Trafficmaster in the Northwest - response

rickwiggans · Lifetime Member Joined: Feb 09, 2006 Posts: 77

Please see below, an emailed response from Trafficmaster, following my direct question to them - is Winter Hill working or not?

I have spoken to the Head of Information Sales and he confirms that we have been made aware of some broadcast issues around certain areas of the NW and are looking to rectify these as soon as possible.

If we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards

Amanda Parmar
Customer Service Administrator

Rick

PhilGarmin · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 12:41 pm Post subject:

The whole of Stoke-on-Trent is not covered either
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philpugh · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:32 pm Post subject:

Let's hope they fix it soon - only get TMC when near to Manchester and (for some strange reason) near Altrincham on local roads but not M56.

No problems over in the Leeds/Bradford area, lots of signal and messages last week-end.
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marksnsparks · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:08 pm Post subject:

I've sent another email to Garmin technical support last night to ask if its the garmin unit or trafficmaster. At least the email will add to others and hopefully Garmin will take notice. Maybe even speak to trafficmaster themselves.
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rickwiggans · Lifetime Member Joined: Feb 09, 2006 Posts: 77

I've written formally to the heads of Garmin and Trafficmaster in the UK, and as yet have received no reply from Trafficmaster. However, Garmin responded in writing in a couple of days, saying
"Thank you for your recent letter. I can confirm that Garmin and Trafficmaster are aware of the issue in the NorthWest and this is something they are keen to resolve as soon as possible. The issue is completely unpredicted and out of Trafficmaster's control, and there is currently no timescale for when the issue will be corrected. However, once they have found the cause and resolved it, traffic data will be restored in your area"

I'll post again if I hear anything further

Dizzley · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 29, 2007 Posts: 19

@Rickwiggans -

Thanks from me for pursuing this. TM coverage seems very pants indeed, speaking from near Stockport. It does seem like both Garmin and TM are at least aware we have a problem.

As a TM newbie: how is TM FM broadcast? Does it come from regional or "cell"-type transmitters?
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rickwiggans · Lifetime Member Joined: Feb 09, 2006 Posts: 77

It is "piggy-backed" on FM radio station transmissions, such as Classic FM and Century FM. In our area (Lancs) it is supposed to come from Winter Hill

Dizzley · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 29, 2007 Posts: 19

Thx.

So if signal is good near Manchester and not on the M56; I guess that would imply one of the stations in the city is carrying it.
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Pete.
Garmin nüvi 310 v3.60 + GTM12 v4.10
I started out with nothing and still have most of it left.
My blog - http://ccgi.disley.plus.com/wp/ - "A Mad World, My Masters"

mikealder · Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 9:11 am Post subject:

Please note iTIS TMC data is transmitted by Classic FM, this is used by TomTom and Navman, TrafficMaster data is transmitted by various radio stations owned by GCAP Media excluding Classic FM - Mike

Dizzley · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 29, 2007 Posts: 19

I'll also drop TrafficMaster a note.

It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease! Wink

Dizzley · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 29, 2007 Posts: 19

@mikealder -

Mmm... GCAP - see story http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/Home/Articles/bc21c74ea82a4ec0bf68dcd84960411c/GCap-stations-in-Trafficmaster-deal.html from 7th Feb.

And from GCAP's press release:
List of Participating Radio Stations

Dizzley · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 29, 2007 Posts: 19

...and the Chrysalis stations can be queried here.

They are broadly: Heart, Galaxy, LBC and The Arrow. For the NW then we must have only Galaxy 102.8. (...right...sweet...buzzin') ;)
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Pete.
Garmin nüvi 310 v3.60 + GTM12 v4.10
I started out with nothing and still have most of it left.
My blog - http://ccgi.disley.plus.com/wp/ - "A Mad World, My Masters"

mikealder · Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 2:47 pm Post subject:

We used to have Century FM on 105,4 but its no longer on the list, shame as that means the Winter Hill transmitter is no longer providing data, I wonder if Amanda Parmar - Customer Service Administrator mentioned in Rick's original post could shed some light on this.
In fact looking at the number of stations now involved the list has decreased from what it was late last year, this probably goes quite some way to explaining the signifficant drop in TMC reception when using TrafficMaster dependent devices - Mike

swing · Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 4:36 pm Post subject:

But that list is a list of radio stations that will have their (voice) traffic bulletins using Trafficmaster data, not the list of radio stations broadcasting RDS-TMC data traffic.

"Drivers are now able to tune in and catch travel news from Trafficmaster's unique traffic monitoring network on the local radio network, thanks to a deal between Trafficmaster and GCap Media, owners of Classic FM, London's 95.8 Capital FM and 37 local radio stations* across the UK."
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philpugh · Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 1:52 pm Post subject:

Posted in error - see following post - apologies.
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