i have just purchased a garmin etrex h

[just searching]

Hello to all
I am very new to this geocaching as the heading says I have bought a garmin etrex h and have no idea how to use it yet my question is in order to download coordanance I need a cable to go from the etrex to my computer I have looked at garmin site and can't find which cable I need to buy.

The connection to my etrex is behind a rubber flap at the back of the gps it has a very thin slide 4 the cable to fit and has 4 little silver dots I presume that is where the cable makes contact from the comp. Could any boby that has an etrex h or knows what I should be buying please let me know I thank you in advance for ur help and info Irealy want to get into this new thing in my life.

Yours
just searching
Chris

[Richary]

Hi Chris & welcome to the hobby.

It's a standard mini-USB connection that is also used by a lot of things like digital cameras etc, so you may already have the right lead. If not just head to your local electronics shop with the eTrex and ask for one with the right size connector (as there is an even smaller one available on some devices).

You will have plenty of questions as you go along, so check through the forums and the wiki. If there is an event in your neck of the woods head along and you will find many very helpful people there only too willing to help.

Hope you enjoy the journey!

[Taiko'sFamily]

umm - no the etrex h cable is not standard usb connection. one end has matching silver bits and a black nobble bit to keep it in place. We bought ours from Ebay. Was not garmin made but works just fine. And was cheaper than the garmin made one. Or you could ask the shop to order you one.
Until then you have to manually and individually enter the coordinates, which gets a little tiresome.
Fastet way is to get as near to cache you want as you can figure out from maps etc, then use Mark Waypoint - it will bring up a screen with coords at bottom, you can then change these to the ones you want for the cache (by using mark feature you already have most of coords correct and only have to change a few numbers) happy caching

[Taiko'sFamily]

this is what you need

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GARMIN-etrex-H-P ... 1c18ab4862

[Richary]

How disappointing they have changed the cable. Whoops, my mistake!

[tronador]

I have since upgraded but I also have the yellow etrex. I bought the PC interface cable off ebay- a generic serial cable and it was not expensive.
That link from the Taiko Family is the connector you need, they now have a USB connection into the PC or you can also use a serial cable.
The yellow etrex doesn't have the tiny USB connector like cameras etc, only the higher models have this.

[the Monkey King]

Thanks for this post - I just bought one of the same models (I wish the postie was faster!), so it saves me from asking myself.

[just searching]

Hi all
Thank you for all ur input I will certainly buy a cable for the gps I tried it out this morning and as u say putting info in manually is tiresome but have to make do with what I have at the moment had a great time following the clues but no find.
urs
just searching
Chris

[mundoo]

umm - no the etrex h cable is not standard usb connection. one end has matching silver bits and a black nobble bit to keep it in place. We bought ours from Ebay. Was not garmin made but works just fine.

I bought a cable from eBay but when I plugged it in I get told that I have to install some map? program. I assumed that the gpx file would import straight into the gps without installing something else. So currently the cable is collecting dust in the drawer.

[Taiko'sFamily]

the only extra thing i needed installed was a driver. i can download individual cache coords direct from gc.com or from whole pq's through gsak

[tronador]

umm - no the etrex h cable is not standard usb connection. one end has matching silver bits and a black nobble bit to keep it in place. We bought ours from Ebay. Was not garmin made but works just fine.

I bought a cable from eBay but when I plugged it in I get told that I have to install some map? program. I assumed that the gpx file would import straight into the gps without installing something else. So currently the cable is collecting dust in the drawer.

You shouldn't need any maps to upload wpts but if you want to send the wpts somewhere to be plotted, then yes you would need a map, something like Ozi explorer.

[Richary]

Most GPS units including the eTrex range I am familiar with won't handle a GPX file. II assume without looking at the specs the etrex H is the same. What you need is software like GSAK (see separate thread in the software/hardware solutions). This takes the GPX file and adds it into a database of caches. You can then run various filters on this (such as not show my finds, or hide puzzles etc). You can then set the centrepoint to be your home or somewhere else you are going to be, and tell it to upload the nearest 500 caches to your GPSr.

In practice I normally only load 480 to leave me 20 spare for adding waypoints I may need, like work or manually entering a new cache that has popped up nearby.

GSAK is shareware, but works for a while before starting to come up with a nag screen. So you get a good chance to play with it before deciding if you want to buy it.

[kennythe1st]

I have a Garmin eTrex Vista H. Vista has an electronic compass else no difference I understand.

I can confirm that a standard USB cable with mini one end and normal the other works just fine as to connect, I pick up any one of 3 we have in the house. The bulky cylinder bit on the official cable isn't usually necessary - I think it just filters out interference.

However, when I first tried connecting via the Garmin Connect software, I recall I also got a message re maps being needed. I contacted my usual GPS supplier http://www.gpsoz.com.au and they immediately supplied the base map I needed. They might not be as cheap as eBay but their service and knowledge on GPSers (we have Magellan and Garmin for various purposes) is excellent.

While here, having 2 Magellan models and 2 Garmin models imnsho, Magellan remains streets ahead of Garmin for ease of use and also in terms of the quality of base maps. I can't believe just how basic the Garmin map is but I guess most people upgrade their maps whereas we don't need to.

Have fun with that eTrex. They work well.

Kenny

[tronador]

I have a Garmin eTrex Vista H. Vista has an electronic compass else no difference I understand.

I can confirm that a standard USB cable with mini one end and normal the other works just fine as to connect, I pick up any one of 3 we have in the house. The bulky cylinder bit on the official cable isn't usually necessary - I think it just filters out interference.

However, when I first tried connecting via the Garmin Connect software, I recall I also got a message re maps being needed. I contacted my usual GPS supplier http://www.gpsoz.com.au and they immediately supplied the base map I needed. They might not be as cheap as eBay but their service and knowledge on GPSers (we have Magellan and Garmin for various purposes) is excellent.

While here, having 2 Magellan models and 2 Garmin models imnsho, Magellan remains streets ahead of Garmin for ease of use and also in terms of the quality of base maps. I can't believe just how basic the Garmin map is but I guess most people upgrade their maps whereas we don't need to.

Have fun with that eTrex. They work well.

Kenny

I have the same GPS, a vista H. You can get fantastic free maps here, I use these here and have even used them overseas. The base maps are far inferior.
http://garmin.na1400.info/routable.php

or check out Geocaching NSW for other options, all are very good.
http://www.geocachingnsw.asn.au/index.p ... garmin-gps

The yellow etrex H, the base model does not have maps and they can't be added to the GPS, it also does not have the mini USB cable. I started with one of those GPS.