Geocaching with a Magellan CrossoverGPS

Every now and then I come across a thread on a geocaching forum where someone is asking how to load waypoints automatically onto a Magellan CrossoverGPS. Usually the responses are not very helpful, and suggests that the person should pick up a GPSr more suited to geocaching. While that might be a good solution for some, I’m writing this article to help those of you that have this GPSr and would like to get the most out of it.

Since I have successfully been geocaching with my CrossoverGPS for a little while now, I figured I would take the time to show how I use it in this article. Hopefully this will help others down the road.

First off, let me give you a little bit of history about why I chose the Magellan CrossoverGPS and how it has worked for me. If you have read my website before, you might notice I am an avid off-road enthusiast with my Jeeps. When I decided to buy a GPS for my vehicle, I wanted something that could handle both on-road turn-by-turn directions, and could also track my off-road routes and waypoints. I knew that one day I would want to try some geocaching, so I needed a device that was relatively small (but still had a big enough screen for me to see on my dash) and had an internal battery so it wasn’t stuck in my vehicle. Lastly, it needed to be kind of rugged and waterproof, since one of my Jeeps is missing the doors and part of the roof. That’s when I found the Magellan CrossoverGPS. Unfortunately I ended up waiting almost 3 months for it to finally get released last February; but as soon as it was released, I bought one.

Now, I know there are a lot of people who do not like all-in-one type devices. If you are one of those people, then this is not the device for you. On road turn-by-turn directions has worked very well for me, and so has the off-road mapping and tracks. As far as geocaching, this device has also worked well for me, though it does require a few additional steps that other GPSr’s do not. I’ve been very happy with my Crossover 🙂

Anyways, here’s how I use my CrossoverGPS for geocaching. It took me a little while to figure out a system that works for me, and here’s what I have come up with. Hopefully, this will help some of you other there that also have this device and would like to use it for Geocaching.

What do I use?

Alright, now that you have all the gear needed, how do you use it together. Here’s my step-by-step process.

1. First, you need to go ahead and create a Pocket Query on Geocaching.com to have the GPX file emailed to yourself. If you do not know how to do this, go here.

2. Once you get the GPX file in your inbox, you need to copy it over onto your PocketPC. You can do this by using a Secure Digital (SD) memory card, or connecting the POcketPC via USB cable and using Microsoft Activesync. Once the file is on your device, you can open it in Cachemate.

3. Next, you need to use Cachemate to export the Geocaches using the Magellan SD File Export Plugin and save them onto your SD memory card. I recommend naming the file in all CAPITAL letters, as the CrossoverGPS is picky about stuff like that.

4. Now this is where things get a little bit tricky. The file that is exported will look like this: ‘NAME.wpt’ (assuming you named the file: NAME). Unfortunately, the CrossoverGPS does not recognize files with the .wpt extension. In order for the device to recognice this file, you need to change the extension. The proper extension is .UPT (again, it needs to be capitalized). In order to change this extension on my iPaq, I use a program called PocketExplorer, which allows me to change it right on the device, as the built in explorer will not allow you to change extensions. In my example, the final file would be named: NAME.UPT

5. OK, now that you have the file with the proper name, make sure that it is on your SD card and put that card into your CrossoverGPS.

6. In order to import the Geocaches into your CrossoverGPS, you need to go into ‘Outdoor’ mode. From the main menu, choose ‘Options’ and then navitage all the way to the bottom of the menu and choose ‘Import’. Click on ‘Waypoints’ and you will be presented with a list of all .UPT files on your SD memory card. Choose the proper UPT file, and it will import all of the Geocaches within that file.

7. Now you can go to your ‘Waypoints’ from the main menu, and you should see all of the Geocaches you just imported. Then just choose the one you want and start searching!

Hopefully this article helps some of you out there. Even if you don’t follow my exact process, hopefully some of this will help you use your CrossoverGPS for geocaching. If you have any further questions, please feel free to leave me a comment here, and I’ll do my best to answer it.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 1st, 2007 at 9:05 pm