How do Fuel Prices work ?

[Jeff]

I have a XXL540.

I subscribed & downloaded the Fuel Prices service. Every time I connect to TomTom Home I get an update to Fuel Prices.

I have no idea how Fuel Prices works; there are no instructions that I have found anywhere.

What is supposed to happen ?

Where (or when ?) should I see Fuel Prices ?

 

[dhn]

I think the way it should work is if you select to show gas stations (poi) on the map.

Then, in View map or on a route, besides the icon for normal gas stations, some with a dollar sign should appear as well.

 

[Jeff]

I have the Gas Stations POI but no $ signs or price in it [or above or where ever].

I've looked thru all of the possible POIs I could add to the map & don't see another Gas Stations POI with the dollar sign.

Is it possible that an XXL540 can't use Fuel Prices ?

Now, I see, in TomTom Home, that I can choose Add Traffic, Voices, Safety Cameras, etc. and then click the Fuel Prices icon & Home will, after a few seconds, offer to sell me Fuel Prices USA, again. Do you think that is significant ?

 

[canderson]

Take a look in root directory of your unit for a folder called "poi". In that, do you see a file called FuelStations.tlv? If so, what is the date?

If not, take a look for a folder called "fuel_prices". Does it contain a file called FuelStations.tlv? If so, what is the date?

Last, look in your USA/Canada or NorthAmerica folder (your map folder) and see if there are files whose names begin with "FuelStations". If so, dates?

 

[Jeff]

In the 'poi' folder the file's date is June 22, 2012.

In the 'fuel_prices' folder the file's date is June 23, 2012.

In the 'USA_Canada_and_Mexico' FuelStations.1.fpf,.2.fpf,.3.fpf,.4.fpf,.5.fpf,.14.fpf & .fpf files are all June 23, 2012. The bmp, ov2 & Ov2.ver files are June 22, 2012. The ov2.dct file is June 20, 2012.

Every time I connect to the computer, for instance, several times today, TomTom Home downloads Fuel Prices for Regular fuel.

Thanks

 

[canderson]

OK - the good news is that you are indeed receiving the fuel pricing data that TomTom is supplying. All of the files you found indicate that, as do the updates to fuel prices each time you connect to your PC.

I've never had fuel pricing on one of my units unless it was a Live unit, so this is just a guess --- but as you page through your 540 menus, do you see anything at all that says "Services" or "TomTom Services"?

 

[Jeff]

Yes, I have a 'TomTom Services' icon that leads to a 'Fuel Prices' icon.

Clicking that gives me the following message:

'You can join TomTom Fuel Prices and download fuel price information to your device using TomTom HOME. Note that this service is currently unavailable in some countries', then an 'OK' button.

The 'OK' button just takes me back to the TomTom Services screen with a 'Done' button there which takes me back to my map.

 

[canderson]

That's just strange. What happens if you subsequently select "My Services" in the lower left corner? Or is that an option on the 540? Does your device show your TomTom 'username' in the bottom middle of that screen?

When I navigate to "Gas Stations" using the POI, the first column is the distance on a light gray (nearly white) background, the second column is the price (if available, or "--" if it does not know) on a blue background, then to the right is the name of the station/store on a light gray / white background.

 

[Jeff]

There is no 'My Services' in the lower left corner of the map screen. I have the time, speed & speed limit there. No where, on my device's map screen, do I have my user name.

I have the same navigate to gas stations POI screen but there is no price column.

There must be something on my 540 that conflicts with gas prices. I have the 'Height' add-on, could that be it ? I don't see how.

 

[canderson]

No, no.. I mean when you go to the "TomTom Services" menu. Is there "My Services" in the lower left there, and your login ID in the middle bottom?

 

[Jeff]

No, I have three icons, 'Traffic', 'Speed Cameras' & 'Fuel Prices' and the 'Done' button. That's all.

 

[canderson]

OK. Nuts - that's what I was afraid of. My menus are just too different to help you out.

What do you see when you go to the POI page for gas stations? I described what I see (three 'columns' of info, with a blue 'price' column).

 

[Jeff]

I see two columns, one with the distance & the other with the gas stations' names. On the right are an up button & a down button to scroll the list; on the bottom of the screen is a 'Find' button next to a 'Back' button.

 

[canderson]

More nuts. We're going to have to wait for someone with a 340 or 540 to weigh in here.

Hey dhn, you still there? Do you have a fuel subscription for that 540WTE of yours?

 

[Jeff]

I believe mine is SUPPOSED to look like yours.

I removed 'Height' but that produced the same result; still no fuel prices.

 

[dhn]

Fuel subscriptions were never available in Canada.

What's this 'height' you are referring to????????

 

[canderson]

It'll be that 3rd party utility that gives you elevation numbers. Fun to play with here in the mountains, although I generally use one of the others that includes that as just one of the pieces.

 

[Jeff]

Joghurts add-on that shows your altitude. It's not at all accurate.

 

[canderson]

It's tough to get a good altitude reading from even a good set of satellite signals. That's why a good GPS with intrinsic ability to display altitude readings (exceptionally rare in any automotive GPS) uses a real baro sensor to assist in doing the dirty work. My Garmin handhelds do it right. GPS alone provides somewhere between 2X and 3X the horizontal error.

If anyone is interested in the VERY boring explanation of why that is the case, you can read here: http://www.pobonline.com/Articles/Column/f915f0b5ba0f6010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____

with something shorter here: http://gpsinstruction.com/gps-altitude-accuracy-vs-barometric-altimeter-altitude-accuracy/

 

[Jeff]

I called TomTom support today.

They had me delete the device's Fuel_Price folder & USA_Canada_Mexico [map] folder's *.fpf files.

Then delete the TomTom folder under My Documents on my Windows 7 PC [I imagine that I could have just got rid of the folder under Fuel Prices]

Finally, re-download ONLY USA Fuel Prices & ONLY USA Fuel Prices *Regular* via TomTom Home. QuickGPSfix & Map corrections were waiting but they had me just do the USA Fuel Price program & Regular fuel data.

It all worked after that.

But then I went back to TomTom Home to get the other two updates but found an additional update: Canada Fuel Prices.

Adding the Canadian fuel prices corrupted all the Fuel Price & I was back to square one.

I repeated the deletion process TomTom Support had me do but let the Canada Fuel Prices alone, didn't download it this time, & now have it up & running as it should.

I hope this helps anyone else with a similar problem.

Thanks, guys !