Garmin and Red Light/Speed POIs - Miles vs. KMs

I'm no expert with PowerPoint, but you could insert a column with a formula to convert MPH to KPH in a new column and then delete the MPH column.

Save it as A MS-DOS CSV file

Maybe someone you know could set this up for you.

Pure coincidence that metricman would be answering this?

For the formula to automatically calculate the file would have to be saved in Excel format, which the GPSr cannot read.

POI Loader allows the file to be uploaded in either Feet/MPH, or Meters/KMH. Did the OP check POI Loader and ensure his settings were correct?

Is your Garmin displaying the wrong speed limit information (from the map file) in the lower left corner of your screen? Or is the speed limit number wrong in the POI alert that pops up on your screen?

Here are two examples from the Speed Camera spreadsheet (Column C).

R/Speed 45 - Scottsdale & Frank Lloyd Wrigh @45
R/Speed 60 - Albert & Bellerose @37.3

Both give the text that will be displayed for the POI on the GPS screen - the type of camera (R/Speed or Speed), the posted speed limit, and names of the intersecting streets. It also gives the speed for alerting on the POI (number following @).

The first example is from Arizona and the posted speed limit is in mph. The second example is from Alberta and the posted speed limit is in kph. In both examples the number for prompting the speed alert is in mph.

Strephon_Alkhalikoi was correct, "POI Loader allows the file to be uploaded in either Feet/MPH, or Meters/KMH." I would set the POI Loader to Feet/MPH since the spreadsheet data prompts the speed alerts based on mph. But the numbers indicating the posted speed limit in the POI text can reflect either mph or kph depending on the individual POI location.

OP, you could try setting your GPS to Miles, load the POIs (set for Feet/MPH) and see what happens. Then reset your GPS for Kilometers and see if there’s any difference. It might not help, but it couldn’t hurt, and then you would have more details if you want to contact Garmin to see if they could help.

You could adjust the numbers in the spreadsheet (Column C) for locations you care about, but that would be time consuming if you want to change a lot of entries, and you would have to make the same corrections to any updated file. Or you could just ignore the speed limit info in the POI alert.

Yep - my bad. Excel, not PowerPoint. But, I have an excuse: I'm 80. And when I entered the post I had an Excel file open for entering some genealogy work I'm doing.

I think @Old_Geezer has it right and you'll have to modify the text in column C, because what's displayed on the screen is what is in the file.

Here’s how you can change the information in Column C without too much trouble.

1. Custom sort the spreadsheet based on Column D. This will organize everything in manageable groups of states, provinces, and the District of Columbia where each entry in Column D starts with the corresponding two letter postal code.
2. Create two new spreadsheets and move the data for Canada into one, and the USA into the other. Save early and often to prevent having to redo your work if there is a problem with your computer. Also, if you want to limit the number of POIs loaded on your GPS, this is a good point to delete data from areas you don’t want to save. The spreadsheet with the data for the USA can be used with the POI Loader using the Feet/MPH setting.
3. In the spreadsheet with data for Canada, custom sort the spreadsheet again this time based on Column C. This will organize the data grouped by the R/Speed camera and Speed camera and organized within each group by speed limit and corresponding speed alert for the POI. This makes it easier to scan through the spreadsheet and spot an error in the next step.
4. The kph speed limits are all in increments of 10kph starting at 30 and ranging through 100. For each speed limit use Find and Replace to find the corresponding speed alert number (based on mph) and replace it with the number that matches the kph figure.
For kph: Find What (mph): Replace With (kph):
30 @18.6 @30
40 @24.9 @40
50 @31.1 @50
60 @37.3 @60
70 @43.5 @70
80 @49.7 @80
90 @55.9 @90
100 @62.1 @100
5. The spreadsheet with the data for Canada can be used with the POI Loader using the Meters/KPH setting.

This info is helpful.

good to know

Actually I have always had the KPH set but over the past year+ my updating any of the RedLight and SPEED POIs end up at incorrect distances. For example the 60 KPH speed change shows up at 37 kpm and bongs and flashes at the incorrect speed.

It is is a DriveSmart 55.

Been doing this since 2006 and oly lately and the DS55 has been with me for many years!

The Speed Cameras, for example, are in Miles for example:

-97.11191 49.85262 R/Speed 70 - Fermor & St Marys @43.5 MB Winnipeg poi-factory Nov29 23

...so 70 kph is 43.496 mph

On the POI here and Garmin Express allows setting MPH or KPH.

Mine is set to KPH

So when I come up to the Speed Camera it BINGs correctly but shows the 43 MPH on the bottom left shows the current speed in 43 KPH. I have tried switching the selection on POI Loader, but no change.

In your example the posted speed limit is 70kph (43.5mph). Your GPS is alerting you at a lower speed (43kph) that you're exceeding the posted speed limit. However, you expect it to alert when you're going faster than the speed limit.

The @43.5 prompts the GPS to alert if you are going faster than 43.5 as you approach the custom POI. The GPS will interpret that number as mph or kph based on how you set the POI Loader. It sounds like your GPS interprets @43.5 as kph, but the spreadsheet is based on mph. So the POI Loader needs to be set for feet & MPH so your GPS will interpret @43.5 as 43.5mph. If you set the POI Loader to meters & KPH, then your GPS will interpret the @43.5 as 43.5kph no matter if your GPS is set for miles or kilometers.

Your GPS is set for kilometers, leave that setting alone when using the POI Loader. Set the POI Loader to feet & MPH since that is what is used in the spreadsheet, and it should automatically convert the speed value to the equivalent KPH.

You might want to consider using the POI Loader to remove previously installed versions before you start.

You shouldn’t have to change @speed entries in Column C from mph to kph unless you want to create a spreadsheet based on kph only and then use POI Loader set to meters & KPH.