TT 630 Go .... re Satellite UN-finding.

[5tevie]

Hi Guys,
Does anybody have a clue as to how long it takes for a Tom Tom Go 630 Traffic unit to revert back to "zero sats in range" from the last time that sats WERE in range?
I know that sounds like a mad sort of question but there is logic to my insanity.
If I stick my device atop the dashboard and in full view of the sky, it acquires a full quota of sats fairly quickly and the whole bar is full. If I then move it to a place in shadow where I can see it better as shown here ....

.... the Sat strength drops by one. The thing is that I can't believe that the device picks up good Sat strength from way down there away from most "line of sight" views of the sky.
Is the device just remembering where it was when it last got a view of a satellite or is it really still picking up signals?
Cheers,
Steve

 

[dhn]

If it weren't picking up signals on the unit placed there, no bars would be showing.

 

[mikealder]

The sat strength looks fine to me, the receiver in the 630 is considerably more sensitive than the Bluetooth receiver/ PDA combination you have used prior to the 630 - Mike

 

[5tevie]

Hi Guys,
Good news for a change .
If the device picks up enough Sat power to do real time views of where the car is from way down there then I am well impressed. I'll try it out and report back just as soon as the Cat is let out of the bag.

Cheers m'dears,
Steve

 

[canderson]

I've also been pleasantly surprised at where you can park one of these in a vehicle and still get good signals. Some of them may be reflected signals, but its not like increase in the reflected distances of a foot or two matter in grand scheme of things. Mine has always been mounted below dash level.

 

[widescreenforever]

Personally I perfer the device to be in the lower left hand corner of my windscreen.. that way I can watch the road and the device at the same time instead of looking down and taking my eyes off the road ....

 

[canderson]

That's why I insist on a model with text-to-speech. I rarely look at the thing while driving. The interaction is at the start of the trip and the odd peek at traffic.

 

[widescreenforever]

Mostly I look at the device to see how far behind I am in time due to heavy traffic .. I start off the trip with the numbers readign (i.e) 38 min to destination .. if after a half hour I don't have 8 minutes left I start to freak out .. These times are never 'read' back to me . .I have to read them ...

 

[Andy_P]

If it weren't picking up signals on the unit placed there, no bars would be showing.

And the other way to tell is that if the display is still in colour then you are getting good, live satellite signals.