+bartman007uk Posted November 24, 2002 Share Posted November 24, 2002 My palm 105 has given up the ghost, ok so the batteries leaked as I hadn't used it for months and now it won't boot. What PDA's do others use for geocaching and does anyone know where to get a good deal on them? Thinking of becoming a charter member for Pocket Queries. Thanks Steve G When they want rain, native Americans do a dance. When I go geocaching, it rains. Is there a link? Quote Link to comment
+Slytherin Posted November 25, 2002 Share Posted November 25, 2002 I've been using an Ipaq 3870 Bluetooth for the last couple of months. It's great not having to print out cache sheets any more. I have five different pocket queries set up. The biggest pain is only being able to have three map tiles from memory-map installed at any one time. I've just ordered a 256Mb SD card from the States though, so that should solve that problem. It is possible to link the gps the the ipaq and see where you are on the map, but I don't bother. And the bluetooth connection to the phone is too bloody slow to be useful. The first time I filled a log in on-site, it took nine minutes. I wait till I get home now. HTH. Quote Link to comment
+Postie Posted November 29, 2002 Share Posted November 29, 2002 I use a Handspring Visor Deluxe. I have tried the pocket queries but find using Mobipocket a pain as it doesn't show up very well in the screen. The best prog I have found for cache pages is Geoclipping. I only load the pages I want, and can fill the logs as I do the caches ( I have a tendency to forget what I swap etc. ) Then download when I get back home and use cut and paste for the cache logs. I also have a decoder prog to give me some hints when I get stuck! I wouldn't fancy taking anything more expensive Geocaching in case it was dropped or knocked in the process of finding the cache!! (Every one needs a bigger letterbox!) Quote Link to comment
+The Merman Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 I resurrected this old post to mention a utility that I have just started using on my PDA, it is called Geoclipper and it strips the text out of cache pages and puts them into memopad on my palm. Within ten minutes I can have all the relevant information including logs if required and the only thing it does not give me is the difficulty rating of the cache(as that uses stars not text) You can find it Right here I can finally give up on pocket queries and mobipocket which is to be frank painfully slow and hard to navigate round. I woke this morning and my boat was not rocking...for one horrid moment I thought I lived in a house! Quote Link to comment
+Omally Posted January 13, 2003 Share Posted January 13, 2003 Have to be honest here: never used a PDA thingy in my life. Are they all they're cracked up to be? The idea sounds good, but then so did a lot of things: filofaxes for one! I can't help but remember the Brian Blessed comment about Palm Pilots, but I will not repeat it here (if you really must know, email me and I'll happily tell you!). Anyway, I do like the idea of not having to print out cache pages etc, but have it all on a nice little handheld screen. What sort of outlay would I look at for a halfway decent unit, and what should I look for? Any comments would be much appreciated. Omally It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... Quote Link to comment
Morseman Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 quote:Originally posted by The Merman:I resurrected this old post to mention a utility that I have just started using on my PDA, it is called Geoclipper I've downloaded it, and it works very well. However, I have found that by editing the text that is 'grabbed' so that the cache name is the first line, this makes looking them up a bit easier. An alternative might be to put the Waypoint number in as the first line, so that you can find them that way if you prefer. The PDA I'm using is an M130, which I'm using alot to try to organise myself a bit. --... ...-- Morseman Quote Link to comment
Morseman Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 Originally posted by Omally:What sort of outlay would I look at for a halfway decent unit, and what should I look for? Any comments would be much appreciated. I've seen the Palm M105 on sale for £79.00 but they seemed to be going fairly quickly! There's also a new Palm Zaire (I think that's the spelling!) for about the same price. Both units have Black & While, or, rather, several shades of black and grey, screen displays. You'll have to see one to get the idea. If you can afford a bit more, my advice would be a colour display. The batteries may not last as long as on a B&W unit, but I'd certainly recommend them as less tiring on the eyes. The M130 is the cheapest one in the Palm range that I've seen, at about £180.00. The one problem I've had, which is probably common to all the PDAs, is getting spare connector cables. The Palm series usually come with cradles to interface to the PC at home, which is what I guess most people want anyway, but I want to interface to the GPSr and/or my Amateur Radio gear when I'm out and about and getting a plug, either with a serial connector and cable or just the plug, is proving to be a bit difficult in the UK. I may have to import something from the USA! --... ...-- Morseman Quote Link to comment
+Postie Posted January 14, 2003 Share Posted January 14, 2003 If you trust them, the auction sites can be a bargin. There is a visor delux going for £30 on one site at the moment! I paid £120 for mine two years ago and they have stoped making them now, but mine works very well with Geocaching. (Every one needs a bigger letterbox!) Quote Link to comment
+The Merman Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Morseman: The one problem I've had, which is probably common to all the PDAs, is getting spare connector cables. The Palm series usually come with cradles to interface to the PC at home, which is what I guess most people want anyway, but I want to interface to the GPSr and/or my Amateur Radio gear when I'm out and about and getting a plug, either with a serial connector and cable or just the plug, is proving to be a bit difficult in the UK. I may have to import something from the USA! --... ...-- Morseman I have been researching cables to link gps to palm 130 and have come up with the answer from suppliers as follows...Serial cable from palm serial cable from GPSr female connector thingy to link them. Price about £70! Maybe you being a ham man may be able to make your own cable? all you need is the pin config and the connectors. Maybe someone can start making GPS to palm universal connectors for us? That would only involve about 5 different configs. Just a thought. I woke this morning and my boat was not rocking...for one horrid moment I thought I lived in a house! Quote Link to comment
+Omally Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 Thanks for the tip, Morseman. This may be of interest to you: apparantly, what you need to connect a PDA to a GPS is a null-modem gender changer. These are available to buy from most electronics shops, like RS or M*pl*ins for about a tenner. I'll look into this further and let you all know what I find out. It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... Quote Link to comment
+Omally Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 Seek and ye shall find For null modem gender changers, have a looky at: http://www.gpsbitz.f9.co.uk/ or http://www.computerbase.co.uk/system/index.html Can't wait to go buy a PDA now! will start saving: the new bathroom can blooming well wait! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... [This message was edited by Omally on January 15, 2003 at 11:41 AM.] Quote Link to comment
+The Merman Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Omally: This may be of interest to you: apparantly, what you need to connect a PDA to a GPS is a null-modem gender changer. These are available to buy from most electronics shops, like RS or M*pl*ins for about a tenner. I'll look into this further and let you all know what I find out. Yes exactly what I said, but I used the little known trade term "female connector thingy" I am pleased that Neil knew the laymans term I woke this morning and my boat was not rocking...for one horrid moment I thought I lived in a house! Quote Link to comment
+Omally Posted January 15, 2003 Share Posted January 15, 2003 Female connector thingy? Isn't that a ball and chain?! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... Quote Link to comment
Morseman Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Omally:Seek and ye shall find [This message was edited by Omally on January 15, 2003 at 11:41 AM.] Thanks for the URLs for the null modems Omally, However, as was suggested, I can wrire connectors. What I need is a plug that will fit the connector on the M130, so that I can make my own (£70 for two connectors, one being a 9 way D shell - as that's normally what is meant by a "serial" connector - seems a bit high!) or a connector with a length of cable on it, with or without another plug on the end. I could make up a connector that would connect to the "Serial" plug, as I say usually a 9 way D to attach to a COM port, and then connect that to the various bits of kit. The root of the problem is the connector to the M130. --... ...-- Morseman Quote Link to comment
+Omally Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 OK then, try these guys http://pfranc.com/ . They do Garmin plugs and so on; I don't know if they do Palm connectors, but it don't hurt to ask! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... Quote Link to comment
101325 Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 I use a three year old Cassiopeia from Casio but if I was buying today I'd go for the Siemens-Fujitsu Pocket windows XP model. Quote Link to comment
el10t Posted January 18, 2003 Share Posted January 18, 2003 Thats a coincidence - I replaced my three year old Cassipeia with a Fujitsu Siemens Pocket Loox. Its very nice. Rich mobilis in mobili Quote Link to comment
Morseman Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Omally:OK then, try these guys http://pfranc.com/ . They do Garmin plugs and so on; I don't know if they do Palm connectors, but it don't hurt to ask! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... Emailed the 'local' pFranc people, and it looks like they might be able to help me. --... ...-- Morseman Quote Link to comment
+jeremyp Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 Have a look at Garmin's new PDA Nice idea, but costs a fortune ------- jeremyp The second ten million caches were the worst too. http://www.jeremyp.net/geocaching Quote Link to comment
+Omally Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 quote: Emailed the 'local' pFranc people, and it looks like they might be able to help me. Glad to hear it! Can't remember where I first found out about them, but they certainly save the expense of brand-new manufacturers cables! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... [This message was edited by Omally on January 20, 2003 at 10:45 AM.] Quote Link to comment
+Omally Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 quote: Have a look at Garmin's new PDA Nice idea, but costs a fortune EEK! Little bit out of my price range... looks like it's not out for a while, too. I see it has a voice recorder: is that to keep track of my creative swearing when I get attacked by nettles, brambles etc?! It's a tradition, or an old charter or something... Quote Link to comment
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