Just Ordered A Tomtom Go: Best Place To Put It?

[markie]

Well, a couple of months ago it was a toss-up between a Snooper S4 GPS radar detector or a TomTom Go Sat Nav. I thought the snooper would be more beneficial (and cheaper !) at the time so I went for that. However, having read on pocketgpsworld that the latest software due out soon for the TomTom Go will allow you to include speed camera database info free of charge, I have taken the the plunge and ordered one, and will sell my Snooper S4 Neo gps detector, as it now won't be required, and will go towards the cost of the sat nav. I was wondering if anyone else has got the TomTom Go and, if so, where is the best place to put it? I'd ideally like to leave it in the car on a pretty much permanent basis without removing it when I get out, but in a place where it isn't too obvious for prying eyes, but where it can be seen by me, the driver, whilst driving. I don't mind purchasing an additional aerial or making a custom fit bracket so it could go somewhere less obvious, rather than sitting on the dash so it can see the satellites? Any thoughts appreciated.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

If you've got a facelifted Galaxy, the central dash-top storage bin is ripe for modification! Undo 3 torx screws and it comes out complete; looks like there is quite a bit of spare space underneath and alongside it; just need a jigsaw/padsaw, some determination, some imagination and good luck!

:D

 

For the Alhambra, try velcro (or other) mounting up on the roof lining where the "bulge" is, by the rear-view mirror - will make it hard to spot from outside the car but should make it easy to read from inside with little chance of sunlight making the screen unreadable. You will need a long power lead if you want to keep it fed with power, and a remote GPS aerial?

[markie]

thanks for that, I have the alhambra and was considering, as you suggest, putting where the bit on the roof sticks out. When it arrives later in the week I'll have a play...

[MrT]

I have not tried mounting the GO unit as I use a PDA, but I have tried numerous placements in the car and the roof mounting area did not go well. Unlike other instruments or the rear view mirror, you tend to stare at the Navigator screen rather than glance at it. You also need to touch buttons on it whilst driving.

 

To stare at the screen the Navigator needs to be in your normal field of vision so that when you are looking at it, you are still looking in the direction you would be whilst driving. This way if the car in front suddenly slows, whilst you may not be focused on that distance you certainly see it happening.

 

The two positions I have found best placed is above dash level just to the left or right of the steering wheel. The left gives a slightly better positioning for viewing and is also more out of reach of smash and grabbers. In this position you can touch the screen or buttons without moving your hands off the wheel.

 

If you look in a thread in the technical section called "Picture of Galaxy Wiper Area Required" you can see within my picture through the windscreen the back of the mount. Not the most aesthetically pleasing from outside, but after many moves and drives, certainly the best for usage.

 

Also with the GO unless you are using an external aerial or better still a re-radiating aerial (no aerial connection to be made when moving the unit) you will not get a good GPS signal in the roof bulge area. This may differ on cars with sunroofs, mine has a solid roof. On the dash area you get a reasonable signal without an additional aerial. My GPS receiver unit (separate from PDA) is out of sight in the middle top glove box.

 

I suggest you use temporary mountings for a while until you find the best position for yourself.

[Davetheref]

MrT

I've just ordered a Mitac PDA and thought it would only be able to stick on the windscreen but I noticed in your picture its stuck on the dash itself. Any thing special needed to do that because the dash isn't a smoth surface and not sure the holder supplied will stick.

Thanks in advance.

 

P.S. What make PDA do you have and how good is the sat nav on it?

[MrT]

The goose neck arm I have on my holder comes with a suction cup holder which is a flat piece of plastic with a 3mm rim. This has a strong self adhesive layer which adheres it to the dash. The suction cup sucks and sticks into this. The gooseneck came with the Seidio mount, but the same arm and cup comes as part of the Halford's universal phone mount for

[markie]

Thanks mrt for your long post. I should get the TTG Sat Nav on Thursday (got it from ebuyer for

[MrT]

I prefer the re-radiating type as they do not need to be connected to the unit and are especially good if you have more than one GPS unit in your car. They do require a power supply, but come with a light plug that another lighter plug can fit in to.

 

I got mine from Global Positioning Systems

 

They also do a specific antenna for the TomTom Go but I know nothing about its performance etc.

 

TomTom have also released an update to version 4.40 for the TomTom Go today.

[markie]

Cheers MRT, am now downloading the new tomtom go software with POI in it (roll on broadband in our area, as it is taking forever to download !) and the link for the aerial. Will update when I get it (should be Thurs / Fri) and try it out over the weekend..

[markie]

Got unit today and impressed with it's ease of use. Have loaded speed camera database into it after upgrading software to V4.4 and will test the speed camera database out on the way to work tomorrow. Have now bought a re-radiating antenna tonight (as mrt suggested), which will come next week, as where I want to put the unit will not pick up a signal !

[Davetheref]

Picked up my Mitac Mio yesterday and spent the rest of the day geeting it working, loading software etc. I got the TOMTOM navigatorsoftware and it seems to work great so far. Is there somewhere you can download the speed camera data from for free?

[markie]

I downloaded database free from pocketgpsworld.com

[jkspoff]

The TomTomGo speed camera POI is excellent, its already saved my license !! I've set it to warn 100yrds before any speed camera or traffic light camera, with a 'gong' type noise, plus it flashes the speed camera symbol on screen, yet another addition (free) to this already excellent Sat Nav device........ B)

[markie]

Still waiting for the re-radiaiting antenna to arrive before I decide where to place the unit !!!

[markie]

Update: Got the aerial, but was sent a completely different one by globalpositingsystems by mistake - a datalogging device of some sort - so that has been sent back and waiting for the correct item to arrive - typical ! Have decided that I'm going to put the aerial on the front centre of the dash near the windscreen, then run the cable to the left and under the passenger side trim, then under the passenger footwell to the place where the gearstick, ashtray, cigarette lighter is. The reradiating unit will sit there behind the ashtray and the TTG will sit in front of the ashtray, fixed either with blu tack or velcro. I have bought a lighter socket that I have connected to the power side window switch wires, as then everything turns on with the ignition. If you don't have the power side window switch, then this could be connected to the exisiting cigarette lighter wires. The re-radiaiting aerial plugs into this ligher socket, and the TTG plugs into the back of the re-radiaiting antennta. All of these sockets are under the trim so cannot be seen. When the correct aerial arrives, and if the above works o.k. (it should as the aerial will have a clear view of the sky but who knows), I'll take some photos and post them up for anyone else who is interested.

[Guest Jackdaw]

Can someone tell me how to install the gatso database into the TomTom Go. I've downloaded it, transferred the files to the SD card but can't see what to do next. I'm running version 4.40.

Thanks.

[markie]

Take a look here:

 

http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/tomtom-go-poi.php

 

 

And here:

 

 

http://pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name...er=asc&start=60

[Guest Jackdaw]

Thanks, I should have looked there in the first place.

Do you have a heated front windscreen, and if so, what quality of GPS signal do you get?

I was thinking of putting an external GPS aerial on the roof. Does anyone know how to do this without drilling a hole in the roof?

[markie]

The reradiating antennas and most external antennas are magnetic so will just hold on to the roof due to the magnetic force, so don't need to drill. I do have a heated front screen, but the signal gets through o.k. - pretty much maximum signal but sometimes less - but still enough for the TTG to work. I know cars like renault, etc are a no go if they have a heated front screen, but it seems to work o.k. on the galaxy, alhambra, sharan.

[Guest Jackdaw]

I may have misunderstood how the reradiating antenna works. I thought they were powered with a cable and the cable has to be fed to the antenna on the roof.

Does the power just go the antenna in the car and the external antenna is simply a reciever without an aerial or power lead to it?

If not, I don't understand how you get a power or aerial lead to an outside antenna.

Thanks for your help.

[markie]

A reradiating antenna does not physically connect to your sat nav unit, hence you do not have to connect an aerial directly to it. The reradiating antenna comes in 3 parts. The first part is the aerial which has a wire on (it's like a flat disk about 2inch square). It's this bit which picks up the satellites, so this bit must be placed where it can see the satellites. The wire bit from that connects to the reradiating antenna (which is about 3 in long, 1 inch wide). This has to be fairly close to the sat nav unit (depending on the type of reradiaiting antenna, this can be up to about 2 m, but closer is better). Then another wire (with a cigarette lighter attachment) goes from the reradiating antenna to the power source. This is what powers the device. Hope this makes sense.

 

Take a look at the picture here:

 

http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/...ating&x=17&y=10

[markie]

Well, here's the photos at last ! Working very good. The picture of the windscreen, if you look carefully enough, you can see the aerial of the re-radiating antenna in the middle; the other picture is where the TomTom go now sits. I wired everything in like I said above and am picking up basically a full signal. One tip: don't buy a 2-3 re-radiating antenna - had all sorts of problems with them. Swapped it for a 45cm and it's so much better. Hope this helps some people. The reason I wanted it where it was was basically to deter thieves. It would be better on the windscreen for visibility, but did not want to keep taking it off all the time. Now, I just put a folded newspaper over the Sat Nav and it cannot be seen.

[markie]

And this:

[MrT]

The reason the 2-3 usually does not work is when the red-rad's transmitter is within 2-3m of the re-rad's antenna, so it picks its own signal up and gets a feedback loop.

 

I have my re-rad antenna bang in the middle of the roof where it gets the best signal. You can also feed the wire through the upper edge of the tailgate and place it on the roof there. On the dash it is has the rearwards view of the sky partially cover by the roof of the car.

[markie]

Well, been driving about for a few days now, so will update on performance. First thing in a morning, the sat nav unit takes up to 3-5 mins to find the signal (1-3 bars), but when it does, within another few minutes it creeps up to full signal (5 bars). At other times, signal is picked up in less than a minute, with full signal recieved quickly afterwards. Has not dropped the signal once when it is found. To be honest, I'm really well chuffed with the system. I have always liked the idea of Sat Nav and if I could have afforded it, I would have liked the factory fit option, but this is fine for my needs. Not only is it great to use, but a talking point, if you take any passengers - they are well impressed with how accurate it is and how it shows you the bends in the roads, etc., not to mention showing you those dreaded speed - I mean (ahem) - safety cameras !

 

To finish, hope this thread has helped some people contemplating buying a unit to go for it and hopefully to give you an idea of where the unit can be put without being too obvious.