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jonstatt
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Joined: Jul 19, 2005
Posts: 140
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 Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:31 pm Post subject: New TomTom x40 TMC mount reception marginal |
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So I have been playing with one of these new x40 ipod/TMC mounts for a week now.
In order to use the TMC functionality I had to reset my 940 and not enter any username and password for the TomTom services otherwise it will over-ride it.
Firstly, I normally mount my TomTom on the right of the drivers seat. This places it near the A column and I found TMC reception didn't work too well there.
Then I tried it in the middle of the windscreen. This helped a lot. But although it would then change from "looking for signal" to "downloading traffic data", it would sometimes stick there for a long time. This would indicate it knew it had found the right frequency but the reception was still noisy.
Overall it certainly does work despite its short antenna but it is NOT as good as the USB TMC receiver with its longer cable.
I was on the M25 during the week, and it did correctly report a traffic incident and the time expected to get through it...which adjusted as events unfolded.
The weird thing about the reception on this mount, is that the short wire piece seems to have little effect...you can just let it dangle freely, and it doesn't worsen the response. It often ended up dangling because the rubber cup is not a good one on the end of it. You have to moisten it to get it to stick properly to the windscreen. |
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emjaiuk
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Joined: Dec 06, 2003
Posts: 335
Location: North Surrey (TW17) UK
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| Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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Intersting post for me since I've just sent my USB receiver back and was about to order a mount.
| Quote: | | In order to use the TMC functionality I had to reset my 940 and not enter any username and password for the TomTom services otherwise it will over-ride it. |
Does this mean you have a paid subscription now?
| Quote: | | Then I tried it in the middle of the windscreen. This helped a lot. But although it would then change from "looking for signal" to "downloading traffic data", it would sometimes stick there for a long time. This would indicate it knew it had found the right frequency but the reception was still noisy. |
I found a report on the USB receiver on the TomTomMax French web site which states that the reviewer had been told by TT that they had midified the software on the latest RDS-TMC receivers so that rather than locking on to the first available signal, it searches for all signals and stores them, in theory giving faster lockon times on subsequent connections. This wasn't his experience, and neither was it mine. Even in strong signal areas, swithing off and on again caused 5-15minutes delay in getting information again.
| Quote: | Overall it certainly does work despite its short antenna but it is NOT as good as the USB TMC receiver with its longer cable.
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Did you try the USB version with the 940?
_________________
Go740L App 9.510 Europe 985.8155
RDS_TMC mount
Home 2.8.3.2499 Win10 Home |
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jonstatt
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Joined: Jul 19, 2005
Posts: 140
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| Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Does this mean you have a paid subscription now? |
I do...afterall with Live you can cancel it with one months notice. I bought the mount primarily for use when I go to France, but I wanted to test it of course while I was here.
| Quote: | | I found a report on the USB receiver on the TomTomMax French web site which states that the reviewer had been told by TT that they had midified the software on the latest RDS-TMC receivers so that rather than locking on to the first available signal, it searches for all signals and stores them, in theory giving faster lockon times on subsequent connections. This wasn't his experience, and neither was it mine. Even in strong signal areas, swithing off and on again caused 5-15minutes delay in getting information again. |
It does not do this at all. Switching off and on again makes you wait several minutes again.
| Quote: | | Did you try the USB version with the 940? |
My Dad has one of these so I borrowed it. It got the data more reliably with it..but it is much more of a set-up hassle with wires all over the place. The mount is definitely better from an ergonomic point of view. |
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mikealder
Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: Jan 14, 2005
Posts: 19638
Location: Blackpool , Lancs
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| Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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If reliable reception in the UK is desired then consider connecting it to the car aerial this will improve signal coverage significantly. Its not difficult to do, but if your car feeds 12V up the aerial wire you will need to decouple the connection with an inline capacitor or you will fry the mount.
In use in France/ mainland Europe you will find it works considerably better than in the UK, blame the transmitter strength as the main cause of this difference - Mike |
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