DAB radio for car

elastic

I'm hoping someone can advise me! FM signal is really bad where I live so I was considering buying a DAB converter. I am already able to stream and make hands free calls through my phone and Bluetooth using"hey Google". Is there any advantage to having these functions on the bt converter or should I just stick to a basic one that just does radio? I know I can stream radio form my phone but I prefer dedicated radio with presets!

facade

If the FM signal is bad it would be a miracle if DAB worked.

My car has factory fitted DAB and it is virtually useless, so I use FM.

I'd stick to media on the 'phone, and internet radio if you have unlimited data.

Rodders53

FM bad in what way?
Rough area(s) travelled?
What car brand (radio brand) what aerial does it use?
What radio stations are desired?

As stated rural areas with poor FM signal are unlikely to have DAB coverage either... while local areas with dreadful multipath and frequent RDS alternative frequency hopping with muting between those might benefit from the SFN DAB network.  It will require a DAB antenna external to car... the stick on windscreen ones are :self-censored:

My Ford Galaxy sits on DAB permanently and only occasionally switches to FM in some off the beaten track places (for BBC)... but that is then usually not wonderful reception.

fwor

One other thing to check is that your bad reception is not being caused by something else in the car - it is not at all unusual for a power supply for a satnav or a phone charger to be generating radio frequency noise that obliterates FM reception.

Miser1964

>If the FM signal is bad it would be a miracle if DAB worked.<

Yes, that was my experience. A 'stick on' DAB aerial on side of the windscreen simply didn't pick up any signal where I live.

My solution was to replace the cars roof-mount FM aerial with a quite long FM/DAB aerial with a built-in amplifier, pulling the separate cables through to the head-unit. Now I can drive pretty much anywhere and very rarely get a 'burble' from the DAB.

I 

elastic

Thanks for your replies. It seems as though DAB isn't the cure I was hoping for! I live in South Wales valleys where radio is often very crackly. I have a 2012 Peugeot 3008 with it's original stereo. 

Username03725

facade said:

If the FM signal is bad it would be a miracle if DAB worked.

My car has factory fitted DAB and it is virtually useless, so I use FM.

I'd stick to media on the 'phone, and internet radio if you have unlimited data.

FM reception has little bearing on DAB quality. DAB was designed to overcome the limitations of FM, using a single frequency network where signals from other sites add to instead of detracting from the signal. My experience when driving over most of the UK is that DAB is pretty robust and FM is at best ropey away from main transmitters. As ever a lot depends on the aerial - a decent external one is always better than a little stubby job or worst, those that double as screen heaters. 

facade

Username03725 said:

facade said:

If the FM signal is bad it would be a miracle if DAB worked.

My car has factory fitted DAB and it is virtually useless, so I use FM.

I'd stick to media on the 'phone, and internet radio if you have unlimited data.

FM reception has little bearing on DAB quality. DAB was designed to overcome the limitations of FM, using a single frequency network where signals from other sites add to instead of detracting from the signal. My experience when driving over most of the UK is that DAB is pretty robust and FM is at best ropey away from main transmitters. As ever a lot depends on the aerial - a decent external one is always better than a little stubby job or worst, those that double as screen heaters. 

I did look for a decent length mast to replace the tiny "bee sting" aerial- they just unscrew, but 3 years ago I couldn't find anything, I'll have another look.

FM does the job in better quality, DAB is rather like digital TV, it is capable of either delivering a better quality signal or more poorer quality ones, which is what we get with both. (As an aside, the BBC HD signal seems to have dropped to 8 bit encoding lately, areas of gradually changing colour look like painting by numbers)

bob_a_builder

I live in the Reading area, so almost the Home Counties, , but struggle to maintain a consistent DAB signal crossing from one side of Reading to the other - so what hope you would have in the Welsh valleys I dread to think
This is using a DAB/FM radio fitted as part of the cars original equipment - so presumably they have got the aerial right

poppasmurf_bewdley

I retro fitted a DAB radio into my car 2 years ago after having using a DAB adapter for 2 years.  The performance was superb in every area of the country until earlier this year when it deteriorated dramatically.  I looked at the outside magnetic DAB aerial I had bought from Amazon about 4 years ago and it was very rusty so I ordered a replacement and, hey presto, the performance is back to superb.  Motto - if you have bad or poor DAB performance, check your aerial and change if necessary. And NEVER use an interior aerial. Mine was only a tenner.