DAB

[mlumb]

has anyone had experience with a dab radio in their TVR?

just fitted one in mine with a glass mount aerial,when i'm getting reception its very clear,but on a test drive last night the reception is very intermittent,i must say i'm pretty disappointed.

could turn out to be an expensive waste of money.

i wondered if its the car or just poor signal coverage,although the BBC web site says i should get good coverage.

south yorks by the way.

mike.

[fish]

I played a round with an amplified glass mount areial but in the end couldn't get a better reception than the normal areial shoved in the rear light cluster appature. Works pretty well and the coverage isn't bad.

I'm in the Derby area, don't know what the coverage is like in S yorks. You could do a test with teh standard aerial mounted on an 18" sq sheet of steel to act as a ground plane and see how good that is.

[simpo two]

DAB reception is very dependent on where you are -like Freeview. Digital transmissions aren't good at very low signal levels - they just stop working, like a mobile. With analogue you can stick up a massive transmitter and cover several counties in one go, but with digital it's not the same.




>> Edited by simpo two on Thursday 13th November 10:39

[Ffirg 005]

I had DAB in a conventional car with the proper aerial - all professionally fitted by Kenwood as it was their ex-demo car. My experience of several months driving around M25 and M4 / western corridor was that coverage was mostly good in populated areas, but there are definite dead spots that get worse the more you get into the boondocks. Like all things digital, when it loses the signal it loses it completely so it is annoying - particularly during footy commentaries

No question the quality of sound is much, much better but if I'm listening to music in the car I'll be listening to CDs anyway, and I don't mind listening to the radio at AM/FM quality. Until they improve the coverage I think DAB is best left in the home.

[admiral]

I had a factory fitted DAB receive in my Cerb. Works a treat - I would never go back to FM.

However, the aerial however is a short, stubby one, sticking out at the back of the roof. It doesn't do the looks any favours.

[simpo two]

I was apalled to learn that a friend who lives just one mile from the middle of Colchester - quite a big place - can't get Freeview. If HM Govt is planning to turn off analogue services by 2007 they'd better get their fingers out. Still, as long as Tony B's got it, that's OK I suppose. For all the tax we pay I think everyone should have free broadband. And a 36" LCD telly. And special nurses... but I digress, back to the thread...

[mlumb]

thanks for the replies.
so does this mean that even if i improve the aerial somehow,because the digital signal is weak i'm not going to be much better off?


what i'm getting at is,are there lots of holes in the coverage or does it just seem that way 'cos of dodgy aerial/plastic car.

mike.

[YI8TVR]

mlumb said:

thanks for the replies. so does this mean that even if i improve the aerial somehow,because the digital signal is weak i'm not going to be much better off? what i'm getting at is,are there lots of holes in the coverage or does it just seem that way 'cos of dodgy aerial/plastic car. mike.

I have DAB in my car and have the same problem. Yes your right its a bit of
1/ Fibreglass car
2/ DAB is very over rated. Thats my opinion.
3/ Only seems to work well in a static situation ie. your house.
4/ Would probably work better if you put a mini dish on the roof of your car But then who wants to drive around looking like GCHQ.

[Ffirg 005]

Impossible to say how much of your reception problem is due to bad coverage vs bad aerial pickup - probably a combination of both.

Normal process of problem solving is to isolate the possible causes, so either get yourself to a known good coverage area and test your kit there (any PHers with DAB oop north who can nominate some good coverage roads?), or get someone else with a known good aerial to test in the places you have problems.