internet radio v dab

[Whats on Second]

i have no DAB in my my car but can receive radio stations via iphone to the sync 3 [ ford ] head unit.

works ok when wifi reception is good, so fed up of patchy reception in my rural area i bought a dab adaptor for the car, works fine but suffers the same patchy dropping out in the exact same areas as the iphone.

question is. do dab [ or dab + ] and internet radio generally transmit their signals from the same pylons ?

[TonyRPH]

Internet radio is broadband based, and hence will use the data connection available in your phone etc. The coverage of this is determined by mobile phone towers.

DAB radio is completely different, and is broadcast from the various towers scattered around the country - these are generally in different locations to mobile phone towers.

[CoolHands]

DAB = st

Get an fm radio if I were you

[TonyRPH]

100% this ^^^^^^^^

[Whats on Second]

CoolHands said:

DAB = st

Get an fm radio if I were you

get with the groove daddio, it's 2022, not 1972


got fm , but only a dozen or so stations, IR and dab's got 1000s, don't you
want australian sports' talk radio stations ?

[Road2Ruin]

CoolHands said:

DAB = st

Get an fm radio if I were you

Absolute bollix. My DAB is far superior to my fm. I know that with a good signal fm will be better, but it doesn't happen. Can't remember the last time I had a good quality constant signal. With my DAB it is consistently good for my whole journey.

[gashart]

DAB reception is sometimes effected by those 12V USB chargers, if you have any try unplugging and see if there is any improvement, the other idea is to get a Bee-sting DAB Aerial installed, did this on my T5 and transformed the reception.

[Snow and Rocks]

Road2Ruin said:

Absolute bollix. My DAB is far superior to my fm. I know that with a good signal fm will be better, but it doesn't happen. Can't remember the last time I had a good quality constant signal. With my DAB it is consistently good for my whole journey.

DAB is a massive missed opportunity, it could be far superior to FM but they've crammed so many channels in that the majority are a muddy sounding low bitrate mess - quite a few aren't even in stereo.

Even here in rural Aberdeenshire, FM is reliable and sounds good. In the few places with a less strong signal, you get the odd hiss or crackle whereas DAB just cuts out entirely.

[bernie_eccle]

Whats on Second] i have no DAB in my my car but can receive radio stations via iphone to the sync 3 [ ford said:

head unit.

My 2015 model had Sync 2 and included a dab radio. Does Sync 3 nit have dab included?

[megaphone]

My 2012 Focus has great DAB, really good reception and I don't have any signal issues in the south, I hardly use FM. Also has DAB+ which gives more channels and better quality.

[Tyre Smoke]

DAB is largely useless in rural Devon. However, the BBC channels seem to do better than commercial for some reason. For instance, nowhere within ten miles can I get Scala or Absolute 80s for example, but can get 6Music or Five Live reasonably OK.

[Boringvolvodriver]

DAB also falls out for me in areas surrounded by hills although BBC better.

Also will have patchy reception in areas where there are a lot of taxis - think their radios interferes.

Using a mobile internet service will, I would suggest have similar issues.

[Tyre Smoke]

Taxis don't use radios any more!

[Snow and Rocks]

Tyre Smoke said:

Taxis don't use radios any more!

Yes they do.

Even if the job allocation system is fully computer based and sent to a data terminal in the car, quite a few of the systems have radio built in so that the driver can speak to the office in there's an issue or if they can't find the customer etc.

[megaphone]

POB

[Tyre Smoke]

Snow and Rocks said:

Tyre Smoke said:

Taxis don't use radios any more!

Yes they do.

Even if the job allocation system is fully computer based and sent to a data terminal in the car, quite a few of the systems have radio built in so that the driver can speak to the office in there's an issue or if they can't find the customer etc.

Err, that's called a mobile phone. Believe me, they really don't.

[Road2Ruin]

Snow and Rocks said:

Road2Ruin said:

Absolute bollix. My DAB is far superior to my fm. I know that with a good signal fm will be better, but it doesn't happen. Can't remember the last time I had a good quality constant signal. With my DAB it is consistently good for my whole journey.

DAB is a massive missed opportunity, it could be far superior to FM but they've crammed so many channels in that the majority are a muddy sounding low bitrate mess - quite a few aren't even in stereo.

Even here in rural Aberdeenshire, FM is reliable and sounds good. In the few places with a less strong signal, you get the odd hiss or crackle whereas DAB just cuts out entirely.

All the ones I listen to are fine, heart, radio 2, absolute 80s. I went from Somerset to Suffolk last weekend and didn't lose signal once.

[Snow and Rocks]

Tyre Smoke said:

Err, that's called a mobile phone. Believe me, they really don't.

I don't need to believe you - the auriga systems that are still in common use, still have a radio connection with handheld mike that links back to the office alongside the data sim. Quick conversations are still carried out over the mike.

Your local taxi firms might have changed but plenty haven't. The local biggest firm (350+ cars) here have only just changed in the past few weeks to a new system without the radio.

Anyway, i drove an e class as a taxi while at uni a few years ago and never noticed any interference with the DAB radio even with the radio in the actual car so I don't think it's an issue. The DAB generally sounded terrible in any case.

Edited by Snow and Rocks on Thursday 17th March 14:03

[Whats on Second]

bernie_eccle said:

Whats on Second] i have no DAB in my my car but can receive radio stations via iphone to the sync 3 [ ford said:

head unit.

My 2015 model had Sync 2 and included a dab radio. Does Sync 3 nit have dab included?

sorry, should have said, the car is a lincoln export model for china, so it has sync 3
but only a am/fm/mp3 ice system, most annoying.

[Tyre Smoke]

Snow and Rocks said:

I don't need to believe you - the auriga systems that are still in common use, still have a radio connection with handheld mike that links back to the office alongside the data sim. Quick conversations are still carried out over the mike.

Your local taxi firms might have changed but plenty haven't. The local biggest firm (350+ cars) here have only just changed in the past few weeks to a new system without the radio.

Anyway, i drove an e class as a taxi while at uni a few years ago and never noticed any interference with the DAB radio even with the radio in the actual car so I don't think it's an issue. The DAB generally sounded terrible in any case.

Edited by Snow and Rocks on Thursday 17th March 14:03

Auriga went bust in 2010!

No taxi company is using a system that is at least 12 years old. The software wouldn't be supported any longer. But you carry on telling yourself you know more than someone in the industry. Fine with me.