DAB car radio

[MotCO]

I have a factory fitted DAB radio in my Vauxhall Zafira. The FM/AM radio works fine, but the DAB radio, although it originally worked well, now only works intermittently. When I'm within the M25, it rarely works; when I was in Cornwall, it worked faultlessly. It worked after the clocks went back in March for 2 - 3 weeks. It works after I've parked in an underground car park, but as soon as I try to change station, it fails.

Has anyone else had similar experiences? Can anyone offer any solutions? There does not appear to be a retune or reset button. One suggestion was that the aerial base unit needed replacing, but I have no idea about this.

Any ideas?

 

[Bevan Price]

Cannot help with your particular problem, but something similar happened to me a few years ago with a DAB radio at home.

"They" (the transmitter organisation) changed something about how the DAB signal was transmitted, and many DAB stations became inaccessible. Failed to get a reply when I asked the radio manufacturer (Goodmans) if any "fix" was available, so I will avoid their products in future.

 

[radamfi]

Cannot help with your particular problem, but something similar happened to me a few years ago with a DAB radio at home.

"They" (the transmitter organisation) changed something about how the DAB signal was transmitted, and many DAB stations became inaccessible. Failed to get a reply when I asked the radio manufacturer (Goodmans) if any "fix" was available, so I will avoid their products in future.

I also had a very early Goodmans DAB radio. It was originally planned for the UK to use frequency blocks 11B to 12D. However, the UK now uses blocks outside this range, and some stations were moved to those other blocks to accommodate the expansion of DAB. Most radios had a feature to perform a "rest of world scan" (or something similarly phrased) to enable you to tune into the other frequency blocks, but Goodmans didn't.

Even if you have an early DAB radio which can do a world scan, you may still miss out on some stations broadcast on DAB+ which use a more efficient codec.

 

[PeterC]

There are parts of the northern M25 where I find the DAB signal intermittent. The manufacturer fitted radio in my Nissan will fall back to searching VHF if it can't find a DAB signal which is fine if I am listening to radios 3 or 4 but very frustrating if I am listening to Test Match Special. I had assumed that the issue was with the transmitter rather than the radio as it always seems to be on the same section of road.

 

[ComUtoR]

Mine drops out quite regularly. Mostly in the same place every day, so I assume its to do with the signal rather than the unit.

Check your coverage here : http://www.ukdigitalradio.com/

 

[Howardh]

I have recently bought a second-hand car, and it had the old style AM/FM radio without USB or audio input. Thought I would replace it with a DAB set, but at £120+ thought better of it. What I have now is a new AM/FM with USB/audio (£50) and I put my Roberts DAB portable on the nice, wide dashboard, aerial out about 6" and feed the DAB through the audio inpit. Works a treat, no drop-outs, lost stations etc.
The only downside is after every long trip the radio has to be recharged indoors, but the Robert's batteries are good for a full day anyhow.

 

[PeterC]

Mine drops out quite regularly. Mostly in the same place every day, so I assume its to do with the signal rather than the unit.

Check your coverage here : http://www.ukdigitalradio.com/

Glad it isn't just me. A little googling has come up with suggestions that a vertical arial is more reliable than the typical angled arial on most modern cars. No idea if that is fact or BS, I might have a play when I have nothing better to do.

 

[robbeech]

Your DAB antenna is the shark fin style one I think if it’s the same as my Vectra. It could be a faulty connection on that or anywhere between that and the radio itself.

 

[gazthomas]

A retune might also be worth a go

 

[richw]

I’ve also a Zafira, DAB works lovely in cornwall (I live here). But when I go ‘up country’ I find reception goes bad and suffers interference. I find going into built up areas it goes particularly bad!

 

[MotCO]

I’ve also a Zafira, DAB works lovely in cornwall (I live here). But when I go ‘up country’ I find reception goes bad and suffers interference. I find going into built up areas it goes particularly bad!

So it could be a poor quality radio rather than anything else. My feeling is that the radio is 'confused' by the radiowaves - hence when it is in an underground car park where there are no radio signals, on exit it picks up a channel. As soon as it is exposed to lots of radio waves, it is confused.

When the clocks went forward in March, maybe the radio reset itself trying to pick up the correct time so started to work properly. I'll see what happens in October when the clocks change again. If only I could reset the radio, it may clear the 'confusion', but there does not appear to be a way of doing this - maybe I'll have to resort to disconnecting the battery.

 

[robbeech]

Pulling the fuse would be a more sensible option although there’s no major harm in a battery disconnection on these vehicles.

 

[Bobdogs]

My Fabia estate has a factory fitted FM radio and thought about changing it for DAB radio but when I looked into it, installation of the aerial seemed so right faff. Consequently I bought a Pure digital unit which converts a DAB signal and transmits it to your FM radio. In spite of them recommending that you install the aerial on the windscreen which again is a right faff running the cable to a cigar lighter socket in the front, I have stuck my aerial on the rear window where it is virtually out of sight and I am fortunate to have a convenient socket in the back. It works brilliantly in areas where there is a good signal, surprisingly in most of West Wales where I live. Sadly, I have to go and sit on top of a hill now and listen to the dreary coverage of cricket offered by the bandits who have stolen the show from TMS. If you do buy a Pure, don't use cheap pound shop batteries, they are not worth the hassle.

 

[richw]

So it could be a poor quality radio rather than anything else. My feeling is that the radio is 'confused' by the radiowaves - hence when it is in an underground car park where there are no radio signals, on exit it picks up a channel. As soon as it is exposed to lots of radio waves, it is confused.

I’m driving to Portsmouth tomorrow, will see how it performs