RichardJ

The radio signals that the Sat-Nav can receive are for the TMC (Traffic Message Channel). In countries where this system operates, this radio channel transmits information concerning congestion and road works in order for the system to re-route accordingly.

boothguy

Huh? Are you sure about this? Anyone?

Pavehawk

I'm not certain if this is the exact system but I did find mention of it on this site:

http://www.panasonic-europe.com/car/

I doubt we have this in the states. It could be a European thing primarily.

8_wannabe

I have seen evidence of TMC technology in Japan and England, though not necessarily integrated with this Panasonic system. Once I stumbled upon a panasonic.uk web site that depicted our DVD player with an add-on module that included traffic info onscreen. That would be so awesome, but of course you need the nationwide infrastructure to beam that data to your car and the US isn't quite there yet. Based on what I'd read on the UK site, it seems like our system could be upgraded at some future time to include this. It would be so cool. One would assume it will not only depict traffic flow, but implement algorithms to route you around the worst jams to get you as quickly as possible to your destination. Damn, I would pay big bucks for a capability like that!

MEGAREDS

Oh... that explains the 87.5Mhz default frequency. That's on the FM band, right?

tripwire

Does anyone know how to get to the "System Analysis Menu"?

I've only been able to get in there a few times and I can't figure out the key combination to get back there.

MEGAREDS

Isn't this the "third secret menu" described above: 3 fwd, 3 back, 1 fwd, 1 back. I've been there. If you don't go slowly and deliberately, you can get the combination wrong.

tripwire

Yeah, that's it, I'll try it.
What about the NAVI menu? I was in there and did "cold start" o the CD ROM check screen, on accident. I wiped out all of my waypoints.

It would have been nice if they had made a memory slot so you could store all of your entries....

MEGAREDS

I wiped out my way points too, and reset my settings. I was bummed at first, then realized that I was glad there is a way to clear out the clutter and start again. I had some pretty dumb addresses in my system from when I was trying to learn how to use it.

The thing with GPS is that it screams to be used in open source programs. There are a zillion cool things that can be done with it, if you can get at the raw data, but none of the companies that make this stuff generally want that to happen. Being able to upload waypoints into the Mazda NavTech system is a good example.

In case anyone has a handheld GPS, there is an amazing shareware program that you've got to try. It's called ExpertGPS and it will read GPS data and download arial photographs or Topo maps from the internet, then plot the path the GPS is travelling or has travelled onto the photos or map. When looking at aerial photos last year, my brother and I noticed a large triangle shape on desert photographs and drove out to find out what the heck it was... we discovered an old airforce base. When we found a giant oval in another photo, we drove to it and discovered Toyota's U.S. testing facility; he lives 20 miles away from it, and didn't even know it was there. GPS rocks. The Mazda NAV system is great, but it could be made to do so much more.

I'm hoping someone figures out how to use that I/O function. Once we get access to the data from the system...

Xanda

Hi guys!

I'm very interested in this "secret-menu"-stuff!

Since I'm from Germany, I could test this TMC-Feature for it's available here.

I just came back from playing around with the navi, but unfortunately I couldn't find the needed menu. I tried both combinations: 2fwd 2back and 3fwd 3back 1fwd 1back, but I could only get to the "System Information" and the "System Analysis" menus... None of these brought me to the needed "NAVI ECU information" menu, shown in the first pic on the second page in this thread!

So is there another combination that can be entered? I tried playing around with the stick for a while, but I couldn't find another useful combination of entering directions!

Did I miss anything? Or does it depend on the specific software version?

So, please help me out!!!

Thanks alot in advance!!!

blksf8

I just traded in my 2000 Acura TL for my new 8. the TL had the old Acura Navi that wasn't voice activated, but it was still great. The acura/honda navigation lets you touch screen too (as well as it's voice activated). I like the Mazda navi. It's good, but I still think the Acura is a bit better.

jtdwab

I wish we could find the firmware manual for the Nav system. That way we could find out what everything means. Their may be other menus built in that we haven't found yet. I would also like to access the other voices on the DVD like maybe the UK female voice. Overall though I am sold I will be hard pressed to buy a new car that doesn't have a NAV system in it. When I bought the car I got the NAV because I thought it would be fun. I didn' t think it would be this handy to have.

I've been using Delorme Street Atlas programs for years with their GPS reciever on my laptop and thought it was a neat and somewhat useful. After using the NAV in the car I think the laptop approach is just a pain. Its not as acurate or as useful.

Japan8

$0.02 from Japan...

Yes this would be TMC and it is nationwide in Japan. Non-navi car stereos have a "info" button that gets you an audio traffic info. Electronic road signs in cities and on all highways show traffic and weather info. Very handy and helpful. US cities really need to invest in this.

As i don't actually own a navi myself, I can only say what I've seen in friends'/co-workers' cars and taxis... they all seem to be able to reroute based upon traffic information. They all also have tv tuners and DVD playback capablility in Japan...

Japan8

Not exactly... FM band in Japan runs lower frequency than US and has different "stepping" than the US as well. 87.5 FM is a perfectly normal station number in Japan, although reserved for TMC info.

8_wannabe

It's not really off-topic. Anyway, i checked and I can't find post offices either. A very strange oversight...

glide

I live in Indiana where it is One hour behind Eastern time. How do I change the time on the GPS. I looked in all the menues.

MEGAREDS

Set the clock to Central or Eastern time (I can never figure out Indiana time... sorry), then use the DST ("Daylight savings time") function to gain one hour. It's the last item in the System Setup screen and described very briefly on page 33 of the NAV section of the user's manual.

GiN

Regarding Honda/Acura (Alpine) Navigation unit versus Mazda (Panasonic?) Navi...

The Alpine navigation unit you find in Accords and TSX's and such are much more sophisticated and rich in features in comparison to the Panasonic unit that comes in the new Mazdas. I've done some extensive testing with the Accord's Alpine unit, and I've found the following features to be lacking in the Mazda:

Touch screen interface: the Alpine unit has a joystick on the face of the headunit display, but it's not necessary as you can simply press buttons on the screen. Much quicker than the Mazda's.

Voice command input: the Hondas have a microphone mounted in the dome light assembly which can be activated via a steering wheel button which enables the user to dictate commands such as "show/hide/find/map nearest/all restaurant/atm/bank/gas.." - along with a slew of other commands such as menu browsing, radio/cd/audio/climate control... In the case of restaurants, you can even be more specific and say "show nearest italian" which pops up a list of all the italian joints sorted by distance or name.

Fully integrated: The navigation display unit is hardwired to the heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) as well as the radio and cd and speaker system. So you can turn the radio on or off, switch cd tracks, raise and lower volume, adjust air conditioning and climate control, and perform navigation functions with your voice.

Comprehensive point of interest listings: the dvd software seems to contain complete volumes of yellow pages for every city in the United States. The Mazda navi unit shows very few listings in comparison. Also, you can choose the categories of points of interests you would like to have marked on the screen, such as having only gas stations and banks marked, and all others hidden.

What's also cool with the Alpine is that you have the option of choosing a male or female voice for reading off directions to you, which are both very high quality.

The one plus I would give Mazda's unit over Honda's is that the display unit can open and close. Honda's display is embedded and does not move.

In terms of navigation functionality, both units are equally good in that the GPS tracking shows you where the vehicle is located, what direction you are moving, when and where to make turns, automatically reroutes courses, etc.etc.etc.

In the end, the Mazda unit works just fine for navigation although it isn't quite as awesome as the Honda's. They're both $2000 options.

RotaryJeff

Thanks MEGAREDS for finding the additional screens!

I just love finding those Easter Eggs in software. One of them was even titled "secret screen" - the one at SYSTEM ANALYSIS --> RD, I think.

Now here's some caution for others, be careful about what you select in those extra menus, unless you know what you're doing.
I don't think you can break anything, but you might lock it up somehow.

I (by mistake) selected "white screen" from the NAVI ECU --> Display Check screen. White screen, period. I could not cancel it no matter what I pressed. I assume that I was still operating the system, but since the display was all white, I could no longer see what I was doing, in order to get back to undo it. Tried everything, including closing down and reopening the display. A real knot started to form in my stomach.

Hint here - the system is always "on" after you start the car. So as a last resort, I shut off and restarted the car. Bingo, white screen gone. If this had been a "soft setting" in non volitile flash memory (Mars lander, anyone? ) , even disconnecting the battery may not have cleared it. I would have had to post here for someone to recite the exact key sequence to get back to that screen and "un-white" the display.

Morale of the story: play carefully out there folks. But have fun

Jeff

GiN

Backdoor 1:

Up, Up, Up, Down, Down, Down, Up, Up

Backdoor 2:

Up, Up, Down, Down

Backdoor 3:

Up, Up, Up, Down, Down, Down, Up, Down

Unlimited Lives and Bonuses in Nintendo/Konami games:

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select, Start...

Xanda

Thanks alot for the missing combination!

Actually, I have another question:

How do I get to the "Receiving information"-screen?
That's the one giving the informations about the TMC-control...
I've checked the Nav-ECU screen and the "TMC" in the second line is missing...

So what Software-versions do you have? Is it possible that it depends on that???