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Good news!! What wire did you use, how long and where did you attatch it please
I used a single core speaker wire (just a peice I had laying around).
About 2 meters long, however it may work shorter, but in my 'test' phase I thought best to use a long piece to start with.
I just soldered it to the one pad mentioned in the posted instructions.
I had it set up in a transit van. 910 in the right corner on the windscreen then the orig tmc run up the pillar to the rear view mirror. The 'extra' wire then across the passenger seat to the grab handle and back to the rear view mirror and finally onto the dash. Not ideal at all, looks like a washing line! but I just wanted to prove it would work, and if you read my previous posts, It has been successful on both trials.
I am now going to wire it to my amp glass mount aerial and try to shorten the wire and improve the fitting.
The problem I have is I need a quick removal and the ability to fit in upto 4 different vehicles.
but I will get to the perfect setup!
I was wondering if a different thread on where people can/cannot get signals would be any use?
I travel the UK quite a bit and I'm sure there are loads of others who do,
that way we could see just what setup is best.
just a thought _________________ Garmin Emap, Ipaq 2210 with TomTom Navigator 5, TomTom One, Pioneer AVIC-X1R, TomTom 910 (stolen). TomTom 520, TomTom 6100 (Faulty, replaced under warranty), Currently got a TomTom 6200
just read the first post in this thread and the idea of areas of TMC was suggested by vicky, it seems the thread went off track a little.
anyway, perhaps a new thread? _________________ Garmin Emap, Ipaq 2210 with TomTom Navigator 5, TomTom One, Pioneer AVIC-X1R, TomTom 910 (stolen). TomTom 520, TomTom 6100 (Faulty, replaced under warranty), Currently got a TomTom 6200
Joined: Jan 14, 2005 Posts: 19638 Location: Blackpool , Lancs
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:03 am Post subject:
m623d wrote:
I was wondering if a different thread on where people can/cannot get signals would be any use?
I travel the UK quite a bit and I'm sure there are loads of others who do,
that way we could see just what setup is best.
just a thought
If you go back to page one of this very thread it was started with just that in mind, until someone found a way to improve reception, then it wandered on / off topic.
For length of external cable I use one meter of standard car coax FM aerial cable soldered to the pad(s) in the TMC unit, on the other end or this cable is a female car FM aerial socket which provides for rapid disconnection.
If I am in my own vehicle I connect up to a high quality amplified external aerial, when in other vehicles I simply use the TMC unit with the one meter coax lead attached but not connected to anything.
Around the Fylde coast I need the amplified aerial to obtain a signal, elsewhere the device works with just the extra cable attached. - Mike
Thanks for that excellent info. In fact this whole thread is very useful.This all looks promising for getting this TMC to actually work at last.
I also need mine to be portable between vehicles so it looks like the trailing wire will be my solution too.
I was wondering about shortening the actual wire between the TMC receiver and the plug that comes with the original item. Seeing as I need to get inside the TMC anyway it would seem to be the ideal time to shorten the black wire. My only concern would be that the wire may in fact be an aerial for the TMC similar to the way the headphones are the aerial for a mobile phone with a radio ?
Joined: Jan 14, 2005 Posts: 19638 Location: Blackpool , Lancs
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 11:23 am Post subject:
eurodat wrote:
I was wondering about shortening the actual wire between the TMC receiver and the plug that comes with the original item. Seeing as I need to get inside the TMC anyway it would seem to be the ideal time to shorten the black wire. My only concern would be that the wire may in fact be an aerial for the TMC similar to the way the headphones are the aerial for a mobile phone with a radio ?
The lead between the TMC and TomTom device does act as an aerial so shortening this will only make matters worse, I would leave it alone to be honest. The board is very small, and the cable is not too easy to work with, cutting it back and re-soldering could incur further damage to the PCB - Mike
My only concern would be that the wire may in fact be an aerial for the TMC similar to the way the headphones are the aerial for a mobile phone with a radio ?
I believe it is, I wouldn't touch that cable at this time if I were you. _________________ Garmin Emap, Ipaq 2210 with TomTom Navigator 5, TomTom One, Pioneer AVIC-X1R, TomTom 910 (stolen). TomTom 520, TomTom 6100 (Faulty, replaced under warranty), Currently got a TomTom 6200
"I was wondering about shortening the actual wire between the TMC receiver and the plug that comes with the original item."
Bravo.
There may be people around who are prepared to put up with what the previous poster has called a washing line in his transit.
For me the existing run of wire is already excessive in a saloon car that I like to keep reasonably tidy. To be blunt it looks tacky.
I am surprised that nobody is investigating putting a powered aerial next to the mount (even clamped on to the mount). It seems odd that the TT can pick up signals from satellites but not from a land based FM transmitter without the use of two, or more, metres of wire.
I was wondering about shortening the actual wire between the TMC receiver and the plug that comes with the original item. Seeing as I need to get inside the TMC anyway it would seem to be the ideal time to shorten the black wire. My only concern would be that the wire may in fact be an aerial for the TMC similar to the way the headphones are the aerial for a mobile phone with a radio ?
The lead between the TMC and TomTom device does act as an aerial so shortening this will only make matters worse, I would leave it alone to be honest. The board is very small, and the cable is not too easy to work with, cutting it back and re-soldering could incur further damage to the PCB - Mike
Thinking about this.. If the original wire is the aerial then why cant it be connected to the pad that the new wire is connected to instead of adding the new wire? I guess this has been tried?
For me the existing run of wire is already excessive in a saloon car that I like to keep reasonably tidy. To be blunt it looks tacky.
I totally agree, it is a mess and not something I want to live with permanently.
In my car I intend to plug the tmc into the existing aerial
(peugeot 307sw, does anyone know of a reason I cant, ie powered aerial etc. it is a roof aerial)
the unit will then be coiled up and hidden out of sight.
I just need to sort out some kind of plug to fit in the dash somewhere.
someone (vicky I think) used phone plugs, Spliced into the main car aerial, then I would just plug the tmc into that.
In my van looks dont matter so much, as its a mess anyway! however loads of wires strewn across the seat etc is not acceptable. I intend to fix the glass mount with velcro or something to just behind the rear view mirror and the extra tmc wire coiled up behind the sat nav. not perfect, but tidier than before. _________________ Garmin Emap, Ipaq 2210 with TomTom Navigator 5, TomTom One, Pioneer AVIC-X1R, TomTom 910 (stolen). TomTom 520, TomTom 6100 (Faulty, replaced under warranty), Currently got a TomTom 6200
Joined: Jan 14, 2005 Posts: 19638 Location: Blackpool , Lancs
Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:40 pm Post subject:
The cable between the TMC and TomTom unit contains four separate conductors, these provide power and data transmission between the two devices, in addition to acting as an aerial, as the cables are duel function it is not simply a question of soldering a wire to the existing board, you would need to understand how the two items work together and the implications of adding extra wires to the tiny PCB.
For connection to an external (or internal amplified aerial) or connection to the cars existing aerial lead vicky detailed "how to" very well earlier in this thread - Mike
It is unusual for this thread to go untouched for this long. Last post was Friday.
Are people finding ways, other than by taking them apart, of getting these TMC devices to work?
Or are people simply fed up and considering buying another brand. I don't use a cellphone and that was why I bought the special Handtec deal. The thick end of £400 down the drain when I could have gone for a NavMan which I gather has an effective TMC system.
I am still reluctant to open up my TMC to be honest just in case TomTom do the decent thing and replace them..
My Go 910 was still a great purchase even taking the TMC issue into account. The hands free functionality is excellent and the MP3 player is proving to be very handy too so I don't feel I have wasted my money there. Maybe the TMC was a waste of good money but at the end of the day if I decide to open it up I should get it to work.... I am driving from Lincolnshire to Cornwall this evening so I will see how the untouched TMC performs around the country.
I had heard on some other forum that Tomtom will be releasing an update to fix the receiver, but I doubt it, else why leave it so long.
To be honest, if I can tidy my setup a bit I will be quite happy with it.
I just wish TT had put an external aerial point on the tmc unit.
they must've known that just a short cable laid across a screen with no amp wasn't going to be 100% reliable. Most cars have 'special' windscreens now that hamper signals, so this setup isn't ideal. After all, car manufacturers wouldn't put aerials on the roofs etc of there cars if they didn't need them.
I beleive other gps companies have had reception problems too and have nearly solved them, so it isn't just TT, its just they seem to not accept there's a problem. I think they will get there in the end.
Still looking for a small mag mount aerial for my setup, I have the glass mount (not fixed up yet) but would prefer a mag. Maplins used to do one, but dont anymore _________________ Garmin Emap, Ipaq 2210 with TomTom Navigator 5, TomTom One, Pioneer AVIC-X1R, TomTom 910 (stolen). TomTom 520, TomTom 6100 (Faulty, replaced under warranty), Currently got a TomTom 6200
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