x40/HD Traffic/TMC in use

matthewj · Frequent Visitor Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 751

This is the map:

Guinness2702 · Regular Visitor Joined: Oct 23, 2008 Posts: 156

Looks like the A1(M) & top of the M11 to me Cool

Gary_W · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 23, 2006 Posts: 12

Matthew - thanks for posting the map. Certainly explains why I sat in a nice long queue on the way to Lincoln on Friday which the HD didn't know about. Wonder if anyone has a reliable timescale for when we do have 100% coverage (or even an updated map?)

I still cannot fathom how the Traffic picks and chooses which roads to update on. Around Derby, it certainly picks up queues on the A50, A52 and A38 with a great deal of accuracy. But the A6 and A61 never, ever show traffic despite being packed to the gills. The only difference I can see is that they are single carriageway in each direction.

I love the traffic when it does its thing. I joined a queue on the M1 this morning that was correctly reported to within 50 yards. It did exactly what it was supposed to. It's a shame it loses consistancy on some other A roads. In the mornings, you'll see a 2 min delay showing on the A38 coming in to Derby from the North. That delay is caused by the A61 permanently being backed up. It shows the small queue on the A38, but totally ignores the 20 min horror that is the next 3 miles of the A61. Anyone got a theory as to why? And no, IQ routes does NOT account for the traffic. Been there on that theory and it isn't correct.

Gary

TomDavison · Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 11:44 pm Post subject:

Does that map show the areas within which data for HD traffic is derived, or the area of reception of the HD receiver?

Graeme2812 · Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:22 am Post subject:

Do we know how much Human intervention there is in the UK HD traffic info that we are being relayed? E.g can someone decide NOT to add delay info or choose to ignore (or perhaps miss!) the info that is being received from the various sources?
I remember seeing a 'Control Room' for the Dutch HD traffic, although this could have all been just marketing (I'm cynical)

I can't really make out what the overlay (thanks matthewj) is trying to portray. It doesn't seem to cover all of the arterial routes, or the most significantly populated areas. Regardless of what colour is used.
I've seen myself receive traffic info from both within the green and yellow areas.
Could it be a case of info received within the yellow areas are from their HD sources and green is still reliant on the older SD methods? or the other way around perhaps?

Does anyone else have the windsock triangle forever on there map display? I think it's stuck on my map as there isn't as much as a slight breeze right now since the weekend but it's still there.
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WLMOATE · Regular Visitor Joined: Mar 03, 2006 Posts: 99

TomDavison

The map shows the area that is covered by HD traffic reporting.

The HD Trffic reciever you mention is a GPRS modem and that works anywhere in the UK that has Vodafne coverage.

Graeme2812

The map is just a overview. The ability for TomTom to add new routes that are covered by the HD service depend on them creating profies for Vodafone users along new routes, and the value of this data is reliant upon the coverage provided by avaliable cell sites. Areas with high density cell sites allow for the to detect direction of travel etc. Were by a country side cell site may cover a large area so the data avaliable may not be so accurate.

A good example of this is load Google maps onto your mobile , and it uses the cell location to determine your postion. In a city it will be quite accurate in the countryside it is less accurate
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jonstatt · Regular Visitor Joined: Jul 19, 2005 Posts: 140

The map makes no sense even as an overview. If yellow means covered, then that doesn't seem right considering the very North of Scotland is yellow, and that would be highly unlikely. On the other hand if green means covered, it still doesn't make any sense because London is not green and that would be a main focus for TomTom to cover.

So I think that map is just some sort of generic map TomTom got a hold of and has absolutely nothing to do with what is covered or not covered.

As for IQ Routes. Looking at the behaviour I see from the TomTom...I suspect each segment of road has a weighting. So for example at a particular time and day, the weighting could be a score from 1-5, where say 5 means really really busy, and 1 means free flowing. For 1, it adds 2 minutes, for 2 it adds 4 minutes, for 3 it adds 6 minutes and so on.

So in other words IQ routes does not have a specific time delay for a specific road, but a "busy" rating.

This is just a hypothesis, but from trying out various route plans, it seems to be have in a universal way, with all really busy roads adding about the same amount of extra time.

Now I think TomTom have been cautious because they don't want to over estimate. Perhaps they need to try a heavier weighting to time delay mapping. So a rating of 5 would be 30 minutes instead of the 10 it is now.

Whatever the case, they haven't quite got there yet!

matthewj · Frequent Visitor Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 751

I've just spent some time with the very helpful (no, I mean it) TomTom support line. Basically I'd added my 740 device to my account which had a 910 with traffic previously. And that stopped HD traffic working, and gave me a yellow triangle. The simple answer is that their systems aren't really up to this yet, so a factory reset is needed to clear the account info from the device, and then the trial will work. Come February when the trial runs out, I'll be able to set it up properly and add the HD traffic by paying for it.

I figure this may be useful to anyone else with a permanent yellow triangle. Also worth noting that there is a Network button which gives status info for the GPRS connection. Get to it via the Version button.

Gary_W · Occasional Visitor Joined: Jul 23, 2006 Posts: 12

Well at 8.30 this morning, my 740 told me it would take 12 minutes to do the 2.8 miles into the city centre and that there was no traffic on the A6.

I knew it was dreaming before I left. After 24 mins, I had not even done the first mile.

The crazy thing is that I drove across the A38 which had heavy, but moving, traffic on it. For a while, I could see both my (stationary) route AND the A38 on screen at once. The TomTom dutifully plotted the traffic on the A38 and totally ignored my plight.

Can ANYONE shed any light on how it picks which A-roads to plot? This area is clearly covered as all of the surrounding A road dual carriageways plot the traffic. But the single lane in each direction ones don't seem to.

Is this something others have noticed or am I deluding myself?

hijacker · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 20, 2003 Posts: 188

magicdave · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 10

From previous comments looks like a factory reset is what I need - since HD traffic still doesn't work.

Next question - how do I carry out a factory reset and what info am I going to lose or need to reinstall ?

mikealder · Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:10 am Post subject:

Go to change preferences/ "Reset factory settings" agree to the double warnings to let the device actually do this.

What will you lose:
Home Address
All recent Nav to locations
All POI warnings and settings
Voice preferences
Speech preferences
Battery save preferences (auto off)
Read aloud road names will stop
Volume preferences
Backlight preferences
screen colour schemes (day/ night)
Account name for Buddies

The list above is just a few of the items I have noticed when doing this, the factory reset puts the device back to the same condition and setup that it was in when you purchased it - any settings/ alterations you might have made will have to be made again - with practice this can be done quickly, but its not something you want to be doing on a daily basis - Mike

magicdave · Occasional Visitor Joined: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 10

Yayyyy !!! I have traffic ! Yipee !!! My only concern now is what will happen when I connect to Home on PC. Will I be asked for account information? Do I need to set up a completely new account or wait until free trial runs out, then set up account ?

I obviously don't want to use previous account details because that is what is causing problems.

hijacker · Regular Visitor Joined: Dec 20, 2003 Posts: 188

although my TTHome application does login using my normal info, it does not transfer onto your device.

No need to setup a new account and your device can continue to be updated as normal.
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matthewj · Frequent Visitor Joined: Apr 03, 2006 Posts: 751

The one thing you do lose by not putting your details on the device is, I think, the ability to get traffic when docked in Home. That's why I added my details. But that doesn't work due to the TomTom back end anyway, so right now it is no loss. I figure there is a programmer somewhere tasked with finishing the back-end systems to make it all work. They didn't seem to be ready for existing users to upgrade.

I'm glad this gets us working again though...

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