nuvi 660fm and trafficmaster thingy help

[dugsoft]

hello all, a newby needs help

i have just bought a 660fm and installed it in my car and it works well but
the traffic lighter thingy only show a continous orange light?
i don't get green so i can't get traffic alerts.
i cant even see on my unit where it tells me what version of traffic software i have or even if it works at all??

i have drove leeds, bradford and down to sheffield and nothing??
just an orange light and no info.
nothing at all when i try select the icon on the main screen, that does nothing at all??

help
is my unit faulty?
can i find out what version traffic software i have or if its installed?

help help
cheers
dug

[philpugh]

Welcome

Probably not a fault (as such). The efficiency of the "aerial" with these units and the low power of the TMC transmissions here in UK cause all sorts of reception issues. I have the 660 with GTM21 and had very hit and miss results until I patched the black 'piece of string' aerial on the GTM21 into the car aerial.

Take a look at the TMC forum elsewhere and specifically http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=48188 for further assistance.
_________________
Phil

[swing]

[Martle]

I've been using my Nuvi 660 for several weeks in the UK and not a peep about traffic congestion. I've just come back from the South of France and have been using the Nuvi in a hired car. As soon as I plugged it in I had a constant barrage of traffic reports being registered along my route.

Just shows how ineffective the signal in the UK is.

[Johnny_boy]

I live in Edinburgh and have just driven to Carnforth and back on holiday (junction 35 of the M6). Before going, I checked my 2 week old Nuvi 660 (non-FM version) and there was congestion on the M6 but nothing near where I was going, all further south. I drove to where I was going and no alerts. Fine I thought. As I unplugged the unit, I ended up catching one of the suckers on the windscreen and slightly pulling the cable, though not very hard. I thought nothing of it until the next day when I plugged it in and the symbol was greyed out. I wondered if the unit had been damaged and was annoyed at myself.

To cut a long story short, I tried a TMC unit in a shop with my GPS unit and they couldn't get a signal either but gave me Garmin's number so I called them. Garmin told me the Manchester transmitter was out so basically a large area of the M6 wasn't receiving signals.

It finally worked when I got back to Edinburgh, finding a signal just outside, about 2 miles from home.

Chocolate teapots jump to mind, no wonder the sibscription is free!!

[mikealder]

Johnny_Boy, Welcome to the forum what you found out is about right for the Traffic Master (TM) system, since the radio station Centaury FM (105,4FM) was sold to a different owner group the TM signal broadcast from this station have stopped. The area affected is huge including Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster - some very long stretches of the UK's most heavily used motorways.
The sad fact is they don't seem to be interested in doing anything about it, the TM transmissions stopped at the end of last year. Worse still very soon the WinterHill transmitter is about to start transmitting iTIS Traffic information (TM's competitor) - Mike

[Johnny_boy]

Mike, thanks for the more detailed explanation! I was quite near Lancaster so that probably explains a lot.

I asked Garmin when it would be back and they said a couple of months so either they have something in the pipeline or they were just fobbing me off. I suspect the latter. Kind of annoyed as that's an area I pass through a couple of times a year and I hit bad roadworks on the way back up the road. Fortunately our baby decided he needed fed so we pulled into a Little Chef and the traffic had mostly cleared by the time he'd fallen back asleep.

I'm not happy that I paid extra for this unit and Garmin know they have virtually no coverage, Trafficmaster don't mention this either on their web-page. Watchdog anyone? What's really weird is almost every road we were on had blue TM cameras while we were in Cumbria but no signal to receive the data they were sending - seems pointless!

[mikealder]

Without the WinterHill transmitter there are no other stations for your unit to lock onto between Carnforth and practically back in Glasgow/ Edinburgh, the whole area is dead as far as reception is concerned due to the lack of transmitters.
Other parts of the country are better served, the Southern half of the country having more in way of transmitters than the Northern parts.
Reception is not good though to be honest wherever you are, RDS-TMC is great in principle but in practice never lives up to the expectations in my opinion - Mike

[adrian_anastas]

[PaulJSmith]

If anyone does decide to write to watchdog and sets out a template letter and contact details then count me in as well.

I think if 20 or so people all complain about this shocking TMC and its misleading claims on the box and also the back road loving aspects of the Nuvi then maybe watchdog will take up the case and then maybe Garmin will actually listen and change things. Some of these units cost £300+ after all. (lots of maybe's in there!!).

The only way they will change it quickly is to hit them with adverse publicity thus affecting the bottom line.

There must be dozens if not hundreds of people who have decided to go with someone else's technology based solely on these forums already but clearly Garmin are too dumb to realize this or don't care about that small level of lost revenue.

Good luck and may the force (of watchdog) be with you.

I wonder if the forum administrators have any hooks into Garmin and can apply some pressure?

Paul

[Johnny_boy]

looks like the Winterhill transmitter is back in business - see the traffic improvements thread (I'll post the link later as it's bed time!).

Like the improved weather its 2 weeks after I was in the Lancaster/Morecambe area on holiday!!

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