Pda's For Caching

[+mantis7]

Thanks for your responses everyone! EXTREMELY helpful you folks are!

 

I am waiting for my new PDA to arrive!! WOOO paperless.

[+ClydeE]

Thanks for your help everyone! I’m trying out GSAK with Plucker. The “export html” option seems to do the job well in GSAK. I did notice on the Geocacher –U pages, he recommends to tell Plucker to retrieve linked pages to a depth of 3. I found to get the clue, you have to go to 4.

I haven’t tried spinner yet. The site was down when I tried to download the program.

I am very happy with what I have. I’m still learning the fine points, but things are looking good!

When generating the HTML from GSAK, check the box "Hints on same page" then you will only need to set your depth to 3

[+Marcie/Eric]

Thread ressurection.

 

I just recieved my Palm in the brown truck.. anyways. Charged and playing with it..looks like this may be a great caching tool. Beats printing and writing the stuff down, or what not.

 

CacheMate, awesome. Such a nifty tool. and only like 100K!

GSAK: nag screens by now. Still works great, used it to export to pdb file for CM.

 

So i've been checking it out, and anyways. Getting CM and the Palm configured, it looks like I may take it out tomorrow morning.

 

I also got a car charger with it. So no worries about on the road, or on the trail. I also put a pdb file with the about 750 caches, from various central points around my area. GSAK obviously saw the overlaps, and removed dupes, and anyways...

 

Thanks to everyones help, and to all the paper and ink I will save from here on out.

[+Miragee]

With so many caches in your Palmie, don't forget to update them frequently.

 

About a week ago, I looked and looked for two for which I had logs from March. Whoops . . . since I put those particular .gpx files into GSAK and Cachemate, both caches had be found missing and archived.

 

They were in a part of the big city that isn't included in my usual Pocket Queries . . . .

[+Marcie/Eric]

With so many caches in your Palmie, don't forget to update them frequently.

 

About a week ago, I looked and looked for two for which I had logs from March. Whoops . . . since I put those particular .gpx files into GSAK and Cachemate, both caches had be found missing and archived.

 

They were in a part of the big city that isn't included in my usual Pocket Queries . . . .

Wow. Good idea. I'll set a couple permanent PQs so I can update weekly the ones around my house that are grab-&-go's for me. (Then I get the recent logs too..)

Edited April 15, 2005 by Marcie/Eric

[+ricstone]

Just got my Palm IIIxe an downloaded spinner an plucker an follewed the instructions from geocacher university an it works like a charm! im now paperless!!. thanks for all the advice

ric

[+Miragee]

With so many caches in your Palmie, don't forget to update them frequently.

 

About a week ago, I looked and looked for two for which I had logs from March. Whoops . . . since I put those particular .gpx files into GSAK and Cachemate, both caches had be found missing and archived.

 

They were in a part of the big city that isn't included in my usual Pocket Queries . . . .

Wow. Good idea. I'll set a couple permanent PQs so I can update weekly the ones around my house that are grab-&-go's for me. (Then I get the recent logs too..)

I wrote about my experience in my Blog after I got home that night.

 

This is what a track looks like when you spend half an hour looking for a cache that isn't there .

 

 

 

(By the way, the odd waypoint name is created by GSAK -- which is a brilliant program -- I have it tell me the type of cache and the size and then give me part of the actual name of the cache. Makes for easier searching . . . for me.)

[+fratermus]

Thread ressurection.

 

I just recieved my Palm in the brown truck.. anyways. Charged and playing with it..looks like this may be a great caching tool. Beats printing and writing the stuff down, or what not.

 

CacheMate, awesome. Such a nifty tool. and only like 100K!

GSAK: nag screens by now. Still works great, used it to export to pdb file for CM.

Same here. Got a m500 and a clie s320 (both expandable 8mb units) and am using plucker to make the content for the PDA.

 

Did my first paperless cache; it was great to have all the info right there.

 

And while I have plucker set up, I used it to load news/opinion/geeks sites so I always have something to read...

 

I'm starting to log my thoughts on the PDA thing here.

[+2_UP_Geologists]

I'm totally new to PDAs but the paperless caching idea sounds great. However, I have a couple questions. When looking on eBay, many of the older/cheaper Palms list the required OS as pre-Windows XP. I have XP. Does that mean these models can't work with XP or will they if you have the right Palm Desktop version? I probably would use the PDA only for caching so don't really want to get something expensive. Any thoughts?

 

Lori

[+GeekGirl]

When looking on eBay, many of the older/cheaper Palms list the required OS as pre-Windows XP.  I have XP.  Does that mean these models can't work with XP or will they if you have the right Palm Desktop version?

I got two old Palms from a guy on eBay for $20 combined (an M100 and an M105). I downloaded the latest Palm Desktop from http://www.palmone.com/us/support/, installed it on my WindowsXP computer, and everything works great! I also installed Cachemate, which was well worth the $8 registration fee.

I use an iPaq PocketPC for everything else, but after dropping one while caching (a $400 mistake) I went for the old Palm. It works just great!!

[+Miragee]

I'm totally new to PDAs but the paperless caching idea sounds great. However, I have a couple questions. When looking on eBay, many of the older/cheaper Palms list the required OS as pre-Windows XP. I have XP. Does that mean these models can't work with XP or will they if you have the right Palm Desktop version? I probably would use the PDA only for caching so don't really want to get something expensive. Any thoughts?

 

Lori

XP was out at the time I bought my Palm M500, so that model would work. You can get a Palm M500 for between $40.00 and $60.00, which is reasonable considering how much I paid for mine 2 1/2 years ago when it was a new model.

 

The M500 takes data cards and has a built-in Lithium battery that lasts and lasts and lasts.

 

That is my recommendation . . . Unless you are one of the lucky ones who can spend much more money for a color model, I think the M500 will be perfectly adequate for caching.

 

After you get your Palm, I recommend purchasing Cachemate for $8.00. That and GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) are indispensible to me, although the latter has a steep learning curve (at least it did for me.

[+Marcie/Eric]

My Palm has OS 4.0, and works with XP fine.

[+2_UP_Geologists]

Thanks for the info! I'm off to eBay to spend more $$$ to feed my geocaching habit.

 

Lori

[+Icenrye]

If anyone's interested, there's a simple video tutorial on paperless caching in my videozine episode 2. I use GSAK and Plucker with a m125. The video is available here.

[+RakeInTheCache]

A PDA strictly for caching does not have to be fast or anything.  CacheMate (best Palm OS caching software to my knowledge) requires Palm OS 3 or later, so anything above that will work fine.  You can easily get a suitable Palm on eBay for $30 or less.  (Here is one - auction ends in 3 days.)

 

Personally, I prefer Pocket PCs BUT I would not recommend one for you if you're only going to be using it for caching - Pocket PCs tend to be higher end and thus more expensive.

What's the general forum consensus on CacheMate? Is it a good alternative to the MobiPocket files generated by Pocket Queries? Indicates Travel Bugs? Considering taking it for a spin. Oh, and does it do special characters better the MobiPocket (like degree sign, foreign characters, etc)

Edited May 22, 2005 by RakeInTheCache

[+RakeInTheCache]

Hello!

 

I was just wondering what is the cheapest PDA that can do the following:

 

1) Play MP3's

2) USB connectable

3) Use SD cards

The Palm Zire 31 meets those specs. The standard price is $150 but it can be found on sale for $100 - $130.

Yeah, but the Zire 72 Nav pack can be had for $335 after rebate from buy.com and it does all of the above PLUS comes with a bluetooth GPS and the ultra cool Tomtom Navigation software (okay, maybe I'm the only one who thinks it's ultra cool).

 

--Marky

Does a PDA with GPS really stand up to heavy duty use in the field? My Garmin eTrex occassionally slips out of my hand, gets dirty, rained on, etc and still works like a champ. Not sure if the same can be said for a PDA.

[+Marcie/Eric]

Does a PDA with GPS really stand up to heavy duty use in the field? My Garmin eTrex occassionally slips out of my hand, gets dirty, rained on, etc and still works like a champ. Not sure if the same can be said for a PDA.

Not from personal knowledge, but from what i've read here, they are not up to the abuse that caching will produce. A standalone handheld GPS and a palm will do better seperate. I keep the GPS in my hand, and my Palm in my pocket, until I need it.

 

As for cachemate, I strongly recommend it over any other method i've seen for Palm. I tried Plucker, and it was too much of a hassle. Cachemate organizes it all in a user-friendly format. Travel Bugs, Cache size, dificulty, hint (decoder routine built in), past logs, search options, waypoint projection option.

 

Need I say more?

[+bhound89]

I personally prefer Plucker because it has everything you need, and it's free opposed to Cachemate's registration fee.

[+oneeyesquare]

--Marky

Does a PDA with GPS really stand up to heavy duty use in the field? My Garmin eTrex occassionally slips out of my hand, gets dirty, rained on, etc and still works like a champ. Not sure if the same can be said for a PDA.

 

I can answer that. I'v been caching exclusively with a PDA for the last 3 years or so (except for one bad day when my battery died and I had to use my backup Magellan, but that's another story...I can answer that. I'v been caching exclusively with a PDA for the last 3 years or so (except for one bad day when my battery died and I had to use my backup Magellan, but that's another story... )

 

Aquapac.Aquapac.Aquapac.Aquapac. I can't say it enough. Aquapac. Takes care of the water issue handily and it's VERY hard to drop something when it's hung around your neck by a sturdy lanyard. The ergonomics are great. By placing the PDA in "upside down", a quick lift of the case is all that' s needed to view . Frees up both hands, as well!!!)

 

The standard reply is always "you can't do that, you'll break it..." I beg to differ....

[+wornout]

I personally prefer Plucker because it has everything you need, and it's free opposed to Cachemate's registration fee.

I have Cachemate and find the feature to export found logs to the handheld memo program to be extremely useful since I then hot sync and the 'found' logs are on the Palm Desktop Memos Tab (I set up the handheld to override the desktop for memos). At that point, all I do is bring up GC.Com and copy the entered data from memos to GC.com. Well worth the $8.00.

 

Does Plucker do this or do you have to have Pluker up on the Palm when you are entering your logs at GC.com?

[+Uncle T K]

I use a Garmin legend for my GPS

 

GSAK ($20) is the best program for managing GXP file on your home computer. (Exports to GPS - Palm - Streets & Trips & Others)

 

Get CacheMate ($8) for managing your PDA files on a Palm

I have a Zire 31 Color screen & 16 meg memory. It works great inside but you can not read the screen in bright sunlight)

 

I order a Zire M150 (USB & Internal Battery) from E-Bay 2 Meg Memory Non Color because they are easerly to read out side.

 

(For Paper less Caching Cheaper is better)

 

I tried MibiReader and it is a joke compared to CacheMate

I have not tried Pucker and personal do not know how it rates against CacheMate

Edited May 23, 2005 by Uncle T K

[+RakeInTheCache]

What's the general forum consensus on CacheMate?  Is it a good alternative to the MobiPocket files generated by Pocket Queries?  Indicates Travel Bugs?  Considering taking it for a spin.  Oh, and does it do special characters better the MobiPocket (like degree sign, foreign characters, etc)

For those interested in this specialized feature, GSAK + CacheMate does handle foreign characters and the "°" sign (as well as TBs). A big improvement over MobiPocket.

Edited May 24, 2005 by RakeInTheCache

[+Maingray]

Mobipocket is an ebook reader, and it does that pretty well. It's my reader of choice for that.

 

Cachemate will be 1000x better at handling cache listing ... as that is what is designed to do.

[+Spyderweb]

I have to agree about checking out EBay. I had not been there in a while, but checked it out after pricing the new units at local stores. Decided on either the Zire 21 or 31 because I needed USB support and knew they would work with XP. I ended up with the Zire 21, a brand new unit that with shipping came to $55.00. Pretty much half of what I would have payed locally after adding tax. Now if only I had waited before printing those 75 pages of local caches!

[+archeangelsk2002]

i use a palm IIIxe. i found one on ebay for 29.95 postage included. i purchased the 4.1 os upgrade for 8.00. the 29.95 palm IIIxe was os 3.5. but was easily upgraded for 4.1. the guy had 35 left and his id is satellite recievers.

i now own 3 palm IIIxe's...one just for internet, one for arts and entertainment, and one strictly for geocaching.

regards

archie

[+YanniG]

Hello my friends in Geocaching !

 

About three weeks ago I bought the Tungsten T5 from PalmOne.

Reading all these articles here, I got an idea.

On my pc I can copy the info from any cache page and save it to a word document - excluding the images.Then I can send this word document to my T5 that has the ability to read word documents.If this does not work, I will try to save the document to a pdf file and install a pdf reader to my T5.

I think this way I will be having for each cache the whole document as seen on the geocaching pages.

Has anyone tried it?

It sounds simpler than any other idea on going paperless.

 

YanniG

[+Tzoid]

Does a PDA with GPS really stand up to heavy duty use in the field?  My Garmin eTrex occassionally slips out of my hand, gets dirty, rained on, etc and still works like a champ.  Not sure if the same can be said for a PDA.

I use a neoprene pda "glove" similar to this: http://www.etech4sale.com/pda/partinfo-id-1709.html It really protects the unit against shocks as well as dirt and moisture. I don't hesistate bringing my Palm 3c into the field.

[+Crew 153]

YanniG

 

I use GSAK and download as HTML files to my PDA. It includes an index so you lookup any cache and also has a list of the closest caches. I have GPXSonar but find that I don't nead it as I have all the information in HTML.

[+Mad Cat]

I use a pocket pc /axim with a cradle for my computer, all i do is save a cache page as a web page complete in a file i made up (geocaching) on the pocket pc, i have about 300 caches lined up, its good to have microsoft road maps on there too. I have been on vacation, where this was better than paper. I highly recommended it. mine cost about 200 dollars from dell.