Antenna (how much the power cable is stretched out)

 

My 2597 is my first model with traffic and if my question is covered in the manual I can't find it. Does it make any difference in reception depending on how much of the power cable you have stretched out? I only need about half of the power cable and have the other half of the cable still wrapped around the base of the GPS. According to the traffic coverage map there is, I guess you would call it a station, in Madison, WI and another in Milwaukee, WI. In a straight line I am about 43 miles from Madison and 70 miles from Milwaukee. On one short trip I was probably 10 or 15 miles from Madison and never heard a peep from the unit. What should I expect, nothing unless there is a problem?

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Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

Yes

In weak signal areas, many folks find reception is extended to fringe areas when the power cord, which is the traffic antenna, is draped over the rear view mirror. Traffic reception is worst for neat-nicks who try to hide much of the cable below the dashboard.

GTM 20

I have a GTM 20 receiver with my Nuvi 765T. I use two clear Christmas ornament suction cup hangers that are attached to the upper part of my windshield. I hang the power cord on the hooks to keep it fully stretched out and with a view of the windshield so it is not blocked by the car body. That way I get great reception. When I first got a traffic receiver back in 2008, I was always wondering why I was getting poor reception until I realized the cord was the antenna (and I am a ham radio operator so it should have dawned on me sooner!).

Newer versions of the GTM 20 have a jack on them to allow for the connection of an external antenna.

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I support the right to keep and arm bears.

the GTM-36 manual

The GTM-36 manual (http://static.garmincdn.com/pumac/GTM_3X_Instructions.pdf) shows the built-in antenna is the double cable portion of the cord. For my 885, I stretch the cable from the power connection to the dash and then create a large loop laying on top the dash. I hold this in place by sitting my bean bag on top. This puts the maximum amount of antenna in an open area. As it lies flat on the dash, my vision isn't impaired from having the cord loop over the internal rear view mirror which many suggest. YMMV

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Illiterate? Write for free help.

Antenna

I have found that stringin gup the cable does make a difference.

Some of the garmin models have an external antenna connection too.

That makes a huge difference in reception of the GPS signal, but not necessarily the Traffis signal reception as most of those relay on th epower cord as the traffic antenna.

~

pratzert wrote:

Antenna

I have found that stringing up the cable does make a difference.

Some of the garmin models have an external antenna connection too.

That makes a huge difference in reception of the GPS signal, but not necessarily the Traffis signal reception as most of those relay on th epower cord as the traffic antenna.

The antenna connections on some GPSrs is for GPS antenna... Antennae for traffic receivers are built-in to the power cables as the traffic data receivers are in the power plug.

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*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*

not so keith

kch50428 wrote:
pratzert wrote:

Antenna

I have found that stringing up the cable does make a difference.

Some of the garmin models have an external antenna connection too.

That makes a huge difference in reception of the GPS signal, but not necessarily the Traffis signal reception as most of those relay on th epower cord as the traffic antenna.

The antenna connections on some GPSrs is for GPS antenna... Antennae for traffic receivers are built-in to the power cables as the traffic data receivers are in the power plug.

From the Garmin manual referenced: "An external antenna may have been included in the product box. To increase the signal range, connect the external antenna to the GTM. Use the attached suction cups to route the external antenna on the windshield vertically, if possible."

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

It's so for every GPSr I've ever owned...

a_user wrote:
kch50428 wrote:
pratzert wrote:

Antenna

I have found that stringing up the cable does make a difference.

Some of the garmin models have an external antenna connection too.

That makes a huge difference in reception of the GPS signal, but not necessarily the Traffis signal reception as most of those relay on th epower cord as the traffic antenna.

The antenna connections on some GPSrs is for GPS antenna... Antennae for traffic receivers are built-in to the power cables as the traffic data receivers are in the power plug.

From the Garmin manual referenced: "An external antenna may have been included in the product box. To increase the signal range, connect the external antenna to the GTM. Use the attached suction cups to route the external antenna on the windshield vertically, if possible."

Your model may vary... RTFM for yours... Thanks for sharing anyway...

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*Keith* MacBook Pro *wifi iPad(2012) w/BadElf GPS & iPhone6 + Navigon*

..

Don't have an external antenna and my 2595 works just fine.

Traffic reception

You also need to remember that the traffic is received from FM radio stations. FM does have a shorter range than AM does!

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Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

Yep

CraigW wrote:

In weak signal areas, many folks find reception is extended to fringe areas when the power cord, which is the traffic antenna, is draped over the rear view mirror. Traffic reception is worst for neat-nicks who try to hide much of the cable below the dashboard.

That is exactly what I do when the signal is low.

2595 gps

I have a 2595 gps with traffic and I have it stretched under the dash, coming up on the side to the corner of the windshield. This way is stretched and out of the way. Remember, some areas have less coverage and weak signals.

Never felt the traffic

Never felt the traffic feature was much use. Mine doesn't use the power cord for the antenna but many times the traffic info is old.

Leave it in clear view

I put the suction cup at the lower left corner just above the inspection sticker. This way the cable is laid across the upper driver side dashboard so the antenna has a clear view to the sky to receive signal. Keep the cable rolled up near the center console could reduce the effectiveness of the antenna.

On my 660...

On my 660, The Traffic receiver is in Power plug.....

I normally loop the power cable up from Cigarette Lighter (Where Power Plug/Reciever is located), Up and looping off rear view mirror, then on to the windshield suction mount assembly...

That seems to be the best bet here.....

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A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

I have the 2597

I always run the cable as short as possible and have no problem receiving traffic. The photo below shows it running from the unit to the console in my Explorer. The remainder of the cable is coiled up in the console.. I easily receive traffic 70 miles north of DFW.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/jajen/SAM_0402.jpg

I have another cable in my truck. Most of the cable is coiled on the friction mount.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/jajen/SAM_0398.jpg

The 2597 is different in that it does not display a traffic icon in the upper left corner of the Nav screen. The traffic tab, which comes out on the right side of the Nav screen has to be selected using the 3 bars in the lower right corner of the screen. It first has to be activated in Map & Vehicle/Map tools. When selected the tab may say "No Traffic Reported Ahead". If you press the tab, 3 bars will appear in the upper right corner of the screen, that allows you to select Incidents and it will display all problems in the area. This will verify that you are receiving traffic information.

Your cable

jjen wrote:

I always run the cable as short as possible and have no problem receiving traffic. The photo below shows it running from the unit to the console in my Explorer. The remainder of the cable is coiled up in the console.. I easily receive traffic 70 miles north of DFW.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/jajen/SAM_0402.jpg

I have another cable in my truck. Most of the cable is coiled on the friction mount.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/jajen/SAM_0398.jpg

The 2597 is different in that it does not display a traffic icon in the upper left corner of the Nav screen. The traffic tab, which comes out on the right side of the Nav screen has to be selected using the 3 bars in the lower right corner of the screen. It first has to be activated in Map & Vehicle/Map tools. When selected the tab may say "No Traffic Reported Ahead". If you press the tab, 3 bars will appear in the upper right corner of the screen, that allows you to select Incidents and it will display all problems in the area. This will verify that you are receiving traffic information.

I notice the cable in your truck has the larger cylinder built into it, can't remember the technical name for it. Is that a third party cable? My cable doesn't have that.

--
Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

Traffic feature

sunsetrunner wrote:

Never felt the traffic feature was much use. Mine doesn't use the power cord for the antenna but many times the traffic info is old.

I didn't buy this one for the traffic feature, I never had it on the other four Nuvis I've owned so if it doesn't work I won't lose any sleep over it, but knowing the antenna is built into the power cord, like any other antenna I didn't think I would get the best performance if it was all rolled up.

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Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

you're right

Don B wrote:
sunsetrunner wrote:

Never felt the traffic feature was much use. Mine doesn't use the power cord for the antenna but many times the traffic info is old.

I didn't buy this one for the traffic feature, I never had it on the other four Nuvis I've owned so if it doesn't work I won't lose any sleep over it, but knowing the antenna is built into the power cord, like any other antenna I didn't think I would get the best performance if it was all rolled up.

There are essentially two factors that directly affect antenna performance. One is being the proper length for the frequencies received and the second is position. The more antenna exposed to the radio waves, the better it performs. That is tied to the height of the antenna as higher antennas cover larger areas or distances,

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Limited Value Anyway

My 3490 has the GTM60 traffic receiver. Really short range. I bought the external antenna and have it placed along the vertical edge of my windshield. Still has a very short range. Not living in a metropolitan area, I don't get much use out of the traffic feature, except sometimes on longer trips. The "more frequent updates" of the FM receivers isn't always a good tradeoff for the longer range AM products.

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Tuckahoe Mike - Nuvi 3490LMT, Nuvi 260W, iPhone X, Mazda MX-5 Nav

Power Cable

Don B wrote:
jjen wrote:

I always run the cable as short as possible and have no problem receiving traffic. The photo below shows it running from the unit to the console in my Explorer. The remainder of the cable is coiled up in the console.. I easily receive traffic 70 miles north of DFW.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/jajen/SAM_0402.jpg

I have another cable in my truck. Most of the cable is coiled on the friction mount.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/jajen/SAM_0398.jpg

The 2597 is different in that it does not display a traffic icon in the upper left corner of the Nav screen. The traffic tab, which comes out on the right side of the Nav screen has to be selected using the 3 bars in the lower right corner of the screen. It first has to be activated in Map & Vehicle/Map tools. When selected the tab may say "No Traffic Reported Ahead". If you press the tab, 3 bars will appear in the upper right corner of the screen, that allows you to select Incidents and it will display all problems in the area. This will verify that you are receiving traffic information.

I notice the cable in your truck has the larger cylinder built into it, can't remember the technical name for it. Is that a third party cable? My cable doesn't have that.

I bought the cable shown in the truck on Ebay. I thought I was getting the same cable assembly as I received with the unit, because the part number was the same. The cylinder apparently is a termination point. It didn't interfere with my coiling because it was close to the power plug. The same power cable assembly is shown on Garmin's site. I always coiled the traffic cable for my 1490 as best I could and never had a problem.

https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/shop-by-accessories/cables/v...