Garmin GTM 20 FM-Band Traffic Receiver Product And Product Reviews
October 8th, 2010Garmin GPS Receivers No Comments
Garmin GTM 20 FM-Band Traffic Receiver Product And Product Reviews
Garmin GTM 20 FM-Band Traffic Receiver Product Features
Garmin GTM 20 FM-Band Traffic Receiver Technical Details
Technical Details:
- Product Type – GPS Accessories
- Plug-and-play no installation required
- Provides real-time traffic information to compatible Garmin GPS car navigators
- Helps users avoid traffic tie-ups
- Graphical map symbol reference
Garmin GTM 20 FM-Band Traffic Receiver Product Description
Product Description:
1 — The GTM 20 is an integrated FM TMC (Traffic Message Channel) traffic receiver, antenna and cigarette lighter adapter. Designed exclusively for the American version of certain products, it receives digital information (where available) on traffic and road construction tie-ups that your compatible Garmin unit uses to offer an alternate route. TMC data, available in a fast-growing number of cities throughout North America and Europe, gives prompt, accurate notification of accidents, road construction, police, or emergency action, etc. so you can visually monitor traffic flow and, if necessary, avoid traffic tie-ups.2.Receive Real-time Traffic Data — In most areas, depending on the service provider, TMC traffic broadcasts are continuous theres no waiting for scheduled traffic news updates or random alerts. With the GTM 20, you see traffic developments in real-time, as they happen, so you can make the right decision sooner. The system alerts you when a traffic problem is on your route and proposes an alternate route to avoid the incident. Because traffic broadcasts are received via a silent FM data channel, you can still listen to music or news programming on your car radio without interference from incoming FM traffic data transmissions.The GTM 20 is a portable, all-in-one antenna, traffic receiver, and 12-volt cigarette adapter that does not require professional installation.
Price:$79.95
Garmin GTM 20 FM-Band Traffic Receiver Product Reviews
Handy accessory, but could be better,
I purchased this for my Nuvi 650. My husband and I do not commute to work during rush hour, but we do tend to drive to visit my parents’ around the evening rush hour. We figured it would be handy to help us avoid the Long Island traffic that turns our 25 minute drive into an hour drive around that time. We have several different main road options to choose from, and we were hoping it would automatically route us to the ones that had no traffic tie-ups. Here’s how it really works:
It continues to route you the normal fastest way, regardless of traffic. Once you get near the road where there is a traffic jam, a small yellow icon appears on the bottom right hand corner of the GPS, with a number inside it. That number is the amount of minutes you can expect to be sitting in traffic on the road ahead. Touch on the icon and it will show you the stretch of road that has the delay and it will give you an option to “Avoid traffic?”. ONLY if you click yes, it will route you to a different road to avoid the traffic. (After you click yes, it will ask you something like “are you sure you want to avoid, this route is already the fastest”, but click yes again. That route is the fastest WITHOUT traffic, but not with. You can tell this by the new arrival time you are given when you ask for the reroute. It’s usually earlier.)
Overall, I like the receiver, it does what I need it to do, only with a few extra steps. Ideally of course, it would ask you right off the bat when you program your route if you want to avoid all traffic, because that small yellow icon can be easy to miss if you’re driving alone in the car and not continually glancing over at the GPS. They should play a little sound or something when it pops up! Then it’s kind of dangerous to be poking around on the unit while it asks you twice about the reroute while you should be driving! I definitely don’t regret buying it, but hopefully future models will have worked out the kinks.
Not so sure if it is worth it,
I don’t do a lot of out of town highway travel, so I’m not sure this really helps me with my local traffic. I have found it very accurate, but if I have chosen the freeway route, I typically already know what the traffic will be like from the TV or radio. Where I do see some value…it helps to make the ETA on the GPS route more accurate. I think if I drove cross country it would help me decide whether to use through town or perimeter routes as I am approaching large cities. It works, I just don’t think it does anything for ME on my daily commutes. I often find myself saying, “oh yeah, there’s the traffic jam I see on the GPS”. In Atlanta, at least, it does nothing for the surface streets.
save your money,
I used this for about 2 weeks in the NYC area in December 07. The reports were totally worthless, I was told there was heavy traffic ahead when there was none and not told of traffic and ran into jams without warning. 2 times it reported jams when I ran into them and it was too late. Save your money do not buy any traffic receivers, the technology is too early in development. I wouldn’t use it if it was free considering my experience and would rate it “0″ Stars if possible. the GPS is great with the NUVI 650 though.
User beware,
Use of this device requires the tightening of the fuse cap every few times that you remove it from the cigarette lighter. If you forget to do this, the cap will eventually unscrew and the pressure from the internal fuse spring will cause 1/2 dozen metal and plastic parts to explode all over your car’s interior.
And just when you nicely get into the habit of performing the above, the plastic screw cap will break in two, making the device useless.
Easy to BREAK, traffic updates are practically worthless,
Product broke while trying to remove from cigarette lighter. For a $200 part I’d expect them to design this to be little more sturdy. Traffic updates are barely any use. It oftenly shows an incident that’s no longer an issue or doesn’t show problems that it should.
Getting this unit with your GPS is fine, just be careful when removing it from the cigarette lighter.
Do not consider buying this if it didn’t come with your GPS. It’s a waste of money.
Broke in a weeks’ use,
This came with a Garmin 760 that I purchased last week and already this thing fell apart on me. I picked it up to plug into my cigarette lighter and the plastic ring, connector and fuse just popped off. It was probably already loose from plugging/unplugging it less than 10 times, but it broke so easily that I checked online to see if it was a prevalent problem. 9 reviews so far on Amazon but already 3 people have reported the receiver getting stuck or broken. For the price you pay for this it should last longer than that. I’m contacting Garmin customer service for a replacement and will hopefully update with a positive resolution from Garmin.
Lasted 4 months,
Half of this product is lodged in a rental car’s cigarette lighter in NJ. The middle piece pulled out of the main part that inserts into the cigarette lighter, similar to another review listed here. It didn’t give reliable traffic info while I had it, but still, to fall apart after 4 months given the cost makes it a less than great value. Don’t do it.
Buyer Beware!!! Cheap “Breakable” Plastic Screw Cap,
The GTM 20 if you will look at the pick has a cheap black plastic round cap that holds in a fuse at the tip away fron the power cord. This piece of junk will easily break because the screw treads are cutting too deeply into the shank. Mine broke simply by pulling it out of the power source and believe me I am very careful with expensive items like this. It should have been made of metal! This thing costs an average of 200 bucks plus! Where is the quality???!!! I hope the government makes this sorry company recall or at least send out a non-breakable screw cap! What a rip off!!!
Same Problem- it breaks easily,
Garmin GTM 20 FM-Band Traffic Receiver
Ironically I am on Amazon to purchase a replacement power adaptor for my Nuvi.(Amazon is the best by the way). Came to the options and realized that my unit is the FM Band Traffic receiver. I really only used it once for its intended purpose and that was by accident. I have Sirius radio so I never listen to FM. Anyway the time I used it I was going from Long Island to Connecticut and traffic was a beast. The traffic receiver was awesome. It bypassed jams on roads that I have been driving for 30 years. That’s the only reason it gets two stars. The down side is the problem other reviewers mention. Yesterday I noticed that the plug end looked “wierd”. Looked in the lighter and then on the floor mats and found all the component parts. Put it back together and it seems to work as a charger, but I thought I’d get a spare (Naturally my first stop was Amazon). Are they kidding us? $160 for this. The whole unit, new, only cost me about $400. Thanks but I’ll just curse up a notch and buy the power adaptor for about $20. If this came with your unit great, but you are out of your mind to spend this kind of money for a replacement
Traffic Band Receiver,
Great product but flimsy and expensive. The reason I bought a replacement was the orginal one broke within a year. The portion that plugs into the socket became weak and fell apart. I really like my GPS with the traffic alerts so I broke down and was willing to give it another try.
