Traffic Icon display

I think my 1390t is the same with your 1490t.

I guess you are agreeing that all I need is the proper FM Transmitter FM charger cable?

Traffic subscription is assigned to traffic receiver, not gps unit. So once you connect receiver with proper subscription it will work, if receiver is compatible with unit. In US there is "free" traffic service with advertisement displayed on screen (new models of gps) so after you connect receiver it should work without any additional tricks.

Only think you can happen is update for receiver's firmware. You can check with WebUpdater if there is update for traffic receiver. Update will be done after you connect receiver to gps and power it up.

You say you have a 1490t. That means you have lifetime traffic and the unit should have come with a power cable that contains the Traffic Receiver (not transmitter). Are you sure that you are using a "Standard" power cable?

My cable, with the Traffic Receiver(older GTM-20), has a green LED light slot and another slot that has displays green, orange or red, depending on the conditions.

You normally don't see a Traffic icon on the screen unless there is something to report. And of course, there has to be a FM station nearby that is supplying the traffic info in a sub-carrier. This is usually only near large cities.

GTM-20's with Lifetime Traffic are available at Amazon for $80.43.

I am positive about the cable. its a normal cable just like the 200 W series cable without the FM receiver. I only came upon the trafic function when I was going through the manual. Thats why I was searching how to get the icon on the screen only to discover I need a better and the correct power cable. I can get the GM 20s cheaper even on Garmin for $50-70 and cheaper on Ebay for $30s

Did you buy the 1490t used, without the Traffic cable? If it was new, then it should have come with a traffic cable.

If you find a lower price, then great. But be careful! Make sure that the Lifetime Traffic is included, else you may wind up paying more than Amazon's price.

I just looked at EBay and there are several listed for various prices. Not all say Lifetime Traffic and most are used.

The pictures I looked at showed the older model (like mine) that has the antenna built into the lower part of the cord. These do not work as well as the newer version, where the antenna is in the upper part od the cord. Since the outlets in my truck are at the bottom of the dash, I have to hang the cord over the inside rearview mirror to get the lower part of the cord off of the floor to get better reception. The newer version of the GTM-20 has a module near the top of the cord which contains the antenna and works much better.

I hope you get a good deal.

Thanks for the heads up. I thought if they have the traffic receiver then its functional with lifetime traffic. As I understand the life time traffic you will get advertisements but the subscription option does not give pop up ads. I will make sure the lifetime function is there. The ones I was looking at are the newer ones with garmin brand.

This link on ebay shows a lot from Asia
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=garmin&_kw=lifetime&_kw=t...

They are life time. I am in no hurry but I think its a nice feature if it works.

Thanks again

I think the now defunct MS traffic had the pop-up ads. With the current Traffic, it either works or it doesn't. You could get 1 year subscriptions in the early days, but I think the only option now is Lifetime.

90 days after I got my 660, the Traffic expired (90 days free trial). Since it had already saved me a lot of time by avoiding traffic jams, I got the 1 yr. subscription. When that expired, I got the lifetime subscription for somewhere around $80 (was well over $100 previously). And there was a snafu with that. The license code would not work. Garmin got that straightened out and I seem to remember that the expiration date was the year 2052 - my lifetime: yes, my grandaughter's: no.

MS traffic was a paid subscription and did not have ads. Navteq traffic is offered in two versions, the free which comes bundled with units ending with a T and subscription which you get when you purchase the receiver as an add-on. At least that's the way it worked for me when I bought a cable for my 885 from amazon.

Jamstyle,
DO NOT BUY A GTM 20, it will not work since it has a different connector to the GPS unit

The correct receiver for your 1490t according to Garmin is the GTM35 (70.00 With Liftetime Traffic),
This will come with the advertisement based version.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134&pID=36082

The GTM 25 is also compatible with your unit but is more expensive (120.00)
This will also come with the advertisement based version
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=14994#fm

I believe the GMT 35 is an updated version of the 25, but the price difference is absurd,
Perhaps the quality of the newer 35 isn’t as good as the 25.

To get an ad free subscription you will need the Premium subscription that Garmin sells.
There are two providers of Lifetime subscriptions, Navteq(50.00) & Clear Channel(60.00)
Should you decide on one of them I would do a google search and see which one has a better signal in your area.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=268

I see you are browsing Ebay for FM receivers, that’s fine, but be careful, I would not recommend buying anything from Asia.
If there is a problem with it shipping costs can be quite high to return.

If I were in your shoes I would buy a used GTM 25 on Ebay and look for one with PREMIUM LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION.
Be sure to email the seller and get him to confirm the unit he is selling has it. This way you have proof for Paypal that the seller was lying and request a refund. Also review the sellers return policy.

If the ads don't bother you you can buy one with the regular subscriptions that come with the units, I would assume those models would be the bulk of models sold on Ebay.

Remember, as other posters stated, the software for the Traffic Receiver has nothing to do with the GPS,
All the data (subscriptions) is resident on the receiver and will work on any compatible GPS that uses that model receiver.

Thanks everyone for your input. i haven't seen the GTM 35. I see more GTM 20 and GTM 25. The used ones in the US were costing a little bit less than a new GTM from Asia. I bought a lot of electronics from Asia and only had one battery replacement in years. So I went with the GTM 25 new from Asia. It will take about 10 days.

Good info

Glad you chose the GMT 25, the 20 would not have worked.

Below are Ebay links to view a comparison of the differing connector links, click on the pics to enlarge and you can clearly see the difference
The GTM 20 is cigar like in shape, longer, and more prone to break.

The GMT 20 was used by the older 3xx, 6xx, and 7xx series Nuvi’s.

GMT 20
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-GARMIN-GTM-20-Lifetime-Traffic-Rec...

GMT 25
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Garmin-GTM-25-Traffic-Receiver-UK-Ca...

I MADE A MISTAKE in my earlier post when describing the difference between the 25 and 35.
After further researching I discovered why the difference in price from the 25 (120.00) to 35 (70.00).
The 25. I believe has the no ads Premium Liftetime subscription, the 35 has the ad based subscription. Thus the higher price 120.00 versus 70.00.
If you check the features of the 35, it shows the option to buy the Premium subscription.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=134&pID=36082
If you check the features of the 25, that subscription option is not shown so I would assume it has the Premium subscription.
I would call Garmin to verify if any other board members were interested in buying from Garmin.
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=14994#fm

Garmin really needs to provide better information of what they are selling. As an example, you will never see them publish
what the internal Rom memory is for any of their devices, My Nuvi 660 is 2GB, my 765T is 4GB.
Big difference, something to consider since the maps are getting larger and larger.

It took almost 2 weeks to get the charger GTM 25 from Hong Kong. Its Ok and it works. I had a problem getting the traffic icon displaying on the map page so I had to reset it using the reset procedure. Then it took about 30 minutes before the trafic icon appeared.

It seems like it only appears on the map when its receiving info and when its in range with the FM stations transmitting the info. If its out of range you will not see the icon. Resetting the FM table data really worked in getting the display. Any tips from i should be aware of?