tom tom 300 GO reception.....

[Harry]

hi all,

i'd appreciate it if you could shed some light onto this potential problem.

i've used my tom tom GO 300 in around 3 cars prior to my newly acquired vectra, and never had any significant reception problems, however the first time i used it in the vectra it just couldn't pick up a signal, stayed dim the whole journey, my girlfriend had to hold it close to the open window in order to get a signal.

used it again yesterday but moved its position from the bottom centre of the windscreen to the bottom right, and it worked a bit better but still not 100%.

Is there something in/on the vectra windscreen that may be interfering with the reception???

Does anyone else have this unit and experience this problem, or any other sat nav units in fact?? And if not then where do you mount the unit?? Do you have it the right way up or inverted?

[Duncan]

Do you have the heat reflective windscreen? That will seriously weaken the signal. If you do have that sort of windscreen, you'll need to get the external antenna and position that in an area away from the windscreen.

I don't know about the Vec, but some cars with heat reflective windscreens have an area around the rear view mirror that doesn't have the heat reflection. This is for things like electronic toll payment devices (DartTag etc) and will give you a point to put the external antenna - just route it there behind the trim.

HTH

D

[Harry]

i'm not sure whether i have the heat reflective screen or not, i know i read something in the manual about placing the devices behind the rear view. i thought the only cars that had problem with weak signals were those with heated front windscreens i.e. the ford's.

cheers for the info

[Harry]

just did a quick search and it looks as though the antenna is going to cost me 50 quid, give or take a fiver.

searched on ebay and they are going for the same money and in some cases MORE than what you'd pay at a retailer. i know its been said on the site before, but you just can't assume that ebay is going to be cheap for everything. Once you take P&P into account you're paying substantially more for the same product when buying from ebay.

i'm going to stick the tom tom up by the rear view mirror and see if it works any better, if it does then i'll have to buy the antenna.

[Duncan]

i'm not sure whether i have the heat reflective screen or not, i know i read something in the manual about placing the devices behind the rear view. i thought the only cars that had problem with weak signals were those with heated front windscreens i.e. the ford's.

Not just Ford heated screens - any heat reflective screen will cause a problem. You can tell quite easily if you do have one. Look at it from the outside, compared to a normal screen it will have a purplish/metallic tint to it. It will be quite noticeable when you have it next to a car with a normal screen. Also, look at the stamp in the bottom corner on the passenger side. There are a couple of letters. If you have GF then you have a normal screen. If there's something else (I think CF) then that's the reflective one.

just did a quick search and it looks as though the antenna is going to cost me 50 quid, give or take a fiver.

searched on ebay and they are going for the same money and in some cases MORE than what you'd pay at a retailer. i know its been said on the site before, but you just can't assume that ebay is going to be cheap for everything. Once you take P&P into account you're paying substantially more for the same product when buying from ebay.

Absolutely. I've seen many, many items go for more than they are in the shops,and that's before P&P!! People don't do research or get carried away bidding or are just stupid!!

i'm going to stick the tom tom up by the rear view mirror and see if it works any better, if it does then i'll have to buy the antenna.

At least that'll test if putting an antenna there will help - obviously not ideal for navigating with and viewing the screen!!

HTH

D

[cyb]

I think you will find you have a coated window screen, I have the same problem with my road angel. I kept moving it around on top of the dash until I found the best place, although it still abit fussy about picking up signals at times

[bruceybonus]

no prob with tomtomgo 300 on my signum,, located bottom right of the windshield