It worked for me when I changed POI-database (in maemo mappers settings) to point the file GPXView made, so reinstalling should not be needed.

Great - changing the database worked perfect!

Ok..so....went out with the GF tonight in hopes of finally finding a geocache.

Once again I picked a lvl 1/1 so it should be easy.
It had been found just two days earlier.
I had a lock on 9 satellites.
So all was looking good...

The cache was about a mile away so we just walked over there.
I used maemo mapper and had hybrid maps down to lvl 2.

But, when getting to the general area where the stash was supposed to be the same frustration set in.

GPXView program: Just standing still the compass basically changes direction every second. N, S, E....you name it. My 'distance' to the POI was 10 feet and then the next second 50.
I help the N810 straight out and had a clear sky above me.
In the end GPXView was rather useless [for me] when using a loc file.

Maemo Mapper: The benefit here is that you get a POI icon on the map. Using a hybrid map it was fairly easy to see where it should be.
But the lack of detailed and consistent guidance from the GPS in the N810 failed to deliver me to the target.

I seriously doubt that I will ever use the N810 for geocaching again - which is pretty sad as it SEEMS really fun.

My experiences is not that the caches are hard to find or are gone - it's simply that the GPS in N810 is not accurate enough [for me] to enjoy this with. Standing still and it showing that I am 50ft away one second and 10 the next makes it not possible to use.

I'm curious if it's just me though...so I started a poll here

Yes, you are right GPXViews compass doesn't work if you are standing still. This is a basic problem with any GPS as a GPS only knowns which direction you are moving. If you stop moving the direction stops working. You can touch the compass in GPXView and it locks in place. If you have a small cheap magnetic compass with you, you should use that together with GPXView in locked mode. Perhaps you should have a look at the iPhone. The latest version includes an electronic magnetic compass. Most advanced GPS units supposed to be used at low speeds (e.g. by pedestrians) include a magnetic compass. Unfortunately Maemo devices don't have this. They are thus only suited for fast moving navigation.

Two advices for a beginner:

- Search you first cache with someone who's experienced. An experienced geocacher knows how typical stashes look like.

- Take lots of time and patience. It's pretty normal to search for an hour or two. That's part of the fun. A geocache usually isn't supposed to be grab'n go

It is sad to see you are giving up after your second try. The best method for finding caches with the moment compass is the intersection method. come at the cache from one direction until you get close; then move away and off to one side and do it again until you get a general but small area to search. The GPS will not tell you to stop when you are standing on it, the GPS is to get you close enough to 'HUNT' for it. Remember Rome was not built in a day and you have yet to find a cache, I am betting your biggest problem is you have not found the cache eye you need to see good hiding spots. People how do not know something is there are to walk by it as if there was nothing there.

Could you post the GC number to the caches you are hunting and i will see if I can help you find some hints/clues.

Thanks for egging me on...
I DID go out one more time tonight with the girlfriend...and...we...FOUND ONE !!!!


I must admit the feeling of finding it was very thrilling and now I want to go back to the one I tried yesterday as I just read that someone found that one just a few hours ago (ggrrr....).

So, I may not be putting my N810-geocaching on the shelf..quite yet

I used Maemo Mapper about 95% of the time as I still find GPXView to be rather useless for me - and it didn't exactly help that I received a note from the developer saying I was a 'complainer' about his tool.

That's great news that you found one.

I can't say I blame the developer. Any GPS application is only going to be as good as the data it gets.

I've tried any number of gps applications on the n810 and while they are accurate enough for driving down a road, it's just not accurate enough to locate an item 1x1 foot or smaller that is intentionally hidden.

I find GPXView to be indispensible to me as a geocacher. At a geocaching event I showed off my ridiculous n810 mount and GPXView and the consensus was that despite the lack of accuracy, the combination of features and the sheer number of geocaches that can be stored in the database, it's excellent.

May I suggest you check out the Geomate Jr? It's an $80 single-purpose device that has gotten excellent reviews.

I made Geocaching page in http://wiki.maemo.org/Geocaching. I tried to cover all areas what you need to know how to get in wonderful world of geocaching in Maemo devices. I hope that it will help beginers.

I hope that some native speaker fixes errors in my text. All other additions to it is also most appreciated.

Thanks a lot! I'll link to this from my gpxview related pages.

I have my own question re: geocaching, and I thought I might as well post it to this thread...

Right now, I am looking at this from the point-of-view of *creating* a geocache instead of *finding* them. Long story short: when creating a geocache, it is important to state the most accurate GPS coordinates possible. For consumer-grade GPS devices, this means taking an 'average' of many points. To my surprise and delight, I discovered that my (now ancient) Lowrance GM100 GPS had a 'take an average' feature when adding a new waypoint.

So, my question is this (has it already been asked?): can Maemo Mapper take *multiple* GPS readings at a location, and use that it store the location of a new (geocache) waypoint? It would seem easy -- in principle -- to do this, right?