TomTom RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver (as sold on ebay)

[Downunder35m]

There is a problem is Australia : the normal free to air TMC signal is being phased out.
Why?
1. In the normal car stereo you don't have a TMC service ,unlike in Europe were almost every radio was equipped with TMC (was because most good car stereos now use digital radio)
2. the service was never very popular.

So SUNA was clever a bought the rights for an Australia wide system for traffic information.
Clever!
But the normal TT TMC receiver can only work with the free to air TMC channels.
The frequenzies used for FM are the same ,but the SUNA service requires a receiver with the correct code to decrypt the SUNA traffic info.
If you are in an area that still has free to air TMC services you are lucky
All other users will see that a TMC signal is received (the green dot) but they don't get any info decoded.

Right before X-Mas I tried a TMC receiver from Harvey Norman :
Told the guy to follow me to my car and show me the system
All went well and he was happy to explain that the green dot means all is good.
So I calculated a route with IQ routes and all - through the city of Melbourne and over the Westgate Bridge and I got an all clear.
Showed that guy two blocked roads on the way (accident) and told him that the westgate bridge is only two lanes and stop and go all the way back into the tunnel...
He checked here and there and we waited about 15 minutes but still no delays on the route.
He changed the stations - all the same.
Finally I asked him if the receiver is from SUNA ,Tomtom or China and he replied : Original Tomtom.
So I explained to him that only SUNA traffic receivers work in Australia and he got red
He had no idea what SUNA was.

I think not even TT knows exactly what is going with SUNA and free to air TMC.
We pay top Dollar for the devices ,get no free updates or at least a good price for maps (check the price and size of the Europe maps compared to Australia) and should pay even more for a service that is not working properly?

[hollowman]

bottom line... dont buy any TMC receviers
they are a waste of money and time..

DU, i can't beleive you got a sales person to come into your car lmao !!

[rob2160]

Thanks DU, that makes perfect sense...

Now I'll take on TomTom for selling me something that does NOT do what it is advertised to do...

[Downunder35m]

bottom line... dont buy any TMC receviers
they are a waste of money and time..

DU, i can't beleive you got a sales person to come into your car lmao !!

If you want full service :
just pretend to be a dumb idiot and ask them nicely.
Best time is after the first coffee break
Never in the afternoon or the weekend - too busy.

[hollowman]

haha, yeah cool...

hay i used to work at harvey norman, about 7 years ago... what a crap job, all you do is lie to people and convince them the product is good... basically, if you dont know nothing or little about the item, then you can't make sales, and if u can't make sales, u dont get commission, if you dont get commission you dont get much money !!

for some sales people, they try to sell you anything to make more money...
hence the reason why that sales person attempted to convince you that the TMC is COOL!

[tetrion]

Interesting. I had this same conversation with SUNA.

Here's my email:

"Where do you suggest I purchase a compatible RDS-TMC receiver that will work with SUNA traffic."

This was their response.

"Devices on which the SUNA service is available to those companies with which we have a commercial arrangement, in order to be capable of decoding the encrypted transmission. We are pleased to confirm that TomTom is one of the brands with which we have a commercial arrangement.

In addition to the hardware, however you need to also ensure that you have the correct version on mapping in your device for your location. The SUNA service is available in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth & Adelaide, however you will need to confirm with TomTom as to whether they have made the service available to their customers in Adelaide, and we would encourage you to contact TomTom directly for more information regarding their product plans."

But the link I posted only had the standard receiver not the SUNA receiver. Where the hell do I get the SUNA receiver then?

[Downunder35m]

Well ,here we go again
Isn't it nice to see that the customer in Australia is treated like a piece of sh....
I would expect Tomtom to be aware of the problem and only export Suna receiver to Australia.
And for Suna I expect at least to notify the major resellers that only their receivers work in Australia.

In the end we simple users are the force that keeps these businesses going here...
But what do we get ? Ignorance and the always funny "we blame someone else" politics of the big players

[rob2160]

Ok,

In relation to my TomTom XXl540 and the RDS-TMC in Perth... My unit appears connected and states traffic us up to date but never shows me any traffic EVER.... - a Garmin 1390T running side by side shows plenty of traffic... so..

This morning I have been on the phone to...

1. Suna - Who sounded genuinely surprised and stated she would get a tech to call me back.. - nothing yet..

2. Intelematics - Who again sounded ever more surprised and said she would get a tech to call me back... - no call yet..

3. TomTom in Sydney... Spoke to "Jeremy" who seems very knowledgable (I have previously dealt with him and he helped me by correcting a problem with a G0950 Latest map guarantee for the international maps)

Anyway, Jeremy advise me that TomTom Traffic Does not work in Perth.. He said it only works in Sydney Brisbane and Melbourne. (He said SUNA is in Perth but TomTom does not have an agreement with them for Perth)

He also confirmed that the current TMC receiver does not work on the GO 950, a new traffic receiver will be released soon.

Hope this all helps..

[Downunder35m]

So and how should a normal user know all that??
We are playing the beta tester for new Navcores and on top if correct the maps - all we get in return a sorry excuses for non working hardware?
Nowhere on the website is mentioned the the receivers won't work for the new devices ,no shop or retailer knows that and what the hack is that rubbish with SUNA?
Seriously : Tomtom has to sort out that mess!

[tetrion]

Rob2160, The exact same thing happened to me. If you go back and have a read of my posts you'll see it's identical. The only difference is that I'm in Adelaide. Also I purchased from Johnny Appleseed, and they sent me a European receiver, for which they assured me would work in Adelaide. Now I tried to get it exchanged with them, for which they blatantly refused to acknowledge ever selling me one, and vehemently refuse to exchange it. Currently, I've lodged a complaint with NSW fair trading.

This whole experience has completely soured me with Tom Tom, combined with other niggling bugs/issues that never get resolved, I'm seriously thinking of ditching them completely and going with Garmin.

[Downunder35m]

It is not really a problem caused by Tomtom - Tomtom is just not acting properly!
Suna bought the rights from the Australian Government and TT missed to put a foot down for the customer.
On the other hand Australia is to blame because the free TMC services are being phased out. (don't care if you blame the radio stations,the council or whatever).
I don't know if Garmin has an agreement with Suna for the services ,but if not Garmin will get problems shortly too.
I would like to know if someone can check the working TMC frequencies on a Garmin device and try to get the same working in a Tomtom by doing a manual search for the correct frequency - maybe it is just the wrong frequencies embedded in the map data !?

[rob2160]

I would like to know if someone can check the working TMC frequencies on a Garmin device and try to get the same working in a Tomtom by doing a manual search for the correct frequency - maybe it is just the wrong frequencies embedded in the map data !?

Hi, I have been able to connect to the correct frequency in Perth.. 93.7 (from suna's website).

On TomTom, it really makes no difference if I select it manually or let it search automatically.. In either case it finds it..

The TomTom is finding the frequency and appears to be connecting ok.. but as Jeremy from TomTom stated, TT does not have an agreement from Perth so no actual data (incidents) come through...

The Garmin unit displays it all perfectly, hold ups, traffic delays, roadworks, accidents...

In the Garmin there is no option to see the frequency, it just gives you a tick box to either select or Deselect the "Suna Traffic - Lifetime Subscription."

In all other aspects the TT is superior to the Garmin, much more accurate maps... (Even after I just downloaded the very latest garmin map last week)

[rob2160]

This whole experience has completely soured me with Tom Tom, combined with other niggling bugs/issues that never get resolved, I'm seriously thinking of ditching them completely and going with Garmin.

Yes, I understand completely, I still prefer the TomTom for accurate maps... They are far better than the Garmin Maps, I work at Perth Airport and there are several roundabouts that have been there for almost a year and the Garmin does not show them, I have also found numerous other errors with Garmin's maps in Perth. This is with the VERY latest Garmin Map, downloaded last week..

TomTom's maps of the Airport roads are PERFECT and I've only found one error in Perth over a 4 month period (This was just a one way street at Hillarys Boat Harbour - TomTom said it was 2 way.. but the beauty of TT is you can correct the map yourself on your own unit and then Mapshare it for others.. I love that feature...

Also, something else to consider... I bought a Garmin 1390T in person from Johnny Appleseed in Sydney, it was a complete dud unit.. rebooted by itself, froze and shut down by itself... The traffic receiver was only detected intermittently..

It soured my experience with Garmin, but after getting home to Perth, I posted the unit back to JA and they Immediately express posted a new unit to me, which has been working flawlessly for the last 10 days.. (Kudos to Johnny Applseed on this one.. )

Do a Google search on "Problems with Garmin 1390" and read plenty before buying one...

I can live without the TomTom Traffic in Perth ( we rarely have traffic.. ha ha) but will try it on my next work trip to Sydney...

Happy to give you more side by side comparisons if needed..

[tetrion]

This may come across as pedantic, but they still annoy me.My issues about TT are the following:

-No Australian computer voice. The only ones available is the recorded ones that don't read vital information.

-Annoying mispronunciation of streets, names, suburbs etc. Stuttering occurring at times.

-Voice command recognition next to useless.

-Satellite lock on times increase as time goes on requiring constant gpsfix downloads.

-No live services in Australia, effectively halving the features of the unit.

-Non-existent support from Tom Tom.

-Illogical and needlessly complex menu. It takes multiple taps just to clear the route.

That being said, had these quibbles been tuned better, the unit would be great. Unfortunately, these annoyances just let the units down.

[rob2160]

This may come across as pedantic, but they still annoy me.My issues about TT are the following:

-No Australian computer voice. The only ones available is the recorded ones that don't read vital information.

Yes Agreed...

-Annoying mispronunciation of streets, names, suburbs etc. Stuttering occurring at times.

Garmin is the same.. in some cases worse.. the sound from my XXL is much clearer than the Garmin

-Voice command recognition next to useless.

-Satellite lock on times increase as time goes on requiring constant gpsfix downloads.

Haven't noticed this.. but will keep an eye on it.

-No live services in Australia, effectively halving the features of the unit.

Have to agree completely.. I am heading to the USA for 10 days in Feb and will be purchasing a TT XL340 Live while there... I have the 950 anyway but the Live services sound like fun..

-Non-existent support from Tom Tom.

I'd have to say though I've only contacted them twice.. in each case I have had excellent help from Jeremy...

-Illogical and needlessly complex menu. It takes multiple taps just to clear the route.

That being said, had these quibbles been tuned better, the unit would be great. Unfortunately, these annoyances just let the units down.

Yes.. always room for improvement...

[tetrion]

Thanks Rob2160, I would like to know about your quibbles with Garmin. Perhaps it will take a few more years for them to iron out some of these issues.

[rob2160]

Thanks Rob2160, I would like to know about your quibbles with Garmin. Perhaps it will take a few more years for them to iron out some of these issues.

I used my Garmin today driving around Perth... Sorry if I gave the wrong impression, I just had a dud unit when initially purchased, that was replaced by what is so far a faultless reliable unit...

The interface is very simple and the traffic just works... nothing to configure, just turn it on and within 60 seconds the traffic is up and running..

My only real gripe is that the maps have a few errors.. missing roundabouts.. etc..

Also on the 1390 which I have, the speaker is a little tinny, but still perfectly understandable at around 70% volume, above this you start to hear lots of crackles from the speaker.

Overall, Its fun to use and works.. One thing is that you only have one colour for maps.. no user selected option.. TomTom has several options for map colours, and you can download hundreds more.. TomTom will also allow you to design your own map colours and I created one exactly like the default colours in my Uniden Maptrax, it looked even better on the Tomtom...

I guess they build these Automotive units to a budget.. I also have a Garmin 495 Aviation unit and it is Awesome.. but that cost me over $2000...



Hope that helps..

[rob2160]

Ok, another update...

I received a call back from Suna today about TomTom traffic not working in Perth, The lady was helpful and knowledgable..

She confirmed what TomTom told me, that there is NO traffic available in Perth for TomTom devices, even though Suna is available..

She said it was TomTom's decision and that traffic is available to TT only in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

I suggested they include this information on their website...

So.. bottom line... if you live in Perth and want GPS traffic, get a Garmin or a Navman...

Cheers

[Downunder35m]

That sucks!
We already pay more for the devices than the rest of the world and on top of it we only get third class service....

[hollowman]

they should get their head out of their asses....
no wonder people download their maps / software / updates etc.. !!!