Garmin Nuvi 660 calculation of nearest restaurants, etc. off by 90 miles or more

Do you have a good satellite lock? Is it showing your current location correctly?

You probably need to do a hard (Factory) reset on the unit. Make a copy of Current.gpx first.

You probably did a "search in another city" or scrolled the map somewhere else and did a "set location."

Touch Where to?/Near

Select the option: "where I am now."

dobs108

All, thanks for your excellent help. I have to fall on my sword here and tell you what I finally figured out was the problem.

I can't fit the entire US data base in my Nuvi 660, rather I must load a portion of the data base. Normally I load the "East" portion which covers Virginia where I live, etc. I thought it covered to the Mississippi, including Wisconsin where I now am on vacation. Not so, a bad assumption!

So...I reloaded a different portion of the data base which includes the lower 49 states, NE section. Voila, problem solved in that Wisconsin is now fully covered rather than only partially as in the previous data base load.

Sorry to have troubled you with this problem, but sometimes technology has a way of confusing, whether it should or not.

Anyway, thanks for your help and suggestions.

Thanks for posting back to let us know how you resolved the issue. When you get back from your trip, you might want to peruse some of our FAQ's that explain how to install the full NA map on your 660 using a SD card (putting part of the map on internal storage and the remainder on SD).

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually have a 4 GB SD card in the unit now, but I haven't investigated exactly how to split the data base, etc.

Thanks again to all.

do u have a FM transmitter in car, try to turn off that if you have. Mine had issue with that on.

Years back, before maps exceeded 2Gb, I had an identical issue with my 660 after a firmware update...

There are multiple methods that the 660 can use to calculate position. Something burped in the firmware update, and the Garmin selected a different method...

All prior saved routes were calculated on previous version selection, and this burp caused any route based on older info to be off... The further the distance from where I was (Home) the greater the error....

I just kept changing the indicator until the routes destination map matched the actual destination.....

This was 5-6 years ago, back when firmware updates occurred with almost same frequency as map updates...

Happened once, never again.... but symptoms were identical to what poster wrote... destination was not where it really was.....

As noted above, I ended up fixing the "problem" once I realized I didn't have all of the map data base installed. Subsequent to that time, I installed the entire North American data base, using my 4 GB SD card. The directions on the forum were excellent, they really made the task much easier than if I had had to explore the issues as they arose.

I also downloaded a trial of the speed camera, red light camera POIs. It's a one month free trial, and funny enough I can't see what the cost per month/year is if I elect to buy it. I probably won't qualify as a contributor, we shall see. Does anyone know the price once the trial period is over?

Also, any thoughts on the POI-Factory offerings versus the Garmin Cyclops data base? I have a free trial on both at the moment. Frankly, I may just get both if they aren't prohibitively costly. I don't expect these things to be free and am more than willing to pay for function delivered.

Thanks for everyone's help. Any comments on the two questions above (Cost and comparison with Garmin Cyclops) would be appreciated.

Since you don't intend to be a forum contributor which would be free, the fee is 5.00 per month or 20.00 yearly at the POI Factory. The Red Light and Speed Cameras are updated every Wednesday.

http://www.poi-factory.com/payment/choices

The Garmin Cyclops Safety Camera fee is 25.00 yearly
and CLAIMS to be updated daily.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/shop-by-accessories/digital-...

The advantage of POI factory files is that you can add your own audible alerts where the Cyclops file only offers a ping.

I suppose the Cyclops file would be easier to load since it should come in a downloadable .gpi file. I'm not positive about that though since I never had a subscription. The POI factory files must be created by the user using POI Loader program for each update you download. I prefer doing it that way.
You don't need to update every week if you feel the new updates don't affect the area you live in or plan to travel to. You can see what's updated every week here:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/1352

This question comes up periodically on POI Factory. If you do a little searching of forum posts, you will find many threads and posts that address this and give opinions. I am pretty sure you will find that the concensus is that the POI Factory files are more accurate and updated more frequently. That said, those of us who are "regulars" on POI Factory will be biased in favor of POI Factory files.

The only advantage that I have read about the Cyclops product is that its alerts are "directional" and will not alert if you are traveling in the opposite direction from what the camera is enforcing. The POI Factory alerts will generally alert from both directions. I have not tested this feature of Cyclops myself, so cannot confirm that the directional feature works as advertised.

In terms of becoming an "active" member of POI Factory, if you sign in regularly to download the camera files, it is easy to remain active ... just find the post for the current COW award (Contributer of the week) and give your congratulations ... takes less than a minute.

Posting in any discussion group 1 time a week gets you active status

That is all good information. On my recent trip through Chicago the alerts worked well. I will be going back in Washington, D.C. in the next week or two and will get a better chance to check out the performatnce there as well. All in all, I am very pleased.

I may take the active route to maintain my current status, but you know, $20 a year is very reasonable. Having worked in the technology/software/hardware world all my career, I appreciate the work people put into these data bases.

These forums are very helpful and have really been useful to me. Thanks again all.

The Red Light and Speed POI's on POI Factory are clearly the best, most accurate, most thorough, available.