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Dartford Tunnel HD Traffic
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swash
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Joined: May 22, 2009
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:07 am    Post subject: Dartford Tunnel HD Traffic Reply with quote

With my GO 540 currently unusable and Tom Tom offering their usual high level of support, I have managed to scrounge a GO 550 off a mate who is about to go on holiday.

My daily commute takes me through the Dartord Tunnel and with the 550, I have noticed that the blue HD Traffic Bar disappears when going through the tunnel and does not return unless the unit is reset.

I can understand that the unit cannot receive information whilst in the tunnel, but why on earth does the whole HD Traffic cease to function.

Has anyone else had this problem?
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MrT
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Location: Surrounded by A1, M1 & M25

PostPosted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My Go940 on V9.026 software for the 950 did that and as you said it has to be reset or in and out of flight mode to restore traffic to get Live Services back. This was compounded by the fact that everytime the TT server did not respond, which was very frequent last Autumn, the same thing happened, several times per hour.

I assumed this was as I was using software intended for a different device and reverted back to V8 and the problem went away. Maybe this is a bug in V9 software, but the V9 for 940 does not work with Live Services at all so I have not been able to test this out. It could be a version specific issue such as 9.026 or earlier.
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HenryMitchell
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 11:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I too commute through the DT and I get the same thing on my 950 LIVE.

It seems to be that where on v.8xx the traffic bar went grey if it cannot connect for up to two of the three minute updates, now on v.9xx it just disappears until a successful update is received.

Definitely a retrograde step as any information, even slightly out of date, is better than no information. In the case of the Dartford Tunnel, every day I come out on the north side and have about a minute to decide whether to go off at J31, J30 or J29 and the traffic view almost never returns in that time.
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DennisN
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 9:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Apart from the nasty inconvenience of having to get it working again, I don't see what the problem is. Surely HD Traffic is telling you the traffic situation before, inside and after the tunnel, all the way until you enter it, so surely any diversion decision must already have been taken (e.g. if you have only one minute to exit the motorway) and is unlikely to be affected by any changes during the time you're underground? How many minutes does it "normally" take to get through the tunnel and how many updates are you missing during that time?
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MrT
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 8:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What happens is that as soon as the signal is lost in the tunnel, all the traffic data that was there disappears and the traffic shows that all routes are clear so the unit tells you to carry on the M25. You would have to look at the traffic before entering the tunnel and make your decision there, not a difficult thing to do. Sometimes the traffic is changing that fast you would like an update before deciding to stay on the M25, especially if you are crawling through the tunnel in stop-start traffic.

When I had the 9.xx software on the Go940, the above problem happened. Reverting to the 8.371, the traffic information remains (not sure for how long) when the signal is lost, it just does not update.

I always choose the left bore of the tunnel so that at the last minute in queueing traffic I can exit for the A13 towards the North Circular without having to cross stationary lanes, if the M25 is congested, which it very often is with the road widening taking place at the NE quadrant at the moment.
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DennisN
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looking back, I think my post could be interpreted as less sympathetic than you really deserve. I apologise. I didn't think it would be much of a problem apart from the inconvenience and probable difficulty whilst mobile, of getting it back up and running. However, you do have every right to feel aggrieved if the program isn't working to give you what you expect from it (especially if it's another of those cases where the new is worse than the old).

I wonder if the day will ever come when TT issue a new release Navcore which doesn't somehow jigger something or other up for some users? So much of their updates seem to be blind firefighting trying to cure something they just don't understand any longer - where the heck are the original programmers?
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robbooth
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

DennisN wrote:
where the heck are the original programmers?


Probably lost in the Dartford tunnel! Laughing
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JimmyTheHand
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DennisN wrote:
where the heck are the original programmers?

Probably cost too much on paper
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SteveMPS
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 8:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DennisN wrote:
. . .Surely HD Traffic is telling you the traffic situation before, inside and after the tunnel, all the way until you enter it, so surely any diversion decision must already have been taken . . .

Well yes and no. The devil is in the detail

The 950 (and I gues all x50's) will lose its traffic database after about a minute of no GSM signal and assume all roads are perfectly clear. Typically this happens just as you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. So it cancels any recommendation for the J31/30 diversion and says press on the M25. Just as you pass the last option it then reloads and says there are 30 minute delays.

Yes you could remember what it was saying and stick with it but sometimes the road does clear.

There is a technical word to describe this piece of Tom Tom software design: rubbish
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Guivre46
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DennisN wrote:
- where the heck are the original programmers?


Thought I'd try a net search - could not find anything about the original programmers, though the company founder is still Chief Technical Officer. I did read in Wikipedia that TT agreed to 'reduce functionality' as part of the settlement with Microsoft.
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DennisN
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Guivre46 wrote:
I did read in Wikipedia that TT agreed to 'reduce functionality' as part of the settlement with Microsoft.

D'ya mean Microsoft persuaded TT to make their devices not work properly as advertised? I suppose it must be true - recently TT haven't been clever enough to do that without some prompting! Laughing Laughing
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Dennis

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Guivre46
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 10:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If it's true it could explain simplified menus and no software updates for older models, and perhaps other reduced services. Instead of blaming TT, it seems we should blame Microsoft, and the technical developments at TT are presumably at the direction of their lawyers. You might also think that with the GO1000 using a web-based Home, there is tighter control of functions so that TT is not sued again?
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Mike R [aka Wyvern46]
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SteveMPS
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 1:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This issue seems to have gone away recently with my 950 holding the data all the way through the tunnel

To Tom Tom couldn't have listened and actually gone and fixed something could they?

Amazingly it seems so. Smile
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HenryMitchell
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It does appear so! I went through the Dartford Tunnel this morning and my traffic bar remained in place before, during and after.

It seems that TT might now have successfully restored two of the features that have been "lost" over the recent years...
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OS: 1392579
Map: Europe v920.5244 (11/2013)
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HenryMitchell
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2011 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I spoke too soon!

Traffic bar disaappeared this morning halfway through the Blackwall Tunnel so when I came out the other side I had no idea whether to use the A12 or consider the A13...

It reappeared at the next three-minute update but by then I was a couple of miles up the road.
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OS: 1392579
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