Digital radios! Are the overrated?

[sciac2001]

I can tell that digital sound is clearer than fm etc and great when listening from home or wherever the coverage is good.
However, when on the road the signal blanks out far too often and big chunks of songs or words are missed. To add to the frustrations - at least in our moho - the touch screen controlling the radio will regularly re-sync its presets and many a time do I have to listen to some awful output whilst the “system” catches up.... if at all!
(And don’t get me started on having touch screen controls on vehicles. Health and Safety bypass!)

Off my chest now!

Hasta pronto.

 

[Lenny HB]

Most of the problems with DAB reception is down to poor aerials, we get very good reception very few dropouts.

 

[cliffanger]

Most of the problems with DAB reception is down to poor aerials, we get very good reception very few dropouts.

Ours is brilliant too - after a lot of headaches with different aerials.

It dropped out for seconds on the way up and back from Padstow to Bridlington last week.

We also like the option of connecting the phone to it for catch up programmes on the radio.

 

[sciac2001]

Most of the problems with DAB reception is down to poor aerials, we get very good reception very few dropouts.

Are better aerials easy to source?

 

[cliffanger]

Now this is a girl talking so don’t expect technical, but ours was not so much about a ‘better’ aerial, but where and how it was fitted.

The one glued to the windscreen was useless, and we were thinking we’d spent a load of money on something that we couldn’t use if we couldn’t fit an aerial that would work.

Finally, Cliff fitted it to the panel above the headlight, I think mounted on metal to ensure good reception (that’s as technical as it gets) and it works a treat.

You can just see it on the right of the photo.

If you want any more technical info, I’ll ask him to explain how he did it.

I do remember it was an absolute mare getting the wires from the aerial to the radio, but we managed it in the end!

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[Kannon Fodda]

DAB needs a good aerial. If any part of the signal is missed, effectively it's complete or it's blank because those digits are either there to be decoded or not, you get a drop out. In a moving vehicle that is always going to be problematic. A static home appliance, with fixed aerial is always going to have a better chance of good reception. Some areas are poor, I find M3 around Winchester, a regular route, it hopeless.

In contrast FM is going to be more reliable in moving vehicles, the strength of signal may wane a little, so the sound level might fade, or get some added hiss, but it does usually keep going.

Also worth noting that actually, the digital signal from radio is often a very compressed sound. Means any sound aficionados are likely to get a bit miffed with the clarity and quality of output, even when getting a good signal.

In our Ducato based vans the aerial is often either something stuck on the windscreen, or perhaps in one of the door mirrors. A few get the aerial on the front above the windscreen. But then you also have the wire fed through the vehicle, with poor shielding, able to get any interference from other cables in the dashboard area.

I experimented with an aerial on the roof, temporarily cabled to the dashboard radio. It was still useless.

 

[Pausim]

DAB is ok for voice but the download bit rate for many music stations is very poor.

 

[63720]

I've leapfrogged DAB and gone to streaming. Much better quality and if you're not In the absolute middle of nowhere no dropout. The reception and quality of playback is quite frankly supreme. Also played through the Aux input to the radio I still get traffic reports. It also works in France and Spain so we get UK radio everywhere

 

[Lenny HB]

Finally, Cliff fitted it to the panel above the headlight, I think mounted on metal to ensure good reception

Nope that bit is GRP.

 

[Lenny HB]

Are better aerials easy to source?

I fitted one of these to a friend's A Class, he is very pleased with the reception.

JVC HAL4 - External Glass Mount Antenna - The Bass Bin

The JVC HAL4 is an external glass mount antenna designed for DAB reception. The units fit on either side of the glass removing the need to drill holes in the vehicle bodywork.

thebassbin.co.uk

On my van I get very good reception with the standard Hymer whip aerial on the roof.

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[Odd-no-more]

I've leapfrogged DAB and gone to streaming. Much better quality and if you're not In the absolute middle of nowhere no dropout. The reception and quality of playback is quite frankly supreme. Also played through the Aux input to the radio I still get traffic reports. It also works in France and Spain so we get UK radio everywhereView attachment 510456

I stream as well from my phone them Bluetooth to the radio I still have FM but rarely use DAB

 

[mikebeaches]

DAB works well in our van. I agree with Lenny that it is almost certainly down to the quality of the aerial, which in our case is factory fitted on our pvc - so mounted on the metal bodywork high above the windscreen.

In fact, I wasn't expecting much from it when we got the van, but was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Grummyb]

I've fitted DAB radios in all my lorries and have experimented with lots of different aerials as they are car transporters roof aerials cause me problems but have finally a good quality aerial from dabonwheels which gives me decentish reception when its in a horizontal position (a bit like the ex wife) and with a half decent stereo but I've got the same stereo in the moho with a wing mounted and it's spot on with no loss of station

 

[sciac2001]

DAB works well in our van. I agree with Lenny that it is almost certainly down to the quality of the aerial, which in our case is factory fitted on our pvc - so mounted on the metal bodywork high above the windscreen.

In fact, I wasn't expecting much from it when we got the van, but was pleasantly surprised.

Ours is factory fitted to our Sprinter base pvc but we lose reception too frequently and wonder whether a longer replacement fitted in the same location would help.
Lenny’s recommendation above may be of interest.

 

[cliffanger]

Nope that bit is GRP.

Even I’m not that stupid Lenny! It was mounted on metal, inside the GRP Panel!

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[huck999]

My ducato has the dab aerial in the offside mirror. Park right and reception is ok. Park wrong and nothing. I'll be sticking to Spotify and good old 4g.

 

[the1andonly]

As a technology Dab is on a par with 2 cans and a piece of string. The rest of the world forgot our version before we fully implemented it at the turn of the century. Stick with fm

 

[63720]

We have a JL Octave radio at home which receives FM, DAB and Streaming through WiFi. Listening to the same station FM gives the lowest quality - but still very good, DAB is better but is affected by the weather so drops out when it's raining but the best by a mile is streaming from broadband. With the streaming of songs I've known for years I am hearing effects not heard before and the depth of sound is simply amazing.

 

[Pausim]

As a technology Dab is on a par with 2 cans and a piece of string. The rest of the world forgot our version before we fully implemented it at the turn of the century. Stick with fm

The UK authorities were greedy, going for a large number of poor quality DAB transmissions rather than a few with enough bandwidth to carry a half decent signal.

My preferred internet music station has streams of various qualities, including lossless streams in FLAC or ALAC format. Streaming at lossless rates eats up mobile data so I cache the music on my phone and pad when at home and play that when away. With an Apple CarPlay head unit my phone provides integrated mapping, navigation, music and communications. The head unit has DAB and FM which I very rarely use. I begin to wonder what the future is for radio transmissions, mobile data is getting cheaper and mobile coverage is improving. DAB just can’t compete on quality.

 

[Richard n Ann]

The UK authorities were greedy, going for a large number of poor quality DAB transmissions rather than a few with enough bandwidth to carry a half decent signal.

My preferred internet music station has streams of various qualities, including lossless streams in FLAC or ALAC format. Streaming at lossless rates eats up mobile data so I cache the music on my phone and pad when at home and play that when away. With an Apple CarPlay head unit my phone provides integrated mapping, navigation, music and communications. The head unit has DAB and FM which I very rarely use. I begin to wonder what the future is for radio transmissions, mobile data is getting cheaper and mobile coverage is improving. DAB just can’t compete on quality.

I suppose DAB and streaming are very similar things aren't they
Just that one has specialist equipment and the other uses the ever universal smart phone

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[Pausim]

I suppose DAB and streaming are very similar things aren't they
Just that one has specialist equipment and the other uses the ever universal smart phone

They are similar digital technology but the quality of the streams is very very different. A DAB stream is typically 128kbps. MP3 is up to about 320kbps. An internet stream is capable of 1024kbps in FLAC or ALAC format which brings it up much closer to the CD standard of 1411kbps.

 

[Sapper520]

Our DAB is……..pants. New van, new Xzent Unit…..totally pants.

 

[Lenny HB]

Our DAB is……..pants. New van, new Xzent Unit…..totally pants.

Probably the aerial not the head unit.

 

[fat haggis]

Dap is crap up here. I heard that granite 🏔 block the signal. Unacceptable they also block all other signals also for some strange reason

 

[Backdraft]

Probably the aerial not the head unit.

Not familiar with Xzent head units then Lenny, best to assume its the problem before you start looking at other things

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[69473]

Agree home DAB is effected by weather but haven't experienced any drop out on our Sprinter PVC.

 

[sciac2001]

Just came back from a break in West Dorset where my vehicle DAB and my portable DAB would only find BBC stations. Weird!

 

[Pausim]

Just came back from a break in West Dorset where my vehicle DAB and my portable DAB would only find BBC stations. Weird!

Not all DAB stations are available in all areas. On some radios you may need to rescan to see what stations are available in an area. There is also a postcode checker here.

Postcode checker - Digital Radio UK

A one-stop guide to DAB digital radio: digital radio stations, digital radios, where to buy digital radios, a unique, postcode based station finder, station news and updates and in-car digital radios.

www.ukdigitalradio.com

I checked out a postcode near Shaftesbury, Dorset and it showed 12 BBC stations and 8 commercial ones. I checked out my home postcode in Poole, Dorset and it showed 12 BBC stations and 28 commercial ones, with a further 22 commercial stations with only fair reception.

It would appear that some commercial stations do not think it is worth paying for DAB coverage in areas of low population.

 

[jongood]

I've leapfrogged DAB and gone to streaming. Much better quality and if you're not In the absolute middle of nowhere no dropout. The reception and quality of playback is quite frankly supreme. Also played through the Aux input to the radio I still get traffic reports. It also works in France and Spain so we get UK radio everywhereView attachment 510456

This is what we're now doing, bought a Bluetooth adaptor connected to the amp and away to go. Uk radio in Spain no problems and with the sounds app can choose to listen live or dig up anything from the past week.

 

[sciac2001]

Not all DAB stations are available in all areas. On some radios you may need to rescan to see what stations are available in an area. There is also a postcode checker here.

Postcode checker - Digital Radio UK

A one-stop guide to DAB digital radio: digital radio stations, digital radios, where to buy digital radios, a unique, postcode based station finder, station news and updates and in-car digital radios.

www.ukdigitalradio.com

I checked out a postcode near Shaftesbury, Dorset and it showed 12 BBC stations and 8 commercial ones. I checked out my home postcode in Poole, Dorset and it showed 12 BBC stations and 28 commercial ones, with a further 22 commercial stations with only fair reception.

It would appear that some commercial stations do not think it is worth paying for DAB coverage in areas of low population.

So it would appear. We’re not far from you in Poole and home radio picks up as you say.

As an aside, the areas of low population, around us especially, become areas of very high population from Spring to late summer. Perhaps equalling Greater London? Lol...

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