School Zone - best method?

Welcome to the site plaws.You may want to look at these files http://www.poi-factory.com/node/17 .

See http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25721 for setting up custom pois .

Missed the school file since I was searching for *school zone*. Thanks - I've grepped out all the Norman schools (a couple are missing, but only a couple).

Have read the linked article, too, but am looking for experiences with all possibilities.

Off to POILoader to test the new file!

I would use Google Earth to get the coordinates. This is suited to school zones because you can relate the actual limits of the school zone you are familiar with to the overhead photo view. You can usually see the poles the signs are mounted on.

If the school zone is on one straight street, locate a POI in Google Earth midway in the zone, then obtain the coordinates. Schools with zones on more than one street will require more POIs.

It is possible to load a school zone POI either as a speed alert or a proximity alert. It is not necessary to make it a tour guide.

To see how simple it is to write a POI file, download the speed camera file (.csv) and open it in Notepad since it is a text file. Then you can see how each POI (each line of text) is designed. You can then write the school zone POI file by using your numbers for the coordinates and speed.

If you prefer a proximity alert not related to speed, look at any POI files such as rest areas to see how they were written in the same manner.

dobs108

Plaws, since I'm lazy and don't want to create my own POI file for local schools, I simply download and install the "All USA" schools file here on POI Factory (which has already been mentioned for you in this thread). I rename the file to include TourGuide and use POI Loader in manual mode with a 550'-radius alert setting. I wish I could set it for a longer distance, but 550' is the best I can do to alert me as I arrive at a school crossing without getting too many false postive alerts from schools on adjacent or parallel streets. Another advantage to using the school POI file for the whole USA is that we can assume you know where you neighborhood schools are in your city so that a local school crossing alert isn't all that important--but when travelling to other cities or states, the whole USA school file will alert you to the presence of schools you are unfamiliar with--and their cities are probably just as broke and looking for alternative funding sources as your city is... I will say that I choose a distance alert rather than a speed alert--that way, I'll get a warning of an upcoming school zone regardless of my speed.

I also downloaded one of the school bmp files and a school warning audio file:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/11630

(both from POI Factory) so that I can see the schools and get custom alerts as I approach a school. The big issue with my method is that when on interstate highway overpass routes in crowded downtown areas, I get alerts for schools just off or under the interstate on the city's side streets. Oh well, it keeps me on my toes.

Good luck--and too bad about the ticket. If you get school alerts using this technique, you'll really understand setting up alerts on Garmin nuvi GPS receivers. Getting this right is a bit tougher than installing most POI files, even the redlight or speed camera files.

Claws,

Something you might want to try. In the file name, add a speed so it looks something like "schools@25.csv" That way you'll be alerted to a school anytime you're exceeding the typical school zone speed limit. In my area the limit is 15 mph so my file is labeled "schools@15.csv".

Be sure to save an alert file ("School Zone Ahead" or something similar)with the exact same name as your .csv file (except the extension) so you know what you're being alerted to.

Cheers

A linux guy I see, nice to see a few around

As noted, I grepped out the local schools from the larger file here on PF. Started playing with "manual" on Poiloader and set up a 1320' radius. I assume that will be way too big and will eventually decide to mark actual zones but I figure this is a good start.

Speaking of Linux (though I think of myself as a UNIX guy, not Linux, but never mind!) ... are there any Linux tools that let you manipulate POIs or even upload them to a nuvi? I don't mind editing here, then copying to the laptop for upload, but a one-stop shop would be easier.

Peter

A good plan. To me, you want the largest value to give you the most advance notice while still avoiding too many false alerts from schools not on your route. I doubt that one size fits all due to the variety in cities' block sizes, school setbacks, # of schools, etc. I spent quite a time dickering with myself between choosing 600, 550 and 500 feet. If only TourGuides worked as a narrow-to-wide headlight beam rather than a circular radius so that I could use larger values.