Garmin GPS

[+eyetreasure]

When I first started Geocaching I downloaded my caches to my Megellan Explorist, which was a GPS especially for geocaching. 

Now your website only supports Garmin??? Why???? Why can't they support Megllan?

The geocaching app for cellphone is terrible, not to mention dies down your battery. 

[RuideAlmeida]

15 minutes ago, eyetreasure said:

Why can't they support Megllan?

 

When you hit "Download GPX" on any cache listing, your GPS won´t recognize it?

[+Atlas Cached]

Groundspeak supports any GPSr that can accept GPX files.

 

You have to copy them manually to the device regardless of manufacturer due to modern internet browser security requirements.

[+cerberus1]

2 hours ago, eyetreasure said:

When I first started Geocaching I downloaded my caches to my Megellan Explorist, which was a GPS especially for geocaching. 

Now your website only supports Garmin??? Why???? Why can't they support Megllan?

The geocaching app for cellphone is terrible, not to mention dies down your battery. 

 

Thought I remembered this a while ago.   You had sort of an answer in 2019.    

 

If you're talking about "send to GPS", that was discontinued even earlier, 2018, and even includes older Garmins as well.

IIRC,  Geocaching.com asked for help from multiple manufacturers, and Garmin was simply the only one that responded.

 

[+eyetreasure]

I'm sure you have more Magellan customs than you think. It wouldn't be hard to create a platform for Magellan as well as Garmin. 

This is so difficult now, to the point my kids and I lost interest. 

[+kunarion]

34 minutes ago, eyetreasure said:

I'm sure you have more Magellan customs than you think. It wouldn't be hard to create a platform for Magellan as well as Garmin. 

This is so difficult now, to the point my kids and I lost interest. 

Your kids can’t be bothered to place a GPX file into the Geocache folder on the device?  But a special button was exciting to them?  Cool.
 

A Magellan interface is the purview of the company Magellan.  Even for Garmin, only newer models are directly supported.  Wild guess, TPTB can track how popular various protocols are, and they make a decision on which devices to support, vs. how much work it is to maintain that feature.

 

 

Edited March 24, 2021 by kunarion

[+Atlas Cached]

3 hours ago, eyetreasure said:

I'm sure you have more Magellan customs than you think. It wouldn't be hard to create a platform for Magellan as well as Garmin. 

This is so difficult now, to the point my kids and I lost interest. 

 

I doubt it.

 

In fact, I would be willing to bet the number of Magellan users is actually much smaller than you think.

 

How could it be any other way? Their products are notorious for failing completely without cause, they have not produced anything in this market for many many years, and they offer no support of any kind for those who still own one of their devices that just happens to still be in working condition.

[+Mineral2]

20 hours ago, eyetreasure said:

I'm sure you have more Magellan customs than you think. It wouldn't be hard to create a platform for Magellan as well as Garmin. 

This is so difficult now, to the point my kids and I lost interest. 

Don't blame Groundspeak/Geocaching. Magellan divested from the handheld GPS business, so you are not going to find any further support from them. Your Magellan will still work. Though if you need a supported GPS, you can always switch to Garmin. Or you can go geocaching with your cell phone, which many people do successfully. Don't blame the game if you are unable to adapt to changing tech trends.

[+cerberus1]

On 3/20/2021 at 11:11 AM, eyetreasure said:

When I first started Geocaching I downloaded my caches...

 

You do realize you can load them manually too, right ?   Use the website to search for caches, and load them in by hand.  

I've done that since joining this hobby. Add a small notepad for hints n stuff, and good to go.     

A couple caches a year as you're doing now, loading it manually should work fine.  You're a good distance away or I'd show you how.  

Would a couple caches a year warrant switching to a Garmin right now ?   Maybe not.  

We found our phones (x & 12)to be just as "accurate" as any GPSr we've held, so not sure what your issue is there... 

 

[robertlipe]

This is all pretty silly.

Magellan's GPS business has been bought and sold from the edge of bankruptcy a few times since geocaching started. The Explorist you're talking about isn't even their first device named "Explorist". Competition in the handheld GPS biz is dead. Garmin's the only player left that's selling hardware in volume.

For this generation of hardware, the "Magellan interface" is exactly like the Garmin interface at the protocol level. The device starts in USB Mass Storage mode, you copy a GPX file to it, you unmount it from the computer. Same between the two. Same as in 2016 when you joined. Same as in 2010 or so when the potato-shaped versions of the Explorist were introduced by Mid, the then-fresh owner of Magellan GPS brand, who has now completely exited the handheld market. The "new security" that we're talking about is the turndown of the Netscape Navigator era, which started very early this century.

Connect the cable. Drag and drop the GPX file into the place GPX files go. Eject the drive. It takes seconds, with or without a voodoo button. That GPS works as well today as it ever has.

I actually write software that's used in GPS markets way beyond Geocaching. I don't think they're actually selling many of what they DO list on their site.