tp002c784tp002c784tp Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 With the coming of DAB radio has anyone bought a digital radio for there Motorhome and if so what are they like for reception etc ? Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Hi Terry, we have a JVC analogue(AM/FM)/digital radio/CD/MP3CD player in our motorhome. DAB reception is good most of the time, certainly on site but you need a good DAB aerial for it to work well. On the road DAB works reasonably well most of the time but when the signal drops the set switches over to FM. This is OK if it only does it occasionally but I find that in a weak DAB signal area it will chop and change between DAB and FM and it becomes annoying. As far as I've been able to find out so far the only way to disable the DAB is to unplug the aerial :'( . Overall its pretty good but there are fewer stations available on DAB now as most of the independents have pulled out. Still a good selection of BBC stations on there, especially BBC radio 7 which broadcasts some good classic comedy in the weekday evenings. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handyman Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5005048/Trail/searchtext%3EDAB.htm This is a great small portable rechargable dab radio. highly recommended. Got 4 now (one for me, then 3 as presents for others) and everyone happy with them. I get a signal most of the time........say 9 out of 10 sites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopesy Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 My friend has bought a DAB radio that plugs in to the headphone socket on the vehicle radio. Can't remember the make but i can find out if you're interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tp002c784tp002c784tp Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 Dave I was wondering what the reception was going to be like on the road I would think as different areas are converted the signal may get better I hope. Handyman I already have two portable DAB players one of them was one of the first Wind up players and I think when you have good reception they take some beating, but I was wondering what they are like as the main radio in the motorhome, you here and read about members complaning about there vehicle radio switching off when parked but I personaly would sooner listen to our portable if we want to listen to music. Hopesy I have never heard of a car radio with a head phone socket, but it's more wires in the cockpit with this method . I do not know how many people realise what is going to happen with this change over unless they buy digital equipment, the people I feel sorry for is the senior citizens and others such as disabled who depend on there radios for company on a dailey basis are they going to get help converting? I have three sterio players in my home and all but one will be redundant when the change over happens as radios, My main Hi-Fi I have run an extention cable from my television cable and at least I can receive Digital on this set. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Don't think OfCom have decided yet which digital system if any radio will switch too. DAB is a main contender as there has been a lot of money sunk in it, but I think a lot of Europe seems to favour DRM, and then there's the problem of not many people wanting more radio anyway as witnessed by the pull out of commercial from DAB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handyman Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0012GLXMU/400001194-21/?m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE this got autoexpress gadget of the year 08, they loved it. might be good Going to get one myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 My wife is a great radio fan and purchased a DAB radio but it is rubbish. With its own ariel it picks up in very few places and on our recent trip to Europe failed to pick up once, destined for ebay or the bin I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopesy Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Re the portable DAB radio. vehicle radio/cd players now often have a headphone socket either in the front panel or mounted in the glove box. This allows you plug in your MP3 player enabling you to have hours of music. I've just purchased a radio/cd with sd card socket, headphone input socket and usb connect socket. the cd player also reads MP3 recorded onto cd's. This unit was £40 from ALdi on one of their specials last Sunday. It was an easy fit to the Boxer and should entertain on those long trips. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Roger, just a point of clarification, it is not a headphone socket its an input socket. The confusion stems from your use of the term headphone socket as this would infer it is an OUTput socket which isn't much use for taking a signal IN. An INput socket, while it may look like a headphone socket (standard 3.5 mm stereo jack socket usually) is exactly that, an INput socket and not a headphone socket. Sorry to be so picky but its little details like this that cause confusion :-D . D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred grant Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 last time i dabbed alice me ansums i got a rite corker in return. dab seems to av gone off the boill recently so be careful if yous get offered a cheap one. mind you, with alice around fred don need no entertainment my biddies. f Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I also have a similar JVC unit. The main issue with getting good DAB reception is the aerial. It is possible to buy a dedicated DAB aerial (not the windscreen ones) and this is much recommended (the windscreen ones tend to be somewhat patchy in low reception areas). My Rapido (A-class) has a standard FM aerial which is very much like a dedicated DAB aerial, and it is ideally mounted on the roof. Doing research, I came across an Autoleads FM/DAB Aerial splitter. This is powered, and works off the powered aerial relay output on the back of most radios (i.e. it is powered up when the radio is switched on). Stick it at the back of the radio. Input is the FM aerial, output is a separate FM and DAB connection to input to the radio. First one I got was duff, and the supplier changed it willingly, second one is ideal. Very good reception and no additional aerial to mount. Will not work with amplified aerials, which may rule it out for many vehicles, where this appears to be increasingly common practice. With a passive aerial, however, it is much neater than using a second aerial. Personally, I think DAB is well worthwhile to get a clean radio 5 signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianR Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 rupert123 - 2008-06-30 10:11 PM My wife is a great radio fan and purchased a DAB radio but it is rubbish. With its own ariel it picks up in very few places and on our recent trip to Europe failed to pick up once, destined for ebay or the bin I think. As a previous post indicated, the UK transmissions of DAB use a different system to the one adopted in France and other Continental countries, so unless you buy a dual (or more?) receiver, you will not be able to use it on the Continent. It is the same problem as exists for TV reception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 We use DAB portable at home when not listening throu freeview or sat, in our area it has much better reception than normal FM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopesy Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 Dave, sorry about causing confusion with the input/output jack. I was clumsily trying to indicate the size of the jack socket, I'll think things through a bit more before posting next time. :$ Incidently we were in Weymouth a few weekends ago travelling in a friends car with the portable DAB plugged into his radio/Cd unit's input socket, the reception was poor as we drove around with the signal being intermitent to say the least. Don't know if all units suffer from this. I have a stand alone DAB from Maplin £40 and it's fine (only use it on hook up as it eats batteries for breakfast). The only place it didn't work was where you'd expect (isolated hilly areas of The Lakes and Wales). Thanks for the info on france etc using a different system to us i wondered why i didn't get any reception last year!! This forum is a mine of information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.