That Ta Button

[RavmanDave]

On my SatNav unit, according to the manual, the TA button is supposed to retune the radio to the nearest station broadcasting Traffic Announcements. When I press mine it simply mutes any currently tuned station. I've probably got the wrong end of the stick somewhere but it would be nice to know how the thing works. Any advice?

[cfc1]

If you have it turned on it will automatically switch to another station when it starts to broadcast a traffic announcement... or at least that is how it is supposed to work.

[bothwell_buyer]

try battering the top of the dashboard - it won't make it work, but you'll feel better!

I did that to mine and the clock started working again!

[Hoovie]

I remember someone posting very recently about how the TA button works in a weird way compared to "normal" radios - can't remember the details and never use the TA, so can't help any futher myself ;)

[RavmanDave]

Thanks guys. I'll just keep trying.

[local hero]

I thought the T.A. button was in case you broke down, I assumed if you pressed it the Territorial Army came out and rescued you.. :help2:

[Hoovie]

nah, stew

You are mixing it up with the TA button on the Land Rovers - press that and you beome a target for a "Tactical Assault".

Unfortunatley, the button has broken on most of the the Land Rovers so there are still a few hiding in lay-bys broken down

[Robert6920]

On my SatNav unit, according to the manual, the TA button is supposed to retune the radio to the nearest station broadcasting Traffic Announcements. When I press mine it simply mutes any currently tuned station. I've probably got the wrong end of the stick somewhere but it would be nice to know how the thing works. Any advice?

Dave

What I think it means is if you have TA selected, it will be "waiting" for the local traffic announcements. I seem to remember that this means that no matter what station you are listening to, in the background it scans local stations and if they have a TA, it overides the station your listening to, and lets the TA thru. Once the TA is over, it should revert to the original station (if the broadcaster of the TA remembers to press the "off" switch"!)

[shcm]

Dave, it is working correctly, however it may need a slight adjustment.

With TA shown up on the top of the display (on the radio screen) the unit will mute until a traffic announcement is made.

I'm recalling this without checking, so apologies if I've got it slightly wrong (It's one of those things I can do easily if the thing is in front of me, but ask me to describe it, is another matter :D):-

If you repeatedly press the "TA" button you should get I think TP, then TP and TA shown together on the top of the display (and possibly EON as part of the cycle).

Anyway, you need just TP shown. You should then be able to listen as normal and it will still catch traffic announcements.

If you want to say listen to Radio 2, but catch traffic announcements from local BBC stations, you'll need TP and EON (Enhanced Other Networks) displayed at the top on the radio screen (and AF would be useful too).

If you've got the TP flag up and the radio station you're on doesn't do traffic announcements, it will then start to search for one that does.

For traffic announcement, there's no scanning involved. For the BBC network, the radio is told via the RDS data, where the announcement is being made, but I won't bore you with the details. There may be a very quick jump or mute occasionally, to check the signal strength of alternative frequencies (AF flag), for national stations e.g. BBC R1,2,3,4, Classic FM.

Does that help?

[Hoovie]

IIRC, the TA is only in effect when the radio is tuned to an FM station, so also, if you want to keep TA announcements while listening to a CD, remember to tune the radio to an FM station before switching over to CD

I think the CD gets interrupted in that situation when a TA comes in?

[RavmanDave]

Dave, it is working correctly, however it may need a slight adjustment.

With TA shown up on the top of the display (on the radio screen) the unit will mute until a traffic announcement is made.

I'm recalling this without checking, so apologies if I've got it slightly wrong (It's one of those things I can do easily if the thing is in front of me, but ask me to describe it, is another matter :D):-

If you repeatedly press the "TA" button you should get I think TP, then TP and TA shown together on the top of the display (and possibly EON as part of the cycle).

Anyway, you need just TP shown. You should then be able to listen as normal and it will still catch traffic announcements.

If you want to say listen to Radio 2, but catch traffic announcements from local BBC stations, you'll need TP and EON (Enhanced Other Networks) displayed at the top on the radio screen (and AF would be useful too).

If you've got the TP flag up and the radio station you're on doesn't do traffic announcements, it will then start to search for one that does.

For traffic announcement, there's no scanning involved. For the BBC network, the radio is told via the RDS data, where the announcement is being made, but I won't bore you with the details. There may be a very quick jump or mute occasionally, to check the signal strength of alternative frequencies (AF flag), for national stations e.g. BBC R1,2,3,4, Classic FM.

Does that help?

That's very helpful. Thanks very much. I find the manual confusing to say the least but you've clarified the point nicely. I guess that in order to understand and fully utilise all of the functions and facilities offered by the SatNav and audio systems I'd need a six week residential course!

Many thanks.

[RavmanDave]

Thanks all. I think I now have it.