Garmin nuvi Tricks, Tips, Work Arounds, Hints, Secrets and Ideas

Bentbiker, you're a mind reader!! A 30 second clip sounds too long to me. Most audio alerts I use are about 2 seconds. To get just one verse of the song, I've cropped it out of my mp3 song and got a 6 second clip "I'm getting closer to my home" one time, from near the end of the song. I've saved it in the proper wav format and just loaded it on my 660 as my Rest Area alert.

I'm just about to run a simulation with it and if it works, I can email it to Lou. Its a 547KB file. I'll be back with the results...

I loaded the wav file on my 660 (named as my Rest Area alert) and ran a simulation. It worked.

I've already sent an email to Lou. If he responds and wants the file, I'll send it to him.

EDIT: I use Creative WaveStudio to edit the mp3 files, convert them to 16 bit mono and save them as wav files. Once I found it worked, I made a pre-set in WaveStudio with all the right options so I don't have to re-invent the wheel each time.

Thanks for the info and this useful site. I found the articles very easy to follow even though I am a not so techie GPS newbie. Lots of great information!Hopefully I can learn enough to one day give something back to everyone for all the helpful tips and info both on POI Factory and Gary,s site!

It works! A huge thanks to Gary A and also bentbiker. Gary e-mailed me, after midnight, his short version wav file and his sox.exe file. I tried the wav file, but still no luck. The sox.exe file, that Gary sent, had nothing attached to it (it only had the name of the file and the size of the file). But I did notice the file size was about half of the sox.exe file that I downloaded. Seeing that it was pushing 1AM, I didn't want to bother Gary. So I went back to sourceforge.net and looked at the sox-14.0.1.zip files again. I was also looking at Gary H's procedure for DLing the sox file. It looks like I might have DL'd the wrong file. So I DL'd the other sox.exe, put it in the POIloader folder, used Gary A's wav file, used the simulation mode and then "I'm Getting Closer to My Home"! IT WORKED!!!!! Gary A, you thought that maybe the length of my original wav was too long, so I went back and used that. It has 4 lines of IGC to MH (about 1 minute), and that also worked. So guys, size doesn't matter! So once again, a huge thanks for eveyones help. This site is like "Home".

Glad it worked. Sounds like it was just a matter of getting the right sox.exe file.

Did you by accident delete any files, if not try to do a master reset, It should set everything back to factory specs,

A couple more new articles posted since the the tail end of July

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BUT I WANT BOTH SPEED AND DISTANCE IN AN ALERT-
Can This Be Accomplished Using .CSV Files? Yes! As If By Magic!

RUN SILENT -- RUN NO-PEEP -
Silent and Semi-Silent Alerts
=====

on the

GARMIN NUVI TRICKS, TIPS, WORK AROUNDS, HINTS, SECRETS & IDEAS

Web site.

Look for them and about sixty others useful insights and helps here

http://snipurl.com/garmin_gps_tricks

Gary Hayman
Webmaster
Greenbelt, Mayland

Gary,
You run a very nice site for both the newbie's and the old timers, that thought they knew all the tricks. Hopefully you will include streetpilot tips as well.

Bob

Gary,

I really like your site. I learned alot of neat little tricks due to it. Keep up the good work.

Wow. This is great stuff!!!

I love your articles. They are well thought out, informative and interesting. Plus, it's so easy to find info on your site. I've been there before, and this time I've bookmarked it.

Thanks for taking the time to educate us newbies.

CALL Garmin. 1-800-800-1020

Many thanks to all who have expressed their appreciation and interest in the Garmin Nuvi Tricks, Tips, Work Arounds, Hints, Secrets, and Ideas WEB site, not only in this thread but scores of other threads here on the great POI Factory Web pages.

I hope it is of additional help to many, especially new owners, the non-technical, and even some old-timers It's fun for me to discover the ins and outs and secrets of the nüvi unit and share them with others in an hopefully easy, enlightening and entertaining way.

Many thanks also to Miss POI and staff who have graciously included a link to the 'Garmin Tricks' Web site in her important POI Factory Garmin Nav FAQ area.

Gary Hayman
Greenbelt, Maryland
"Garmin Tricks ..." http://snipurl.com/garmin_gps_tricks

Bob,

I can't do the Street Pilot 2610 as mine went Kablooie at the end of 2006. the touch screen receptors seemed to have skidded under the right side of the housing a little so that 3/8" of the appearing screen could not be accessed by touch. Quite frustrating. I had the unit since the first week it hit the market and was very please with it's operation until that point. The cost of repair would be more than some new nüvi units. I've had three other units since then an am currently with a nüvi 650. Before the 2610 I owned and used a Garmin GPS III+ for many years.

I now don't have the expertise and the equipment for including tricks and tips for the 2610 or any Street Pilot.

[Confidentially, I do miss bread crumbs and routes]

Thanks for asking.

Gary Hayman

Outstanding resource - thanks.

Great resource!!!!!

Gary, having guys like you and the other great members that run their own sites or build software that supports these units excited about being a part of POI Factory makes me blush.

I see you all as the rock stars of the GPS community and of our site and it really makes me feel honored and like I have built something incredible to have someone like you flocking to us and getting involved in our family.
It is really great to have you as a member of our team.

Miss POI

I blush too with your remarks. Thank You.

See:
http://home.comcast.net/~ghayman3/garmin.gps/gary.b.jpg

Gary Hayman

I just started out with my first GPS and everything is very new to me, so this site is a welcomed resource. Thanks so much for your work on this. Very much appreciated. Keep it up!!

If you have a Nuvi product this is a must read. It is a easy way to learn all about your product.

Great job Gary!

Thank you for this great resource!!

awesome website - much thanks

Yes it is!!!

thanks for the info!

Just saw the link to your Garmin site, I bookmarked it for sure!

Bravo!!!

GREAT JOB!. Thanks for the information!

Jim

and many thanks

Great site, thanks for the link.

I recently posted 4 more interesting articles that some may
want to look at. They are in addition to the 3 I told you
about recently.

=====

I'M TIRED OF USING MANUAL, "TIME AFTER TIME", WRITES CYNDI -
-----Cut Down On POI Loader's Manual Processing

USING THE NUVI TO DISPLAY INDEX CARDS -
-----Novel Trip Information Display Aid

=====

on the

GARMIN NUVI TRICKS, TIPS, WORK AROUNDS, HINTS, SECRETS & IDEAS

Web site.

Look for them and about sixty others useful insights and
helps here

http://snipurl.com/garmin_gps_tricks

Gary Hayman
Webmaster
Greenbelt, Maryland

Two more articles posted on the

GARMIN NUVI TRICKS, TIPS, WORK AROUNDS, HINTS, SECRETS & IDEAS

WEB site

http://snipurl.com/garmin_gps_tricks

HAS YOUR NUVI BEEN DISCONTINUED? -
-----Oh Where, Oh Where Did My nüvi Go?

OLYMPIC GOLD MAKES A BIG SPLASH ON THE NÜVI -
-----A Simple Splash Screen For Lost/Stolen Nüvis

Look for them on Page 5

Gary Hayman

Since my report to you last August
the following articles have been added or revised to the ----

GARMIN NUVI TRICKS, TIPS, WORK AROUNDS, HINTS, SECRETS & IDEAS

WEB site

http://snipurl.com/garmin_gps_tricks

MOVING A GOOGLE MAP FIND TO A BETTER PLACE -
----- Putting That Favorite On The Road For Your Garmin [Revised]

THE WHITE SOLUTION FOR THE GOOGLE per-PLEX -
----- Another Technique For Sending Google Locations To Your nüvi

A TECHNIQUE FOR TESTING A CUSTOM POI ALERT -
----- You Don't Have To Be In Your Car

ARE YOU COORDINATED? -
----- Obtaining and Using Coordinates in Your GPS [Revised]

THE 'PROXEMICS' OF THE TourGuide -
----- Hakuna Matata! The Circle Of ... Alert

THE SECRET (?) SPEED NUMBERS THEY DIDN'T TELL YOU ABOUT -
----- Surprise Settings and How To Take Advantage of Them

I GAVE A NUVI AS A GIFT TO MY 16 YEAR OLD. REALLY? -
----- A GPS Gift to a Young New Driver

FUTURE OF AUTOMOTIVE GPS

Stop by for some interesting stuff.

Gary Hayman
Greenbelt, Maryland

Gary,

All I can say is WOW !!!

It's a feast of special information. Much of it can be applied to other Garmin untis and not just the Nuvi.

Thanks a ton for charintg your site and knowledge with all of us.

Nice work !

Regards, Tim

Garmin has a manual for everyone of their models at the Garmin site. They are in .pdf format and all are available for downloading. I usually download one to check if a certain model can do what I want.

HTH's

Curt

Thanks for info and links

Thanks for this, great resource!

Great work! Man, wish I found this a LONG time ago!

Thanks for a great site, it has help me a lot, keep up the good work.

I find your work outstanding. Review your info weekly and always find a new secret to use on my Nuvi 200. Even a few tricks for my Garmin C320--always can teach an old dog new tricks.
Thanks again.
guy

Yes, thank you for this wonderful work !! ! !!

I too thank you for your time and effort.

I just found out that you can use a replacement car adapter with the NUVI 760 that charges your unit and you can use the unit at the same time IF, when you turn on the unit you press on the screen batter icon for about five seconds...the unit goes into a test mode........then plug in the power cord and exit the test mode. You unit will not operate and charge with the replacement power cord.

Your site is a great help to us newbes. Thanks for all the info and help

Thank you

Yes, lots of time-saving tips & plenty of good stuff!

I will add my accolades to you. Taking the basics to a new level by putting logical steps together in clear language is quite useful. However, adding your personal knowledge with secrets and ideas beyond the basic howto's is great. I have visited often but need to be careful because I get my head into drilling down for the details and end up spending a lot of time cataloging new ideas for a later time.

I guess that is not a negative now is it?

Your site (next to this one here), was one of the very first I went to after getting my Nuvi 1300WT GPS a couple of months ago. Mucho info. In fact, I used several of your tips and tricks. Once again.. THANKS!

Nuvi1300WTGPS

Nuvi1300WTGPS@Gmail.com

Wow, Gary. Very informative site you got there. Thanks

Bumping this, cus it's worth keeping in the fore front!

Just wanted to say I got a nice personal reply to this suggestion. As usual the response was thoughtful, well constructed and convincing. I withdraw my suggestion ... It's all there and easy to navigate without more detail here.

Thanks for the tips. I appreciate that