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60c - Find Geocache Feature - Importing Symbols


Zartimus

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Some of this has been mentioned across some other threads,

 

I can't wait to try this feature out, but it looks like I will have to a bit longer. The Find Geocache feature on the 60C keys in on the geocache Found/Not found symbols (the open and closed treasure chest - actually whatever two symbols you tell it).

 

When importing GPX files into something like Easy/Expert GPS, that symbol is convieniently mapped for you, but for now and probably not before spring Easy/Expert GPS doesn't have USB support and only allows for serial transfers. The 60C ships with a USB cable (serial cable is optional) which limits the programs most of us out there use to transfer our stuff around.

 

Some of the stuff I've tried is, GPX file into GPSBABEL export into Mapsource 5.4 but all the symbols are wrong<grin> . GSAK beta export into Mapsource 5.4, has visible support for symbol mapping on the fly, but it does not work perrectly yet (but looks promising).

 

Someone in another thread mentioned converting to PCX and then import the WPT file into mapsource, but then you have some character length limtations.

 

Has anyone come up with a way to get the properly mapped geocache symbols in there from a GPX file?

 

I think I will have to order a 60C compatible Serial cable from GPSgeek to make it work like I did before until there is USB support across the board (unlikely considering how tightfisted some of the GPS makers are with their gear's inner workings).

 

rpc.gif

Edited by Zartimus
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I just gave MeeCachers suggestion a spin, GPX file into GPSBABEL exported to PCX (.WPT) and imported into Mapsource 5.4 and then USB into the GPSr. It worked great and I guess I shouldn't be so concerned about the 6 character waypoint limit (all the GC numbers are only 6 chars for now anyhow).

 

It even shows the cache name in the GPSr's notes field, very slick!

 

Cheers!

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I just gave MeeCachers suggestion a spin, GPX file into GPSBABEL exported to PCX (.WPT) and imported into Mapsource 5.4 and then USB into the GPSr. It worked great and I guess I shouldn't be so concerned about the 6 character waypoint limit (all the GC numbers are only 6 chars for now anyhow).

 

It even shows the cache name in the GPSr's notes field, very slick!

I agree that it is workable - this is the best solution that I have been able to come up with thus far. I had been using GPX Spinner to remap the the name and description fields, but the 6 character limitation means having to go back to the standard GCXXXX waypoint name.

 

I am sure there will be a better solution before too long, but I can live with this for now.

Edited by MeeCachers
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A simple, yet kludgey, fix for this is to change the "not found" icon on geocaching setup to whatever icon your waypoints are using. The first couple of days I had mine I had blue flag as the "not found" icon and all blue flag waypoints were considered geocaches.

 

Since then I use EasyMPS to open the waypoints in Mapsource with the correct icon.

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I think I would

 

GPX -> Spinner -> EasyMPS or Babel it

 

Using spinner would allow you to put the hint or other info you wanted into the "cache description" area of the way point and it will do smart trunkcation ( if thats a word ) so you can typically make outteh shortened words.

 

Hello welcome to RobAGD English 101

 

-Robert

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I just finished downloading and trying out EasyMPS - it was successful in importing the geocaching icons to the 60c. The sequence I used was:

 

GPX -> Spinner -> EasyMPS -> GPS MAP 60c

 

You could skip the Spinner step - I only used it because I wanted to remap the description field. I now have the geocache type, terrain and difficulty rating, and the smart truncated name all downloaded into the Notes field on the 60c.

 

This may seem like a long process, but the total time to do an import now that I have it set up is probably less than two minutes.

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I just finished downloading and trying out EasyMPS - it was successful in importing the geocaching icons to the 60c. The sequence I used was:

 

GPX -> Spinner -> EasyMPS -> GPS MAP 60c

 

You could skip the Spinner step - I only used it because I wanted to remap the description field. I now have the geocache type, terrain and difficulty rating, and the smart truncated name all downloaded into the Notes field on the 60c.

 

This may seem like a long process, but the total time to do an import now that I have it set up is probably less than two minutes.

What do you have to do in Spinner to make this happen the way you describe?

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What do you have to do in Spinner to make this happen the way you describe?

If you modify the GPX Spinner.ini file, you can map virtually anything you want into the description field. The specific mapping that I used is as follows:

 

Desc_Format = %C %D/%T %N

Desc_Max_Length = 30

Desc_Allowed_Chars = !"#$&\'()*+,-./:;?\s

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I'm expecting my 60C tomorrow, but have a question. Can I just use the serial cable from my V to transfer the waypoints to the 60C? Is it the same cable? I was going to use Easygps to copy all the waypoints from the V to the computer, then just hook the 60C up to the same cable and transfer then down. Any idea what GPS I should set EasyGPS to for it to recognize the 60C?

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I just gave MeeCachers suggestion a spin, GPX file into GPSBABEL exported to PCX (.WPT) and imported into Mapsource 5.4 and then USB into the GPSr.

Oh yeah, THAT'S convenient. :)

Yeah, I guess I could enter all 500 caches in by hand. I should be done sometime after the superbowl. :)

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Folks, if you have issues or want help with GPSBabel, please ask on the GPSBabel mailing lists...A hodgepodge of replies follows:

 

> GPX file into GPSBABEL export into Mapsource 5.4 but all the symbols are wrong

 

send details

 

> but the 6 character limitation means having to go back to the standard GCXXXX

 

This is why you should use 'mapsource' instead of 'pcx'. But even in 6 chraacters, the '-s' option should give you smart names.

 

> Oh yeah, THAT'S convenient. ;)

 

Well, it's a two step process. Until Mapsource learns to read GPX (you ARE sending them requests, aren't you?) you have to have a conversion step in there to get from GPX to something Mapsource can read. Since it's fully automatable, I don't see that as terrible.

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Would the people having problems with GPSBabel and geocahing icons in Mapsource, please try adding the "mpsverout=4" suboption to the output format? That would be: gpsbabel -i whatever -f whatever -o mapsource,mpsverout=4 -F whatever. No, you can't do that from the gui.

 

Since I finally got someone to actually give me some details, I investigated it and found that GPSBabel defaults to outputting mapsource version 3 files and they didn't have geocaching icons so the program substitutes crossed circle for the geocaching icons.

 

Since 5.x is a free upgrade (right?) I can't imagine there are a lot of 3.x users out there, but I don't know the Garmin base that well. I could be convinced to change the default in GPSBabel....

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