Garmin Safety Camera Database

 

I just noticed that Garmin now has a subscription for safety cameras for the US and Canada. I cant imagine anyone paying $35 dollars to Garmin to download the cameras when they can get them here at POI. Just curious, has anyone tried the subscription?

UPDATE: For 2012 and newer models, Garmin no longer offers the Cyclops safety camera database for USA and Canada.

POI Factory's camera files continue to work with all of Garmin's automotive navigation units, including their newer models.

POI Files

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Geojeep
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Withholding information

jolleyr wrote:

They would wright to each city and state. That is your "pupic" information at work (-: jolleyr

Thats the part that burns me up.The Police use the data for revenue, but won't publish it. I can't wait until someone sues the State for withholding valuable information that might of prevented a deadly accident!

It just seems to me that they would want to prevent accidents by warning us.

New Nuvi 2450

On my new Nuvi 2450 we were going through a school zone and a sound and a sign came on my unit. I guess I have a free trial sub of the Safety Camera Subscriptions. Do we have school zones on our POI. Is this our POI alert or is it Garmin's?

Is there a way to turn off Garmin's alerts and keep my POI factory redlight camera file working?

Thanks, Mary

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Mary, Nuvi 2450, Garmin Viago, Honda Navigation, Nuvi 750 (gave to son)

they might be including a free subscription with the new Garmin

mgarledge wrote:

On my new Nuvi 2450 we were going through a school zone and a sound and a sign came on my unit. I guess I have a free trial sub of the Safety Camera Subscriptions. Do we have school zones on our POI. Is this our POI alert or is it Garmin's?

Is there a way to turn off Garmin's alerts and keep my POI factory redlight camera file working?

Thanks, Mary

I did the trial on my 760 and they don't expire, they just don't update Now I get a new 3760T and they were there already. At first I thought that they followed my account, but a friend got the without doing anything when he got his first Garmin.So they might be including a free subscription with the new Garmin s.

You will get a warning about the sub expiring, just ignore it.

So now I have both the Garmin and the POI factory ones. There are many more with POI factory, but there are a few Android phone apps that kill them both. And they include real time accident reports.

trapster and POI factory

I use both trapster and POI factory camera alerts.

Why?
Because trapster includes a huge list of locations that police often setup speed traps.

Yes, I get alerted twice when approaching a red light and speed cameras.

Garmin Safety Camera Database

I ran the 30 day trial alongside the POI Factory RLC POI and found them both to be about the same for accuracy. One would have a RLC when the other wouldn't, with the camera being current, or no longer in place - neither was without errors along my daily commute.

This was in the lower mainland area of BC, Canada.

How do you report a speed camera that's mounted in a police car?

How do you report a speed camera that's mounted in a stationary, but derivable, police car?

Yes I've seen three in the last week or so. The dam thing flashes every few minutes. It's going to get ugly here in DC.

Red Light Cameras

I just downloaded the Red Light cameras database, loaded it to my Nuvi 200W, and all I have are the light locations listed as POIs. There is no warning, icon display or anything. They just appear as a list or a destination just like any other POI.

Am I missing something in the installation, setup or operation (or the database)? Or is the Nuvi 200W not capable of this feature?

Any help at all?.....

@drskyking2

Touch anyone of the redlight cameras right before you hit go.You should see a 1/4 alert distance on the screen.If you want voice alerts see http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730.

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

One thing that is

One thing that is interesting to me is how everyone points out some specific camera that wasn't in the Garmin's file.

I've used POI-Factory's database before and it worked well enough, I can remember times when it missed a camera or, worse, it had traffic cameras labeled as red light cameras when they were really just traffic camera (monitoring, not ticketing, the difference is usually pretty obvious).

Now, you could say, "Well, just report the problem here," and you'd be right. I could do the same thing with the Garmin/Cyclops DB too.

The cost is roughly the same: $20 here or $26 there (or you can chat it up here and get it free).

I suspect that there's not much difference between the two in terms of errors (not the "I'm favoring this database so I found an error in the other database"-reasoning).

I have an Escort 9500xi in my car and I subscribe to the Defender database ($30 for 3 years). I've noticed a huge improvement in it as time has gone on. You can also mark/unmark locations while driving. What I think they're doing is taking that user data and making their database better (I don't know for sure but I've noticed that speed traps are now marked a lot more frequently, and I didn't mark them, as well as bogus cameras have gone away and real cameras get updated pretty quickly).

I think they've solved the 'I'm too lazy to bother reporting the error' problem. For POI-Factory and Cyclops, it's very unlikely I'll report the error - there's not an easy to use form floating around (maybe Cyclops has a form) so it's sort of a word-of-mouth deal and you're supposed to pin-point where the camera is and, really, that's kind of a pain.

I'm not poo-pooing POI-Factory's camera database, I'm just questioning some of the reasoning/logic here. I think most of it has more to do with loyalty to POI-Factory (and there's nothing wrong with that) than real measured accuracy in the databases. Everything I read here was just anecdotal.

Garmin Red Light subscription vs. POI Factory

I have been using the garmin line of GPS' for a couple years now. I just purchased the Garmin 3490LMT. I had the Garmin 3790LMT and Nuvi 765. The 3490LMT does not have a Garmin/Cyclops red light camera subscription so I paid the $20.00 and downloaded the POI Factory red light/speed camera POI files and installed them on my 3490LMT. I have noticed with the POI Factory version, when you come to an intersection that has a red light camera, the alert goes off on my 3490LMT even though I am not travelling in the direction of travel where the RLC is located. The Garmin/Cyclops database's red light camera POI's only fired off if you were traveling in the direction of travel where the RLC's are. I find this very annoying having gotten used to the Cyclops POIs from Garmin.

I also use the Excort 9500xi. I have used the 9500xi for about 2 years and found their Defender red light camera database to be outdated and their RLC alerts firing off in the opposite direction of travel as I approach an intersection.

I don't mind paying for a service but I would like the service to be reliable in that the applicable alerts fire off in your direction of travel and not just at the intersection regardless of your direction of travel.

Will the POI Factory red light camera database be fine tuned so that the RLC alert fires off in your direction of travel?

Thanks in advance.

Paul

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nuvi 2797LM

@cruisincdns

Paul --

We do track directional information for camera sites, but at present this information is not usable with Garmin's POI Loader software and is not included in the published camera files.

I'll send a follow-up note to you via email.

Regards,

Jonathan (aka JM)

I agree with you Geojeep. It

I agree with you Geojeep. It makes no sense to pay for something that you can get free right here.

Paul - the Cyclops trial

Paul - the Cyclops trial won't load onto my 3490LMT...says it is not a supported device.

Did it load onto yours?

Thanks

still wondering

Why I get the Garmin alerts when I never asked for them, trial or otherwise. Seem very accurate, but how are they loaded on my 2350lmt....part of the lifetime maps?? They annoy the heck out of my passengers as two alerts go off at the same time, garmin and poi factory...

easy

johnnatash4 wrote:

Why I get the Garmin alerts when I never asked for them, trial or otherwise. Seem very accurate, but how are they loaded on my 2350lmt....part of the lifetime maps?? They annoy the heck out of my passengers as two alerts go off at the same time, garmin and poi factory...

To disable Garmin Safety Cameras:
Tools>Settings>Navigation>Automobile>Proximity Points>Alerts> Uncheck Garmin Safety Cameras

Tools>Settings>Navigation>Automobile>Proximity Points>Audio> Check Off

My advice is to leave it on just in case we haven’t reported a camera or JM wasn’t aware of one.

--
Garmin 38 - Magellan Gold - Garmin Yellow eTrex - Nuvi 260 - Nuvi 2460LMT - Google Nexus 7 - Toyota Entune NAV

Geojeep wrote: I just

Geojeep wrote:

I just noticed that Garmin now has a subscription for safety cameras for the US and Canada. I cant imagine anyone paying $35 dollars to Garmin to download the cameras when they can get them here at POI. Just curious, has anyone tried the subscription?

Hope it is the right place to ask this question: Anybody can suggest where one can get a free POI file with traffic cameras in Europe?

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erweb

So How Do You Load It...

JM wrote:

Paul --

We do track directional information for camera sites, but at present this information is not usable with Garmin's POI Loader software and is not included in the published camera files.
(aka JM)

...if the Garmin POI loader doesn't do it? Are you hinting that there are alternate ways to load POI files? I find the Garmin POI to be tedious because it shuts down after loading just one file. Then, you have to restart the loader to load the next file... not good software design. I would love to hear of different ways to load a POI file.

So How Do You Load It...

Put all of your POI's including the Speed and Traffice lights in one file and run POI loader and it will load them all at one time. Look in the FAQ section there is a good write up about how to set up your custom POI's and load them

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johnm405 660 & MSS&T

Something's not right...

MarkZiemba wrote:

I find the Garmin POI to be tedious because it shuts down after loading just one file. Then, you have to restart the loader to load the next file... not good software design.

Either I don't understand what you are saying, or something isn't right here. I load 85 POI files into my Nuvi 760 with Garmin POI Loader - RLC, Speed Cameras, and a lot more - and they all get loaded in one shot. I use one main folder, with individual files separated into subfolders by type (alerts, stores, fuel, etc.) and point POI Loader at the parent folder. The only time it stops before loading them all is if there is a problem within a file (bad data, incorrectly formatted cells, etc.) Am I missing something here?

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The Moose Is Loose! nuvi 760

I Learn something every day...

Moose135 wrote:

Either I don't understand what you are saying, or something isn't right here. I load 85 POI files into my Nuvi 760 with Garmin POI Loader - RLC, Speed Cameras, and a lot more - and they all get loaded in one shot. I use one main folder, with individual files separated into subfolders by type (alerts, stores, fuel, etc.) and point POI Loader at the parent folder. The only time it stops before loading them all is if there is a problem within a file (bad data, incorrectly formatted cells, etc.) Am I missing something here?

No Moose, it's probably me. I never tried to do it that way. Thanks. redface

See

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

Garmin Safety Camera Subscription on Zumo 550

I fully purchased this subscription without using the trial. I found no difficulty in downloading the subscription, but it would never disclose any fixed camera locations here in Winnipeg. I did receive multiple variable camera notifications.
I inquired at Garmin, and they referred me to Cyclops. I had a total of 6 or 8 emails to both areas, both of which told me I was doing something wrong. I meticulously followed the instructions to no avail.
On trips through Canada I have received fixed camera warnings in both Quebec City and Montreal, but never any in Manitoba.
Garmin did extend my subscription by 6 months, but 6 more months of it not working was not of much value.
I still have had no satisfaction.
As a new member here, I will be attempting to use this service, as Winnipeg has 52 fixed camera "fund raisers", along with their fleet of movable cameras.

Decided to try the one-time

Decided to try the one-time download for ~$8.50. downloaded fine, not sure yet how it's going to work since I haven't left the house yet!

However, I noticed something odd in the file structure --

I loaded the RLC file onto my SDHC card, but instead of it being in
H:\garmin\POI

the files are in

H:\POI

Anybody know what effect this might have?

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KD5XB in DM84

RE: Decided to try the one-time

H:\POI (with the POI folder in the root directory)is the default file structure on new models 1xxx, 2xxx, 3xxx, etc. Possibly the 30/40/50 as well.

If you have an older model and it doesn't work you can just move the foler to

H:\Garmin\POI

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Frank, MA.

I agree with the first post.

I agree with the first post. I can't imagine paying for a service that I can get for free.

that explains it

cruisincdns wrote:

I have noticed with the POI Factory version, when you come to an intersection that has a red light camera, the alert goes off on my 3490LMT even though I am not travelling in the direction of travel where the RLC is located. The Garmin/Cyclops database's red light camera POI's only fired off if you were traveling in the direction of travel where the RLC's are. I find this very annoying having gotten used to the Cyclops POIs from Garmin.

This would explain why on the way to my meeting in DC, poi would go off and there's no camera. On the way back, both Garmin and poi would go off, and there is a camera.

I really don't know but garmin was telling me about mobile camera safety zones, that sounds like a garmin thing, not a poi factory thing.

All I can say is anyone in DC/VA/MD needs the most accurate info at any cost, and $20 doesn't sound like much to get it. There's nothing like speeding through a speed cam zone in DC which is mph over based (they only tolerate 5 mph) and not being alerted. The $75-$250 fine will pay for the entire nuvi imho.

...

Is there anyway to add directional data to your own POIs, so the alert only goes off when you approach the intersection from certain directions?

Unfortunately, relying on

Unfortunately, relying on preset POI speed camera zones in DC is a false sense of security. DC has towable mobile speed camera devices that they circulate around parts of DC on the busiest commuter routes. You'll rarely see these in the truly dangerous corridors because their program has nothing to do with safety, as these cameras are set up in places where they'll generate the most revenue. Basically a commuter tax.
The mobile units are far less accurate than the fixed cameras, but that doesn't matter because the majority of the 'offenders' don't want to waste a day in Traffic Adjudication disputing the accuracy of the camera, so they just pay them.
I will say that using the POI's for Montgomery Co. MD speed cameras will save you from being flashed 9 out of 10 times.

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Montgomery Co, MD

safety zone

jptl wrote:

Unfortunately, relying on preset POI speed camera zones in DC is a false sense of security. DC has towable mobile speed camera devices that they circulate around parts of DC on the busiest commuter routes. You'll rarely see these in the truly dangerous corridors because their program has nothing to do with safety, as these cameras are set up in places where they'll generate the most revenue. Basically a commuter tax.
The mobile units are far less accurate than the fixed cameras, but that doesn't matter because the majority of the 'offenders' don't want to waste a day in Traffic Adjudication disputing the accuracy of the camera, so they just pay them.
I will say that using the POI's for Montgomery Co. MD speed cameras will save you from being flashed 9 out of 10 times.

Seems like Garmin has the "zones" covered as well, i.e. the potential areas that DC lists on their website as being "Non-Fixed Speed Enforcement Locations." That's another 60 locations. Seriously, hasn't it basically become a simply follow the law at all times situation down there, there are 60 moving targets.

Trapster and POI Factory - same here

HowardZ wrote:

I use both trapster and POI factory camera alerts.

Why?
Because trapster includes a huge list of locations that police often setup speed traps.

Yes, I get alerted twice when approaching a red light and speed cameras.

I use both as well, especially if on a long trip. Trapster has the advantage of real-time information for speed traps, and it works pretty well. Their camera database does not appear to be as comprehensive as POI-Factory's, however.

So, as it is in other areas in life, using the right tool for the job yields the best results.

- Phil

I, too, use trapster as well

I, too, use trapster as well as poi-factory alerts, for the same reason.

Volume Level

My biggest issue with the Cyclops/Garmin file is that their warning is not loud enough for me. I keep my GPS at 30% volume, and I find it more than adequate for regular navigation, but at this level it is very easy to miss the "bong". I have a nuvi 3790. Is there a way to increase the warning volume when using the Garmin file?
Thanks

Garmin Database

The Garmin database is the pits it only comes up with about 50% of the cameras down here in south florida, whereas the POI-Factory database gets them 99.999 percent of those. Also when you report them to Garmin it usually takes about 2 months to get them in the updast. I've been using the Garmin since it came out and I won't be renewing

red light camera

probably get there info from publicly available documents. every town has to publish the locations since its a public safety issue.

--
"real achievement in life comes down to three key elements. preparation, timing and execution!" quote by president LBJ

A brand new user of 2560LMT

A brand new user of 2560LMT here. It came with speed cameras preinstalled. Not sure if this is a trial subscription, and if the cameras will stop working after the trial is over.

Re: >>Completely incorrect.

Re: >>Completely incorrect. POI files ONLY alert when they are on your calculated route. While the exact distance is not known, it is estimated that if the POI coordinates are more than about 50 feet off the actual road you are traveling on, they will not alert. If the POI location is on one side of a divided highway, it will only alert when you are traveling on that side of the road.<<

Just want to advise that this is not completely correct. I travel the MA Pike from Boston to Worcester and I'll get notices for Rest Areas (travel plaza) on the opposite side of the highway. This doesn't bother me at all. I have the proximity alert set for 2 miles so it's quickly apparent when it's on the opposite side.

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"Primum Non Nocere" 2595LMT Clear Channel and Navteq Traffic

Temporary Red Light Cameras

Whenever I get to what Garmin calls a "Temporary Red Light Camera", I get an alert that states a 5 mph speed limit. What's going on here?

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NUVI40 Kingsport TN

check for

David King wrote:

Whenever I get to what Garmin calls a "Temporary Red Light Camera", I get an alert that states a 5 mph speed limit. What's going on here?

Check for a number in the file name. If there is no number, then it is probably an error in Garmin's file.

--
Illiterate? Write for free help.

bad trapster update

gerrydrake wrote:

I, too, use trapster as well as poi-factory alerts, for the same reason.

The reviews of the latest iPhone app update (late April or so) are horrendous.

Is there a Trapster component to load into GPS receivers such as Garmins?

ETA: just answered my own question: http://trapster.com/devices/pnd/

Canada vs US Camera Database

Firstly, being new here, I would like to thank all that contributed to the databases! What a novel idea.

I did, however, have to physically change the "Canadian" speeds to Km/H .... very small price to pay.

I do have a question. On some of the entries I see a "S2" instead of the posted speed as @50 etc... What does the S2 denote?

Thank you in advance,

Ashley

Garmin Safety camera

I download the 30 days trail and test in Ocoee Florida, i find mising one camera in Clark and white rd....The only sound is ping ping, very closed to the camera....Imposible to check the data-base for news add cameras....So I'll stick with POI Factory.

Screw Garmin

I'll stick with POI Factory. They have been good to me so far.

Directional alerts?

miss poi wrote:

Garmin has a tool for publishing directional alerts called Content Tool Kit. We are working on licensing this for POI Factory and plan to use this with our camera files.

Jon is making improvements to the module I use for managing the camera files, and I will be working on directional information in February.

Miss POI

Sorry if I was unable to find the update to this issue, but has POI-Factory been able to license the software? Getting non-stop alerts when passing by cameras on both sides of the road is annoying (safe, though).

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DC Area, Nuvi 2797

Content Toolkit

We obtained an evaluation copy of the Content Toolkit in February 2010. A confidentiality agreement prohibits POI Factory from disclosing any details about the software features or the results of our testing. After evaluating the software, we decided not to license it. That's pretty much about all I can say about Content Toolkit smile

seems to work

I have the subscription and the file seems to have no false alerts, nor does it seem to be missing any cams. Is it worth $20? I just say if it saves a person once, sure. Also, we make an impulsive decision to go out to dinner, and it's $75+ just like that. So $20 for a year, we can either analyze it over and over, or just get it, or not. No biggie. smile

(No subject)

grin

Agreed

Yes, I guess it isn't much and you'd get the cost back by being saved just once... How are the false positives / negatives with trapster? Still trying to make up my mind on which mix of Solutions might be the best bet

--
rarbelaez

Yup

Can't you recognize greed!

Fred

...

I've found the POI Factory database to be much more useful than Garmin.

Garmin Safety Camera Database

All,

Thank you for the great thread! I think after reading this, I am going to go with the POI Factory database. I like the idea of adjusting the distance.

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