Can I boost my digital radio signal using wi-fi or my satellite dish?

KG

I live in an area which does not officially have digital radio coverage, but I can get an ok signal for half a dozen stations in certain parts of my house.

Can I improve the signal for these stations and hopefully get access to more stations? I have a satellite dish which I use to receive free digi TV and a seperate wifi hub. Can I use either of these to boost the signal?

I know I can listen to the radio on my TV but would like to be able to use digi radio in multiple rooms and without having to have a blue screen on in the corner of the room.

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

KG

PROLIANT

I would suggest building a Yagi type antenna for the 175 to 230 MHz Radio band, there are plenty of simple how-to's on the net and that should increase the signal strenght by around 6dbi (depending on the antenna) or in layman's terms it will make a weak signal sound clear etc.

redux

PROLIANT wrote: »

I would suggest building a Yagi type antenna for the 175 to 230 MHz Radio band, there are plenty of simple how-to's on the net and that should increase the signal strenght by around 6dbi (depending on the antenna) or in layman's terms it will make a weak signal sound clear etc.

to elaborate on this a bit: this is a directional aerial mounted on the roof like a terrestrial TV one, and pointed at the transmitter

KG

savemoney wrote: »

Just an idea but you can also get radios that receive signal from the net via your router too

Thanks for this suggestion but I hear these can be quite expensive and I'd prefer to get a bit of kit that boosts the signal on something I aleardy have rather than buying a whole new set up.

KG

redux wrote: »

to elaborate on this a bit: this is a directional aerial mounted on the roof like a terrestrial TV one, and pointed at the transmitter

Thanks for this suggestion too. The reason I get my digi TV through a satellite dish is because I live in a really remote area where terrestrial signals are really really bad and often unavailable completely. So I am guessing that anything which relies on getting a signal from a terrestrial transmitter is going to have the same problems, which is why I was wondering about using the satellite dish or wifi.

Could be wrong, but it's about 7 hours and 2 ferries to our nearest aerial shop so I'd like to be pretty sure of it before I try...

KG

andysstuff_2

If it was me I'd not bother with DAB - freesat/sky both broadcast most digital radio stations - more than I can get on my DAB radio.

Alternatively as onother poster suggested buy a wi-fi radio and get 4000+ stations.

KG

andysstuff wrote: »

If it was me I'd not bother with DAB - freesat/sky both broadcast most digital radio stations - more than I can get on my DAB radio.

Alternatively as onother poster suggested buy a wi-fi radio and get 4000+ stations.

Yeah - as mentioned in my original post I don't really want to be listening to radio through my TV - for one thing I can't listen in all rooms and for another I don't like having to have the TV on to listen to the radio and spend money to power the TV screen which is completely unneccessary.

And, as mentioned, I would prefer not to spend money out on a new wifi set up if I can adapt my existing one.

I am only using DAB because I already had one from when I lived in the city.

Thanks for the advice though

Joe_Bloggs

This link may be of some interest. You do not have to power the TV screen if you have a separate satellite tuner device. You just need to connect the audio outputs of the receiver to the appropriate audio inputs of a hifi device.
J_B.

I listen to my ON Digital freeview box on a regular basis.

buglawton

I have connected a cheap MP3 type FM transmitter to the back of the sat box, it gives a good mono FM signal to most parts of the house.

Here is a how-to (the transmitter pictured can be had on Ebay for under £10 inc P&P)
Use a low power FM Transmitter (designed for use with an iPod)
but you have to build an attenuator as shown there to get the sound right

You MIGHT get away with using a ready made headphone in-line volume control like this: Volume Control Cable for Stereo Headphones

This cheapo FM gadget has 2 AA batteries, last 20-30 hour but is also designed for car use and comes with a 12v car plug: any bettery elimiator wall wart that offers 6v or more works perfectly, transmitter may switch itself off if no sound is fed to it for more than 2 mins, have to turn it on again each time you turn your receiver on. Total cost maybe £15.

KG

Thanks for the replies so far. Does anyone havea solution which would allow me to use my digital radio alarm clock without leaving the satellite receiver on all night?

KG

Dreamnine

DAB is crap- why bother?