Groundspeak Portal

Recently got into waymarking as something to do outside of geocaching. For those times when my (20 mo. old) daughter and I want to spend time outdoors but not in the mosquito infested woods.

When we geocache we utilize a Palm Zire 31 PDA to go paperless. Quick and easy to have all the cache pages in hand without impacting the environment with all the print outs and wasted ink.

Is it possible to go paperless for waymarking as well. I can load the LOC files into GSAK and then import to my GPS, but I am wondering about what to do about the cache pages. With all the requirments of waymarks varying, I figured this would make it easier to visit more places. Don't really want to carry around a three-ring binder with "waymark" pages in them.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,

For waymarking in general you don't need each waymark page on your PDA and can get by with the category descriptions.  The category description will give you the visit requirements and the submitting requirements.  The descriptions are avaible in a text format at Wayward Waymark tools.   The text files are maintained by Flipflopnick who does a good job of keeping them up-to-date as new categories are created.

Thanks for the information. I will work to get these loaded onto the PALM and go from there. I like the txt file better than the Excel file as I am not sure what all the "post" and "visit" letters currently mean. Now to somehow get the category to show on the GPS.

gvsu4msu:

Thanks for the information. I will work to get these loaded onto the PALM and go from there. I like the txt file better than the Excel file as I am not sure what all the "post" and "visit" letters currently mean. Now to somehow get the category to show on the GPS.

Okay here is how I think I can make this work.

Loading the GPS:

1. Save LOC files to computer.

2. Upload LOC files into GSAK.

3. Export to GPS with the %name export. (I use an Etrex Vista so I only want the WM#)

Loading the PDA

1. Convert LOC files with Cachemate convert files

2. Load Converted files to PDA

3. View files with Cachemate

Knowing Waypoint Requirements:

Load the TXT files as provided in the link above.

Unless an owner has specific requirements, I should be okay.

This can also be helpful when I am out and about and see something interesting that could be a waymark.

We will see how this goes.

Yes your steps should work fine.  One other step you might consider before loading loc file to GSAK is to convert it to a GPX file using GPSBabel.  The reason I suggest this is because the loc file actually has the category contained in it in a type tag but when loading the loc file directly into GSAK this is not uploaded.  However once the loc file is converted to a GPX file first the category is written to the description area in GSAK.  This may not help you much with a Vista however for Nuvi owners it can then be written into a POI file.    It does make it handy in GSAK to see category.  (someday maybe I will write a macro to copy it from the description up to user data 2 or something so it can be filtered.)

BQ told me how to get the waymarks into the GPS. If you have a Garman, you can download a Custom POI Loader. I use GSAK to create a gpx file (I think), and use the Custom POI loader to get it into the GPS. When I click Find, one of the options is Custom POIs.

BQ uses it more extensively, and could probibly give better instructions.

For visiting Waymarks, I wouldn't bother to load to my GPS, personally. When I am going out, I'm usually geocaching first, and waymarking second. Before I leave, I click find nearest waymarks from my target cache, and look them over. The ones that interest me stick in my mind, and I grab a photo when I see them.

We are going to Pisa, Italy in August. 2 waymarks in Pisa, the tower and another world heritage site. The next closest is a mountain summit 39 miles away. Virgin territory! I'll be sure to post the Pisa McDonalds!