Getting Started with GPX Spinner

First, download the installer (or zip file) to your computer. There are many variations on where to install the program, and how to use it, but for now I will explain the method I recommend.

Run the installer or unzip the program and supporting files to a directory of your choice. I recommend C:\Program Files\GPX Spinner\ - In addition to the program file, there are a few supporting files, and two subdirectories each containing several more files.

The installer will also create a shortcut to the GPX Spinner program on your desktop or Quick Launch bar.

Open an explorer window and find your GPX or ZIP file that you received from the Pocket Query. If it's still in your email program, you'll need to save it to your disk somewhere. I don't recommend putting it on the desktop because the output files can get lost in the clutter, but putting it into a folder on the desktop is a good idea.

Position your folder window so you can also see the GPX Spinner icon on the desktop, and drag your GPX or ZIP file onto the GPX Spinner icon. Multiple GPX or ZIP files can also be dragged onto the shortcut icon, and they will be combined into one output.

GPX Spinner will now parse the GPX file(s), and in the default configuration will create an output GPX file named spinner.gpx. It will also create a subfolder named cache which will contain a plethora of HTML files. Both the spinner.gpx file and the cache directory are created in the same location as the original GPX or ZIP file.

Now run EasyGPS or ExpertGPS. Open the spinner.gpx file and download it to your GPS receiver.

You can examine the HTML cache pages on your computer by opening the cache folder, and double-clicking on the index.htm file.

There are several ways to get the HTML files to your PDA. With some PDAs, you can simply copy the cache directory directly to your PDA. With other PDAs, you will need to use Plucker or iSilo. (If you prefer to use AvantGo, you'll have to use GPX Spinner Classic because AvantGo can only grab files that are published on the internet.)

Following are instructions for Plucker. iSilo should be similar.

Create a new channel. Set the starting page to local file. The exact path depends on the location of the cache directory created earlier, but may be something like file://C:\GPS\Geocaching\cache\index.htm

On the Spidering tab, set the retrieval order to Breadth first. Plucker often misses pages when using Depth first (this is even documented in the Plucker manual).

On the Limits tab, set the maximum depth to 3.

You may also desire to set the Stay on host option, however there are no off-site links within the maximum depth that we already set. If you want custom images for the caches, such as this very important one (note the hint), you should allow off-site links.

On the Images tab, set the Include Images setting however you prefer. GPX Spinner uses basic icons and smilies to show cache and log types, but there is alternate text present if you wish to keep your output file smaller.

Look through the various options on the Output Options and Destination tabs and set them appropriate to your device.

Click OK to save the new channel. Click on the new channel to highlight it, and click the Update Selected Channels button. When it is complete, sync your device to download the new file to it.