GSAK

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RVRoadTrip
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GSAK

Post by RVRoadTrip » Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:17 pm

GSAK, Geocaching Swiss Army Knife, is the all in one Geocaching and waypoint management tool. Major features include: Multiple databases, sending/receiving waypoints to GPSr, Google maps, conversion to many mapping formats, PDA output (including CacheMate support), HTML output, extensive searching, macro support, backup and restore, distance/direction from other waypoints (including caches, locations, post codes) and much more. GSAK only runs on Windows operating systems (98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7).

Get your copy at http://www.gsak.net/.

BlueStone
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Re: GSAK

Post by BlueStone » Tue Oct 19, 2010 12:28 pm

As a very satisfied user of GSAK, I HIGHLY recommend it. Its one of the best written pieces of software I have ever seen.

The Help section alone is PHENOMINAL!!

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Re: GSAK

Post by Cachegeek » Tue Oct 19, 2010 9:35 pm

BlueStone wrote:As a very satisfied user of GSAK, I HIGHLY recommend it. Its one of the best written pieces of software I have ever seen.

The Help section alone is PHENOMINAL!!

Agreed!! I don't think I could easily cache without GSAK. I use it for loading all 3 GPS's, stats, route planning and so much more. The first few times I ran GSAK I was very overwhelmed but once you start playing with it and see what you can do I consider it as important as the GPS.
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Pilerman
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Re: GSAK

Post by Pilerman » Fri Nov 19, 2010 4:13 am

And it works for this site? I'm still reading and figuring things out, are pocket querries possible here?

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RVRoadTrip
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Re: GSAK

Post by RVRoadTrip » Fri Nov 19, 2010 11:57 am

Pilerman wrote:And it works for this site? I'm still reading and figuring things out, are pocket querries possible here?
Yes and yes.

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Re: GSAK

Post by glorkar » Fri Nov 19, 2010 1:23 pm

I really should try GSAK out one of these days. Never really saw the need before. Figured it wouldn't be used to it's full potential without being able to run PQs on the other site.
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Re: GSAK

Post by DudleyGrunt » Fri Nov 19, 2010 2:40 pm

Anyone who wants to learn more about GSAK and how to take advantage of its capabilities should consider the following webinar.

Geocaching Swiss Army Knife 101
Saturday, December 04, 2010 at 7:00 PM (ET)
This webinar is to teach you Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK). It will be held Saturday, December 04, 2010 at 7:00 PM (ET)

Have you looked at Geocaching Swiss Army Knife and thought that is too much or just not know where to start? Then this Webinar is for you.

This Webinar is 1 hour long. Your host Andy Lehman (host of the Geocaching Podcast, AKA xpunkx) will start with GSAK basics and teach you what you need to know to get started with Geocaching Swiss Army Knife. As an attendee you have the ability to once your buy tickets to submit a topic you would like to see covered. During this webinar you will be able to see my screen and see GSAK in action. you have the ability to ask questions via the phone or chat message.

Topics Covered:

* Loading Cache Data
* Creating your Home Location
* Viewing cache information
* Setting up your grid view
* Sorting
* Flagging and Filtering
* Sending waypoints to your GPS
* Exporting

This event is hosted using the join.me service. The link to attend will be emailed to you once you buy a ticket. Attendees will have access to ask questions via the phone or chat. To hear audio for this conference you will need to be able to dial a US phone number.

As an attendee you will get a recorded video of this webinar to keep forever.
Dave, OCNA Team Member
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Maryland Geocaching Society

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BlueStone
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Re: GSAK

Post by BlueStone » Fri Nov 19, 2010 4:44 pm

glorkar wrote:I really should try GSAK out one of these days. Never really saw the need before. Figured it wouldn't be used to it's full potential without being able to run PQs on the other site.
Actually, if you cache any decent amount, it makes a great offline database for your cache history. It has a couple of User fields that you can copy and paste your online log into, or any other notes/comments/info which you wish to just keep private.

IIRC, you can attach/store pics to your GSAK database for each cache. Again, it saves them offline, locally.
You can sort your database, and make all kinds of custom lists, to help keep track of your numbers and caching history.

Another great benefit whether you go paperless or not, is that you can print a group of cache pages together, all on one page (or more, if you are printing that many caches). Its more compact than using the print view link on the GC cache page.
For one road trip, I printed 29 cache pages on only 7 pages of paper. :D

Also, if you set up the database for multiple users, you can can lists of caches that seperates out caches NOT found by how ever many users... Much easier than doing a PQ compare.

GSAK is so detailed and has so many functions, once you get used to it, you can do a TON of stuff to make caching much easier and quicker.
PQ's help alot, but its REALLY handy even for non-Prem members of GC, as long as you keep up on adding the caches you do, and you can still load .LOC files for caches you havent done yet.

One thing you might be able to do without a full Prem membership, is to buy just the 3 mos $10 membership, build some PQs, and load them in GSAK, to build a database.
Then once the membership runs out, you still have all those caches in your database. You might be able to update or check any cache you are thinking of finding, by just downloading the .LOC, and manually copying/pasting any other info not included in the .loc file. Most relevant info should still be there from when you loaded the cache from the PQ though.

As much functionality that was built into GSAK, there is a ton of user submitted scripts you can download and use the from the GSAK forums. It makes it even more functional and customizable for your use. I think its great that the developer allows and even promotes this.
GSAK is an awesome piece of software. :D

Pilerman
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Re: GSAK

Post by Pilerman » Sun Nov 21, 2010 12:33 pm

RVRoadTrip wrote:
Pilerman wrote:And it works for this site? I'm still reading and figuring things out, are pocket querries possible here?
Yes and yes.
Thank you, thank you.

GSAK is a worthwhile investment! It has the potential to turn an once in a while cacher into a die hard fanatic. Zap PQ's into it, zap them into your GPS, get you some sort of cheap PDA and my oh my... a person will begin to eat, sleep, dream geocaching! I always used to say, "Geocaches: Everywhere you have to be and want to be."

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Re: GSAK

Post by n7viv and DB » Thu Nov 25, 2010 8:20 pm

GSAK is a very good investment.
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