Dakota 20 - How is the 2000 geocache limit forced?

[+Astro_Geo]

Sorry if this question has been asked before, but I can't find the answer on le Google or here on the forum.

 

So my Dakota 20 has a limit of 2000 geocaches.

 

I imported 4 different gpxfiles of 1000 caches each. Next to that, I imported the gpx-files with their waypoints. The gpx-files were the results of pocket queries that i ran based on 4 different locations (1 where I live, 1 a bit further were I like to go hiking, and 2 around Nantes (France) where I'm about to spend a week of my vacation).

 

When I startup my Dakota, I get the infamous 'maximum number of caches' message. I search for geocaches and get a whole bunch of them around me. So far so good.

 

When I scroll to Nantes on the map, I only see waypoints, no caches.

 

Question: will my Dakota never show the caches for Nantes? Or will it display them when I turn on the device when I'm there? In other words, is the 2000 caches limit forced as 'only showing the nearest 2000 caches' or as 'the first 2000 caches on the SD card and the rest is just ignored'?

 

Thx,

Astro_geo

[+Walts Hunting]

Stops reading after 2000. Loading has nothing to do with searching. It doesn't know where it is when it boots up.

[+Astro_Geo]

So when I arrive in Nantes and switch it on, it won't find anything at all... I guess I'll have to remove all caches near my home then. What a hassle, hopefully Garmin will find a solution for this (but I highly doubt that it's high on their priority list).

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Ask yourself this question. Why do I need home caches on my unit when I'm not going to be there?

 

Answer with: FRESH data is good data... STALE data is bad data.

 

 

The only caches we hold in our unit (all the time) are our owned caches... for maintenance. All others are loaded immediately before a geocache outing. Not a Garmin, we can "stack" query loadings on the SD card. The unit supports only 1,000 caches, however the card will hold far more than that number -- haven't discovered how many, yet -- and we can switch between files.

 

We still do not download (and hold) many more than we can conceivably get to promptly. Caches are placed and archived on a continual basis. Data loaded to your unit should also be refreshed continually -- unless you like looking for caches that aren't there, and missing the replacements situated nearby.

[+Astro_Geo]

I wouldn't normally load that many caches onto my device. But since we're going on vacation, we'll be strolling and driving around a lot. That means not knowing yet where we'll end up, so I wanted to load as many caches as possible in that area.

 

But I do get the idea: old data is bad data, always load a fresh batch before you leave

[+ecanderson]

If you have a need for additional caches in a different areas such that you would exceed 2000, consider additional PQs and placing them on uSD cards (your Dakota 20 accepts these) and swapping them for different areas. Just be sure to create a folders on the uSD cards called Garmin/GPX (case sensitive) and toss the *.gpx files there as needed. However, if you do this, the combined count ON the unit and uSD card can't exceed the 2000 total, so you probably will want them all on uSD card and won't want any loaded ON the unit's own memory if you do this.

Edited July 15, 2014 by ecanderson

[+Mineral2]

Let's start with your original problem:

 

Your GPS has a limit of 2000 geocaches, you're loading 4000 geocaches.

 

Case closed.

[+Walts Hunting]

Some android tablets and phones have USB ports that can either be used natively or with an org cable. You could then get fresh PQ's and load them. Don't forget to delete the older ones. There is also a way with iOS but is a little more complicated.

[+gpsblake]

It always has seemed odd that Garmin units until recently had a limit on how many caches it would hold, but no limit on custom POI's except for physical storage limits. The Explorist x00 and Meridian series had a file management system where you could load dozens of pocket queries and just switch what gpx file you wanted to use. Garmin's never got around to doing that.

Edited July 15, 2014 by gpsblake

[+ecanderson]

@gpsblake

While I'm sure the actual numbers have been set with model differentiation in mind, there's a technical reason for this as well. Unlike a POI, a 'cache' is handled in some very unique ways (especially with regard to found/not-found), occupies a piece of resident memory at all times, and only so many 'slots' are allocated in the table that keeps track of them.

[+Mineral2]

It's probably more to do with the ability of the processor. POI's get processed with the maps while gpx files get processed separately. I know when my unit gets close to full in the geocache department, it chugs a bit.

[+GrateBear]

If I did the search correctly, there are 2000 caches within 25 miles of Nantes. How much time to you intend to spend caching? Seems that's plenty to keep you busy

[+Astro_Geo]

I'm not goanna look for all 2000 of them :-) My point was that when we're on holiday, we never know where we'll end up exactly. During that week, we'll probably be driving around a few hundred kilometers. In such circumstances, it could be convenient to have more than 2000 caches in that area pre-loaded on the GPS. I'm not taking my laptop with me, so no chance of quickly connecting to Basecamp before every trip.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Astro_Geo

[+Bear and Ragged]

I'm not goanna look for all 2000 of them :-) My point was that when we're on holiday, we never know where we'll end up exactly. During that week, we'll probably be driving around a few hundred kilometers. In such circumstances, it could be convenient to have more than 2000 caches in that area pre-loaded on the GPS. I'm not taking my laptop with me, so no chance of quickly connecting to Basecamp before every trip.

 

You could try a Cache Along a Route PQ.

Will cover a larger area, and may cut down on those that are too far from the road to bother with.

(Unless you want them, so included a smaller PQ for the 'Must Do' caches.)