Reply With QuoteDoes it switch over to a different station for local news or traffic reports but that station isn't then received?
Hi there,
I've noticed a strange occurrence with the DAB radio in my 2009 BMW 3-series (e90). I'm tuned into Radio 2 or 4, and am eagerly awaiting the news on the hour. The broadcast gets to the "Here is the news" stage and then silence, the signal is lost. It's fine at different times and location doesn't seem to be a factor. The signal does eventually come back (after the news has finished), but I've usually switched to FM before that point.
I've read on the web that a few folk have had similar experiences (in a variety of car makes), but there's been no cause suggested.
Is there anything broadcast on DAB on the hour that might be resetting it? A timing signal or similar?
On a related matter, my dad's had a problem with his home-based DAB radio recently - it was losing the signal in the morning and evening. He narrowed down the cause to a new set of (CE-marked) LED GU10 bulbs he fitting in the kitchen.
Good luck Norway, that's all I can say... ;-)
Does it switch over to a different station for local news or traffic reports but that station isn't then received?
I wonder if your FM receiver is sensing RDS news bulletins and attempting to receive those in preference. (Same way as it does for traffic alerts.) You could try turning off the FM RDS alerts and see what happens?
It's an issue with certain dab radios and BBC stations (only BBC!).
I have a Roberts dab in my kitchen which does the same thing.
The radio stations beam out a signal before each news or traffic report so that your radio can pick it up and retune to the new station. Certain radios get in a tiz when they pick up the signal and switch off!
That's what my Roberts does all the time. It's very annoying. Roberts acknowledge it's a problem that the BBC created within the last 12 to 18 months. Apparently BBC techs are trying to fix the issue.
I have a similar problem intermittently with my BMW 330d (2015 model). Sends me bonkers. Have had it into BMW and they cannot get anything to show on their diagnostic tool and we cannot get it to replicate when they want to look at it.
Chris
I'm glad it's not just me! My Roberts mains/battery radio does it as well. It's very annoying. Let's hope they find a fix for it soon!Originally Posted by mr noble
Let's hope the Government doesn't switch FM off then... As a BBC engineer once said," DAB, the poor mans FM".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-38529435
Thanks all. I'm pretty sure I'm not utilising traffic announcements without realising it, and it sounds like it's a foible of of certain radios with the hourly signal that gets broadcast. We'll have to wait for a fix I guess and switch to FM when necessary in the meantime.
Certainly from a national resiliency perspective, losing analogue radio would be extremely foolish. But genuine contingency and resiliency planning seems to be out of favour at the moment. There seems to be a baseless assumption that nothing can go wrong.
How right you are. Analogue broadcasting is a far safer option if the shit ever hits the fan in a big way. But I would guess our whole programme of national resilience was abandoned years ago.
I think the nation's (government's) attitude to risk and resilience may change post Trump (and Brexit)
That BBC engineer (IIRC BBC brought DAB to UK...) didn't know what he was talking about; DAB is the poor man's AM! DAB was an obsolete technology when it was brought in.
Interference to DAB from LED bulbs is a common problem according to reviews of bulbs I have read on Amazon. Not sure if it is certain types or makes though.
Last edited by Gruntfuttock; 17th January 2017 at 20:22.
[QUOTE=Gruntfuttock;4213854]That BBC engineer (IIRC BBC brought DAB to UK...) didn't know what he was talking about; DAB is the poor man's AM! DAB was an obsolete technology when it was brought in.
Perhaps we get what we deserve- we bought into VHS recorders even though the quality was abysmal. MP3 heavily compressed lossy digital music files have become the de facto way of listening to music despite the atrocious artifacts & distortion that result from the encoding/ decoding process that ditches 90% of the original source material.
DAB - "better than CD quality" -we were conned again! And yes it was obsolete before it was foisted upon us and since its introduction the sonic quality has been deliberately downgraded in order to squeeze more stations into the available multiplex spectrum.
Awful sound quality from your flat screen TV -
Tiny, tinny speakers & yet again digitally compressed signals that often bear little relation to the sound quality that the original programme maker intended are deemed acceptable to the consumer.
Buying a "Sound Bar" for your TV just extends the frequency response a bit, but as some may say - " You can't polish a turd"
I'll stop now before I start ranting about the wildly fluctuating loudness (perceived volume) of TV programmes & commercials........
Since moving to North Norfolk (and with 2 DAB equipped cars) I can only agree that it's a useless service in comparison to FM. I never had an issue with FM in the car, neither the signal dropping or the sound quality - it strikes me as a tech update for the sake of it, a solution to a problem that didn't exist. I don't need any of the silly text telling me the name of the song playing, or any of the myriad of features apparently available. Mind you I'm an old (40 something) git I suppose. I prefer watching the road ahead as opposed to choosing which track I want from the onboard hard drive, which is why I always stick the radio on for a bit of driving sound. Both cars are firmly set to FM now, I only miss the absolute 'decade' channels but none of them are even available on DAB up here so I generally stick on a BBC channel and job done!
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