[Pete6]

I was just trying to get you by until the next release. The Copy to the clipboard should not be any problem.

But I am not seeing anything documenting how to invoke the Switch Application dialog. In fact I am only seeing documentation saying 3rd party apps cannot do this. I will keep searching, but since you said it is simple I am hoping you know the code to do it.

Don;t make a new release just for me. I do that for users with Crackmem and it is very time consuming.

I am a PC programmer, not a BlackBerry type. If it can;t be done or if it is too hard, don't do it. Alt-Esc works well enough to enable AutoStandby.

The only reason I wrote was as a followup to my original post a few weeks back.

BlackStar is a really great application and I love it. I think others do too which is why there is so much activity in this thread. You guys have done a really good job.

[cook46933]

Don;t make a new release just for me. I do that for users with Crackmem and it is very time consuming.

I am a PC programmer, not a BlackBerry type. If it can;t be done or if it is too hard, don't do it. Alt-Esc works well enough to enable AutoStandby.

The only reason I wrote was as a followup to my original post a few weeks back.

BlackStar is a really great application and I love it. I think others do too which is why there is so much activity in this thread. You guys have done a really good job.

I thought you did BB programming too, that is why I hoped you knew how to invoke that the switch application. If I find out how to do it, I would have no problem incorporating it.

I have been planning a new release for a while now. I have a bunch of changes waiting to be deployed, lots of cool stuff. Look for it at the beginning of March. I should have no problem having the copy in that release.

[braveops]

i got it working i went and played with the settings and it works under applaction data then b* connections/ allow instead of custom

[Pete6]

I thought you did BB programming too, that is why I hoped you knew how to invoke that the switch application. If I find out how to do it, I would have no problem incorporating it.

I have been planning a new release for a while now. I have a bunch of changes waiting to be deployed, lots of cool stuff. Look for it at the beginning of March. I should have no problem having the copy in that release.

Thanks, I'll look out for it.

The most importan change for me would be the larger font soze for the lat and long display. Given what you say about the Pearl screen, you may need to put in a manual switch to decide the target phone. Perhaps the most appropriate place for that would be at install time but I am not the programmer and it is not my program. Good luck.

[braveops]

hi cook or paul any idea as to when you will be able to turn off the data usage thing you had mentioned earlier or what it is i have to do so i can use the basic program without getting charged for data time? thanx

[cook46933]

hi cook or paul any idea as to when you will be able to turn off the data usage thing you had mentioned earlier or what it is i have to do so i can use the basic program without getting charged for data time? thanx

Disclaimer: Some internal GPS units use cell towers to ASSIST in determining location. So it is possible that a provider could theoretically charge for GPS usage. I don't believe any do, but I cannot guarantee that. It would be best to check with your provider to make sure.

With that said, BlackStar does not use internet data unless you request it to. Those requests would be from selecting the menu options that open the browser, such as "Closest 20 caches", "Current Weather", and "Go to Cache URL". As long as you do not select those menu items, you should not experience any data charges.

In the next release, there will be an option to disable those menu items.

[braveops]

okay great i dont use those things any way i just use it for location/elev stuff anyway one thing i did notice it was counting sats it was over 70 and i had no info? my gps will get 2d with lke 2 sats then 3d with 3 or 4 or more most times i just get 5-6 sats.i feel telus charging 10 bucks a mth extra is crap to use the gps. keep up the good work look forward to more updates thanx

[davoid]

Hi

For some reason B* is no longer receiving satellite information from my puck. It used to work until I downloaded the version which meant updating the waypoints which were lost upon installation.

Since then, although I can use Googlemaps with my puck, and my blue bluetooth LED is flashing on my BB, B* just searches for satellites.

I have tried shutting down and restarting B* several times, and it never stops searching, even though there is a BT connection with my puck (a freedom 2000)

How can I get B* working again?

[cook46933]

Hi

For some reason B* is no longer receiving satellite information from my puck. It used to work until I downloaded the version which meant updating the waypoints which were lost upon installation.

Since then, although I can use Googlemaps with my puck, and my blue bluetooth LED is flashing on my BB, B* just searches for satellites.

I have tried shutting down and restarting B* several times, and it never stops searching, even though there is a BT connection with my puck (a freedom 2000)

How can I get B* working again?

I had a similar problem and I deleted the puck in the bluetooth connections and paired it again and it worked.

I don't know if that will fix yours or not, but it won't hurt to try.

[cook46933]

okay great i dont use those things any way i just use it for location/elev stuff anyway one thing i did notice it was counting sats it was over 70 and i had no info? my gps will get 2d with lke 2 sats then 3d with 3 or 4 or more most times i just get 5-6 sats.i feel telus charging 10 bucks a mth extra is crap to use the gps. keep up the good work look forward to more updates thanx

The counter is not counting the number of satellites it is connecting to. It is just a time counter so you can see it is trying something and not just locked up. There is no indicator right now as to how many satellites are connected.

[davoid]

I had a similar problem and I deleted the puck in the bluetooth connections and paired it again and it worked.

I don't know if that will fix yours or not, but it won't hurt to try.

Cook, thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately it didn't work. I'll try it again.
I even downloaded B* again just in case.

[TTJT]

Cook, thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately it didn't work. I'll try it again.
I even downloaded B* again just in case.

I just had the same problem this morning with my internal gps. But for me once I started up GoogleMaps or BBMaps and got one of those running in the background and using gps, B* also kicked in and started working. Worth a try.

[cook46933]

Cook, thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately it didn't work. I'll try it again.
I even downloaded B* again just in case.

Are the application permissions set to allow?

[berrysailer]

Hello together. Just installed blackstar. It is great. Found several catches with the set as destination function. But then I have to bear a direction and go for it for about 80 m. I did not found the catch because it was the opposite direction. Checked it with a compass. North is south and south is north. I am living and using the BB in Germany. Is there any option to get it right?

[cook46933]

Hello together. Just installed blackstar. It is great. Found several catches with the set as destination function. But then I have to bear a direction and go for it for about 80 m. I did not found the catch because it was the opposite direction. Checked it with a compass. North is south and south is north. I am living and using the BB in Germany. Is there any option to get it right?

When you are getting close and start walking slower, the gps accuracy will make it look like you are going different directions. But when you get close like that, go more off of the distance than the compass, as long as the distance is getting smaller, you are on the right track.

I am hoping the compass changes I am putting in soon will help alleviate some of the problem, but we'll see.

[TTJT]

I was having trouble this morning again getting my gps to find satellites (not just with B* but with Google Maps and BBMaps). I figured it was just because I need to get out in the open more so it can see the sky. I went on to do other things but forgot to close B*. A couple hours later, I noticed that B* had locked on and was reading lat/lon. I opened Google Maps to confirm and it showed me flying at 22,000 feet over Eugene, OR going west at a good clip, even though I'm standing still at 4,200 feet in western Montana. As soon as I closed B*, Google Maps immediately switched to show me in the correct location. Very strange. I closed everything down and restarted and now can't get anything to find any satellites again.

So my question is "Who was flying over Eugene, OR today at around noon?"

Followup: After several battery pulls with no improvement, I decided to delete all gps mapping programs including B*, GoogleMaps, Nav4All, and GPSLogger, then pulled battery again. Went to BBMaps and it almost immediately found 8 satellites and pinpointed my location. Then re-installed GoogleMaps OTA and it is working fine. I think I'll wait for the B* update before re-installing. As for Nav4All and GPSLogger, I think I'll just do without.

BTW - one thing I liked about GPSLogger that you might want to consider for B* is the ability to make a track - always nice to see where you've been if you get lost.

[berrysailer]

When you are getting close and start walking slower, the gps accuracy will make it look like you are going different directions. But when you get close like that, go more off of the distance than the compass, as long as the distance is getting smaller, you are on the right track.

I am hoping the compass changes I am putting in soon will help alleviate some of the problem, but we'll see.

Sorry, i am sitting in my garden. No catches at all. Just the compass without an arrow. North is south west is east.

[cook46933]

Sorry, i am sitting in my garden. No catches at all. Just the compass without an arrow. North is south west is east.

Does it correct itself when you are moving? Since it determines direction based on a change in location, it will not give an accurate compass reading unless you are moving. When you are sitting still, the gps will give you various readings with 4 meters or so of your actual location so it will determine the change of location between those random locations.

[berrysailer]

Does it correct itself when you are moving? Since it determines direction based on a change in location, it will not give an accurate compass reading unless you are moving. When you are sitting still, the gps will give you various readings with 4 meters or so of your actual location so it will determine the change of location between those random locations.

You are right. It is correcting when I am moving. So it is not so easy to bear a dirction. I will take my standard compass with me next time.

[dweger]

I have been wanting to get into geocaching for awhile now. The other day I downloaded Blackstar and played around with it for awhile. My girlfriend was in the hospital and while standing outside I hit 20 closest caches and there was one a few hundred feet away so I found it pretty quickly. We have been doing it all weekend now. Still haven't figured out how to import or load the cords but I just enter them manually.

Thanks for an awesome app!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[cook46933]

Still haven't figured out how to import or load the cords but I just enter them manually.
Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

There are a couple of ways to download the cache coordinates. If you are a premium member, then you can download GPX files using "pocket queries" or the download gpx button on each cache page.
Premium and non-premium members can download LOC files from the cache listing page or the download LOC button on each cache page.

Store the file on your SD card and use the Import GPX/LOC menu item on the List Waypoints screen in BlackStar.

The LOC files will only contain the coordinates and cache name, gpx files will contain all the cache information on gecaching.com.

I will try to get some documentation written up on using BlackStar, but it is not high on my todo list. I don't like creating documentation

[DMoyn]

I have been reading this link for awhile now. And sorry to say I have skipped over pages (sorry). I have not installed the recent version B* because you said that a newer version is coming out soon. Can you give us a date?

[cook46933]

I have been reading this link for awhile now. And sorry to say I have skipped over pages (sorry). I have not installed the recent version B* because you said that a newer version is coming out soon. Can you give us a date?

Shouldn't be more than a couple more weeks. I have a couple more changes to make. I just wanted to make it worthwhile for everyone to update it on their berries. Then I need to test it out really well.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[GpCaptMandrake]

Hey Cook, just wanted to drop you a note and say thanks for an AWESOME program. I'm using it on my 9530 Storm and it works flawlessly. The ability to DL the LOC file (I'm not a premium member) is sweet.

One of my most favorite app downloads!

Thanks!!!

[jaskru]

I don't know if this is what he means, but in Search and Rescue, we exclusively use the UTM NAD27 CONUS coordinate system (instead of Lat Lon). It uses Northing/Easting cooridinates that are standard on USGS maps and is more like an x,y type system than Lat/Lon. Another popular UTM datum is WGS84 which is the datum used by geocaching.com. Here's a decent explanation.

http: // rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/gps/gps_questions_and_answers.html

If you could add a menu item that would allow users to select their datum, that would make BlackStar more like a standard hiking GPS. The only problem is that there are about a hundred different datums for different parts of the world.

Having the ability to set the datum etc would be great and being able to do a way point and save that way point in a separate folder (.gpx or .txt) for export is needed. Being able to do a tracklog and save it to the card is something I would like to see as well. I like B* and I think it is heading in the right direction.
I am SAR as well in MT and I would love to see a program that pulled sat images and worked off the network with gps only. cache sat images and then if you wanted to view the map mode with your saved stuff you could. having topo capability, oh baby that is a wet dream in itself... The storm has so many great functions, I just wish we could take advantage of them without the carriers thumb on us...
I am one of the mapping/geeks for my outfit and I just wish I could use my storm on some of our calls....lol I have used google maps and bb maps on occasion but not having the tracking, topo view and ability to save tracks and waypoints in .gpx or .txt on the card drives me nuts... As well as the fact that my gps doesn't work when the network is off because of the location aiding...etc... Datum isnt the biggest deal because I can convert that later...