Car DAB radio and AM?

Jenni_D

AM means it has MW and perhaps LW bands, so 3 separate tuners.

Username03725

You want to listen to Talksport, and 5L. You can on this.

On AM (MW) they're both available in so-so quality that gets worse after dark, but on the radio you've chosen you'll get those stations on AM MW. The existing aerial will do the job as it presumably provides the right signal to your existing car radio, so that's a like for like swap - you're just buying a car radio that has a better AM and FM tuner, and also has more toys like MP3 playback and iPod compatible (although iPods haven't been sold for yonks, how old is this radio..?)

FM will also continue to work for the same reasons - it works now so will work with this.

For DAB, that's a whole new ball game. As per earlier, MW is from 1601KHz (KHz is 1000 Hertz), FM is from about 80MHz up to 108MHz (M = mega, millions), and as your existing radio works fine and you can hear R2 without issue, this new one will too.

For DAB, that's a different matter. DAB is around 420MHz (where old b/w analogue tv services used to be) and therefore needs a different aerial for solid reception. If you get one you'll be able to hear 5L and Talksport on DAB, both are in mono on DAB but the sound quality is much better and is unaffected by darkness, going under bridges etc. But it's a different service, think of it as the difference between Freeview tv and Sky tv - both deliver ostensibly the same channels, but they don't - there's an overlap but it's a different mechanism that needs a different means of reception - an aerial and a sat dish. For AM & DAB the same applies and although both services need aerials they're different. Halfords will guide you.

Note on DAB there are more Talksport channels, and 5L also has 5L Sports Extra when needed to carry additional coverage of other sports. DAB is great, but you need the right gear to receive it.

Penguin_

I got this Digital Audio Broadcasting/DAB+ Car Radio | eBay for my car & had a friend who is a mechanic to install the cables so they're hidden away.

I live in the !!!!!! end of no-where (west Wales) & the signal is great, it rarely drops out.

Username03725

Penguin_ said:

I got this Digital Audio Broadcasting/DAB+ Car Radio | eBay for my car & had a friend who is a mechanic to install the cables so they're hidden away.

I live in the !!!!!! end of no-where (west Wales) & the signal is great, it rarely drops out.

That's the essence of it tbh. Get it installed properly with its own proper DAB aerial (that you won't notice or be troubled by) and DAB will work just fine across most of the UK.

Penguin_

Username03725 said:

Penguin_ said:

I got this Digital Audio Broadcasting/DAB+ Car Radio | eBay for my car & had a friend who is a mechanic to install the cables so they're hidden away.

I live in the !!!!!! end of no-where (west Wales) & the signal is great, it rarely drops out.

That's the essence of it tbh. Get it installed properly with its own proper DAB aerial (that you won't notice or be troubled by) and DAB will work just fine across most of the UK.

It sounds silly but it's changed life for me in the car, it really has. I paid £29, slight different to the one I linked & my friend charged me £20 to install.