Windows Mobile application for Geocaching.

WM6 is a professional OS, where the users normally have VPN to Exchange@work on their thingies, with a flatrate, and: They normally not tend to walk around in the forest So cost is normally not an issue.

I have researched this 3) issue, the registry editing ACT offers is told not to work sufficiently anytime. So give my links a try...

And: disabling 3G in the CM makes the connection slow but stable, WM6 offers no further difference between GPRS and 3G. It always tries to get the fastest network (which can be limited to GSM) which is a service for the user. You normally do not want to allow 3G just for data, as it is a complete different frequency and hardware, having 3G on for data, but talking over GSM will only use twice the power, hence draining the battery faster. So this configuration isn't even supported by the hardware.

So i would recommend to switch to GSM on leaving the car for the walk, that will give better battery life and reception in the woods, the data transferred usually is not that much (at least for GCz), so there should be no time problem.

neopren66 said:

I do love GCzII as it is, there are just two issues with my HTC Touch Diamond 2:

• Cost of data traffic: In my contract I have a per-minute-rate for EDGE/HSDPA which is usually quite OK. But sometimes I do not notice, that I am still connected - and have to pay 60 mins. Online-Time for 2 Minutes usage.
  
• Power consumption: GPS, Backlight and specially the usage of 3G/HSDPA causes the Battery to be empty after some hours. There are a number of tweaks flying around, but none of them worked satisfying here. So I would prefer a GCzII embedded solution.

So what I would like to have are two options,

1) SAVE COST: Disconnect EDGE/HSDPA automatically after cache-list-download and after cache-download (immediately or e.g. 20 seconds after completion). Re-connect automatically when needed.

2) SAVE BATTERY: Deactivate HSDPA = automatically switch from 3G/UMTS network (for HSDPA) to GSM network (EDGE) when data traffic is not used for some minutes. Re-Activate automatically when needed.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

As mentioned both of these items are completely outside of the scope of GCzII and can be handled by other programs.

Automatic data disconnect can be done by a plethora of other programs via configuration, such as Schnapps Advanced Config. It doesn't require a running program, only some configuration.

3G on and unused is the same amount of battery usage as EDGE, so toggling between the two when not using data is pointless and is troublesome. And GCzII does not randomly use data, it only does it when you request it. If you have downloaded a list of caches ahead of time it won't access the internet again unless you make it do so.

As for saving on cost, download caches on wifi and then turn on offline mode.

If you really want to save battery, use a Bluetooth GPS and turn down the screen backlight. Those together are in the 150mAh range of savings.

khaytsus said:

If you really want to save battery, use a Bluetooth GPS and turn down the screen backlight. Those together are in the 150mAh range of savings.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

On the trade of having two Devices to carry, to charge, to get lost and (last but not least) to have an empty battery when needed...

Only if you need an SirfStar and your thingie has another receiver (like my MDA), that would make sense to me.
BTW: I did notice i sometimes have good reception on the GPS monitor (at least 8 to 10 blue markers), but position does not update. Is it because my PDA has a non-StatNav-capable GPSr builtin? Does anyone know how the Qualcom 7200 CPU handles this?

Well, OK, I understand. Neither the TD2 nor WM6.x are mature products.

TD2 with GPS on consumes much (!!!) more power than external GPS (my BlueTooth GPS Data-Logger has a much smaller battery that lasts 30-36 hrs.) - and WM6.x has no functions to manage power consumption or connections efficiently.

Obviously nobody here seems to like the idea of auto-disconnect and auto-deactivate and prefers manual switching on and of, manual disconnection - and not to forgett it...

Strange, but OK... I absolutely agree that these functions should be provided by an external tool (if the OS itself does not) - but unfortunately up to now I found none that works fine (as explained already "Advanced Config" causes crashes and all the others like NoData or CommManager 3G need to be switched manually).

BTW: I am not sure, if this is really correct:

3G on and unused is the same amount of battery usage as EDGE, so toggling between the two when not using data is pointless and is troublesome.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Thought 3G and GSM are more or less independend different access-networks - not only data, but for voice as well - and the 3G receiver/transmitter use more power than GSP receiver/transmitter when being logged in.

neopren66 said:

Well, OK, I understand. Neither the TD2 nor WM6.x are mature products.

TD2 with GPS on consumes much (!!!) more power than external GPS (my BlueTooth GPS Data-Logger has a much smaller battery that lasts 30-36 hrs.) - and WM6.x has no functions to manage power consumption or connections efficiently.

Obviously nobody here seems to like the idea of auto-disconnect and auto-deactivate and prefers manual switching on and of, manual disconnection - and not to forgett it...

Strange, but OK... I absolutely agree that these functions should be provided by an external tool (if the OS itself does not) - but unfortunately up to now I found none that works fine (as explained already "Advanced Config" causes crashes and all the others like NoData or CommManager 3G need to be switched manually).

BTW: I am not sure, if this is really correct:



Thought 3G and GSM are more or less independend different access-networks - not only data, but for voice as well - and the 3G receiver/transmitter use more power than GSP receiver/transmitter when being logged in.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Feel free to do your own tests. I have dome some myself. If no data is flowing and otherwise same stuff running on the phone, being 3G vs EDGE is the same battery usage.

Active data is another story.... For example 2 boxes online with IMAP in Flexmail on 3G is 3-4% higher battery usage (per hour) than EDGE on average, or 30-50mAh extra.

As for the other post having two things to keep up with, this is true.. But personally I'd rather keep up with a small GPS that has a 20+ hour battery life. I don't have to worry about charging it that much, much faster to get a signal, keeps a signal better, more accurate, reduces the power consumption on the phone greatly, and can create tracks/waypoints entirely on its own without needing the phone. And if you don't have it or its battery dies? Use the phones GPS, you've lost nothing.

Personally every time I cache with the phones GPS I get frustrated because of how easily it loses a signal and the poor accuracy. Plus you have to be moving to keep any kind of information flowing, with my bluetooth unit I can stand still and get a good bearing on my target. With the phones GPS I gotta keep wandering around in circles until I find the right spot.

@neopren:
Its not the GPS consuming Power, its the not existent Display, Touchscreen, Cardreader, Radio, RAM, ROM and waaaay slower CPU that preserve Power on the external GPS.
I, for the long lasting user of WM Devices i am, have also not found any sufficient program managing what you mentioned. And the TD2 with its CommManager allowing me to switch Radio on and off on a Fingers touch, and the long pressed EndCall to disconnect GPRS, is way more comfortable than any other of my PDAs i have used.
If you find any solution to your problem, feel free to post it.

@khaytsus:
What for an external GPSr are you using, that it can make Waypoints for itself, and also give Info to the Phone (via Bluetooth)???

perfect

He guy, this tool is perfect. I looked a long time for an app like this.
thumbs up!!!

P5x5-User said:

@neopren:
Its not the GPS consuming Power, its the not existent Display, Touchscreen, Cardreader, Radio, RAM, ROM and waaaay slower CPU that preserve Power on the external GPS.
I, for the long lasting user of WM Devices i am, have also not found any sufficient program managing what you mentioned. And the TD2 with its CommManager allowing me to switch Radio on and off on a Fingers touch, and the long pressed EndCall to disconnect GPRS, is way more comfortable than any other of my PDAs i have used.
If you find any solution to your problem, feel free to post it.

@khaytsus:
What for an external GPSr are you using, that it can make Waypoints for itself, and also give Info to the Phone (via Bluetooth)???

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

The BT GPS tracking, waypoints, and even voice notes attached to points, etc, are all not communicated to the phone, it's entirely standalone operation and logged to the MicroSD in the unit. It otherwise works as a normal BT GPS however, sending NMEA/SIRF data to the phone, but it has the standalone features on top of it. The data can be extracted in a few different ways, it ships with a Java app which can convert the data, geotag pictures, associate voice tags, etc, to KML for Google Earth. There are also ways to script it with other programs, which is how I'd use it. Probably import the data into TrackMe's web service.

Columbus V-900, also goes by other names if you search for V900 Bluetooth GPS, but not seeing the others offhand. It's a rather neat unit, I hope to have one soon, although my good ole Holux 236 still does me well today.

Yes, I absolutely understand the advantage of having a seperate BT GPS Receiver. That's exactly what I had up to some weeks ago - and it worked perfectly from the technical point of view: An HP iPAQ, a BT GPS Data logger - and a Phone for the Internet-link with BT connection to the iPAQ. And I had full control which device is on, consumes power and generates online fees.

Now I decided to have one device only - and would like to have more or less the same comfort as I had before. Obviously I expexted to much. However - if I decide to carry besides the TD2 a second device with me, this will be for sure not a GPS Receiver, but a large external battery. Battery<>TD2 will have less interface issues than BT_GPS<>TD2.

@P5x5-User: Since a auto-disconnect for the data connection obviously does not match to the idea of GCzII, I opened a discussion on pocketpc.ch, maybe you noticed it already...

OK, but I am comming far Off-Topic, so I will close my request here.

neopren66 said:

OK, but I am comming far Off-Topic, so I will close my request here.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

It isn't the problem of GCzII and Tom recommends a flat rate in the very first post of this thread:

(Rcommend flat rate access services to the Internet. 3G/GPRS like.)

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Since there are many programs that use a connection to the internet, there should be other solutions and programs for your problem that MAY help, but it's nothing that should be included into GCzII because it isn't the fault of the program.

But I definately CAN understand your problem with the power consumption because I also have a TD2. I have a simple solution for it...... when you have a look at the two pictures I attached.
1.jpg --> This is how my TD2 looks like when I'm not hunting.
2.jpg --> This is how my TD2 looks like when I AM hunting With this battery plus the normal battery I can hunt at least 9 hours without charging (in the car).

9 hours means GCzII and TomTom run both at the same time at my TD2 with full brightness and I don't use the standby or switch the screen off. I could also charge it while we're driving but 9 hours of caching a day is enough for us

The short battery life isn't necessarily a problem of WM, but of the design of the mobile. It's just too slim for a bigger battery.

But now we can get back to topic, can't we ?

Cheers,
derlbear

Orbitter2: as for the cache series and collecting clues for a bonus cache. I usually do one simple thing: every new bonus number I manage to get I write down to the note of THE BONUS CACHE. So slowly I get all of them and finally can calculate the bonus coordinates.
You do not need any special functionality in the GCzII for this.

derlbear said:

It isn't the problem of GCzII and Tom recommends a flat rate in the very first post of this thread:

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

A recommendation is a recommendation - and does not neccessarily fit everyones needs. For sure it is worth having a flat rate for those who have much mobile data traffic or are online for long time. But I don't.

I am currently 20 - 40 minutes online per month, 8ct each, 2.40 Euro total average per month. But there is this risk sometimes to miss to disconnect manually via the CommManager-Detour. This can add up to 300 minutes = 24 Euro per month or so.

For my purposes I would prefer to pay 2.40 Euro per month by having an intelligent software that supports to disconnect.

Obviously the flat rate (for maybe 15 Euro per month, dont know exactly) is the state-of-the-art solution to manage the risk. Applications establish connections but do not disconnect them after usage. Yes, sounds like a good plan.

derlbear said:

I have a simple solution for it...... when you have a look at the two pictures I attached.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

OK, for me it seems that devices, operation software and application software are not really designed to save power.

So obviously a bigger or external battery is again the state-of-the-art solution for the power problem.

derlbear said:

But now we can get back to topic, can't we ?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Yes, we can:

I have another idea concerning the GUI.

IMO the major screens are the screens
- "Main/Search" (different search options)
- "Cache List" (sometimes several pages)
- "Cache" (several subviews)
- "GPS Monitor" (what I call radar screen) and the
- "Google Maps" application

So e.g. you follow the path "Search" > "Cache List" > "Cache" > "GPS Monitor". From "GPS Monitor" you need to use "Back" Button to come to "Cache" and "Back" several times to come to "Search" or "Cache List" srceen.

On the other hand if you follow select "GPS Monitor" from the menu of the "Search" screen "Back" will bring you back to "Search" (and not to "Cache" as above).

Of course the purpose of "Back" is to bring you there where you came from. But sometimes I do not remember the full path I used. So the resuld when pressing "Back" is sometimes a little surprise.

Idea if the GUI should be re-designed a little one day:

Introduce small tabs (or buttons, with the selected one inactive) at the bottom of each screen:

[Main/Search] [Cache List] [Cache] [GPS Monitor] [Google Maps]

1) These short-cuts should jump directly to the related screen without several Back-steps.

2) The sub-screens in "Search" (different criteria), "Cache List" (several pages), "Cache" (Description, Hints, Logs, Coins, Waypoints...) could be selected by Left/Right buttons like in the search screen, all with the same look and feel.

3) Also "Radarscreen" functions could be combined in one Mainscreen with Left/Right Button to select sub-screen: GPS Monitor, Goggle Map and the different downloaded maps/satellite pictures. So in the shortcuts [GPS Monitor] [Google Maps] could be replaces by [Radar Screens] (or whatever one might call it).

I think these (not so huge) modifications can make the GUI even more clear and faster to use, than it is already today.

(Just my 2 cents, OK, well maybe these are 5 cents)

Gech said:

German
"Create Cache List (Need translation)"
"Merge Cache List (Need translation)"
"Remove Cache (Need translation)"

"Owned (Need translation)"

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

My proposals:

"Create Cache List"
Cache Liste erstellen

"Merge Cache List"
Cache Listen verbinden (means "Merge Cache Lists")
Cache Liste verbinden (which means "Merge a Cache List")

"Remove Cache"
Cache entfernen (means "remove")
Cache löschen (means "delete")

"Owned"
Eigene Caches (means "own caches")
Meine Caches (means "my caches")

German

Gech said:

German
------------
"Create Cache List (Need translation)"
"Merge Cache List (Need translation)"
"Remove Cache (Need translation)"

"Owned (Need translation)"
------------

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

------------
"Cache-Liste erstellen"
"Cache-Listen zusammenfügen"
"Cache entfernen"

"Eigener Cache"
------------

I don't know if "Eigener Cache" is the correct translation for "Owned", because I can't see "Owned" in a context. So what.

Gech said:

I suppose this is the final version as GCzII. (except critical issue)
Because GCzII changed and added lots features after first release.
To expand new features there are lots of design limitations exist now.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

MY HEART STOPPED BEATING!

Gech said:

So, now is the time to remake as new version. GCzIII. LOL
It would be faster and reduce memory consumption. (maybe...)

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

YAY

derlbear said:

It's "Cache-Ordner", not "Cache-Ordne" You forgot to copy the "r".

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Could you please change this, too? I can't check if you already did it because my battery is empty and I forgot the charger 80km from here at a friends flat THANKS! THANKS! THANKS !!

Cheers,
derlbear

Edit: Whoops, took me to long to create this post

derlbear said:

"Cache-Liste erstellen"
"Cache-Listen zusammenfügen"

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Yes, with the dash "-" it sounds/looks better than my proposal. Also "zusammenfügen" is nicer than "verbinden". However - if "zusammenfügen" is too long, "verbinden" is an alternative.

Gech said:

...I suppose this is the final version as GCzII...
thanks

tom

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Well Tom, GCzII has come a long ways since GCz. Your contribution to the caching community is amasing. If a version 3 ever materialises, I look forward to it, but if not, Thank you so much for all your hard work. It is very much appriciated.

Automatically download static maps?

Is there a way to automatically download static maps with the cache on the initial request instead of having to reload?
I realize that is a lot of data usage, but seems it will eliminate reloading the cache on each individual cache page just to retreive the static images.
Or maybe I missed an option or I'm just doing something wrong and not getting the images???

Great Software

This is a GREAT piece of software. I used it yesterday a lot and it appeared to do as well as my garmin in the open. I do have a small request. On the screen where you are viewing the cache list, can something be added to show if it has a travel bug without having to open each cache and look at inventory? It would be great if on that screen it had a pic of a tb like geocaching.com has when you do a list? Other then that I love this. Works much better then other things. Thanks again

CR

Gech said:

I suppose this is the final version as GCzII. (except critical issue)
Because GCzII changed and added lots features after first release.
To expand new features there are lots of design limitations exist now.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Thanks a lot also from my side.

You created an excellent piece of software that perfectly works on my TD2. I absolutely enjoy using it!

Gech said:

So, now is the time to remake as new version. GCzIII. LOL
It would be faster and reduce memory consumption. (maybe...)

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

If you really go for a version III one day: I shared some of my thoughts concerning the GUI and how to navigate fast and convenient from screen to screen in my posting above. Attached I drafted my idea by using a "powerpoint-simulation".

Open/Start the file and click on the blue buttons I added at the bottom of the screens. Hope you like it.
.