EasyGPS... Just what can/does it do?

[+piratetreasure]

I've been reading a lot about EasyGPS, and finally downloaded and installed a copy. I've played with it a little bit, but I feel certain it will do a lot more than I have already discovered. Could those of you in the know please post the functions of this program?

[+RobRee]

i use it to print topos and arials of the areas we are about to cache in. the arial shots sometimes give away hints as to path orientation, and hazards in the area. the topos help plan on whether or not the kids will survive the walk in/ out.

 

i download my tracks, routes, waypoints after a cache and save them for reference.

 

just a smattering. i am sure someone will come on with more advice and programs to use.

 

robbie

 

A family that Geocaches together... eventually gets wet.

 

required reading

My first bible

[+Markwell]

quote:

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Originally posted by Theole34:

i use it to print topos and arials of the areas we are about to cache in. the arial shots sometimes give away hints as to path orientation, and hazards in the area. the topos help plan on whether or not the kids will survive the walk in/ out.

---

That's ExpertGPS. EasyGPS will allow your computer to communicate with your GPS. Uploading as many points as your GPS can handle in less time than it takes to read this entire message. No transposition errors on numbers, etc. Just a clean download.

 

It will also do things like sort by distance from one active point (double click on a point then click the column header for distance). It can also sort by ANY of the columns (name, latitude) just by clicking on the header.

 

ExpertGPS (the non-free version) does more, importing topo maps and satellite images that will show all the waypoints on the maps - and others.

 

The sourcefile for the data for both of these programs are either the Pocket Queries or the downloaded Loc files from the "nearest cache" pages.

 

Markwell

Chicago Geocaching

[+Markwell]

Also, you can download waypoints taken from the field to your computer. I use EasyGPS to make periodic backups of what data I store in my GPS.

 

Markwell

Chicago Geocaching

[+Prime Suspect]

quote:

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Originally posted by piratetreasure:

I've been reading a lot about EasyGPS, and finally downloaded and installed a copy. I've played with it a little bit, but I feel certain it will do a lot more than I have already discovered.

---

 

No, it's pretty lightweight. It reads GPX and LOC files, launches your browser to a cache's page, and up/downloads waypoints etc. to/from your GPS. That's about it.

 

"Don't mess with a geocacher. We know all the best places to hide a body."

[+Renegade Knight]

It does it's few simple tasks well.

 

=====================

Wherever you go there you are.

[+Team Shibby]

EasyGPS is great for down/uploading waypoints to the GPS and making backups of your LOC files, but thats about it. Downloading your tracklog is useless becasue it will only accept a limited number of track-points until you pay for the full version. IMHO, before paying for EasyGPS, I would buy ExpertGPS...It does 10x more than the free counterpart.

 

All in all, EasyGPS does what it says it does and does it very well...lets face it, you can't argue with the price

 

Kar

[+Prime Suspect]

Well, actually, no I don't think it does it very well. The number of missed opportunities in this software is pretty astounding. You can set one waypoint as a base, and it will calculate the distances to the other waypoints. But that's of limited use, and it forgets the base waypoint when you exit the program. Where can you enter your home coordinates? You can't, unless you want to make it a waypoint. You should be able to turn off columns you don't want to see, or at least re-arrange them (why take up space with an Elevation column for those users that are just using it for GPX/LOC files?). Or how about the inability to show a full screen of waypoints? For some inexplicable reason, you can only open the waypoint pane to a certain point, then it stops, regardless of how big you've opened the application.

 

And how about how they assume they "own" the GPX extension? Every time you run EasyGPS, it wipes any GPX associations that another program may have set, and replaces it with its own. It does this silently, with no way for the user to stop it. That's the kind of inconsiderate stunt that's usually reserved for bad Microsoft apps.

 

"Don't mess with a geocacher. We know all the best places to hide a body."

[Dinoprophet]

quote:

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Originally posted by Prime Suspect:

And how about how they assume they "own" the GPX extension? Every time you run EasyGPS, it wipes any GPX associations that another program may have set, and replaces it with its own. It does this silently, with no way for the user to stop it. That's the kind of inconsiderate stunt that's usually reserved for bad Microsoft apps.

---

I use it for uploading/downloading waypoints and paths, but this part does bug me. I like to give caches my own waypoint names, which you can do with EasyGPS, but I like to view them and plan my trips in Watcher. Because EasyGPS wipes out the Groundspeak tags, after I save my changes, Watcher can't read it.

 

Well the mountain was so beautiful that this guy built a mall and a pizza shack

Yeah he built an ugly city because he wanted the mountain to love him back -- Dar Williams

[+Prime Suspect]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dinoprophet:

 

I use it for uploading/downloading waypoints and paths, but this part does bug me. I like to give caches my own waypoint names, which you can do with EasyGPS, but I like to view them and plan my trips in Watcher. Because EasyGPS wipes out the Groundspeak tags, after I save my changes, Watcher can't read it.

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And I left out what is probably everyone's biggest gripe - If you open a second file, why not pop up a little dialog box and ask "Append to existing list? Overwrite list? Open new tab?". It automatically puts the new file in a new tab, without ever offering any other options. Most people would rather it append to the existing list, but that's not even offered.

 

"Don't mess with a geocacher. We know all the best places to hide a body."

[+RobRee]

quote:

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If you open a second file, why not pop up a little dialog box and ask "Append to existing list? Overwrite list? Open new tab?". It automatically puts the new file in a new tab, without ever offering any other options. Most people would rather it append to the existing list, but that's not even offered.

---

 

yeah, that one is a PIA, i end up cutting and pasting into the tab i want it. it works out, but is a wasted step.

 

are they open to suggestions from users.. i notice a few programmers in here are very open to suggestions and act on them readily.

 

robbie

 

A family that Geocaches together... eventually gets wet.

 

required reading

My first bible

[+briansnat]

Is there a way to do a mass update to the cache icons, or do you have to do each one individually like I'm currently doing? Select all doesn't work.

 

"Au pays des aveugles, les borgnes sont rois"

[+Pudman]

You can only edit one at a time on Easy,as far as I know. I haven't tried Expert, yet. EasyGPS isn't supported anymore, is it?

[+Markwell]

GPXSpinner can mass update icons by cache type (and change the names too I think).

 

In GPX, you can also do it with a text editor that has a "find and replace" feature. Never done that, but it can be done.

 

EasyGPS IS still supported, and was recently upgraded to support GPX files. Most recent update to EasyGPS was Version 1.2.4 - May 5, 2003.

 

However, EasyGPS is the free version, and Topografix is much more likely to make cool upgrades to software that brings in the cash-flow like ExpertGPS (Version 1.2.8 - June 11, 2003).

 

Markwell

Chicago Geocaching