DAB Radio newbie questions?

Werdnal

We have pretty hit and miss FM reception as we live in a dip and our house walls are over 1ft thick, so often get drifting and intereference. Would we have trouble getting a DAB signal, or would this be stronger and more reliable? DH likes to listen to sport in the evenings, and cannot get a decent signal on Five Live or similar unless he goes upstairs!

Was looking at some DABs in Comet today, and the working display model had a USB cable plugged into it - does this mean the USB was powering it, or it was actually getting a signal through a USB cable connected to a PC somewhere?

Checked the coverage for our area on a couple of websites and some say we should get a good signal, and others not. Our local county BBC station is shown as no signal here, yet I picked it up on the Comet DAB (store about 15 miles away) very well! I thought nearly all transmitters were switched to digital now - or is TV different?

Thanks in advance for any advice :doh:

Sorry for the ignorant questions, but would like to avoid buying if its not going to work!

LucianH

If you have difficulty with FM then it's likely you'll have poor Digital reception. Dab doesn't handle week signals well - you'll loss reception completely - FM degrades with weak signals but you still get some reception.

Your best bet is to find someone with a Dab receiver that you can try or find a shop who's prepared to let you try the radio before you buy.

googler

Werdnal wrote: »

I thought nearly all transmitters were switched to digital now - or is TV different?

Thanks in advance for any advice :doh:

Sorry for the ignorant questions, but would like to avoid buying if its not going to work!

Again, if FM is troublesome, DAB is likely to be worse - but local conditions could be the reverse of this where you live - borrow a DAB to try.

The TV transmitters are switching to digital, but yes - radio Is 'different' from TV, and FM & DAB are still side by side

Jammyb

Does the radio station you listen to broadcast an Internet stream? Invest in an internet radio or even an iPod touch and some dock speakers. Same result as DAB but more stations worldwide to try too!

Or do you have Sky? What DAB channels do you get on that in your area?

Werdnal

Thanks for replies.

I was a bit afraid it would be like that . I guess its like analogue versus digital TV - a poor analogue would atleast be watchable through the snow and ghosting, where a poor digital just squeals and pixelates!

Will have to beg, steal or borrow a DAB to see if its worth it!

Oh the joys of living in the sticks!

MX5huggy

Five Live is not on FM of course, i have terrible MW signal but fine DAB for the BBC stations, no others. I also listen through Freesat TV and the web via laptop or iPad.

googler

As was said, you may be able to get your preferred stations via;

An internet stream, via a PC or dedicated internet radio or streamer
Satellite broadcasting
Freeview broadcasting

MonkeyMad

I feel very conned by buying a DAB radio. The stations I want to listen to are broadcast in mono (its 2012 for God's sake!), at a bitrate sub that of a poor quality mp3. If I had my time again I'd buy an internet radio, that could also get FM (probably wouldn't bother about DAB again)

googler

MonkeyMad wrote: »

I feel very conned by buying a DAB radio. The stations I want to listen to are broadcast in mono (its 2012 for God's sake!), at a bitrate sub that of a poor quality mp3.

We bought a couple of DABs, and the stations we bought them for have stopped broadcasting now......

james123

Just a thought about internet radio, are the same programs played on 5live internet as 5live MW all the time? I listen to the sport on BBC london, and sometimes they have the rights to broadcast the football games on the radio, but not the internet, which is really irritating as i cant get BBC london in the house via FM!

grizzly1911

As I understand it DAB is effectively broadcast on part of the VHF spectrum. The disgital bit then goes through a conversion process in your receiver. One of the reasons battery life is so poor as the radio is effectively doing more work.

If you struggle with VHF you will struggle with DAB.

DAB has benefits re portability and not needing an internet/wifi signal, plus allows you to pick up additional stations and 5Live clearly (the latter points are the same for internet radio I accept).

Some DAB are usually available through DTV.

I find the VHF signal gives more volume on my Hifi than th corresponding DAB signal.