Load an Old GPS with GSAK

[+kunarion]

What if you liked "Send To GPS", but it's gone?

 

There's an interesting thread here on the GSAK forum, about how you may be able to load a GPS that otherwise doesn't accept "GPX" files directly.  "GSAK" can talk to many of the old GPSs.  Sorry, I don't have a list of them.

 

The process will be something like, click "GPX File", and send that to GSAK, which in turn sends the cache info to the GPS.  Looks like it's not "one click", but maybe it will do.  Remember that GSAK is full-fledged Geocaching database software, so you could do pretty much everything, more or less without having to visit the web site.

Edited September 9, 2018 by kunarion

[+31BMSG]

34 minutes ago, kunarion said:

What if you liked "Send To GPS", but it's gone?

 

There's an interesting thread here on the GSAK forum, about how you may be able to load a GPS that otherwise doesn't accept "GPX" files directly.  "GSAK" can talk to many of the old GPSs.  Sorry, I don't have a list of them.

 

The process will be something like, click "GPX File", and send that to GSAK, which in turn sends the cache info to the GPS.  Looks like it's not "one click", but maybe it will do.  Remember that GSAK is full-fledged Geocaching database software, so you could do pretty much everything, more or less without having to visit the web site.

I just replied to that thread, GSAK supports a bunch of old Garmin GPS models like Astro and Geko. It also has a setting for generic serial data. It also supports Delorme, Lowrance, and Magellan. My question in that thread was, if you are going to use GSAK why bother to download the GPX from GC.com in the first place?

[+kunarion]

3 hours ago, 31BMSG said:

My question in that thread was, if you are going to use GSAK why bother to download the GPX from GC.com in the first place?

 

That's the 64 thousand dollar question! (Um, yeah, and I made that point in my first post above).

 

OK, this is the premise in the recent threads: 

1) The simple Button is gone, the one that automatically loads the toughest GPS with one click.

2) The people who desperately miss the one-click Button haven't needed to use anything else, and have no computer expertise.

 

So, if someone can't figure out how load a GPX file from GC.com, how are they ever gonna figure out how to use GSAK?

 

Edited September 9, 2018 by kunarion

[+on4bam]

2 hours ago, kunarion said:

So, if someone can't figure out how load a GPX file from GC.com, how are they ever gonna figure out how to use GSAK?

 

If I can't figure out what is needed to do an activity, maybe that activity is not for me. So many ways of loading older (and new) units where already given in different threads, I'm sure that when people really put their minds to it most will figure out at least one way to load caches to their GPS.

 

[+31BMSG]

7 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

That's the 64 thousand dollar question! (Um, yeah, and I made that point in my first post above).

 

OK, this is the premise in the recent threads: 

1) The simple Button is gone, the one that automatically loads the toughest GPS with one click.

2) The people who desperately miss the one-click Button haven't needed to use anything else, and have no computer expertise.

 

So, if someone can't figure out how load a GPX file from GC.com, how are they ever gonna figure out how to use GSAK?

 

Exactly. GSAK will do this as long as you choose the right settings, but looking through the settings for these old serial units I was reminded of setting up my first receiver, a Lowrance Eagle, back in the 90s. I had other serial devices attached and ended up with the receiver on COMM 7 and having to change interrupts, this was a little more complicated than figuring out how to move a downloaded file to another location. If I'm not mistaken the game evolved from satellite and computer technology and technology isn't static. Like someone else hinted earlier in another thread, maybe it's time to retire the dinosaur receivers and move up to something a little more plug and play.

Edited September 9, 2018 by 31BMSG
addition

[+NYPaddleCacher]

1 hour ago, 31BMSG said:

8 hours ago, kunarion said:

That's the 64 thousand dollar question! (Um, yeah, and I made that point in my first post above).

 

OK, this is the premise in the recent threads: 

1) The simple Button is gone, the one that automatically loads the toughest GPS with one click.

2) The people who desperately miss the one-click Button haven't needed to use anything else, and have no computer expertise.

 

So, if someone can't figure out how load a GPX file from GC.com, how are they ever gonna figure out how to use GSAK?

 

Exactly. GSAK will do this as long as you choose the right settings, but looking through the settings for these old serial units I was reminded of setting up my first receiver, a Lowrance Eagle, back in the 90s. I had other serial devices attached and ended up with the receiver on COMM 7 and having to change interrupts, this was a little more complicated than figuring out how to move a downloaded file to another location. If I'm not mistaken the game evolved from satellite and computer technology and technology isn't static. Like someone else hinted earlier in another thread, maybe it's time to retire the dinosaur receivers and move up to something a little more plug and play.

Edited 19 minutes ago by 31BMSG

 

 

GSAK is just a waypoint manager (albeit a very good one).    A waypoint manager is just a way to *manage* a collection of waypoints downloaded to ones computer then send a selected collection of waypoints (or all that have been downloaded) to a GPS.  I waypoint manager can also receive waypoints from a GPS.   I've used GSAK, but I've also used iCaching (for a mac), Easy/Expert GPS,   Garmin Basecamp,  and Garmin Mapsource (superceded by Basecamp).  Even when I got a newer GPS will allowed me to copy a GPX file directly to the GPS I still prefer using a waypoint manager.    While there's a bit of a learning curve to GSAK, but EasyGPS is, well, much easier probably no more complicated than using a browser other larger applications that even someone with little computer expertise might use.  

[+on4bam]

It wasn't only a GPS that needed a lot of settings.

I used an MSX computer that interfaced to my radio to send/receive Packet, RTTY, FSK... through it's com port. Early modems (internal/external) on PC (486) in DOS, Win3.1... all had to be configured for COM port number, Baudrate, Parity, IRQ and so on. The problem with later "Plug and Play" stuff is that almost no one knows the inner works anymore and when thing don't "just work" it becomes a huge problem. It also seems to be normal to start threads with the same question over and over again, there was a time when one encountered a problem the first thing was to use a search engine to see if anyone else had the same problem and if it was solved. Now it's more "let's post this" and wait for a solution to be offered on a silver platter.

 

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, on4bam said:

there was a time when one encountered a problem the first thing was to use a search engine to see if anyone else had the same problem and if it was solved. Now it's more "let's post this" and wait for a solution to be offered on a silver platter.

 

 

I hope people can weigh the pros and cons of various schemes, and decide what might work for them.  No utility will be ideal for everybody.  Many people could make do without the additional software.  If I had a joystick interface "old GPS", I'm sure I'd become good at entering coordinates manually.  But, you know, maybe that one would be my backup device.