kind of feels like being pushed away from your fav. hobby.  :(

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The Send to GPS feature is effectively defunct. While you may still be able to get it to work for now, very shortly none of the major browsers will support the associated plugins. You should look at the alternative options that have been provided in the countless related discussions that have occurred in these forums over the last while.

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On 4/24/2018 at 4:33 PM, Mn-treker said:

Internet explorer still allows this function. Have you disabled this ability from the map page?

10 hours ago, 3 Amigos said:

It kind of feels like being pushed away from your fav. hobby.  :(

This is a problem related to browsers no longer allowing a function because of web security concerns. It is not something that Groundspeak can affect.

As noted previously, you can use the "GPX File" button on the cache page to download a cache's info, then copy that GPX file to your GPSr. There are also other options that can be used by Premium Members, like Send to Garmin and Pocket Queries.

 

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5 hours ago, noncentric said:

[...] can use the "GPX File" button on the cache page to download a cache's info, then copy that GPX file to your GPSr. [...]

Why two steps? Download to the appropriate GPX folder onto the unit directly. Avoids unnecessary copying.

Hans

Edited by HHL
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Well like I said Internet explorer still supports this function. As far as I know this will not change. Since Microsoft has no plans to do anything with it.

It is also the only browser that supports the send to GPS function. I know all about the other methods to transfer a file to my GPS. But why go through all that crap. When the send to gps works.

 

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On 4/25/2018 at 0:23 PM, 3 Amigos said:

I am dealing with this same problem. I can get them from the individual cache pages but it takes longer.  I use the GPSr because of it's accuracy and we live where there is no good wireless reception. It kind of feels like being pushed away from your fav. hobby.  :(

You don't need the "send to GPS" button to load geocaches on your GPS.

  • As a premium member, take advantage of pocket queries to bulk load up to 1000 geocaches in a single file. 
  • Or use a cache manager such as GSAK (windows) or iCaching (mac) to curate a database of geocaches. This can be useful if you're using an older Garmin made before paperless caching was introduced, or if you're using any other manufacturer that may not accept GPX files directly. These programs can import pocket queries directly as well as perform an API search.
  • If you prefer to load your caches one at a time, use the "Download GPX" button instead.
  • If you prefer manually loading caches one at a time because you only want to visit specific caches, you can also make a bookmark list with your "to do" list and use the new "Send to Garmin" feature with lists, or create a pocket query that reads the list. Both methods will allow you to bulk load your list.

Use of a GPS without the "send to GPS" feature has been available for over a decade, and these features make using a GPS much more efficient. Nobody is pushing you away from your favorite hobby.

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Yes I Know of pocket query. That is for a bunch at one time. send to GPS is for one at a time. As far as firefox, very soon even that other version of it will disallow That plugin.

P.S. my unit is Delorme, even though Garmin now owns Delorme no Garmin products work with these units. As far as download GPX file. I do not know what you are talking about. The GPX button that I see only says GPX file. Using that gets me a copy of the GPX file that I have to use notepad to open.

That is no different than the pocket query. Pocket queries are a large GPX file with many geocaches. That I then drag and drop into the waypoints folder in my unit. What you are saying is that I would have to do that with each individual cache. It seems that Groundspeak has caused this problem with the map page since the other buttons work. Why cause the pain in the rear? HUH? put it back the way it was. As long as Internet Explorer still supports this it should be usable. And no it can't infect the computer, this is no different than when I send CNC milling programs to my CNC machines. Those can't be infected either. GPS and CNC are not windows based so no infection possible.

 

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On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 11:12 AM, Mn-treker said:

As far as download GPX file. I do not know what you are talking about. The GPX button that I see only says GPX file. Using that gets me a copy of the GPX file that I have to use notepad to open.

That is no different than the pocket query. Pocket queries are a large GPX file with many geocaches. That I then drag and drop into the waypoints folder in my unit. What you are saying is that I would have to do that with each individual cache.

Rather than opening the GPX file (you seem to have the .GPX file type associated with Notepad), just save it directly to the relevant folder on your device like you do with PQs. That's all the browser plugins do anyway.

Quote

As long as Internet Explorer still supports this it should be usable. And no it can't infect the computer, this is no different than when I send CNC milling programs to my CNC machines. Those can't be infected either. GPS and CNC are not windows based so no infection possible.

The NPAPI vulnerability poses a potential security risk to the computer running the browser plugin, not the devices being accessed by it.

Anyway, while there are no known threats for the Garmin GPSr operating system, the same can't be said about CNC machines. A quick Google search indicates that not only are there many threats that can affect CNC machines (some seem to run DOS-based operating systems), there even appears to be anti-virus software available for some.

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Well that is the first I have heard of CNC machines being infecetd. I have been in this field for over 20 years. I also teach this.The dos system on these machines is not the same as on a computer. But as for the gpx button. I was given only two choices when I clicked on it. Open with notepad or go find an app online to open it with. So it is not possible to send the gpx file directly to my GPS.

Maybe this is a windows10 thing.

I would have to change it (my GPS unit) over to connect as a drive. Then drag that file to the waypoints folder. This is the same way I would have to load a pocket qwery. Or I could get gsak. Some like that but so far I am not sure.

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13 hours ago, Mn-treker said:

So it is not possible to send the gpx file directly to my GPS.

You just save it directly to your GPS (IE, pick that directory when it asks you where you want to save your file), or if you save it to your computer first, open the GPS folder and drag the file over. You don't open the GPX file at all.

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3 hours ago, Mineral2 said:

You just save it directly to your GPS (IE, pick that directory when it asks you where you want to save your file), or if you save it to your computer first, open the GPS folder and drag the file over. You don't open the GPX file at all.

Saving it to your computer first gives you the option of using a waypoint manager such as GSAK, Easy/ExpertGPS, or Basecamp to collect multiple GPX files (which may contain data for more than one geocache) then send them all (or a subset) to a GPS device.  

For example, I'm planning a trip in June for which I've  created a couple of pocket queries which will generate a couple of GPX files containing multiple waypoints for two different places I'll be visiting (on two different continents).  There are also a few "one-off" caches in places I'll be that are outside the PQ areas.  For those, I can just save the individual GPX file for each cache, then load the waypoint managers database with the two pocket query results, the few additional caches, then transfer all the cache data at once to my GPS.  

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Sorry but you all seem to think I have a Garmin unit. I do not. The gpx button can not send the gpx file directly to a Delorme unit. Only a few ways to load.

One: pocket query. Two: send to GPS button. Three: using a special function in my TOPO 10 map software I can run a pocket query and import that into the map software. Then upload that to my unit. Not every Delorme owner can do this. I managed to get the patch before Garmin closed it down. So for most Delorme users. The send to GPS button is the best for single cache loads. Pocket query with drag and drop from the zip file that gets sent to your email is the next best. But this is all pointless now. Groundspeak has fixed the problem. The send to GPS button now works from the map page.

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8 hours ago, Mineral2 said:

If you can load a pocket query directly, then you can load a single GPX file directly.

 

Sure.  The results of a pocket query *is* a GPX file (actually two GPX files compressed into a zip files).  A GPX file can have one or more waypoints in it.  I have always loaded GPX files into a waypoint manager and used it to send the data to my GPS.  

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tried to load a single gpx file. it wiped out the whole  list of geocaches  in my unit.

That is caused by a known bug, the hexadecimal 1A issue with delorme units.

If there is any goofy symbols in the cache name the Hex 1A can trash out things.

This morning I see that the whole send to gps function is not working again, both from map page and the cache page.

I also checked with another computer and got the same thing.

I even tried updating java and flash, thinking that a windows update trashed things out again.

But the problem seems to be at Groundspeak end.

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The cache in question did not cause the issue. Some other cache did. Evertlything below A went poof gone. 

A cace beginning with the letter B must have been the problem one. This has happened before. Symbols ,not all just some symbols cause it. However the fix is to load them up with pocket query.

The symbol issue is fixed when you do pocket query. Then the Hex 1A issue is canceled out. But if that send to gps was working then that method will not fix the Hex 1A issue. Delorme was never able to fix that before Garmin bought them. Most of the time you could not tell if the cache page was going to cause an issue. But now it may not be an issue any more. Even a fellow cacher is telling me that send to GPS is not working for him now. Did Groundspeak cause this? Or did Microsoft cause it.

That is still unknown. The plug-in is still in my Internet explorer. It just won't work now. I almost forgot. Delorme units organize geocaches by alphabet, not by GC number.

Edited by Mn-treker
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An example would be GC7PD98.

Those symbols would drive Delorme nuts if sent with the send to GPS button.

Delorme also can have multiple geocacher files. So switching to another file then back to the file with that one in it would wipe out all files below it plus that one. One time I lost three hundred cache loads due to that. But like I said the pocket query method will fix it and all would be well. It is just a bit of a pain to have to create a new guery when I want to go find a new cache publication.

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So, I'm now confused. I was under the impression that your problem was that you weren't even getting the pop up window when you clicked on "Send to GPS." When I click on it (both on the map and the cache page), I still get the pop-up dialog window to send the cache to my GPS. Of course it can't actually do that because it can't detect that my GPS is connected because the communicator plugin doesn't work. But I at least get the pop-up dialog that gives me that information. 

If that was your original problem, it *could* be a problem local to your machine. Or it could be a Windows thing. Or an Internet Explorer thing. I don't know. But it works for me using Chrome on a Mac. It shouldn't be a Java or Flash issue since the site's interactive features are programmed with HTML5. If you're not getting the bubble, and it's only an Internet Explorer issue, then it could be that IE is only able to interpret older code tags.

If your problem is with the communicator plugin, then yes, it's certainly possible that a windows update disabled support, if that update included an update to Internet Explorer. I though Microsoft was done supporting IE since developing its Edge browser, but what do I know. I haven't used a Windows in a long while so I'm sorta out of the loop as to what Microsoft is doing these days, aside from playing catch-up with the rest of the tech industry. Honestly it's not worth trying to fix communicator problems when all you're doing is prolonging the inevitable. With that in mind,

Can we take a step back for a moment... am I to assume that you had a pocket query loaded and you simply added a single cache GPX, and it caused the contents of the pocket query to disappear? Or did you have a slew of single cache GPX files and the addition of one more caused the problem? Can I also ask what this known Hex 1A issue is? I can't seem to locate any reference to it.

Edited by Mineral2
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Since Garmin bought Delorme you will not be able to find anything regarding Delorme units. The removed and blocked anything Delorme. Delorme units have a duo core processor. Also not programed up the same way a Garmin is. Garmin can only have one file of GPX geocaches. Delorme can have multiple. Example: file name April hunt.

In that file I could place 500 geocaches.

May hunt. In that file another 500.

I could place then in the unit with pocket query or the send to GPS button.

If one of those geocaches were to have bad code such as a symbol.#&$¥£π¶.

Those are examples then the hexadecimal 1A issue would wipe out a bunch of geocaches when you switch from one file to the other. Those symbols also could cause route calculation issues when you tell the unit to lock on to a geocacher and route to it. Now if you use the pocket query method to bring in a list of geocaches chest then some how the goofy symbols are converted and or deleted from the cache description. But not if you used the send to GPS method.

The send to gps button is only supported in internet explorer. I know some will say also in a certain version if Firefox. But that version is scheduled to be eliminated. Delorme does not use the Garmin communicator. It uses the Delorme send to gps plugin. But due to that now not working I tried to place a gpx file(geocache) into an existing geocache file with others. Then when I opened that file, poof! 150 geocaches gone. But the cache that I had placed was there among the survivors. Maybe it is a good thing the send to GPS not work now. I have tried it on other computers that I know have the plugin.

Windows 7, 8 and 10 using internet explorer. All do not. Work now.

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23 minutes ago, Mn-treker said:

 Garmin can only have one file of GPX geocaches.

 

My Garmin can have multiple GPX files.  eg for my trip last week I had "Raton to Amarillo," "Amarillo to Dallas," "Dallas Motel," "Dallas Downtown," "Dallas to Shamrock," and "Shamrock to Lamar."

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You are mistaken. Garmins can handle multiple gpx files. In fact, when you use the 'Send to GPS' feature, it just creates a single gpx file for each cache that gets sent, so you can rack up hundreds or even thousands of gpx files quickly if you don't delete them.
 

All of the communicator plugins - whether Garmin, Magellan, DeLorme, etc. were built on the NPAPI platform. It's NPAPI that is the problem, and any plugins and add-ons built on that platform are rendered obsolete as browsers disable support for the platform. Thus the Send to GPS function is affecting every GPS brand.

While Garmin may have taken down any support or forums from DeLorme's old website, they can't control 3rd party forums where people go to talk about and get help with their GPS. For example, Garmin can't take down any posts on these geocaching forums related to DeLorme units. For such a common problem, I would have expected some mention of it somewhere on the internet, but it seems to be difficult to track down.

It sounds like DeLorme may have had their own format for distinguishing geocaches, and the 'send to gps' feature may have converted the single gpx files to the proper format to be used with DeLorme. Meanwhile, loading a pocket query manually might have loaded the geocaches as waypoints instead? I don't know. 

Your best bet for full DeLorme support with geocaching will be to use GSAK to grab your pocket queries and single caches (via API search; all of this can be done within GSAK) to curate a library of geocaches in your area. GSAK can then export the geocaches to your DeLorme in bulk, even filtering out your finds, etc. using the proper file formats. It can even take care of those pesky special characters that are causing you problems.

Your other option is to switch to a Garmin device.

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I was told they only handeld one. Some friends have Garmin units and that is what they told me. I also have a Garmin GPS map 64st. Given to me by an uncle. That thing is very complicated.

I have loaded some puzzles in that.

I have to use Garmin Express and the lists page in Groundspeak to load geocaches into it. It is not designed to use the communicator. Express only.

I am still learning that thing.

Ok I am wrong about the quantity of files unless you mean folders. I can have many folders with 500 geocaches in each. Can the Garmin do that too?Yeah some friends have tried to get me to do gsak. That may be what I may try. But I also have the option of TOPO North America (TOPO 10) mixed with pocket query. I have done that a few times. This only works with Delorme units and only if you have the patch. 

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13 hours ago, Mn-treker said:

I was told they only handeld one. Some friends have Garmin units and that is what they told me. I also have a Garmin GPS map 64st. Given to me by an uncle. That thing is very complicated.

 

The 64st is going to be different than your DeLorme, but once you get used to it, you'll find it's a much more powerful GPS. It mounts to your computer just like an external hard drive, and all you have to do is drop the GPX files into the GPX folder. It's that easy. I promise that it can accept multiple GPX files - up to 2000 of them. And it has no cache limit.

 

14 hours ago, Mn-treker said:

I have to use Garmin Express and the lists page in Groundspeak to load geocaches into it. It is not designed to use the communicator. Express only.

I am still learning that thing.

 

 

The Garmin Express with lists feature was meant to be an alternative to the "send to GPS" feature, but it's a hassle to use. If you have a bookmark list that you want to bulk load (solved puzzles for example), it seems easier to just set up a pocket query that syncs with that list.

 

14 hours ago, Mn-treker said:

Ok I am wrong about the quantity of files unless you mean folders. I can have many folders with 500 geocaches in each. Can the Garmin do that too?


No. The Garmin doesn't have folders for geocaches. They all go in the GPX folder. And when using the device, you just get a single list of all the geocaches loaded which can be filtered and searched.

 

14 hours ago, Mn-treker said:

Yeah some friends have tried to get me to do gsak. That may be what I may try. But I also have the option of TOPO North America (TOPO 10) mixed with pocket query. I have done that a few times. This only works with Delorme units and only if you have the patch. 


I think you're making more work for yourself by trying to use tools that aren't designed for geocaching. 

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Well we have one thing clear my Delorme handles geocache a bit different. I can load geocaches into different folders. That is where some of the file loss issues come from. Have a screwy cache in one file. Then switch to another and poof I loose some. 

So today I went looking, but the send to GPS still dead. I did pocket query. A cache came in with screwy name, lot of symbols. The name got converted to???????????.

How would a Garmin unit handle that name issue? GC7PD8D

Edited by Mn-treker
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25 minutes ago, Mn-treker said:

How would a Garmin unit handle that name issue? GC7PD8D

Well, you do have a Garmin to answer that question yourself. It's not pretty, but the Garmin seems to handle it without issue. (see images below)

Also, just to show you the capabilities of a Garmin, I have a little over 8,000 geocaches loaded within a 120 mile radius of my home. And I could load more, but it becomes difficult to keep them all updated on a regular basis. Plus it's not every day that I actually travel 120 miles from home.
 

171.png

185.png

243.png

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Well now maybe everybody understands what happens when you drag and drop a gpx file into an existing listing of geocaches in a Delorme unit. If the file has stupid symbols that it don't like it can trash out a whole list. I see that even the Garmin unit renamed that cache to protect itself. That cache name is not the correct name. That is what happens when I do pocket query.

Name change to protect the unit. Name change does not happen with individual gpx drag and drop. Nor with send to GPS. Well like I said I guess I am going to have to stick with pocket query method. My computer updated last night and that did not fix the send to GPS.

So I guess Groundspeak did the dirty deed of killing it (the send to GPS). It would be nice if they would have said so.

As a side note, I just found out that the name translates to mean three. As for language, I don't know. The hider is a principal in a school. Stinker is showing off his brain. ?

Edited by Mn-treker
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16 hours ago, Mineral2 said:
16 hours ago, Mn-treker said:

How would a Garmin unit handle that name issue? GC7PD8D

Well, you do have a Garmin to answer that question yourself. It's not pretty, but the Garmin seems to handle it without issue. (see images below)

 This is pretty easy to test.  A GPX file is just a text file (which means that it can be edited) for exchanging GPS data using an XML, w format.  A few years ago there was an issue with some GPS units when GS changed the string used for cache size.  I edited a GPX file for a cache and changed "Micro" to "Nano" and then sent it to my GPS.  It handled it just fine. 

 

Where issues can arise is when the GPX file includes a character which makes the XML invalid, or not "well formed".  For example, adding a quote character might might cause subsequent waypoints to get lost as the parser of the file would expect a closing quote character, which might never occur until later in the file.  For that reason, any special character which needs to be included in a string needs to be encoded into a representative string.  For example, an apostrophe can be represented as '

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On May 12, 2018 at 0:57 AM, Mn-treker said:

Different in this case due to the fact that Internet explorer still supports this plugin. 

 

On May 11, 2018 at 8:55 PM, Mn-treker said:

So I guess Groundspeak did the dirty deed of killing it (the send to GPS). It would be nice if they would have said so.

 

I'm well aware there are still some old versions of I.E. that will work with the communicator my but my post wasn't about that.  My point is your frustration with Groundspeak over seemingly "killing it" is misdirected.

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Missdirected; Not really it seems that Microsoft is not responsible for this. The link is on Groundspeak and they messed it up before. So who do you think did it.

I vote for the source. I know a number of others also having this issue. Different operating systems, but all on IE11. Internet Explorer 11 is not an older version. It is the highest version. It is also the last version that will be made.

In my circle outside of geocaching, there are programs that require IE, Edge nor Chrome will work. That is just how some things go. You want or need send to GPS then the function needs to be maintained. Some I know have said this broken feature now makes it to cumbersome. They speak of quiting due to this issue. I try to get them to change but Groundspeak is pissing them off.

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28 minutes ago, Mn-treker said:

In my circle outside of geocaching, there are programs that require IE, Edge nor Chrome will work.

Those circles are going to have to learn to adapt to changing technologies. IE is old-fashioned. It's out of date. It was a crappy browser even before Mozilla introduced Firefox, which was long before Google put out its Chrome browser. Microsoft failed to keep IE fresh and modern. In some ways, I get it. Microsoft was trying to dictate the direction of web technology trends in order to place weight on the use of its own products that it spent  two decades developing. They didn't win that battle.

Microsoft gave in and  introduced Edge because people weren't using IE - except when other outdated technologies forced them to do so. Microsoft has dropped support for Internet Explorer, and as far as I know, no new updates have been released except maybe for some patches for major security loopholes. That means if the developers at Groundspeak have started using newer versions of HTML5 that IE doesn't understand, then some features of the site might start to break for IE users.

 

54 minutes ago, Mn-treker said:

Internet Explorer 11 is not an older version. It is the highest version. It is also the last version that will be made.


At this point, IE 11 is around 2 years old with only minor updates to it. That makes it an older version. It's not the last version that will be made. It's the last version that has been made. You're living in the past, man.

All that aside, I now have the urge to go find a Windows PC to try and replicate your problem. 
 

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24 minutes ago, tomanyapps said:

it has been failing for me too something is wrong with garmin it is not working for me even when i have it downloaded.


Let's be specific. What is failing for you? The website has nothing to do with Garmin.

Are you referring to the communicator plugin? It's [effectively] dead. You're going to have to use the "download GPX" option instead (well, there are some workarounds, but I think you're better off without it). You will get more out of your GPS with a premium membership, but I see you're relatively new to the game and if you're unsure whether the $30 annual fee is right for you, the moderators here may be willing to grant you a one-month free trial if you ask nicely.

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