Anyone do Geocaching? Best cheap linux-friendly GPS?

[smartboyathome]

I am looking around for a new GPS (forget about the graphics card, I don't "need" it anytime soon ;)) and am wondering if anyone here does Geocaching, and also would like to know, if you do, what GPS you would recommend. My buget has a cap (just over $120 is my max except from Circuit City, where I have a $40 gift card). I have been looking into getting the Garmin GPS 60, but would like to know what your opinions are on this. Thanks. :)

Smartboy

[Trailmix]

Smartboy,

I've done alot of geocaching. I can't tell you what the best GPS for a linux user would be, but I can say that we are really happy with our Garmin... especially the plugin that automatically downloads the cache to your GPS.

Here's a link to the GPS and Technology topic on the Groundspeak (Geocaching) forum. If you ask your question here you will probably get several responses:

http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showforum=11

Good Luck,
Mike

[NTolerance]

I've got a Garmin eTrex HC which is a cheap and accurate GPS with Geocaching-specific features that are quite useful. It's got a high-sensitivity receiver that usually puts me within 10-15 feet of most caches.

I haven't tried it on Linux but on Windows XP it's as simple as getting the Garmin USB drivers installed and then using the Garmin Firefox plugin to add coordinates from Geocaching.com. I would imagine if similar USB drivers existed for Linux there's a chance the same Firefox plugin could be used on Linux. I would be interesting to see someone try this.

Edit: For some reason I forgot about Virtualbox. If you can't get your GPS working natively in Linux, use a Windows VM in Virtualbox 2.1 with USB support to make it work.

[smartboyathome]

That is actually what I got NTolerance. I have to use Vista to get my coordinates on it, though, since I don't have a premium account from geocaching.com. Thanks, though, Trailmix. :)

[strossel]

Hi!

I've got a Garmin GPS 60 and I use Ubuntu. I use Gpsbabel and GeBabbel to send and retrieve .loc or .gpx to/from my GPS.

Works perfectly! No need for Windows at all. But I'm looking for a way to get geocaching statistics om Ubuntu.

Any ideas?

[craigeo]

I have a blast geocaching.
I use my old Dell Axim X5 PocketPC I had laying around. (about $50 on ebay now).
GlobalSat SiRF III Compact Flash GPS ($80 on Amazon)
BeelineGPS software (about $30)
Have and SD card in the PocketPC that I use to transfer the gpx files to the pocketpc.
This setup works awesome. Gives the SiRF III chipset at a ton cheaper price. (Much more accurate and gets a signal through heavy brush much better).
I can do all paperless caching on this ... having all necessary information on one device.
Only downfall of this is if it's damp out the pda touch screen can stop working until it dries out. When it's damp I just put it in a large baggie and it works great.

[smartboyathome]

Hi!

I've got a Garmin GPS 60 and I use Ubuntu. I use Gpsbabel and GeBabbel to send and retrieve .loc or .gpx to/from my GPS.

Works perfectly! No need for Windows at all. But I'm looking for a way to get geocaching statistics om Ubuntu.

Any ideas?

Use Geotoad to get GPS statistics from the command line. That is what I did, until I found out you can't download the coordinates onto your Garmin GPS unless you have a premium geocaching.com account. :(

[strossel]

Use Geotoad to get GPS statistics from the command line. That is what I did, until I found out you can't download the coordinates onto your Garmin GPS unless you have a premium geocaching.com account. :(

It is possible to transfer coordinates from a loc-file to Garmin GPS with Gpsbabel. This way you don't need to have a premium membership. And with GeBabbel you get a GUI for Gpsbabel.

I'm not sure I understand what you're problem is...