Colorado 400t geocaching

[utfaninsc]

I just purchased a Colorado 400t and have not been able to get it to show the downloaded geochahes. I have sent them via one at a time, down loaded via mapping software, verified that they are in the gpx folder and several hours of getting no where. They only show as waypoints. Can anyone help me. Thanks.

[svintuss]

You can download caches with special Garmin Communicator browser plugin.

On the other hand, you can make GPX files for geocaching yourself. It has the following format:

<gpx>
<wpt lat="42" lon="-71">
<name>GC1234</name>
<Groundspeak:cache id="1">
<Groundspeak:name>Test</Groundspeak:name>
</Groundspeak:cache>
</wpt>
<wpt lat="24" lon="-71">
<name>GC5678</name>
<Groundspeak:cache id="2">
<Groundspeak:name>Test2</Groundspeak:name>
</Groundspeak:cache>
</wpt>
</gpx>

P.S. Keep in mind, that Colorado's GPX parser can't recognize '&' symbol, make sure your GPX file does not contain them.

[+twolpert]

I just purchased a Colorado 400t and have not been able to get it to show the downloaded geochahes. I have sent them via one at a time, down loaded via mapping software, verified that they are in the gpx folder and several hours of getting no where. They only show as waypoints. Can anyone help me. Thanks.

Make sure that you download in .gpx format, not in .loc format. If you download as .loc, the cache will show up as a waypoint, not as a geocache. The .loc format also lacks the description, hints, and logs which you can use on the Colorado.

 

Unfortunately, I can't remember whether or not .gpx downloads are available if you are not a premium member. If you plan to geocache regularly, premium membership is worth the investment just for the pocket query and online map manipulation features.

[utfaninsc]

Thanks, that is the confusing part, they are showing as gpx files when I look on the Garmin. I am a premuim member and agree it is worth the price once I figure out what the deal is. There is something I am missing in this conversion. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.[

 

quote name=twolpert' date='Sep 7 2008, 09:56 AM' post='3630990]

I just purchased a Colorado 400t and have not been able to get it to show the downloaded geochahes. I have sent them via one at a time, down loaded via mapping software, verified that they are in the gpx folder and several hours of getting no where. They only show as waypoints. Can anyone help me. Thanks.

Make sure that you download in .gpx format, not in .loc format. If you download as .loc, the cache will show up as a waypoint, not as a geocache. The .loc format also lacks the description, hints, and logs which you can use on the Colorado.

 

Unfortunately, I can't remember whether or not .gpx downloads are available if you are not a premium member. If you plan to geocache regularly, premium membership is worth the investment just for the pocket query and online map manipulation features.

[+Team Chinook]

I don't think you want to transfer them via mapping software - that is certainly making them waypoints. You should look at other ways to transfer the files to your Colorado. Such as using GSAK, or "send to gps" from gc.com? Pocket queries can be downloaded w/ a quantity of caches listed in a single file and you can choose .loc or .gpx. You of course want .gpx.

 

Manually you could download the pocket query, and rename the file and transfer it into the appropriate folder on the Colorado. More automated you could utilize GSAK to do this for you after importing and sorting the pocket queries and then using the macro to export the subset of queries you want to the Colorado.

 

The Colorado will have a specific folder for the .gpx files. It will have one file called current and another file called caches I believe. Do you see those on your Colorado?

 

Have you reviewed the colorado wiki? http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Geocaching#toc1

 

From the Wiki: Note: If you use "Send to GPS" every time you click "Send to GPS" this downloads one gpx file to the Colorado. Over time these files can accumulate and result in caches not being loaded if you exceed the 200 file limit. You should periodically delete gpx files in [drive]:\Garmin\GPX that are no longer needed and/or use Pocket Queries as described above.

[+twolpert]

The Colorado will have a specific folder for the .gpx files. It will have one file called current and another file called caches I believe. Do you see those on your Colorado?

There is no magic filename for cache gpx files. Simply copy the .gpx file to drive:\garmin\gpx\ with whatever name it currently has. The file current.gpx contains track data exported from the unit when you most recently connected to a computer.

 

If you are a premium member, the simplest (fewest steps, least amount of extra software involved) way to get caches onto the Colorado is to use a pocket query. Be sure you choose .gpx format for the query and request that the query result be zipped for e-mailing. Both of these are options on the pocket query page. Once you receive the e-mail, transfer the .zip e-mail attachment to your PC. The .zip file will appear as a compressed folder in Windows XP and above. It will (usually) contain two .gpx files. One contains the cache data (with caches as caches). The other, if present, contains any child waypoints (as waypoints). Use Windows explorer to copy these two files to drive:\Garmin\GPX\, where "drive:" is the letter assigned to the internal storage on the Colorado (not the SD card). The process of copying the files automatically unzuips them. Properly dismount the USB device, disconnect the Colorado, and start it up. Your caches will appear. That's all there is to it.

 

As noted, there is a limit (with current firmware) of 200 .gpx files. In addition, there is a limit of 2000 total geocaches. And a limit of approximately 8-10MB in .gpx files, although you are unlikely to hit that one. There is no way to delete geocaches directly from the Colorado. You must connect to the computer and delete the .gpx files containing the caches. If you cache the same area repeatedly and want to remove your finds, the best way to do that is to set up your pocket query so it omits caches you found. Each time you run the query, simply replace the corresponding .gpx files on the Colorado with the new ones.

[+Professor-Jeff]

Also being a new user, had the same problem with the Colorado. Since you are a premium user the best way to get them into the system is to complete a pocket query. have the file sent to you and when you unzip them, do so to your unit. Works oustanding and you even get all the discriptions with it.

[+Team Chinook]

I'm not sure about the naming nomenclature and I haven't tried to have multiple gpx files loaded, but gathered you couldn't have a local cache list and a remote cache list and toggle between them...based on the wiki.

 

This is what mine looks like. I use GSAK to parse, filter, and transfer the caches files over to the Garmin.

Main Garmin folder (J drive for me)

Shot of the caches gpx file and current folder

Shot of the current folder

 

Basic folder structure, current, cache, etc.

 

what you also see is a screen shot folder and what is missing is the finds.txt which I deleted the other day. You can use that to upload via GC.Com field notes method, or import into GSAK (although I've been having some issues with that Macro for some reason).

[+g-o-cashers]

That's correct, the CO/OR don't ascribe any significance to the filename that your geocaches come from. You can have up to 200 gpx files and all of the caches either get loaded into the found or not found list. On the OR if a geocache shows up in multiple gpx files the cache data from the newest file will be used (I don't think the CO has this fix yet).

 

The only way you can have a local and remote list is by managing the gpx files through a computer. You could have one file called local.gpx and one called trip.gpx. When you are local you could rename trip.gpx to trip.xxx and similar when you are traveling, unfortunately you need a computer to do this.

 

GO$Rs

[utfaninsc]

Success!!!!!! It was the old version of software that was causing the problem. I contacted Garmin and they suggested to update to the newest version from 2.5 to 2.6. and that was the trick. Thanks for all the help, I am a pocket query expert now.

 

 

I don't think you want to transfer them via mapping software - that is certainly making them waypoints. You should look at other ways to transfer the files to your Colorado. Such as using GSAK, or "send to gps" from gc.com? Pocket queries can be downloaded w/ a quantity of caches listed in a single file and you can choose .loc or .gpx. You of course want .gpx.

 

Manually you could download the pocket query, and rename the file and transfer it into the appropriate folder on the Colorado. More automated you could utilize GSAK to do this for you after importing and sorting the pocket queries and then using the macro to export the subset of queries you want to the Colorado.

 

The Colorado will have a specific folder for the .gpx files. It will have one file called current and another file called caches I believe. Do you see those on your Colorado?

 

Have you reviewed the colorado wiki? http://garmincolorado.wikispaces.com/Geocaching#toc1

 

From the Wiki: Note: If you use "Send to GPS" every time you click "Send to GPS" this downloads one gpx file to the Colorado. Over time these files can accumulate and result in caches not being loaded if you exceed the 200 file limit. You should periodically delete gpx files in [drive]:\Garmin\GPX that are no longer needed and/or use Pocket Queries as described above.