Sharing Unpublished Cache Coordinates

[+illinitrekker]

I am helping a local visitors bureau launch a geotrail in a week. Cachers that attend the launch event get a slight head start on cachers that do not (i.e., we give them the cache coordinates two hours before they are published). The last time I helped launch a trail, we loaded all the coordinates in GSAK and created a pocket query that we transferred to cachers' GPSr devices. In order for them to be usable, I remember I had to change something in each individual cache's information. I seem to recall I did it by loading the individual caches one at a time in Notepad (before loading them into GSAK), but maybe it was an edit I did after I loaded the cache into GSAK. I cannot remember what I had to change. Can anybody help?

[+lee737]

Depending on how many there are I suppose..... Whilst planning our own trails, I often download a GPX of each cache before its published - when dropped into my GPS they function as any other cache in the GPS - so you could just give people several separate GPX files.

I've never done this, but I assume you could just append all the <wpt> xxx </wpt> fields (one for each cache) within the one <gpx> </gpx> structure to accomplish the same as a PQ.... you could do that with Notepad etc....

[+Isonzo Karst]

8 hours ago, illinitrekker said:

we loaded all the coordinates in GSAK and created a pocket query that we transferred to cachers' GPSr devices.

 

Currently most cache with smartphones. The apps see only published caches.  They cannot load a gpx (or maybe they can, but they don't know how, or have an app loaded that will allow them to use the gpx once in the phone).

 

It IS possible for them to hand load coords and find caches.

 

You may have downloaded individual gpx files of your own unpublished (intermittently possible, currently possible). Those come with status either archived or disabled, in GSAK they'd need to have status changed to active to work in most handheld.  Sharing those downloaded geocaching.com generated files is terms of use and license agreement violation. 

 

You can use your own data to generate your own gpx files in GSAK, and share freely. But again, smartphones dominate.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by Isonzo Karst

[+K13]

Cachly can download a gpx file. That app we can't talk about will do that also.