Speed Camera POIs for Garmins

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EDIT: For info on community compiled data, scroll to the bottom of the article.

I bought a Garmin GPS a few years ago, and one of the first things I did was to load data relating to the position of speed cameras in South Africa. Recently I had someone ask where to get the data, and all that I could remember was that I got it from Garmin’s official website. Searching for such files proved fruitless until I came across the following site, which I believe I used originally.

The data is provided by Garmap, [EDIT – In July 2012 Garmin removed the free access to this data, it now needs to be purchased via Garmin Cyclops. A free trial is available], who release a file weekly with an updated listing of speed cameras and other hazards that they refer to as “Road Safety Data”. To download this data Garmap claim you must register your device with Garmap, a fairly straightforward process requiring you to install the Garmin Communicator Plugin (20MB Firefox Plugin). You will need your Unit ID, which can be found in the about page on your Garmin device and the serial number. But it appears that you can get the data without registering your device or installing the plugin.

There are two methods to load the data. There is a new method which allows you to download straight from the computer to the Garmin (this requires the plugin and is discussed later), or the old method which makes use of the Garmin POI Loader software. This can be downloaded from Garmin’s website here. Click the download link on the right hand side (install was 8.67MB).

After you install it, go to the Garmap website, click on the “Road Safety Data” button in the bottom left. Download the file you want from the “Advanced Users” box. Generally just the Road_Safety_Data_<date>.zip file.

Once downloaded, unzip the folder. Look through the files and delete those folders you don’t want added to your Garmin.The GPX folder is the one in question. Camera Hazards are fixed speed cameras. Mobile Hazards refer to places where cops have been known to regularly trap. Other hazards can be things such as high winds or dangerous areas.

Plug your GPS into the computer and wait for it to be ready. Open the POI Loader. Select Garmin Device and click next. The software should automatically find your device, if not click “Find Device”. If you still have no luck, make sure the GPS is connected and try again. Click Next, here you can choose to erase the previous POIs or if you just want the new ones added on top. It’s worthwhile to note that these POIs are only those added separately and does not include the lists of shops or favourite locations you added while making use of the Garmin.

Click Next. If you choose to delete the previous POIs, you have to finish and reload the program. Browse for the folder you extracted and select the GPX folder. One should select the express install here, else if manual is selected, you have to select options for each file in the folder.

You should now receive a message saying that the POIs have been successfully installed. Click Finish and Safely Remove your GPS from the computer and you should be ready to go.

later: If you choose the “Normal Users” option, you are required to have installed the Garmin Communicator Plugin for your browser. Plug in your device and browse to the Road Safety Data webpage. Select the hazards you would like added, and a “Detect GPS” button should appear. Click this button and if you’ve plugged your GPS in, it should appear in a drop down menu. Make sure it’s selected and click “Download Data”. The text should change to “Downloading” and a notification should appear when it’s complete.

You can check if the data has been loaded by going on your Garmin to “Where to?”, scrolling down to “Extras” and looking in the “Custom POIs” folder. Here you should see a lot of content relating to the POIs you’ve added.

If you ever have issues with the POIs they can be deleted fairly easily by browsing your Garmin from a computer. Search through the drives and you should come across a folder called POI. Depending how you loaded this data there will either be one or several files in the folder. Simply delete this files. Different models may store the data in different locations. Either on the external SD card memory, or the internal memory, just look around.

In my search I have also come across GPS Data Team. They have data covering a range of categories and countries. I have no idea how trustworthy their data is or how often it’s updated, but it’s located here for anyone interested.

Community Compiled Data
In the comments Ivan has given a link to a website run by POIEditor which supplies up to date Road Safety Information. It’s compiled by members of the community and specifically relates to South African RHD. He recommends it mentioning that it is better than the Cyclops generated data. I won’t be able to test it for a while, but give it a go and give feedback.
The data itself is compiled by users on the GPS-Users-Forum. Check them out at their new website, where amongst other things, you can download the data directly.

Hello Peter

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People like to complain, that’s not exactly true, but people complain far more often than what they compliment. And it’s understandable. When paying for a service, one expects a certain level. If one receives this, great, they did what they said they would, this was expected, why would I tell anyone about it. But when our expected level of service isn’t reached, we feel founded in complaining.

A while ago I was introduced to a web-service called Hello Peter. It’s a directory of hundreds of local and national companies in South Africa, where people can go list comments on their experiences with these companies. This gives people the opportunity to complain about companies, but it’s also a nice way to get an idea of a company’s reputation.

Companies are allowed to assign an employee to address complaints and compliments on the site. So if people go and make accusations, they have the opportunity to reply and one can hear from both sides.

As is human nature, most of the companies generally have a negative rating on the site, that is more complaints than compliments. But scanning over comments and reading replies one can get a feel for the company.

I’ve used the service on several occasions when wanting to use new companies. I find, that especially when it comes to online based companies, one never knows what kind of service to expect.

I’ve often restrained myself from making complaints on the website, ’cause I feel they may be frivolous, so instead I looked around at the ratings that companies I’ve used in the past have received, and decided to make my fist rating a positive to a company that I’ve had nothing but great service from, but that has received several complaints.

Human nature isn’t going to change any time soon, but people always appreciate a complimen,t even if it is just for doing what’s expected of them.

AmazonUK Super Saver

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AmazonUK, quite a while ago, instituted the Super Saver delivery option on certain of their products.What this entailed for customers in South Africa, and a few other Commonwealth countries, is free delivery on orders over GBP25.

I would have liked to have taken advantage of this previously but for some reason the deal doesn’t applyto any video games. I did recently have the opportunity to try it out when I placed an order for a book and a Blu-Ray disc.

The main advantage with ordering from AmazonUK is the usually lower prices on products, and also the some times earlier availability of certain products. The book I ordered was on special at half the cost of what I could obtain it locally, and the Blu-Ray at the time wasn’t in stock with local suppliers.

To keep their costs down, AmazonUK make use of standard Royal Mail postage service. One major drawback with this is the lack of tracking system for your parcel. When I placed my order they said it would take 8 working days to arrive here, which placed in SA on the 22nd of December.

Being near Christmas I didn’t really expect it to arrive that early, and previous packages I’ve sourced elsewhere have spent extended times in customs before arriving.

On the 30th I finally received notice that the package had arrived at the post office. Going to pick it up I was greeted with a small invoice from SARS. The customs duties I was charged weren’t exorbitant, but definitely off set the expected savings from the overseas order.

I was charged roughly 16% tax on both items, plus a ZAR15 admin fee. In the end I payed about R320 for products I would have paid R470 for had I bought it through local suppliers. Although it meant it took about two and a half weeks to arrive here, whereas I could have expected the same package within a week had I purchased it locally.

So as long as you have the time it definitely seems worth the while. You do place a slight bit of trust in the SA Post Office, but although the degree of service I’ve had from them over the past few years has been extremely varied, I don’t recall them ever having lost one of my packages.

Reading through the Super Saver details however, it states that it is only available until 15 January 2012. From what I understand they are in the habit of extending these dates, as it has been available for more than a year. There exact words are: “At the end of this period, we reserve the right to further extend, amend or withdraw this offer”

NOTE: Since this post it appears that Amazon chose not to extend the period. No news on how permanent this is.

Wi-fi Hotspot with Samsung Galaxy Ace

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My dad recently got an upgrade on his cellphone contract and opted for the Samsung Galaxy Ace. It’s on the lower end of Samsung’s Galaxy range, but running Android and with a very nice touch screen is fully packed with useful features. One thing which has become fairly standard on new smart phones is the ability to share its 3G/HSDPA data connection with nearby devices.

thegadgetsblog.com

I hadn’t thought much about it until my dad asked me if he was still going to be able to tether the phone to his laptop to connect while on holiday. A Google search didn’t return much help, but I dug through his menu and found it fairly easily. To share the phone’s data connection do the following.

  • From the home screen go to menu then settings
  • Open wireless and networks
  • open tethering and portable hotspot
  • select the mobile ap to activate the hotspot

by default it sets up an unsecured AP, with the high costs of data here it’s best to activate security, this can be done from the current menu by further going to

  • configure mobile ap

here you can set the ssid, security and password for the AP.

Fairly straightforward and works nicely.