Drivesmart 66 - No Garmin/HD Traffic - Only Live App?

DriveSmart 66 comes with a traffic receiver, but doesn't say which one.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/721098/pn/010-02469-00#inTheB...

Just because it has a traffic receiver doesn't mean it doesn't require pairing with a phone. Garmin have followed the trend with in car systems and as far as I'm aware all now require pairing to a smartphone. I was initially against it but being forced down that road as OTA traffic was withdrawn in the EU I am now a fan. Not only do I get detailed traffic reports but I'm also shown text messages etc on my Garmin.

The traffic discussion page from the DS66 manual can be found at https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-6E5DFD2E-EEE4-4....

The page referenced above is for the Smartphone app.

The OP is looking for info on non-smartphone traffic for the DS 66 and as stated in one reply, the DS 66 comes with a traffic receiver but doesn't identify the receiver's model.

From the DS 66 manual, there is a page on Traffic Settings

https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-6E5DFD2E-EEE4-4...

which I assume may allow the owner to choose some form (FM or HD) of traffic or be able to select the phone app. The instructions do not give a lot of help here.

If the Garmin compatibility pages are current and correct, possibly NOT a good assumption, the GTM 60 and GTM 36 are not listed for the DS 66

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/100586#devices

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/104181#devices

For the life of me, I can't find any Garmin compatibility list of devices that can use the TA10 or TA20 cables.

For the OP looking for an answer before buying a DS 66, I'll suggest either a phone call to Garmin Support (which hopefully will know the correct answer and not just make a guess), find an owner of a DS 66 and see what they know, or order the DS 66 directly from Garmin sales at full retail so that you can return it if there's no FM or HD traffic. I suppose it could also be ordered from Amazon and returned if there's no FM or HD traffic.

For what it's worth, I agree with sussamb that if traffic data is desired for a Garmin GPS, the smartphone app is by far the best choice. If concerned about mobile data usage, the app uses minimal data, something very important to me as a Tracfone user with an annual plan that requires occasional 1GB data purchases

Today I am ordering a DriveSmart 76 from thegpsstore.com. Their site says in the "in the box" list, "traffic receiver."

The DriveSmart 66, 76, and 86 are alike except for screen size. The DriveSmart 55 is different. It is a value-based GPS.

In a few days I will have the 76 and will report back.

dobs108

sussamb, we appreciate your insight but the US could have enough FM traffic that Garmin may supply a different device for North America.

See Garmin FAQ on Drive Smart 66 https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=nr43bpNIBL5Rdh4QImzEz9...

Ok, so in looking at this and then clicking this link here:

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=PV3ywn0ug72bC5YhCpS317

It appears the DS66 is capable of all three (internal with supplied cable, HD w/GTM-60, and Live App) unless I'm not reading it right.

This was disclosed better in previous models than this one is but Dobs108 did mention acquiring a DS76 soon so let's see what Dobs108 finds out.

Thanks all!

I agree but as I said just because it says traffic receiver doesn't mean it gets FM traffic. If anything FM coverage in Europe is more concentrated than in the US as the population density is far higher.

Thanks sussamb

dobs108

Here's the link to compatibility devices for a TA20 cable. The Garmin 010-11830-00 is a TA20. I just bought one yesterday for my 2495LMT for $19.49 at gpscity.ca

https://www.garmin.com/en-CA/p/112879#devices

Based on the thread at https://www.gpscity.com/questions?qid=64144 the TA20 provides traffic with devices that have a built-in "Traffic Receiver." I'm not certain the DS 66 has that.

Just received the DriveSmart 76. It is charging now.

I expected to see an "L" "M" or "T" on the back, but all it says is "DriveSmart 76."

There is a rectangular plastic piece on the power cable near the vehicle power supply end, but it only says "Garmin." There are no other markings on the power cable. The power cable is a larger diameter than other Garmin models. Remember that The GPS Store said that in the box is a traffic receiver.

I read the entire pdf of the manual and it doesn't mention the traffic receiver.

In Setup, you must agree to the HERE Traffic agreement.

In Settings / Traffic it says a traffic accessory is needed for traffic.

Soon I should be able to install it in the car and receive satellites. Then I can activate Traffic in Settings and see if it receives traffic data without the Drive app.

dobs108

I'm pretty sure they are all LMT, anymore. Does your cord have a rectangular ox on it? That's your traffic receiver. If there is no box, then your cord is the antenna for the built in receiver.

Do yourself a favor, install Garmin Drive on your phone. If you have cell service you have traffic coverage. The built in traffic is only for metro areas. Look at the Garmin Traffic coverage map. Pretty poor.

BTW, Drive data usage is negligible. Less than 400 mb for a full cross country trip.

Your Garmin automotive device is compatible with three different types of traffic:

Live Traffic using an app on a compatible smartphone paired with the device via Bluetooth.

An embedded traffic receiver built into the device.

A non-embedded external traffic receiver built into a vehicle power cable.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=nr43bpNIBL5Rdh4QImzEz9...

phranc, the cord has a rectangular box on it. I think that is the traffic receiver.

I just wanted to have the option to receive FM traffic or HD traffic. Live traffic works as long as bluetooth cooperates.

dobs108

I thought that my DS76 got Traffic and Weather when NOT connected to a power source/USB port. And it does. It's apparently getting the data through the SmartPhone app in my Galaxy S20. Traffic, Weather and Radar were all available.

Another thing. The battery in this unit is the pits. Can't be very large as it charges up from a "Low Battery" message in about 15 minutes (I did not time it) when it was connected to my computer, but not for the test. I last used it Monday, 23 May 2022. I did a "shutdown" by holding down the power button. My 3597 would last for more than 3 months when in shutdown mode. My 660 would last for more than 6 months when it was in shutdown mode.

Remember that the large display takes a lot of power. The manual says that a computer USB data port will supply .5 amps to the DS 76. The car power adapter supplies 1 amp, and the Garmin dual-port USB adapter accessory supplies 1 amp. There is no Garmin wall charger for this GPS.

When charging the battery, shut down the GPS.

A full charge from a low battery likely takes 4 to 5 hours. When it was shut down for storage it may have been mostly discharged.

dobs108

By Garmin's spec sheet, the battery life on the DS 76 is "up to 1 hour." I also suspect that if you have some features enabled, like Bluetooth, that number goes down.

This is about the DS 76 but probably the same for the DS 66 and DS 86.

After fully charging the GPS, ran Garmin Express rather than WiFi for the software and map update.

Garmin Express saw the GPS after touching "connect to computer," but hung at the beginning, "preparing for software update." Saw sussamb's older post in the Garmin forums to open developer options, and change it from MTP mode to mass storage mode. There is no choice for this in DS 76 developer options. Gave up on Garmin Express.

Connected to Wifi with the GPS receiving power from the 120 volt Garmin Dual-Port USB adapter. Ran the software and map update. It took 25 minutes. A WiFi home run!

I went back to Garmin Express to download language files / English. American English Samantha appeared in settings for the first time. This is the only American English voice that has Garmin Real Directions and Real Voice.

There was an SD card hardware problem. Installed a new SanDisk 32GB micro SD card properly in to the GPS. It did not click when it was inserted and cannot be removed. The card is visible in Windows 10 File Explorer, so it is connected. I plan to leave it alone. The map update fit the device only with plenty of spare room. It is not using the SD card.

dobs108

I put the DS 76 outside for the first time to get a good fix. It uses both US and Galileo satellites.

My phone is not running the Garmin Drive app. Activated Traffic and it displayed "searching for traffic" and "receiving traffic" after 15 minutes. I started navigating to a waypoint 4 hours away. It displayed green / yellow / red roads as well as a list of specific incidents. One was a stuck car 70 miles away.

The provider displayed was HERE Traffic, US and Canada. There was no HD. This was FM Traffic.

I am on the eastern edge of HERE Traffic in the New York City metro area. This is the traffic capital of the US! I am close enough for FM but too far for HD Traffic.

It is clear that the DS 76 has a traffic receiver!

dobs108

First, when running Garmin Express and looking for updates, an available voice update will only be offered when it is the device's active voice. It's something to keep in mind if future voice updates are made available.

If going to the Utilities and installing all English language voices, you will get every one available for your device and I assume they will all be the most current version.

Lastly, there are two English language voices that use TTS3 voice files which offer RealDirections and Real Voice. Besides Samantha, Serena offers both. I expect Serena is a British English voice though, not American as you specified.

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/42708

Large file size, highest-quality TTS3 voices offering Real Directions:

Voice, version, date first made available
American Michelle, 2.00, 1/24/14
Australian Matilda, 1.00, possibly 12/7/11
British James, 2.10, possibly 11/29/11
British Kate, 2.10, possibly 11/30/11

If anyone is interested...

Ignoring AM HD,,, HD is carried on subchannels of FM radio stations. HD doesn't exist on it's own. FM by itself doesn't carry data (except RDS if I remember the acronym right).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Radio

Who pays/organizes/gathers the traffic data that is used by Garmin? I can see the collective data gathered by sharing apps like WAZE or commercial organizations like HERE providing its members traffic data for a fee or subject to incessant advertising.
But the free stuff, what is the incentive for any radio station to provide anything? Which radio station does it? Why do some cities (Calgary Ab) provide much better "free" traffic than others (Edmonton Ab)
The "Google" shows me traffic building up at traffic lights.. why can't my Garmin show at least a bit of that??

I too am in the NYC region. Would it be safe to say that if you hooked up a GTM-60 cable, it would then receive HD traffic? Sounds like it works the same as my DS55.

I have a GTM-60 for another GPS. At my house it does not receive HD traffic, only FM traffic. If I drive 10 miles west, toward the city, it receives HD traffic.

Complicating the matter, not much of the traffic receiver cable is above the dashboard, and I have the optional antenna wire also.

dobs108

What are you seeing that makes you say that. As I understand FM, HD is one special form for modulating an FM signal. There is no HD without FM (in the FM broadcast band) but FM exists with or without HD. Further, data (not counting simple RDS) only exists in HD which, again, only exists within an FM signal (again ignoring AM HD). I don't doubt that you have a good reason to say what you do and I'd like to understand better.

When the GPS is receiving traffic info, in Settings / Traffic, it displays "current traffic provider." It can display, "HERE Traffic US and Canada," or HERE HD Traffic US and Canada, or "ClearChannel Traffic," a separate provider subscription for the GTM-60.

If you don't get traffic info in your area, you will never see any of these providers. Also, if the Drive app is connected to the GPS in bluetooth, that becomes the provider and the FM traffic providers are not displayed.

The way I understand it, an analog FM station has a subcarrier that carries info like what song is playing, or traffic info. That is called FM traffic. There is also a digital variant of that.

FM traffic uses the same info that cellular services like the Garmin Drive app provide.

HERE has a detailed explanation:

https://360.here.com/whether-over-cellular-digital-or-fm-wel...

Ralph, how they get the traffic info is in this link from HERE:

https://360.here.com/whether-over-cellular-digital-or-fm-wel...

Thanks. I appreciate your answer.

I had some familiarity with RDS but TMC was completely new to me. So far I’ve only read their Wikipedia entries.

On my DriveSmart 51LMT-S my only option is the so-called Smartphone Link and that is what shows up exactly as you said.

Reading about the dense traffic encoding made me think that obsolescence in the hardware attached traffic receivers would be very slow. Most obstructions already have codes. To make up an example (yes, made up) perhaps now there is no code for “cattle in the street”. If the organizing body were to decide to incorporate it then older receivers would have an unknown obstruction and new receivers will eventually incorporate that new code.

One item really got my attention in the link you provided. They said that some of their traffic data is crowd-sourced, obviously not from data receivers but smartphones. They said “… For example, a driver using an RDS receiver might receive a traffic update that was generated based on a report from a Connected Traffic cellular user a few miles up the road. …” So,,, competition with Waze etc!

I think this answers my original question then. It appears the DS76 can receive all three. If I recall, the GTM-60 will fall back to RDS if HD is not present which according to your post it does.

Also, I keep referring to the FM traffic as Navteq which I forget was re-branded as HERE.

OK, thanks for the update. I have a DS55 and the cable that came with it had limited traffic info. When I switched it to the GTM-60, I got more info as well as some current weather conditions but no extended forecasts etc. which I believe only comes from the app.

Thanks again!

minke, FM Traffic is not slow!

Some time ago, my only GPS was a Garmin nuvi 760 with I think a GTM-20 traffic receiver. At the time, FM traffic was the only choice.

We were driving from upstate New York, a vacation area, through New York City, and to Long island. We were in Westchester County, a wooded suburb north of the city, within the service area for FM traffic.

We were on the Sprain Brook Parkway, limited access, 55 mph limit, 3 lanes in each direction. Traffic was heavy in all lanes at 70 mph (113 km/h). We were in the left lane and everybody was tailgating.

The GPS spoke clearly, "Road Closed - Accident Ahead!" Seconds later, I saw brake lights in the distance and I stood on the brakes. The car was a Toyota Camry with good brakes. We just missed hitting the car ahead, and the car behind just missed hitting our car. I feel the timely warning from FM traffic saved my b*tt that day.

dobs108

What I said was "Reading about the dense traffic encoding made me think that *obsolescence* in the hardware attached traffic receivers would be very slow."

Nevertheless, the data still is slow. "... Both versions carry data at 1,187.5 bits per second on a 57 kHz subcarrier, so there are exactly 48 cycles of subcarrier during every data bit. ..." from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Data_System

OTOH, I remember when 300 bits per second was thrilling as it sometimes saved me a trip to the salt mine.

Have you tried loading any of the old voices over and using them. I use Karen and Australian on the 2797 and would like to port them.
Tnx,
Seth

I was initially concerned about data usage, with my DriveSmart 65, but I found that I was only using about 1-2 MB per hour. That's a miniscule amount.

I also find that the coverage is quicker and isn't restricted. The FM Traffic only covered major cities.

See:

http://www.poi-factory.com/node/42708

The DriveSmart units have Australian Karen already, so no need to port. As the FAQ points out, you may not be able to as Garmin updates the underlying engine that powers the TTS voices.

Now, what I HAVEN'T tried is using the Na'vi language file I have on my still-functioning 200W. According to the FAQ, the language file probably won't work on the newer units. At the same time, it doesn't need to.

I have Zoe on my DS65 w/Alexa. I copied it over to my DS55 & DS65, now all three use Zoe.

Garmin HD traffic never worked in Canada properly. We have always used Live App for traffic and it is very good both in Canada and US. I think their main focus is on Live app and not on HD or FM traffic anymore..

HD/FM traffic depended a lot on where... with some areas giving better coverage than others. But the live app gives a lot more coverage, albeit with considerable lag, both on activating a traffic issue and clearing it.

Agreed upon on some details as previous notes here
- HD/FM same source depend on areas
- Canada sucks almost areas, except some downtown, same to NY, Boston, North Carolina, Miami, etc... if you're far away from center, no HD at all
- If you got HD, you got all infos about Weather and others; otherwise you have only FM with slow detail than apps
- Internet not cover all areas across North America; especially on some rural or specific highway; then your mileage may vary

Still hope HD/FM traffic with Here still stay with us with all moving forward from specific laws applying soon.

Yours!