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Garmin ETrex 20


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Hello, I am new at GeoCaching.

I have a Garmin Etrex 20 GPS and I have difficulty finding a way to load up GPS sites on my GPS.

I already have the Canadian Maps on my GPS.

I went to the Help On GeoCache site at point 2.11 (How do I download GeoCaches to my GPS Device).

The instructions say to plug the GPS then from the geocache page click "Send to my GPS" button and choose the type of GPS I have.

 

Well, I did not find the "Send to my GPS button" on the geocache.com site.

 

Tips anyone?

 

Thanks.

 

Chris.

Edited by CThibaudeau-GeoFrog
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I have an etrex20 and here's how I do it:

Go to the individual cache page

Download thr GPX file into a GPX folder on my desktop

Drag those into the GPX folder of my Garmin.

 

Every time I am done with a group of caches I remove them from the GPSr

 

Yes, it takes several steps but it is methodical and works for me.

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I do my Etrex 30 similarly to Meow&Purr;

 

open the actual cache page

select the "GPX File" option

save them to my desktop

copy the .gpx files to the GPX folder on the Garmin

delete found caches from Garmin once back at home

any DNF or unattempted are then stored in .zip or .rar files on the Garmin for next time (I only have GPX files for the planned trips live) these have to be replaced with more up-to-date downloads on the day of attempting due to updates in log files etc. but it helps me keep track of which files I need.

 

In the past I have tried using the "Send to GPS" function when you get the cache pop-up from the map or the "Send to My GPS" on the cache page, although it does send the file to the Garmin I often found they did not show up or not all the data was written hence why I use the slower but IMO safer method above.

 

I'm sure once you get to grips with how things work you'll develop a method that works best for you ;)

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Note to TheGreatEvie and Meow&Purr,

 

Both of you are relatively new to geocaching and are premium members. The eTrex 20/30 can hold 5,000 geocaches. You should really look into using pocket queries which is probably the most valuable premium member feature. A PQ is a way to download many caches (up to 1000) at one time. While PQs can be confusing, they can be run using all default settings after you supply a location to use as the center for the search and select a day of the week for the PQ to run.

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I dunno, I've never seen the point of pocket queries. Why would I want to download 1000 caches at one time? When I'm going geocaching, I simply go the website and look at the map for the area where I'm going to be. I then look at each cache individually, decide whether it looks interesting and, if so, I download it. I see that PQs allow you to filter for caches of interest to you, but personally I do that filtering on a cache-by-cache basis on the website. Works for me.

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Note to TheGreatEvie and Meow&Purr,

 

Both of you are relatively new to geocaching and are premium members. The eTrex 20/30 can hold 5,000 geocaches. You should really look into using pocket queries which is probably the most valuable premium member feature. A PQ is a way to download many caches (up to 1000) at one time. While PQs can be confusing, they can be run using all default settings after you supply a location to use as the center for the search and select a day of the week for the PQ to run.

 

with all due respect, you cache your way, and i'll cache mine :D

 

part of the fun for me is organising the trip, I don't want or need thousands of caches on my GPS. We're not in this for the stats or bragging rights to how many caches we've found. Its all about spending quality time with my daughter in the outdoors, not sat at home with her glued to one screen or another.

 

Having said that, I do have a PQ set up as we holiday in Mallorca quite a lot and don't know where we'll end up from day to day, so I have one set to grab them all, which I do have a problem with but that's for another thread ;)

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Having said that, I do have a PQ set up as we holiday in Mallorca quite a lot and don't know where we'll end up from day to day, so I have one set to grab them all, which I do have a problem with but that's for another thread ;)

 

This is the same line of thinking which leads to most cachers keeping "thousands" of caches on their device at all times. You travel around town and never know where you'll be from day to day, so you you can always look at your GPS at any time and see what is nearby and search for a cache if you have the spare time. It's all about "just in case."

 

I'll give you my reasons why loading a PQ or two from your local area is much more efficient than loading them one at a time for every trip you take regardless of whether you're a spontaneous cacher or a meticulous trip planner.

 

1. It's just easier to deal with a single file.

2. If you like removing found caches from your GPS, just set the PQ to only include those which you have not found and your found caches will not be included when you run it again for updated cache listings. No more figuring out which files on your GPS are the ones you found.

3. No need to deal with the plugin, which is losing support from modern browsers.

4. You don't need to connect your GPS and transfer files quite as often. Plan a trip for Saturday? Great. Come back and decide to go out again on Sunday? Look at the map, decide where you want to go, the caches are already loaded on your device and you can just go.

5. Your device has a GPX file limit. Granted the limit is fairly high at 2000 gpx files, but that can build up quickly if you're not deleting cache files every time you add new ones. PQs have the same file name each time you run them, so they just get overwritten with an updated file. And you don't have to worry about reaching that gpx file limit.

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Actually, another option that Premium Membership allows is Bookmark Lists. You can create a Bookmark List and put several caches on that list. Maybe create a list for an individual outing or even a weekend trip. Then there's a "Create Pocket Query" option for that list. This produces a single GPX file of 2, 3, 15, 20, etc caches. PQ's have the capacity to load 1000 at a time, but that doesn't mean a cacher has to load that many.

 

I had a few problems with my eTrex 20 not showing caches when I was first using it. I found the problems went away if I cleared the GPX files, then turned on the GPSr to let it index, then turned it off and loaded the new GPX files. I think the overwriting of files was causing problems. I haven't had such problems (knock on wood) since I stopped overwriting.

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I'm starting to come round to PQ's in theory, but still think i'll use a mix of both methods, I just worry that a PQ is going to miss out caches because I've not got the settings correct or it exceeds the limits of the search.

 

Bookmark Lists I find to be entirely too longwinded to create. The one feature I really love about the original iPhone app, was the ability to do an Advanced Search using keywords. This was spot on for selecting a series of caches and then saving to an offline list all at once, rather than having to go and select each one individually and add to a list. If there's a way to do that from the website or the "new" app I've yet to find it.

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with all due respect, you cache your way, and i'll cache mine :D

 

part of the fun for me is organising the trip, I don't want or need thousands of caches on my GPS. We're not in this for the stats or bragging rights to how many caches we've found. Its all about spending quality time with my daughter in the outdoors, not sat at home with her glued to one screen or another.

 

Having said that, I do have a PQ set up as we holiday in Mallorca quite a lot and don't know where we'll end up from day to day, so I have one set to grab them all, which I do have a problem with but that's for another thread ;)

 

We also always organize our cache outings and yet we use PQs extensively. PQs for Belgium are run weekly to keep our Belgian database in GSAK up-to-date. Whenever there is time I go through the caches and mark them with 1. "todo" in one of the userdata fields if we want to do them and some other keyword in one of the other datafields (i.e. biketour, long multi, ..)

When planning a day I can just filter for "todo" caches, choose an area, set a distance from a centerpoint (or whatever criteria we want) and refresh cachedata for the selection before loading the caches onto the GPS. Most of the time all solved mysteries are included anyway and we stay under 200-300 (max 500) caches loaded. That way we have the primary targets and can change plans should this be needed.

 

As for holidays (we never stay in one place) I load all the caches of the area (for Denmark that meant the whole country, in Australia it was 2 states) into GSAK with PQs as per "placed date" and then filter with a macro (caches along the routes we will take). From this selection I remove caches we will not (be able to) do (T5, long multi, LPC's...). That left us with about 1500 caches in Australia's two states of which we did 50. It took a lot of time but then, I started selecting (and solving mysteries) 6 months in advance B)

We're already making a selection for later this year too.

 

As for Mallorca, if you could import all caches and filtering out all you don't want you'll end up with a more manageable amount. (GSAK, basecamp....)

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I'm starting to come round to PQ's in theory, but still think i'll use a mix of both methods, I just worry that a PQ is going to miss out caches because I've not got the settings correct or it exceeds the limits of the search.

 

I always make sure my PQs return just under 1000 results, and I always display the results on the map to make sure it covers the areas I want. Sometimes I do end up making more than one PQ for an area. If two PQs contain overlapping caches, the listing will only display once and will not count double toward your device's cache limit. But sometimes I'll make a PQ for an area and only include medium + caches, and make a second identical PQ, but limit it to smalls and micros. Sometimes I'll have to limit those to traditionals and make a 3rd to include the non-traditionals (multis, letterbox, earth, virtual, events, etc...). I almost always leave out puzzle/mystery caches and instead create a bookmark list of puzzles with solved coordinates or puzzles that require being solved in the field.

 

There are plenty of tips and tricks for using PQs to your advantage and everyone has their own system. But in the end it's still more efficient than one-at-a-time.

 

If you still opt for the one-at-a-time method, maybe look into a cache manager program such as GSAK or iCaching to load just the caches you want with fewer clicks than doing it from the site.

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Bookmark Lists I find to be entirely too longwinded to create. The one feature I really love about the original iPhone app, was the ability to do an Advanced Search using keywords. This was spot on for selecting a series of caches and then saving to an offline list all at once, rather than having to go and select each one individually and add to a list. If there's a way to do that from the website or the "new" app I've yet to find it.

The "Advanced Search" was recently updated to 'play better' with Bookmark Lists. You can read more about it here: Release Notes - March 23, 2016

 

Essentially, you can run an Advanced Search and then click the "circled plus" symbol next to the caches you want to have in a List. When you click on that "circled plus" symbol, then you'll be able to add that single cache to 'an existing list' or 'create a new list' right away. You can also check-mark several caches and add them all to a 'an existing list' or 'create a new list'. Worth checking out.

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I'm starting to come round to PQ's in theory, but still think i'll use a mix of both methods, I just worry that a PQ is going to miss out caches because I've not got the settings correct or it exceeds the limits of the search.

 

I always make sure my PQs return just under 1000 results, and I always display the results on the map to make sure it covers the areas I want. Sometimes I do end up making more than one PQ for an area. If two PQs contain overlapping caches, the listing will only display once and will not count double toward your device's cache limit. But sometimes I'll make a PQ for an area and only include medium + caches, and make a second identical PQ, but limit it to smalls and micros. Sometimes I'll have to limit those to traditionals and make a 3rd to include the non-traditionals (multis, letterbox, earth, virtual, events, etc...). I almost always leave out puzzle/mystery caches and instead create a bookmark list of puzzles with solved coordinates or puzzles that require being solved in the field.

The PQ Splitter on Project-GC.com can help with splitting a PQ into manageable chunks, separated by hide date.

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Bookmark Lists I find to be entirely too longwinded to create. The one feature I really love about the original iPhone app, was the ability to do an Advanced Search using keywords. This was spot on for selecting a series of caches and then saving to an offline list all at once, rather than having to go and select each one individually and add to a list. If there's a way to do that from the website or the "new" app I've yet to find it.

The "Advanced Search" was recently updated to 'play better' with Bookmark Lists. You can read more about it here: Release Notes - March 23, 2016

 

Essentially, you can run an Advanced Search and then click the "circled plus" symbol next to the caches you want to have in a List. When you click on that "circled plus" symbol, then you'll be able to add that single cache to 'an existing list' or 'create a new list' right away. You can also check-mark several caches and add them all to a 'an existing list' or 'create a new list'. Worth checking out.

 

Ahhhhh, much better, thanks for the heads up ;)

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