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Joined: Nov 04, 2003 Posts: 2225 Location: Bedfordshire, UK
Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 11:21 am Post subject: Re: Response from Garmin
Matt_Paint wrote:
I have just had the following back from Garmin:
"Garmin US are looking into a fix, this will be in the form of a replacement
power cable"
My own communication with Garmin has been a little more sporadic (but I think has resulted in me being added to the same list) - I originally asked how I could get onto the list for the replacement power charging cable, and got sent the troubleshooting PDF, so I then requested the supression kit mentioned in the PDF so see if that fixed my problem. The response I got back was that they were out of stock, but would send me one when they got it in. They also mentioned that they were hoping the permanent fix would be available by then, which they would send me.
Given my original email went into all the detail and explained I knew that Garmin had already figured out the solution was a replacement power cable, it would have been nice if the response I got back was more along the lines of "yup, you're right, we'll send you one once we've got them in stock".
However, it's interesting to see that Garmin told Halfords it would be another month, so I guess we might all get an early xmas present from Garmin
Did anyone actually get the supression kit, or has anyone tried the ones from Maplins? I note the troubleshooting PDF actually suggests putting the supression kit on the GTM12 between the USB connector and the 'bulge', and not on the power cable itself...
Which provider does the Halfords kit offer free subscription to?
Tried the unit from Cotswold BMW - works from lighter socket so long as the aerial is outside. They were very good about it and offered a trial period to see if it worked farther afield. First they had heard of it and said they contacted Garmin to be told about the charger etc. Thing is my car does not have a reflective screen so why work outside not in? - Will wait for Garmin fixes. Their unit connects to RAC - just wondered if Halfords connects to Traffic master as described in their advert and if it has better coverage?
Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:34 pm Post subject: TMC service
[quote="a"]Which provider does the Halfords kit offer free subscription to?
Tried the unit from Cotswold BMW - works from lighter socket so long as the aerial is outside. They were very good about it and offered a trial period to see if it worked farther afield. First they had heard of it and said they contacted Garmin to be told about the charger etc. Thing is my car does not have a reflective screen so why work outside not in? - Will wait for Garmin fixes. Their unit connects to RAC - just wondered if Halfords connects to Traffic master as described in their advert and if it has better coverage?[/quote
RAC/Trafficmaster - it's the same service - Trafficemaster provide the info for RAC Live.
Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 7:45 pm Post subject: Voltage seems to be the cause (of some issues)
Hi,
I thought I would share my experiences with traffic data reception using the GTM-12 on a Nuvi 310. Reading this thread, the most logical suggestion to the cause of these receptions woes has been the voltage. Well, like many on this thread I ran some tests of my own, and perhaps already suggested in this thread, in my case, it is definitely power/voltage related.
Symptoms
------------
I was having problems with intermittant reception. Some days I would get perfect reception in the car in the same area (Ealing, London), and other days I would get zero reception. Nothing. Nada. Even in the same day I would get perfect traffic reception going into London on the M4, and then coming out of London on the same motorway I would get no reception.
Initial Conclusions
---------------------
At first I thought it was my aerial positioning on the windscreen, but that wouldn't line up with the perfect reception I would receive some days. I then thought there was a firmware glitch on either the Nuvi or the GTM-12 unit. I updated both sets of firmware, and that didn't make any difference.
Hmmm...it must be something else.
Further in-car Tests
----------------------
Reading this thread the voltage idea seemed the most logical suggestion yet. I then ran some checks, and it struck me what was happening (at least in my case). If I charge the Nuvi unit completely via the in-car adapter, so the adapter light is green, and then plug in the GTM-12 unit to the Nuvi, et Voila! I get perfect traffic reception. I can also move my aerial around in-side the vehicle and get consistantly good reception!
I then disconnected the car power and let the Nuvi run on it's own internal battery and after about 5 minutes I reconnected the Nuvi to the car power supply. The battery indicator on the Nuvi showed the Nuvi was charging, and the adapter light was now red to signify charging was taking place. I then re-connected the GTM-12 unit, and as expected there was no traffic data. The only way to get the GTM-12 to report on traffic data was to fully charge the Nuvi battery.
Conclusion
-------------
Based on these non-scientific tests, I have come to the conclusion that if the Nuvi is charging, then this subtracts much needed power to the GTM-12 unit resulting in no reception. Once the Nuvi battery is fully charged, then the GTM-12 receives full power from the car source, and you get full reception.
Whether this can be fixed by some kind of firmware fix remains to be seen, but certainly a replacement car power adapter should solve the problem (at least in my case).
I am now on to Garmin Tech Support to see what they will do about my issue.
Seeing all the testing done here maybe Garmin will throw a few freebies our way
Despite being heavily involved in trying to diagnose the problem in the first place on here and another forum, I'll happily settle for reliably working traffic information
Yeah! But you could have traffic not working in Widescreen 8O
Have tried the ferrite from Maplins and fitted it on the GTM 12 unit, can't see any difference, there seems to be loads of ferrites all with various screening abilities, could be one hell of a job finding which one works best, think I better E-Mail them and get on the waiting list!
Tried the following : took 4 ferrites from our test lab and added them one by one. Found the best config was with 2 ferrites at the Nuvi end of the power cable and one ferrite at the charger end. Worked a lot better. Also works better if you turn down the screen brightness to min. Didnt try putting a ferrite on the GTM cable.
After that reception was possible but intermittent - well I say intermittent - it was very good with the door or window open and the GTM antenna beside the open window. With the doors and windows closed and the GTM antenna on the windscreen it was virtually useless. My car doesnt have a protective screen so although I agree the ferrites help and the more ferrites the better, it was unreliable to say the least. Good fun though and when it did work I could see accidents on the M6 etc. Just couldnt trust it to work whilst ploughing up North.
Joined: Nov 04, 2003 Posts: 2225 Location: Bedfordshire, UK
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 10:31 am Post subject: Re: Traffic
JT-Mech wrote:
Yeah! But you could have traffic not working in Widescreen
True, however...
1. The unit will cost more money
2. It's not available today
3. It's not available cheaper than retail, if you know where to look
4. Given the GTM design, I can't swap to a GTM10 or 11 permanently installed and connected to the car aerial (I'm planning to do this when my new car arrives).
The last point was one of the things that put me off the C550 (that and the way the mount works) - I also didn't like the 27/28xx models, or the C340 as I would need to connect all the connectors each time - at least the Nuvi leaves the power cable attached to the mount (allowing me a semi-permanent hard wired solution).
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:16 pm Post subject: Re: can't unplug my GTM12
crware wrote:
I just received my traffic receiver and plugged it into the side socket as instructed (Nuvi310) - it works fine around Cardiff.
Problem is, I can't get it out of the socket now. Is there some trick to this please?
No trick, just use enough force to pull it out, and make sure you do not pull it out at an angle hold it where the socket is on the side of the unit and it will be ok.
Joined: Jul 21, 2004 Posts: 26 Location: Loughborough, UK
Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 8:03 pm Post subject: Nuvi/GTM12
Hi swing,
Can't understand how Garmin advised they are out of stock of suppressors. I requested mine only a couple of days ago after reading these threads, and it arrived today. I've fitted it on but where I live I get 14 pages of traffic data within 5 seconds anyway but I do more often than not get a "black out" between J28 - J38 of the M1.
I'm going to test it tomorrow as I'm in that area. I'll report back if there is any improvement. _________________ TomTom 740 Go Live
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:36 am Post subject: Re: can't unplug my GTM12
banjo12 wrote:
No trick, just use enough force to pull it out, and make sure you do not pull it out at an angle hold it where the socket is on the side of the unit and it will be ok.
For some reason I had to use quite a lot of force to get this one out eventually. Thanks for the reply.
Joined: Nov 04, 2003 Posts: 2225 Location: Bedfordshire, UK
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 2:47 pm Post subject: Re: Voltage seems to be the cause (of some issues)
TGL wrote:
I have come to the conclusion that if the Nuvi is charging, then this subtracts much needed power to the GTM-12
Although I agree with the end result (a new charger is the solution), Garmin have indicated it is as much about signal noise in the circuit (hence the short term solution of a ferrite core suppression kit).
Out of interest - for those that have the Motorola charger (VC700/SYN0847A) - can you confirm where you bought it from - I trawled all the various shops today and none of them had a genuine Motorola with the right angled connector on it
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 3:33 pm Post subject: Re: Voltage seems to be the cause (of some issues)
swing wrote:
TGL wrote:
I have come to the conclusion that if the Nuvi is charging, then this subtracts much needed power to the GTM-12
Although I agree with the end result (a new charger is the solution), Garmin have indicated it is as much about signal noise in the circuit (hence the short term solution of a ferrite core suppression kit).
Out of interest - for those that have the Motorola charger (VC700/SYN0847A) - can you confirm where you bought it from - I trawled all the various shops today and none of them had a genuine Motorola with the right angled connector on it
Joined: Nov 04, 2003 Posts: 2225 Location: Bedfordshire, UK
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 4:29 pm Post subject:
It might be, except it's not got the right angled mini USB connector, which is really needed to fit in the gap where my Nuvi will be semi-permanently mounted.
I'd also like to buy it having seen it, to ensure it's the right one. I've heard from some shops that you only get the right angled one new with a phone, and the ones available from the shops are all straight, hence my question.
As per my previous entry I said I would advise how I got on today having fitted the "Garmin supplied" suppressor. Sorry to say it made absolutely no difference whatsoever. I've removed it.
Signal up to Tibshelf Service Station is fine and stops just past it as it always does.
As I've said before, I can now guage to within a few feet of the service roads in Tibshelf SS M1 J28 where signal starts and stops. _________________ TomTom 740 Go Live
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a"]Which provider does the Halfords kit offer free subscription to?
