Dab adapter

[tineca]

Just fitted one of those car radio dab adapter  to my daily. It has a windscreen aerial that has a magnet limpet thing. Ensured it was secure to the metal roof but no joy in getting a signal . Any ideas?

[Phil H]

Daft question - does it have a heated screen? If so, they don’t work well. Wondered why mine didn’t work very well but was on a P38 with a heated screen..

The magnetic earth tab only works well if there’s virtually no paint there.

[tineca]

Hi thanks for helping no it's a normal screen. I ran a wire from the tab to a proper earth to see if it made much difference but didnt.

[Phil H]

I assume you’re in a good DAB area? There isn’t as good coverage as FM. My daily with a factory DAB unit keeps flicking back to FM from time to time. The Nextbase DAB adaptor I used in the P38 wouldn’t keep a signal as good as the daily but being an add on didn’t flick back to FM..

[tineca]

It's a fair point . I do get ok dab from Makita radio in the garage.

[squonk]

Do you also have a dash cam or something else powered from the cigarette lighter? If so, try unplugging it. On one of my cars the dash cam power supply completely wipes out the DAB radio. Some of these power supplies emit a lot of interference.

[tineca]

Hey yes I do. I will Try that thanks

[squonk]

I also found that mine will only work with the power unit it came with. I tried using a twin output USB cigarette lighter supply and it wouldn't pick up a signal using that either.

[tineca]

Thanks. I did try a usb splitter and it didn't work. I think the screen aerial is weak. I might try a magnetic roof aerial.

[comfortablynumb]

I’ve got a pure dab add-on, and a kenwood head unit, neither wanted to work properly with stick-on aerials, I’ve boughr some 23cm magmount aerials and both now work fine
Never had the interference issues with dashcam and satnav, but maybe I’ve been lucky, although the hfs does cause ussues

[squonk]

Jan 19, 2020 11:53:09 GMT comfortablynumb said:

Never had the interference issues with dashcam and satnav, but maybe I’ve been lucky, although the hfs does cause ussues

I think that it depends on the quality of the power supply. There is an interesting review on YouTube of the NextBase 350BT showing exactly this problem. Good quality branded products that meet all the relevant quality and safety standards probably won't be an issue but the cheap Chinese devices that tend to ignore these requirements are more likely to be problematic.

Interestingly, I had a NextBase DAB radio in my old Chrysler Voyager and it worked brilliantly. I have put the device (including screen aerial) in my replacement Voyager (only one year newer) and it barely works at all.

[tineca]

I have ordered a roof mount aerial today so will feed back now I go on. It did get one bar whilst driving today and was good whilst it worked. It's got to be the rubbish screen aerial.I was quite chuffed as hid all the cables and had it clipped to a vent with the cables coming from behind. Then a right let down when I turned it on 😕

[squonk]

Have you ordered one with the right connector? There are two types in common use with DAB radios, SMA and SMB. SMA uses a threaded collar around the outside of the pin whereas SMB is a push fit.

Is it a mag mount you ordered? If there is interference from a vehicle bound power source it is unlikely that a mag mount aerial will give much of an improvement over the screen one (but it might). The earth on those is just as bad as it doesn't make a proper electrical connection with the body of the car. For best reception a roof aerial that requires drilling (and therefore earthing to the roof when it clamps on) mounted at the back of the roof is the best way to go.

[tineca]

Hi . Yes I made sure if was the right connection. MCX. I will give it a go. If it doesn't work then might have to try a plan c. Maybe a copper wire trapped under the magnet and take it along the ariael wife to a good earth.

[squonk]

I take it that disconnecting any other cigarette lighter powered devices didn't make a difference?

What make of DAB radio is it?

[tineca]

Sadly no, it's just a cheap one off Amazon I got with a voucher www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07BPSW8ZR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[tineca]

The eightwood magnetic aerial arrived today. Just popped on the roof and connected it to the dab receiver and Crystal clear reception!! I will route the wires discretely at weekend but pleased with that. Those windscreen aerials are rubbish.

[squonk]

Result!!!