DAB on board (in UK Waters)

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david100952

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Devon, UK
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I am currently doing an upgrade on my fuse/switch panel and want to replace the antiquated car stereo (cassette!) that is mounted therein and I don't want to be left with a hole that is the wrong size when the unit goes bang the day after I cut the new panel. Trouble is there is a forecast of FM analogue transmission being turned off in a couple/few years in the UK and everything I read indicated DAB reception is problematic as yet and no info as to whether the transmitters reach coastal waters.
We use the radio for weather and music/local info when cruising and although I have a lovely new VHF I would miss the radio if we excluded it from the refit.
Any experience or research you could share would be much appreciated.
 
I have DAB radio on the boat. I have found no issues with it. You just get a wider range of stations. They are heavier on power useage compared to an FM radio. I also have a usb slot on mine so any music I want to listen to is loaded onto a flash drive. Takes up less space than a load of CD cases
 
david100952 said:
I am currently doing an upgrade on my fuse/switch panel and want to replace the antiquated car stereo (cassette!) that is mounted therein and I don't want to be left with a hole that is the wrong size when the unit goes bang the day after I cut the new panel. Trouble is there is a forecast of FM analogue transmission being turned off in a couple/few years in the UK and everything I read indicated DAB reception is problematic as yet and no info as to whether the transmitters reach coastal waters.
We use the radio for weather and music/local info when cruising and although I have a lovely new VHF I would miss the radio if we excluded it from the refit.
Any experience or research you could share would be much appreciated.
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I'm based in Norway - but we have the same scenario here DAB already implemented and FM going to be phased out in some years.

Installed a car radio with FM/DAB+/CD/Front AUX - standard car radio size.
Works fine both with DAB and FM reception.

The DAB aerial that came with the radio is not the best for boat use, so I'm looking for a better solution (It's for gluing inside the window).
 
BarryH said:
I have DAB radio on the boat. I have found no issues with it. You just get a wider range of stations. They are heavier on power useage compared to an FM radio. I also have a usb slot on mine so any music I want to listen to is loaded onto a flash drive. Takes up less space than a load of CD cases
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+1 Have a Roberts 'RecordR' DAB radio with a SD card slot and have had no reception problems with it although in the Bristol Channel I wouldn't expect any. The SD card is great for music and the thing also claims to be able to record a radio programme to the SD card. I figured that would be useful for e.g. recording the 5am shipping forecast and playing it back at breakfast time, although I haven't tried the function yet and it turns out it will only record on the timer if the unit is plugged in to shore power. Otherwise it runs on C size batteries which have a pretty long life. I'm not much of a fan of car radios installed on boats, the head units look ugly to me and speakers on or in bulkeads look even worse. Portable radios also give some redundancy as they are not dependent on the boat's electrics. Still as others have said you should be able to source a DAB car radio these days if you go that route.

Cheers
 
I have a DAB radio in the motorhome. I expected coverage to be poorer than with FM but actually the reverse is true. We drive through mid-Wales from north to south and back and receive all the way, which is not true of FM. I accept that the music quality is less good than with FM but in a vehicle (and my ears) I detect no difference.
 
bitbaltic said:
I'm not much of a fan of car radios installed on boats, the head units look ugly to me and speakers on or in bulkeads look even worse. Portable radios also give some redundancy as they are not dependent on the boat's electrics. Still as others have said you should be able to source a DAB car radio these days if you go that route.
Cheers
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We had a nice portable DAB/FM radio that could charge from 12v, worked great apart from one small issue.
When the antenna length got reduced due to some accidents it didn't receive that well anymore..
So I installed this with speakers in the cabin and cockpit
th_IMG_1063_zps20103b7e.jpg

Link to larger pic: http://i372.photobucket.com/albums/oo167/knuterikt/Stereo/th_IMG_1063_zps20103b7e.jpg

Ugly :) depends on the eyes viewer?
 
david100952 said:
Any experience or research you could share would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Like you, we are based in Devon. We find DAB is much better along the Dorset/Devon/Cornwall coast. We can often get decent reception in places where it is impossible to pick up anything on FM. We now very rarely use the FM.
 
awol said:
No LW? Essential for forecasts, cricket and the pips are actually at the right time unlike DAB.
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Agreed. I couldn't find a DAB portable with LW when I bought ours so we keep a cheap FM/MW/LW radio packed with a supply of batteries stored next to the grab bag. You definitely need the option of receiving LW forecasts if going offshore. (not so bothered about the cricket though!!)

Cheers
 
bitbaltic said:
Agreed. I couldn't find a DAB portable with LW when I bought ours so we keep a cheap FM/MW/LW radio packed with a supply of batteries stored next to the grab bag. You definitely need the option of receiving LW forecasts if going offshore. (not so bothered about the cricket though!!)

Cheers
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LW is the only way I can receive Radio 4 in Ireland, (apart from online on my phone). Useful for Shipping Forecast, accurate timechecks and interesting programmes. Not so keen on all that cricket coverage in the summer. UK residents should lobby the Beeb to retain this wavelength
 
bitbaltic said:
Agreed. I couldn't find a DAB portable with LW when I bought ours so we keep a cheap FM/MW/LW radio packed with a supply of batteries stored next to the grab bag. You definitely need the option of receiving LW forecasts if going offshore. (not so bothered about the cricket though!!)

Cheers
Click to expand...

As discussed in another thread, don't expect it to go on too much longer - the Beeb are down to their last couple of output valves!
 
My favourite station is Jazz FM & last season on our Roberts portable we could get great reception on DAB up & down the east coast. Checked availability & went to Halfords to get a top of the range Alpine for the boat only to find it wasn't in. The following week Jazz FM announced they were coming off DAB in all areas except London, so £200+ and some effort spared. Than there was a thread on the Lounge re DAB radios, and somebody commented he couldn't believe anybody would consider buying a DAB, internet radio was the way to go or smartphone apps. The new internet radio for the house works wonderfully - the DAB hasn't been used since. Now investigating standard FM radios (hopefully with LW) which has Bluetooth, front input for auxiliaries, so app on Smartphone can play Jazz FM or the countless 000's of other internet radios through + IPOD + music files on phone, and MP3 Cd playing.

Also reported the quality of DAB has been lessening (Jazz FM was back to mono before turning off) & all the stations were being bought up by two media organisations so choice will be very limited on DAB.
 
DAB is useless rubbish. All stations except BBC are mono, with bandwidth similar to 1960's long wave. Many BBC stations are also mono on DAB, stereo on FM. Reception quality is acceptable if you're in the right place, and you don't move or turn around. Batteries don't last five minutes.

Now some Radio 2 listener with a mains powered DAB radio and age-related high-frequency hearing loss, in a good reception area, who never moves, is going to tell us how great it is.
 
I didn't have a problem with batteries, my Roberts Eco Logic 4 was advertised on the fact it did 150 hours on batteries; it obviously did far in excess of that, but as Elton says quality was lessening & why bother if you can get any station through your Smartphone?

My new Roberts internet radio Stream 83i has DAB (& DAB2 for the future), but never even bothered trying to use the DAB.

BTW Elton thanks for the comments/ideas on the Lounge DAB thread which pushed me in the internet radio/smart apps direction.
 
ianc1200 said:
I didn't have a problem with batteries, my Roberts Eco Logic 4 was advertised on the fact it did 150 hours on batteries; it obviously did far in excess of that, but as Elton says quality was lessening & why bother if you can get any station through your Smartphone?

My new Roberts internet radio Stream 83i has DAB (& DAB2 for the future), but never even bothered trying to use the DAB.

BTW Elton thanks for the comments/ideas on the Lounge DAB thread which pushed me in the internet radio/smart apps direction.
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A lot of internet streamed radio is pretty limited bandwidth. Also, it's ok in your house with a decent bandwidth unlimited broadband, but prolonged use of it in your boat over most 3g data contracts will soon get you into trouble with your mobile network provider.
 
maby said:
A lot of internet streamed radio is pretty limited bandwidth. Also, it's ok in your house with a decent bandwidth unlimited broadband, but prolonged use of it in your boat over most 3g data contracts will soon get you into trouble with your mobile network provider.
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I realise that the thread is entitled 'UK waters' but for interest abroad, most sports broadcasting on 5 live cannot be received via Internet for copyright reasons.
 
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