So I've been trying to figure out why MSN direct doesnt seem to work for me and I figured at least one thing out... my car has a power antenna that I leave down when I'm not in FM/AM radio mode. That kills the signal completely for MSN Direct, and it gets nothing. Actually pretty frustrating since I think my car looks funny when the antenna is up (rx7 converible)..

Ok, so assuming I set the Antenna to be up all the time, it seems like I dont get 'MSN' signal unless I'm tuned into the FM/AM tuner. I may be wrong on this though, so I wanted to see if anyone else has done testing on this?

I really miss my XM NavTraffic ... :/ I have it on my truck still at least.

(though, I am really hoping that MSN Direct updates more often than NavTraffic...)

Go into the settings menu and turn the auto antenna setting from TUNER to POWER. That will send power out the unit's power antenna/antenna booster wire ALL the time, not just when the AM/FM radio is the current source:

AV MENU > SYSTEM > ANT CONTROL > set it to "POWER" instead of "TUNER"

Go into the settings menu and turn the auto antenna setting from TUNER to POWER. That will send power out the unit's power antenna/antenna booster wire ALL the time, not just when the AM/FM radio is the current source:

 

AV MENU > SYSTEM > ANT CONTROL > set it to "POWER" instead of "TUNER"

Well I have that ... but that means that the antenna is up all the time, which I'll have otl ive with I guess.

I guess though I'm wondering if MSN Direct is 'listening' when you're on XM or IPOD instead of FM?

I was wondering the same exact thing. I am thinking that the unit receives a constant signal from MSN Direct (regardless of audio source) since you can listen to XM or Sirius while navigating a route and still receive traffic updates (or re-routing via MSN Direct). I don't really know for sure, that's just my guess.

You may not have to leave your antenna up, however. Your antenna can still receive FM signals when recessed in the vehicle, they just aren't as strong. It most likely depends on how strong your MSN Direct FM signal is in your area. You will probably have to keep your antenna up tho, since MSN Direct reception is not good anywhere on the planet.

So far I've had no real luck with it... even with the antenna up, I occasionally (very rarely) get 2 bars of signal, and yet still no actual data. I live in Redwood City and commute to Mountain View every day, which is right in the 'gray area' of the Bay Area's coverage map. Yet, it gets signal once in a while but still no real data.

THank god for a 3 month free trial...

I miss NavTraffic...