Episode 135 – Geocaching Goals and Dreams for 2010

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On this episode we talk about our Goals for our geocaching this year and some things that we are wishing would happen with geocaching this year. What are your goals? call our voicemail 206-350-3GPS and tell us.

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Audio
Chat
4th Annual Starkey Park Geo Event
Darrylw4’s Night Photos
Cachers Round Table Ustream recording
Garmin Press Release for Oregon 450 and 450t

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GSM vs. CDMA

It occurred to my after yesterday’s post that I should mention something about the difference between GSM and CDMA as that is an important driver in the decision on which wireless carrier to use. I’ll keep this short as it is a complex topic, but aside from compatibility issues (GSM is common in Europe, CDMA in Asia, the U.S. is mixed) there’s a functional difference for smartphone users. Most CDMA devices are not able to use their high-speed data network (EVDO) while talking on the phone. The GSM devices with HSDPA permit data and voice as long as the device is on the high-speed network. So if you’re frequently phoning a friend while looking up cache information, look for a 3G GSM carrier (AT&T or T-Mobile in the U.S.). If you’re not concerned about concurrent data and voice, look at the CDMA carriers (Sprint and Verizon in the U.S.) as they tend to have better connection quality than does GSM. I tend not to be talking and using data but after having the luxury of using both at the same time it will be hard to go back to just one or the other.

GSAK and the PN-40 for Event Hosts

One of the best things about GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) is the ability it gives event hosts to prepare and load their new caches into a variety of GPSRs for the attendees. Version 7.6.2 of GSAK now supports the DeLorme Earthmate PN-20/30/40/40 SE broadening that range of supported units. I’ve done some quick tests with my PN-40 in prep for a New Year’s Day event I’ll be attending and it looks to be pretty easy. The first thing you’ll need is the DeLorme USB cable, which of course you could ask the attendees to bring, but the cable is available for $12.95USD direct from DeLorme. With that and a few quick changes to GSAK’s set-up you’ll be able to load your new caches into the PN-40.

The first set is to go into the GPS Setup (from the menu; GPS -> Setup…) and select the “Delorme” brand, then the model. Click “OK” and move on.

Then go to the Send Waypoints dialog (from the menu; GPS -> Send waypoints…) and click the “Change Symbols” button. From the “General” tab pick the “Cache Type Only” and click on the “Save” button.

That’s all there is to the set-up. Simply connect the DeLorme Earthmate PN series GPSR to the computer through the USB cable and click the “Send” icon.

Hopefully this will give the event hosts an easy way to load-up the new caches and the DeLorme users a quicker means to get caches into their GPSR.

Episode 134 – Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK) Advanced

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On this episode we talk about the software Geocaching Swiss Army Knife and its advanced features. We are talking about how to set your Waypoint name on your GSPr and URI features and also macros

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Audio
Chat
darrylw4 Ustream recording of us recording this
Cachercon 2010
Cachers charged by police
Magellan Kit
GPS Chairs
GSAK Macro List
Special Tags in GSAK
GSAK URI Support

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Episode 133 – GSAK Basics

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On this episode we talk about the basics of Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK) We tried to also do a screen recording of the episode but that didnt work.

Join us next week as we talk about the advanced things that you can do with GSAK

LINKS
Audio
Chat
Darrylw4 Saturday Picts
Darrylw4 Sunday Picts
Cachercon 2010
Garmin Oregon Beta Adds Dashboards, Improves Track Nav
Delorme Firmware updates
Geocaching Swiss Army Knife

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Episode 132 – December Cacher Coffee

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On this episode we have an open mic any geocaching topic goes. You bring the topic and we talk about it

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