Pda Programs?

January 30, 2005

We have a Palm One pocket organizer and have gotten our Premium membership on GC.com. Do we need a program to download cache pages to the palm pilot and if so, which one?

It seems like the ones that they list on the link cost around $30 or so. Is there a shareware version?

What advice can you give us? I'm tired of wasting printer ink for cache pages.

Edited January 30, 2005 by TeamTalan

January 30, 2005

I know it's not free, looks like about $8 from what I saw on the site. It's called cachemate and seems to be the software of choice for the palm owners...

Requirements: Palm OS® 3.0 or later

CacheMate™ is a database for tracking GPS cache hunts. You can store information about caches or benchmarks, decode hints, and transfer data between CacheMate and the MemoPad application. Registered users can import LOC and GPX formatted XML files, which are available from Geocaching.com.

Features:

Sony/HandEra/Palm hi-res support

Palm OS® 5/6 compatibility

Scrollable color "overview" display

Multiple database support

Editable cache type list

Support for the Palm OS® Find system

Import/Export data with MemoPad

Geocaching hint decoder

Record bookmarking

"Nearest caches" search with GPS support

Bluetooth GPS support

Jog wheel support

Import/Export waypoints using GPX and LOC XML files

Plugin application support

Waypoint projection

Memory card support (see documentation for details)

1.5k · January 30, 2005

Ditto what Seay me said! Cachemate is probably the best Palm-based app on the market. It's got lots of features, is very fast and has a light foot print. The only downside that I can think for some might be that unlike the Spinner/Plucker combo, it doesn't support pictures/maps. Certainly the best $8.00 I've spent!

3.8k · January 30, 2005

For the totally free option have a look at Geocaching Sans Paper - the Art of Paperless Caching

38.2k · January 30, 2005

For the totally free option have a look at Geocaching Sans Paper - the Art of Paperless Caching

The Spinner and Plucker option they mention is OK and the fact that its free is nice, but I found it to be a bit of a PITA to use. Cachemate is a piece of cake to use and far more robust than Plucker and a bargain at $8.

3.8k · January 30, 2005

<echo> Cachemate. </echo>

January 30, 2005

I use Cachemate on my Tungsten E in conjunction with GSAK on my laptop. Amazingly simple. =)

1.2k · January 30, 2005

I use Cachemate on my Tungsten E in conjunction with GSAK on my laptop. Amazingly simple. =)

Exactly what he said. I also use Gsak on my desktop.

CacheMate and gsak work very well together!!!

Ed

20.7k · January 30, 2005

The Spinner and Plucker option they mention is OK and the fact that its free is nice, but I found it to be a bit of a PITA to use. Cachemate is a piece of cake to use and far more robust than Plucker and a bargain at $8.

I used to use the Spinner-Plucker combo, but a couple of things were irritating. First, I could never get cache page pics to load to my pda. Also, Plucker was slow in generating the info. REALLY slow.

I still use Spinner, but I've since switched to the Sunrise desktopto generate the files for my palm. I get the pics with no problem and it is MUCH faster then Plucker's desktop application. It still syncs to the plucker app on my pda, but that works fine.

I use Cache Log Book to record my hunts so I can log everything correctly online.

3.8k · January 30, 2005

I used to use the Spinner-Plucker combo, but a couple of things were irritating. First, I could never get cache page pics to load to my pda. Also, Plucker was slow in generating the info. REALLY slow.

I still use Spinner, but I've since switched to the Sunrise desktopto generate the files for my palm. I get the pics with no problem and it is MUCH faster then Plucker's desktop application. It still syncs to the plucker app on my pda, but that works fine.

I use Cache Log Book to record my hunts so I can log everything correctly online.

I thought images were not included in Pocket Queries or are you downloading them from geocaching.com?

Something to consider, in the reviews of the Sunrise application (in your link) it mentions that it will go commercial at some point and that at that point support for the free Plucker Viewer will be dropped.

20.7k · January 31, 2005

I thought images were not included in Pocket Queries or are you downloading them from geocaching.com?

Something to consider, in the reviews of the Sunrise application (in your link) it mentions that it will go commercial at some point and that at that point support for the free Plucker Viewer will be dropped.

You are asking the wrong person for specifics as to how it works, but I set up Sunrise to restrict its search to the specific directory on my PC. I assume, therefore, that images are from the PQ. It also finishes the entire process in just a few minutes. This leads me to believe that it is not downloading a bunch of images from the web.

Regarding whether support for plucker viewer will cease at some point in the future, I'll fall off that bridge when I come to it.

There is no way of knowing when or if this will be. If support is ended and I come to need support, I will have to decide whether to buy the to-be-released commercial product, go back to Plucker's desktop, or use some app that will be introduced between now and then.

Edited January 31, 2005 by sbell111

2.4k · January 31, 2005

I like Sunrise, too. The current version will continue to support Plucker, so I'm not worried about that. I have had conversations with Plucker's developer on usenet, and gave him my reasons for using Sunrise. In the end, he admitted that my reasons were pretty much sound. Python, which Plucker uses for the conversion, is old and slow. Sunrise is much faster, and easier to configure, so I continue to use that. If Plucker ever stops using Python, and gets a faster conversion method, then I'll go back to it, but in the meantime I'll stay with Sunrise. And I might switch to the Sunrise viewer, even though it will be commercial, if it offers enough additional utility over Plucker. Free is fine, but if something works better then I'll go there if it provides enough additional utility to justify the cost. All that remains to be seen, because for now Sunrise is free and uses the standard Plucker viewer.

January 31, 2005

Here's the hacker's version:

I have a Tcl script that takes a bunch of .LOC files and spit's out one .GPX file to load into the mapping SW/GPSr and a .HTML with all the links to the printer friendly cache descriptions.

The HTML file then is used with wget(1) to get all the pages and required images including rewrite and the whole bunch then goes on an internal Apache webserver (running in one of the virtual machines on my Laptop). That all is then used with iSiloX to create a PDB to load into a PDA.

Disclaimer:

Any attempt to reproduce the above outlined setup can cause disorientation, social isolation and in rare cases brain damage or other severe symptoms.

Be sure, if and as soon as we have our 10th find I will pay my $30 and use the programs suggested by anybody else. The above is a pain in the lower part of the back, even for a stone-age computing nerd like me

Jan

20.7k · January 31, 2005

I understood the word 'laptop'.

January 31, 2005

For the totally free option have a look at Geocaching Sans Paper - the Art of Paperless Caching

The Geocacher U link there is an excellent explanation of paperless caching. I only converted to paperless a couple weeks ago.

I took that article's suggestion that you don't want something too fancy, since we are often waltzing around in rough terrain, after all.

So, I pulled out of a closet an old Sony Clie from a couple of years back. Nothing fancy, greyscale graphics and all, but with an 8MB card. I bought a body glove cover for it that allows me to carry it around in a cargo pocket and keep is somewhat protected from getting banged around.

Now, since the sole purpose of the PDA now consists of tracking caches, and has very little "overhead" (eg palm applications), I find GC's suggestion of Mobipocket quite ample, and my experience, contrary to what some have found, is that this old PDA functions just fine using mobipocket (it is also a "big-name" application with quite a bit of support).

February 2, 2005

I understood the word 'laptop'.

If you don't know what a PDA is, why the heck do you even bother reading this thread? :blink:

Jan

PS: message was understood. My post was more intended to show that there is allways a way to get the whole stuff for free, not supporting any efforts done by smart people. But to do that, one has to put in more way more effort and knowledge than worth the trouble.

Edited February 2, 2005 by JanniCash

20.7k · February 2, 2005

3.3k · February 2, 2005

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...60&hl=cachemate

http://65.34.18.106/content.php?article.15

Best $28 dollars I have ever spent was on Cachmate, and GSAK. It was cheaper than an ink cartridge for my printer :unsure:

February 2, 2005

Here's another vote from a happy GSAK and Cachemate user.

All my PQs go into GSAK where I can slice and dice the data. GSAK generated the Cachemate PDB files, a quick hot-synch later and I'm ready to go.

The only thing I can complain about regarding Cachemate is that it is s_l_o_w loading updates. Though that may be either a function of my older Palm (a IIIxe) or the fact that because I regularly cache in several different areas, I put a lot of data into Cachemate.

2.4k · February 3, 2005

It's a function of your old Palm. My T3 loads and merges 500+ caches in about 15 seconds from the SD card, and that includes the time I spend changing the default Unfiled category to Unfound.

February 3, 2005

It's a function of your old Palm. My T3 loads and merges 500+ caches in about 15 seconds from the SD card, and that includes the time I spend changing the default Unfiled category to Unfound.

That is what I figured. Thanks for confirming.

Pda Programs?

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