W211: Is this "normal"? (Audio 50)

[murman]

Hey everyone.

A few times over the last while [but not always, as is typically the case with electronics], when selecting SERV on our Audio 50, the "clock" option is shaded grey, and when the clock soft touch button is pushed, nothing happens. (The other SERV soft buttons remain properly lit [i.e. are not shaded] and still work.)

Other times, the clock option is normally lit and working properly.

Is this "normal", for some strange reason, or do I have a funky Audio 50 unit?

Any and all help greatly appreciated!

murman

(PS: this is a non-APS Audio 50; model # 6069).

 

[murman]

Perchance that someone has had a similar problem with a COMAND head unit?

Really hoping I can establish something here, so that I can counter the usual dealer "cannot reproduce the problem" response...

 

[Brian WH]

Haven't noticed this on mine which is very similar.

But does it make a difference if the ignition is on?

 

[murman]

Haven't noticed this on mine which is very similar.

But does it make a difference if the ignition is on?

I'll check to see if what you suggest might be the culprit.

Thanx

M

 

[richard]

Hey everyone.
(PS: this is a non-APS Audio 50; model # 6069).

Does that make it a sat-nav unit ?

if so, I imagine this happens when its not receiving any satellites - i.e no GPS time signal being received

Go in an underground carpark, and try it there after 5 minutes

Cheers

R

 

[murman]

Does that make it a sat-nav unit ?

if so, I imagine this happens when its not receiving any satellites - i.e no GPS time signal being received

Go in an underground carpark, and try it there after 5 minutes

Cheers

R

No, sorry, in North America the Audio 50's are NON sat-nav...

 

[murman]

Does that make it a sat-nav unit ?

if so, I imagine this happens when its not receiving any satellites - i.e no GPS time signal being received

Go in an underground carpark, and try it there after 5 minutes

Cheers

R

Richard, I think you've hit the nail on the head!

The incidents happen when the car is underground.

Once outside, after about a minute, the clock function works normally.

I'll be jiggered... this seems to suggest that I do have some form of GPS antenna in my non-COMAND vehicle...

I'm attaching a photo of what the thing looks like when u/g, for posterity.

 

[prprandall51]

If I recall correctly, Comand uses GPS time acquired from satellite data, and APS50 uses RDS time that is broadcast on the RDS portion of the FM radio signal.

Even with GPS coverage, you can still adjust the time in a COMAND-based car at any time you like because the satellite time that is broadcast does not account for daylight-savings adjustments (it is UTC - or more correctly GMT). RDS-based time signals, however, do automatically adjust for daylight-savings, hence the APS50 system does not give you the option of adjusting the time because it is always right. In theory, anyway.

EDIT: So you don't have a "hidden" GPS aerial, sorry.
Philip

 

[SL300-24]

If I recall correctly, Comand uses GPS time acquired from satellite data, and APS50 uses RDS time that is broadcast on the RDS portion of the FM radio signal.

Even with GPS coverage, you can still adjust the time in a COMAND-based car at any time you like because the satellite time that is broadcast does not account for daylight-savings adjustments (it is UTC - or more correctly GMT). RDS-based time signals, however, do automatically adjust for daylight-savings, hence the APS50 system does not give you the option of adjusting the time because it is always right. In theory, anyway.

EDIT: So you don't have a "hidden" GPS aerial, sorry.
Philip

Hi, Just to let you know that my APS50 clock can be adjusted. If you do a search .......you will see that a few of us had problems when moving the clock back one hour recently on our audio 50's.

 

[murman]

Thanx, everyone. I think I may have added to confusion here because I have a North American spec non-APS audio 50. Don't have RDS, etc.... (hard to tell but in the photo pasted above, you might be able to see that there's no NAV-labelled button).

Anyhow, once the clock function DOES work (above-grade), not only does it show the proper time, it also shows the time in GMT in the blue-coloured bar at the bottom of the screen. If it shows time in GMT, does that suggest a GPS connection?

GPS or not seems to be the question... at the back of my unit, there's no blue plug at the back of the unit, only the integrated fibre/electrical connector. I thought the blue plug was for a GPS connection, but I'm going from pure speculation here...

I wonder if I've stumbled across a weird residual function of a non-APS unit? Anyhow, not the end of the world!

 

[prprandall51]

RDS is a standard part of North American FM broadcasting (though the TP Traffic Programme function is not). Therefore, it is quite feasible for your NA-spec APS50 unit to collect time information via FM signal if it is designed to do so.

Philip

 

[murman]

Hmmmm... hadn't thought about RDS. Yes, RDS is now broadcast in North America, but my Audio 50 unit cannot display RDS...

Is it then correct that I am not connected to a GPS antenna if I don't have a cable connected to the blue input at the back of the Audio 50 unit?

 

[prprandall51]

I don't know - but there was a thread here recently (around end Oct / beginning Nov) where people discussed the Daylight Savings Time adjustment - I thought from that thread that Comand used GPS time and APS50 used RDS time....
If you don't have Nav or Driver Aid Telematics, I can't see why MB would install a GPS aerial.

 

[Howard]

Miro will know....

Wait for him to wake up ......

 

[murman]

Miro will know....

Wait for him to wake up ......

'ello Miro?