downloading poi files

Click CSV
Hornbyp's guide to setting alerts with POI Loader
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/6764

Go for the CSV file. I agree, it looks a lot like a U.

I set mine for 16,000 feet, about three miles. That'll give you a heads up for the Rest Area Ahead sign. I suggest adding a custom alert tone to go with it.

THe loader did not give me the option to load these on to the sd card in my garmin. Also did not prompt me for customer alert tone or picture to display.

Do I need to reload these and choose load to computer and put my sd card in a card reader. The link in this thread is kind of unclear.

Start simple. Install the files to your GPS rather than a SD card. The files take very little space. Then when running POI Loader to install the file(s) from your computer to your GPS, look for and choose the alternative Manual mode to install POIs. Manual mode is where you set the Rest Areas Combined POI file to have an alert and you will choose the distance option for the alert. When POI Loader is done, it'll say something like "Installed xxxx POIs." Then as you test the GPS on a highway approaching a Rest Area, you will get a "BOING" alert to draw your attention to the GPS for a banner saying something like Rest Area Ahead, and the rest area will be a small dot on the map. If you don't have nearby rest areas, you can put your GPS in Simulator mode and set a location, then plan a route that will take you past a rest area.

Besides the already-suggested hornsby FAQ, here are others that should guide you:

http://www.poi-factory.com/faq/index#Alerts

particularly:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/25730 if using a Windows PC.

Get familiar with POI Loader and alerts first. Then start to think about adding a custom alert audio file and icon. If you need more help along the way, just reply back here and tell us what you've done, what happens, and what you want to do.

Things to heed in the FAQs are 1) you will need to rename the audio and icon file to exactly match the filename of the CSV file (except for the file extension) and 2) that it's best to use .wav audio files rather than .mp3 audio. Are you installing to the nuvi 260 indicated in your profile? Will you be using a PC with Windows or a Mac?

I have a nuvi 260 but I cant get the maps updated without paying $70+ so thats out. I had the rest area poi on the nuvi 260 along with a custom icon (outhouse) and a custom alert (outhouse approaching). I set this up years ago.

Digging thru our closet i found a nuvi 2577 that my in-law had given to us years ago. I found out it had lifetime maps so I updated the map and now I want to load the rest area poi, custom icon, custom alert. The reason I want to load on sd card is because the is very little space left on the 2577 after the map upgrade. I guess where I am getting confused is how to associate the icon & alert to the poi file. I read that all 3 files need to have the same name such as ex) outhouse.gpi outhouse.wav outhouse.bmp. I was just going to create the new rest area poi using the POI LOADER and copy the files (wav & bmp) from the 260 to the sd card for the the 2577. For some reason I can not find either wav or bmp on the nuvi 260.

Will the 2577 recognize the poi files if I just put
them on sd csrd under folder called POI?

I am running windows 10.

(guess i need to add/change my profile........lol)

Yes, and it will ask you if you want to load them on to the Unit. You can answer no, and it will eventually stop asking.

Here is a video I done that may help. Disregard about the mp3 file. Stick with the wav and soxe.exe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhhb5FPyLW0 other videos http://www.poi-factory.com/node/45601

Three miles is what I use as well with a voice alert,"a rest stop coming up three miles ahead." On occasions, though, on some divided interstate highways it seems to pick up the rest stop location on the roadside going in the opposite direction. Being aware this can sometimes happens helps to make sense of things when there is no rest stop at the three-mile-forward location in your direction.

Hold the bladder tight for a little bit longer!

Here are the file names and where they belong:

Store in your computer in the folder that POILoader will look to: outhouse.csv, outhouse.bmp, and outhouse.wav

Run POILoader and when the program sees outhouse.csv, it will take it and its associated bmp and wav, if present, and load them to the nuvi 2557 as a gpi file. The default gpi file is POI.gpi unless you choose a different file name. If you look to the GPS, you will only see the gpi file and you will not see any of the three original files. The wav and bmp file will not work in the GPS as individual files—the csv, bmp and wav all have to loaded together using POILoader which stores them in the gpi format the GPS needs for a custom POI with custom audio and icon. If using a different computer than before, make sure you manually download sox.exe from the POI Factory and install it to the POILoader's program file as described in an earlier link.

If the nuvi 260's gpi file was made with a wav audio file (not a mp3 audio file), you could copy the gpi file for the outhouse to your 2557 and it should work. This would be especially useful if you no longer have the original wav and bmp files.

The opposite side alert is actually due to a narrow median between the opposing traffic lanes. If you can remember which locations give a wrong-side rest area alert, mahoney would like to know about it so that the POI location in the file could be slightly altered in the next version of the routinely-updated file to remove the false alert.

For the reason why this happens, check out:

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

for the very interesting "98-foot rule" which is really a 30-meter rule.

... an illustration of why CraigW was chosen as a Contributor of the Week. Craig does lots of work to find the appropriate FAQ links to add understanding to his own comments in the reply post.

And let's recognize your contribution too John in maintaining that wonderful index that allows us to find the appropriate FAQ's.

Not only does jgermann's Index help us find the FAQ we need, but the 98-foot-rule FAQ was also written by him!