Digital car radio moan....

Wolfetone

I am under the impression that the government want to migrate radio broadcasting over to digital at some point in the near future.

So, how are they going to do this if the digital service remains as crappy as it is at the moment??

I drive the length and breadth of the British Isles and the service is woeful/non-existent in many areas particularly rural areas but occasionally I have had difficulties in some built up areas.

Just thought that I would put this out there and wondered what others experiences were?  

joneve

I rarely have a problem. Almost never with national stations, unless I go into a car park or somewhere that the signal is definitely not going to get to. 

The only time it's ever got really bad is a.) in horrendous weather (only occasionally) and b.) in the Stroud Valley where there is absolute cock all reception.

Some of the smaller stations can sometimes be hit and miss, but never really noticed it being obviously terrible and I do a lot of driving. 

sweepy

No issues at all with the DAB in my Qashqai, whether units vary in their ability to receive signal, I have no idea tbh

vasselmeyer

I suppose it depends on the quality of the equipment in the car. I have a 2013 VW and the only places I completely lose signal is in tunnels and underground. It did get a bit iffy going over the Snake Pass, but I've been in many rural parts without me noticing any major problems.

boogieman

Likewise, never had an issue. DAB is much better than FM reception in my car. 

The gov were talking about dumping analogue radio and switching completely to digital by 2015. That got pushed back to 2020 but even that seems to have been shelved or abandoned completely. Seems to be due to the cost of everyone needing to buy DAB radios and (I think) because they use a fair bit more power. 

paul_c2

I can't see them turning off FM radio and forcing a migration to DAB, ever. There's plenty of issues with the digital radio which means that FM is simply better, for a start. Then there's tons of car radios and others which can't be upgraded, or their upgrade would be messy. You'd need some kind of module which converts DAB to FM signals etc, which would need to be fitted and controlled. My car has a built-in stereo which integrates with the steering wheel controls and also dash display and also has a CD multichanger. To upgrade this with equivalent functionality would mean not only the stereo but also a custom trim plate, the correct interface to the CD multichanger (or an alternate), and the correct interfaces for the steering wheel controls and dash display. Plenty of possibilies to connect the controls but not so many for the dash. It would cost hundreds to do.

Now, extrapolate that to the number of similar cars equipped like this, and any government which imposed this on everyone would be so unpopular as to never be elected again for a generation. So, its not going to happen.

Axe_meister

Alot depends on the Arial. Does your radio have a passive or active one.
I got an aftermarket radio for my MG with one of those stick on arials for the windscreen.
Alas it is passive so I get lots of drop outs.
My wifes car (civic) has an active one and I get no drop outs in the same areas.

ennspek

I have no problems with DAB at all. Much better than traditional reception.

SRich

I've just upgraded to a car with a DAB receiver and did a trip up from Oxford to Scotland a few weeks ago.....no drop outs except going through the Lake District on the M6 and the unit defaulted back to FM at one point............otherwise great stuff.

I appreciate the upgrading to a DAB is a PITA and quite costly with varying results if you try and 'DAB-ise' your AM/FM receiver in the car though.  

exocet

The move from FM will happen at some point but I can't see it happening within 10 years. The U.K probably jumped into DAB too soon, opted for the wrong CODEC and ended up with "high Quality but costly" or "Poor Quality & Cheap" i.e. bandwidth is limited so high quality = fewer stations = higher transmission costs per station. Many smaller radio stations find it too costly to broadcast on DAB. The situation in the UK is changing, different CODEC is now used on some DAB multiplexes but guess what, older DAB radios are not compatible / no upgrade path.

As I say, FM will go one day - the government will want to auction off the space for more bandwidth efficient digital services to use. Whether DAB will survive is another matter....perhaps mobile data networks and audio streaming will replace it? 

randella

SRich said:

I've just upgraded to a car with a DAB receiver and did a trip up from Oxford to Scotland a few weeks ago.....no drop outs except going through the Lake District on the M6 and the unit defaulted back to FM at one point............otherwise great stuff.

I appreciate the upgrading to a DAB is a PITA and quite costly with varying results if you try and 'DAB-ise' your AM/FM receiver in the car though.  

@SRich - If that's the bit of the M6 in the hills before you get to Tebay services (heading north) I'm amazed you even got FM, I've had three cars since I started using that bit of road, none of which will get any sort of radio signal at all there.

I hope you stopped for a pie too, they're very good.

SRich

@randella It absolutely was.........Tebay was awash with punters but still a different slant on a service area. Similarly Gloucester. 

DAB reception wasn't expected .......... it's a plus.

uncledick

I bought a lovely Roberts DAB radio about 5 years ago to take when we go away camping or caravanning.  So far, we've only found one site with reception.  Utter shite imho.

Nunogilberto

All I know is, ever since Planet Rpck changed frequencies, I can barely receive it now after the retune, where I live...