Geocaching Without Paper

LATELY I've had several people ask me about how I geocache with my Palm instead of cache print outs. Rather than repeat what I do over and over again, I thought I'd put it together in a webpage. As always, this is not the only method for doing something, it's just my way. It might be a little complicated for some, or there may just be easier ways to do it, but this is what works for me. Follow these instructions and you too will be caching without print outs, which is much more environmentally friendly (well, not really, since I've been known to beat squirrels to death with my Palm from time to time).

First things first. When you signed up to be a paying member of Geocaching.com, one of the perks you received was the ability to do Pocket Queries of caches in your area. One of the options with these Pocket Queries was to have them sent to you as .prc files so you could install them on your Palm. The instructions told you that you would need to download MobiPocket Reader, which is free and fairly easy to set up. Unfortunately, they didn't tell you that MobiPocket was a resource hog and would slow your Palm down to a crawl. That's why I'm about to complicate your life by telling you how I do it.

Here's what you'll need to cache paperless like me:

1. A Pocket Query from Geocaching.com in .gpx format
2. Download GPX Spinner, a free/shareware program created by a geocacher.
3. Download Plucker, a free html conversion program for your Palm.

I guess it goes without saying that you'll also need a Palm. Don't get the idea that you'll have to have the top of the line model. In fact, you might want to avoid that since you will be taking this into the woods with you. My caching pages and Plucker together add up to 2583 K (Your mileage may vary. Mine's a little bigger since it's color and I use full graphics). You can probably pick up a Palm IIIxe for $50 or so on eBay or somewhere. That should be more than enough Palm for what you're going to do.

Download and install GPX Spinner. This will place a shortcut on your desktop. You want it there . . . leave it.

One word about GPXSpinner. The program can be downloaded for free but it's a good idea to register it, and it's not all that expensive. A lot of work has gone into putting this program together and your registration enables the developer to keep making updates and (more importantly) keeps him off the streets.

Download and install Plucker. You'll need to install both the Plucker desktop to your computer and the Plucker program to your Palm. The Plucker website can be a little confusing due to the wide variety of downloads they offer. Basically, if you're using a Windows based PC, you'll want to go to the Plucker Downloads page and download the Plucker Desktop for Windows 1.6.2.0 (rpm) package. However, be sure to check the Plucker website to make sure you are downloading the most current version of Plucker.

After this, you're just about ready to go!

Step 1. When you receive your Pocket Query from Geocaching.com it will come with a name like "32453.gpx." Save this attachment somewhere where you can find it (your "My Documents" folder should work fine).

Step 2. Wherever you placed your .gpx file, open it so you can see its icon and the GPX Spinner shortcut on your desktop at the same time. Place your mouse pointer over the .gpx file, click on it, and drag it on top of the GPX Spinner shortcut.

A black window will pop up and a whole bunch of number will start flying through it. Let them. That means it's working.

Step 3. When the black window disappears it means your cache pages have been successfully spun. If you placed the original .gpx file in your "My Documents" folder, you'll now see a new folder in there called "cache." Make sure it's there (or somewhere that you can find it).

Step 4. On your computer (not your Palm) open the Plucker Desktop (close that stupid Tip of the Day…who needs em anyway?). On the Plucker Desktop you'll see under the words "Channel Name" a few sample channels that have been put together for you. You can pretty much get rid of these, but you might want to hold on to the Plucker Manual..it's up to you.

Step 5. Click the button on the top left side of the Plucker Desktop (it's got a star in it). This is the "Add a new channel…" button. It will pull up a window for you to give the channel (your Palm cache pages) a name. I usually call mine "Local <date>" so I can remember how recently I renewed the pages on my Palm.

After ok'ing the name, a new window will pop up where you will set the parameters for your Palm caching page.

On the "Starting Page" tab, tell it that you're using a local file. Click the "Choose file…" button and find the folder called "cache" that I told you about in Step 3. Open the folder and look for the document inside it called "index.htm." This is the document you need to point Plucker to.

On the "Spidering" tab, make sure it says "Breadth first." This is the only thing here you need to worry about.

On the "Limits" tab, tell Plucker to retrieve linked pages to a depth of 3, check the box that says "Ignore links to a server that is different from the starting page's server" and then click the button that says "only restrict to domain." You can do these differently, but this is what has worked for me.

Ignore the "Formatting" tab

Click the "Images" tab and decide whether or not you'll include images and how deep the color will be. This is your own choice. No images means a much smaller document, but you might miss out on some essential information. If you're concerned about getting images but don't want to use much space go to "4 Shade Grayscale" or "Black and white" in the drop-down menu.

Ignore the "Output options" tab.

Click the "Destination" tab and make sure you see your Palm's user name there.

Ignore the "Scheduling" tab.

When you're done with all this, click "OK" at the bottom. You're almost there!

Step 6. Click on the name of your new channel to highlight it, then click the fifth button from the left. This is the "Update selected channels" button. A new screen will pop up and again numbers will fly by. Let it do its thing. It'll take a while. When it's done, click "OK."

Step 7. It's time to Hotsync your Palm. Put it in the cradle and hit the button. This is going to take a while, no matter how small you made the cache page. Go eat a cookie or something for a while.

Step 8. After the Hotsync is complete, click on your Palm's menu and look for the Plucker icon. Tap it and look for the name of your new cache page ("Local <date>" or whatever you decided to call yours). Tap it and the new Palm pages should open up.

Before you go through this process again, find that "cache" folder that you created in Step 2 and delete it. If you don't delete it, GPX Spinner will combine your old "cache" folder with the new one and you'll have a whole lot of problems!

Other programs you'll want to use with your Pocket Queries

You also might want to go ahead and delete the file off your Palm too. Open Plucker, click on the document (if it's already open you can skip that), click on the button in the upper left corner and then tap "Delete document…"

Repeat Steps 1 through 3. When you get to Step 4, open up the Plucker Desktop and change the date in your file's name so you will know it's current. Again, this is up to you, but that's how I do it.

Click "OK," highlight the Channel Name and click the fifth button ("Update selected channels"). Let it do its thing, then Hotsync your Palm. Then you're done!