How do you go paperless?

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:24 pm

Okay. Fine. I'm ready to go paperless. I dusted off my old 2002 Pocket PC. Now what? How do I get the stuff from GSAK into it?

Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:02 pm

First you must memorize all the cache pages that you want to go find. Do not print them as you wont be paper less anymore if you do. Then you punch in all the waypoints into the gps. Then you go out caching and hope to H&%$ that you can remember what you read on the cache pages.

Other than that, you can probably find some good information from someone that isn't the Smart alec that I am.

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:57 am

I enjoy smart-alec responses as I often dish them out myself (or at least think them to myself), but since I already partially use the memorization technique, it wasn't especially helpful. Smile

I'm sure some brilliant tech mind can help me out with a private lesson, but I wanted to post this in case anybody else also wanted a tutorial on paperless.

Hi Jeremy....help, please? Smile

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 7:22 am

Do you have CacheMate on your Palm?

If not, look for it on the internet. It costs $8.

Download to your PC, then hotsync to your Palm.

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 7:44 am

All kidding aside I think Geocacher U has a good tutorial.

Like marc said If you have GSAK then cachemate works well. That would be the next logical step.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-09-11 Posts: 453

I use Plucker to process the info for my Palm, which if I remember correctly is a free download

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:14 am

kansas64 wrote:

I use Plucker to process the info for my Palm, which if I remember correctly is a free download

Yes, Plucker is free .... but

The difference between them:

Plucker creates ONE file. Delete it, everything is gone. You need to page thru the entire file to find what you want.

Cachemate creates a page for each cache. You can delete individual caches without effecting others. You can create folders for different sets of caches. You can search thru an alpha list for the cache you want. Pretty good for $8.

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:23 am

The most obvious way is to go out and buy an Oregon or Colorado...but those are $$$. (I don't mean to make this statement off topic)

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:23 am

cool, thanks.

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:53 am

thepharmgirl wrote:

Hi Jeremy....help, please? Smile

For anyone else with this vintage of Pocket PC (2002 or earlier) your (limited) choices are to use the following applications on your device:

- GpxView
- GPX Sonar (older versions)
- CacheMate for PPC (has issues with 2002, but maybe not older versions?)

If you have a newer Pocket PC, these would be the preferred options:

- CacheMate for PPC
- GPX Sonar

It really comes down to what interface / display format you prefer, and whether you are willing to shell out $10 for CacheMate (GPX Sonar is free). Personally I like the CacheMate interface, probably because it is what I'm used to on my Palm.

In some ways dealing with Pocket PCs is easier than Palm units, as for all the options above to get the cache information loaded you simply copy GPX files to the device (i.e. you could just copy an entire Pocket Query as received from Groundspeak... no additional processing required). This is done by using ActiveSync or if you have a memory card you could just pull the card out and transfer the file over using a card reader.

As for the PPC vs. Palm debate, Marc is right, Wisconsin is a Palm state. But if you have a memory card, the download folks at any Wisconsin geocaching event would be able to give you a GPX file of the caches and you'd be set.

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 9:50 am

Just a follow up. For some people running PPC 2002 and therefore unable to use the newest applications, there may be an upgrade/update available to 2003 for your device. However, considering the cost of the update ($30-$50+) you might be better off just buying a new device.

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:09 pm

Are there any similar software packages for Blackberrys?

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:25 pm

TheBalks wrote:

Are there any similar software packages for Blackberrys?

Depends on what kind of berry you have... this is the CacheMate equivalent for the Blackberry, but it doesn't work with all types:

http://www.cacheberry.com

This actually might be a better solution for the original poster of this inquiry, although it means she would be putting her expensive phone in jeopardy while using it out in the field. I personally carry an ancient Palm worth approximately $2 so I'm not sad when I smash it on a rock or drop it in a river (it has happened).

WGA Member Joined: 2007-09-11 Posts: 453

Marc
Thanks for the info on cahcemate, I never knew what the difference was. And yes for $8 it sounds like it is well worth it

Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 8:03 pm

It's too confusing. I already downloaded the Cachemate this morning, before I found out it apparently doesn't work with my PPC 2002. Well that's terrific. The cachemate site has ZERO instructions for a stupid person like me who doesn't intuitively know how to use their product. So now CacheMate is on my PPC 2002. I can't register it for some reason (my codes don't match), and I have no idea how to get my GPX files loaded into it. I give up. I hope the people at Cachemate are happy with my $10 donation. I read Jeremy's post about the Cacheberry, and I tried to get the 30-day trial of that, but I couldn't figure out how that worked either. Evil or Very Mad

I'll go back to my 2-hour process of writing down all the cache information. Or maybe I will buy a Colorado or Oregon. Very Happy