How to turn on tour guide for POI'S to alert when close?

Alerts are possible without TourGuides. Use POI Loader in Manual Mode (not the default Express Mode) and on a file by file basis, you can set or ignore alerts, alert distances, etc. These alerts will be active along your route.

If instead, you want a radius alert, use TourGuides. POI Loader will still require Manual Mode for some POI files. Note that with a sufficiently large radius set, alerts will sound even when the location is along roadways parallel to the one you're on. This may be good (you REALLY need that Starbucks fix and are willing to go off-route to satisfy the craving) or bad (you really don't want an alert for a school zone two streets over from the the one you're on). The Redlight and SpeedCam poi files here at The Factory have preset alerts set. Using TourGuides for redlights or speed cams is not a good idea in my opinion since you will want alerts only when they're along your route.

I may be missing your question. If you haven't checked the faqs, these may be a good way to start:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/36539

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/30396

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/1278

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6507

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730 (Your nuvi 250w requires wav, not mp3)

In any event, welcome to The Factory!

Thanks a ton for your post.

I finally found out how to use the Loader in Manual mode (man the frustration of using 'recommend' express). I still can't find out how to edit individual files. I used loader to upload a .gpx file, and all the camera locations are on my memory card, but when i inspect the 'files' there is only one file...

Better rip through those tutorials again. Thanks

btw is there any way to get email's when somebody responds? I cant find a topic watch button anywhere...

Go to "My Account".

Press the "Track" button.

Voila! You have links to the most recent responses to threads where you have posted.

Welcome.

Can you more fully explain your desire to "edit individual files"? All the POI Files here are text based, so they can be edited with almost any text editor. However, CSV files are best edited using a spreadsheet program as it will put the data into columns and rows.

GPX files are different. These are written using a version of XML which is a programming language and are highly structured. Editing these files either requires some expertise in XML programming or the use of an editing program such as Extra_POI_Editor which was written by one of the members here. EPE only runs on Windows based PCs, so you'll need a copy of Windows XP or later.

POI Loader is Garmin's program which reads the CSV and GPX source files and combines and converts them into a single file read by the unit's operating system - the GPI files you see on the unit. To the best of my knowledge these cannot be edited or converted back to source data which could be edited.

I had the same question as Box Car, so let me ask it differently because you seemed to imply that the “custom POIs” that you had on your memory card were red light cameras (?only?).

Perhaps we could speak of POI files and POI locations where one POI file is composed of multiple POI locations.

Where did the red light cameras come from? Is it one file with multiple locations? Multiple files?

Next, do you want to edit locations or files? What do you want to accomplish when you “edit”?

You said you "inspect" the files. What did you use to do such inspection?

Or go to Recent posts, then choose the tab "My Recent Posts"

The files you get from this site needs to be put in a separate directore on your PC. Each individual file has multiple locations. The extensions are usually either csc or gpx.

You will edit the file in order to add or change the locations in them. When you use POILoader to send them to your device, it will process each file individually.

Download a POI editor program. There is an excellent one called Extra_POI_Editor from TurboCCC in one of these threads. Invoke that and call up one of those files. Edit & save.

Here's what I and a few others do:

First, click the "unread posts" to view messages you haven't read. [The first time you do this, there'll be gazillions of messages here--not to worry, if you follow through, this makes a lot more sense for the future.]

2nd, read whatever posts look to be of interest.

3rd, once you've read all you plan to, on the "unread posts" page, click the "Mark topics in ALL FORUMS as read" and OK the warning that this is a permanent change.

Now, whenever you return to The Factory, click the "unread posts" again. At this point, only new messages and replies made since your last visit will be displayed. If you visit every day or two, the number of threads will only cover 1-2 pages. Read those of interest (which of course, includes replies to any topic you've first created). When you've read all of interest to you, again click "Mark topics in ALL FORUMS as read" to set the site up for your next visit to only show new messages.

Repeat for all future visits!

I'll have to try this technique to see if I like it better than what I do.

Originally I did just what you were suggesting to poiflow. I also marked as favorites those forums I wanted to follow (ie. since I have a nuvi, I do not read TomTom forums)

What I do now is to use the "skip" button to bypass threads that are about things I have current interest in - working from the most recent down. That means I have to hit skip any number of times when I might just hit "Mark topics in ALL FORUMS as read" once at the end.

I've thought about the "skip" technique but never tried it since I feared I may want to unskip a topic at some time and doubt that this can be done. (I'd have the same feeling if I had the option to skip posts by certain users on rare occasions.)

I confess I haven't blocked Tom Tom or Mac Topics and have occasional made a nonsensical reply by overlooking the forum name and posting a Garmin/Windows message.

The way "skip" works for me is to, in essence, mark those "new" messages in that particular "unread posts" thread as read. The thread will come back up if another "new" message is posted.

Is is just me or did a new forum category called "Ticket Cameras" just appear?

Well, for the forum to have 1220 topics and 14525 posts, I'd be willing to bet it's been around for a while. An early post:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/33

Even earlier:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/194

I must not have noticed it before, when I created some posts. Not unbelievable for me not to notice something.