Georgia Geocachers Association
February 2004 Meeting Minutes

The meeting was held on February 14, 2004 at the REI on I-85 Access Road in Atlanta. There were 62 members attending, including 20 new members.

Mtn-man again acted as Master of Ceremonies. He welcomed everyone and particularly the new members. Throughout the meeting, he gave some information about how the GGA functions. He commented that an update to the GGA web site was in the works. Also, at a date some few months in the future, the GGA members will probably be called on to donate toward the expenses of the web site and forums. More information will be forthcoming on this topic.

The major topic for the day was Paperless Geocaching. Mtn-man presented a summary of the available techniques, programs and equipment involved in “going paperless.” Using the latest in high-tech equipment – video camera, TV, laptop PC and Palm PDA – he stepped us through some of the benefits and pitfalls of various programs for downloading files as well as those that transfer the data to a PDA. Much of what was presented has been put on the GGA web site at http://www.ggaonline.org/resources/paperless_caching/paperless_caching.html. There is also a topic on the GGA forums at http://ggaonline.org/eve/forums?a=frm&s=7156023341&f=6056010303 where comments and suggestions about paperless geocaching can be reviewed. Also, Mtn-man provided a handout to everyone, and a copy is attached at the end of these notes.

The presentation was broken into three parts. First was a discussion of Pocket Queries and getting cache files downloaded to your computer from www.geocaching.com. Second, was a summary of some of the programs available for converting the files to different formats ready for loading to the PDA and GPSr. Then came a short break.

After the break, the drawing for door prizes was held. Many good Travel Bugs, cache containers, trade items and even a battery charger were in the prize group.

Next, Mtn-man continued. The third section of the paperless topic involved the programs for loading the converted data into a PDA. Overall, it was a good discussion and primer on paperless geocaching.

It being Valentine’s Day, we broke on schedule so folks could get into the spirit of the day. Some stayed around shopping in REI and a few souls braved the threatening weather to find some nearby caches.

Special thanks to REI on I-85 for allowing us to use their facility for our meeting! They also let us use their TV for the "show." And additional thanks to ~erik~ for the use of his video camera!

Our next meeting will be on March 13, 2004 in Macon, Georgia.

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Paperless Geocaching
Meeting Handout
NOTE: THIS IS A CORRECTED VERSION!

.loc files -- standard waypoint format for loading caches into your GPS.
.gpx files -- waypoint format with tremendous amounts of additional data.
.prc files -- "ebook" format compatible with Palm Operating System (OS).

EasyGPS -- http://www.easygps.com/latest.asp (ver 1.2.4) (Free program)

ClayJar's Watcher Program -- http://clayjar.com/gc/watcher/ (GPX reader)

GPSBabel -- http://gpsbabel.sourceforge.net/ (GPX converter)



**Programs that convert GPX data for use in Palm OS**

GC.com Pocket Query .prc output -- http://www.geocaching.com/pocket/

GPXSpinner -- http://www.gpxspinner.com/

gpx2html -- http://home.comcast.net/~fizzymagic/gpx2html.html

Cachemate -- http://www.smittyware.com/palm/cachemate/ (from GPXSonar)

Allen Lacy's Remailer -- see the topic below for information:
http://ggaonline.org/eve/forums?a=frm&s=7156023341&f=6056010303


**Programs that get data into your Palm OS PDA**

Plucker -- http://www.plkr.org

iSilo – http://www.isilo.com

Mobipocket -- http://www.mobipocket.com/

AvantGo -- http://www.avantgo.com (Consumer Service Section)

GPXSonar -- http://gpxsonar.homeip.net/ (for Pocket PC 2002 > PDA's)

GPXView -- http://strandberg.org/gpxview/ (for Pocket PC 2002 > PDA's)


** Don't sync too many links -- you may eventually download the entire web! Sync three to four deep at the most. Most programs tell you how deep to sync.

Bump. Doesn't anyone care?

Sorry, I had replies turned off.
Anyone can post replies here, but only SC member can start topics.

[This message was edited by mtn-man on February 21, 2004 at 11:41 PM.]

I care.

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Ra! Ra! Ra!

Can't ya feel 'the love'?
Regarding the same subject, I am still working on a webpage for Paperless Cachin' with a MAC.
Yes, there a few of us out here.

"Give to a pig when it grunts and a child when it cries, and you'll have a fine pig and a bad child." -Proverb

quote:

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Originally posted by phat.bak:
Can't ya feel 'the love'?
Regarding the same subject, I am still working on a webpage for http://home.alltel.net/tbone/macgps.html.
Yes, there a few of us out here.

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yea - i got one too. its called my paper weight

Thanks for putting all this information in one place.

Maybe we will be able to make a meeting someday.

quote:

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yea - i got one too. its called my paper weight

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Whew! It passed. Don't wanna get into another flamewar with a 'WinBlows' user.
Been there - Done that.