Problems with Proximity Alarms

 

I recently downloaded all the Fuelmans in TN by way of Google Earth and then converted them to a CSV File. I have done this in the past and everything worked fine,matter of fact I gave it to several employees and the poi worked on all garmin devices. This time however I am having a problem. It seems that the new version of Google Earth postions the point directly over the gas station. The problem is I drive by the station and I see it on my Navigator sometimes it dings sometime it doesn't. I have changed the distances several times, from 1320 ft to 1800ft and nothing seems to work forsure. Most of the gas station are less than 300ft. Should I go lower, I sorta want this to go of from the interstate which done fine on the older version at 1300ft. I also loaded NT 2009 on a SD card, it seems that the POI works better with it out, but it still doesn't ding or flash the red warning label at the top everytime.
Any suggestion would be very helpful...Thanks

If you are traveling on the

If you are traveling on the same road of the locations and not getting the alert most likely it is the location of the coordinates.If more then 50 ft off the road way you will not get the alert.Using the combine rest stops as a example the coordinate are place at the entrance to insure you get alerted.

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Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

That sounds right.

Now that you mention it that sounds right. The old Goggle Earth the lat/lon wasn't as accurate about where a gas station was. Most of the time they were next to the road. This new Google Earth has the points dead center of the gas stations building. I guess I will go back and change them all close to the road as I can. Thanks for the advice.

TourGuide

If you want the alert to sound then you probably need to make a TourGuide. A normal POI will only alert if the POI is on the road you are travelling. If you are on the interstate then the alert will never sound.

However, if you make a TourGuide then the alert is a radius.

Garmin maps vs Google Earth

1389 Agriculture wrote:

Now that you mention it that sounds right. The old Goggle Earth the lat/lon wasn't as accurate about where a gas station was. Most of the time they were next to the road. This new Google Earth has the points dead center of the gas stations building. I guess I will go back and change them all close to the road as I can. Thanks for the advice.

I've also noticed that the long/lat that I get from Google Earth is not the same as that on Garmin maps. I get my long/lat from Google Earth and then modify it a bit on MapSource so that it is exactly on the map that is on my Garmin. I suggest that for your gas stations, you place the long/lat on the main highway right by the exit. That's how the POI for rest areas is set up and it works well.

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Garmin Nuvi 750

works for rest areas for a reason

tomkovacic wrote:

.... I suggest that for your gas stations, you place the long/lat on the main highway right by the exit. That's how the POI for rest areas is set up and it works well.

That works well for rest areas because they can only be accessed from the highway (usually Interstate or similar limited access road). Would not make sense for a gas station that is accessed by local roads, not the limited access road.

Say for example you had just got off the highway and grabbed a meal. You wanted gas before completing the rest of the drive. The last thing you want at that point is the gps trying to route you on to the Interstate because that's where it thinks the gas station is. Even worse would be when it routes you to the next exit and then tries to route you back again since the exit was before the entrance.

Good Point but that causes a problem

Frovingslosh: you are correct if you are on the side road, not the highway. I was thinking as a trucker on the highway looking for a gas stop, not as a local on the side roads.

A TourGuide won't work the best in his situation. You'll have to set the proximity distance at least at 1/4 mile to give you the proper distance of the station from the intersection. Now when will the POI alert him? If the station is close to the 1/4 mile point, the alert will when he is very close to the intersection. So he won't get any warning of the gas station until it is too late to turn off!

So you really would have to increase the proximity distance to 1 mile or more to give you time to get in the correct lane and exit. Then the problem is that you'll get alerts for gas stations that are on roads parallel to your travelled road, possibly without a crossroad to get to it. That's pretty common when travelling on a thruway thru a city. You might have to travel a mile down the road to the next exit, off to the right or left a mile (whatever your proximity distance is set at), and then back the mile. Not a good situation.

I still like my method.

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Garmin Nuvi 750

I use Tourguide

I use TourGuide for Truck Plazas (Loves, TA, Pilot, Flying J etc.) and CrackerBarrel since they are typically 1/4 - 1/2 mile off the highway.
I set the distance via manual mode of POI Loader to 1 1/2 miles and that gives me ample time to get in the right lane to exit.

Works for me !

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MrKenFL- "Money can't buy you happiness .. But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery." NUVI 260, Nuvi 1490LMT & Nuvi 2595LMT all with 2014.4 maps !

Fuelman- TN locations

1389 Agriculture,
Have you added the Fuelman POI's to the list here? I can't seem to find them if you have. If not, could you possibly add them or send them to me? This has been on my to do list for awhile, so it would be a real help if you could share your list.
Thanks