TomTom no longer worthless for caching!
Once upon a time, when I started caching, I swore up and down that the TomTom was worthless for caching. And while it still won’t take you all the way to the cache, it has become useful for navigating to the cache in your car and finding which is the nearest cache to your location by road. I’ve also found that it’s useful during road trips to see which “caches along a route” are right off the interstate because you can set TomTom’s settings to show icon for geocaches on the map. I think TomTom has redeemed itself.
Here are the steps to load caches into your TomTom and use all it has to offer:
1. Run a pocket query and load the coordinates into GSAK.
2. Connect TomTom and wait for the prompts.
3. DO NOT open TomTom Home. Select “Open folder to view files.”
4. Look for the file that holds your maps and open it. For me, it’s the USA_and_Canada file.
5. Export your coordinates to a TomTom Point of Interest file.
6. Rename the file so you’ll recognize it in your device.
Note: My GSAK is set to automatically install the file to the device (notice the D:\ file path). Otherwise, you should know where GSAK will save the POI file to your computer so you can copy/paste from the computer to the file you opened on TomTom.
Your caches should be installed on the TomTom device at this point. Now, you need to find the caches on the device so TomTom can navigate you there! Here’s how to do that:
7. Touch “Navigate To…” and select “Point of Interest”
8. Scroll down to find the POI file you created.
9. Select the cache to which you want to navigate. (Notice – TomTom includes D/T info on the name of the cache)
Disclaimer: I fully expect that this method could work with units other than TomTom. However, I have not tried it and therefore not familiar with how it would work for other units including, but not limited to, what files to look for and how to export from GSAK. Also, this is the only way I know how to upload cache coordinates to the TomTom even though there may be other ways of doing so.
I really hope this will help enhance your caching experience!
Looks like good clear instructions and advice. We’ve got a Nuvi rather than a TomTom for road navigation, and I’ve been meaning to fingure out how to put caches on it for ages!
Annie
I wish I could help you out with the Nuvi…all I’ve ever used is my TomTom that my parents bought me as a Christmas gift back in ’06! I’d be willing to try doing something similar to what I did here with the Nuvi. It just might work a similar way
i use GSAK and the pilotsnipes macro to put caches on my nuvi 255w. one can put 1000′s of caches on it with this method. in addition to the waypoints, one can see all the detailed info contained in the pocket query.
see my entry for nüvi caching on my blog: http://www.blog.2trux.net/?cat=9
I don’t know much about the macros because I never use them :-\ From what I hear they can be really useful though, such as using it to upload caches into these units
I can’t see all of the detailed information from the pocket query on my TomTom. I only get the D/T ratings, which is enough for what I need. Thanks for sharing!
I don’t have a TomTom or a PC, but I do something similar with the Nuvi and my geocaching program when I do on caching “days” in a different part of town.
It worked pretty good when we drove from Ohio too…. I’ve perfected how I did it a little though
(minus the dirt roads and the occasional detour, lol)
LOL Glad to hear you’ve worked it out better with the Nuvi. Can’t complain about the dirt roads and occasional detour…it can turn into an adventure!