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DennisN
Tired Old Man
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 14907
Location: Keynsham
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 Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Jonfo wrote: | Dennisn,
May I offer my apologies, your questions will be responded to hopefully by the end of this week. However we are in discussion with TT at the moment in order to give a complete response...
I am not ignoring you honest! |
That's much better - I like grovel! I do hope you've got beyond first line support with TT though. 
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Dennis
If it tastes good - it's fattening.
Two of them are obesiting!! |
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AndyVaughan
Lifetime Member
Joined: Apr 13, 2006
Posts: 1500
Location: Rossendale
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| Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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Excellent - pressure on TT from ITIS! Hopefully they will rewrite the code PDQ.
The v7 software is so obviously screwed up on the TMC data it is unreal.
For those of us who have used the new .013 receiver with v6 software we know that it can work, and that the majority of the time the data is OK - but v7 is a joke and TT have a real cheek selling the x20T models as they just do not work. They were also aware of the fact that they did not work at the time, as some of us had already got support calls logged with them.
Rushing them out for Christmas is probably not far off of the mark.
Andy |
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emjaiuk
Frequent Visitor
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Joined: Dec 06, 2003
Posts: 335
Location: North Surrey (TW17) UK
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| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:24 am Post subject: |
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I'm certain it's TomTom's fault. I get the same stupid multi hour traffic warnings in France since 'upgrading' to ver 7. I use the term upgrading in TomTom's sense, not mine!
Why is it TT never seem to change? Three steps forward and two back. At some stage they are going to say that v.7 and TMC was extensively tested.
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perussell
Frequent Visitor
Joined: May 12, 2006
Posts: 292
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| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:27 am Post subject: |
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I don't know what you guys with TTs are worried about. 
If the data that is being transmitted is incorrect in the first place then it's sort of irrelevant whether the broadcast delay etc on your TT is wrong.
I am not trying to suggest you don't have an issue but my point above is that ITIS is wrong far more often than it is right these days so I think they need to get that sorted first and then we can worry about how well our units handle the info - and no, my VM unit doesn't handle the info or the delays particularly well either so I am not being smug in saying this.
Our first gripe should be with ITIS to get their broadcast data correct far more often than they do today. I have just about given up on the whole TMC thing because of this. |
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Retty
Frequent Visitor
Joined: Sep 07, 2006
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:39 pm Post subject: |
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| perussell wrote: | I don't know what you guys with TTs are worried about.
If the data that is being transmitted is incorrect in the first place then it's sort of irrelevant whether the broadcast delay etc on your TT is wrong.
I am not trying to suggest you don't have an issue but my point above is that ITIS is wrong far more often than it is right these days so I think they need to get that sorted first and then we can worry about how well our units handle the info - and no, my VM unit doesn't handle the info or the delays particularly well either so I am not being smug in saying this.
Our first gripe should be with ITIS to get their broadcast data correct far more often than they do today. I have just about given up on the whole TMC thing because of this. |
I think the units are often at fault. I use a Mio (C710). Here's an example of one TMC based re-routing bug that is the fault of the unit. It's a bit long winded but hopefully it will make sense. It took me weeks to figure out what was happening in terms of why the unit was re-routing me despite the congestion being on the opposite carriageway:
If congestion is correctly identified as affecting the road you are travelling on *and* the congestion is identified as starting at a roundabout then, even if your planned route takes you off the roundabout at an exit point immediately before the congestion, you will be re-directed around the congestion by the device. This problem also results in you being re-routed if the congestion ceases or starts at a roundabout and the congestion is travelling in the opposite direction to your direction of travel. This can be a problem at busy junctions or roundabouts where traffic is blocked in one direction (the opposite direction to your travel) but flowing freely in your direction of travel. This problem appears often on the A322.
At least TT are speaking to iTIS. The device I use - a Mio device - has seen no software updates (including bug fixes to the direction formatting of TMC reports) since March 2007. |
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perussell
Frequent Visitor
Joined: May 12, 2006
Posts: 292
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| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:14 am Post subject: |
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I well understand your issue because I had a Mio C520T not so long back and I almost gave up on it because of the TMC and yes Mio's technical support was complete rubbish.
In fact I just purchased a new unit (TT) this week and made a concious decision NOT to buy a traffic enabled version preferring instead to rely on my Trafficmaster Freeway which has served me well for years. Yes, it only covers the major routes but it is right more than 90% of the time which is something that cannot be said of ITIS to which almost the opposite applies (as far as congestion is concerned) and the TT allows for manual re-routing with only '2 clicks'
My point is that referring to the old adage 'rubbish in = rubbish out' I am not going to bother subscribing to any traffic service whether by RDS-TMC or GPRS or worry about reception issues until I know I can trust what I am being told and we seem to be some distance from that today  . |
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Retty
Frequent Visitor
Joined: Sep 07, 2006
Posts: 336
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| Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 12:37 am Post subject: |
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| perussell wrote: | I well understand your issue because I had a Mio C520T not so long back and I almost gave up on it because of the TMC and yes Mio's technical support was complete rubbish.
In fact I just purchased a new unit (TT) this week and made a concious decision NOT to buy a traffic enabled version preferring instead to rely on my Trafficmaster Freeway which has served me well for years. Yes, it only covers the major routes but it is right more than 90% of the time which is something that cannot be said of ITIS to which almost the opposite applies (as far as congestion is concerned) and the TT allows for manual re-routing with only '2 clicks'
My point is that referring to the old adage 'rubbish in = rubbish out' I am not going to bother subscribing to any traffic service whether by RDS-TMC or GPRS or worry about reception issues until I know I can trust what I am being told and we seem to be some distance from that today . |
Fair points I suppose. Mio support is at best very, very bad and more truthfully non existant. I would strongly advise anyone to avoid buying a Mio device - there is no support and the online (or offline) update service will leave you stranded (clue: there isn't an update service).
The accuracy of the TMC data - whether Traffic Master or iTIS - is questionable. Hit and miss is probably the best way of describing it. Both services give good and accurate warnings of big incidents but ultimately you are thrown back on local knowledge to make sense of the unit's re-routing suggestions.
From what I've read I gather that the Tom Tom gprs solution is not acceptable - the new TT aerial unit does seem to give good results in terms of reception.
I have a horrible feeling that in terms of sensible buying decisions Tom Tom is the only show in town. Don't buy a Mitac Mio branded device - you may regret it if you do. |
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perussell
Frequent Visitor
Joined: May 12, 2006
Posts: 292
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| Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:17 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | The accuracy of the TMC data - whether Traffic Master or iTIS - is questionable |
Just to be clear here I was referring to the Trafficmaster service which comes from the road side cameras and which is in no way dependant upon the TMC service. This is a completely different animal and works continuously once you have activated the receiver. It has its' shortcomings compared to TMC data since it is only for the road you are on (M Ways and major A roads) and only 'sees' 10 miles or 2 junctions ahead but the key difference is it is 'real time' i.e. it broadcasts what the cameras are seeing at that moment. I have occassionally found that a short hold-up e..g. 2 miles has cleared by the time I arrive but in my experience it has a 95%+ success rate in advising of the longer jams e.g. above 2 miles. It also works automatically rather than rely on some operator to input data in a centre somwehere. It is a great shame that TM no longer produce the Freeway receivers but at least they still allow owners to subscribe to the service (£30/year and money well spent!). It has literally saved me hundreds of hours over the 10 years I have been using it.
| Quote: | From what I've read I gather that the Tom Tom gprs solution is not acceptable - the new TT aerial unit does seem to give good results in terms of reception.
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I don't see why GPRS would not be more reliable than TMC since it is broadcast via mobile phone and as long as you have a bluetooth phone in your car switched on and paired with the sat nav it should be 100% reliable in terms of broadcasting data (even if the data itself is rubbish ) I have given up with the RDS TMC antenna solutions which seem to struggle in my car likely because of the windscreen
Yes, I always felt my Mio was a little 'fragile' and not as well built as many other units. I found some excellent tips on the GPSPassions site however which allowed me to customise the unit extensively - the sort of stuff the software developers should be doing but don't |
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DaveMatthews
Regular Visitor
Joined: Dec 25, 2004
Posts: 221
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| Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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To the chaps at iTIS, I have a general question about TMC. On a road near to where I live (the A6 through the village of Bolton-Le-Sands near Lancaster), there have been two "Lane Closed" TMC messages since 6th January but, in fact, the road has been completely clear all this time.
I presume such notifications are made to iTIS by local councils. Is there some formal process that members of the public can use to highlight these errors?
--
Cheers,
Dave |
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emsef
Occasional Visitor
Joined: Oct 11, 2005
Posts: 33
Location: London, UK
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| Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:50 pm Post subject: |
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Hi,
I have a Becker Traffic Pro 4740 (Renault branded) that supports TMC and would like to use this around the UK. However, I have never seen the Dynamic route option TMC presents (according to my product manual).
Do I need to buy a separate receiver to be able to do so?
Thanks,
matt |
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Greenglide
Lifetime Member
Joined: Apr 04, 2006
Posts: 295
Location: South East Northumberland, UK
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:02 pm Post subject: ITIS and Estimotion |
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According to the internet www.estimotion.com ITIS own Estimotion whose technology would seem to be used in the TomTom HD traffic system.
If ITIS have the technology and the agreements with the mobile phone companies (they already supply traffic data to them) can they not use the mobile phone data to provide sensible TMC data? Do they already use this?
If mobile phone data can be used to produce decent reliable TMC data what does the TomTom HD traffic add?
From my simplistic viewpoint Floating Vehicle data is surely fatally flawed - any of these vehicles with TrafficMaster or listening to traffic reports will avoid the roads that are closed or congested so there will be no floating vehicles to tell ITIS! |
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Eeeps
Occasional Visitor
Joined: Aug 07, 2007
Posts: 8
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| Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:28 pm Post subject: Re: ITIS and Estimotion |
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| Greenglide wrote: | | ... From my simplistic viewpoint Floating Vehicle data is surely fatally flawed - any of these vehicles with TrafficMaster or listening to traffic reports will avoid the roads that are closed or congested so there will be no floating vehicles to tell ITIS! |
You could always start with the assumption that all routes are congested and then use the (free moving) Floating Vehicles to indicate otherwise 
Ian |
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GPS_fan
Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: Jan 04, 2007
Posts: 2789
Location: Hampshire, UK
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| Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:28 am Post subject: |
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Also, if there's an accident, traffic can quickly build up (I think the figure is something like 1 mile of traffic build up per minute) before floating vehicles have chance to use an alternative route. It also takes a certain period of time after an incident occurs for the data to flow through the system before anything is reported.
There are obviously some advantages of using fixed sensors.
I just wish that TrafficMaster et al would use roadside transmitters for TMC (like they do with the TrafficMaster Freeway) so that motorists are guaranteed good signal reception along their route, rather than having to depend on the somewhat unreliable RDS/FM source
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Andy
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swing
Pocket GPS Verifier
Joined: Nov 04, 2003
Posts: 2225
Location: Bedfordshire, UK
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| Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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| GPS_fan wrote: | | I just wish that TrafficMaster et al would use roadside transmitters for TMC (like they do with the TrafficMaster Freeway) so that motorists are guaranteed good signal reception along their route, rather than having to depend on the somewhat unreliable RDS/FM source |
I wish they would too, but unfortunately, they have no rights to broadcast on the FM frequencies, so are not allowed to 
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giblets46
Occasional Visitor
Joined: Jan 18, 2008
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:23 pm Post subject: Unrealistic Delays M69 & M42 Roadworks |
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Hi there, after finally getting my Tomtom back, I note with Dismay that the system is still telling me there are permament 40-56min delays at the roadworks on these two roads, when in fact the delays are really just a drop to 50MPH, certainly for the M42 (S) where the M6(toll) joins it, has been displaying this ridiculous delay for at least a month. Whilst i have been on the M69 also where there is a contra flow, but definitely not a 1hr delay on it, as suggested by the TMC.
Can we get these fixed?!
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