Rest Area POI Notification

When you loaded the Custom POIs, what distance did you input for the proximity alert?

What Rest Area file are you using ???

sounds like you may have used express mode in poi loader...try using the manual mode by clicking on the drop down arrow, and then setting the distance...I have mine set to approximately two miles (10,000 feet)

When you use the POI Loader, you can indicate whether you want "EXPRESS" or "MANUAL". To set the alerts, use the "MANUAL" method and that will allow you to enter in the distance that will be used for the alert. Becareful though, the distance is in FEET, so you need to set the distance in multiples of 5280 per mile.

Also, the alert will trigger whether the rest area is on your side of the expressway or on the opposite side. For that reason, I sorted the Combined Rest Area file into 5 separate files - Combined, North Bound, South Bound, East Bound, and West Bound. I "named" each of these files differently (e.g. Rest Area North Bound) and then made a sound file for each so it gives me an indication whether I need to prepare to "Rest" or whether I should hold it for a little longer.

That could result in 3 simultaneous triggers; most gps models don't handle multiple triggers well, giving perhaps only one of the three.

That would only happen if the opposite direction rest stops were located within the proximity alert distance at the same time and only if they proximity alert is turned on for the combined file as well as the others. Leaving the proximity alert on with the combined file would defeat the purpose of extracting the different directions stops into seperate files and I assume he is either not loading the combined file or leaving the proximity alert off fo that one. So, it is feasible to have 2 stops alerting at the same time if they fall within the alerting distance at the same time.

The better solution to alerts for both directions occurring on major Interstates would be to notify Mr. Ken and work with him to adjust the location. It is possible to set the location to a point where it will only alert in the direction traveled. There is difficulty if the road has no center median as the innermost lane needs to be alerted, but the inner lane in the opposite direction would also be alerted while one of the outer lanes may not.

My "Combined" file is for those rest areas that service both lanes. In the Original Combined Rest area file, you can see that some are coded as NB, SB, etc, while others are coded NB/SB or EB/WB. I suspect those rest areas are located in the median area of an expressway and service both directions of traffic. In that way, I've set my alert distance for 15000 feet (approx 3 miles) and the since the POI is only in one of the 5 files, I get the proper notification since I have 5 sound files named the same as the 5 POI files. So far, it has worked great for me.

Thanks to all of you, Motorcycle mama, Mr Ken, Jim and Sire and the others for your assistance. I was not aware that there was a way to adjust the distance of these files. I grew up today. Thanks again.

Does anyone know what the defaults are when using the POI loader in the express mode? Is it zero feet? I've never tried it in that mode.

If your POI file name does not contain any of the "speed" keywords, running POI Loader in Express Mode results in no alert.

If you have loaded a custom icon and the POI is less than 50 ft from the side of the road you are traveling on, the icon will display, but no other visual or audible alert will be given.

So I search garmin.com. Looks like it depends on several factors. Here's what I got:

Proximity Alert Information

4. A default proximity alert distance of 400 meters/0.25 miles if the file name contains the word "redlight."
5. If there is a TourGuide audio file attached and no other proximity alert information is available, POI Loader assigns a proximity alert distance of 0.25 miles.

Select the distance as referenced by others in this thread. Mine works very well.
Virgo53