DAB radio in car stereo

sunshine124

hi guys!

Just a bit confused with this DAB business. Can someone tell me if I buy a car stereo with a DAB tuner, then does that mean I can receive all the channels that there are? or will it depend on the area in which I am travelling?
The reason I ask this is because i am about to buy a new CD stereo for my car but I wanted a DAB stereo, but i don't want to waste my money if it can only tune in to a few of the DAB radio channels.

I would be grateful if anyone could tell me whether I can get all the channels or not, manny thanks.

toasterman

It's the same as any radio regards local stations really.
You can't listen to BBC Radio Bristol if you're in Manchester, but there are a lot of national stations you can keep pretty much as you drive about the country.

Stations are in groups on Dab, so for an easy example.. radio1, 2, 3, 4, 5live, 6music, 7, 1xtra, etc.. are all in one group together.

I've got it in my car, and there are two main groups that I've found I can pick up pretty consistently, in most places from Essex to Bristol, to almost all the way to Leeds.
One of these groups is the BBC national station one.
On the other group, there's Virgin, Talksport, Classic FM, Core, Capital Life, Classic Rock, and a couple of other stations that I can't remember cause I don't listen to them.

While you don't really get interference on DAB - you do get an alternative problem. Basically the signal is either there or it's not - and like I say they're in groups.
So there's a section of the m32 in Bristol, and a couple of streets around Eastville where I can't receive any of the BBC stations at all.
It's only for 100m or so but it can be annoying in the middle of your favourite song.
On the other hand though, when you drive through St Pauls, with an FM radio, you get interference from all the pirate stations, so it's all swings and roundabouts.

One thing to bear in mind though is that DAB/FM car radios generally have two aerial connections... so I've got one FM radio on my roof, and another separate DAB aerial I had to wire up myself. I'm no car-mechanic though, so I wired it inside (under seats/carpets) and attached it to the parcel shelf.. seems to work fine.
Some radios come with very thin wire ones that stick to windscreens (only small) but reviews of these I've read say they're very poor.

buglawton

Nice summary of in-car DAB, toasterman

sunshine124

hi toasterman, thx for the DAB info, but there was one main thing I was looking for.. asian music. I know there are alot of asian channels on DAB but I am worried that I wont be able to pick them up. I live in wales and there r hardly any music stores selling asian music, and if they are, then they are at extortianate(excuse the spelling) prices. I have been to birmingham, london, places like that where there are alot of asian music stores and the prices are quite cheap, but i can't travel there too often. Anyway, thats why i was thinking about DAB, but how will i know if i can pick these channels up?

Can anyone advise me on this? Any advice would be a great help.

toasterman

Hi Sunshine,
There isn't much asian music on dab (yet) it has to be said.

This might help you -> http://www.ukdigitalradio.com/coverage/search/default.asp
If you enter your postcode, it should tell you which stations broadcast in your area. It's not 100% guaranteed that you can pick them up, but it will tell you
if there are any and if you're in a good signal area.

In Bristol, aside from the bbc's asian network, I can't see much else there that would fit what you're looking for. I'm sure I've picked up other asian stations before on dab while travelling around the country, but I think I was over the east side of the country somewhere at the time.

Good luck.

sunshine124

:j thx for the link toasterman, i put my postcode in and i could get the bbc asian network channel, thx so much, at least i'll have one channel to listen too.
once again thx.:T

toasterman

No probs.
Glad I could help.

As I said - the results on that page aren't guaranteed, but the BBC's group seems to be one of the best signals (in my area at least) so you're in with a very good chance

P.S. Cheers Buglawton for your earlier praises.