Tomtom TMC antenna -- horizontal or vertical?

ddingbat · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 2

Yes, I tried moving it as far away from the device as the cable will permit. Made no difference.

mikealder · Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:59 am Post subject:

Was the screen at a slightly dimmer setting when running on the battery? - it could be the backlight rather than the PSU that is causing this - Mike

MartinH32 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 16, 2007 Posts: 1

I have a TomTom One with TMC in my Mini. Taped it up the side of the windscreen (about 16 inch worth) and the rest is stuffed down the dashboard. I drive Leeds to Coventry and back ever day, which is two hours each way and it keeps the signal all but around 10 minutes of the time (around J29 and J26 of the M1)

Greenglide · Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:14 pm Post subject: Interference from vehicle?

I have a TT One 520T and TMC is nothing short of appalling!

Onto my second unit as the first one had the dreaded buzzing noise on handsfree so I assume I can rule out the hardware.

It works best when the vehicle is stationary, especially with the engine off. Running off battery makes no difference.

I live in South East Northumberland, on Sunday did a trip from home, North on A1 to Alnwick and then South again on A1 / M1 / M62 to Manchester. During this time I got TMC data:-

The return journey was via Lytham and the only coverage I got was stationary in Manchester, a brief period on M61, an intermittent signal north of Lancaster services, a brief lock at Carlisle (informed me of a delay of 60 minutes which was completely clear) and the an intermittent lock on A69 entering Newcastle - lost on A1.

I have a diesel Zafira and tried the aerial in numerous positions - hung from the rear view mirror seemed best.

So is it interference generated by the vehicle or the varying signal strength caused by the movement? Not impressed Evil or Very Mad

Seriously considering cutting the wire at the point where the screening ends and connecting to an aerial splitter - anyone done this with the new "improved" version? The previous version must have been totally unusable!

mikealder · Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:36 pm Post subject:

Can you confirm the part number of the RDS-TMC receiver it is on the little white flag near the connector, if it ends .013 then you have the latest device.

Can you also check whether the vehicle has an Athermic glass windscreen as these can effectively kill FM reception, a solution might be to connect the RDS aerial to the vehicle aerial via a splitter - but it is not something I have had to do (as yet) with the new 013 design. If you do this you need to check that the car radio coax doesn't supply 12V to the aerial (some do) as this will damage the RDS dvice and possibly your TomTom, wiring a small capacitor in series blocks the DC voltage so it can still be used, but check prior to connection.

As for it not working in and around the Fylde coast (I assume Lytham being the one with the windmill on the green near where I live) - get used to it, reception around this area is best described as intermittent, North bound up the M61 and you loose the signal just North of the services, around Lancaster the device will start to pick up from the Morecombe Bay transmitter - but Blackpool/ St Annes/ Lytham is very rare to see a signal, it does work from time to time but probably less than 10% - Mike

Greenglide · Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:03 pm Post subject:

Yes it is the latest receiver - checked that.

Never knew what athermic glass was but the TSS website lists the Zafira as a vehicle which has been fitted with it during at least part of its lifetime.

Presumably the dotted black edging on the windscreen and the dotted area around the rear view mirror (for toll tags etc) should have been a giveaway Embarassed

Car is fitted with an aftermarket radio - the amplifier is powered from the wiring loom near the interior light!

Reaches for test meter (just in case!) and soldering iron ...

Yes it was the Fylde Lytham I was visiting - cold and wet as normal - never seen a windmill Cool

othilla · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:11 pm Post subject:

I posted this problem before about the charger interfering with the Signal strength and tomtom have sent me 3 units to try,it,s absolutely brilliant when running on battery but almost as useless as the old one when charging in a low signal strength area. I gave the device to the instrument tech's at work and they performed a few tests, I'm not sure what they plugged it into (oscilloscope or something like it with wave forms on) and they said when connected to the charger sensitivity of the receiver dropped by some 40%. When I travel up the M1 it doesn't seem to make much difference but where I live in SE Kent we have a weak signal so it's rubbish.

Hoppy · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:47 pm Post subject:

I have now found after my first post here. I run the aerial up the right hand side of the windscreen then at a 45 degree angle to the sunroof and I have 2" dangling down and the Traffic stays locked on for about 98% of the time. I think I am covering most of the angles.
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if1977 · Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:00 pm Post subject:

I have my TomTom (710) in the bottom left hand corner and the wire tucked down behind the dash and running to the left hand bottom corner and stuck the reciever at the bottom corner of the windscreen as low as it can go ( you cannot see any wiring and hardly see the reciever)and it is not even the new reciever (only one wire) and i have to say that i have only lost the signal once and that was up the north of Scotland at Oban, but apart from that i have been all over Britain and have to say the time that it says for the delay is correct at least 85% of the time. Dont think i will ever change it and has sertainly saved me alot of time on the road. Very Happy

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PicklesDad · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 06, 2008 Posts: 35

I bought a Tom-Tom 720T in the sales and also have a Zafira. I'm experiencing the same problem with lack of TMC reception as Greenglide.

The strange thing is I once had the green dot for the entire half hour journey to work, but on my return home only got the green dot for 10 seconds. The device or TMC aerial were not moved. I can only put it down to the weather being cloudier and the 720 being on the limit for the journey to work.

I’ve also tried mounting it on the driver’s side window as a test. I got a green dot, but when I went into work the following day it never achieved a lock and showed the yellow rotating pie shape.

I think I too am either going to have to split the external aerial (Classic FM reception fine on the radio) or stump up an extra £2.50 a month on my mobile subscription and use that.

Unfortunately the Haynes manuals don’t cover Zafira’s after 2004, so I’ve just got to hope things aren’t too different if I want to take the dash apart to get at the aerial.

mikealder · Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:06 am Post subject:

It always helps when looking at RDS-TMC problems if you can specify the location, just the town or city will do, there are areas that are very poor for reception - combine that with Athermic glass and you really will struggle to get this working without an external feeder/ splitter.

I just wished they had made an external aerial connection point available on the RDS device, I asked often enough and this simple addition would have aided people in poor reception areas no end - it would also make RDS reception in vehicles like yours viable - Mike

PicklesDad · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jan 06, 2008 Posts: 35

It was roughly between Bury St. Edmunds and Ipswich on the A14, Suffolk. I’m not sure if the new TMC transmitters mentioned in these forums are active in Cambridge, Ipswich and Norwich yet, as I guess they may help if not live already.

wedi · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 13, 2006 Posts: 2

I have a Mini and have the TMC receiver running upwards to the right hand corner then over to the passenger side. I went down to Bedford last week from chester via M6, M1 A1 etc. I had a TMC signal most of the way with just a few drop offs now and again. An accident on the M54 near to the M6 was picked up as shown on the matrix signage. Also a tailback due to a bump on the opposite side of the M6 through Brimingham, no reroute was recommended as it was on the other side. Smile

This was the first long distance journey I've done since I had the unit. I was overall very impressed and the coverage seemed fine. All the data picked up was from Classic FM.

Hopefully its getting better

wedi · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 13, 2006 Posts: 2

Gee-Pee · Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:55 pm Post subject:

Hi Guys

have a look here to get an update on the new TMC stations going live. Judging by some of the comments above, some are expecting it to be imminent Wink

GeePee
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