Beeline GPS

Discussion about software such as GSAK, OziExplorer etc, as well as all things hardware, GPSrs, laptops, PDAs, paperless caching, cables etc
Post Reply
ian-and-penny
10000 or more caches found
10000 or more caches found
Posts: 1067
Joined: 13 October 03 11:45 am
Location: Travelling Australia using a Garmin Montana 650T

Beeline GPS

Post by ian-and-penny » 13 January 06 10:18 am

Has anybody tried thisPocket PC program?

Beeline GPS

At first glance it is a PPC based GPS program that has inbuilt waypoint management software that can utilise GPX files downloaded from GC.com or GSAK.

I have tried it out at home, and will try it out on a caching trip this weekend. My impression is that it looks like a great tool that will help me progress further towards paperless caching.

(Disclaimer - I have no interests, financial or otherwise, in the software. I would just like to recommend a product I see is a good thing.)

User avatar
Cached
2500 or more caches found
2500 or more caches found
Posts: 3087
Joined: 24 March 04 4:32 pm
Location: Launceston, Tasmania
Contact:

Post by Cached » 13 January 06 10:26 am

I have been using beeline and so has Robtas.

I have found on my hx4700 ipaq that it crashes a lot, locks up and although has some good features is not actually particularly nice to use.

All the information is hidden in the gpx files and if you go onto the map screen and choose "show geocache info" you get the gpx info - which is good, but the map screen seems to be the only way to get the information.

All in all, I'm not thrilled with it and will be looking for another solution. Partic uses GPS dash and I'm about to check that out.

I have a mate that is handy with code and he is looking at roughing something up using the destinator SDK, but this could take a while.

All i really want is a list of waypoints, would be nice if they were connected to a GPX, a way to mark the caches found and to easily see some basic information about them. Then the other thing I want is the good old compass rose, distance and direction, preferably indicating "accuracy" on the same screen.

User avatar
riblit
It's the journey.
It's the journey.
Posts: 3444
Joined: 04 April 03 6:30 pm
Location: Land Grant of John Campbell

Post by riblit » 13 January 06 10:33 am

I haven't tried that one but do have his VisualGPSce program. I find it works well as a track logging program

User avatar
CraigRat
850 or more found!!!
850 or more found!!!
Posts: 7015
Joined: 23 August 04 3:17 pm
Twitter: CraigRat
Facebook: http://facebook.com/CraigRat
Location: Launceston, TAS
Contact:

Post by CraigRat » 13 January 06 11:22 am

Cached wrote:All the information is hidden in the gpx files and if you go onto the map screen and choose "show geocache info" you get the gpx info - which is good, but the map screen seems to be the only way to get the information.
I'd agree with your sentiments with regards to Beeline.... its OK but it would be nice if you could get the cache info another way...that and selection of waypoints by Long Name would be good too (I don't keep track of the GC codes.... I presume I COULD use smart names in gsak to get around this)

there is still no ultimate Geocaching tool for the PPC :-(

ian-and-penny
10000 or more caches found
10000 or more caches found
Posts: 1067
Joined: 13 October 03 11:45 am
Location: Travelling Australia using a Garmin Montana 650T

Post by ian-and-penny » 13 January 06 12:15 pm

All the information is hidden in the gpx files and if you go onto the map screen and choose "show geocache info" you get the gpx info - which is good, but the map screen seems to be the only way to get the information.
If it works for me, I will be asking the programmer if he can include other paths/routes to access the GPX info into the next release.

I have already asked Clyde if he can populate the "User Notes" field of GSAK with the Beeline "Field Notes" - and he may consider this in the future.
...that and selection of waypoints by Long Name would be good too (I don't keep track of the GC codes.... I presume I COULD use smart names in gsak to get around this)
Yes you can.
there is still no ultimate Geocaching tool for the PPC :-(
Maybe not yet, but with a few tweaks - - - !

User avatar
Cached
2500 or more caches found
2500 or more caches found
Posts: 3087
Joined: 24 March 04 4:32 pm
Location: Launceston, Tasmania
Contact:

Post by Cached » 13 January 06 12:41 pm

...but it crashes a lot.

User avatar
Cached
2500 or more caches found
2500 or more caches found
Posts: 3087
Joined: 24 March 04 4:32 pm
Location: Launceston, Tasmania
Contact:

Post by Cached » 13 January 06 12:42 pm

oh and on the map you just see a mass of caches - icons for type, but you have to go to another screen to see what they are called. Annoying if you know what you are looking for...

like this...

Image

Now, wheres the one I wanted the info on?

ian-and-penny
10000 or more caches found
10000 or more caches found
Posts: 1067
Joined: 13 October 03 11:45 am
Location: Travelling Australia using a Garmin Montana 650T

Post by ian-and-penny » 13 January 06 2:39 pm

Cached wrote:oh and on the map you just see a mass of caches - icons for type, but you have to go to another screen to see what they are called. Annoying if you know what you are looking for...

Now, wheres the one I wanted the info on?
But you can zoom in! (The scale on the screen dump is in miles, I can zoom my copy in to a scale of 3.7 metres.) At that scale it's easy to differentiate.


And so far it hasn't crashed on my 2210, but as I say I will give it a good workout on the weekend.

I get the impression that you have given it a run and don't care too much for it, so what would you suggest as a viable alternative?

User avatar
Cached
2500 or more caches found
2500 or more caches found
Posts: 3087
Joined: 24 March 04 4:32 pm
Location: Launceston, Tasmania
Contact:

Post by Cached » 13 January 06 3:10 pm

Yes you can zoom in. But to which cache.

If I want to look at heading to a given cache, it is really hard to find it. Even if I came to the map from the waypoint management screen, I have to make sure I pick the cache that is exactly in the centre or I don't get the right one.

I'm thinking GPS tuner might be better, teamed with the HTML output from GSAK which is really easy to use.

I am about to go down the track of finding something better. Partic does seem to be happy with GPSdash too.

User avatar
Chwiliwr
10000 or more caches found
10000 or more caches found
Posts: 900
Joined: 10 April 05 10:39 pm
Location: Leeming Western Australia

Post by Chwiliwr » 13 January 06 4:11 pm

It has never crached for me on two different PDA's, 2210 and now 2750, both of which are different operating system software.

Like all discussions about software you can find faults with them all. It really comes down to individual preference. For example I like Beeline's circle and arrow on the map screen with the distance and bearing shown on the bottom of the screen as I tend to make less mistakes on approaching a cache this way than with the traditional compass that my daughter has on her GPS.

As I am not happy with any of software currently available I am building my own software based on the MapInfo MobileX GIS engine as I can then display mapping information similar to Oziexplorer but more enhanced as I can use all the vector mapping info that I have accumulated over the years like the complete road network of WA that takes a lot of work to get into Oziexplorer from its native format.

In the meantime I will stick with Beeline as that is the one that annoys me the least. They have improved it a lot since the first version I started using last year.

User avatar
roostaman
10000 or more caches found
10000 or more caches found
Posts: 233
Joined: 25 February 05 5:32 pm
Location: Home of THE Original Oz Mega, Wagga Wagga
Contact:

Post by roostaman » 14 January 06 11:26 pm

Well oh fellow cachers, I had heard a few months back that a certain caching team was trying to write a CacheMate program for PPC's.... :D
but have not heard lately so don't get too excited yet.

I'm still using GPXSonar as it has done the job OK and not crashed at all lately on the 2110. I think I had a quick look at BeeLine but thought Sonar did it better so have just stuck to that, at least until I get a hold of a beta test of CM for PPC's..............

Roosta

User avatar
Cached
2500 or more caches found
2500 or more caches found
Posts: 3087
Joined: 24 March 04 4:32 pm
Location: Launceston, Tasmania
Contact:

Post by Cached » 14 January 06 11:40 pm

cachemate and sonar, by my understanding, don't link up to GPSs and tell you how far from a cache you are?

Team Stargazer
150 or more caches found
150 or more caches found
Posts: 247
Joined: 02 June 03 11:19 pm
Location: Paralowie, Adelaide, South Australia
Contact:

Post by Team Stargazer » 17 January 06 10:46 pm

Navio is another GPS program that's geocaching friendly you could check out. :wink:

Also GPS Tuner doesn't work very well on a 240x240 square screen (such as the new HP Hw6515) ... but they are working on it [more] :D

Post Reply