Cetus GPS and GPilots software for the palm

Dooghan · Post by **Dooghan** » 11 April 04 3:43 pm

Hi all

I just bought a Palm M500 on ebay which I was going to use for caching. I have a yellow etrex and as it does not have much memory for storing tracks on long trips, I was thinking how I could use the Palm for that job. I like to upload the tracks to ozi for viewing. After doing a search I came across Cetus GPS and GPilots I just wanted to know if anyone has used these programs. I really like the look of Cetus GPS as it can do real-time track logs and also the website had infomation on how you can use the program for geocaching.

Geocaching with Cetus GPS

If you want to use Cetus GPS for Geocaching you probably want to read these tips and hints.

Getting the geocache descriptions into Cetus GPS.
Premium members at geocaching.com are able to retrieve the cache information in GPX (XML) via Pocket Queries. Using gpsbabel you can convert the GPX file to a Cetus GPS position database. Say you have a GPX file named geocaching.gpx then you can use the following command for the conversion:

gpsbabel -i gpx -f geocaching.gpx -o cetus -F geocaching.pdb

When you have hotsynced the file geocaching.pdb to the Palm, go to the Position page within Cetus GPS and select this file as the active position database.

Viewing geocache information.
You may now browse through all the geocaches in the list. If you want to read the complete description for a selected geocache, simply tap the small description field to view the description in a text viewer. If you need to view the hint for the selected geocache then select the menu item 'Geocache hint...'.

Finding the nearest geocaches.
At the Position page select the menu item 'Position prefs...' and here select 'Sort by distance'. The position list will now be sorted by distance to the current location. Please notice that if you have a rather large list and the location is changing, it may take som time to update the list depending on the Palm computing power.

Setting the current location.
If you want to find the geocaches closest to a certain position then you can set one of the positions in the list to be the current location. Just select the position you want as your current location and select the menu item 'Set location'. This menu item is not accessible when Cetus GPS is receiving position data from a GPS, so you have to disconnect the GPS or set the Cetus GPS mode to 'GPS off'.

Dooghan

Gunn Parker · Post by **Gunn Parker** » 12 April 04 11:55 am

I too have an etrex "yellow" and found Cetus GPS after a long search, I do not have the cable I need yet so I cannot use it properly yet.
Alought the Cetus site seems very good.

Dooghan · Post by **Dooghan** » 14 April 04 6:47 am

well I downloaded a palm emulator to test out the software on while I wait for the palm to turn up. Well Cetus is very good and the website had loads of info but I never counted on the palm not being multi-tasking. I've never used a PDA before. I got the GPS talking to GPilots and it looks like it will do the job. At least I can do other things on the PDA.

Dooghan

Bronze · Post by **Bronze** » 15 April 04 2:00 am

Talk to Mix Dooghan - He's playing with all that sort of stuff at the moment. Currently I'm getting about 360km's or 4.5 hours of data into the eTrex before it starts reclaiming its memory. It has a lot to remember though. I was using moving map the other day and asked it to show me the data stream - Fairly awesome amount of data coming from that little sucker when it's on the move.

Anyhow - keen to read how you go when you get it all set up mate.

Bronze.
PS-Thats the most I have ever seen you type!

Webguy · Post by **Webguy** » 31 May 04 3:45 pm

OK, my boss had a few different hand devices around and he has given me a Palm IIIc to play with. never used one before so am a n00b at this stuff.

Well, so far I have managed to update the Palm to the latest compatible OS.

Copied across my latest Mobipocket file and installed the required reader.

Installed Cetus and converted a couple of gpx files into the cetus database format.

So, now that I am this far along, what do I think? Hmmmm

Mobipocket: Be nice if they sorted them alphabetically and had a ABCDEFGH type index, then a sub index off that to get to a cache quickly. Otherwise it's pretty cool really.

Cetus: Interesting, without the connecting cable (US$30+ freight) it's really just another way to get to cache info, I have setup multiple databases for traditional and multi caches. But, without the cable, thats all it is, an index of caches, add the cable, and it becomes much more. Only thing so far I do not like, is it sorts on the cache Waypoint code, not the actual name. So, again, it's rather hard to go straight to a cache etc.

I will still be printing out the topo maps for a cache area, but, now won't be printing out the cache sheets etc.

I'm still tossing up about the cable, thats a lot of money for that.

Gunn Parker · Post by **Gunn Parker** » 31 May 04 4:11 pm

Try GSAK and isilo

Webguy · Post by **Webguy** » 31 May 04 5:04 pm

OK, I got Isilo and IsiloX, Isilo is now installed and I exported my caches out of GSAK in HTML format. Isilox is doing whatever, but seems to be downloading a shitload of extra images and other crap from the net? is all this required?? Am I doing something wrong here?

Gunn Parker · Post by **Gunn Parker** » 31 May 04 5:26 pm

in Isilo check properties and links, check the depth of the links, about a link depth of 5 is enough and click "follow only links that are sub folders of the root"

try that

Webguy · Post by **Webguy** » 31 May 04 5:38 pm

I ended up going with cachemate, thats a pretty cool app. Cheap and does what i want.

Gunn Parker · Post by **Gunn Parker** » 31 May 04 7:03 pm

Yes i have that too, it's very good.
I use isilo to carry around all caches in W.A. and cachemate to take the caches I plan to do that day

Dooghan · Post by **Dooghan** » 01 June 04 9:23 pm

connecting cable (US$30+ freight)

Should be able to get a cable for cheaper then that. I just got a serial cable for mine for AU$22 on ebay. All I need now is a null modem DB9 male/male connector so I can connect the two serial cables. I could have got a cable to go from the GPS to the Palm for $39 from GPSOZ but I will get more use out of the serial cable.

When I had the GPS talking to Cetus via the emulator it showed the same sort of info as the screens on the GPS. Its like you could use the GPS as an antenna and use the screen on the palm to show you the way to the cache. At least it is easier to edit the data on the palm then the GPS.

I've been trying out a free program called Virtual Display Image Viewer to display topo maps. But with the gray screen I think it don't shows topos well. To many parts of the map seem to have the same colour gray which makes it hard to see. I have tried it with street maps which worked well. Give it a try and see what you think.

Dooghan