geocaches from pocket queries disappearing

Discussion related to the Garmin GPSMAP 66s/st GPSr
dprovan
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Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2019 7:50 pm

Re: geocaches from pocket queries disappearing

Unread post by dprovan »

gpsrchive wrote: Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:43 am No, GPX or GGZ files manually copied to your GPSr do not disappear under normal circumstances.

If your PQ's are not from Geocaching.com, where are they from? And what are they, really?

AFAIK, PQ's are unique to Geocaching.com.
OK, thanks for the info. Very curious.

I manipulate PQs before downloading them to my 66 just as I've been doing for 8 years without any trouble with my DeLormes. I believe other people produce PQs using GSAK.
dprovan
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Re: geocaches from pocket queries disappearing

Unread post by dprovan »

A side question: I'm running tests, so I used the Geocache List to download a PQ, and after a minute or so of downloading, it said "download failed". Well, OK, I'll try again, so I repeated the download and the GPSr just turned itself off. (Presumably it crashed, but what I saw was that it was suddenly off.) Well, OK, I've heard of the 66 crashing at odd times, so I just brought it back up and went to the list to try again. That's when I noticed that on the list it said "2% synced", and the percentage kept going up.

Do I believe the "Download Failed" or the sync percentage?

Before you answer: I patiently waited -- the sync process is remarkably slow -- and now that the syncing has complete, the list entry changed to "Out-of-Sync". Can anyone explain what's going on and whether that PQs been successfully loaded?
dprovan
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No one else sees PQ disappear?

Unread post by dprovan »

I've run some tests, including both my massaged pocket queries as well as "raw" pocket queries taken directly from GC. I've confirmed my previous observations: for either type of pocket query, the caches disappear after about a week.

I'm open to any ideas about how this can be specific to me, such as any configurations I might have changed or some such, but I have to admit my working theory for why I'm the only one to see this is that no one else has looked for it. It's acting just as if there's a feature that considers week old PQs stale and is automatically causing them to expire.
dprovan
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Re: geocaches from pocket queries disappearing

Unread post by dprovan »

I copy my PQs using the 66st as a USB drive, I don't use BaseCamp. Could that be why I'm seeing this and no one else is?
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GPSrChive
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Re: geocaches from pocket queries disappearing

Unread post by GPSrChive »

dprovan wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:00 pm I copy my PQs using the 66st as a USB drive, I don't use BaseCamp. Could that be why I'm seeing this and no one else is?
No, this is this preferred method, I assume you are unzipping them first, and copying the *.gpx files to the GPX folder on the GPSMAP 66?
dprovan
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Re: geocaches from pocket queries disappearing

Unread post by dprovan »

gpsrchive wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:17 pm
dprovan wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:00 pm I copy my PQs using the 66st as a USB drive, I don't use BaseCamp. Could that be why I'm seeing this and no one else is?
No, this is this preferred method, I assume you are unzipping them first, and copying the *.gpx files to the GPX folder on the GPSMAP 66?
Yes, that's what I'm doing.
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GPSrChive
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Re: geocaches from pocket queries disappearing

Unread post by GPSrChive »

dprovan wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:29 pm
gpsrchive wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:17 pm
dprovan wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:00 pm I copy my PQs using the 66st as a USB drive, I don't use BaseCamp. Could that be why I'm seeing this and no one else is?
No, this is this preferred method, I assume you are unzipping them first, and copying the *.gpx files to the GPX folder on the GPSMAP 66?
Yes, that's what I'm doing.
Excellent.

As for PQ's you have downloaded disappearing after a week, I have never heard of this issue before, nor have I experienced it. I can tell you that if any Geocache in any of your PQ's already exists on the GPSr in GPX or GGZ format, it will not be downloaded as part of the PQ. The Garmin GPSR gives priority to the Geocaches manually loaded on the device, always.

We would likely need to see some very detailed documentation with photos and/or videos of the loading process, confirming geocaches are present, then showing later that they are no longer present. You may have better luck with Garmin directly, but who knows?

As any PQ loaded is entered directly into the SQL library database, you will never see these as GPX or GGZ files on your GPSr.

How are you certain geocaches have been deleted after a week?

Is it just a few individual geocaches? Or an entire PQ?

If you have a PQ running once a week at Geocaching.com, and you freshly download it once a week, that will likely overwrite the previous contents of that PQ with the new updated PQ data. This is the only way they could make it possible to enable/disable specific GPX/GGZ/PQ files on the device.

Are you certain you have not simply disabled some of your GCLive data?
dprovan
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Re: geocaches from pocket queries disappearing

Unread post by dprovan »

gpsrchive wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 10:05 pm As for PQ's you have downloaded disappearing after a week, I have never heard of this issue before, nor have I experienced it. I can tell you that if any Geocache in any of your PQ's already exists on the GPSr in GPX or GGZ format, it will not be downloaded as part of the PQ. The Garmin GPSR gives priority to the Geocaches manually loaded on the device, always.
I'm not sure what you're saying. I've already found that PQs update each other with the cache logs taken from the newest PQ, so I assume when you say "exists on the GPSr in GPX format", you're not talking about older PQs. (Wow, that would be a huge hassle!) So are you saying that if I download caches via GCLive, they'll live forever with the old logs no matter how many PQs I download with newer information? I wasn't finding GCLive that useful, but that would make it positively counter productive.
How are you certain geocaches have been deleted after a week?
I don't know about "deleted", I just know I don't see them.
Is it just a few individual geocaches? Or an entire PQ?
What I'm seeing appears to be consistent with exactly what I've been saying: a week after I download a PQ, all caches in it disappear except for any that have been supplanted by a newer PQ. In addition, if instead of download a new version of the PQ, I only "touch" the existing PQ -- i.e., update it's modification date/time stamp to "now" -- the caches also reappear.
If you have a PQ running once a week at Geocaching.com, and you freshly download it once a week, that will likely overwrite the previous contents of that PQ with the new updated PQ data. This is the only way they could make it possible to enable/disable specific GPX/GGZ/PQ files on the device.
One of my theories for why I see it while more seasoned Garmin users don't is that I do not do weekly downloads. Instead, in the morning I download PQs for wherever I might go that day. It's quite common for me to download a PQ and then not go back there for a few weeks, hence not updating the PQ and giving it time to "time out". Perhaps no one else lets the data sit that long without refreshing it?
Are you certain you have not simply disabled some of your GCLive data?
Yes, quite certain.

Thanks for the input!
bonstetten
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Re: geocaches from pocket queries disappearing

Unread post by bonstetten »

I got the same experience as other here:
- I thought I dowloaded a full Pocket Query (PQ) onto my 66st, but comparing with the smartphone (which has loaded the same PQ) I saw, that not all Geocaches appear on the Garmin GPS
- At home with internet-connection I first choose „Remove Live Data“ then again synchronized the same PQ (1000 Caches) and got after 99% synchronizing the message „Out-of-sync“. I can synchronize other PQ that result in the message „Synched“.

Does anybody knows what „out-of-sync“ means? I until now did not get an answer from Garmin.

(Firnware-Version 3.1)
Lucia152
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Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2020 4:33 pm

Re: geocaches from pocket queries disappearing

Unread post by Lucia152 »

I just experienced this same problem today. I downloaded my PQ to my GPS via USB on Tuesday, June 2. Went geocaching on Friday, June 5; all was good. Turned it on today, Sunday, June 7 and my entire PQ is gone; no geocaches on map or listed by name. Anyone finally figure out why this happens and a solution?
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