Garmin 265wt School Zones

I can't figure out what you're asking but there is a 'school zone' poi posted on this site.

There's one for the western U.S. another for the east. You can save a voice file or tone (your choice) to tell you when you're entering a school zone (mine says something like 'entering school zone, check speed'). When you load the poi to the GPS you can set the alert speed. I.E. you can only be alerted when moving 29 mph or above.

All you need to do is make sure the voice/tone is labeled exactly the same as the poi file (except the extension). The same goes for any special icon you want to add.

Cheers

Most of the school zones custom pois have a speed limit included in the file example @20.You can download the file using poieditor in the express mode and you will be alerted.You don't have to add a sound file .What you will get is the standard bong alert when in the zone.The 265 will not play mp3's but you can use wav files to get a voice alert if you want.Here is the outline for how to do that.

A.Download the latest PoiLoader file at http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/ .
b. Download Sox Exe at http://rapidshare.com:80/files/139638423/sox.zip .
c. After un-zipping Sox Exe file place it in your Garmin folder where the PoiLoader exe file is located on the computer.
d. The wav file for alerts will be named the same as the CSV or GPX file except for the extensions.
e. You can make your own wav files by going to http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php and typing in what you want it to say or use a program to convert mp3 files to wav. When using the conversion it must be saved as PCM, 44.100 kHZ., 16 bit, Mono. Wav files are also on site for download.

Are you using schools.zip Western USA (45,359 locations)

I did not find Western USA School Zones

I searched POI files for school zone and did not find the one for western U.S. How do I find it?

Hi there,

Found the files here: http://www.poi-factory.com/node/17

No speed zone information in the file I downloaded however, so I set a 1500 ft. proximity alert with icon and 16-bit mono .wav files.

Does anyone know how old the school zone file is? I have three schools that recently opened in my area. 2004, 2008 and 2009. none of them on the school zone list.

Thanks vinnie

I will try this

I've noticed that my recently updated Garmin 255w map(2010.20) does not have the new schools either. I guess they will just need manual entry for now.

Another school/speed zone question. One school located in my subdivision is located on the corner of " T " intersection. The Garmin POI has the school mapped almost at the corner of the intersection on one road, which it really isn't. The school is on about an acre of land, and the school is off the street a bit - more in the center of the corner acre lot. But upon further reading, POI are pretty much always mapped on a street; otherwise how would the GPS know how to route to that location. The school/speed zone custom POI has the school mapped exactly where the building is, off the road in the center or the lot. Upon drive testing the speed zone, the Garmin Nuvi 255w did not alert me to the speed zone set(yes I was above it). I know I was within .25 miles of the customPOI If I manually move the speed zone POI to the road, it works if I am approach on that road; and it did not alert me if I was moving on the other road. Like many schools, I imagine, the speed zone should be alerted when approaching from any angle(on or off road). Is there a trick to this?

The actual POI location must be within 50 feet of the road in order for an alert to sound.

I have a 255w and I just can't seem to get the proximity to work. I have installed Garmin's POI loader as well as copied the sox.exe file to the same directory. In another directory I created a My POIs directory. Within that directory I created sub-directories for each POI I want to upload. When I run the uploader, I point it to the My Pois directory. Here is what the directory structure looks like: (I have also tried the file names without the _specs in the name.)
- My POIs
- RestAreas
- RestAreas_specs.BMP
- RestAreas_specs.csv
- RestAreas_specs.wav
- Schools_Midwest
- Schools_Midwest_specs.csv
- Schools_Midwest_specs.wav

I run the POI uploader in manual mode and select the proximity distance for each POI. The upload seems to work fine and the entries show up in the "Extras / Custom POI" in seperate catagories, RestAreas and Schools_Midwest. But, when driving, the icons for each location do not display on the screen and the proximity alerts do not work.
I am sure I am missing something here but I just can't seem to find what I am doing wrong. The only location icons that show up on my screen are the ones for entries on the "Where to / Favorites / All Favorites".

Did you place the sox.exe in your Garmin folder where the PoiLoader exe file is located on the computer.In my case my computer,local disk c then click on garmin folder?You will see poiloader in the same folder.Just copy and paste on empty spot.If in the correct location check for double extensions on your files.

Edit.. The biggest problems with the alerts and icons not working are the files not being named the same except for extensions and having double extensions. Double-check each of them. The best way to prevent double extensions is to go to your folder options in the control panel and click view then find hide extensions for known file types and remove the check mark. Click ok.

I just verified both.. The sox.exe is in the c:\Garmin folder along with all the poiloader.exe files. I also verified the file names are exactly the same and extensions are correct.
The only locations that show up on the map as I am driving are the entries in the "Favorites" such as a couple of geocaching sites I added. But these POI's are not on the map unless I select a single point and select "go".

You are going to have to zoom in around 300 ft to see the custom poi icons.Unless you select the go to.

I'll give that a try.. Not sure what level of zoom I had it on for the trip home but the geocache sites were on the screen. Didn't know if the POI's needed to be closer zoomed in to show up..

The wav files will also work but be sure named the same except the extension.One period out of place etc and it will not work.
Edit.If the coordinates are located more then 50 ft off the road of travel you will not get the alert.I do see that you downloaded the rest stops.If this is the combined file.The alerts are located at the entrance so you will get the alert.There are some other rest stop files that the coordinates are set at the building so in most cases you will not be alerted.

I started from scratch with a basic csv file with my home lat and lon, following the instructions on Gary's page, http://home.comcast.net/~ghayman3/garmin.gps/pagepoi.htm#pag...
Started with deleting all POI's via the poiloader then I added only the new files, My_Home_Redlight.csv, My_Home_Redlight.bmp and My_Home_Redlight.wav. I uploaded the new POI and selected "manual" install and selected the default 1350 ft to alert.
From my living room, I am 120 feet from the uploaded POI and I still get no alert on the screen or even the POI showing up on the screen. I even then saved the entry to my favorites which shows the location on the map but still no alert...
I am starting to wonder if it is my unit??

Like Lance Armstrong said -- it's not the bike.

Some things of note:
1.) For an alert to trigger, you must be on the same street as the POI and moving toward the POI.
2.) For a POI to be considered on a street, it must be within 50 ft or so of the street -- best bet is to place the POI in the street to make sure you actually hit it when routing to the POI.
3.) You can simulate a route past your house and get the alert just as if you were driving.

Try setting them up this way.I am sure you are doing most of this already.Be sure to download the latest Poiloader and download the sox.exe file from the site I listed and be sure to unzip it before placing in the Garmin folder on your computer.

1.Go to my documents on your computer and make a folder and name it My poi’s.
2.Click on My poi’s folder. Now right click and make subfolders naming them based on type of files you plan to download. Example:Rest areas,Schools Food, Cameras, Parks, Attractions and etc.
3.Go to POI Factory main page and click on poi files. Scroll down until you see View all poi files ( listed alphabetically) .Click on first file you want to download and save it in one of the subfolders you created. Repeat process until you have downloaded and placed all the csv or gpx files into the correct subfolders.
4.Now if you want to add bmp (icons), and wav (sounds) files select icons or sounds from the POI Factory main page. The process is the same for all to download. Click on the title and when you see attachment just right click on it and pick save target as. Save it in the correct subfolder you want the wav or icon for. The Nuvi 2x0 and 2x5 series can use wav files for the alerts but not mp3’s.
a.Download the latest PoiLoader file at http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/ .
b.Download Sox Exe at http://rapidshare.com:80/files/139638423/sox.zip .
c.After un-zipping Sox Exe file place it in your Garmin folder where the PoiLoader exe file is located on the computer.
d.The wav file for alerts will be named the same as the CSV or GPX file except for the extensions.
e.You can make your own wav files by going to http://www.research.att.com/~ttsweb/tts/demo.php and typing in what you want it to say or use a program to convert mp3 files to wav. When using the conversion it must be saved as PCM, 44.100 kHZ., 16 bit, Mono. Many wav files available on PoiFactory listed under sounds at top of page.

5.Now go to each subfolder and name the csv, bmp and wav file the same name except for the extensions. The biggest problems with the alerts and icons not working are the files not being named the same except for extensions and having double extensions. Double-check each of them. The best way to prevent double extensions is to go to your folder options in the control panel and click view then find hide extensions for known file types and remove the check mark. Click ok.

This is how it should look.

>My pois=main folder

>>Rest stops=subfolder
>>>Rest stops.csv
>>>Rest stops.bmp
>>>Rest stops.wav

>>Schools=subfolder
>>>Schools midwest.csv
>>>Schools midwest.bmp
>>>Schools midwest.wav

6.Connect your GPS to your computer using the usb cable.
7.Now run poi loader http://www8.garmin.com/products/poiloader/ .
8.When you see screen find device make sure you select the proper one. If using sd card use the pull down window .The arrow located across from device and select the sd card.
9.Click next and put mark in Install new custom Poi’s onto your device.
10.Click next. Using Browse make sure to select the folder location for My poi’s not the subfolders. Looking below on same screen you will see selection for either express or manual mode. If you plan to set alerts for your custom poi’s select the manual mode . This will allow you to set alert by speed or distance. Click next.
11.Now you should get message so many points of interest has been installed to your device.
12.Based on model. Touch where to, extras and touch custom pois last and you will see the ones you downloaded.
13.Each time you run poiloader it will over write the existing files.