FM Transmitter Problems Anyone?

[dracus]

For tomorrows drive I will likely stop using the FM and listen to my podcasts through the tomtom speaker (side note, the MP3 player needs fast forward and rewind capabilities, not just skip track).
-MJ

If you press and hold either the skips(forward or backwards) it will fast forward or rewind.

It doesn't play it fast but seems to skip a minute or so at a time. Not perfect but it does work if you need to be in the middle of track especially a long one.

 

[Harry]

I just tried my 720's FM transmitter, and it seem to work fine. The channel I used was 97.5 and it had static, but as soon as I set the 720 to that freq, the static cleared up completely and the computer voice was clearly heard.

 

[obiabani]

I just tried the FM Transmitter on my 720 (on multiple frequencies -- Toyota Sienna 2006 model) and it worked perfectly fine. No static and loud enough to be heard (TOMTOM volume set to 100 and car volume set to 25 to 30 -- max is 50)

 

[canderson]

A few words on the performance of the FM transmitters I've had in my two TT720s...

How well this set-up is going to work for you will depend upon several things. If the TT and your car's FM antenna are on opposite ends of the car, it may be more difficult. HOWEVER...

Over the 3 months I've been using the 720 model, I've come to realize that either

a) the power conductor of the DC power cord is being used (intentionally or otherwise) as a radiator for the FM signal, or
b) the ground plane that is created by the ground side of the power cord has a major effect on the radiation pattern of the TT (assuming the antenna is internal somewhere).

I suspect that the correct answer is "b", because placing my hand under the TT720 will also make a big improvement in reception.

In a nutshell, the position of the power cord and the way any excess is looped can make a HUGE difference in how well you receive the FM signal from a TT720. I suspect that's true for the 9XX series as well.

My original installation was a bit sloppy, and the cable just dangled down from my 720 toward the cig lighter plug. The FM reception was pretty good, although it favored the low end of the band a bit.

I later cleaned up just a little by looping the excess cable and stuffing it into the ashtray. Suddenly, I had signal problems at the low end of the band, but found that if I changed to a frequency up higher (e.g., 107.5), the signal improved.

I finally decided to loop the excess under the console, and lost signal at both ends of the band.

Whatthe???

Started playing around with the cable with the 720 turned on and the radio tuned either to high or low ends of the FM band. Discovered that how I positioned the DC power cable made all the difference as to reception quality on the FM radio. My particular installation includes an FM antenna integral to the rear window defroster grid, so I've got about as much distance between the 720 and the car's "antenna" as is possible.

Fool around with your cable and I think you'll find you can improve things a lot (or ruin them, depending upon your final choice of location for the wire!)

 

[Pedro2NR]

Does anyone notice the FM transmitter isn't great with the firmware 7.481?
The previous version was great and I can listen to my music well with the cig lighter plugged in.