new and lost on magellan explorist 500

[zaps]

Hi!
I was wondering if anyone out there could help us out! We are brand new to geocaching and just got a Magellan Explorist 500. I tried uploading coordinates from www. geocaching.com and it said it only takes Garmin products? I entered the coordinates in manually, but this still seems way confusing…shouldn’t there be something that gives me a range or something? We are in West Bend…and so far we are 0 for 3 with caches…eventually right coordinates but nothing there. We did find a cool deer skeleton and a live possum though…
Can anyone help? 🙂

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

To start, if it told you that you must have a Garmin, then you must have clicked on the link that reads “Send to GPS”? I would have done the same at first glance, but you do need a Garmin for that particular link.

What you need to do is click the link marked “GPX eXchange File”, then click save. However, to do this, you will need to download EasyGPS which is a simple application software for your Magellan. The whole download and setup takes just a few minutes, a bit longer if you have dial-up.

The software is really easy to use. This software will get you started, but there is a better program you can pay for if you wish. That is called Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK) which is far superior, but after 21 days of free use, you will need to pay for the service. I still use Easy GPS, as it serves it’s purpose, and is free.

Hope this helps, and welcome to geocaching!!!

[Team Deejay]

Jay left out one important point. If you want to download GPX files, you need to be a premium member. If you don’t want to pay to be a premium member, you can still download a LOC file. This also contains the cache name and coordinates, but that is about it. You would still need to print the cache sheets out (or have a good memory.) Both GPX and LOC files work with Easy GPS and GSAK.

[LMcGisme]

Since you have the eXplorist 500 you don’t need Easy GPS or GSAK, because the 500 comes with geocaching manager software. You do need to download and save the file (gpx or loc) to disk, then use the geocaching manager that came with the 500 to load it to the gps.

HTH,
Lisa

[zaps]

Thank you so much for the wonderful advice!!!! It worked!!!
We will let y’all know how our next adventure turns out. We are pretty easily amused I think. We are having fun and we haven’t even found anything yet!!
I really appreciate the help, and if anyone in the West Bend area ever feels like they would like to share their knowledge, my family and I are willing students! It’s the gps’r that is giving me a run for my money. I thought it would be a bit more user friendly…I should get the hang of it just for the middle of winter…
Thanks again!

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