Custom POI set for NUVI 200

Look at a poi by opening it with either excel or note pad.... There many posts on this site regarding making poi's, you might start by looking over FAQ:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6654

Yes once you set up the custom poi file you will be able to touch any of the selected pois and get directons to it.On your gps it will display the closest 50 to you.I have seen reports of a lot of business doing this. Any questions you have I will be glad to help you out and know other members also would too.It sounds like a good project that will save time.You also may want to look at this http://www.poi-factory.com/node/8674 if you have plans for installing other custom pois for your unit.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/14961#new

Thanks for the help. I will read that stuff when I get time.I loaded the poi updater and imported a .csv file with all of the locations and there lat/lon. This rock because now I can just pick the one I want and follow the garmin trail.

My only questions are can I put info on each site into the file and access that as well when I pick the one I want?

Is it possible to sort by name instead of what is closest to my location?

Will the prox alert funtion I selected when importing the file work? I set it to 500ft or else it would be going off all the time when in town.

Thanks again, this is going to be so nice, I should have done this long ago. You folks are awesome.

BR\\
Charlie Toms (ctoms)

Yes, but I'm not sure how much info you are talking about. I believe the GPX format allows for more info than cvs, but I will defer to others depending upon your response re your requirements.

Specific locations sort only by distance AND only the closest 50 display. Categories appear alphabetically, and they are created by subfolders and filenames, so the solution would be to search-by-spelling to find the location you want. If you had less than 50 locations, you could create a separate file for each location.

If you set an alert with POI Loader, they should work. Avoid numbers and a few trigger words like "redlight, camera, gatso, safety, specs, and speed" within the filename. Are you sure you want alerts? Would you ever visit a site on the spur of the moment just because you found yourself nearby?

I can see that would be a benefit having all the locations on the gps.You stated that you had 280 cell sites.If they are located in different cities or towns you could easly set it up with subfolder to narrow it down to 50 or less showing at one time.Like I say depends on location.Jut for example.

>My poi folder=main folder

>>cell locations=subfolder
>>>town a.csv
>>>town b.csv
>>>town c.csv

Just break the towns or cities down to 50 or less if you can or another method you may think of.When you touch cell locations it will display the towns.Just touch the one you want.

If you are using excel to make the csv file you can use column d to put in information like phone number address etc.

The alerts would be nice if I could turn them on and off.

The reason I want alerts is because I am new to this cell company and am still getting to know where all the sites are. While driving around for any reason it will be nice to be notified of a site nearby. This has the potential of being anoying so I would need to turn them off.

The alert could be avoided if I could figure out how to show a symbol at each location. They are spread out all over wisconsin.

Can I create symbols or dots that will stay on screen all the time even if I am on a route?

Thanks
Charlie Toms

You can turn the alert sounds on and off easily from settings. Use Wrench->Settings->Proximity Points then hit the "Change" button at Proximity alerts and uncheck the box.

Custom POIs will be marked with dots by default, or you can load a custom BMP icon with POI Loader. (Search this site for tutorials on that.)

Note though, that the icons only show at a zoom level of something like 500 feet, so that may not be very useful for your purposes.

You can make a bmp file to make a icon show on the map but I agree with freysman it may not serve your purpose and you will have to zoom in to see them.If you have mp3 on your gps you can have a voice alert.I found most of the alarms for the gps are more annoying then helpful.When you are riding around you can always leave the custom poi screen up for the towers you done and it will keep changing to next closest 50 as you travel around.

Thanks for the input.

I am already way ahead of where I started with the fact I can punch in the site I am going to and then just follow the guided path. I have become so spoiled by these things that I do not know how to get to some places without it. It is funny because with this Garmin telling you where to turn a person does not pay attention to the things that you used to like landmarks and street names and stuff. Without the GPS I am lost now. Not to mention the convenience of always knowing exactly when you will arrive at any given destination.

I like my nϋvi 200 because it is small and convenient but the Street Pilot c550 is nice because the street names are given and it is on the dash so the size is no big deal. In fact the sound seems to be better on the big c550 in the beat up noisy company blazer and the fact there is a volume dial is a huge plus when on and off the phone all day. Other than that they seem similar but I have not taken the time to compare them real close. Are there other major differences?
Back on track, I will try to research how to do separate folders for each city perhaps and how to do symbols with the file and more site info like the tower height, our antenna heights and azimuths or even what antenna is used and any instructions specific to that location like the lock combo or what key is needed for entry or who the landlord is. Like I said this is all just icing on the cake, I am already super happy with what I have.

Thanks again for all the help and support
BR\\
Charlie Toms (ctoms)

All of what you describe above is possible using gpx files, which allow many more data fields than csv files. Hands down the best tool for working with gpx files is GeePeeEx. http://phil.hornby.me.uk/GeePeeEx/ Well worth the price of registration. Using the 'description' field it is possible to enter all any sort of specific details for each POI, even with html formatting and a "More" button on you Nüvi's screen to let you know the extra info is there. Its something I found while playing with GeePeeEx that I haven't seen used, but I can imagine quite a few uses for it.

(Not a paid endorsement, just a very satisfied user.)