mtnbike28 Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 I am looking for someone who uses the Plam m5xx series and Magellan GPS Companion to ask some questions to. Thanks Quote Link to comment
+DougsBrat Posted February 10, 2003 Share Posted February 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by mtnbike28:I am looking for someone who uses the Plam m5xx series and Magellan GPS Companion to ask some questions to. Thanks I have Handspring visor (Plat & Prism) and Magellan GPS Companion. Can I help? More rules = Less fun! Quote Link to comment
mtnbike28 Posted February 10, 2003 Author Share Posted February 10, 2003 thanks for replying, I double posted this (see above, rookie error) and have started to get some of my answers. I couldn't get the Cetrus manual to open (still can't?) What software are you using and your thoughts? I am using my PDA/GPS for many things and look forward to seeking my first GeoCache this week-end. Quote Link to comment
+DougsBrat Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 quote:Originally posted by mtnbike28:thanks for replying, I double posted this (see above, rookie error) and have started to get some of my answers. I couldn't get the Cetrus manual to open (still can't?) What software are you using and your thoughts? I am using my PDA/GPS for many things and look forward to seeking my first GeoCache this week-end. I started out with the Handspring visor (Plat & Prism) and Magellan GPS Companion, and had good luck finding caches with the software that came with the Magellan GPS Companion. I also used GPS Pilot to get (scanned) moving maps in the palm I got tired of typing the cache coords in the palm, and there were not alot of other software choices back then, so I bought a Garmin vista There are a lot more GPS/Palm software out there now. Best of all I see where GPSBabel will export data to a lot of the Palm/GPS programs, even the caching program I made for the palm. I have not tryed the Cetus program yet, so I can't help you there sorry More rules = Less fun! Quote Link to comment
+Team Sand Dollar Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 I've have been using a 515 with GPS Companion for about a month now and have worked out most of the kinks. These are the operating solutions I have gotten to work. 1) Cetus (freeware) provide good gps tracking functions. (replaces NAV) 2) GPSbable (freeware) provide format conversion. 3) Delorme XMap Hand Held ($40) ability to download maps to palm. 4) Delorme Topo USA 4.0 ($100) ability to download topo maps to palm (requires XMap HH). Also used to create waypoint file for XMap HH. 5) Filez (freeware) to delete waypoint file for XMap HH from palm prior to uploading new waypoints. So how do I use it. 1)Get .gpx and .prc files from Geocaching.com. 2)Use GPSbable to create .txt comman delimited file from .gpx 3)Use GPSbable to create .pdb file for Cetus from .txt file. 4)Use Word to modify .txt comma delimited .txt file to leave only North coord, West coord, and name of each cache. 5)Import modified .txt file into Topo USA 4.0 6) Send .prc file to Palm 7) Send .pdb file to Palm 8) Export Maps and Waypoint From Topo USA 4.0 to Palm. (Note the Waypoint export doesn't always work just right and sometimes takes multiple tries.) I know this seems like a lot of work but the end results provide me with desciption, waypoints, and topos for each cache I'm after in a very portable capacity. If you have a specific question you can contact me at teamsanddollar@yahoo.com Loran (Team Sand Dollar) Quote Link to comment
+parkrrrr Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Team Sand Dollar:2)Use GPSbable to create .txt comman delimited file from .gpx 3)Use GPSbable to create .pdb file for Cetus from .txt file. These two steps could be combined into one step if you're using the command-line version of GPSBabel. I'm not sure if the GUI frontend is quite flexible enough. quote:4)Use Word to modify .txt comma delimited .txt file to leave only North coord, West coord, and name of each cache. The latest GPSBabel lets you specify your own format for CSV output, so you could skip this step as well. Again, I don't know if the GUI frontend is flexible enough to allow this. gpsbabel -i gpx -f 1111.gpx -o cetus -F 1111.pdb -o xcsv,style=xmap.style -F 1111.txt Quote Link to comment
+Team Sand Dollar Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 I'll look into combining the steps. I'm for anything that will speed up the process. Now if I can just figure out why uploading the new waypoints to XMap HH dosen't always work. Team Sand Dollar Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Team Sand Dollar:So how do I use it. 1)Get .gpx and .prc files from Geocaching.com. 2)Use GPSbable to create .txt comman delimited file from .gpx 3)Use GPSbable to create .pdb file for Cetus from .txt file. 4)Use Word to modify .txt comma delimited .txt file to leave only North coord, West coord, and name of each cache. 5)Import modified .txt file into Topo USA 4.0 6) Send .prc file to Palm 7) Send .pdb file to Palm 8) Export Maps and Waypoint From Topo USA 4.0 to Palm. (Note the Waypoint export doesn't always work just right and sometimes takes multiple tries.) Loran (Team Sand Dollar) You can actually do a couple of those steps in one shot with GPSBabel. You can't do it from the GUI, but you can do automate it with a batch file or your incoming mail filters or such. You can write multiple files of different types in one step. gpsbabel -i geo -f geocaching.loc -o xmapwpt -F xmap.wpt -o cetus -F cetus.pdb -o csv -F tusa.txt will write all three of those files at once. Why is word involved in this? Aaaah, I'll bet it's becuase you're using geocaching.com GPX files that put the kitchen sink in the field and you're editing out the placer/diff/terr/container, aren't you? [ thoughtful pause. typity typity typity type ] I just checked in a change to GPSBabel that adds a n option to the GPX input reader. If you specify an input of "gpx,gsshortnames" GPSBabel will now use over and you'll get just the cache name instead of the kitchen sink thing. Email me privately if you don't build from source and would like prebuilt binary. Quote Link to comment
+Team Sand Dollar Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 I started to think about the Question... Why is word involved in this? Aaaah, I'll bet it's becuase you're using geocaching.com GPX files that put the kitchen sink in the field and you're editing out the placer/diff/terr/container, aren't you? GPSBabel provides a file with only Coords and Name but the name is to long and clutters my map. I like putting waypoints in by name and not GC number. I use a marco in Word to strip of the " by (team name)" information from the name to make it shorter. This text file I use for Topo USA and Xmap Hand Held. For Cetus I use the one with the complete name. Team Sand Dollar Quote Link to comment
robertlipe Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Team Sand Dollar: I use a marco in Word to strip of the " by (team name)" information from the name to make it shorter. This text file I use for Topo USA and Xmap Hand Held. That, plus the diff/terr/container, is exactly what the option I just added to GPSBabel toasts for you. I can add options to limit the length of the generated names in a smart way (throwing out vowels, etc.) but I'd really like to get a feel for what'll work best for most people - I know when I place caches on a map, i don't want the placer and diff/terr on the map so that seemed like a good starting place. Quote Link to comment
+Team Sand Dollar Posted February 13, 2003 Share Posted February 13, 2003 Changes sound good so I'll give it a try and see how it works. Team Sand Dollar Quote Link to comment
+Team Sand Dollar Posted February 13, 2003 Share Posted February 13, 2003 Sorry dup message Team Sand Dollar [This message was edited by Team Sand Dollar on February 13, 2003 at 06:54 AM.] Quote Link to comment
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