County Lines as POIs?

 

We occasionally travel well into Wisconsin from Minnesota. I would like to configure my Garmin StreetPilot 2730 to notify me each time I cross a county line. Can something like this be set up? If so, I guess I first need to determine through MapSource where the county line is. I don't recall that county lines are indicated on MapSource, however. Would something like this be similar to the red light camers that I see people make reference to here? Usually our route is along I-94 from Hudson WI to Milwaukee. WI.

yes you can

You can use Mapsource. I would normally suggest Google Earth, but I checked MN and WI and they don't really come in too clear. Mapsource works better. Now the tricky part. You may want to use a good state map, which should have the counties outlined. Then in conjunction follow along with mapsource to get the coordinates, or plot the waypoints. I'm using an old world atlas and mapsource. I figure that from Minnesota, on I-94E into Wisconsin about halfway across the bridge over Lake St Croix I'd make a waypoint, leaving Washington county MN, entering St.Croix county WI. Then just SE of Wilson, is where I'd make a waypoint on I-94E Leaving St Croix county WI, entering Dunn county WI. Then SE to Elk Mound into Eau Claire county. Just SSE of Elk Mound I'd make a waypoint on I-94E, leaving Dunn county WI, entering Eau Claire county WI.
I guess you get the drift.

Next time you take that trip you could mark the exact county lines.

I'm not familiar with the 2730, but I see it can play mp3's. You may be able to set it up to actually speak to you when you hit the waypoints. Of course you'd have to record the "Leaving xyz county, entering abc county" in mp3 format. Just checked and I see that the 2730 is "TourGuide" capable, that's what I'd use, and you can do it all in MapSource. You'd still need to record all of the Leaving xxx county and entering yyy county.
That would be pretty cool.

If you need more help, yell.

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........Garmin StreetPilot c550 / Nüvi 765...........

I want to createe a .csv

I want to createe a .csv file that will function similar to a red light camera, but in this application it will alert as I cross county lines. I am most interested in I-94 in Wisconsin. We travel through there a few times a year. I am an amateur radio operator and I listen to an amateur radio during the trips. I organize my frequencies by banks and the banks correspond to the counties I travel through. Thus, I would like my Garmin StreetPilot 2730 configured to notify me as I cross each county line so that I can be certain to have the correct bank of frequencies for each county. I am trying to determine the correct coordinates for each county line. I am using the MapSource software, but I don't think the the county lines are shown in there. Does anybody have any idea where I can get the correct coordinates for this project? I am certain that it already exists and I rather doubt that it is a national secret, but I have searched the web and still haven't located what I am looking for. Some counties, of course, will be simple since some county lines are rivers. I suspect some others will have roads right on the county line, but determining exactly where the county line is has been elusive so far. I also would like to get the corresponding nearby mile marks and enter them as a comment. Similarly, a mile markers listing seems to be rather elusive. This forum seems to have a pretty knowledgeagble readership, so please feel free to post any helpful tips here. Also, although I am just looking for a single waypoint on the freeway, could a "track" be created along the county line where anytime a person crosses the track (county line) an alert would be made?

Amateur Radio Frequencies

This may be off topic, but there are a number of POI's available on this site for Ham Radio repeaters by state. If you load them into your GPS, you should be able to view the nearest ones by distance from your current position.

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Garmin StreetPilot c530, Mapsource

you're missing the fun...lol

I find that finding the coordinates is part of the fun of creating a csv file.

Perhaps a call to your DOT or Highway Dept may have coordinates of the intersections of roads and county lines. Maybe a small local airport would have some info too. Try the Highway Patrol or State Police. Maybe a surveying company or the Appraisal district could offer suggestions.

I think that by the time you try to search and call around to find what you need, you could have had it done by following along with a good paper map and MapSource. You'll be able to get pretty close, then when you make your next trip you could get it as exact as you want. You could also make notes as far as the mile markers too.

Yes, what you are asking is possible, to alert you like a "redlight" file would. I don't know about your "track" question.

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........Garmin StreetPilot c550 / Nüvi 765...........

County Lines

Okay, here is an update on resources for my current project. Melissa Data will show the county lines
https://www.melissadata.com/lookups/index.htm from there I just look for landmarks that I can match in MapSource and then create a waypoint. I am also adding mile markers that I have found at both of these sites
http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/travel/road/exits-i94.htm
http://www.milebymile.com/main/United_States/Wisconsin/Inter...

I found a few other links

I found a few other links that are very helpful for this project:

Highway Browser http://cmap.m-plex.com/int/

Upper Midwest Freeway Exits Guide http://www.mesalek.com/exits/index.htmlshows

http://boulter.com/gps/

I especially like to check the "Open links in a new window" box in the Bpulter page with allows the coordinates to bring up maps from various sites. I also like how that site displays your coordinates in several popular formats.

you've been busy

pretty good info Jim, you've been busy!

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........Garmin StreetPilot c550 / Nüvi 765...........