Tired of Entering Co-ordinates by Hand?

I must admit that I am always amazed when I hear how people often enter cache co-ordinated by hand into their GPS receivers. When I first started caching, I rapidly concluded that there 'must be a better way' and quickly sought one out. After a short search, I discovered GSAK (the Geocaching Swiss Army Knife) and have stuck with it ever since. Whenever I meet up with some one still labouriously entering co-ordinates manually, I am quick to suggest that they look into GSAK. Having used it for so long, I easily forget that it can has a very steep learning curve. It also has many advanced features (which is why I love it) that many cachers would not ever use. But not to worry--if you are tired of entering co-ordinates by hand, there is an easier way.

In addition to GSAK, there are many other programs and methods to transfer co-ordinates to your GPSr. These include:

• the geocaching.com "Send to GPS" function on the cache page. This tool only supports Garmin GPS receivers, and only transfers one cache at a time
• Trip and Waypoint Manager or the Mapsource software (that comes with any purchased maps) from Garmin--again, only works with Garmin units
• TopoGrafix programs EasyGPS , ExpertGPS and GeoBuddy

Of the above, I would recommend trying EasyGPS as a first start. It is straightforward to install, set up and use. It works with a wide range of GPSr models. And best of all, it is free! If you find that after using it for awhile you want more features, then moving to another program will not be difficult. However, you may find that the basic features of EasyGPS are all you need.

In order to help you get started, I have set up a new section of tutorials on EasyGPS . Currently, there are two tutorials that will help you 1) install and set up EasyGPS and 2) load Pocket Queries and then send co-ordinates to your GPSr . I hope this will help you to find the freedom from manual co-ordinate entry!