TomTom RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver

Reading through these other reviews I was a bit unsure about ordering this thing. The fact is that the product works, no subscription necessary. The reviewer who claimed that one needed one... how did you come to that conclusion?? I used this on a 720go, and it gets the traffic info it was supposed to. I believe TomTom at some point sold these antennas with lifetime "subscription". Now, the "subscription" isnt really a subscription, it's simply a code needed to enable your antenna so it actually works. Supposedly the newer ones Tomtom sells nowadays, needs a $60 yearly fee/subscription, which they found much more profitable. Hence why they discontinued these units. I guess these units are a "get them while they last" type of item, and I can vouch that it actually works. Now for how long, I do not know. Even if it is only one year, it's still way cheaper than a 1 year subscription. Note that you TomTom gps unit needs to be enabled/prepared for a tmc antenna to begin with though. The cheapest ones isnt. Tomtoms support website could possibly give that info. The uploaded pics is what your getting. Look closely if that will fit your unit. EDIT: Now it's almost 4 years later, and it still works. I never paid a subscription for it.

I received the wrong one,but had ordered the correct one.I e-mailed Amazon,you sent it to DealsRU.They e-mailed me,and said that happened at times,but they didn't carry the one I needed. So, I guess they just sent what they had on hand.I was really upset as they said,I could return it. After it was received,they would send a refund minus a 20% restocking fee,plus I would lose $3.99 in shipping.I didn't respond to that,because they knew the part wouldn't work.I will never trust anyone besides Amazon again,if you don't have what I need,I'll look elsewhere. Thank you,Freda Reed

I have a tomtom GO 730 and this receiver works great with it. I was skeptical at first because it was so cheap. I live in MN and I always have a good signal. There are a few times when I didn't believe the GPS, but it was right about the traffic and there I sat. The delays are not always accurate. It might tell you there is a 1 or 2 minute delay, but it is sometimes longer. I am not sure if this is the fault of the GPS unit or the data transmitted (I would assume the data). It seems to only have traffic info for major roads, at least in my area. It also doesn't seem to account for traffic lights. For the price I don't see how you can go wrong. It is 1 1/2 times the month service fee of Tom Tom's traffic service and there is no guarantee that is any better. Like one of the other posters said, the connector pin is straight so I had to adjust the height of my GPS unit off the dash. I wish it had and angle connector, but oh well.

The antenna was easy to install and was quickly recognized by my TomTom GO 930, however, it will not work with the maps of Western Europe. The TomTom doesn't even try to tune the the antenna, it just displays a screen that states the RDS antenna is not compatible with the current (Europe) map. Bottom line is if you visit Europe (I am currently in Germany), save your money and don't buy this product thinking it will work for you outside of North America.

So far I'm very pleased with this product. The traffic reports in my area are quite accurate and so far I did not have any reception issues in my area. Interestingly, when there are delays, the delay time is usually higher then the actual time spent in traffic. For example, the warning I would get is of a 10 minutes delay, but I would actually spend about 4-5 minutes in traffic. Not sure if this is some issue with the traffic receiver, the GPS receiver or with their interaction. But I guess it would be much worse if it was the other way around. Also, so far no instances of traffic not reported. The only issues I do have is that the connector to the GPS unit is somewhat long and straight and hence require me to attach the GPS receiver a bit higher on the windshield then I would do otherwise. But I guess I can always buy some adapter for it. In short, don't pay a monthly traffic subscription for life(!) as this one does an excellent job for the subscription cost of about one month!

I bought the TomTom 540T and one reviewer said that you "must" have this antennae to make the traffic portion work...so I just went ahead and bought it. Well, it doesn't fit in the gps because there is no port for it--and the traffic receiver is built into the 540T's lighter-power plug. It's not worth the headache to return it, and I have a friend who has the model that uses this antennae, so I'm giving it to her (even though she already has one). But just an fyi--if you have this GPS, (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B3P2CE/ref=oss_product)it doesn't work and you don't need it. All you have to do is plug the thing into the lighter outlet BEFORE you turn it on, and it will recognize it.

Récepteur RDS-TMC. Très utile pour le GPS Tom Tom que j'avais il y a quelques années. Dommage qu'on en trouve plus.

TMC traffic information is broadcast on a number of radio networks. The most reliable one for me is Classic FM, although I have picked up others. Broadcasts are fairly frequent during rush hour, but early in the morning and late at night there isn't much -- although, if there was an incident, I suppose there might well be. There are three potential problems with using this device. First, the device may not be able to find a TMC broadcaster. Second, on a short trip you may well have headed into the traffic before a TMC broadcast is sent out to warn you. And, third, TMC information is not necessarily as detailed or accurate as you might want. If you can live with this, then the RDS/TMS Receiver is a good buy. I've certainly saved more than the cost of the aerial in avoiding long traffic queues between M6 junction 10 and junction 6. You can set the TomTom to automatically reroute to avoid traffic queues, or you can ask it to reroute on a one off basis. Or, you can just use it to tell you how much later you will be -- useful for calling ahead. You do need to follow the instructions carefully -- particularly not crossing the wire -- and have the latest software updates, which are free from TomTom. The alternative is taking out the TMC subscription via GPRS and your bluetooth mobile phone from TomTom. There is an annual fee for this, and you probably have to pay your mobile phone company for the privilege. As I still haven't worked out how to get my mobile to connect to GPRS, this wasn't an option for me. Do note that this aerial requires the same socket as the iPod cable, so you can't run both at once. On the other hand, unless you have your TomTom wired through the car stereo, the iPod cable really doesn't achieve a lot.

Mit meinem tomtom ONE XL funktioniert das Teil (in Österreich) einwandfrei. Bei den Einstellungen hat sich der automatische Sendersuchlauf nach dem stärksten Sender bewährt. Mehr gibts nicht zu sagen, die damit verbundenen Funktionen des tomtom sind umfangreich, es kann zwischen Baustellen, Staus, gesperrten Spuren, etc. unterscheiden. (Mein voriges Billig-Navi konnte das nicht) Fazit: Für den tomtom ONE XL, zumindest in Österreich, kann ich dieses Zusatzteil uneingeschränkt empfehlen.

Sehr gut es hat mir immer sehr gute Dienste geleistet bis ich es mit dem Navi Verkauft habe da ich es nicht mehr gebraucht habe .

Der TMC-Empfänger von TomTom scheint stocktaub und dazu auch noch launisch zu sein. Im stehenden(!) Fahrzeug findet er manchmal (eher sehr selten) innerhalb von 30 Sekunden einen Sender mit TMC-Daten. Schaltet man seinen TomTom aus und wieder ein, findet er meistens gar keinen Sender mehr. Auch nicht, wenn man ihm mit Hand die Frequenz des vorher gefundenen Senders vorgibt. Sein Suchlauf startet dann irgenwann mal und findet die nächsten Stunden gar nichts mehr (zeigt nur noch das Sender-Such-Symbol). Wie gesagt, vereinzelt geht's wirklich gut, in 90% der Fälle aber leider gar nicht. Wenn sich der TMC einmal entschlossen hat, keinen Sender finden zu wollen, kann man ihn nur durch mehrmaliges Trennen vom TomTom irgendwann mal wieder dazu bringen, per Suchlauf einen Sender zu finden. Falls er dann doch - anscheinend eher zufällig - doch mal einen Sender findet, kommt es auch öfters vor, dass er stundenlang Daten schaufelt und zu keinem Ergebnis kommt. Er hört dann auch nicht mehr auf, zu schaufeln. Da hängt sich dann wohl die Software auf... Einen TMC, der nur ab und zu einen Sender findet und sich dann beim Datenempfang auch noch aufhängt, kann man nicht empfehlen. Übrigens: Die Firma TomTom empfiehlt, den Empfänger zum besseren Datenempfang außerhalb des Autos zu plazieren. Das heißt: * alle halbe Stunde mal rechts ranfahren, * das Teil "zum Lüften" raushängen, * auf Datenempfang warten bzw. hoffen, * weiterfahren. Einfach eine gute und sinnvolle Empfehlung! Rasten sollte man sowieso öfters. Es ist übrigens auch unabhängig davon, wie man das Kabel verlegt: obere Scheibenoberkante, Scheibenunterkante (jeweils mit beliebigem Abstand zum Blech), senkrecht, im Zickzack, aufgewickelt, verwurschtelt, .... Das kann man nach persönlichem Empfinden frei gestalten - immer mit dem mehr oder weniger gleichem miesen Ergebnis. Aber wenn er mal Daten empfangen und ausgewertet hat: Die Stau's aus der letzten Verkehrsmeldung kennt er trotzdem nicht - auch wenn die berechnete Route genau diese Staustrecken beinhaltet. Aber das kann auch an den gesendeten Daten liegen. Das kann ich nicht beurteilen, da ich keinen Vergleich habe. Auf meinem TomTom ist übrigens die neueste Software drauf (letztes Update habe ich am 4. Mai 2007 durchgeführt). Dies war auch eine Empfehlung von TomTom. Ach ja, noch was: Am 06. und 07. Mai war ich jeweils den ganzen Tag im Auto unterwegs, die Zeiten mit TMC-Empfang waren insgesamt keine 30 Minuten.