RDS-TMC won't tune on XL 335 TM, continuosly searching

[scottm1971]

Hi Friends,

I purchased an XL 335 TM the near the end of October and have used it occasionally since (I do very little driving). Recently, it seems that the unit is refusing to tune to a station for the traffic updates via the RDS-TMC antenna built into the auto charger cord that came with the unit. Things I've already tried include:

• Resetting to factory settings.
• Soft reset by holding down power button.
• Uninstalling and re-updating the TomTom application.
• Manually tuning using stations from Total Traffic Network (totaltraffic.com) for my area.

The traffic function worked just fine when I got the unit. Now all I get is the icon of the car with the circular arrow,

,which is supposed to indicate the unit is searching for a valid station (although I've found inconsistent information on the meaning of these icons throughout TomTom's site, probably because of their many different models).

I feel like the problem may be related to the TomTom application update. I now have version 9.056 installed. Has anyone else noticed a problem getting the traffic to connect?

In a possibly related issue, the HOME application has an error message in the corner:

"Your map has not been updated for more than 20 weeks. Unfortunately, Map Share map corrections are temporarily not available."​

Thanks.

 

[dhn]

Welcome to TTF. The second concern relates to a faulty error message that Home is showing for many models with mapshares not working. If you have the 860 (newest) map, don't worry about it.

Have you tried moving the rds antenna within the car so that the plastic 'egg' is in a different location?

 

[scottm1971]

Yep, I moved the "egg" around (although it doesn't extend very far from the end of the cable that attaches to the unit. I even stood outside of the car with it?no improvement.

Since there was little risk of making the situation any worse, I tried bending and twisting the cord between the "egg" and the USB connector a bunch of different ways. This "fix" got the unit to tune into the traffic a few times, but this is hardly acceptable. Looks like I got a bad antenna.

On a side note, I found a bug in the firmware. With the RDS-TMC antenna connected, if you have a route planned but are not tuned to a traffic station, when you go to the traffic menu the message in the bottom left corner says something like "retrieving traffic information." However, if you clear the route and repeat the process, the message says something like "searching for station" (I don't remember the exact messages).

I'm a bit disappointed thus far, but I guess I liked it enough when it worked to exchange it for a new one. Software bugs aside, I like the unit's interface and it beats running to Google Maps every time I need to go someplace new. Since I live in the NYC area, though, the traffic feature is something I definitely want to work reliably.

 

[Brian Green]

I am having the same problems. Do you have any suggestions for me?

 

[dhn]

This is a five year old thread, you know. Nevertheless, is your battery fully charged? What exactly is not happening? What application is on your device? When did the rds-tmc antenna stop getting traffic? Report back.

 

[Arno]

Have a look if anything here is of help.

http://tinyurl.com/hs4z4ws

 

[Wyvern46]

The 'egg' has a high failure rate history. Ideally you need a replacement, but you might have a bit of a battle. Do you know anyone who has the same power cord to test the situation?