Poor XM NavTraffic Coverage on Z2

[dodgeboy]

I've had my Z2 for 3-4 years now (basically since its release). Since I first got it, the roads covered with traffic information has not changed. There are tons of roads in my (Detroit) area that are now traffic enabled, but this receiver only shows portions of large highways with coverage. Is this a limitation of the receiver, XM tuner, or XM NavTraffic itself? I have Sirius (Mygig) in my truck, and it has probably 10-20x the amount of coverage in Michigan. And it seems like roads get added (or extended) every few months. Since XM and Sirius are the same parent company, I'd assume that the coverage would be the same.

 

If it matters, the coverage did not change before/after the Z3 software upgrade. I expected that might have an affect on the coverage. Disappointingly, it did not.

 

Thanks in advance,

Dave

 

EDIT: I should clarify that "poor coverage" should mean not many roads are covered, not that I have a reception issue with the XM antenna.

[EssTEye]

Unfortunately, your problem is with XM, not the AVIC. The XM Traffic option is a service provided by XM that sends traffic information to your satellite reciever and displays the traffic information on your "XM Traffic Enabled" unit. IMHO, the XM Traffic coverage SUX!!! Mostly because I have never been in a city that has offered it, so it's basically an extra feature for me. I'm not sure why they never really expanded on this, but my guess is that it just wasn't economically feasable to devolop XM Traffic for more citites when not many of the current navigation systems support it. Perhaps in the future, as more navigations systems seem to be carrying it, they will develop more, but for now, you are stuck with whatever XM gives you.

 

Also, I want to add, that none of the traffic information is stored anywhere on your AVIC. Not in internal memory, not on the HDD, no where. So the upgrade will make no difference. The only information displayed (coverage) will be what is sent by XM and recieved by your antenna.

 

Here is the coverage map of Detroit from the XM website...

 

http://www.xmradio.com/images/navtraffic/maps/detroit.jpg

 

If you aren't getting information from a road that is highlighted on the map, you need to contact XM directly. Don't expect to see traffic updates on the road in front of your house, these are major roads only. More than likely, it's a problem with them, not your AVIC.

[dodgeboy]

Thank you very much for your detailed reply!

 

I guess what was confusing me is the difference between the XM map you posted, and the Sirius map here:

http://www.sirius.com/wo/i/traffic_weat ... troit.html

 

Wouldn't it stand to reason that XM and Sirius would get their traffic information from the same place, and send out the same data? The sirius map basically has flow information for all of the roads, and the XM map only has it for the main arteries around Detroit.

 

I really appreciate all of your info. It looks like I'm stuck with the limited coverage in the car.

 

Dave