Some software/hardware I use for geocaching
This is a series of techniques/software I use for geocaching. My apologies if I state the bleeding obvious in any of these, and please feel free to throw in any ideas of your own, improvements on the ways I suggest, or things I'm doing wrong!
Reason for writing this is that I got a whizzy new Garmin Oregon 200 GPSr for Christmas, which got me exploring on the Internet - unfortunately Garmin are not very good at telling you how to do free stuff on their devices and many of the websites give (for me and my device) inaccurate information on how to download and name files on the GPSr. I am also trying to do all my caching without paper nowadays as I used to print off reams. All of the following is based on real use of the software / device, not guesswork and is valid as of Jan 2013.
If you need more detail on anything below or have comments/suggestions/disagreements, please send me an email using [email protected]
Geocaching.com - the easy stuff!?
I run pocket queries automatically every week, which I import into GSAK - see below.
You can set up notifications, which will send you an email when a new cache is published - vital for the FTFers, but I don't bother as I don't worry about FTFs! You can also set up to receive an email every week showing new caches, meets etc. I look at this to see if there are any new caches near where we live.
I also use the Geocaching.com Google Map option on the cache page. I click on this for the cache I have selected and then look for all the other caches nearby that I haven't found yet. I use the zoom facility in Satellite mode to look exactly where the cache is - saves cutting and pasting the coords into Google Earth.
There is a KML (Google Earth export format for tracks / caches / waypoints etc.) you can download from geocaching.com (bottom right of http://www.geocaching.com/my page) and install in Google Earth. This will allow you to display all the caches near the location you are at in GE. I like this for when we are visiting new places to see if there are any caches around. If you install the KML, don't forget to save it the first time you use it before you exit GE.
GSAK (does not work on Mac - shame. may work with virtual PC?) - Geocaching Swiss Army Knife
Think this is a really neat piece of software. I run pocket queries in geocaching every week for the caches near where I live, a couple of other locations we cache in and the caches I have placed. I also run the "my finds" query every now and then. I then load all of these into GSAK. Having loaded them all, I click on the date placed column to see all the latest caches.
I use filters in GSAK to select a subset - e.g. caches round where we live, which are available and I haven't found yet. I then use the Garmin Export macro to send these to my GPSr, which is an Oregon 200. I have a storage card in this, and I store the downloads from GSAK in a directory on the card called Garmin/GPX. I have several downloads in this directory, e.g. home.gpx, my caches.gpx etc. and it works fine. Don't forget to point the output of the macro at the card and not the device.
You can also download to the GPSr direct from geocaching.com or from Google Earth. I chose the GSAK route as I like to see the result of my filter before I download. I assume you can copy the GPX files from pocket queries straight to the GPSr, but I haven't tried that yet.
You can export the subset you have selected to Google Earth using the GoogleEarth macro - handy for plotting out a route / checking exact locations.
Another feature of GSAK is user notes. I use these to store the answers I have found to puzzle caches, and then I use corrected coordinates (right-hand mouse click on cache name) to update the cache with the answer. When doing the download to the GPSr I click on the User Notes option in the macro and then my notes appear as a log entry that I can look at whilst out caching. Sometimes you need to record info whilst caching, e.g. for multis or as part of a puzzle. The Oregon doesn't have a notes facility (shame) but you can create a waypoint and then add comments, which is better than nothing.
Stats - I used to use the FindStatGen macro to generate my stats. I then view the source of this page and cut and paste the html into my profile. However, I have stopped using this as the geocaching stats are so much better nowadays.
If there are any logs missing from any of my caches (pocket query only downloads last 5), then I use the refresh caches option to go and grab missing ones. If you run pocket queries regularly this should not be a problem - I got caught out when we published the Walton Wander series and lots of people did it in a short period of time.
A couple of the other macros I have tried out are CacherFinds, which will give a list of all the caches found by a particular user, and CacheChart, which builds a table of all the people who have found the subset of caches you run it for - shows FTFs as well.
If you have just found a bunch of caches then I can recommend doing all the logs in GSAK, checking them there and then uploading the whole lot to geocaching.com - works a treat.
There is also a Facebook group on how to use GSAK.
Garmin Oregon 200 GPSr
Maps - I have downloaded free maps of UK, Spain etc. onto the Oregon and put them all in a directory called Garmin on the storage card. The GPS has no trouble having several sets of maps. The UK is particularly good with loads of detail. Some websites tell you that the map has to be called gmapsupp.img, but I have maps called spain.img, GB-gmapsupp.img etc. and it works fine.
Photos - sometimes you need a photo from the cache page - I download these and store them in the Garmin directory on the storage card and the image viewer on the Oregon finds them. It doesn't tell you the names of them though.
Garmin Mapsource
I didn't get a copy of this with my GPS, but I found it in the web and downloaded it. I have loaded the UK maps into it. You can then attach your GPS and send data (waypoints, routes, tracks etc.) both ways. Takes a bit of getting used to the interface, which doesn't work the way I would have designed it / expected it to, but not bad, and handy for looking at what is stored on your GPS.
Google Earth
I always use GE to check my coordinates when I set a new cache - nothing annoys me more than a cache where the coords are obviously wrong, and could be checked this way very rapidly. Not going to help a lot if you are in the middle of the woods, but for most caches, a good check.
You can import to GE from your GPSr - waypoints, tracks and routes. I use this for uploading tracks I have walked when planning where to put caches, for instance.
One of the pains in life is that geocaching and GPSrs use GPX as their format for storing cache info, but Google Earth uses a different format called KML. So I haven't found a way to export directly from GE to the GPSr yet, which would be handy when you have set up a route in GE that you want to follow, but there are ways of doing this.
This link gives the background and the original method. Haven't tried this one as I used the next one.
This link gives a simpler method using GPS Trackmaker (freeware, Windows only) and I have used this to send a route from GE to the GPSr without any problems.
And this link shows how to do it with GPS utility, which is "freeware". The free version is limited, but may be enough for you - I haven't tried it yet.
Another easy option is to download KML2GPX.exe, which does exactly what its name says it does. Set up a route or whatever in Google Earth and save it as a KML, then use this little exe to convert it to a GPX file, and download that to your GPS - hey presto!
Android Smartphone
I have a smartphone and have downloaded some geocaching apps to try them out. c:geo is free and works well for me, as I only want to use the phone as a backup to my GPSr. The advantage to the 'phone is that it will show me caches wherever I am, whereas with the GPSr I have to have downloaded them beforehand. This is handy if I suddenly find myself caching somewhere unexpected.
For those of you with c:geo, here is a link to a useful doc on how to load PQS and how to load offline maps.
There is an official app from geocaching.com, which I have now installed and it works a treat.
Other ones I have had recommended to me are neon geo (costs £2.64, but you can download a 30-day free trial to see if you like it), and cachesense.
The other free one I downloaded is called geocache calculator and it has a load of useful functions like ciphers, ROT, resistor colour codes, base numerals, morse etc.
Reason for writing this is that I got a whizzy new Garmin Oregon 200 GPSr for Christmas, which got me exploring on the Internet - unfortunately Garmin are not very good at telling you how to do free stuff on their devices and many of the websites give (for me and my device) inaccurate information on how to download and name files on the GPSr. I am also trying to do all my caching without paper nowadays as I used to print off reams. All of the following is based on real use of the software / device, not guesswork and is valid as of Jan 2013.
If you need more detail on anything below or have comments/suggestions/disagreements, please send me an email using [email protected]
Geocaching.com - the easy stuff!?
I run pocket queries automatically every week, which I import into GSAK - see below.
You can set up notifications, which will send you an email when a new cache is published - vital for the FTFers, but I don't bother as I don't worry about FTFs! You can also set up to receive an email every week showing new caches, meets etc. I look at this to see if there are any new caches near where we live.
I also use the Geocaching.com Google Map option on the cache page. I click on this for the cache I have selected and then look for all the other caches nearby that I haven't found yet. I use the zoom facility in Satellite mode to look exactly where the cache is - saves cutting and pasting the coords into Google Earth.
There is a KML (Google Earth export format for tracks / caches / waypoints etc.) you can download from geocaching.com (bottom right of http://www.geocaching.com/my page) and install in Google Earth. This will allow you to display all the caches near the location you are at in GE. I like this for when we are visiting new places to see if there are any caches around. If you install the KML, don't forget to save it the first time you use it before you exit GE.
GSAK (does not work on Mac - shame. may work with virtual PC?) - Geocaching Swiss Army Knife
Think this is a really neat piece of software. I run pocket queries in geocaching every week for the caches near where I live, a couple of other locations we cache in and the caches I have placed. I also run the "my finds" query every now and then. I then load all of these into GSAK. Having loaded them all, I click on the date placed column to see all the latest caches.
I use filters in GSAK to select a subset - e.g. caches round where we live, which are available and I haven't found yet. I then use the Garmin Export macro to send these to my GPSr, which is an Oregon 200. I have a storage card in this, and I store the downloads from GSAK in a directory on the card called Garmin/GPX. I have several downloads in this directory, e.g. home.gpx, my caches.gpx etc. and it works fine. Don't forget to point the output of the macro at the card and not the device.
You can also download to the GPSr direct from geocaching.com or from Google Earth. I chose the GSAK route as I like to see the result of my filter before I download. I assume you can copy the GPX files from pocket queries straight to the GPSr, but I haven't tried that yet.
You can export the subset you have selected to Google Earth using the GoogleEarth macro - handy for plotting out a route / checking exact locations.
Another feature of GSAK is user notes. I use these to store the answers I have found to puzzle caches, and then I use corrected coordinates (right-hand mouse click on cache name) to update the cache with the answer. When doing the download to the GPSr I click on the User Notes option in the macro and then my notes appear as a log entry that I can look at whilst out caching. Sometimes you need to record info whilst caching, e.g. for multis or as part of a puzzle. The Oregon doesn't have a notes facility (shame) but you can create a waypoint and then add comments, which is better than nothing.
Stats - I used to use the FindStatGen macro to generate my stats. I then view the source of this page and cut and paste the html into my profile. However, I have stopped using this as the geocaching stats are so much better nowadays.
If there are any logs missing from any of my caches (pocket query only downloads last 5), then I use the refresh caches option to go and grab missing ones. If you run pocket queries regularly this should not be a problem - I got caught out when we published the Walton Wander series and lots of people did it in a short period of time.
A couple of the other macros I have tried out are CacherFinds, which will give a list of all the caches found by a particular user, and CacheChart, which builds a table of all the people who have found the subset of caches you run it for - shows FTFs as well.
If you have just found a bunch of caches then I can recommend doing all the logs in GSAK, checking them there and then uploading the whole lot to geocaching.com - works a treat.
There is also a Facebook group on how to use GSAK.
Garmin Oregon 200 GPSr
Maps - I have downloaded free maps of UK, Spain etc. onto the Oregon and put them all in a directory called Garmin on the storage card. The GPS has no trouble having several sets of maps. The UK is particularly good with loads of detail. Some websites tell you that the map has to be called gmapsupp.img, but I have maps called spain.img, GB-gmapsupp.img etc. and it works fine.
Photos - sometimes you need a photo from the cache page - I download these and store them in the Garmin directory on the storage card and the image viewer on the Oregon finds them. It doesn't tell you the names of them though.
Garmin Mapsource
I didn't get a copy of this with my GPS, but I found it in the web and downloaded it. I have loaded the UK maps into it. You can then attach your GPS and send data (waypoints, routes, tracks etc.) both ways. Takes a bit of getting used to the interface, which doesn't work the way I would have designed it / expected it to, but not bad, and handy for looking at what is stored on your GPS.
Google Earth
I always use GE to check my coordinates when I set a new cache - nothing annoys me more than a cache where the coords are obviously wrong, and could be checked this way very rapidly. Not going to help a lot if you are in the middle of the woods, but for most caches, a good check.
You can import to GE from your GPSr - waypoints, tracks and routes. I use this for uploading tracks I have walked when planning where to put caches, for instance.
One of the pains in life is that geocaching and GPSrs use GPX as their format for storing cache info, but Google Earth uses a different format called KML. So I haven't found a way to export directly from GE to the GPSr yet, which would be handy when you have set up a route in GE that you want to follow, but there are ways of doing this.
This link gives the background and the original method. Haven't tried this one as I used the next one.
This link gives a simpler method using GPS Trackmaker (freeware, Windows only) and I have used this to send a route from GE to the GPSr without any problems.
And this link shows how to do it with GPS utility, which is "freeware". The free version is limited, but may be enough for you - I haven't tried it yet.
Another easy option is to download KML2GPX.exe, which does exactly what its name says it does. Set up a route or whatever in Google Earth and save it as a KML, then use this little exe to convert it to a GPX file, and download that to your GPS - hey presto!
Android Smartphone
I have a smartphone and have downloaded some geocaching apps to try them out. c:geo is free and works well for me, as I only want to use the phone as a backup to my GPSr. The advantage to the 'phone is that it will show me caches wherever I am, whereas with the GPSr I have to have downloaded them beforehand. This is handy if I suddenly find myself caching somewhere unexpected.
For those of you with c:geo, here is a link to a useful doc on how to load PQS and how to load offline maps.
There is an official app from geocaching.com, which I have now installed and it works a treat.
Other ones I have had recommended to me are neon geo (costs £2.64, but you can download a 30-day free trial to see if you like it), and cachesense.
The other free one I downloaded is called geocache calculator and it has a load of useful functions like ciphers, ROT, resistor colour codes, base numerals, morse etc.