No Connection for external antenna

phayuk · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 22, 2006 Posts: 5

Hi,
I currently have a TT510 and drive a Renault Laguna. I had to fit an external antenna as the windscreen in the Laguna caused it problems.

I am looking to move up to one of the new x40 models but I am concerned that there is no connection for an extrnal antenna. One post has mentioned that the new chipsets may make an antenna unneccesary.

I wondered if anybody has any knowledge if the new models work in a Laguna without an antenna ? or if I had problems before, I am likely to have problems again ?
Any advice welcome.

tenorplayer · Regular Visitor Joined: Aug 20, 2006 Posts: 69

I have a laguna with the athermic winscreen. Also have a 910 and it works fine without an antenna. sometimes a bit slow to pick up satellites but if I boot outside the car , or hold it to the open door wndow ( while engine warming or demisting ) , it locks on quick and once locked on, shows good strength when placed in the normal position. P.S. I dont use the windscreen... I fold the mount into a right angle and it fits nicely in the dash , where the clock and radio display is ( no tell tale marks on screen to alert the thieves)

Darren · Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 9:23 pm Post subject:

I'm surprised to hear you needed an external antenna on a 510. The x10's have SiRFIII Chip sets and are not normally affected by athermic windscreens. Are you sure you have a 510 and not a 500?
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Darren Griffin

phayuk · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 22, 2006 Posts: 5

Oops sorry, I did mean the 500, my fault.

Like Tenorplayer I could get a signal outside the car but it would take ages if inside the car to get a signal and would drop the signal a lot whilst driving. The antenna stuck to the rear window made the signal near perfect, which is why I am hesitant about a TomTom without the antenna.

However, if you are saying that the chip has improved, then I may be OK. I am just a bit wary of buying the 540 and then finding myself going back to a bad/intermittent signal.

Tenorplayer, I am interested to hear how you have mounted the unit on the dash. Have the mountings improved sinse the original 500 range ? It only cam with the sunction pad that stuck to the windscreen.

Andy_P · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 1:50 am Post subject:

The sensitivity of the chips HAS improved dramatically since the 500 model. You should have little trouble.

The mounts are different for every range, but you will still only get a windscreen sucker mount in the box.

However, there are loads of "third-party" mounts available for all the TomToms (Brodit, Carcom, Buybits, Arkom are the main players) and various alternatives for the sucker mount, using beanbags or flat disks for the dashboard.

D4VE · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:11 am Post subject:

My 520 is mounted over the centre air vent on a no holes Brodit mount in a Ford Mondeo (07) with a electric heated front windscreen.

I have no issues with signal strength apart from the odd outage in central london. I would also add this is very rare.

Dave
_________________
iPhone4 IOS 4.3.3
TomTom Western Europe v865.3252
App 8.300 V1.6 (670441)
TomTom iPhone Car Kit

PC Operating System: Windows 7

Darren · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 8:41 am Post subject:

phayuk · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 22, 2006 Posts: 5

Thank you all for your helpful comments it looks like I should be OK with the new chips in the devices.

I am now just deliberating between the 530 and the new 540 Live device.

I don't feel that I do enough long distance driving to warrant paying for a subscription, plus my phone is currently not supported for Live but I guess it may be nice to have the option.

Another improvement seems to be the microphone for making calls. On my 500 I can hear people no problem but they have trouble hearing me. I have attached an external microphone, but the specs on the newer model says that external microphones are no longer necessary.

mikealder · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:15 pm Post subject:

If you go for the x40 you don't have to worry about the phone for data as it uses the built in hardware, the x20/ x30 units would require a GPRS data connection via a mobile phone.

If you want mp3 playback from the device then you should be aware only the the 940 has this capability in the x40 range whereas all models of x20/ x30 have the mp3 playback capability - Mike

MrT · Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:51 am Post subject:

We recently decided to upgrade from the PDA to the Go and whilst my criteria was to have the Go with built in HD traffic and Euro Maps which I had been waiting for so I went for the 940. I chose it over the 740 for the EPT and other minor features, I have no use for USA maps.

The one for my wifes car was to get her to various places in the UK within 50 miles but where she had no idea where she was going and we thought the cost of the HD Traffic at around £100 per year was excessive so we went for the 530T with no traffic fees. In some ways this was a bit of a mistake as the TMC traffic takes so long to get a signal and update and then the information was inaccurate. We ended up going for the GPRS traffic on it and paid the subscription. If I had known this, I would have forked out the extra for the 540 with built in HD Traffic.
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Drivelux

tenorplayer · Regular Visitor Joined: Aug 20, 2006 Posts: 69

phayuk... standard w/screen sucker mount... fold the mount 90 degrees to the sucker base, lock it off with the mount ring,, mount the TT and slide gently into the dash gap by clock till the mount jams ( not the TT as well.
I say gently because if too firm, you will just pull the clock display housing out of its clips. Not a problem though,, just push the housing back down. This works fine for me with just the occasional slip sideways if I hit a pothole or run someone over( joking of course) Also good because its not right "in yer face " when driving, so not distracting

phayuk · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 22, 2006 Posts: 5

Thank you all for the advice.

MrT, you make some good points as I was wondering about going the extra for the 540 and it seems there is benefit due to the better information.

Tenorplayer, thank you for the fixing instructions.

Mikealder, I didn't realise that it had the facility built into the hardware.

Just have to leave some hints re a very welcome christmas present ! Smile

phayuk · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 22, 2006 Posts: 5

I thought I would give an update. In the end I bought myself the 740 Live and am very happy with it.

There seems to be no problem finding the satalites inside the Laguna and they come up very quickly, in most cases well under 10 seconds. This is much better than my original 500.

Thanks again for your assistance.

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