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gareth71
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Joined: Oct 07, 2004
Posts: 146
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 Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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Well, I got my RDS-TMC receiver from PC World as I mentioned above. A tenner for one of the old-style ones - worth a gamble, I thought.
It does have a part number ending in .013 as per Mike's post, so I was hopeful, although not expecting too much based on what I've heard! Well, I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised so far. Haven't tried it out 'in anger' yet, on an actual journey which has been affected by traffic issues. But when I got home I took it out of the box and plugged it into the 720 just to see what happened - bearing in mind that I was indoors, a good few feet from a window and with the antenna just draped across the floor, it picked up a signal pretty much straight away, and after a couple of minutes of reception the little green dot appeared and I was able to browse the map showing all the traffic problems it had picked up (50-odd at that point). So I can't vouch for the accuracy of the information, but in terms of ease of set-up and quality of reception, so far so good!  |
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zYx
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Joined: Jul 01, 2006
Posts: 41
Location: EU
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| Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 12:30 pm Post subject: |
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| mikealder wrote: | (...)
These .013 receivers don't power off when you turn the ignition off which is something the mini USB style devices do, so they tend to keep a signal when you turn off the car for fuel etc unless you power the TomTom down - Mike |
What do you mean by fuel? Fuel stations or prices? or are the prices available only with LIVE products?
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TomTom Go 520 8
Western and Central Europe 8
N95 8GB Web'n'Walk, Google Maps, TT6, Garmin 5 |
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mikealder
Pocket GPS Moderator
Joined: Jan 14, 2005
Posts: 19638
Location: Blackpool , Lancs
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| Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 12:54 pm Post subject: |
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| What I mean is when I stop to put fuel in the car, when the mini USB receiver loses power when I take out the ignition key and thus drops the radio station it was using, the receiver with the round plug remains locked to the radio station even whan the key is removed as it remains powered from the Go device it is plugged in to - Mike |
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DinAlt
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Joined: Nov 25, 2003
Posts: 190
Location: Slough
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| Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 1:43 pm Post subject: |
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Just nipped out and picked up one of the .013 versions from PCWord since for £10 its not a big deal. Tried it in many positions in the car and nothing.
Brought it inside to check radio frequencies and while i was typing this it just locked on for the first time (literally just now in fact when i typed 0.13).
hope now it's got a signal it'll work in the car...
Dinalt |
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zYx
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Joined: Jul 01, 2006
Posts: 41
Location: EU
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| Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 2:18 pm Post subject: |
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| mikealder wrote: | | What I mean is when I stop to put fuel in the car, when the mini USB receiver loses power when I take out the ignition key and thus drops the radio station it was using, the receiver with the round plug remains locked to the radio station even whan the key is removed as it remains powered from the Go device it is plugged in to - Mike |
oh I see. In my car, my tomtom is plugged in to the rear cigarette lighter socket. It's on since I open the car with the remote and stays on for about 5-10 minutes. It stays on when I switch the engine off for about the same period of time eg when I go to refuel.
I live in a small village and I find signal straight away, but when I drove to Maidstone yesterday I could find any signal at all.. nonsense.. |
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zYx
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Joined: Jul 01, 2006
Posts: 41
Location: EU
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| Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Some people actually said that tmc is not working great in the UK, however I bet that there are some blackspots for HD traffic aswell, as it uses GPRS, an not everywhere GPRS is available, and you have to pay £8 monthly for it  |
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philpugh
Lifetime Member
Joined: Dec 28, 2005
Posts: 2003
Location: Antrobus, Cheshire
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| Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 11:27 am Post subject: |
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| zYx wrote: | | mikealder wrote: | | What I mean is when I stop to put fuel in the car, when the mini USB receiver loses power when I take out the ignition key and thus drops the radio station it was using, the receiver with the round plug remains locked to the radio station even whan the key is removed as it remains powered from the Go device it is plugged in to - Mike |
oh I see. In my car, my tomtom is plugged in to the rear cigarette lighter socket. It's on since I open the car with the remote and stays on for about 5-10 minutes. It stays on when I switch the engine off for about the same period of time eg when I go to refuel. |
And in my 9 1/2year old VW the 12V outlet remains powered at all times! However in my wifes 2 year old VW the outlet is turned off with the ignition.
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DinAlt
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Joined: Nov 25, 2003
Posts: 190
Location: Slough
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| Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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Okay,
Now been able to try the TMC adaptor in earnest:
Vehicle Ford Mondeo
Installation is middle of window (judt under the rear view mirro) with receiver module stuck to window couple of inches below the GPS Unit (tomtom720) the rest of the aerial from the TMC unit is literally sitting on the dashboard - gave up trying to fix it to the window since the suckers literally suck (other than the larger black one for the receiver unit).
Journey
Day 1 Slough to Loughborough - was unable to find a signal until i reached Junction 19 of teh M25 once locked on it remained on until i parked up - a couple of periods where there was no update for a few minbut otherwise ok
Performance - didn't show delay on M25 at all - about half way through journey indicated a lane closure on a roundabout ahead - no sign of this when I reached the site and it didn't clear from the unit
Journey from Loughborough to Derby (10 miles or so) didnt lock on at all
Day 2 Derby to Bedford - locked on by the time I reached the M1 (roughly 2 miles reported no incidents and again failed to show congestion on the Motorway (speed was reduced to 50-60 for almost 15 miles)
Bedord to Slough - locked on in seconds showed one incident en route which was there when i arrived
Overall - am i pleased with my purchse - got to say yes for £10 it's worth it. If i was paying the £45 list price for the usb model i wouldnt be so happy one of three reported incidents correct and no coverage of two sections of motorways with congestion isn't a great success rate especially as traffic news mentioned both delays.
DinAlt |
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zYx
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Joined: Jul 01, 2006
Posts: 41
Location: EU
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| Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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| DinAlt wrote: | | (...)the rest of the aerial from the TMC unit is literally sitting on the dashboard - gave up trying to fix it to the window since the suckers literally suck (other than the larger black one for the receiver unit). |
I totally agree, but I can't stick the receiver unit at all... the aerial is fine.. but not perfect. (normal price £49!?)
| DinAlt wrote: |
Overall - am i pleased with my purchse - got to say yes for £10 it's worth it. If i was paying the £45 list price for the usb model i wouldnt be so happy (...) |
I paid around £28 on amazon.
Didn't drive far as yet, so I can't say nothing.. |
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