[gordoac]

Here's hoping that someone out there on the forum can point me in the right direction.

TMC doesn't seem to work on M & M. When in Navigation mode, the letters TMC appear, but in red, so according the the handbook, TMC is not activated. I gather that in the UK, TMC is only transmitted by Classic FM and some other commercial channels. In TMC Settings, I have selected Tuning Mode/Automatic and the letters TMC briefly turned white and then returned to red again, as though the unit was searching for stations and only briefly found Classic FM - weird! I've subscribed to Premium TMC and am beginning to feel I've wasted my money.

We're driving from sunny Kent up to the wilds of Skye later in the week, even further north than the doc, and I'm keen to know whether M & M will find our way round hold ups. We have a Tomtom which is very good at doing just that, but what's the point in having M & M if you have to have another satnav?

Over to the wise heads on the forum, I'm grateful for any constructive suggestions

 

[Umiamz]

When I first got my Up earlier this year, TMC was very patchy. During a trip from Northampton to Leeds there were large parts of the journey where TMC was red rather than white. I soon switched to using live services for traffic which is much better (but still not quite as good as TomTom).

For the past few weeks, Classic FM reception has been awful round Northampton so I doubt TMC would be working at all.

 

[gordoac]

Many thanks Umiamz, do you mean live services on Navigon?

 

[Umiamz]

Yes, well Garmin - I don't think the older Navigon units support Live Services.

 

[P-G]

For a list of radio stations that transmit TMC look athttp://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/guidance/tech-guidance/tech-parameters/vhf.csv. That said I am not sure how accurate the list, it is from OFCOM after all.

I have issues getting the Auto search to work, but I select a single frequency which is my local FM station and that works ok. I also have a TOMTOM with a TMC receiver and it also takes an age to find the data.
Paul

 

[AlanG]

I've no idea what TMC is. Traffic......something?

 

[gordoac]

Thank you both very much indeed, looking at the Navigon website again, it very much looks like my older M & M can't have Live Services uploaded (it seems you need the equivalent model to Navigon 70 Premium Live, whereas my M & M is just 70 Premium), but I'll check with the helpline tomorrow, just in case.

 

[Cadfael]

I had a look at the Navigon manual from October 2011 ...
All in German but the must be English versions on the internet???

The Navigon M&M has TMC on board ...
It is said that for the UK there is the "Premium TMC" TrafficMaster built in ...

Don't know if the poor TMC reception is a problem of the Navigon or of the service itself ...
Since two weeks I have major problems getting good DVB-T signal in my flat here in Germany ...

 

[AlanG]

Oh ok. TrafficMaster whatever that is.

 

[Cadfael]

TMC is "Verkehrsmeldungen" in German ...

Found it on wikipedia! TMC is "Traffic Message Channel" ...

TMC is transmitted digital on non-hearable FM frequencies.

In Germany TMC is broadcasted by the federal broadcasting corporations
(comparable to a "federal BBC" stystem).

In England you have two systems; ITIS and RAC Trafficmaster Telematics ...
TraficMaster uses GWR, Capital radio and Chrysalisfor the messages in the UK ...


Edited by: Cadfael

 

[AlanG]

Ok. So it sounds like some sort of congestion alerting facility? Is this thread saying that some M&Ms have TMC and some don't?

 

[Cadfael]

The radios have "TP" ...
Putting it on, music/CD/SDcard/Aux is interrupted by "traffic news" via radio ...

The navis have "TMC" ...
You have a route how to get to your destiny shortest/fastest/most beautiful way ...
If there is a traffic jam on your route, the TMC gives you information about the jam and suggests alternative routes (for instance an A road for 25 miles instead a 5 miles jam on the motorway).

Sometimes the radio traffic news tell alternative routes too for long distance travelers or when a motorway is fully blocked. TMC does this with your navi ...

Problem is to receive TMC and get the advice to leave a motorway before you are in the traffic jam ...

As far as I found out, all Navigons and Garmins have TMC ...

 

[AlanG]

Thanks Cadfael for your detailed explanation. So, if I fired up TMC on my M&M, during my journey to work and put in my office postcode so it knows where i'm going, then it should pre-warn me of any congestion and advise me to go another way. Great feature. I just need to find out how to switch it on now!

 

[Cadfael]

I tink TMC warns you automatically?
Then you can choose "automatic route" or "manual" (???) ...

TMC not only tells you the alternative route but also states how much longer this route is and if it will save time or not???

In my Navigon PDF manual (in German) it is chapter 10.13 ...

A bit too hard to translate all this into (correct) English; especially because I have never used it my own.

Sometimes it is better to stay on a motorway with 1 mile congestion than to leave the motorway. TMC "knows this" and tells you the alternatives and what is best ...

 

[Beevee]

I have my unit set to only offer the most direct route and not give any alternatives to choose. The only drawback to this is when the unit declares the road ahead is blocked followed by "there is no alternative route".

 

[gordoac]

I should have given the forum an update after our hols, sorry about that! TMC worked very well and not just on Classic FM. It dropped off in areas where radio reception on most channels was poor, but otherwise it even worked when playing music from the SD card. TMC provided warnings of hold ups en route and their location, the length of the delay and an alternative route. The only caveat is that it cannot tell if the delay is likely to have cleared by the time you get there (not really surprising), so if you are going on a really long journey, as we did, up to Skye, you still need to use your little grey cells.

Overall, though, a worthwhile subscription to Premium TMC if you plan on taking a lot of long journeys

 

[Umiamz]

Premium TMC is already included according to the manual - I don't know why they also offer it through the online store.

 

[upmancotswolds]

Premium TMC is already included according to the manual - I don't know why they also offer it through the online store.

Big +1 to this. Collected my Up today and the Premium TMC and bluetooth live services do appear to be working just fine on the Maps and more, and I can't find anything on Fresh or in the manual to suggest that they're just a trial for 30 days?

Yet they're all still on fresh to buy for lots of money!

Edited by: upmancotswolds

 

[upmancotswolds]

OK, bit of an update after another day playing with the device. TMC definitely IS on the device already, that's the traffic updates transmitted via the radio....after some investigation online they call it 'Premium TMC' but we only have the one type in the UK, free under license which the satnav companies pay, so no fees to the end user - some countries have free and premium which is why Garmin can sell this on fresh for £40 - although really shouldn't be doing so to uk users!!

The 'Live' updates (and this is the bit only on the newer units) receive the info via tethering to your phone, so supposedly more accurate and detailed data...and when I activated this properly today I did get a message saying '30 day trial' - to keep it after this its a one-off £25 payment on Fresh (called 'Live Services'). Apart from the traffic data all you get extra is weather and safety cameras which you have anyway on the unit.

IMO it's not a big advance over the TMC which I'm sure would be enough for most people, and I won't be buying it, maybe for heavy commuters doing loads of journeys to new places...but probably not the demographic for the Up anyway!

So if you have an older Navigon without Live Services, you're not missing out on much!

Edited by: upmancotswolds