2460LMT - No UK FM Traffic Reception or Icon

[hillaj]

Hi,
got a 2460LMT for Christmas, but having problems with receiving traffic updates. The Traffic menu has 2 choices Auto and 100.5 FM. When on Auto it continuosly says 'Auto Searching' and I appear to get no traffic warnings or Icon appearing on the map. Same if I switch to '100.5' (Classic) FM option. I travelled ~ 300 miles from Aberdeen to North of England and back, including being held up in a 30 minute queue near Glasgow and no warning icon and still Auto Searching. All roads have the Trafficmaster coverage. I tried the unit, cable & FM extension cable out of the car at a couple of stops and still nothing.
Phoned Garmin and they recommended updating software and clearing FM tables which I did, but still no luck. So, took it back to Comet and they exchanged for another unit, but it is acting exactly the same.
Gratefull if anyone with a 2460 or similar 2000 series model with traffic could comment on whether they get traffic reception and the traffic icon on the screen.

[mikealder]

North of Perth I didn't think had any coverage but they might have improved things since I last looked.

What car is it as Athermic Glass can make a serious impact on FM reception from anything FM based in the cab of the car - Mike

[hillaj]

Mike,
tried in 2 cars - 2005 Nissan Xtrail & 2008 BMW X5, the latter on the trip past Perth to N. England. I did try outside car at services and no traffic.
There certainly is Trafficmaster coverage on the A90 N of Perth and good FM signal of the Classic FM band.
Just wondering if the 'Auto Searching' is a normal status and the screen icon does not appear untill a traffic incident is sent over the air. However, the manual implies an icon should appear when it locks onto an FM signal and changes colour based on the traffic i.e. green = OK and grey = no data/traffic information is not available. So figure I should get a grey icon at least when in range of FM transmitter.

[fruit]

I've got a 2460LMT and Traffic works OK straight out of the box, didn't have to choose provider - thought that was automatic in the UK.

The icon can take a while to show from a cold start, have never seen 'Auto Searching' or a grey icon here

[sussamb]

@hillaj

With the cable plugged in and powering your nuvi, tap Tools, Settings, Traffic. What do you see?

[hillaj]

sussamb,
Traffic (Enabled)
Subscriptions
Current Provider (Auto Searching)

Option under Traffic is Enabled or Disabled. Set to Enabled
Subscriptions lists each provider for each European country with UK = Trafficmaster
Current Provider has Auto - Searching and 100.50 FM ($) Set to Auto

[hillaj]

fruit,
good to know that yours works. Following on from sussamb's question, what do yo see when you go to Tools, Settings, Traffic, Current Providers ?
Sounds like the reception in Scotland/N England is poor to non existent. Or there is a dud batch of Traffic receivers.

[sussamb]

[hillaj]

sussamb,
yes- there is an option to clear/refresh traffic providers when you press the 3 bar icon in top left. Did that and it loses the 100.50 FM option and leaves only the Auto option. Stayed on Auto searching, but guess I need to try this on the road tomorrow.

Again, thanks for the help.

[inspiredron]

Unless things have changed Classic FM broadcasts traffic info from ITIS, not Trafficmaster. Garmin receivers only do Trafficmaster. So if you have selected 100.5 the Garmin doesn't hack it. Leave it on Auto. If you continue to get nothing then go to the hidden diagnostics - on my 760 you hold the speed indicator of the trip computer for 7 seconds and scroll Next until you get to FM table - on the next page you can see the channels that are being scanned - when it finds traffic info it stops scanning and you see message count incrementing. If it carries on scanning then it is out of range of traffic transmitters. MaFt used to have the TM transmitters as POI's.

[fruit]

Switching on indoors I don't have any Traffic option under Settings so presumable only available with the receiver attached.

I will try later on in the car with the power/receiver lead attached and Traffic icon displayed and report back.

[hillaj]

inspiredron,
on the first unit I had, Garmin gave me the same instructions to re-set the FM Tables, which I did. Still carried on Auto searching, which as you said implies the unit can't find a signal. I did not check to see if the FM table scan locked onto any frequency when I made the trip south.
Both units listed ITIS or 100.50 FM as a second option under current providers, so guess it has both Trafficmaster and ITIS subscriptions. I have tried setting to both Auto and the ITIS setting and still no Traffic icon appears on maps.
When your unit finds an FM signal does it display the icon on the map or only pops up when it receives a Traffic update on your planned route ?

fruit,
thanks that would be great - and yes you need to have the power cable connected to get to the Traffic options to display.

[sussamb]

If you receive a signal you'll get the icon whether or not you're navigating a route

Incidentally you say Comet exchanged your first one, did they just swap the unit or also swap the power cord (which contains the receiver). The cords themselves have been known to be faulty.

[fruit]

[hillaj]

sussamb & fruit,
thanks for the info on icon behaviour. Yes, Comet replaced the whole unit, brand new box i.e. different cables on both units.
I'm beginning to conclude from all your valuable info that either there is a bad batch of cables or more likely the FM coverage is very poor to non existant in Scotland and N of England. The unit has only been as far S as the N Lakes. Would need to venture a bit further S to rule out the faulty receiver.
Despite the problems with the traffic, I think I will stick with it. It has lots of positives i.e. screen, lifetime maps, brilliant voice control and hands free bluetooth - and the price was very good. TomTom alternatives are way more expensive, especially factoring cost of lifetime maps and seem to have lots of issues of their own and lousy customer support. I can always continue to use the RDS traffic updates on radio and possibly smartphone check on traffic, then use detour option on satnav.

Thanks to everyone for your info and help

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