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Silly Garmin POI Tricks


Munin

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This trick does NOT work on the Garmin Zumo 450. Even with different file names, it still appears as one huge list under Custom POI's. I have two files, Caches.gpx and another Jeremys.gpx. The unit smushes them to be displayed together.

 

I also learned that you cannot create a subfolder within a subfolder. POI load wont recognize it.

 

- jeremy

 

OSX 10.5 Garmin Zumo 450/ Garmin GPS V

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Munin,

 

Great reference. I downloaded my first POI's and loaded them following the excellent information posted here. I've now got several sets of POI's loaded and THINK I have a clue how to get them into individual folders through the POI Loader. We'll see what happens next time I run the loader.

 

This will be a too cool way to load multiple caches PLUS more good stuff to my Vista HCx.

 

Thanks.

 

JohnTee

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I have had my Vista HCx for several months and was aware of this thread, but didn't try this out until yesterday and today. All I can say is "Way Cool." :)

 

I have loaded all my Finds, in separate folders by year, my Owned caches, more than 1000 nearby Benchmarks, and more than 3000 unfound caches as POIs.

 

Now if it would just stop raining so I could get out to see how it all looks on the GPSr as I embark on my searches.

 

Thanks, Munin! :)

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Yes. This will work with 60/76CSX, firmware version 3.50 (also works 3.30 but not with earlier).

 

Goto Map page > Menu > Setup map > Map Setup - General and change Detail to LESS.

 

Map Points (v3.50) controls the level up to which your Custom POI will appear = eg 500m - your Custom POI will be visible at all ranges up to and including 500m.

Edited by BaldEd
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Since I've started playing with my 60cx, and this cool, silly little trick, I have noticed something else.

 

It seems like the GPSr will just have a single database if just one .*.gpi file is on the card.

 

In the great example that Muni did, it appears that he created multiple .gpx files, and then created a .poi file for each one and then renamed them so that they would be unique to the GPSr.

 

I actually think the GPSr is smart enough to do that, once you let it know there are <1 .poi files on your unit.

 

I did they same trick, and called the first file My.poi to list all of the caches I had found to date..

 

I then uploaded 3 gpx files into one poi file and put that on my unit.

 

Now, when I pick 'Select Database' under the Custom POIs, I have 4 different databases - but only 2 poi files.

 

I assume the GPSr is seeing that there are 2 files, and then having to use the built-in attributes of the gsak file to determine which database it came from.

 

This makes uploading POIs even easier. Just put a base.poi on your unit using Munin's first steps, and then just create as many gpx files as you want, and upload them all together & let the gpsr do the rest.

 

I thought deleting old POIs would be a problem too, but it appears that it will work just fine. You just need to make sure you save the updates to the same gsak .gpx file that you used.

 

For example: I had city.gpx with 500 caches. All were being displayed on the GPS under Custom POIs. I then delete 1 cache and resaved the file, and then uploaded it to GPSr. Once I did, there were now only 499 caches available.

 

I love this feature and think it's one of the reasons this unit is so much better than my previous one.

 

Now I can upload the thousands of caches that I plan to eventually go see, cuz it always seems - Where ever you are, someone with a ammo can, lock & lock, magentic key hold, nano holder has been there first.

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I am still unhappy with the GPS' original POIs. They show up at some level of zoom no matter what the settings as far as I can tell. I will never use these and as far as I can tell they are mostly wrong. Supposedly, there is a restaurant and grocery store at the the end of my street which is in the center of a housing division. Is there anyway to delete the POIs that came with the software? I know how to turn them off, but then I can't do the geocaching POI trick. Is there an option in MapSource to not download them? Is that even where they are coming from?

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Is it me or did something happen to the customized POIs after the recent Vista HCx upgrade to 2.6?

I can no longer view individual customized POIs. They appear on the menu, but when I click on an individual POI, I get a blank screen.

 

I rebooted and create new gpx files to no avail. The gpx file looks fine in MapSource and EasyGPS, just not on the GPS.

 

Anyone else experience this?

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I sure wish I was aware of this thread a few days ago... I ended up doing exactly the same discovery myself. But in my case, it was with the Garmin Nuvi 200, and I'm here to say that the results are exactly as you describe! I'm planning on using the Nuvi to get me to the park, and then use my Garmin HCx to actually hunt for it. But if I get stuck and can't find it, I have the details loaded into my Nuvi.

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On a 60CSx and a Colorado 300 I use sub categories as follows:

 

Folder Structure on the computer:

 

POI (Main folder)

-> Category1 (Folder with Category1)

----> Sub Category1_1.gpx (1st sub category)

----> Sub Categorie1_1.bmp (Bitmap for 1st sub category)

----> Sub Category1_2.gpx (2nd sub category)

----> Sub Categorie1_2.bmp (Bitmap for 2nd sub category)

 

-> Category2 (Folder with Category2)

----> Sub Category2_1.gpx (1st sub category)

----> Sub Categorie2_1.bmp (Bitmap for 1st sub category)

----> Sub Category2_2.gpx (2nd sub category)

----> Sub Categorie2_2.bmp (Bitmap for 2nd sub category)

 

On the unit, this creates one single gpi-file.

In the search dialog of the unit, there are two categories now:

- Category1

- Category2

 

On the map page, I see the 4 different sub categories with 4 diifferent icons.

 

Therefore, I don't see a reason for having multiple gpi-files?

 

Stefan

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I have been using this trick for several months on my Nuvi 660and loved. I have found that if I rename the gpx file before putting it thru the POI Loader, the data bas show up with the File name. I've used name like "Florida 2008.gpx"

 

I also like the fact that, at least on the Nuvi, you can spell any part of the Waypoint to search. Also the Name, terrain, difficulty and cache hider show up.

 

One thing I have not done is to get rid of the database name after I delete that database. For example, I'll mount the Nuvi to my computer. Then using Explorer, I delete the Florida 2008.gpi file. However the database name Florida 2008 still shows after I do where to>extras>POI.

 

Is there a way to delete this database name?

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Custom POI's (caches) vs. Mapsource POI's (gas stations etc). I have read a couple of posts in this thread that address this issue. I only want my custom POI's to show up on the map. I know this is not possible but the work arounds posted don't fit the way I use my GPS. I have a 60csx. I would like the map POI's to show up below 200' and my custom POI's to show up at all levels. I had something like this on the Colorado but the 60 does not work the same way. I normally have my map set between 200' and .5 miles and I don't really care about anything over about 2 miles. Just trying to avoid the serious clutter that shows up anywhere between around 800' to .3 miles in urban areas. Is this possible?

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Custom POI's (caches) vs. Mapsource POI's (gas stations etc). I have read a couple of posts in this thread that address this issue. I only want my custom POI's to show up on the map. I know this is not possible but the work arounds posted don't fit the way I use my GPS. I have a 60csx. I would like the map POI's to show up below 200' and my custom POI's to show up at all levels. I had something like this on the Colorado but the 60 does not work the same way. I normally have my map set between 200' and .5 miles and I don't really care about anything over about 2 miles. Just trying to avoid the serious clutter that shows up anywhere between around 800' to .3 miles in urban areas. Is this possible?

 

On the Map Setup Screen

Go to the General tab and move the Detail down a notch or 2.

 

I have mine set on Least.

 

No more clutter and just my POIs...

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Hate to reply to an old drawn out thread, but it seems the right place and I can't find the answer anywhere else...

 

I have no trouble creating and loading the custom POI's, multiple databases, custom icons, etc. (thanks to all who posted above!) However, the multiple line comment seems problematic. I'm creating .csv files and using the POI loader to create the .gpi file. According to the POI loader helpfile, if you enclose the POI name or comment in quotes you can include page breaks, and this is correct; it works. However, it seems you can only create four lines either this way or if you enter a long line and let it wrap; anything after the fourth line is ignored, even though the GPS (at least my 60CSx) appears to have room for eight lines of 18 characters each (numbers or uppercase; lowercase gets a few more characters per line).

 

What's interesting is that if I open up the .gpi file in a hex editor the additional information is there, so presumably it's the GPSr that's not displaying it.

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Garmin tech support has confirmed that there is a four line limit.

 

Here's a new question: Is there any way to automatically copy a new .gpi file to the GPSr without putting the unit into mass storage mode? I realize that Garmin's POILoader can do it automatically, and I personally have no problem with using mass storage mode and moving files and folders around, but I'm writing an application (I know this isn't geocaching related) to automatically create POI files with airport information from available FAA databases, and I'd like to completely automate the process... currently my program processes the information into .csv files, invokes POILoader to create the .gpi file, using custom icons, renames it to "airfields.gpi" (I don't want to overwrite existing POI files), but I'd like to automatically copy it to the GPSr as the last step after it's been renamed.

 

3160d1236393748-handheld-non-aviation-gps-aeronautical-data-airfield-poi-screenshot-combined.jpg

 

If there are any pilots here who would like to play with and comment on a preliminary version of the program (you need to be comfortable with moving files and folders around, there is no installer, etc., yet), please PM me.

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Yeah, I looked at the one from POI factory before I started. It's not up to date; it's from 2006 and includes just name and location; whereas mine is current as of when you download the source file from the FAA, and includes elevation, airport type, frequencies, fuel availability, contact phone number, and optional comments.

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