Questions on Using Alert Sounds Library

No alert sounds have any kind of distance associated with them. As for how to get alerts without using manual mode, see:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6764

As RT and Walleye always say, "Give a man a fish and you've fed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime."

I do know how to fish - I'm just having a litle trouble landing this one. I did read the referenced FAQ before I posted, but I was still a little confused. In reading the FAQ, I saw that the default proximity alert (BONG, BONG) can be overriden by the presence of an mp3 file whose name matches the .csv or .gpx file containing the POI.

So I was careful to do that - matching file names.

What I don't understand and maybe didn't phrase too well in my first post was - where is the proximity setting coming from that activates the alert sound? Is there a default "along road" distance implemented by POI Loader/Express Mode?

Thanks for your help........Durango

The alert distance and/or speed is determined by the alerts that you set. They aren't dependent upon the alert sound.

As stated in Phil's FAQ post, POI Loader determines what alert information exists based upon the information in the file or the information that you set when you run POI Loader.

1. Information from the POI itself (i.e. speed and distance for .gpx files - speed only for .csv files).
2. Information entered in “Manual Mode”.
3. Information derived from keywords in the File Name.

The alert distance and/or speed will be the same whether you are using the default sound or a Custom Alert sound. No difference.

http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/creating_custom_po...

Bob

The above was helpful, but I have some related questions:
- How can I tell if a gpx file contains distance info? I tried to use the POI Edit program on several gpx files I downloaded from POI Factory, but I could never see any recognizable distance (or speed) data. Am I doing that wrong?
- If I rename a POI file to include "Redlight", then have I created a default proximity alert of 1/4 mile (e.g., if I rename CoffeeShop.gpx to CoffeeShopRedlight.gpx)? If so, wouldn't this default distance apply to all the POIs in the CoffeeShop file?

Thanks for your help......Durango

Download the trial version of GeePeeEx Editor at http://geepeeex.googlepages.com/ , and use it to open your file. It will show you proximity distances in a dedicated field -- and it can be different for each waypoint, but I can't imagine why you need that capability. If you use the word "redlight" as you suggest, you can have a default distance of 1/4 mile. I'm not sure if the word "redlight" can be run together with other words or not.

My suggestion is to try these things instead of laboring over the questions. It only takes a couple minutes to run a test. If you are putting an alert on this file just to fine tune your technique, I understand. Otherwise, I can't imagine wanting to be alerted every time you pass a coffee shop.

how can i make the redlight sound the alert only once ? instead of 4 times

Marnoldi,
I answered this in your other post on this subject. Please don't post the same question multiple times.

1. The files you download don't contain any alert information except for the redlight file due to the word "redlight" in the filename. For any other files, if you want to include alert information you would need to program it in. The posts above as well as Phil's FAQ which was linked provide information on how to do that. Also, there is a TON of information in the Help File of POI Loader.

2. Yes.

Bob, this website was certainly more helpful than Phil's FAQ Post to which everyone was sending me. I just didn't yet understand alerts well enough for Phil's post to help me.

To add to my confusion, I had made an erroneous assumption about the gpx files being downloaded from POI Factory - I thought they already contained speed and proximity data. I thought that's how they differed from the csv version.

In the process of digging on my own (or as Bent Biker said - learning to fish), I found a FAQ that was at exactly the level I needed. This was "Dbrilla's Guide to Setting up Custom POI Alerts and Tourguides". I would link this FAQ in my post, but I don't know how (and am afraid to ask, lol).

Anyway, thanks for your help and thanks for not making me feel stupid when I ask questions.

Regards...........Durango

BB, I will try geepeeex. I think one of my confusion issues was that I erroneously thought the gpx files downloaded from POI Factory contained proximity and speed data. So I was trying to figure out how to attach an alert sound.

Yes, I am just trying to fine tune (and learn) my approach. I have no choice but to labor over the questions because: (1) I still don't know enough to always phrase the question correctly, and (2) an accident prevents me from driving and testing right now.

Thanks for your help......Durango

MM, thanks for responding. As indicated in my reply to Dog Poop (Bob), I was making an erroneous assumption about the gpx files being downloaded from POI Factory, and therefore I couldn't understand how to then attach the alert sounds. And going to Phil's FAQ post was not helping me at the point where I was in the process.

Regards..........Durango

You might also want to read the POI Loader Help File. All the information on the site that Bob linked is contained in the Help File.

You need not drive a single mile to test. There is a simulation mode that works quite well. You can place your position at any point on the map and then choose a point beyond your alert. Then ask it to simulate the route.

As bentbiker stated, there is a simulation mode. Tools, Settings, System, GPS Simulator. Turn simulator on, go back to your map screen and place your vehicle on your desired starting location, then press Set Loc. Then select your desired ending location from Where To and the unit will ask you if you want to simulate driving the route. The one drawback to simulation mode is that you cannot speed up the simulation. So choose short routes!

Thanks. I knew about the simulation mode, but I never spent much time with it because it often shows me off the road. And since I've had difficulty comprehending proximity settings, I never thought to practice on the simulator.

Regards.......Durango