Rand McNally 510

Welcome to our forum. There are many FAQs that help to understand how our forum works.

Look at this one
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/34592

Rand McNally uses the same CSV format as Garmin, so you can download any of the CSV files to use with your GPS.

The download button used to be labeled "Garmin CSV", but today I changed it to "CSV". Hopefully this will eleminate some confusion for non-Garmin GPS users.

Jonathan (aka JM)

I have been looking at the file format for a cvs file for the 7720, and it is not like the Garmin files. The RVND 7720 will read some of the data from some of the files, but there will be lost data. I have loaded one file, I forget which, where it rejected all the data.

It has been mentioned on this site that Rand McNally has not been very forthcoming with their file format. I have found they try and publish the format in the manuals and on thieir site. Unfortunately, there are numerous errors in the documentation, so some work is required to find the real format. I think I have a pretty good handle on the format for the 7720, and I assume the other units that handle pois in this same model series, including the TND, use the same format.

I can provide further info is anyone is interested.

Dave

@Sandpiper270

Rand McNally and Garmin use the same general format for CSV files:

Column 1 = Longitude
Column 2 = Latitude
Column 3 = Location Name
Column 4 = Additional Description

However, there are some differences between the way Rand McNally's Dock software reads CSV files and the way that Garmin's POI Loader software reads them.

Here are some areas that might be different that would be worth some further exploration and testing:

1) Garmin's software can read name and description fields that contain line breaks (aka "multi line" fields). I don't know if Rand McNally reads these or not.

2) Some files include an extra line for column headers and may also have some blank lines in them. Rand McNally might report these as errors.

There may be other differences regarding maximum field sizes, how extra columns beyond the first 4 are handled, etc.

Perhaps we could start a new thread for the "Rand McNally CSV specifications". Once some of these details are determined, they could be put into a FAQ for the site.

Jonathan (aka JM)

I will do some exploring regarding these items.

Dave

Thankyouverymuch for the help!! I am going to try that site right now!! This poi factory looks like a great way to find some interesting places!! I will certaintly let others know about this poi factory!! Thanks again!!!

Is anyone else getting a ton of records failed messages with this site? I seem to be getting 99% of this link as failures to record. Don't get me wrong ...I mean there are still a lot of places that are loading up but a bunch that fail too. Just wondering if it is me or if anyone else is having the same deal?! Also we need more pizza stops listed!!! Thanks for any help here!!

Which Triple D file? There are two.

I think it is the cvs file but now I will have to check. Thanks for the heads up!!! Okay I just tried reloading and it seems to be the file triple d plus that is having trouble. 102106 files failed so far out of 108474. But I now have so many places to check out that I probably won't ever get to them all!! I did also load up the ddd file and most of that one seemed to get through! I also went to a site called Tvfoodmaps.com and the file there didn't have near as many choices as this poi factory so I will continue to check back here often. I was just wondering if it was my old computer or if anyone else had this loading issue?! But as I said I now have more places to check out on the road than I will ever have time for!! Thanks again!!

Wow!! You are way more computer smart than I am!! I am guessing that it is the extra information that is throwing the Rand Mcnally out of kilter!! But I can download the cvs files to my computer and a lot of them get through to the GPS. I have more places to visit than I could ever hope to see so that is still better than nothing!! The site I had the most trouble with is the ddd plus site and I still have over 589 places to visit from that poi. Almost every other site gets through so I have plenty to see along the highway. Thank you very much for all the help though because that all was new to me!! You have a great weekend and Thanks again!!!

The Triple D Plus file isn't really friendly to a lot of units because of the tremendous amount of data in the file. The CSV format originally was a pretty simple structure that wasn't meant to hold that much information in a single record. The first releases of POI Loader usually gave up if a field had more than 255 characters or so. From what you are reporting, the RM units have a rather small limit as to the amount of data in a record.

Thanks again for all the help!! I bought the rand mcnally 510 because I was driving a truck around but now I HAVE to see about getting a gps just for the car. There also seems to be more poi sites for the gpx than the cvs so when I get ready to buy the next gps I will ask around here for some good choices!! Thanks again for all the help and you have a great weekend!!

It doesn't matter. The main difference is that gpx can have more info in it. You can convert gpx to csv and vice versa.

Thank you also for the help here!! Now please help out the "old guy" and could you please tell me how to convert these files either way?! I saw a bunch of sites that were just listed as gpx and would love to also convert them to cvs so that I can put them in the Rand Mcnally 510. Thanks for any help and I will go check google for some info on converting these files!! You all have been very helpful here and as soon as I can get a little more savvy here I will also start trying to post cool places around here in Florida!!

I am trying to convert the poi for the darn good hot dog joints but you all have a lot more computer smarts than I do!! I checked out the forum page and that is way out of my league!! Is there a link to set this up and would I download any of this to "my documents"? Yes I know the old dinosaur is coming from the kindergarten level here but I am trying to catch on!! Thanks for any input here and you all have a great week!! I am also trying to convert the sites...burger joints and hot dog shops and stands. I can download them as gpx into my documents but then everything gets weird when I try to put them into the rand mcnally 510. I really think my head will explode if I try to read what that wiki link says about using a downloader file and my computer says the publisher is unknown and does not want to open the link! Am I doing something bad for the computer or gps if I try to force it to download? Just checking because it sounds like both of you really know what you are doing so any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks again!

We try to be helpful.

As to converting from GPX to CSV, there are several programs and sites which can do the conversion. I think you will get the best conversions by loading up the Extra_POI_Editor program written by TurboCCC. The reason for this is most of the GPX files on this particular site were created using this program. There are several FAQs on using EPE you should take the time to read. They help not only in operating the program but working your way through the different menus and settings to convert between the two formats.

Install EPE as previously stated.
Open the file using EPE and then do a file/save as from the drop down file type to a 4 column csv.

You will then get latitude and longitude and a name. Possibly an address if one was put in the proper fields in the gpx file. The "darn good hotdog" file is not a clean format so you wont get an address in all of them.

I didn't look at the other files you want.

I sent an e-mail to Rand McNally with this question and received an answewr.

Comment: When loading my Custom POIs I get failures. How can I check or is there a program that will check POIs for failures?

Hello Mr. Kaiser,

Thank you for contact technical support for assistance! Unfortunately, we do not have a program that will check POIs for failure with the exception of our Dock Software.

However, customer POIs require this format:

1. Longitude, Latitude, Name of Location. If you are using a spreadsheet program (like Excel), no commas are required. Data must be in this exact order.

2. File must be saved as a .csv (Comma Separated Value) formatted file. This can be done on most programs like Notepad, or Excel.

3. You would then use our Dock Software, and it should confirm that the file was successfully imported into the unit.

Please contact us via phone if you have any questions or need any assistance.

Technical Support is available:
Monday – Friday
7 am – 6 pm (CST)

Regards,

Rand McNally Technical Support (15001)
tndsupport@randmcnally.com
(877) 446-4863