|
Have some fun with Google StreetView |
This web page is a bit rough-and-ready, I'll maybe get around to beautifying it some day. However, I thought it might be useful to supplement my MacCMConvert download page with a page of links to some other software that is both useful for geocaching and compatible with Mac OS X. The following list is in no way comprehensive - it is based only on software that I use or have used. Most of the software listed is either freeware or shareware. In the interest of balance I am adding a list of applications that I consider commercial applications to the end of this page.
I find this to be one of the most useful programs to use when planning geocaching trips. Unfortunately, coverage is limited to the US, but within the US you can open a GPX file containing geocaches or other waypoints and view these plotted on aerial photographs or topographical maps. It will also communicate with Garmin GPS units for uploading/downloading of waypoints. Communication with the GPS unit will require you to get a USB to serial adapter. I use one from IOGear (Model #: GUC232A) but there are many others (e.g. Keyspan) that will work too.
Terrabrowser is currently undergoing a major rewrite. The author is being kind enough to regularly release updates of this new version and it is already a big improvement over the old version. Terrabrowser is developing into a really cool application.
The same company also has GPSConnect, which will suit your needs if all you want is to transfer data between your Mac and a GPS unit.
This is the GUI that I wrote for gpsbabel. Convert between the many and various GPS-related file formats. Gpsbabel works with both the LOC and GPX formats that geocaching.com uses. You can also use MacGPSBabel to transfer waypoints and tracks to/from your GPS receiver (Magellan/Garmin models only).
I tried this a long time ago and decided that it was far too slow at importing GPX format files for it to be of any use to me. However, more recent updates have vastly improved the import speed and this is now becoming a very good application. Mac Simple GPS can communicate with your GPS receiver for download/upload of waypoints and tracks. It can also import and export GPX files. It had been built with geocaching in mind and includes links to the geocaching.com website.
I can't test this fully because I have a Garmin GPSr, but it looks like it is a great application for owners of Magellan GPS units.
Actually this isn't a Mac program, but if you have a Mac (OS X), a Palm OS PDA, and a Garmin/Magellan GPS this program is really all that you need. Premium members of Geocaching.com can get caches sent to them as GPX files. Using CMConvert (or my GUI front-end, MacCMConvert) you can upload the GPX file to your PDA. On the PDA CacheMate will allow you to view all of the caches and find the ones closest to you etc. If you have the appropriate cable (e.g. This one) you can select caches in cachemate and upload them to your Garmin/Magellan GPS unit directly from your PDA.
This application is geared more towards pilots than geocachers. I live in a very flat area so it is not as much fun for me to use as it could be, but some may find it useful. Go out geocaching, come home, connect your GPS unit to your Mac and download your track log for display in 3D superimposed on a 3D rendering of the terrain that you crossed. That is what this software will let you do.
OK, so this isn't a Mac program - it's actually a very cool website. Here's a couple of things that you can do at this website:
Not designed specifically for geocaching, this is non-the-less a great application. I use it for keeping my own logs of geocache and benchmark hunts. You can drag-and-drop photos into the journal entries, and even export to html if you want to make a website of your exploits.
MacJournal was originally freeware, but as of January 2005 it has been relaunched as a commercial application with a price tag of $30. Whilst I am sad to see a good freeware application like this disappear, I think that the author has made the right choice as MacJournal has always had good commercial potential.
The programs below were not written with the Mac in mind but all of them can be (compiled and) run from within the terminal in OS X. I suggest that you only try these if you are at least moderately happy working in the terminal.
GPSBabel enables the conversion between the many different file types that are used to store GPS data. For geocaching on the Mac it is useful because you can use it to convert LOC files downloaded from the geocaching.com website to GPX files for use in software like Terrabrowser.
GPSBabel is a very powerful program and its feature-list is continually growing. One nice thing is that it will actually communicate directly with your GPS unit. I find this useful for getting track-logs off of my GPS unit and onto my Mac. I have contributed a GUI front-end to the gpsbabel project to make it more accessible. Look for MacGPSBabel on the gpsbabel downloads page. The GUI does not provide access to all of the more advanced features of gpsbabel - if you need to access these features you will need to work out how to use gpsbabel on the command line (i.e. in the terminal application).
Geotoad works from the command-line. It can generate custom queries to the geocaching.com website, download the results to your computer and make them into a single file in a variety of formats (including one format that is usable with an iPod). The downside is that this mode of operation could be considered data mining which is in breach of the terms of use at the geocaching.com website.
DISCLAIMER - The following process is quite involved and certainly not for a beginner. You try this at your own risk!
This perl script will take GPX files and makes a set of great html web pages out of them - this is just perfect for the output of bmgpx (see below). However, it takes quite a lot of effort to get it working...
First download Twig.pm from the above site, I put this file in /Library/Perl/XML (I had to create the XML folder) but there are a number of other places that you could put it too. Then you need to install a number of perl modules - I used fink and FinkCommander for this. The modules that I needed were XML-parser-pm, date-manip-pm, and XML-parser-pm. I found that trying to install fink's pre-built binaries didn't work so instead I used to option to download and build from source. Once all that was done I could run gpx2html.pl in the manner described on the above webpage.
For the benchmark hunter - using this little application and following the instructions that are included with the download of the PC executable (http://parkrrrr.com) you can download a whole county of datasheets from the NGS website and convert them to GPX format. You can then use the resulting GPX file as if it were a geocaching.com pocket query (e.g. use CMConvert and upload it to CacheMate). This program is actually written for the PC, but because it's author is nice enough to distribute the source code you can compile and run it natively in Mac OS X. To do this you need to have the developer tools installed and have a basic knowledge of how to compile and run C code, but if you are into benchmark hunting then it really is worth the effort. One day I may be persuaded to GUIfy this app but don't hold your breath.
Unlike the software above I have not tried most of the applications listed in this section. Therefore the descriptions are all brief or non-existant.
For the purposes of this page my definition of commercial is rather loose. By commercial I mean software that is either sold by a major software producer (e.g. Apple) or software that has no try-before-you-buy option.
From James Associates. Offers the ability to use your own maps (including calibration of scanned maps), but also has a line of topographical maps for sale.
Supports many GPS brands, links to internet based map servers (or you can use your own scanned maps). GPSy has been around for a long time and many people swear by it.
This route mapping software offers an OS X version. Both European and USA maps are offered.
National Geographic offers the state series of topographical maps in Mac format. Coverage is restricted to the USA.