TomTom RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver

[Bobbin]

Hi, I know this has been on lots and lots of different discussions and the upshot is that the unit is crap I have sent TomTom an e-mail (copied below) and will give you all the updates as I receive them from TomTom

Hi,

Two days ago I bought a TomTom GO 510 Traffic Edition from Currys in Stevenage, Herts, UK. I have conected the RDS Receiver and have the latest Software Version number. Not once have I been able to receive any traffic information on any of the journeys I have planned. I have the aerial fully extended and it is perfectly straight, I have even tried it out of my window, still no traffic information. There is a constant egg timer in the top corner of the display trying to receive information, but nothing. I have tried different settings, telling the unit to use the strongest signal and to only use UK signals, still nothing. The RDS receiver has a version number 4V00.000. The unit is constantly cycling through radio stations but does not lock onto anything. As I understand, in the UK, only Classic FM emits the RDS signal, though the TomTom is trying signals that Classic FM does not transmit on, this seems pointless. I have looked through various forums on this issue. PocketGPSWorld.Com seems to have lots of users having the same problems, all unhappy with the service being provided from TomTom with this RDS unit. I hope you are able to offer me some explanation as to why I cannot connect to traffic updates and more to the point, a solution to the problem. It would appear from the forums that this product has not been fully tested and it is the consumer who is finding the faults and having to deal with them. Surely this should have been done through the Research and Development department at TomTom. I am totaly dissapointed with this service and TomTom's reputation has been severely tainted by this hardware addition. I look forward to your swift response to this issue.

Regards,

[Andy_P]

The first thing they will ask in their reply is: "Have you updated from v6.52 to v6.522?"

Have you? (you just mention "latest")

Quote from YourNav forum:

[Bobbin]

My bad
Yes I have version 6.522

[Bobbin]

Reply from TomTom -

Thank you for contacting TomTom Customer Support.

Try going into change preferences and resetting your device to factory settings.
Once you have done this, choose a different country to connect to and after searching revert back to the strongest signal option.
If it still wont lock onto a signal the try this:
Go to the tune rds function, this is found in the tmc status screen, which is found by touching the traffic bar on the main map screen on the right hand side.
From that screen you can tune into an individual station, the radio station that provides premium service in the UK for tmc information is classic fm.
Please tune into the frequency 100-102 depending on which is stronger in your area, it is possible that the signal is not very strong for the radio station where you live and that’s why it wont lock onto a station.
Try doing this and if still doesn’t work, stay outside your car where you are sure you can get a good radio signal for classic fm(tune in on your stereo) and see then if it will connect and get information.
It can take about 2 minutes to connect and another minute or so to show information, when information is updated the time clock will turn solid green, if it turns green and there is still no information, then there is no traffic, but it is the green light that you need to be looking for.
The only reason it is not locking on to a station is because none of the stations its searching have a good enough rds reception.
The issues you saw on the Internet are relating to when the tmc receiver was released, the update 6.522 fixes this issue, instead of locking on to just the strongest fm signal, it will lock on to the strongest rds signal.If it switching between stations and not connecting them it must be a matter of it not finding a strong enough signal.
Please follow the steps i have given you and obviously make sure the receiver is connected properly etc, give it some time to receive the information, so you made need some patience.
If these steps dont help, please update us and we will look into your problem further.

With best regards,

The TomTom Customer Support Team

[mikealder]

Please have a read through This Thread which explains the above text and includes a couple of additional other tips, the external aerial refered to on the second page will void any waranty etc if attempted, but it does improve reception - Mike

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