Combine smartphone with Foretrex unit?

[+urbex]

I'm still a relative newbie to Geocaching, but I'm already finding annoyances with the way I (think) like to do it. I've also decided this is the year that I evict the alien baby growing in my gut (stereotypical beer belly syndrome ), and have taken up regular jogging around the neighborhood and jogging trails on the weekends. I've found that the caching is a natural tie in to the jogging, like many others have.

 

I first tried it with my old Etrex unit, but quickly found entering co-ords one at a time by hand to be beyond annoying. Using my Android phone seemed like the next logical step, except, as is commonly known by many by now - running the GPS on it eats the battery alive. I also dislike attempting to run and hold the thing at the same time, and digging it out of my Camelbak repeatedly to check heading and distance got old fast.

 

There are plenty of arm band solutions for the phone, but then we get back to the battery issue...

 

Soo...time to go GPS shopping! I was ready to plunk down the cash for the Fenix when I first saw it (impulse buys at their finest! lol), but have been reading some reviews saying the performance is less than stellar for navigational duties, with several reviewers saying the Foretrex 401 units just blow them out of the water, so to speak. I do like the bigger screen of the Foretrex as well, and the considerably smaller price tag is certainly appealing as well.

 

I understand that the Foretrex wouldn't handle paperless caching, which makes me wonder if I could do something like using my Android phone to download the caches to the Foretrex, with the ANT protocol, then using the phone to log if need be? This way I'm not running the GPS and screen on the phone constantly, and only pulling it out occasionally to log and/or DL new caches as needed.

[insig]

I understand that the Foretrex wouldn't handle paperless caching, which makes me wonder if I could do something like using my Android phone to download the caches to the Foretrex, with the ANT protocol, then using the phone to log if need be?

 

No, you can't send caches to the Foretrex from your smartphone via ANT+. However, you could use GSAK or something similar to load the caches onto your Foretrex as waypoints instead of caches. Then you could use your smartphone to look up the paperless information as needed. This would require you to hook your Foretrex up to your computer and preload the caches before going outside.

[Pacific NW]

The Foretrex 401 (and 301) are great units. Runtime is good on Eneloops, and great on lithiums cells (although 401 has overall slightly shorter runtime due to electronic compass and altimeter vs. 301). I've had them both in the past, and used them just as you described -- put the coordinates on the GPS via PC, looked up the detailed info on the smartphone while out caching. Only reason I bailed on the Foretrex line was that I prefer using AA batteries, so I can swap between devices if needed. The Tactix and Fenix (now a Fenix 2 out as well) look cool, but I think the "smart watch" market is just getting off the ground. I'm sure they will get more refined and cheaper in the near future.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

I understand that the Foretrex wouldn't handle paperless caching, which makes me wonder if I could do something like using my Android phone to download the caches to the Foretrex, with the ANT protocol, then using the phone to log if need be?

 

No, you can't send caches to the Foretrex from your smartphone via ANT+. However, you could use GSAK or something similar to load the caches onto your Foretrex as waypoints instead of caches. Then you could use your smartphone to look up the paperless information as needed. This would require you to hook your Foretrex up to your computer and preload the caches before going outside.

 

True.

Just rediscovered my old Foretrex 201 yesterday and loaded 500 caches to it using GSAK.......as you say, you can use a smartphone or the old PDA method for paperless info. Put it on my wrist and off I went on my bike....next trip I'll try fastening it to my handlebar.