Trouble with Geocoders
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 16 years
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I've used batchgeocode.com successfully a couple of times to create POI files. My most recent project, however, has left me a bit stumped.
I obtained a list of fire stations in a large city. Because it's a city department, the city and state fields are obviously the same. The zip codes do change from station to station, however.
The first list I obtained didn't have zip codes, but batchgeocode.com cranked through it anyway, and the couple I spot checked looked fine. It wasn't until after I submitted the file to the database and MissPOI ran the verifier that I learned there were a huge number of dupes in the file.
I'm now being careful, and running the verifier myself.
I figured maybe the dupes were from not having the zip code. So I went through and looked up each zip code, entered them in, and reran the geocoder. No luck. Same output.
I've since tried GPSVisualizer.com and obtained the same output. I haven't yet tried breaking them into 8 row chunks and using the Google engine with GPSVisualizer (lots of copying/pasting). Before I do that, I thought I'd post here and see if anyone else has had similar problems.
Anyone?
batchgeocode.com errors
I just ran a few campground POIs through batchgeocode.com last night. A couple of POIs had very obvious errors...like several states away. I ran them back through the program and they were located correctly.
I didn't have any dupes though.
I would say batchgeocode.com should be watched carefully for accuracy and precision. It's great that it's free, but caveat emptor.
Dave
I assume you have the addresses
If you don't have the addresses then you'll have multiple duplicates, especially without zip code.
The problem I've seen with GPS Visualizer, using Yahoo as the source, is when it can't find the address it gives you [the coordinates of] the street; if it can't find the street, it gives you the city; and if it can't find the city, it gives you the state. If the addresses are entered individually it tells you the 'Result precision'; but when it's batch converted, the precision is unknown which can result in huge coordinate errors and multiple duplicates
RT.
"Internet: As Yogi Berra would say, "Don't believe 90% of what you read, and verify the other half."
KirkInSLO
Try contacting the city in question.
I've read that some water departments have lat and long listed for such things as fire hydrants.
Perhaps stop by or call one of the fire stations, thank them for the work they do. You could then explain what your intentions are. Then ask if they know if the stations have the lat and long attached somewhere, possibly in a city document.
I'd prefer to stop by in person, requesting that info over the phone, could sound as if one is up to no good.
........Garmin StreetPilot c550 / Nüvi 765...........
first hand knowledge
You cannot beat having been there, with your GPS and collected the lat/long personally. Address mapping is an OK substitute, and I do it sometimes, but I try to remember it is prone to mistakes - big and small.
___________________ Garmin 2455, 855, Oregon 550t