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POIs for Garmin Sat Nav


Uncle Bulgaria

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After many years using TOM TOM sat navs I've decided to try a Garmin this time, as Garmins seem to get good reviews from forum users. It is the model 770 LMT-D. Certainly the Garmin operating system is very different to the TOM TOM's I've been using, but I'm beginning to get familiar with it. What I need help with is getting more useful POIs onto the sat nav. TOM TOM's Home software gave easy access to a miriad of third party POI files which were easy to download, but I have not been able to discover an equivalent for Garmin. Unfortunately Way2Go's link is not longer working so I'm looking for a few pointers. I have Garmin Express loaded on my computer but the range of POI files offered on it is very limited. I'm looking for POIs such as LPG stations across europe, supermarket chains in specific countries, motorhome parking, aires, stelplatz, even Caravan Club sites in the UK. Any pointers as to how to find and load these would be much appreciated.
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Hi, if you are carava motorhome club member you can access poi from the members area..it might be worth a quicl message to the club to get the relevant address to access it.

 

The same applies to the camping caravan club.

 

Both clubs provide poi files in the form of csv format, which is the format required by Garmin poi loader software..

 

You should also do a search for any relevant csv files, such as Archies camping info.

 

Poi files for things like Britstops, are not provided but once you get the book, you can create your own if you are computer savvy, by entering the postcodes on line to a conversion software, to generate the lat and long coordinates, I have done this thanks to Steve giving me permission, but I am not permitted to pass them on.

 

As you already have tomtom files, these can be converted on line to csv format, and the added to garmin camper very easily.

 

Both ccc and cmc also provide apps which work off line if you have a suitable tablet.

 

I have loaded copilot satnav software and added csv files to that as well..easy once you know how !!!.

 

Tonyg3nwl

 

 

 

 

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Try GPSBabel, Richard, here: http://tinyurl.com/y8r8t5u4

 

Haven't tried it to convert TomTom files to Garmin, but have used it to convert from other formats to Garmin and it has so far worked perfectly. It's free, and it translates GPS formats between dozens of different manufacturer's file formats.

 

I think all you'll need to do is convert your POI files from either .asc or .ov2 format (TomTom), to .gpx format to load to your new Garmin. You'll then need to download and install Garmin POI loader (free) from the Garmin website.

 

GPSBabel is not that intuitive, but if you follow the instructions you should get there. I'd suggest first making copies of your POI files, and converting those, rather than trying to convert the originals - just in case! :-) Haven't tried it under Win10, but it claims to run under Win8, so I would imagine it will be OK. Also claims to run under Mac operating systems.

 

How you need to organise the POIs for loading onto the Garmin will depend what model you have. The starting point is to organise the files (if not already done) into recognisable groups, such as, for example, French supermarkets, and so on for each main category. Depending on your Garmin, you may then need to further organise the groups into folders (or directories), such as, for example, Supermarkets, etc.

 

You may also find it useful to download either BaseCamp or MapSource from the Garmin website, both of which allow you to install the mapping onto a Mac (BaseCamp only) or PC, and both will run under Win10. I find MapSource the better program to work with (though I wouldn't call it intuitive!), but it is no longer supported and will only run on PC. Your saved POIs can also be opened as files from either program, so you can view them at reasonable size and, cherry on the cake, open Google Earth at the same location as you are viewing on screen, to verify and, as necessary adjust, the POI position. Using either program you can then create your own POIs from scratch. You'll have loads of fun! :-D

 

Just one caution. In MapSource there is a limit to the maximum size of file that it can read. Not sure what the precise size is, but one of my files came out at about 1,400kb and I had to split it to get it to open. Up to about 1,000kb seems fine, and the files are very compact. I have one file at 1.053kb, and it contains 4,115 POIs, so it shouldn't cramp you style too much! :-D

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Richard,

 

I converted from Tom Tom to Garmin just over two years ago when we where planning a trip to Iceland and Garmin where the only company offering mapping for Iceland. After a few months of use I had no desire to ever revert back to TT!

 

I came across 'Archies Camping' http://www.archiescampings.eu/eng1/ and found his list of POI's really good and most importantly he had very good instructions on how to use them!

 

I even created my own small sets of POI's as .csv's to enable faster searching.

 

Keith.

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