Paperless Caching

[+ZackJones]

Greetings,

 

After reading several posts about paperless caching I decided to give it a try this weekend. I was using my Palm M130 and GPSMap 60C and did OK with it. The hardest part for me was trying to keep up with my wife As we would find one cache and then before moving to the next cache I had to find the nearest one on the GPS and then look it up on the Palm using cachemate - all the while telling Donna to turn left or turn right as needed.

 

Some observations:

 

- Trying to search on the palm while someone is driving is hard - even when using the built in keyboard and tapping letters with the stylus.

 

- I had a hard time reading the palm even though we have tinted windows on the Xterra. I need to see how to adjust the brightness on the palm.

 

Any additional tips from paperless cachers would be appreciated.

 

Zack

[+New England n00b]

My old Palm III has a contrast thumbwheel recessed into the back of the case, maybe yours does too. Also, the backlight sometimes helps in bright light situations.

[+Chillibusher]

I too have a Palm M130. It is tough to see in the daylight but you can adjust your contrast.

 

In the top right corner of your grafitti area (the number side) there is a small circle that is half coloured. It is very tiny, right next to the calculator button. Touch this with the stylus and drag the control to the left or right. Hope this helps.

[+necron]

Remeber, don't keep your PDA in your back pocket when caching! I did this with mine and wile logging a cache I sat on it cracking the screen. Thank heavens for Best Buy replacement policys! FYI: I am (was!) using an HP Ipaq 1945 with GPXview, works really well if you are a premium member.

[+Chillibusher]

Great point. Invest in a $10 protective cover. It will save you from tears and four letter words!

[+ZackJones]

In the top right corner of your grafitti area (the number side) there is a small circle that is half coloured.  It is very tiny, right next to the calculator button.  Touch this with the stylus and drag the control to the left or right.  Hope this helps.

It did help, thanks for the tip!

 

Zack

[+Alan2]

Replace your wife? (just kiddin'

 

Actually, my wife really doesn't help at all. I drive, tap the PDA, check the maps, the waypoints, sip my coffee and steer with my knees. Good thing I gave up smoking. I don't have any more limbs.

 

Alan

[CurmudgeonlyGal]

Here's my hint: Put as MUCH info into your gpsr as you possibly can and use the PDA less.

 

For most caches, I like to travel pretty light and will rarely leave the car with more than my GPS, a pen and my compass. (Hikes of a certain length, or trailing children require different accompaniments.)

 

Into the 'notes' field on the GPSr, I dump the waypoint name (minus the GC), the difficulty/terrain of the cache and the type of cache and the container size. I find that 99.9% of the time this is more than enough information, and that usually by the time I find myself needing the clue I'm beyond being helped anyway.

 

(Yes, but what about parking coords or multi's? Well, I can usually get pretty close w/o the parking coords... but if I find I need them, then I whip out the Palm... same for the multi's - whipping out the palm that is...)

 

Alternately, you can either read the cache page before you get to your next location, or after you arrive, just before you leave the car.

 

A friend and I cache together regularly and she's good enough at interpreting the 60's turn directions (gotta love that beep) while also using the bearing arrow on her GPS, that I don't have to spend much time helping us get to the next stop.

 

But really, it's more that I just don't care about cache pages!

 

GOOD luck. I'm sure you'll figure out what works best for y'all and is the least time consuming.

 

Regardless, paperless is the best!

 

Edited for whipping it out... or not, as the case may be.

 

-=-

michelle

Edited June 7, 2004 by CurmudgeonlyGal

[+billthesoxfan]

I'm all for the high tech gadgetry you're all mentioning, and it really sounds fun to use, and I'm glad it helps you become 'paperless'. I cannot bring myself to produce printouts and maps. I prefer to be as paperless as possible, even though I come to this hobby as a map freak. I have the lowest model e-Trex, however, and nothing else but a notebook (yes it's paper, but 103 caches done and 1/3 used). I find the trick to paperless (and successful caching in general) is a fair amount of diligence and prep before going out the door. This isn't a critique AT ALL about what you guys are doing, I just want it made clear that you can be environmentally responsible without breaking the bank.

[+ZackJones]

Alan: I agree - there are times when I would like to replace but then I realize she has to put up with me I think she is getting into geocaching. This weekend we probably spent a total of 2 hours looking for one cache. We eventually found and she was actively searching for it the whole time.

 

Michelle: Thanks for the tips. I do love the turn by turn directions using the 60C. Do you edit the notes field before downloading the information to the GPS or afterwards?

 

Bill: You make a very good point. In the two trips we made this weekend I was much better prepared for the first. I had a list of caches we were going to try along with the order we were going to do them all planned in advance. Yesterday was pretty much ad hoc caching. We went back to the once cache we couldn't find on Saturday and finally found it then we did a search for the nearest cache to our current position and off we went. I think a little more time spent planning will help.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone!

 

Zack

[amaurer]

I started paperless; never really considered bringing paper.

 

I've got an iPaq 5555, with a Pharos bluetooth gps module. I use the Ostia software it came with, which works ok. I always load the coordinates manually into the Ostia software, as a destination, and then keep the coords in a note on the iPaq elsewhere.

 

The bluetooth reciever gets strapped to my backpack shoulder strap. I always bring a pen, bug spray, water, and sometimes boots. Never had any trouble.

 

The only cumbersome bit is that Ostia doesn't allow you to view the coordinate once you've saved the waypoint... since the map zooms to only 200 ft scale, its hard or impossible to bring yourself very close by simply moving the gigantic arrow, over the gigantic dot. So you have to read the coords from the note elsewhere on the ipaq, and then switch to coord view and sneak around.

[+WalruZ]

So far I have had a great time by going not just paperless, but infoless. All I have are 6 character waypoint 'smart names' from GSAK. I take off after something and wing it, then take off after whatever is next nearest. It's always an adventure!

[+ZackJones]

WalruZ: What a novel concept - you must be doing quite well at it based upon your stats. Two Jeeps already, congrats!

 

Zack

[+SamuraiJack]

The only cumbersome bit is that Ostia doesn't allow you to view the coordinate once you've saved the waypoint...  since the map zooms to only 200 ft scale, its hard or impossible to bring yourself very close by simply moving the gigantic arrow, over the gigantic dot.  So you have to read the coords from the note elsewhere on the ipaq, and then switch to coord view and sneak around.

I tried geocaching with the Pharos and Ostia software and hated it. Try using OziEplorer CE software (you can't run both programs at the same time). If you can figure out how to get the maps and calibrate them, it makes a great geocaching tool.

OziExplorer