TAG :: Toronto Area Geocachers » beta

Oct 31 2011

Friday night, Cachedrone made an interesting post in the Groundspeak Forums – “Testing in Ontario: Organized Group Hunts“.

The text of his post reads:

Recently the reviewers of Ontario approached Groundspeak with a request. We asked if Ontario could be used for a two month period to test the idea of allowing an Event to be listed for the sole purpose of group caching (organized cache hunt). We are pleased to announce that they agreed. For the months of November and December it will be possible to create an Event Cache to simply go geocaching. We are very interested to see what the community creates during this period and how these events are received. This test is exclusive to Ontario and will end on the 31st of December. We may have to limit the number of group hunt events that are listed in any given area. With the exception of allowing group hunts, all other guidelines still apply to the review process, like the 14 days advance notice. It should go without saying that each of these events, the logs posted on them and any forum feedback will be tracked for discussion with Groundspeak at the end of the test. This should be viewed as a one-time opportunity to explore a new way to be social with fellow geocachers on the trail and not an indicator or future developments. We look forward to this study and your feedback.

If you have questions about this you can reply within this forum thread or email me directly at [email protected]

What does this mean, exactly? Well, it means that for two months – November and December 2011 the rules regarding event caches are being tweaked in Ontario, Canada as an experiment. Normally a geocaching event must be a social activity that is more than just a group of people going geocaching together. This is to prevent people from listing an event every time they go caching with friends (overwhelming the event listings).

Now, these organized cache hunts can be listed as an event. That means activities like the Ottawa GeoMob’s weekly breakfast, or the BFL Crew’s friday night get togethers could conceivably be listed as events. More likely, gatherings like the massive GHMGC organized cache hunts that occur monthly will be listed as a monthly get together.

It will be interesting to see how this turns out. It could mean a new social dynamic with regular caching events bringing more cachers together. Or it could mean losing sight of the big events like Spring Fling / GHAGAFAP, as the events are drowned out by a sea of “Lamp Post Micro Events”

Is this another quantity over quality concession from Groundspeak – power trails for event cachers?  Time will tell – at the end of the day, how Ontario geocachers respond to this experiment could define the future of events for everyone.

Events still need to be listed 14 days in advance, and the reviewers will be limiting the number of events in the same area if necessary. Events that are posted will be analyzed by Groundspeak. The experiment ends December 31,2011.

[ Groundspeak Forum Thread ]

Apr 08 2011

Garmin has released another beta for the Oregon x50 series GPS units. It corrects a shutdown issue introduced in the last beta and some ANT connectivity issues (ie Chirp).
This is a BETA release so don’t use it if you are not comfortable with reloading your GPS, or dealing with odd errors here and there. If you need to rely on your GPS 100%, you should be using the production firmware instead.

Change History

  • Fixed shutdown when selecting an option on the ‘Where To?’ page that was introduced with 4.45 beta
  • Fixed ANT connectivity issues that were introduced with 4.45 beta
  • Fixed the slow rendering time of the ‘About’ page that was introduced with 4.45 beta
  • Fixed a bug introduced in 4.45 beta where JNX settings were not being saved for each profile
  • Fixed an issue with magnetic north reference and waypoint headings
  • Problems with the software may be reported to [email protected]

[ Garmin Oregon 4.47 Beta ]

Mar 17 2011

Garmin has posted a batch of beta firmware downloads for their current outdoor product line. This affects the GPSMAP 62, GPSMAP 78, Oregon and Dakota lines. The updates are pretty much identical across the board, fixing GPS performance, JNX (Bird’s Eye) handling and a few crash bugs.

Please remember these are beta releases so while you are getting new features and fixes, there is nothing to say your GPS won’t do weird things after loading this software.

GPSMAP 62/78 2.93 Beta:

  • Improved GPS performance
  • Improved JNX file handling
  • Increased maximum number of supported JNX files to 250 from 200
  • Fixed shutdown when unit had more than the maximum number of JNX files on it
  • Fixed shutdown related to topographical maps and land cover text size
  • Fixed Glide Ratio to Destination field
  • Fixed problem with profiles and the fields on the map page
  • Problems with the software may be reported to [email protected]

Oregon 200/300/400 4.16 Beta:

  • Improved GPS performance
  • Improved JNX file handling
  • Improved the usability of the main menu setup page
  • Increased maximum number of supported JNX files to 250 from 200
  • Fixed shutdown when unit had more than the maximum number of JNX files on it
  • Fixed shutdown related to topographical maps and land cover text size
  • Fixed shutdown associated with certain custom POI files
  • Fixed Glide Ratio to Destination field
  • Fixed an issue related to adding a geocache as a point in a route
  • Problems with the software may be reported to [email protected]

Oregon x50 v4.45 Beta:

Changes made from version 4.32 to 4.45:

* Improved GPS performance * Improved JNX file handling * Improved the usability of the main menu setup page * Increased maximum number of supported JNX files to 250 from 200 * Fixed shutdown when more than the maximum number of JNX files were present * Fixed ‘Search Near’ functionality on Hunt & Fish and Sun & Moon pages * Fixed shutdown related to topographical maps and land cover text size * Fixed shutdown associated with certain custom POI files * Fixed Glide Ratio to Destination field

* Fixed problem with profiles and the fields on the map page

Dakota 4.01 Beta:

  • Improved GPS performance
  • Improved JNX file handling
  • Improved the usability of the main menu setup page
  • Increased maximum number of supported JNX files to 250 from 200
  • Fixed shutdown when unit had more than the maximum number of JNX files on it
  • Fixed shutdown related to topographical maps and land cover text size
  • Fixed shutdown associated with certain custom POI files
  • Fixed Glide Ratio to Destination field
  • Fixed issue with profiles and the fields on the map page
  • Problems with the software may be reported to [email protected]

Update: Added Oregon x50 series Beta

Feb 24 2011

Garmin’s OpenCaching.com site is nearing another milestone – the ability for third parts apps to edit (or delete!) geocaches and logs via the OpenCaching API.

If you’re just interested in geocaching, not writing apps, that’s pretty much all I need to say. The ability to edit logs on the fly is coming, and soon you will be able to log caches in the field without going to the web page.

If you’re a developer, this is where things get interesting. You will need to use OAuth for your app to gain access to the API. Garmin admits this is a tricky thing so they’ve set up a test server at test.opencaching.com.  This is a spot where you can test writing data to the site without worrying about creating bogus data – they reset the site once a week actually.

To get started, you should take a look at the API documentation on OAuth, and make sure you have a developer key.

Thanks cachemania for the tip

[ OpenCaching API Write Access Announcement ]

Feb 03 2011

The Geocaching.com February update also brings much goodness to the beta maps. Version 0.9.2 adds some personalization and filter abilities, and thus adds considerable value to the new maps.

As a reminder, the new beta maps enable you to view as many caches as you’d like plotted on the screen. You can view all the caches in the world if you’d like – you’re not limited to 500 caches at a time like the old maps. Up to now though that was about all you could do. The tool wasn’t useful for planning caching outings within your normal areas, since you could not hide the caches you owned or found:

With version 0.92, you have additional controls now. You’ll see there are filters on the left hand side, that let you toggle certain cache types on or off. To show the caches you have already found, or placed – you select that “Enable Personalization” check box about half way down the screen :

This shows all your finds, and caches placed. Pretty, but not much use for planning that power caching run. Let’s hide all those smileys and see where to cache this weekend. Click on the Smiley Face icon and the Star icon under personalization and I can see Terra Cotta might be a nice spot to check out:

What’s more, our friends at Groundspeak are not quite done yet! After this they are adding filters for Pocket Queries, trackables, and caches along a route. The Real-Time chat and Prescence items are interesting and may be coming from the Geocaching Live beta, though they’ll need to add these functions to the iPhone, Android and Windows Phone apps to get much traction in North America (and, it appears they are going to). Still, how cool would that be, to get a push notification that one of your geocaching friends is caching in the area…. or see geocachers plotted on the map screen (opt-in of course for those concerned with privacy)

Jan 04 2011

Garmin has released a firmware update for the Colorado.  What’s exciting is that they added Chirp support.  There were mixed messages coming from Garmin tech support as to whether or not the Colorado’s hardware was capable of talking to a Chirp.

Colorado v3.52: Download

  • Added support for chirp™ detection. This software update will allow Colorado units to detect previously-programmed chirp™ units. See http://www.garmin.com/chirp for details on which units are chirp™ compatible. NOTE: Due to the hardware present in Colorado devices, chirp™ detection range may be less than that of other compatible devices.
  • Updated magnetic Earth field data.
  • Fixed issue with certain JPEGs not drawing from Custom Maps.
  • Fixed issue with Oblique Mercator User Grid distances.

Dec 22 2010

Garmin has release a second round of firmware updates for their Geocaching capable receivers.

GPSMAP 62/78 v2.92: Download

  • Fixed issues with WAAS/EGNOS
  • Fixed issue with progress bar displaying properly on power up
  • Fixed issue with track navigation not adding waypoints to the Active Route list when they are exactly equal to a track point

Oregon v4.12: Download

  • Fixed issues with WAAS/EGNOS
  • Fixed issue with photo viewer not displaying correctly
  • Fixed issue with 3D view
  • Fixed issue with track navigation not adding waypoints to the Active Route list when they are exactly equal to a track point

Oregon x50 v4.32: Download

  • Fixed issues with WAAS/EGNOS
  • Fixed issue with moon not showing on sun and moon page
  • Fixed issue with photo viewer not displaying correctly
  • Fixed issue with progress bar displaying properly on power up
  • Fixed issue with waypoint distances showing significantly off in the waypoint manager
  • Fixed issue with 3D view
  • Fixed issue with track navigation not adding waypoints to the Active Route list when they are exactly equal to a track point

Dakota v3.82: Download

  • Fixed issues with WAAS/EGNOS
  • Fixed a hang that occurred when a unit had 1000 auto-named waypoints
  • Fixed issue with track navigation not adding waypoints to the Active Route list when they are exactly equal to a track point

As always, use at your own risk.  If you have to go back  to a previous version of firmware it will reset all your settings to default.

Dakota software version 3.82

Dec 21 2010

Groundspeak has relaunched the Geocaching.com site after today’s highly anticipated update. The core features are in place, and obviously people are taking notice as the site is getting slammed right now traffic wise. Here’s some of the new functionality you can now play with on the site.

Maps

The most impressive of the new features is the update to the maps. You can now view a lot more information on the screen, and there is no 500 cache limit on the map anymore … in fact, there is no limit at all any more. This makes locating a cache cluster much easier, and helps to easily visualize an area you may be visiting without all that pan/zoom madness that was on the old maps. You can also easily grab a link (URL) for the map to easily share with others.

When zoomed out past 500 metres, the display will change to coloured boxes instead of icons. You can change the map type displayed easily from the usual Google Road/Satellite/Terrain and also MapQuest, Bing and event OpenStreet Map and OpenCycle.

There is also a promise of “Geocaching Social” in the future, which will most likely utilize live.geocaching.com and/or the Geocaching.com mobile apps to show where your friends are geocaching on the map.  To use the new map, you’ll need to click on the “View the Map Beta” link at the top left of the screen when you head to a map page.

Favorites


This is the implementation of the oft requested rating system for caches. Rather than go with a 1-5 rating for various attributes of the cache, Groundspeak has opted to use a system where you can mark a cache you have found as a “Favorite”

You get 1 “Favorite” point for every 10 geocaches you visit. Multiple “Found it” logs on a cache count as one visit.  On cache pages which have been marked, you will see how many people have marked that cache as a Favorite. Click on the badge and you will see who they are, and have a link to their log entry for that cache.

At the moment, Pocket Queries do not support filtering on Favorites, but it is planned for the future.

Stats


Groundspeak acquired mygeocachingprofile.com so we were expecting this change. On every cacher’s profile page there is a new tab, “Statistics“. The tab does what you’d expect and shows various stats about your caching history. One nice touch is that the oddball caches, like that Virtual in Germany or the moving cache in BC are not included when calculating the distance stats.

While you can use the mygeocachingprofile.com web page, or the FindStatsGen macro for GSAK to get a lot of these statistics (and more), the stats on the Geocaching.com site are created automatically with no need to download your MyFinds PQ and wait for the number crunching. It’s a convenient way to flip back and forth between your friends if you’re sharing a challenge cache for example the Cache a Day or Fizzy challenges.

The statistics tracked at launch include:

  • Your find rate caches/day
  • Your longest find/no find streaks
  • Your best day, month, year for number of caches found
  • Finds/month (graphed)
  • Finds for Each Day of the Year
  • Cache types/ container types  found
  • Difficulty and Terrain Matrix (for Fizzy challenges et al)
  • Farthest distances travelled to find a cache

Dec 18 2010

Garmin has also released beta firmware for the Oregon series. Very similar list of fixes:

  • Updated magnetic Earth field data
  • Improved GPS performance
  • Fixed issue with track navigation sometimes not adding waypoints to the Active Route list
  • Fixed issue with MPC map labels disappearing
  • Fixed shutdown on the map page when you have a geocache dashboard active and return after pressing the geocache name

The firmware can be downloaded either here Oregon Updates & Downloads or here Oregon x50 Updates & Downloads depending on which model you own.

The Dakota also has beta firmware, again with a very similar list of fixes:

  • Updated magnetic Earth field data
  • Improved GPS performance
  • Fixed issue with track navigation sometimes not adding waypoints to the Active Route list
  • Fixed issue with MPC map labels disappearing

The firmware can be downloaded here: Dakota Updates & Downloads

Dec 18 2010

Garmin has made the beta v2.91 firmware for the GPSMAP 62/78 series GPS receivers available for download. As with all beta firmware, use at your own risk.

The fixes in this version:

  • Updated magnetic Earth field data
  • Improved GPS performance
  • Fixed issue with track navigation sometimes not adding waypoints to the Active Route list
  • Fixed issue with track and route review from the map page if you came from the elevation plot
  • Fixed issue with MPC map labels disappearing
  • Fixed issue with gpi files that have alerts attached to the points

The firmware can be downloaded at: GPSMAP 62/72 Updates & Downloads