TT Go700 - Ages for sat fix

kazd · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 21, 2008 Posts: 3

Hello everyone,

I am not that new but I cannot remember my login so have had to start from scratch.

Have had my TT Go700 for about 4 years, I have found that the time taken to lock onto a signal is taking longer and longer.

I only use it when I am not sure where I am going, out of interest do most people use it all the time or like me when you are not sure where to go.

I wondered if the lack of use could make it slower to react. Yesterday it took almost ten minutes to pick up, luckily I had a vague idea of where we were going. However, it does seem to be getting worse, admittedly it was quite overcast yesterday but even so it seemed a long time.

Grateful for you input.

By the way when I first purchased my tt I had a Fiesta with a heated windscreen and had no problems locking on. I now have a Picasso without a heated windscreen but problem is getting worse.

Andy_P · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:48 am Post subject:

Two things:
1. Does the Picasso have a "anthermic" (heat-reflecting) windscreen? It is those, rather than heated ones, that screw up performance. Obvious way to check is to try it both in the car and with it sitting on the roof.

2.Are you waiting for it to get a "fix" before you drive off? On the older models with the original GPS chipset, the improvement in lock speed was massive if you just kept still until it had worked out where it was. On my Go300 it was around 30 second if stopped, but sometimes could be several minutes if I drove straight off without waiting.

kazd · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 21, 2008 Posts: 3

Not sure about the windscreen its a Exclusive model Oct 06. Whatever its rubbish, I really miss the heated windscreen from the fiesta and because of the angle of the windscreen its really hard to get an edge to scrape ice off.

Re sitting still, have tried that to no avail but not on roof! Yesterday I had plugged it in to cigarette lighter and had turned it on as battery was almost out and this was a few mins before we left.

However engine was not running. (I know it does not charge without the engine running I just wanted it in position and thought it might pick up the signal whilst we were faffing around prior to leaving)

By the way if it does have one of these anthermic windscreens would this mean if I got a signal out of the car would I need a booster to maintain the signal within the car.

Andy_P · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:21 pm Post subject:

One thing I forgot to mention...
It is always worth trying a reset, using a pin in the tiny hole on the bottom.
(Pictures HERE) You won't lose any personal settings, but it does reboot the program. Well worth a try....

If you HAVE got an athermic windscreen, then you will need an external aerial, but I'm afraid you might have trouble finding one for the 700 now. (Try eBay etc.)

LesP2008 · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 3:59 pm Post subject:

Aerials are no problem loads of new ones on ebay £9.99.
And £9.99 p&p

DennisN · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:11 pm Post subject:

Beware aerials - for the 700 it's a replacement part of the windscreen mount. Some people got dud stuff from e-bay. There are two parts to it ....
http://www.tomtom.com/products/accessories/accessory.php?ID=202&Tab=2
ebay £15 + £5 P & P shows correct one, plus instructions for assembly.

My 700 rarely gave me lock problems, but I had it set to start up from where it stopped AND I used it all the time, no matter where I went. AND I did have the external aerial, although I got that to deal with the poor spots, like central London tall building canyons and a spot nearer home where the road goes through a narrow bit of forest with banks - both circumstances where it made a huge difference. I more or less know my way to most places, but I also had the pgpsw safety cameras on it, so it was always beneficial for that.
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

LesP2008 · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:25 pm Post subject:

These on ebay appear to be the genuine TomTom article including the shoe.

kazd · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 21, 2008 Posts: 3

Now that so many people have sat nav do you still take the mount off etc. I still religously take the mount and put it out of sight. This is why I only use it when I don't know where I am going because its a faff having to stick it on the windscreen etc. I tend to use the side windows. The other thing it occassionally does is go haywire and starts recalculating for no reason and this has happened when I don't know the area which is a bit disconcerting.

I have mine set to come on where I finished.

I had to do a reboot today because it would not come on at all.

LesP2008 · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject:

Well putting it on the side window isn't going to help your signal.
At least the windscreen is a larger area for the signal to reach your unit.
If you were to use an external antenna then you could really mount the unit where you like.

DennisN · Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 4:44 pm Post subject:

It's even more of a faff with the aerial, because half the wire is permanently attached to the shoe (it has a screw connector to the other half which stays fixed and is out of sight). But the aerial will probably put an immediate end to your lock problem (and the whirlygigg effect you suffered recently too). (I'd expect side window mounting to be not good for lock either).

I confess I have never removed my mounts from the windscreen. BUT I've also had my window done! They didn't get anything worth having, because that's ALL I leave there, but it cost me time and money! I would NEVER recommend leaving mounts in the windscreen and everybody also recommends cleaning the windscreen so as not to leave the evidence of the ring from the sucker. Now that so many people have sat nav, it's possibly an advantage if your car doesn't show evidence of one - let's not bother, there'll be DennisN along in a minute with three of the things in his window!!
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

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