NEWBIES, scared, need help (Getting back into geocaching)

[Donald, Daisy and Kids]

G'day all,

We are Aussies (in Bundaberg, Qld) and haven't really been able to geocache since early 2009 (almost 7 years now) due to medical problems but are now looking to get back into it again.

So, I (Donald) is or was the technical guy, the one who did all the website stuff, logging etc etc and put all the cache coordinates into our GPS but in the past 6 years I've really lost track of how to do it, and I'm feeling rather like the first day I ever started caching as a total newbie with no idea what to do or how to do it, scared really as well I guess

Ok, so a bit about our setup.
We have PC and android and would prefer to use our old method with the Garmin ETREX VISTA CX until we get a decent new handheld unit to upgrade it, though we do have android phones and tablets as well (DONT trust the GPS though.


Ok, so I recall that I used to be a premium member and got emails with caches in the PQ's I had setup, but I can't remember how I got em into my GPS.

I've gone through everything I can find but just can't find anything specific (or detailed enough more to the point lol )

I remember we had GSAk but I think that was for doing bulk actions?
I also seem to remember that it was a reasonably technical process to get PQ's from emails, then somehow transfer them to the GPS (program or method? )

Any help would be appreciated as we have someone else's trackable which we only discovered a few months back that we have held for years now (yes we have contacted the owner and apologised and they were OK with it)
(ps. I've followed the caching 101 and a few videos but they didn't really explain what I'm asking)

Thanks in advance

[roundcircle]

I'm assuming you want help loading up GC.com caches, and not GCA, though the process is similar.

1. You have to pay the money to be a premium member. (Skip this step for GCA caches. Yay!)
   Set up your pocket query for the area and cache types your interested in, and run it.
   Download the gpx file from the download tab of the PQ page. (Refresh the page to see if it's finished running.)
   Unzip it. (It'll probably have 2 files in the zip. I copy both to my Garmin 450.)
   Copy it to the GPS. If it's a Garmin I think it'll need to be copied into the GPX directory.

That's it. Go find some caches!

You mentioned GSAK. I've given up using it. Pocket Queries can hold 1000 caches. You can run quite a few queries each day, and I have fast, always on, broadband access. None of those things were around 7 years ago.

Hopefully this is enough to get you going. Come back if you need more help.

Good to see you back!

[Donald, Daisy and Kids]

I'm assuming you want help loading up GC.com caches, and not GCA, though the process is similar.

1. You have to pay the money to be a premium member. (Skip this step for GCA caches. Yay!)
   Set up your pocket query for the area and cache types your interested in, and run it.
   Download the gpx file from the download tab of the PQ page. (Refresh the page to see if it's finished running.)
   Unzip it. (It'll probably have 2 files in the zip. I copy both to my Garmin 450.)
   Copy it to the GPS. If it's a Garmin I think it'll need to be copied into the GPX directory.

That's it. Go find some caches!

You mentioned GSAK. I've given up using it. Pocket Queries can hold 1000 caches. You can run quite a few queries each day, and I have fast, always on, broadband access. None of those things were around 7 years ago.

Hopefully this is enough to get you going. Come back if you need more help.

Good to see you back!

Many thanks for the guidance Roundcircle
We were really just starting to get into the caching when health put us (me) out so we'd never actually got any GCA caches

I agree with what you said about the broadband too, and yep, things really have changed a lot in the past 7 years

I'm just getting my head around loading caches into the gps, and then we will be out and about again

[petan]

While you say you don't entirely trust the GPS on your phone its probably worth downloading a Geocaching App for it even if its simply to get access to logs (both older and more recent to your pocket query), for easier reading of descriptions, or navigating by road or designated path to roughly where GZ is. You should be able to download your pocket query to your phone or rather get the app to fetch the PQ

I'm like you, when I need the accuracy I'll rely on my Garmin, but my phone and its geo app is still an important tool in my kit.