We got tired of wasting ink and paper and printing up caches only to find we didn't have time to do them, or by the time we did, they were missing or archived. Not to mention, recent log entries were out of date. Wanting a PDA for some time, I now had an excuse to get one.

Santa brought me a Dell AximTM X30. It has a 624 MHz processor. It also has Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® capabilities. It runs Microsoft® Windows® Mobile 2003 Second Edition. Then I just had to figure out how to make this more than a $500.00 solitaire game. I downloaded GPXSonar from www.geocaching.com, clicked on “Resources” and then “Geocaching Software.” Downloading was easy and although it may say it may not work with your version of software, it worked just fine on mine.

Next, I had to figure out how to download more than just one cache at a time into the program. This was accomplished by downloading yet another program to my PC. “ClayJar Watcher” will organize your GPX files and then save them to your memory card. In my case, it was an SD card. There is also a link for a Palm OS program.

Now you can set up your Pocket Queries. There is a link on “My Account Details” page. Once you get to the Pocket Queries page, you can set up your queries to meet your needs. Make sure you choose to have the query sent to you in GPS Exchange Format (*.gpx). You can set it to run up to 5 queries per day. I set up to run 500 caches that I haven't found, within a radius of 200 miles of a selected zip code or coordinates. I do not suggest downloading in a *.zip format. Your Pocket Queries will then be e-mailed to you.

Create a file like “Geocaching” in Your Documents or on your Desktop. Save your GPX file to that folder. Open the file with the ClayJar Watcher program. Then save that on your memory card. I name mine “Geo-Home” or whatever name matches my queries. I set up queries for places that I plan on visiting or places along the way. This comes in very handy if you travel a lot. I then put my memory card in my PocketPC and open up the GPXSonar. I then select the file I want (Geo-Home), and all 500 caches are now at my fingertips. I can also remove the memory card and insert the SD card from my Magellan Meridian Platinum and export all the waypoints. I then reinsert the card into my GPSr and load them.

I now have 500 waypoints and all the cache information I need to go caching! I can set a center point or center the last cache found. Once I find the cache I can create a Field Note, complete with a timestamp and notes if I need them. At the end of the day, I can export my field notes to a GSAK file. Then all I have to do is log them.