» Special
About POI's, speed camera's, icons en .ov2
Part 2 - Adding POI files
By Bart Wijnen & Archeon
From firmware version 4.40 on, it's possible to add your own categories and locations via POI's. You can add these all by yourself, but there's also another option: using pre-made POI files! This second part of the special explains were you can find these files and how you can use them with your TTG.
An important condition to be able to make use of POI files is that you'll have to connect your TomTom GO to your PC with the supplied USB cable. On the PC, TTG will then show up as a removable drive. Using windows explorer, you can then drag files to and from TomTom GO, but more on that later on.
Ov2
TomTom uses files with the .ov2 extension for POI use in all of their navigational systems, and so also for the TTG. These files are basically simple text files and so you can create them yourself if you want. The lines of text in an .ov2 file contain the latitude, longitude and the name of the location. These three fields are separated by commas and the name of the location is put between double quotes ("). There can be no colons in the name. The latitudes and longitudes may be written in different ways: in degrees, or in degree with minutes and seconds. The following lines all mean the same and point to the same location:
53.5 , 4 , "Truckers Restaurant La Bamba"
53.5000000 , 4.00000000 , "Truckers Restaurant La Bamba"
53'30"00 , 4'00"00 , "Truckers Restaurant La Bamba"
53'30 , 4'0 , "Truckers Restaurant La Bamba"
53:30:0 , 4 , "Truckers Restaurant La Bamba"
The name of an .ov2 file doesn't have to follow syntaxis rules. It is advised however to choose the name of your file wisely. In our example, a good name would be "TruckersRestaurants.ov2". You can then copy this file to your GO (we'll explain how in detail later on). If you want to use a non-standard icon with this .ov2 file then this is also possible. Create an icon with a maximum of 22x22 pixels and save it as a .bmp file. If you want to use it with a certain POI category, then give it the EXACT same name as the name of the .ov2 file. In our example this is: "TruckersRestaurants.bmp". TTG will then use these files together, so it's absolutely imperative that the names (minus the extension) are identical!
Downloading
On the internet, you'll find several websites were you'll be able to download .ov2 files. These files are maintained by users of navigational websites who keep these files as up to date as possible. But even then, most files are not 100% complete, seeing as they are built by freely given information by users. Also keep in mind that there may be errors in these files because of this. It's also possible that one certain POI has got multiple inputs of it in the .ov2 file. This is unavoidable, but in the end really not that bad. Good website where you can find a lot of interesting POI files:
On most of these websites you'll have to register first before you can download the POI's. This is a small price to pay, mostly because it's free. Some website also give you the possibility to update your previously downloaded .ov2 files. It's important to keep your POI files up to date because you have to realise that these .ov2 files are a continuing work in progress. They are NEVER complete...
These websites offer .ov2 files with POI's for most Western-European countries. Sometimes also for the USA. The number of categories is huge and endless. New categories are added very frequently. Files with speed camera POI's are amongst the most popular, for obvious reasons. But again, keep in mind that these POI files are NOT 100% foolproof! Besides POI files you'll also find the icon files on these sites. Sometimes the icons are packed together with the .ov2 files in one zipped file, but other times you'll manually have to select the icons, right-click on them and then "save picture as...". Again, keep in mind that the name of the icon has to match the name of the .ov2 file!
Now, how can you put the downloaded .ov2 files and icons onto the TTG? Easy, just follow these steps:
1. Make sure your TTG is connected to your PC via the supplied USB cable. Make sure your TTG is recognised as a "removable disk" in your windows explorer. It might also be a good idea to plug in the power adapter to prevent the TTG from loosing power during the installation. This isn't required though;
2. Use windows explorer to copy the .ov2 and .bmp files to your TTG. Copy these files into the folder on your TTG that contains the maps of the country you want to use the POI's with. Eg. in case I've downloaded a POI file with all the MacDonald restaurants in Belgium, I will have to copy "macdonalds.ov2" and "macdonalds.bmp" file into the "\Benelux Navigator Map" folder. In case these are POI's meant for use in France, I'll have to copy them into the "\France Navigator Map" folder. Etc.;
3. After having copied all the .ov2 + .bmp files that you want, disconnect your TTG from your PC;
4. Now you'll have to activate these POI's. For this, go to the "changing preferences" menu. Tap "maintain POI" (second preferences menu). Tap "enable/disable POI". Scroll down until you reach the POI that you've just added. If everything is ok, it will be in the list. Tap on the POI so that it gets checked. Tap "done";
4. If you also want to be warned by means of an auditive signal when you reach this POI, then tap "warn when near POI" in the "maintain POI" menu and just go through all the steps. For more info on this, check out the first part of this POI special.
Attention!
A couple of "good to know" things before you start adding categories and POI's of your own:
- TTG can hold a maximum of 96 categories, 40 of those can be user-made;
- The number of POI's in a certain category is only limited by the capacity of your SD card;
- Keep a backup of your .ov2 + .bmp files on your PC. (these are really small files and hardly take up any space at all anyway) The reason for this is if you backup your TTG via the TTG menu, the files you've added yourself WON'T get backed-up with it. If for one reason or another you'll end up having to reinstall your TTG via the backup that you've made before, all your POI's will be lost;
- Try to use your POI's efficiently. If you use too many of them they will congest your screen. If you use too many warning signals with them they will drive you mad. And last but not least: the more POI's you enble, the slower your TTG will become. Not in a dramatic way, but noticeable nonetheless. Keep this in mind when selecting POI's!