How to extract POI coordinates from my nuvi?

I am pissed at the way my nuvi 660 handles the POIs. Since I have had
several Garmin units, I have transferred the POIs many times. Even
when transferring the POIs from one nuvi 660 to another, the addresses
and phone numbers are lost.

Anyway, I have ended up with 3 classes of POIs:

- Some have address and phone number (probably configured recently in
current device, not by transfer)
- Some have nothing, just the name (@&*$% Garmin!).
- Most puzzling: a few have geographical coordinates. I don't know
where they came from.

Any comments about the above are being requested.

My second question is: how can I retrieve the internal coordinates of
my POIs. I would like to use them in Google Earth, etc.

I found this software, but it seems old, not actively maintained, and
written when the nuvi didn't exist, so I didn't download it:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/gvortaro

-Ramon

I guess the better question is: what format is used to store waypoints
in the Garmin nuvis?

-RFH

I found a way to open & see the waypoints. It turns out that the file
'current.gpx' is simply an XML file. So I renamed it current.xml and
voila!

Both IE and Firefox can open the file and collapse the blocks,
clicking on the minus and plus signs.

-Ramon

Ramon F Herrera,

Hi Ramon,
You "favorites" are stored on the device in current.gpx. You may also
have some .gpi files but you won't be able to edit those unless you
have a licensed editor. The poi's in current.gpx may or may not have
address, phone and other attributes. Editors that do not know what to
do with these attributes may, in deed, lose the information. I
recommend TourPoint Editor for which a free trial is available on my
web site. It supports address and phone attributes. And you it will
import gpx and kml and link enhancements (mp3 & jpg) for use with POI
Loader. The latest version includes interactive map and geocoding
feature for using address to determine lat lon. The program also
exports kml so that you can view your POI files on Google Earth.
I hope this helps!
- Doug
Get TourPoint Editor at
http://travelbygps.com/software.php#GPStourAuthoring

Ramon F Herrera wrote:

Ramon,
You did not mention that you were having problems deleting your
favorite POIs, but I thought I would mention that nuvi's behave
somewhat particular - evidently even from one series nuvi to another.
Read:
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.geo.satellite-nav/browse_frm/thread/b8de7be6b71eac80

The procedure then is to make a backup of your user data (i.e
current.gpx and any other .gpx and gpi files) and store them on your
computer. Then use the menu on the device to delete all favorites and
custom. Then when you edit your data and copy it back to the device
you won't end up with duplicates.

I hope this helps!
- Doug
travelbygps.com
Travel By GPS Maps and Tour Guides