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wazzzzupmate
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Joined: Jul 05, 2004
Posts: 221
Location: Rochdale
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 Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:50 pm Post subject: Tomtom 730 and RDS TMC - BMW 5-Series |
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 I have both the mini usb receiver and the headphone type receiver with a 730 and really struggle to get a signal lock in the North West of England. I have tried a manual frequency of 105.4 and auto frequency, and have tried various positions for the receiver etc.
Has anyone out there got this working ok in a 5 Series BMW? If so could you please tell me where the receiver is mounted and the cable route for the aerial. 
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Tomtom Go 400
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JimmyTheHand
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Joined: Apr 16, 2005
Posts: 386
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| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:29 pm Post subject: Re: Tomtom 730 and RDS TMC - BMW 5-Series |
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| wazzzzupmate wrote: | I have both the mini usb receiver and the headphone type receiver with a 730 and really struggle to get a signal lock in the North West of England. I have tried a manual frequency of 105.4 and auto frequency, and have tried various positions for the receiver etc.
Has anyone out there got this working ok in a 5 Series BMW? If so could you please tell me where the receiver is mounted and the cable route for the aerial. |
I have an X3 & 720 & SE of country, so don't know if this will help - by chance I found my mini-USB one works best if I have the end of the aerial in top left corner of screen, TomTom in middle of screen at bottom - and just allow it to hang freely. Almost as good is having top of aerial in centre of screen and again allowing to hang free.
Sometimes coming home it seems to lock on pretty well - other times won't lock on at all. I think best lock on is usually when stuck in traffic early in jorney (so I think might be issues with searching right frequencies)
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wazzzzupmate
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Joined: Jul 05, 2004
Posts: 221
Location: Rochdale
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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Cheers, I was hoping for a tidy solution, without having a cable dangling down the centre of my windscreen! I will try it out on my next trip though.
Does the 'box' on the cable need to be in good view, or is the cable position more important? I was wondering if I could extend the cable length and run it round the roof lining to the rear parcel shelf, but am reluctant to try it until someone else confirms the cable can be extended
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mikealder
Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: Jan 14, 2005
Posts: 19638
Location: Blackpool , Lancs
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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For a very "tidy" installation that does work considerably better than as supplied you need to connect the RDS-TMC aerial wire to the cars external aerial, this sort of DIY activity shouldn't be required but it is the only known way to improve reception issues.
There have been many threads within the forum covering how to do this, the easiest is to purchase a mag mount aerial such as the Mini-Scan from maplins and use that. Neater solutions involve coupling the TomTom aerial to the cars existing aerial, but these are more involved depending upon the car and type of aerial it has fitted. If the car sends 12V up the aerial wire to the actual aerial then you need to decouple the DC component from the TomTom aerial (fit an inline capacitor) or it will damage the device - Mike |
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wazzzzupmate
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Joined: Jul 05, 2004
Posts: 221
Location: Rochdale
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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Think I will take a leap into the dark and buy a 540 and hope for a good solution. Couldn't even start to imagine how to get to the back of my car radio, and then to add the capacitor (if needed and what value of micro farads to use). And after all that how much of an improvement it will give to the RDS TMS signal lock.
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Rick-uk
Lifetime Member
Joined: Apr 16, 2006
Posts: 320
Location: BS20, North Somerset
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| Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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| mikealder wrote: | | For a very "tidy" installation that does work considerably better than as supplied you need to connect the RDS-TMC aerial wire to the cars external aerial |
Has anyone got a picture showing how they have spliced the two together, or a link to what adapter was used please |
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JimmyTheHand
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Joined: Apr 16, 2005
Posts: 386
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| Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 12:39 pm Post subject: |
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| wazzzzupmate wrote: | Cheers, I was hoping for a tidy solution, without having a cable dangling down the centre of my windscreen! I will try it out on my next trip though.
Does the 'box' on the cable need to be in good view, or is the cable position more important? I was wondering if I could extend the cable length and run it round the roof lining to the rear parcel shelf, but am reluctant to try it until someone else confirms the cable can be extended |
I know not tidy (and not 100%) - but then gets along well with inside of my car ;)
had no joy with extending aerial similar to you suggested - think it makes a bit off difference but not a lot
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mikealder
Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: Jan 14, 2005
Posts: 19638
Location: Blackpool , Lancs
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| Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Rick-uk wrote: | | Has anyone got a picture showing how they have spliced the two together, or a link to what adapter was used please |
Having searched the forum for quite a while it would appear most of the pictures detailing how users had coupled the unit to the car aerial wire have been removed/ deleted.
You can easily make your own splitter cable with a few connectors which are readily available from Maplins, but you will need to know what type of connector is fitted to the aerial lead in the back of your stereo. You should also make sure the aerial isn't the powered type or it will need de-coupling to prevent the DC voltage getting to the RDS-TMC unit.
The easiest way to improve reception is by soldering a BNC plug on to the end of the RDS-TMC wire then connect it to a Mini Scan mag mount aerial, the aerial can be found Here or for even better reception there is the strange looking Sky Scan Here with either aerial you would need a BNC socket to solder on the end of the RDS-TMC such as This one - Mike |
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philpugh
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Joined: Dec 28, 2005
Posts: 2003
Location: Antrobus, Cheshire
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| Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:07 am Post subject: |
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If you want to DIY a splitter then I have copied my post in one of the many discussions about it for easiness to find! (It took me several minutes to find it and I thought I knew where I had done it!)
The link puts you on a page which shows a number of devices - the one you use depends on your particular car/radio/aerial config.
If you need a capacitor I would recommend a 0.1uF ceramic disc type.
Although I initially installed this for use with my nuvi 660 it works well with the mini-USB variant of the TT RDS unit - which I installed in a spare space above the radio slot inside the dash - so the whole unit is hidden. Power is supplied via the powered BRODIT mount for my 720.
Edited to correct spelling!
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