Roadfood POI question

Re:Roadfood POI question (Stephen Rushmore Jr.)

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:02:58 GMT

cdikmen

Where can you get the Roadfood POI file in GPX format?

http://www.roadfood.com/I.../Maps/DownloadGPX.aspx

You need to be a Roadfood Insider

Re:Roadfood POI question (cdikmen)

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 11:05:47 GMT

Where can you get the Roadfood POI file in GPX format?

Re:Roadfood POI question (kozel)

Thu, 06 May 2010 10:42:15 GMT

First caveat, I don't work with Macs. I use a garmin product to load my poi files (POIloader). You can get it here...

http://www8.garmin.com/su...p?product=999-99999-12

Second caveat, I'm unfamiliar with gpi files but I find that I can commingle csv & gpx files. There are limitations regarding POI files. I don't think you can have folders within folders and I think there is a limitation of 30 files in a folder. I used to have all of my poi files in a folder called poi so there was no categorizing of my files. My POI library is 156 files (26mb) so finding the right POI took some time. I now have the files organized into 13 folders. I have more than 30 food related poi files so I have 2 folders devoted to food. On my computer I have a folder called POI and all of the 13 folders are in that folder. When running POI loader when it asks for the 'source', I reference the folder poi and it creates the 13 folders on the garmin.

I bought the 660 solely for the live traffic but I find the traffic information useless. I believe it is because the shear volume of NYC information exceeds the bandwidth of the FM channel. I find the 1690 intriguing because of nuvi-link. How do you find it?

Re:Roadfood POI question (Regmikewall)

Thu, 06 May 2010 09:47:11 GMT

We have two - a nuvi 680 and a nuvi 1690. I thank you for all your information. I am running on a MACBookPro. I did some experimenting, found that if I only load one folder - Roadfood - you get all the POI in a list not at folder, when I then rename the “roadfood.csv” to as “gas.csv” I get two entries in extras/custom POIs called “roadfoodPOIs” and GasPOIs”. Now I didn’t load directly into the Garmin. I created the .gpi files on my computer and then I copied the files into two folders called “roadfoodPOIs” and GasPOIs” I created in the POI folder on my Garmin. I assume there is an easier way to do this, am I right? What I gather from your explanation is that you let the Garmin POI Loader create the .gpi file which it puts into the Garmin. I also assume that when you point to the POI file the uploader will not duplicate the POI already loaded or at least overwrite them. Am I correct here as well....? Again thanks for being patient with me and helping me with this.... Can be frustrating, especially when Tech Support at Garmin has no clue how to do this....

Thanks again

Mike

Re:Roadfood POI question (kozel)

Wed, 05 May 2010 11:04:40 GMT

When you run poiloader it will ask you for the location of the poi files, if you have a folder called poi, containing a folder called roadfood, containing the file roadfood.csv, point to the folder POI, not the folder called Roadfood and it should work. What model do you have? There are some big differences between the garmin models.

An added trick I use is that I put all my POI entries on a USB drive (formatted fat32) and load from there. Before I upload, I use a utility called 'drivesort' which will sort the directory entries. That way, the poi files and folders will be alphabetical. Drivesort will not work with NTFS volumes.

Re:Roadfood POI question (Regmikewall)

Mon, 03 May 2010 17:03:27 GMT

kozel

My Garmin (660) has it in the Where to / Extras / Custom POIs and I believe the wife's 750 is the same. If you organize your POIs in folders and upload them that way, they will retain the folder membership on the Garmin as well. For example, if I put my fuel related POIs (Hess,BP,Sunoco) in a folder called GAS, I can select the folder GAS then select 'All Catagories' to find any of the stations regardless of brand or I can select the specific brand to show just those.

You don't need a GPS to use these POI files. I had a post titled 'Fun with POI files' that pointed to a java script file where you easily convert the POI to a KML file that you could use in Google Earth or Google Maps to visualize the locations. Nice tool!

It took me about two minutes to grab the Diners Drive-ins and Dives CSV POI from then pass it thru the script to create the KML file. Then going to Google Maps, under the 'My Maps' function I uploaded the KML file to create this....

thanks so much for your response, I have a question, I put the Roadfood.csv file into a folder called “Roadfood” and tried to upload the folder; however, my Garmin POIUploader only uploaded the csv file. I am sure I am doing something wrong, not sure what.. Need some help thanks in advance - Mike

Re:Roadfood POI question (kozel)

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 09:10:17 GMT

My Garmin (660) has it in the Where to / Extras / Custom POIs and I believe the wife's 750 is the same. If you organize your POIs in folders and upload them that way, they will retain the folder membership on the Garmin as well. For example, if I put my fuel related POIs (Hess,BP,Sunoco) in a folder called GAS, I can select the folder GAS then select 'All Catagories' to find any of the stations regardless of brand or I can select the specific brand to show just those.

You don't need a GPS to use these POI files. I had a post titled 'Fun with POI files' that pointed to a java script file where you easily convert the POI to a KML file that you could use in Google Earth or Google Maps to visualize the locations. Nice tool!

It took me about two minutes to grab the Diners Drive-ins and Dives CSV POI from www.poi-factory.com then pass it thru the script to create the KML file. Then going to Google Maps, under the 'My Maps' function I uploaded the KML file to create this....

http://maps.google.com/ma....0004854b8bebce02031c5

Re:Roadfood POI question (Regmikewall)

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:58:13 GMT

How do I find the Roadfood POIs in my Garmin?

Re:Roadfood POI question (kozel)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:51:27 GMT

No argument from me. I'd settle for any thumbnail description.

Nathan's- very casual stand
Seconds- BBQ
LaParma- less casual Italian

If you are in unfamiliar territory and don't recognize the name and the name is not self describing like Pittsburgh's 'Original Hot Dog Shop', a description would help. When you look at a restaurant list, the 'must eats' would be helpful.

Re:Roadfood POI question (wholehog)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:51:18 GMT

Thanks for the reply.

I would think it would be helpful if the POI file had the "must eats" for those times when you may not have the offline or mobile content available to you.

If I were at some hypothetical point where I was roughly equidistant from Nathan's, Second's and La Parma, I know I would find it very useful to know that one is famous for hot dogs, another for beef ribs, and another for shrimp.

I don't know about the exact formatting (which might depend on which gps you're using), but it would seem relatively easy to add the relevant info, like this:

-73.9816 40.5755 "Nathan's Famous [hot dogs] - 1310 Surf Ave: Brooklyn: NY {718-946-2202}"

or

-73.9816 40.5755 "Nathan's Famous - 1310 Surf Ave: Brooklyn: NY {718-946-2202} : hot dogs"

Just a thought.

Re:Roadfood POI question (kozel)

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:47:57 GMT

Here is a typical entry in the POI, there is no 'descriptive' info, just coordinates, name, address & phone. Current version has over 1500 entries. There is the 'Roadfood mobile' and 'Roadfood offline' offerings that may help. I joined the insider for the POI file and won't leave home without it.

-73.9816 40.5755 "Nathan's Famous - 1310 Surf Ave: Brooklyn: NY {718-946-2202}"

Roadfood POI question (wholehog)

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:53:55 GMT

Does the Roadfood POI file include a line for each entry identifying the "must eats" for that location? I'm thinking of becoming an insider, and that would definitely make a diiference to me.

I think that having that info would be especially useful for those times when you have your gps but don't have any roadfood-type info with you. I'd be more likely to detour to an unknown restaurant if I knew what they were known for.