Creating POI files

I've figured out how to convert addresses into coordinates for a large batch of offices my team visits. However, I wanted to save them to the memory card we have for each of the Nuvi 350/660 units. When I tested it, it installed directly to the unit itself.

Can you save a current location to "Custom POI" instead of Favorites?
After thinking about this the Custom POI file system with sub files would probably get difficult.....?
Chuck

I decided to make some icons, following the directions in the FAQ on this website.

I uploaded a POI last week and have made some changes to it (fixed errors and added stores). How can I update this file? It's not listed in my account as "Maintainer for these POI files".

I have no problem loading POI Files along with bitmaps and mp3's on my 660. However, I notice that maximum number that will display in any (sub)category is 50. I know they have all loaded correctly because I can search and retrieve any location that was loaded. Is 50 the maximum that can be displayed or am I doing something incorrectly?

I have made a new FAQ that I would like everyone to take a look at. I have had some concerns lately regarding this topic and thought that it was time to clarify the process so that we don't have a big mess later.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/9040

I would like to add some POI with some alerts and I wanted to use Open Office.org. My computer did not come with Windows Excell and I didnt want to go out and buy it. Has any one tried using Open Office?

It's probably in here somewhere, but I can't seem to find it. So if this is a redundant subject, I apologize. I wanted to add a fairly new rest area to the rest areas.csv file on I70 in Ohio. I open the .csv and see that all the latitude and longitude notations are in decimal degrees. When I grab the coordinates off Google Earth they're in Deg-min-secs. Does my Nuvi 350 care?

How can I get GPS Visualizer to give me the results as longitude/latitude instead of latitude/longitude?
It makes for extra work to copy and paste the results having to move the lat/long around.

Is there any way to take into account the direction you are going for a proximity alert on a garmin? For example, if you are approaching an intersection but you only want the alert if you are approaching it from a certain direction. Is this possible if using a gpx instead of a CSV?

Does anyone know how the manufacturers of GPS units compile their built-in POIs? My Garmin nuvi, for example, has 6 million POIs loaded into it. How does a company compile -- and update -- such a massive database?

I have a .gpx file that Garmin POI Loader indicates is invalid. How do I share the file so others can help me troubleshoot? I tried pasting the text file in the discussion, however the file doesn't look like it should when I posted it.

Not sure if I am posting to the right group and sorry if I have missed this information in another area... How do I make/suggest corrections for a POI file I have found on this site?

Hi, I am a Newbie, w/a refurb Streetpilot i5 (love it, so simple). I found my way to this site wanting to learn how to create my own POI file of our companies distributor locations ( www.cummins.com) so I could drive to them easier. Then I saw all the restaurant chain files people had done and every other type of POI file.

Hi everyone,

I just made my first POI file and would like to know how to get it to alert me when I'm close, something like the red light camera alert. Am I missing something?

Okay, first and foremost... Im a Macintosh user.... I finally figured out how to download POIs. Then, frustrated that they werent showing up in the Garmin. DUH - Extras .... So I found them, and thought that the BMIs would pop up a little logo when I was close to a POI... but no. All I get is a grey dot, which I assume is the Garmin default. IS that what it does ?

I'm new to this site and to GPS in general. I have a Garmin Nuvi 200 and want to add some POI's. I went to Google Earth and found one of the locations and tried to convert Google's coordinates to decimal via a spreadsheet that I downloaded. The resulting decimal coordinates placed the location two or three miles north of where it should be.

Google's coordinates were:
32 50'02.65 N

After playing with the POI loader for a short while I'm now wondering how much of an issue is the SD card size. Specifically, will my 2 GB card hold all of the POI's maintained on this site and converted by the Garmin POI loader? I'm sure that I could play with this a while and figure out the answer to my question, but I'm guessing that someone else has already done this exercise..

OK so I am getting inspired by the site and the ability to add and modify the Excel CSV files. So, I opened my "Hooters" file to add a Hooters that I notiecd missing. I went to Google Earth changed the parameters so I could see the Lon/Lat values and added them along with the text that I felt mimicked what was already there. It failed miserably. Came up with some kind of error on line 8.