Great TMC Shame about the SatNav!!!

[vicky]

Like many on here I struggled for ages with TMC on Garmins and TomToms, making mods to antennas and still getting little or no joy

So what a suprise,

I have sold my 910 and not bothered with a new unit yet, I was using a Glofiish PDA unit with TT but found it cumbersome so sold that,

Anyway in Costco last week they were doing the VIAMICHALIN X970T for £150, and with the returns policy at costco being so generous (Return item at any time you are still a member for no quibble money back), figured I would give it a go,

Anyway, it has a monster mount bit of overkill really and a black 4" * 1" Sucker TMC antenna that attachs to the windscreen,

Where I live (Nr M1 Jnc 28) Repecption on the garmin and TT was a lotterty sometimes getting 100.1 if heading south sometimes 101.1 if heading north but nver holding the signal

Installed the X970t stuck the antenna on the windscreen and instant reception on 100.1 100.5 and 101.1 !!!! Rather amazed, dove it to London and back and it worked all the way Amazing.

Went to Ireland yesterday, No Reception from Dublin to the NI Border, but once in NI perfect reception again even out into the Western Sticks!!

So is this the perfect SatNav for TMC use, well the BIG problem is the Satnav, boy does this thing SUCK, Screen is small, Informastion is badly laid out, Maps are old, if it cant find a road it just freezes position till it gets back on a known road, so like stepping back 5 or more years on the Satnav Front. But the TMC is ruddy great!!

Please Garmin or TomTom Licence the Kit that VM is using in X970t and lets get a decent system running

Rant Over!!!

[kentnicklloyd]

[perussell]

[vicky]

I have been doing some more road testing with the ViaM TMC, It really does hold a signal all over the UK, It seems to be working better than even the built in system in my car (Alfa).

Now I decided to have a look inside the antenna box to see if there was some fancy Amplifier also why it did not matter wich way round or the angle the unit is at the signal is always rock solid.

Suprise suprise, just a PCB with a dancy antenna pattern meaning it can be placed at any angle, no preamp just the PCB. So the TMC reciever in the ViaM must be much more sensitive that the TomTom or Garmin units and also seems to reject noice interference and false signals a lot better

Pictures

[philpugh]

The amplifier may well be at the other end of the cable - ie in the viaM unit - this would make manufacturing sense as aerials would be cheaper to manufacture and hence cheaper to supply as replacements. Also no need for feeding power up the cable.

But it looks as if you have a neat system there.
_________________
Phil

[SpikeyMikey]

Hi Vicky,

I have an X980T and would like to know what connector is on the new type antenna at the unit end.

Is it a 3.5mm jack plug type?

I haven't found this sold as a seperate item yet, unless someone knows different. I'm in discussions with VM over another issue at the moment, I'll ask the question to them as well and see what I get.
_________________
Mike
TT GO6000 (Europe); iPhone and iPad Pro with iOS TT GO & MyDrive + CamerAlert

[Darren]

[SpikeyMikey]

Thanks Darren

My string aerial plugs into the earphone / headphone socket on the X980T, I don't suppose I can get an adaptor?

I've tried one of those Maplin mag mount ones and I'm not getting any improvement. Maybe its because the string is literally a core covered in plastic.

Update ViaMichelin say the new antenna won't fit mine because it plugs into the cradle not the unit. Wouldn't mind a go though.
_________________
Mike
TT GO6000 (Europe); iPhone and iPad Pro with iOS TT GO & MyDrive + CamerAlert

[vicky]

Sorry not very clear photos but here is a picture of where it joins the mount and the connector.

There is no connector on the back of the satnav for the antenna only the one on the mount

[st1967]

Wow that's huge, is there much windscreen left to see out of after you set it up?
_________________
Samsung S22 Android, Google Maps & Camera Alert

[vicky]

Huge! Tell me about it,

After being used to modest Garmin and TT Mounts I almost fell out my seat when I took it out the box.

BUT it works it does not lose connection or fall off the screen lik the TT Mount, so it has its good points, just that its a bit of overkill (I did think about using it at home to mount a 32" LCD TV )

[SpikeyMikey]

Thanks for the photos Vicky.

The mount looks almost identical to the X980T mount, but I've only got 2 connections / sockets, one for power and one for audio input I think. There is a clip out cover marked optional underneath where your antenna plugs in, underneath is a 20 pin connector but I haven't got a clue what it's for.
_________________
Mike
TT GO6000 (Europe); iPhone and iPad Pro with iOS TT GO & MyDrive + CamerAlert

[vicky]

Here are some better pics of the connectors on the 970 and the mount

There is NO TMC Connector on the 970 at all only on the mount

[Darren]

Vicky, great images but could I ask you to reduce the sizes in future? We request that linked images are no bigger than 400 pixels in width to keep things tidy and reduce page load times etc.

I've changed the ones you've done to date
_________________
Darren Griffin

[vicky]

Sorry Darren

just noticed they were large and was in the middle of resizing that latest ones when you posted,

will check them before uploading in future.

Cheers

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