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GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife)


ClydeE

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Thanks, Clyde, for what is undoubtedly the most useful pieces of software I've ever used.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I made it through 7 of 10 pages on this posting. Now, I need to know what I have to do to export data to a PDA. I know it's in the thread somewhere (checked the help index, didn't find it) but I just don't have the heart to get through all 13 pages.

 

Help me please, someone? Is there a program I have to download to use *.gpx or *.loc files on a PDA?

 

TIA

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If you've got a Palm based PDA get this CacheMate. It's the best $7 you can spend in my view. GSAK supports exporting to CacheMate.

 

GSAK & CacheMate are the only 2 programs I need/use now - both are excellent.

 

Edit. You'll also need premium membership to download GPX pocket queries from GC.COM, the LOC files don't contain all the cache info.

Edited by Motley Crew
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Thanks, Clyde, for what is undoubtedly the most useful pieces of software I've ever used.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I made it through 7 of 10 pages on this posting. Now, I need to know what I have to do to export data to a PDA. I know it's in the thread somewhere (checked the help index, didn't find it) but I just don't have the heart to get through all 13 pages.

 

Help me please, someone? Is there a program I have to download to use *.gpx or *.loc files on a PDA?

 

TIA

Alternatively, if your PDA is a pocket pc then my recommendation would be GPXSonar or perhaps if you want something just basic then GPXView

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I've got the new Garmin 60CS. I figured out a way to get my waypoints from quakemap to GSAK to Mapsource. Now how to do I get my info from Mapqource back to a GPX/LOC file? This is all too stressful! LOL

 

The Garmin, GSAK and using Mapsource is all new to me, driving me nuts!

 

Thanks,

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Blue2, what I see is Premium Member, not Tadpole. :rolleyes:

 

Firehouse, GPSBabel does almost any conversion, in any direction. It's in the GSAK install directory. Try Babelfront, which is a GUI interface to GPSBabel, which is easier to use, but a little more limited than the command-line version. It should work for what you want to do. GPSBabel is one of the truly useful but all-too-unheralded freeware apps out there.

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Clyde, :rolleyes: congrats :lol: on getting linked to GC.com. I requested the link be made shortly after I plugged through this thread, back when it only had 6 pages, and I had first hand enjoyed using your program. I feel that anyone who has put forth such an effort of ongoing tweaks and quick responces to cacher questions, preferences and issues with this program, should get the credit deserved and have their work enjoyed by many.

 

I hope this hasn't opened up a can of worms or caused your email to shut down with all of the fanmail you are or will recieve.

 

Keep up the good work, your part of this sports history now.

 

**LEGAL DISCLAIMER**

 

This posting is not to be construde as deminishing in anyway the efforts and hard work of all the other participants and contributors to this sport/hobby who strive to enhance our enjoyment. Hopefully no other geocachers were harmed in the creation and eventual reading of this posting. Any similarities to geocachers past or present is purely intentional.

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After listening to Algonquin Bound rave about the newest version (beta) I had to test it out. I like the features, played with everything but...

When I try to upload the waypoints to my Magellan Sportrak Map, I get the error:

MAGPROTO: No data received from GPS.

I checked the setup:

- Magellan

- Com 2

- Baud Rate: 4800

 

I'm only uploading 14 waypoints and none of them are the ones I have had trouble with (odd characters) in the past. Mapsend DID upload them (it often kaak's at problems).

 

Yes, the GPS IS on <grin>.

 

I had uninstalled the old GSAK and did a fresh install of the Beta version. I was using a .gpx file.

 

Dunno... at least I don't have to enter by hand (which I did on a recent trip to Florida - I'm getting darned good at it but errors can cost caches!)

 

Annie

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After listening to Algonquin Bound rave about the newest version (beta) I had to test it out.  I like the features, played with everything but...

When I try to upload the waypoints to my Magellan Sportrak Map, I get the error:

MAGPROTO: No data received from GPS.

I checked the setup:

- Magellan

- Com 2

- Baud Rate: 4800

 

I'm only uploading 14 waypoints and none of them are the ones I have had trouble with (odd characters) in the past.    Mapsend DID upload them (it often kaak's at problems).

 

Yes, the GPS IS on <grin>.

 

I had uninstalled the old GSAK and did a fresh install of the Beta version.  I was using a .gpx file.

 

Dunno... at least I don't have to enter by hand (which I did on a recent trip to Florida - I'm getting darned good at it but errors can cost caches!)

 

Annie

Any one else with a "Magellan Sportrak Map" that can confirm if the latest Beta is working or not with your GPS?

 

Did the upload work with the old version of GSAK?

 

Your post also shows your com port as COM 2, I trust this is a typo and you really have this set to COM2 (without the space)

 

GSAK actually uses GPSBabel "Under the hood" to send waypoints to the GPS, so the issue may be with that.

 

To confirm you get the same error when trying GPSBabel by itself, please try running the babel.bat file from a command prompt. You will find the babel.bat in the install folder of GSAK

Edited by ClydeE
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ST Pro here. Never had any problems uploading from GSAK. 4800 baud seems pretty slow, are you sure the unit is really set there? I have mine running at 115200. In any case, make sure that the speed in the ST menu and the speed in the GSAK GPS setup match.

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Feature Request - would anyone else find this useful:

 

Being able to print the cache descriptions (option to have hint decrypted or not), one per page, of all of the filtered caches.

 

I'm not currently running paperless, so would like the ability to print the caches I'm going for.

 

Thanks,akerin

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Any one else with a "Magellan Sportrak Map" that can confirm if the latest Beta is working or not with your GPS?

Clyde,

 

Current version works fine with our Sportrak Maps. Always has, always will.. :P

 

Now onto the problem for the day.

 

Double clicking the zip file from our e-mail to load it into GSAK using the default zip program in XP is bringing up an error window from GSAK and then wants to send the info to you. Been there before with not being able to send since we aren't using Outlook for default. Which file do you want e-mailed to you?

 

It works just fine (always has always will) using WinZip.....

 

Thanks

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Now onto the problem for the day.

 

Double clicking the zip file from our e-mail to load it into GSAK using the default zip program in XP is bringing up an error window from GSAK and then wants to send the info to you.

This seems to be an XP specific problem. For some reason XP does not send the file to GSAK in the same manner WinZip and other programs do.

 

The fix for this is to just drag the whole zip file to GSAK rather than opening it up with XP

 

XP is bringing up an error window from GSAK and then wants to send the info to you. 

 

No need to send this time, but If you ever need to do this in the future and can't get the automatic send to work, then all I need is the file called "GSAK.elf". You will find this file in the install folder of GSAK

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Hi Greg,

 

Not sure what version of GSAK you are using but 3.00 allows for %con1 and %typ1 which is the first character respectively. See here for a full list of %tags supported in V3.00

 

That works. However for type and container, I'd rather see more than one charactor. When reviewing the notes its nice to have quick visuable reminder of what the field ment. How abotu a 3, 4 or at most 5 charactor smartname option for con and typ?

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Clyde,

 

I assume that the auto send bug report to you wants Outlook.  Is that something that can be changed for the program so it can use dealers choice?  I've used Pegasus (I'm sure you have heard of it) for years and I know people who use Eudora.  Or just send the .elf file........

The auto send just tries to send the using your default email client. If Pegasus is your preferred e-mail client, then make this your default e-mail client.

Edited by ClydeE
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If I have the latest versions of GPSBabel and Smittyware's CacheMate on my PC does GSAK use that or is the "under the hood" GSAK internal? Any way to know what version is being used and can it be updated at will?

GSAK will always use the GPSBabel.exe that is in the install folder of GSAK

 

You can upgrade (or downgrade for that matter) this version by simply replacing it with your desired version.

 

If you would like to know what version it is, from a command prompt in the install folder of GSAK run “GPSBabel /h” The version number will show in the very first line.

 

(You might want to try “GPSBabel /h | more” to stop the first line scrolling off the screen so quickly)

 

I will look at including the version number of GPSBabel that GSAK uses in the Tools=>About dialog

 

(Edited to add Tools=>About sentence)

Edited by ClydeE
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Clyde,

 

I finally found some time to play around a little with my Garmin GPS II+ and the downloading of waypoints problem. You posted a note in my behalf to the Babel group and I was sucessful in getting the correct characters to show up for the waypoint. By the way, the fix seems to have been incorporated in the latest release (1.2.2) also. The comment field was showing garbage and you suggested I contact the Babel group myself for that one. Well, I wanted to be specific so they knew what I was talking about. I did a few tests and have done nothing but confuse myself even more.

 

I created a test database. Created a waypoint of GC1234, TYPE = CITO, Difficulty and Terrain both 1, Container = Unknown, Name = ABCDEF, State = VA

 

I did a download to my II+ setting waypoint name to %code and cache description set to %smart. The waypoint on the GPS was GC1234 and the Comment field was A##%%&. I was hoping for something that would lead me to the comment field adding something to each character so that I could explain it, but it didn't look that way.

 

I then did a download to the II+ using %code and %name. The GPS then read GC1234 and ABCDEF. That sort of threw me for a loop because it was correct?

 

I thought maybe I just didn't understand what %smart was suppose to do, so I then did an export to Street Atlas text file using %code and %smart. The resulting text file was what I expected, GC12324 Abcdef.

 

So, since %name goes correctly to the GPS but %smart doesn't, is this a GSAK problem, or a babel problem?

 

Gary

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I dug a little deeper and have narrowed it down even farther. I guess my testing didn't go far enough the first time. Seems GPSBabel doesn't transfer lower case letters to my GPS II+ correctly. Caps go fine, but lower case gets garbled. Numbers go correctly too.

 

The file babel.txt has two fields with "name" in it. What's the difference?

 

It's the second occurance that get's download to my GPS and garbled.

 

Gary

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I dug a little deeper and have narrowed it down even farther. I guess my testing didn't go far enough the first time. Seems GPSBabel doesn't transfer lower case letters to my GPS II+ correctly. Caps go fine, but lower case gets garbled. Numbers go correctly too.

 

The file babel.txt has two fields with "name" in it. What's the difference?

 

It's the second occurance that get's download to my GPS and garbled.

 

Gary

Thanks Gary.

 

Looks like you may have got to the bottom of this one.

 

The file babel.txt has two fields with "name" in it.  What's the difference?

 

One is the waypoint description and the other is waypoint comment. They are really both the same but some software (GPSs) uses the first, while others use the second.

 

Again, this is really a GPSBabel issue (it should detect what model you have and only send down uppercase letters). However, I have had reported problems with the new 1.22 version of GPSBabel on other GPS receivers that were previously working (including my own Garmin Gekko 201 :lol: ). I will not be shipping 1.22 with the 3.00 final release of GSAK. Therefore, to fix this issue now, I will put an option on the GPS Send dialog to force all sent data to uppercase.

 

Thus, if you are a Garmin II+ user and want this problem fixed:

 

1. Make sure you download GPSBabel Version 1.22 and replace the GPSBabel.exe that resides in the install folder of GSAK with this one.

2. Select the "Force Uppercase" option when sending to your GPS. This new option will be available in GSAK 3.00 Final (hopefully out Thursday night Australian time)

 

Cheers

Clyde

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Clyde,

 

I assume that the auto send bug report to you wants Outlook.  Is that something that can be changed for the program so it can use dealers choice?  I've used Pegasus (I'm sure you have heard of it) for years and I know people who use Eudora.  Or just send the .elf file........

The auto send just tries to send the using your default email client. If Pegasus is your preferred e-mail client, then make this your default e-mail client.

Thanks again Clyde. You are a wealth of information :lol:

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Again, this is really a GPSBabel issue (it should detect what model you have and only send down uppercase letters).

 

Thus, if you are a Garmin II+ user and want this problem fixed:

 

ClydeE,

 

I'm trying to get logged into the sourceforge site so that I can describe my problem to them.

 

The Garmin II+ will accept lowercase letters in the comment field from another program. So, it is just babel that is not allowing it.

 

You answered my next guestion before I could ask it! I was going to ask if there was a way to force uppercase in the comment field. You must have a side job of mind reader!

 

Thanks,

Gary

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I'm trying to get logged into the sourceforge site so that I can describe my problem to them.

 

The Garmin II+ will accept lowercase letters in the comment field from another program. So, it is just babel that is not allowing it.

 

You answered my next guestion before I could ask it! I was going to ask if there was a way to force uppercase in the comment field. You must have a side job of mind reader!

Thanks for clarification on that.

 

Yes, it would seem it is definitely a GPSBabel issue then.

 

I will still to ahead with the "Force Uppercase" option as it will give Garmin II+

(Perhaps others?) users a viable work around.

 

I would certainly encourage you to pursue this in the GBSBabel list, so hopefully it can be sorted out correctly.

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The Garmin II+ will accept lowercase letters in the comment field from another program.

Ok, once again I'm back to eating crow. Maybe I'll skip it this time since no one corrected me!

 

The Garmin II+ will NOT accept lowercase letters in the Comment field. The program I was using will, but automatically forced uppercase when doing a download to the GPS. I just never noticed the conversion on download.

 

The "Force uppercase" will completely take care of that in GSAK!

 

THANKS for a great program and great support system!!!!!!

 

Gary

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after working through an earlier problem with GSAK when I went to access it gives me a message that the is an old version of the program and I need to download the newest version. I tried downloading the beta version and the last available stable version2.3 I believe both prompt me with the same message. help I miss GSAK

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after working through an earlier problem with GSAK when I went to access it gives me a message that the is an old version of the program and I need to download the newest version. I tried downloading the beta version and the last available stable version2.3 I believe both prompt me with the same message. help I miss GSAK

One of the latter features added to GSAK was a “bad karma” detector. If GSAK detects "bad karma", it shuts down and won’t play again. Sorry that’s life.

 

Yes, only joking – you have mail :lol:

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Hi Clive

I have just loaded the latest beta version and am finding the same poblem that Blind Avocado had some days ago. I can't get it to centre on home or on any other waypoint. This always worked in my last version. I have restarted my computer but it has made no difference.

Thanks for a brilliant program. I use it all the time :(

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Hi Clive

I have just loaded the latest beta version and am finding the same poblem that Blind Avocado had some days ago. I can't get it to centre on home or on any other waypoint. This always worked in my last version. I have restarted my computer but it has made no difference.

Thanks for a brilliant program. I use it all the time  :(

As Blind Avocado found it GSAK DOES centre on everything (changes the distance and bearing).

 

I think where you are getting confused is that default behaviour now does not sort on the distance column (that is, your current sorting sequence is preserved), where as it did before. If you want GSAK to sort on the distance column, just click on the column heading.

Edited by ClydeE
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GSAK Version 3.00 Final is now ready to download. Version 3.00 has been out long enough to iron out most of the bugs. Any issues that arise from this release, I will fix as a maintenance release (eg 3.01, 3.02 etc)

 

The next significant release of GSAK will be 3.1

 

Rather than throw in a lot of features all at once (like Ver 2 -> 3) I plan to take it a little slower next time and introduce new features gradually via 3.1, 3.2 etc

 

I might even get to do some caching myself now :bad:

 

Changes since Beta 2

 

Fixed bug where custom install OziExplorer path not being saved

Fixed bug where offline difficulty and terrain images not showing in Netscape

Fixed bug where "&" in user notes causing CacheMate Export to crash.

Fixed bug in HTML index not being referenced in correct case and causing problems if uploaded to a Linux system

Fixed bug PSP generating blank files

Fixed gc.com available/archived issue with the new gc.com single GPX files

Fixed long custom URLs spilling on to two lines (causing problems)

Fixed corrected coordinates not being loaded on database change.

Fixed select "...Last active Filter" selecting "NONE" just after a name search

Fixed problem of loosing the split screen, then not being able to get it back

Fixed problem of allowing COM as a valid serial port.

Other minor interface changes

Moved focus to Grid after selecting filter - (fixes problems when using wheel after selecting filter)

Added warning when downloads from GPS are on the permanent delete list

Added option on GPS send to force all data to uppercase

Added Multi Map Zoom in and Zoom out custom URLs

Help About, now shows the version of GPSBabel that it is using

Help file updated to V3.00 (again thanks to Dave from Dak's Emu Mob for his excellent assistance with this)

 

Download here http://gsak.geocaching.com.au

 

Cheers

Clyde

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If GSAK detects "bad karma", it shuts down and won’t play again.
So you've been stealing code from Micro$oft, huh?

It was probably code from a buyout that Microsoft made of a Linux developer. They'll fix it in a service pack when they realized they inherited it.

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Clyde,

 

Didn't you mention in another thread that you would add a special tag for the hint, which would be useful down the road if and when Garmin increases the 30 digit note limit in the 60 series units.

 

I can't seem to find it in help, did I overlook something?

 

Thanks

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Didn't you mention in another thread that you would add a special tag for the hint, which would be useful down the road if and when Garmin increases the 30 digit note limit in the 60 series units.

 

I can't seem to find it in help, did I overlook something?

 

Yes, but I did say in the next release.

 

When I initially released 3.00 I did mention that the feature set was pretty much in place and the Betas were more about getting the product stable than adding new features. Adding new features often adds new bugs, and so the cycle goes on and the product never gets out the door.

 

The hint tag will be added in 3.1, and most tags (eg description, placed by) will be updated to accept the form %tag=nn like the %smart tag. That way you will be able to set the number of characters you want for most tags.

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Perhaps now might be a good time to start a GSAK 3.00 thread. The current GSAK thread is now 14 pages long, much of which is now irrelevant with the new release.

 

Just a thought! :D

 

Thanks for the great program.

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Perhaps now might be a good time to start a GSAK 3.00 thread. The current GSAK thread is now 14 pages long, much of which is now irrelevant with the new release.

 

Just a thought! :D

 

Sounds like a good idea.

 

I will close this thread off.

 

New thread can be found here

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