TomTom One V3 & Traffic Master

[neil_r_cooper]

My experience of the TT traffic via FM module may stop others from waisting their money.

First problem is to get a stable and consistant Classic FM radio signal the module aerial cannot be run tidily around the windscreen but has to be at least 1.5 inches from the metal frame or it just does not work. Having got a good signal I set off for the Docklands in London along the A13. TT correctly displayed the 2 mile jam on Ripple road section but said Delay = 1 min which did not seem likely. This day these 2 miles took 30 mins to complete not 1 min. Travelled further and TT did not show any more jams but I sat in another 20 mins worth. Travelling home no reference to any of the jams that I got stuck in until just before Basildon. Correctly displayed a long jam but again gave 1 min as the delay, actual time 10 mins. Next day I travelled on A127, M25 & A1M. Most jams on this route not displayed on TT but if it did actually pick them up TT always gave 1 min as the delay even though most of them were at least 20 mins or more.

I contacted TT and they say it is the fault of the supplied data and not their fault. There appears no route to quiz Traffic Master iTIL as to the unreliability of the data they supply. As the TT One does not have blue tooth I cannot subscribe to the other service to see if that shows any sign of working. It appears that the TMC-RDC system is at the same stage that mobile phones were when they first started. Very poor coverage, poor inplementation, rubbish customer support and not really fit for purpose. Hopefully this system may work in the future but for now is of little or no value. Before I remove the module and aerial from my car and toss it into the bin has anyone had a positive experience with one of these units? Does the subscribed service work any better as I may well scrap the TT ONE and get a blue tooth version. iTIL have you any comment? Regards Neil

[Shinymera]

TomTom use ITIS and not Traffic Master for their information.

With TomTom regardless of delivery method the information should be the same as it is coming from the same source.

[swing]

One small point - there are two TMC service providers in the UK, TrafficMaster, and iTIS Holdings. TomTom uses the latter, so it has nothing to do with TrafficMaster.

As to quizzing iTIS - there's a thread in this very forum that was started by iTIS staff, and you can ask questions there, and may get an answer when they next get a chance to come here.
_________________
Please don't be offended if I do not reply to a PM - please ask questions via the forums.

[mikealder]

I am not too sure if the problem is with TomTom due to the software or iTIS for the wrong delay data, over the past couple of weeks I have seen delays on the screen which have either no delay time or just one minute, never anything more, it certainly used to display better delay information.
Last Thursday it informed the M1 South was closed which it wasn't (Northbound was a real mess though), I only use it for a brief idea of what might be happening on the road, the motorway gantry signs and radio are a safer and more reliable method to judge a re-route.
As for the subscription service, the data suplied comes from the same source it is only the method of deliver that differs - Mike

[trafficinfo]

Here in Toronto, Canada, both GPS manufacturers use the same RDS_TMC traffic provider (Clear Channel's TTN) nevertheless , unlike Tomtom units that display only 1 minute delays, after the very last firmware update the GArmin's Nuvi 6xx and SP C5xx series now correctly display the proper delay times. In other words Tomtom has to release (like Garmin just did recently) an update to their firmware to fix it.

On top of that, THERE IS NO DELAY TIME DATA IN THE RDS-TMC BIT SECUENCE BEING BROADCASTED THEREFORE THE GPS FIRMWARE HAS TO ESTIMATE/CALCULATE THOSE DELAY TIMES. The Alert-C protocol used by every RDS-TMC traffic provider only has the capability to broadcast Location Code (16 bits, aprox 65 000 locations) , Event Code (11 bits, 2048 events) , Direction (1 bit, represents + or - direction of the queue) , Extension (3 bits, represents up to the next 7 locations in the location table along the same road, if needed to report a longer queue then it has to broadcast another event). There is no , until now, traffic provider using the very new Alert-Plus that will also broadcast status messages that will add that extra info in the data fields as travel times, delay times , parking spaces, ... etc

If a Tomtom CSR says otherwise they are simply liying and just blaming the traffic providers to get rid off the customers complain. Not the very first time that a company does that by the way.

for more info , refer to the TMC Forum website and several sources of the RDS-TMC Alert-C protocol.

We Canadians are lucky I guess that our FM signal levels are high therefore coverage is very good and we only have to complaing about the inaccuracies like everybody else so far, although it only updates from 5 am to 8 pm Mon - Fri , and that also sucks!!!!!!!!.

[neil_r_cooper]

Thanks for very helpfull and detailed technical answer. It confirms that for the time being I might as well put the FM module in a cupboard, instead of cluttering the dash and windsceen up, until the system works well enough to be of any use. Regards Neil.

[AndyVaughan]

These 1 minute delays seem to be specific to v7 of TomTom software, although in each map there is a tmccode.dat file - maybe it is the maps that need updating?

Today the GPRS traffic service was giving correct delay times, but the RDS was either nothing or one minute, although it had the same locations. This was on v7.221 and v7.020 with a v705 map (I am still waiting for a v710 from Latest Map Guarantee).

[trafficinfo]

Unlike RDS-TMC, acctually I should say unlike the Alert-C protocol, the GPRS traffic plus service has the capability to send over your bluetooth cellphone data connection the exact DELAY TIMES as reported by the traffic provider or sensors or whatever. The last firmware for the 920 units seems to address and fix this problem. Hopefully they will fix the rest of the line soon.

[mikealder]

The popint in question is the RDS-TMC data and associated time delays, we used to get this information and it used to be "accurate", these days it is one minute or nothing, my guess is the software on the device is messing up somehow and this fault is not just related to the 720.

Andy nice bonus for Christmas mate, a new toy and some cash back I am going to start looking at improving the signal to me RDS-TMC soon and if / when it works I will post up the details. Strange thing is I have been up and down the A56/ M66 alot recently I do not experiance reception problems, I doubt it is down to the vehicle because I am never in the same car more than once! - Mike

[b0br0ck]

I have the same problem with the tomtom aerial that doesn't seem to pick up a signal. If i'm outside the vehicle i can pick up the signal within seconds, put the unit in the car and it looses it or picks it up intermitently. The problem gets worse when i'm on the motorway - i suppose there might be more interferance from the engine when at speed.

Is there a better aerial? What do garmin provide? Or is it just a point of sending my tomtom one v3 Traffic back to the shop and exchange it for a bluetooth version and subscribe to GPRS Traffic

Thanks

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