*** Radio / TMC Issue FIXED ***

[HarryM1BYT]

Originally Posted by MARKUK

Graham,

All I can say is Phew !!!

I knew it would work after all the R & D I did but I was
waiting with baited breath that it worked on another car
as well as mine, although I did have this working on Liams ZT
with the test DD so I knew the mod was good !!.

I did warn you about fuses !!..

Hopefully everyone else will be up and running soon !

Cheers

The length of exposed inner core, where it hooks onto the existing antenna at the rear screen - did you make the exposed section any particular length?

I have a feeling that the exposed inner will be helping pick up the TMC signal to at least some extent. Did you test the TMC's reception without actually hooking the inner onto the window antenna connection?

[MARKUK]

Harry,

I didn't make it any specific lenth, probably about 3 inches I think
Yes I did try connecting to the window connections but decided that
it would be better soldered there but didn't want to muck up the main
aerial feed hence I did whats on the video & in the instructions...

And no the TMC didn't work until everything was connected as per video

Make sense ?

[HarryM1BYT]

Yep, fine thanks..

[MARKUK]

Originally Posted by Teflon

Received mine today and very impressed. Haven't fitted it yet, but still very impressed. The build quality, documentation, and general attention to detail is second to none.

Well done Mark, and thanks for all the hard work. Thanks are also due to Shaun for the exceptional customer service he provides.

Cheers,

Cliff

Thanks for your kind words Cliff, much apreciated
I tried to put as much into the whole package and
make it as good as I could.

I hope you are able to get the same results that I have
now got..

I must also add my thanks to Sean who has been of great
support to this and has shown what good customer service is
all about, where as we have seen, other suppliers would have
left us all out in the cold, having to fund this 100% so thanks.

[MARKUK]

Guys, am back from Scotland,

No issues with TMC working up there, Radio was much better than before, still a tad patchy in areas but to be honest, to be expected in the deep cuttings on the M74 as your out in the hills...

I have the 3 units that have been ordered packed and will be posting out tomorrow morning...

I only have 1 unit remaining now until I build some more, but that depends on any remaining demand.

[HarryM1BYT]

I/we had a go at installing Mark's amp kit this afternoon, mixed in with several other tasks and basically ran out of time before arriving at a definate conclusion, but it seems much worse....

Here's what happened-

My intention, because it is the best place for an antenna amp, was to fit it as close to the antenna as possible - so thats what I did. I ran a 6m extension from the TMC socket to the original amp position, removed my Y splitter and plugged the original antenna directly into the rear of the radio and tested reception. It was pretty good on both FM and AM, no noisy background to the AM reception, as I have become used to with the Y splitter. Fine so far. I used the 6m extension rather than the 2 x 2m because I happened to have one and as everyone knows joints degrade the signal.

I then wired up MarkUK's amp - hooking the input onto the connection going to the window antenna, connected power from the existing amp to the new one, ground, then carried out some reception tests.

FM seemed OK, but AM was absolutely terrible - completely swamped with noise - much worse than before running on the Y splitter. If anyone remembers I long ago complained about a digital interference type noise being received which was wiping out AM reception - well now that noise is very much worse. Which about as far as I got.

Too be honest, neither of us could work our way through the satnav's menu system, to find the TMC settings to even make a start on checking how good or bad the TMC reception was. I'm using Tony's SD card with the upgraded Igo system. So no feedback yet on the TMC reception.

My conclusion at the moment is that the digital noise is being generated by the TMC unit. It was originally being fed via the Y splitter from the TMC into the radio receiver. With MarkUK's amp in place, the noise is now being fed all the way to the back of the car, through the new amp, then into the original amp - which is boosting that noise to even greater levels than before.

My guess at the moment is that my TMC receiver is either faulty or was not properly installed at the factory.

[MARKUK]

Harry,

You need to inistall as I did, before coming to any real conclusions...

1st I would try running the mod as I did and as I have shown in the instructions and on the videos, maybe you can just run the cable over the back of the seat until you are
sure that everything is ok..( again like I did )..

Put the normal aerial feed into your TMC feed on the DD, and see what happens to the TMC signal, it should be fine with the "normal" feed as I found it was...

I didn't put the amp so close to the existing aerial amp to ensure that there was no change to the exisiting amp voltage / reception etc..

If you install as I did, you should be fine, depending on what you have now done to your original feed of course..

[MARKUK]

Guys,

Please install as per my instructions, at least at first..

That's how it works for me and how it worked when I tested on Liams DD also, once you made sure everything works and have the baseline,
maybe then think about changing things around a bit from the original install instructions...

I designed the fix in a certain way and I know it works...you have seen it working in the videos and Liam has seen it 1st hand in my car and in his...

I need to know that what I have provided for you is working before you install in a different way than I did..

[HarryM1BYT]

Mark - I'm pretty sure my conclusion is correct, but I will try it with your amp at the front just to confirm it. While I am at it, i might as well see what difference it makes disconnecting the the antenna feed at the TMC plug at the back of the radio - I will guarantee that will stop it

I seem to have been the ONLY one who's main reception complaint has been the digital rasping noise and that right from the start of the DD install. I had originally surmised that the noise was due to poor internal screening inside the DD and the noise leaking across from the DD's processor system to the reciever or audio side.

[MARKUK]

Hi Harry,

I hear what you are saying...

It may well be that your DD input for the TMC is the problem, and no matter what you throw at it won't fix it.

You are also using a longer extension than I did, even though there is a join in the middle of mine..that's what was working for me.

Were you getting any TMC before with the splitter ?

But I guess I just want to make sure that what I have supplied to you is working as it should and is not the problem.

It could also be that having a 22db boost so close to the existing OEM Amp is pushing the noise through your normal aerial.