DAB

[Leemac74]

DAB radios on vw mobile vehicles?

My wife's Nissan is pretty poor with DAB signal loss annoying intermittent on short journeys but will my T5 DAB vw rns315 unit be as bad?

 

[Martin]

DAB radios on vw mobile vehicles?

My wife's Nissan is pretty poor with DAB signal loss annoying intermittent on short journeys but will my T5 DAB vw rns315 unit be as bad?

It is bad in Devon, I have given up with it and gone to back to FM.


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[Skylark2.0]

Mine catches me out when I loose the signal.
The sound quality is fabulous.
We didn't know we had it but found it a couple of months ago

 

[WelshGas]

I have the RNS 510 with DAB. To be honest I've never lost a signal as it changes from DAB to FM when it loses the DAB signal automatically and I rarely notice any problems, even when travelling to Cornwall, London or north of the Borders. That's on the National stations , some of the more niche stations can be variable if they do not have a FM presence.

 

[reserves]

Love my DAB on the RNS 510

 

[knightons]

I have the RNS 510 with DAB. To be honest I've never lost a signal as it changes from DAB to FM when it loses the DAB signal automatically and I rarely notice any problems, even when travelling to Cornwall, London or north of the Borders. That's on the National stations , some of the more niche stations can be variable if they do not have a FM presence.

Ours is a 510 as well. We've noticed a few occasional 'drop outs' in obvious places i.e. remote areas where you could expect to lose a signal and/or places such as dips in the road and so forth and we've also noticed shielding effect caused by passing articulated lorries (in particular on the right hand side; where the antenna is located). That said, when it works; which is the majority of the time, the sound is excellent: Not FM fidelity but high enough.

 

[Leemac74]

Better than expected, thanks for sharing your experiences.

I like the idea of choice and clarity from DAB it just needs to be a more consistent signal in my experience so far.
My fitted option says DAB+ in the rcd310 system, hopefully will be as good here in the Midlands as some of you say.
I suppose it's ideal for listening too after setting up camp for the day.

 

[reserves]

I have the RNS 510 with DAB. To be honest I've never lost a signal as it changes from DAB to FM when it loses the DAB signal automatically

Don't think this has ever worked for me, pretty sure I have it turned on. I've never tuned in any FM stations though, only use the DAB ones, maybe i need to tune the FM ones in?

 

[WelshGas]

Don't think this has ever worked for me, pretty sure I have it turned on. I've never tuned in any FM stations though, only use the DAB ones, maybe i need to tune the FM ones in?

I did tune in the major FM stations so maybe that is something you need to do!

 

[MattBW]

A friend has a Nissan Juke and from what he told me the DAB problem is apparently quite common on them sadly and he has had 2 aerials and 1 stereo replacement with no improvement. We live in the midlands with very good dab signal..

I find the DAB very good on the VW, but in some poor signal areas it may cut out. As said it switches to FM where it can so I rarely have noticed.

 

[knightons]

A friend has a Nissan Juke and from what he told me the DAB problem is apparently quite common on them sadly and he has had 2 aerials and 1 stereo replacement with no improvement. We live in the midlands with very good dab signal..

I find the DAB very good on the VW, but in some poor signal areas it may cut out. As said it switches to FM where it can so I rarely have noticed.

We live in Northampton(shire) and DAB reception isn't too shabby, that said as we predominantly listen to Planet Rock [ok, dont laugh], when the signal goes there isn't a FM equivalent to switch over to and we bask in the sound of silence...

 

[LindaF]

We live in Northampton(shire) and DAB reception isn't too shabby, that said as we predominantly listen to Planet Rock [ok, dont laugh], when the signal goes there isn't a FM equivalent to switch over to and we bask in the sound of silence...

Not laughing at all, I like a bit of Planet Rock too

 

[The Blue Van]

You don't need to tune in and preset the FM stations unless you want to include some of the very small local stations which are on FM only (most local services are on DAB in the UK). The DAB signal already tells the radio what FM frequency it will need to tune to in the event that it loses DAB coverage. Handover is automatic and smooth in both directions (just a small difference in time delay between the two) on the usual Cali radio.

DAB sound is generally less processed than its FM equivalent (with FM the broadcasters are trying to compensate for its inherent limitations using audio processors), and you can use your tone and volume controls to set it up how you want it to sound.

DAB is designed to be resistant to the distortion that occurs to the sound as a result of radio propagation - FM was introduced in the 50s without mobile reception in mind, hence the mushiness. The basic design of the DAB signal has been copied to some extent even in the latest 4G phones.

 

[MattBW]

I find the whole DAB thing interesting, I use them at home and really like the range of stations it offers. I still find FM better sound quality. There has been a massive push from the government to put it in but many dab stations are only running 64kbps, the better ones 128kbps. If you consider a 128kbps mp3 file is considered low quality this gives you an idea of the quality of the UK DAB stations about at the moment. I think the only one that has really good sound bandwidth is radio 3, not one I listen to.

That said I have noticed sound quality improving over the past few months, maybe they've been increasing the bandwidth?

 

[AlanC]

I suppose it's ideal for listening too after setting up camp for the day.

Be wary about using your radio while camped. It runs off the engine battery and can flatten it if the radio is repeatedly switched back on once the computer has switched it off. That can leave you without power to start your van.

Many of us take a separate radio to use while camped.

Alan

 

[Leemac74]

Im 50:50, whilst I am all for the quality and clarity given by dab I can't think of anything more annoying than 5-10 seconds of nothing in between your favourite song(s).

But then I kind of love the imperfections and crackle of vinyl on my headphones.
FM is what I'm used to so probably DAB will be great for long stops or camping when you can get the full quota of stations and programmes uniterupted.

Thanks again for all your helpful advice and experience.

 

[Leemac74]

Good point Alan. Had a crazy thought it would be ok on hook up but ofcourse it's never going to rim of the leisure battery.

 

[Bellesca]

My handbook says all batteries are being charged when on hook up...so using radio should be ok

 

[briwy]

I don't think the DAB on the RNS510 is very good. Getting very frustated with it.
Initially when we had the van in January it was impressive but now reception is not good. This week we've had the aerials and the actual unit renewed under warranty but it's still not working correctly.
I have an MGB with a cheap DAB radio in,an aerial splitter for the DAB/FM signals and it will pick up around thirty stations on DAB and hold them out on the road. The Cali stood by the side of the MG picks up about half that and soon loses them out and about. Our Yeti with a Pure Highway add on DAB is also excellent with a little magmount aerial so it's back to the dealer again.
I've even tried different DAB aerials but it's no better.

 

[CYCLOPATH]

Well I love DAB, on the 510, I am in rural Dorset, and never had drop out yet.
I have driven from Northern Ireland via Scotland, and no drop out.
And on hook up my 2015 van definitely recharges the veichle battery,as I have ran my veichle battery low using the radio a lot.

 

[reserves]

My DAB is fine too on the 510 (though I've never had another in car DAB so can't compare).

Maybe get them to swap out the RNS510 unit itself?

 

[briwy]

Yes, already done. Unit and aerial. No change unfortunatley. Very odd as it worked really well initially.

 

[MattBW]

Do you have built in wifi or anything in the van that could be interferring?

 

[briwy]

Do you have built in wifi or anything in the van that could be interferring?

Good point matt. Got a dashcam and a tracker so I'll disable them for a while and see if it helps.

 

[WelshGas]

Good point matt. Got a dashcam and a tracker so I'll disable them for a while and see if it helps.

One other thing to check. Do you have any after market LED DRL's fitted?