traffic reports on 2010/11 factory radio

[gt4]

The factory radio has settings for various regions (euro, asia etc) when set to euro it has "TA" as a option. Does anyone know if this will work in Australia with the current systems (commonly accessed by Navman and Tomtom type units)? Also the "LW" ? long wave, option, would that have in any use in OZ.It would be nice if there was a way to enable the traffic report function as it saves you having to use accessory gps units (and in some cases pay). My understanding is that the traffic report system is "FM" signal based but in Aus the signal is encoded. Any ideas/thoughts anyone.
(apologies if this thread is in the wrong section but i thought it may be more relevant for the 110's)

[p38arover]

I've tried the TA feature on my P38A but I've never heard a traffic report.

[KarlB]

Are TAs (ie trafic alerts) broadcast in Australia?

[kenleyfred]

Embarrassingly this was one of our first "warranty" complaints on our SVX. For no reason the radio would go all static and not work properly. (horrible radios put in the SVX's)
Turns out we had pushed the traffic button. As soon as they turned it off the radio was fine.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner because Tapatalk is no longer used.

[gt4]

TA's (traffic alerts) are broadcast in major capitals (except Tas:(,), one broadcaster is "SUNA", but to my question, is there any way that the standard radio fitted to my defender MY11 which has TA ability can be "fixed?" so that it will pick up the traffic announcements?

[Sleepy]

The LW is short for Long Wave. (30 to 300khz) [MW, is Medium Wave (or as we lazily call it, "AM" band, and then SW is Short Wave 3- 30 Mhz, AM is actually the type of radio transmission - but probably not relevant here.]

LW is used for BBC4, and other stations in Europe. Not used commercially in Aus. Also time signals are sent on LW

Longwave - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Harumphy.radio_dial.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/84/Harumphy.radio_dial.jpg/220px-Harumphy.radio_dial.jpg"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/8/84/Harumphy.radio_dial.jpg/220px-Harumphy.radio_dial.jpg

BBC Radio 4 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:BBC_Radio_4.svg" class="image" title="BBC Radio 4 logo"><img alt="BBC Radio 4 logo" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/53/BBC_Radio_4.svg/175px-BBC_Radio_4.svg.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/5/53/BBC_Radio_4.svg/175px-BBC_Radio_4.svg.png

It isn't used in Australia, other than for NDB's (Non Direction Beacon) for Aviation - so you may hear an NDB ident in morse code, or the occasional Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS).:D from your local airport.

I guess with a giant antenna you may be able to pick up an overseas broadcast.:confused:

[p38arover]

TA's (traffic alerts) are broadcast in major capitals (except Tas:(,), one broadcaster is "SUNA", but to my question, is there any way that the standard radio fitted to my defender MY11 which has TA ability can be "fixed?" so that it will pick up the traffic announcements?

Why not leave it set at Europe? Europe uses the same 9KHz channel spacing as we do. The new radio I fitted into my P38A yesterday is set to Europe.

[gt4]

Yes I can leave the radio set for "europe", but (there is allways a but) i would like to see if there is some way i can utilise the "trafic report" function.

As far as i know (open to corrections coz this is why i am asking:))the "traffic updates" or "HD" traffic if you own a TomTom GPS, or "TMC" traffic management channel if you own a "Navman" type GPS send their respective signal via FM radio, which is "encoded".

Now seeing as the Landrover radio has a facility to theroretically pick up this signal/s viz "TA" is there any way it can be done, ie overcome the "encoded signal?:(

[gt4]

ok, after a bit more searching, i have found on the forums similar issues with the landrover Discovery, long story short, Landrover Au doesnt have an agreement with Suna ($$$ driven:() thus traffic reports etc wont happen , which would irritate me if I had spent all that extra money on purchasing a Disco, or Rangie.
thanks for everyones help, appreciated:D

[p38arover]

I'm confused as to what you actually want.

SUNA appears to be associated with GPS devices, not directly via radios.

The TA information on a radio is carried by the RDS signal. See Radio Data System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:RDS.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a6/RDS.png/200px-RDS.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/a/a6/RDS.png/200px-RDS.png

Form the Wiki on TMC Traffic Message Channel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Australia
Intelematics Australia broadcasts a national encrypted RDS-TMC service focused initially on urban Australia, under the consumer brand 'SUNA Traffic Channel'. The service, which reaches around 85% of urban Australia is transmitted by commercial FM broadcasters in seven cities, as well as via XML for online and smartphone applications. The service is available on GPS systems including Navman, Garmin, Mio, Uniden, iPhone (Navigon & Sygic), Eclipse, Pioneer, Alpine and Clarion navigation systems. SUNA Traffic Channel is also available in Ford, Holden, Toyota, Nissan, Subaru, & Mercedes Benz navigation systems. SUNA is currently the only source of comprehensive, metropolitan congestion monitoring content in Australia - this is achieved using proprietary technology interfacing to traffic light control systems. The SUNA broadcast service is fully compliant with both the RDS and TMC standard however the broadcast is encrypted and therefore will not work on all in-car GPS navigation systems that do not have a commercial arrangement with SUNA

It seems to me that TA and TMC are two different things. The TA being a flag to tell the receiver to do something.

Traffic Announcement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Radio_icon.png" class="image"><img alt="Stub icon" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Radio_icon.png"@@AMEPARAM@@commons/1/1d/Radio_icon.png

I must admit I've really looked into this facility before so I'm not conversant with the technology.

[p38arover]

I've read a bit more and I'm more confused.

However, this line of the TMC info intrigues me:


The SUNA broadcast service is fully compliant with both the RDS and TMC standard however the broadcast is encrypted and therefore will not work on all in-car GPS navigation systems that do not have a commercial arrangement with SUNA

Where is the decryption? In the GPS or in the radio? If in the GPS, does the GPS transmit an unencrypted FM signal to the radio?

The SUNA site isn't very clear.

It says:


From a technical perspective, most portable and in-dash navigation devices leverage the SUNA 'RDS-TMC' digital broadcast, which is encoded in an otherwise normal FM radio broadcast in each city. A conventional radio receiver will hear nothing, but a compatible navigation system will lock onto the correct frequency and decode this information. All currently available SUNA RDS-TMC compatible devices provide 'lifetime' access to the service, with no more to pay for the life of the device.

It doesn't refer to the radio at all.

[gt4]

treat the GPS and Radio as two separate entities, I was using the gps (not the factory fitted one on disco's etc) as an example for those that have those portable car navigation units, ie TOMtom, Garmin, Navman etc.
The signal from Suna is transmitted on the FM freq Melb 101.1, 104.3 Mhz, Syd 106.5 Mhz, Brisbane 97.3Mhz.
Now if i was in europe with my defender (or germany at least) my radio would pick up the traffic alerts,and also priority announcements.The problem in australia is that the signal is encoded, and basically (I think??) the manafacturer (Ie Landrover) had to enter an agreement with the service proider (suna) so that the radio would "decode" the signal. Anyway other owners of Disco's have been down this path, without much success, however it bears noting that they are using a factory sat/nav system, whereas i am talking about my low budget radio fitted factory to my deefer.

[p38arover]

however it bears noting that they are using a factory sat/nav system, whereas i am talking about my low budget radio fitted factory to my deefer.

Ahh. That's why I was confused. I could see it with a factory GPS/radio combo like our Subaru has but not with a stand-alone radio.