[Fuzzballz]

It's kind of worthless for geocaching.. 'Bcaching.com' apparently doesn't work unless you have a premium subscription at geocaching.. and only uber-caching-nerds have that.

So I'm wondering... does anybody actually use Blackstar for anything? If so, what?

thx

[Dubbin1]

It's kind of worthless for geocaching..

Why do you say that?

[cook46933]

Sure, I use it al the time.

I am a premium uber-caching-nerd and proud of it. It is the only way you can legally extract more than cache name and location from geocaching.com.

There are two types of extract files you can get from geocaching.com. LOC and GPX. The LOC is available to everyone, but it only contains cache name, GC code, and coordinates. No description, logs, or hints. For many people, that is just fine. You can still get to the web page from a menu item in BlackStar, but that is slow and you need to have cell service.

But we uber caching nerds (love that name) like to be totally paperless and have the cache information on the device. For a relatively low price of $30 per year, you can create GPX files by running pocket queries. This will give you all the information available on the web page and you can load it into bcaching and BlackStar. Well worth it to many, but not for everyone.

bcaching is one of my favorite websites. Uber caching nerds can create pocket queries of their favorite caching locations and have them run on a schedule and load right into bcaching. Then when in you favorite locations, one button will load 20 nearby caches into BlackStar and you are ready to go caching.

I also use BlackStar for navigation. I can convert an address to coordinates and enter them into BlackStar and use the arrow for navigating. Not the same as spoken turn by turn directions, but it gets me there.

Hunters use it to mark trails and hunting locations. Fishermen mark good fishing spots. Boaters use it on the water. We did our best to keep it multipurpose with emphasis on geocaching.

[Fuzzballz]

Sure, I use it al the time.

I am a premium uber-caching-nerd and proud of it.

[snip... this is what I was trying to avoid]

I also use BlackStar for navigation. I can convert an address to coordinates and enter them into BlackStar and use the arrow for navigating. Not the same as spoken turn by turn directions, but it gets me there.

Hunters use it to mark trails and hunting locations. Fishermen mark good fishing spots. Boaters use it on the water. We did our best to keep it multipurpose with emphasis on geocaching.

Oh, so you're a dev? No wonder. I'm hard-pressed to figure out what Blackstar can do for hunters, fishermen and boaters that, say, google maps can't.

The only thing I can think of is directly use Lat/Long coords, for whatever reason. Google maps can't give you that, or at least not easily.

But other than for geocaching, I don't see how that's very useful. And what you're saying is that, unless you want to hand-input your coords for every cache, which would make it extremely cumbersome to use, you're going to need to pony up the yearly subscription fee.

Because whenever I try to input a .LOC file manually from geocaching, the status bar counts backwards from 100% to 0 and the app locks up. If that could be fixed, then I could see some usefulness for Blackstar, because then it could truly be free. Otherwise it's essentially a paid-by-proxy service. Blackstar doesn't get the money, but the user has to lose $30 a year to someone else.

[zetterwing]

I tried Blackstar fo use on the lake while fishing but it didn't do what I wanted. I picked GPSed and use it regularly. Much better app for fishing/hunting in my opinion. The ability to record your track and mark waypoints to be uploaded and overlayed on google maps is priceless. I believe you can also attach photos too each waypoint as well. It is a much more useful app than Blackstar in that regard.
I almost forgot GPSed does all that for free.
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[Dubbin1]

Oh, so you're a dev? No wonder. I'm hard-pressed to figure out what Blackstar can do for hunters, fishermen and boaters that, say, google maps can't.

The only thing I can think of is directly use Lat/Long coords, for whatever reason. Google maps can't give you that, or at least not easily.

But other than for geocaching, I don't see how that's very useful. And what you're saying is that, unless you want to hand-input your coords for every cache, which would make it extremely cumbersome to use, you're going to need to pony up the yearly subscription fee.

Because whenever I try to input a .LOC file manually from geocaching, the status bar counts backwards from 100% to 0 and the app locks up. If that could be fixed, then I could see some usefulness for Blackstar, because then it could truly be free. Otherwise it's essentially a paid-by-proxy service. Blackstar doesn't get the money, but the user has to lose $30 a year to someone else.

The app is CLEARLY made for geocaching so why would you expect much more? I for one pay my fees to geocaching.com and will be more then happy to try out this app. My only problem is being stuck with a verizon 8330 with the stupid locked gps...

[cook46933]

Because whenever I try to input a .LOC file manually from geocaching, the status bar counts backwards from 100% to 0 and the app locks up. If that could be fixed, then I could see some usefulness for Blackstar, because then it could truly be free.

There is a known bug that some users are experiencing, while other users with almost identical setup is not. I have not been able to track that one down yet as I can not personally recreate the problem. And I cannot see the pattern of which model/carriers that have an issue. I can understand the frustration with that. I am planning on trying to put in some better error trapping, but right now my development laptop is down.

[Chrisy]

i just started using this app today for geocaching. Works great! You can add waypoints, name them, edit. Lots of other features that i'm still exploring.

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[Chrisy]

I use Geocache Navigator which is a one time fee from BlackBerry App World. I believe it's still on sale for $9.99.

I also use BlackStar which is a great free app. You can create Pocket Queries on geocaching.com (PMs only), download the file onto your BlackBerry and then import it into BlackStar. It gives you waypoint details, hints etc. Works great. You can also show all caches on BlackBerry Maps. You can show one cache at a time on Google Maps. With both options you can get turn by turn directions right to the cache.

The ability to load PQ and Routes onto BlackStar makes it worthwhile.

Compass Mode


Waypoint Details


Waypoint List From Pocket Query


Show All Waypoints on BlackBerry Maps


Google Directions to cache


Show Terrain on Google Maps


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[jeffh]

I use BlackStar to complement Geocache Navigator. If Geocache Navigator is pointing me to what looks like a hard-to-follow trail in brush or woods, I'll use BlackStar to mark the trailhead as a waypoint.

[Chrisy]

That's a good use for B* as well. Too bad I always forget to mark! D'oh!

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[Blackfeet]

I use Blackstar for tracking purposes, mostly. We do bike rides and hikes up in the hills, and Blackstar has proven excellent at tracking our trip, then I can save it and export it to Google Earth, and see where we had been.

We have also used it for Geocaching, but we don't get much time to do that, at least as much as we wish.

Excellent app - and FREE to boot. What more could you want.

[johnling]

I like Cacheberry/Cachesense.

[Chrisy]

Cachesense is good too. I use GCN mainly and B* a close second. I actually downloaded Cachesense a few days ago to try it.

Can you import PQ's? I haven't tried that yet.

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