POI distance arlets

 

Am trying to load and customize POIs but i cant figure what the maximum or best distance to put in for in terms of distance e.g the Truck stops and Walmart POIs are not giving me the alert and i have 1650 Feets currently set but not arlerting.

98 feet

You are experiencing the Garmin 98-foot problem. Read about alerts here with special attention to 'along the route alerts' as that's what you're trying to do:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/42425

Solutions to your problem include:

-relocate individual POI locations for each point in the file (the best solution but tremendously time-consuming, and would need to be redone each time the file is updated), and

-make the POI file a TourGuide (very easy to do, but beware of setting distances too far as that will cause false alerts along your route and remember that TourGuides only work when an associated wav file is included [or for the older Garmin units, an mp3 file]).

The alert will trigger if

The alert will trigger if the point is within 75 feet of your direction of travel. Depending on where the store or truck stop location point is located it may not be within the minimum distance from the road you are on.

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

Thanks but if i put in 5300

Thanks but if i put in 5300 feet out from the point will it trigger an alert? to let me know to be on either lane to avoid a quick exit?

Thanks but if i put in 5300

Thanks but if i put in 5300 feet out from the point will it trigger an alert? to let me know to be on either lane to avoid a quick exit?

Can understand truck stops

mkikuyu wrote:

Am trying to load and customize POIs but i cant figure what the maximum or best distance to put in for in terms of distance e.g the Truck stops and Walmart POIs are not giving me the alert and i have 1650 Feets currently set but not arlerting.

I can understand having proximity alerts on truck stops and rest areas. However adding them on things like Walmarts, donut shops, gas stations might become a case of be careful what you wish for. Locations like that will give you far too many unnecessary alerts.

Pull up the Walmart POI and the closest ones will all be listed in order of distance.

For rest areas, I use a 2 mile alert distance. That will give you enough warning to pull into the right lane to exit. You will get some false alerts for rest areas in the opposite lanes on an interstate, but that's a minor inconvenience.

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DriveSmart 65, NUVI2555LMT, (NUVI350 is Now Retired)

98 feet left or right is the determining factor

mkikuyu wrote:

Thanks but if i put in 5300 feet out from the point will it trigger an alert? to let me know to be on either lane to avoid a quick exit?

If the POI file location for your truck stop or Walmart is the actual building (quite often the case) and if the building is more than 98 feet to the side from the closest centerline of the road you're on, then there will be no alert regardless of what alert distance you set.

If you want to use the stock Walmart, truck stops, etc. POI files downloadable here at the POI Factory, the only way to get an alert is to make them TourGuides.

Regarding which lane to be in, your nuvi should indicate to you whether it's a right or left exit well in advance if an alert occurs. But again, using a POI file downloaded from The POI Factory for Walmart for instance where the actual POI data point is the Walmart building, it's likely to be more than 98 feet from the center of your roadway and therefore no alert will occur.

Re-read the Alert FAQ I mentioned earlier and read the discussion of the Rest Area Combined alert where the rest area POI location is set to be the exit ramp rather than the building and understand why this file will give you alerts while trying the same with the Walmart file will fail to give you alerts most of the time.

Good luck.

PS: GPSgeek's comment to be careful of how many custom POI files are set for alerts is important. Imagine having custom alerts set for McDonald's and Starbucks where you cannot go more than a few blocks without getting multiple alerts in a city. I do use an alert for Rest Areas and set my alert distance for 16,000 feet to give me nearly a 3-mile warning but remember that I get alerts only because the creator of the Rest Area POI file has set the POI location to be the exit ramp from the highway and therefore it's within 98 feet. This would not work for me if I tried to duplicate the result with the Walmart file and it also would not work for Rest Areas if the Maintainer of the Rest Area file set the POI locations to be the Rest Areas buildings.