Looking for a specific car GPS

[+Delbadore]

I'm looking to buy a car GPS that has the capability of displaying geocaches as clickable POI icons on the map. Does anyone know of models that support this?

I do lots of planning before going geocaching and know how to import geocaches to a car GPS as POI with GSAK, together with certain parking coordinates too. I prefer having a dedicated car GPS instead of using my cellphone. With basic car gps models I had in the past I would need to search through the list of POI to select the geocache I wanted to navigate to as no icons displayed on the map.

Thanks in advance!

[+SpiritGuide]

Geooh GO has an Android Auto car app to show nearby geocaches. Runs on the car's display. 

[+Delbadore]

11 hours ago, SpiritGuide said:

Geooh GO has an Android Auto car app to show nearby geocaches. Runs on the car's display. 

 

Good to know! Unfortunately my car does not have Android Auto.

[+JohnCNA]

On 5/22/2023 at 7:58 PM, SpiritGuide said:

Geooh GO has an Android Auto car app to show nearby geocaches. Runs on the car's display. 

 

Is there a separate app for this or is the basic Geooh GO app Android Auto compatible? I looked on the Play store and only see the one app and it does not mention Android Auto. 

[+and1969]

Garmin Nuvis can display caches and be used to search for them and I have found about 1000 by this means, but I am not sure if they are selectable by pointing at them. A search for POIs will definitely show the nearest ones. The trick is getting the caches onto the device in the first place, there are probably posts on how to do this.

 

My day job involves writing software to handle XML and CSV files so I wrote something over a fortnight's lunch hours to generate a CSV file then used Garmin POI loader to convert this to a GPI file. My work experience (based on supporting some quite specialised industrial equipment) has led me to to the conclusion that files are best generated by the manufacturer's own software when possible.

 

If you use a Nuvi I would suggest configuring cycle mode to "off road" then you can change from motor vehicle mode to cycle mode and it will count down the number of metres to the cache. Different models vary, I have a Nuvi 1310 which is great but have not got a very early Nuvi to work in this way. I find looking at the distance to the cache easier than using the 'compass' on mobile phone apps I have tried.

 

 TomTom (at least the ancient ones) will also display caches, again it is a case of generating a CSV and related icons that can be turned into a OV2 file.

Edited May 24, 2023 by and1969

[+Harry Dolphin]

I use Garmin nuvi 2598.  I load POIs using the POI Loader.

[+SpiritGuide]

4 hours ago, JohnCNA said:

Is there a separate app for this or is the basic Geooh GO app Android Auto compatible? I looked on the Play store and only see the one app and it does not mention Android Auto. 

 

It's part of the enhanced version of Geooh, not a separate app. It's a feature listed in v13 bullets on Google Play. The website geooh-go.com has more detail and a video of the car app in action. 

[+Mineral2]

Personally I think the best solution here is something like a Montana 700. There are trade-offs. It's more expensive than an automotive GPS and the screen is smaller, but you'll be able to load and interact with geocaches natively, including routing by road when a routable map is installed. And then you can just take it with you to complete the find.

Come to think of it, maybe your best solution is to buy a mount for your phone if you don't already have one and let your phone be your navigation device. If the apps you use don't have street navigation built-in, they will send the coordinates to your phone's mapping app to get you where you are going. There are options for offline use when in remote mountainous / wild areas.