[Fabulist]

Has anyone successfully used the traffic information system in their Karma? It's a TMC-RDS system and is supposed to automatically get incident reports and post them on the map when using the NAV system. So far, however, mine has been unable to connect to the service, so I am wondering if it works at all, and if it requires a Sirius subscription, that I do not have.

 

[Deep Ocean]

I haven't been able to get traffic info either. Frankly have been using my IPhone to get my traffic info.

 

[DKV]

We have TMC-RDS in The Netherlands. First time I had to search manual for a station. After this it worked fine. The AUTO function doesn't seem to work. I drove from The Netherlands to Germany and back and had to search for the right frequency manually every time.

 

[Fabulist]

We have TMC-RDS in The Netherlands. First time I had to search manual for a station. After this it worked fine. The AUTO function doesn't seem to work. I drove from The Netherlands to Germany and back and had to search for the right frequency manually every time.

@DKV: How did you actually do that? In my car, when I go to the TMC screen, there are two settings, Automatic and Manual. When I select Automatic, the +/- Buttons under the frequency display become active but there is no change in frequency when I press them:

When I select "Manual, the +/- Buttons become unavailable and I cannot press them.

The behavior is the exact opposite of what I would expect, which is for the +/- buttons to be active when Manual search is selected. But either way, I cannot set a frequency and the automatic setting never finds a station, even though there are TMC-RDS stations operating in San Francisco as part of the Total Traffic Network system operated by Clear Channel.

Are you using a satellite-based TMC service or is the information broadcast via FM Stations? And how does the information show up on the NAV system?

Thanks,

 

[ffcars]

I can't select a station either. The traffic data is broadcast on FM Clear Channel stations. My + and - buttons don't work.

 

[DKV]

MANUAL is Orange then the + and - work. Then it says search and a frequency is set. You can also see that it has reception in the upper right corner.

 

[Fabulist]

MANUAL is Orange then the + and - work. Then it says search and a frequency is set. You can also see that it has reception in the upper right corner.

Even when they are available in Manual search mode, my +/- buttons do not respond to my attempts to pressing them. So this is going on the bug list. Anyone in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley using this feature successfully?

 

[kabalah70]

I am experiencing the same thing as I know two radio stations in the area that broadcast the TMC signal, but the controls do not work. I have told Fisker Consumer Affairs about this, but as with other things they look it up and say that your dealer has not opened a case for it.
If I have to tell my dealer everything to get it fixed, what is the point of also calling Fisker Consumer Affairs? Their e-mails saying give us a call if you have problems are basically a bunch of bantha-pudu, IMHO. The only thing they are good for is harassing a dealer if you have a bad one.
I for one would like to know if anyone is tracking cars and the "campaign" fixes applied to them or if it is simply a matter of nobody doing anything until it is a problem. i.e. has my car been checked for a crimped inverter coolant line? I bet neither the dealer or Fisker Consumer Affairs can answer the question. So, I guess I have to wait for my stuff to burn up? There needs to be a consolidated list by FISKER of issues that cars have had and those things need to be checked and the checks documented at Fisker Corporate level. If Fisker does not start doing these things themselves, they are going to be in hot water when the first fatality happens due to the headlights going out at night and the government steps in.

 

[matrix]

I have told Fisker Consumer Affairs about this, but as with other things they look it up and say that your dealer has not opened a case for it.
If I have to tell my dealer everything to get it fixed, what is the point of also calling Fisker Consumer Affairs? Their e-mails saying give us a call if you have problems are basically a bunch of bantha-pudu, IMHO.

My impression is they are trying to act like a big company (like GM, etc) who prefers their customers resolve issues through their dealers. The problem is, their car has so many problems and the dealers do not have all of the answers. Fisker needs to understand that until they work out the many, many issues with their cars, they need to step up and communicate directly with their customers instead of trying to hand them off to the dealers, IMO.

 

[ffcars]

This feature doesn't work for me either.

 

[Fabulist]

Unless the traffic data is being transmitted from a nearby Quasar via X-Ray and Gamma radiation, I don't think the scan function is working on the TMC system in my car:

 

[dennis]

My impression is they are trying to act like a big company (like GM, etc) who prefers their customers resolve issues through their dealers. The problem is, their car has so many problems and the dealers do not have all of the answers. Fisker needs to understand that until they work out the many, many issues with their cars, they need to step up and communicate directly with their customers instead of trying to hand them off to the dealers, IMO.

I used to call HQ Consumer Affairs. But I learned that while they are nice people and well meaning, they aren't service technicians. As a result, they can't offer me a solution, only log my problem.

I think the challenge for HQ-based phone support is that all we can report is symptoms. And those symptoms could have many different causes. So they are only going to be able to offer a solution for the simplest of problems, in that class of solutions called RTM (Read the Manual).

Now I call my dealer's service department if I have any issues. They are accumulating their own knowledge base of problems seen and solved. If they haven't encountered my particular issue before, they work with a Regional Tech Rep at HQ to solve the problem. I met him when 6.14 was being installed on my car, and he seemed very knowledgeable. Their model is working for me.

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

Unless the traffic data is being transmitted from a nearby Quasar via X-Ray and Gamma radiation, I don't think the scan function is working on the TMC system in my car:

snip: image with "-21474836.48" showing

As every programmer should immediately notice, -2 147 483 648 is 0x80000000, the "most negative" 32 bit integer. (Doesn't everyone have all their powers of two in decimal memorized? OK, I admit I get fuzzy between about 2^24 and 2^32... )

To find this bit pattern where you only expect small positive integers tells you that someone probably has a bad address and is writing bitfields where integers go ... or, there's a single-bit error in RAM turning 0 into 0x80000000.

 

[kabalah70]

All hail BitKing Ct-Fiskerbuzz! lol. Good catch.
It did nto work for me in 6.13, and I have yet to try it on 6.14, maybe for tomorrow's drive into work, since that is when the two stations around here broadcast it, weekday rush hour morning and evening only.

 

[Fabulist]

According to Fisker customer support, the TMC feature is not available in North America and they will be taking that out of the software. This is odd because there is in fact a TMC-RDS network in the US and the same data is also available through Sirius-XM in the US.

This is a quote from the Wikipedia entry for Traffic Message Channel:

In the United States of America, XM Satellite Radio started transmitting TMC messages all over the US, as has Sirius Satellite Radio. Navteq provides traffic data to both XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. Navteq Traffic delivers traffic information and related advertising via RDS and HD signals to navigation devices nationwide. Navteq also provides high quality traffic sourced from sensors, probes and other technologies in 10+ countries as of Dec 2009. INRIX, Inc. fuses TMC data with real-time flow information from its crowd-sourced network of floating cars and mobile devices with information from other public and private sources to deliver real-time and predictive traffic information.
Clear Channel Communications and Tele Atlas have a TMC service called Total Traffic Network (TTN), using FM RDS in 77 US cities and three Canadian metropolitan areas.[48] These services are both subscription, and were initially available to many in-car navigation units via an expansion module purchased separately.
The TomTom RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver acquires information through an FM radio signal broadcast by Clear Channel's regional providers. By connecting a compatible TomTom navigation device to the RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver, users automatically receive traffic information via the TMC connection. Once a trip is planned, traffic alerts are displayed in the traffic bar on the right hand side of the screen. When users tap the traffic bar, they receive further information, such as accident or traffic delays. The RDS-TMC Traffic Receiver is compatible with the TomTom VIA series, GO 920, TomTom GO 720, TomTom ONE XL and TomTom ONE 3rd edition. It provides integration of RDS-TMC Traffic information with the user interface of the TomTom GO and ONE products.
By now, in addition these after-market services, about six major motor manufacturers are offering RDS-TMC as standard in their U.S. vehicles, including Volvo and BMW.
Ibiquity HD Radio is advertising a TMC service based on the existing RDS-TMC standard. Utilizing the established standard for RDS/TMC, the Traffic Message Channel (TMC) is a data application for broadcasting real-time traffic information. Data messages will be received and decoded by a TMC-based receiver in conjunction with HD Radio devices and navigation systems. Traffic services are delivered to the driver in a vehicle in a variety of ways: the most common of these being a TMC-enabled navigation system.

 

[dennis]

According to Fisker customer support, the TMC feature is not available in North America and they will be taking that out of the software. This is odd because there is in fact a TMC-RDS network in the US and the same data is also available through Sirius-XM in the US.

I had the traffic data feature through XM in my 2008 Lexus. It cost an additional $4.95/month, and worked quite well.

Maybe we should petition Fisker to put the feature back in for US customers. :exclamation:

 

[kabalah70]

I know, as I said two radio stations broadcast it on their freq during weekday rush hours. What a bunch of ^$%&#%.

 

[Fabulist]

The latest word from Fisker: "Unfortunately the traffic system used on the Karma is only compatible with the European TMC system and not US" I guess I could get traffic reports from Paris, but not Palo Alto.

 

[siliconkiwi]

This is actually the same as my wife's Lexus - it has a tradfic button, will scan the stations, but never picks up a traffic enabled station (in the SF Bay Area). At least Fisker isn't alone...

 

[Fabulist]

This is actually the same as my wife's Lexus - it has a tradfic button, will scan the stations, but never picks up a traffic enabled station (in the SF Bay Area). At least Fisker isn't alone...

Seems like a waste of precious panel space to put in a button that only works in Europe in a car made for the US market. Since you can get this data on a handheld receiver, (Example) It does not seem that difficult to build it into a car's bigger, more powerful and more sophisticated system.