Gpx File Reports

[+Insp Gadget]

I was wondering why there is a limit of 500 caches when you run a report? With the number of caches climbing so high and GPS units getting better, why can't we increase this number?

[+tirediron]

I would have to assume practical considerations of server time and bandwidth limitations. That aside, could you really use more than 500? Even in cache-dense Victoria, I only run my PQs for 200 - and even at that, it's way more than enough.

[+Johnnie Stalkers]

If the pocket query size was without limit it would be fairly easy to mimic the Geocaching website. That large GPX file would basically BE the Geocaching database.

 

Of course nothing is stopping someone from putting up a website with their own area's caches. Lets see: 1 PQ for traditionals, 1 for micros, 1 for virtuals, 1 for multis.....yep that would just about cover southwest Ohio.

 

Of course, this is pure speculation on my part.

[Jeremy]

The majority of GPS units have an upper limit storage of 500 waypoints, so we decided on that number when creating the Pocket Query generator. There are various methods for whittling down your results for the most useful Pocket Queries. If you want more, splitting them by date, terrain, or type can help a great deal.

 

Most GPX files can be 4 megs in size as well, which is pretty large. Since they are text, zipping them can really help.

[+Insp Gadget]

With my job I travel quite a bit. Up to 7000km per month and drive all over the provine of New Brunswick. As such, I would like to have a list of all the caches in NB I have not found yet. So far I'm ok in that there are not more than 500 caches in NB that I have not found. Can somenoe tell me how to create 2 GPX files for NB that will make sure I have them all? Since my new GPS Map 60c can hold 1000 waypoints, there is lots of room in the GPS for it..

[+PDOP's]

I've got the same problem in Alberta. What I've done is create two pocket queries for caches I have not found. One is for traditional caches the other is for every other type. Once I receive the two pocket queries I feed them into GSAK.

 

Another way to do this would be to create two or more pocket queries searching a radius distance from set points so that the circles would cover different parts of the province. These can overlap to make sure you catch everything. Again you'd feed the Pocket Query files into GSAK which combines the files and eliminates any duplicates.

[+Insp Gadget]

I've got the same problem in Alberta. What I've done is create two pocket queries for caches I have not found. One is for traditional caches the other is for every other type. Once I receive the two pocket queries I feed them into GSAK.

 

Another way to do this would be to create two or more pocket queries searching a radius distance from set points so that the circles would cover different parts of the province. These can overlap to make sure you catch everything. Again you'd feed the Pocket Query files into GSAK which combines the files and eliminates any duplicates.

Unfortunately, almost every cache in NB is a traditional, so I wouldn't be able to go that way. I like your suggestion about having 2 different reports for the province, however how sure are you that your getting all the caches?

[+PDOP's]

It's a trial by error process. Pick the centers of your searches so that they're at opposite ends of the province and setup your queries to search only in the province. Increase the radius of the search from your center points in equal increments until the circles overlap each other by a fair margin. If you have MicroSoft Streets and Trips you can do this graphically and actually see that you got the whole province covered.

 

The next step would be to run the pocket queries and feed the results into GSAK and see if the total caches match the total unfound in NB.