.loc files -> gpsbabel+ -> .gpx files that can be imported as POI into maemo mapper for easy plotting of hundreds of caches on the map. I just scribble down some notes before I leave and I'm good to go. It's functional, but not nearly as slick as gpxviewer.

Thank you!!!!

I have been wanting a geocaching app forever!

Thanks. Forgot about that option. Although it would be nice if it worked natively.

gpxview uses the gpsbt framework of maemo to start the gps which is the way it's meant to be used. This works for me and all of my beta testers. Did you change your setup from the default one? E.g. install a patched gpsd or so?

Can you start gpxview from the xterm and tell me what it tells on the command line while starting without finding a gps itself? In fact it _must_ be finding something itself because it only tries five times at startup time and gives up with gps if that fails. Also my gps startup routines work very much like the ones in maemo-mapper as i took a look there to see how this is being done in maemo.

And yes, some "number of satellites in view" thing is on the to do list.

Below are the results from my entire run on my 810 with the internal GPS. What I saw again was that all of sudden the goto option in gpxview said I was over 4000 miles from my cache. I let it run that way and the miles did count down, it went from something like 4313 to 4312. I then selected a different cache and then went back to my original cache and everything worked fine. Something in the gps data appears to confuse the goto at times.

I ran the exact same cache on my 800 with a bluetooth gps and had much better luck. It worked much better for the whole drive. Both units were sitting right next to each other on the seat next to along with the bluetooth gps.

One thing I did notice on the 800 that is probably tied to the 810 problem is when the lock is lost.

When I entered my work place both the 810 and the 800 lost their lock. The 810 just stayed with the 2.1 miles from the cache. The 800 now switched to saying I was over 4000 miles from the cache.

With the 810 gps not being that great it maybe that when the lock is lost gpxview does not always recover correctly. This could have lead to both the startup issues I saw yesterday and the odd results I see sometimes while using it.

The "position not valid messages" below were from when I entered the building. My general location is NW of Milwaukee, WI USA. 53092 is my zip code at work.

Hope this helps. Keep up the great work!

~ $ gpxview
Error creating connection to GPSD, retrying ...
GPSD connected ...
gpxview[4232]: GLIB DEBUG ConIc - con_ic_connection_send_event(0xafc80, home-n, WLAN_INFRA, 0)
gpxview[4232]: GLIB CRITICAL ** Gtk - gtk_tree_model_filter_row_has_child_toggled: assertion `elt->visible' failed
GPSD: position valid at 43.331261 -88.262558
GPSD: heading valid at 0.000000
gpxview[4232]: GLIB DEBUG ConIc - con_ic_connection_send_event(0xafc80, home-n, WLAN_INFRA, 1)
GPSD: position not valid
GPSD: heading not valid
GPSD: position valid at 43.238960 -87.923233
GPSD: heading valid at 0.000000
GPSD: position not valid
GPSD: heading not valid
GPSD: position valid at 43.239239 -87.923271
GPSD: heading valid at 0.000000
GPSD: position not valid
GPSD: heading not valid

Putting the N810 on the seat isn't optimal. The internal GPS receiver seems to be relatively primitive, and needs a good view of the sky. Putting it in the windshield would probably work much better, but you'll need a mount. Using an external bluetooth receiver is probably the best way to go, since you can put it wherever it gets a good signal, and the NIT wherever you can see it.

The problem with GPS and geocaching is that GPS never gives a good directional indicator unless you are actually moving. Relying on an on-screen compass is OK unless you move very slow or stop.

Still - Looks like a fun app!

That's why you need a real compass when geocaching. The GPS isn't a compass. It only knows approximately where it is, and where the destination is, not which direction you're facing. With a compass, you can read the direction to the destination (cache) and sight on a course to it. A GPS can never do that, although some outdoor GPS units do have an electronic compass built in. Electronic compasses have their limitations, though, and I prefer a standard magnetic compass.

Actually, if you run Maemo mapper at the same time and add a POI for the cache's location you usually have a pretty good idea in what direction to go...

I agree that direction indicator does not work when standing still. The programs I have used in the past on other platforms did pretty good in pointing the correct direction at even a slow walking pace. It appears the gps in the 810 adds some challenges to geocaching because it gives back data that is flakier than I thought. Meomo mapper must be pretty good at filtering through the bad data because it hid a lot of noise that appears to be in the data stream. My tracks in maemo mapper were normally right on even when walking. I did have one case where my 3/4 of mile walk with maemo mapper turned into over a mile because I track showed I jumped about .25 miles out of my way for one data point. I didn't know I could teleport that far

A compass does not do much good unless I know which direction to go. Most the caches I have gone after have the coordinates but not a direction. My orienteering days go back to before there where publicly available GPSes. Learning to read a map and use a compass are skills that I learned as a Scout and I am now teaching to Scouts.