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Pda, Spinner, Plucker, Etc. Questions


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Ok I know this has probably been discussed and Markwelled somewhere but I NEED HELP. I just purchased a palm m515 to use for geocaching instead of printing out the cache descriptions on paper. How do I get the web page cache descriptions on to my palm. I'm sure the answer is easy and staring me in the face, anybody got any suggestions, tips, advice on what to use, how to install it, and how to work it?

 

Confused and electronicall challenged,

 

Wildlifeguy

 

Peace!

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I would advise on using Cachemate. It is a great program for your PDA and it costs 7 dollars. While it's not free, I consider it worth every penny. It's available at www.smittyware.com. With Cachmate, you need to convert GPX files to get the best information. To get the GPX files you get a premium membership to GC.com. It's only 3 bucks a month, and again, I consider it worth every penny. After you do that, you can generate pocket queries and GC.com will send you gpx files that you convert very easily and then hotsync into your palm. The benefit of cachemate over spinner and plucker is that you can manipulate the text in cachemate. You can add what you took and left, when you found the cache, etc etc. If you get cachemate, there is a great instruction file included that makes it pretty easy to use.

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I run BOTH Plucker and Cachemate on my PDA. Once everything is setup it only takes a couple of minutes to refresh the files weekly. I like Plucker for looking at when not caching just cuz it's prettier. Cachemate is a better utility for caching with the ability to record your log, find nearest caches, export to Cetus, etc. when the navigation plugin makes it here... woohoo!!! NO more 10 second wait while Cetus picks up the Bluetooth GPS signal. Time is precious, ya know!!!

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What I like about Plucker is that it allows sorting the caches all kinds of ways - by distance, direction, etc, and there is a direct link on the cache page for the nearest caches. I use both GPS Spinner and GSAK, trying to decide which one to stay with. So far it's a tossup on the Palm, but GSAK wins on the PC. I think I'm leaning in that direction. I use Plucker for all kinds of other things, so it's not that hard to update the geocaching channels along with whatever else, and transferring the files to the Palm's SD card is a matter of a second or so.

 

Cachemate perhaps does most of what Plucker does, although I haven't had it long enough to say for sure, but it's clunkier getting around in it than in Plucker. OTOH, the Plucker files are read-only, so you can't update anything on the Palm. Thus, I plan to stick with both for now.

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That seems like a lot of work.

 

1) Pocket queries

 

2) CMConvert (to convert gpx to pbd)

 

3) Cachemate (for the palm)

Not at all. In fact it takes only 5-10 minutes for the entire process

 

1) Open Watcher, combine and save files

 

2) Drop the file into Spinner. Spinner does all this automaticly while I wait 3 minutes.

A)Symbols changed to reflect the type of cache (micro, event, ect.)

B)Adds the terrain to the end of the waypoint. ( GCXXXX 2.5)

 

This way I can quickly see while looking at the GPS if I have time for a cache I may be bear.

 

3) Run Plucker .

Now my Palm has ALL the information

 

4) Run EasyMPS

That changes it to a Mapsource file so I can see where everything is (on mapsource maps) and load it easily into my Vista.

 

 

Four simple steps to get everything out of a GPX file that I can.

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Every time this topic comes up, it seems like it polarizes into a CacheMate Vs. Spinner/Plucker rumble. Why is it that we take up arms for the cause of a simple bit of software, just because it works for us? Is it a need to feel validated by being in a large group? Do you CacheMate users have trouble sleeping knowing that People Out There Are Spinning And Plucking Right This Very Second?

 

Different people have different needs and different skill levels. Instead of arguing about how easy/quick/mindless your particular program is, why not just tell us what it does and how well it works for you and let us decide?

 

That said, here are some other programs that might be of use if you're using a Palm to geocache:

 

Watcher - easy to moderate skill level, Windows only. Use Watcher to organize, filter, merge, and sort your cache descriptions before uploading them to your Palm.

 

GPSBabel - moderate to difficult skill level, cross-platform. Use GPSBabel to filter your GPX files before further processing, or to convert them into formats usable with various Palm software (even if you have a standalone GPS, programs like GPilotS and GeoNiche might still find a place in your caching portfolio.) GPSBabel is Free Software/Open Source, in case that's important to you.

 

GPX2HTML - moderate skill level, cross-platform. GPX2HTML does mostly the same things Spinner does, but depending on your particular skillset and available tools, you might find that you like it better. GPX2HTML is Free Software/Open Source, in case that's important to you.

 

GPXDoc - easy to moderate skill level, Windows only. GPXDoc converts cache descriptions into PalmDoc format. If you already use a PalmDoc reader for other things, or if you use an older Palm with limited memory, give GPXDoc a try. In my opinion, which is undoubtedly biased since I wrote the program, the nicest feature of GPXDoc (when used with CSpotRun, TealDoc, or similar reader on the Palm) is the ability to choose your cache from a dropdown list and jump right to it, without having to use your program's "search" function or go back to the table of contents.

 

What do I use? GPSBabel and GPXDoc. But that's because that's what works for me. Try them all and use what works for you.

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Do you CacheMate users have trouble sleeping knowing that People Out There Are Spinning And Plucking Right This Very Second?

I find it interesting that there are so few people who have tried CacheMate that advocate Spinner/Plucker. Nightpilot is the only one I've seen so far. I think he's just getting used to something different, but it would be interesting to see if he has some suggestions to make it less "clunky".

 

I prefer to think of it as Spinner/Plucker people are just those who haven't tried CacheMate yet. :unsure: A gross over-simplification, but I think there is an element of truth to it. My perception is that are far more CM people who have tried both but few S/P who have. Your mileage may vary.

 

But to answer your question, I just want to see the option presented to make sure the person asking understands there are two "camps"/choices. Depending on when I get into a thread, I will acknowledge that there are S/P people and that's an option.

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But to answer your question, I just want to see the option presented to make sure the person asking understands there are two "camps"/choices.

See, therein lies the problem. There aren't two choices. There are at least three choices, and possibly four if you see GPX2HTML/Plucker as distinct from Spinner/Plucker (I do.) People who pretend that those two programs are the only two that exist are doing everyone a disservice.

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No one here has mentioned mobipocket reader along with the PQ in e-book format.

There's a reason for that: it crashes regularly, and (believe it or not) can actually cause other applications to crash without it even being installed (try running TealDoc when there's a Mobi document on your Palm, whether or not Mobi itself is.)

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No one here has mentioned mobipocket reader along with the PQ in e-book format.

There's a reason for that: it crashes regularly, and (believe it or not) can actually cause other applications to crash without it even being installed (try running TealDoc when there's a Mobi document on your Palm, whether or not Mobi itself is.)

Good to know. I have not experienced any problems yet... although I must admit I don't really use the PDA I have it loaded on (an older Palm Vx) for much else.

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Do you CacheMate users have trouble sleeping knowing that People Out There Are Spinning And Plucking Right This Very Second?

I find it interesting that there are so few people who have tried CacheMate that advocate Spinner/Plucker. Nightpilot is the only one I've seen so far. I think he's just getting used to something different, but it would be interesting to see if he has some suggestions to make it less "clunky".

 

I prefer to think of it as Spinner/Plucker people are just those who haven't tried CacheMate yet. :unsure: A gross over-simplification, but I think there is an element of truth to it. My perception is that are far more CM people who have tried both but few S/P who have. Your mileage may vary.

 

But to answer your question, I just want to see the option presented to make sure the person asking understands there are two "camps"/choices. Depending on when I get into a thread, I will acknowledge that there are S/P people and that's an option.

I guess I fall into the category of purchased and tried CacheMate, but still rely on Spinner/Plucker or GPX2HTML/Plucker. I still have CM loaded and still play with it, but if my wife is running the Palm then it's not the first or second choice.

 

Brian

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If simpler is your thing.

 

You can drop the Watcher to combine programs out of the "to do" list.

 

When you drop several pocket query files onto the "Spinner" , It will combine them for you. I drop two p.c. of 500 caches each, spin them, and download to my Garmin 76S. The two areas I request have about 100 caches that are overlaps so I end up with 900. Perfect

 

wingryder

 

(no its not too many.. they are all invisible but the closeup area I am looking at and hunting in) (And they are all in the Palm as well.)

Edited by wingryder
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I have Cachemate installed, registered, and working. But for reading descriptions on my PDA, and sorting them on the fly, and finding the nearest caches to the one I'm reading, Plucker is orders of magnitude faster and more versatile. It takes a little bit of work to get the files onto the Palm, but once they're there, they are wonderful. I use Cachemate for keeping logs, and sometimes for loading waypoints to the GPS, but not that often for reading descriptions or past logs. It works, but Plucker is much more elegant for that. One nice feature of Cachemate is that you can edit the descriptions, mainly on multi-caches or puzzle caches when you need to keep track of offsets or new waypoints. I've tried MobiPocket, since I have it installed for reading stuff I can't get in any other format, but it really sucks compared to Plucker. I'd love to have one app that did everything perfectly, but there is no perfect app around that I've found. So I continue to use GSAK, Plucker, and Cachemate. Plus GPSBabel, sometimes GPX Spinner (although I'm abandoning that with the advent of GSAK), and even EasyGPS to upload to the GPS. Sometimes it's easier to do it from the PC, sometimes from the Palm. I'm not religious about any of these apps, I use whatever is easiest at the moment.

Edited by NightPilot
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