DAB radio broken or bad reception?

N

N_Cook

Guest
I use FM radios only, digital radio is fine here,UK, by TV settop box,
but that has full roof aerial.
Little MP3 player size pocket DAB radio, Aigo DAFM001A, will only work
by taking the unit outdoors and even then a couple of channels only and
audio is fitful, data on other channels is received, but no audio.
FM operation of this unit is fine.
How do I know if I'm in a bad reception area, neighbours don't use DAB.
 
On 28/04/2015 14:54, N_Cook wrote:
I use FM radios only, digital radio is fine here,UK, by TV settop box,
but that has full roof aerial.
Little MP3 player size pocket DAB radio, Aigo DAFM001A, will only work
by taking the unit outdoors and even then a couple of channels only and
audio is fitful, data on other channels is received, but no audio.
FM operation of this unit is fine.
How do I know if I'm in a bad reception area, neighbours don't use DAB.
Click to expand...

I suspect its failure of the DAB transmission system. Reception is "4 to
5 bars" in the room on the transmission side of the building but only 1
in a room on the "wrong" side. Similarly I had gone outdoors yesterday
on the leeward side of the building, only 2 bars or so.
DAB transmitter 20 miles away, FM one 5 miles away.
Any work around for this, no provision for an external aerial,
connecting headphone lead or disconnecting it , makes no observable
difference to reception?
 
For a snap shut case, quite easy to get inside. No obvious antenna
track. www.isisip.com on overlay if anyone knows any Chinese. Blindly
probing odd points, when switched on, did not get even 1 bar , indoors.
 
Looks as though just a bad coat-hanger aerial, at least a proper coat
hanger retains its shape. The headphone socket ground seems to go to the
RF block. So I suppose its a matter of cutting that trace adding a
connector to it ( a pair of turned pin sockets is my usual for such
cramped situations) and a ground , for an external dipole or rooftop TV
aerial feed. May try connecting a dipole to the phones socket ground as
it is , and make a ground connection at the far end of the pcb , to
retain non-static use. Just taking the core of the TV aerial downlead
via a few pF to the USB case, phones socket ground, or general pcb
ground points seems to reliably get an extra 2 bars reception.
 
Found space near the speaker to fit an open frame switched 2.5mm chassis
socket. Just a bit of grinding back of the socket and the radio housing
to fit it. Whether running wires up to the other end , to switch in and
out the external will destroy the headphone "clothes-hanger" reception
we will see.
 
On Wed, 29 Apr 2015 13:55:33 +0100, N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote as
underneath :

Found space near the speaker to fit an open frame switched 2.5mm chassis
socket. Just a bit of grinding back of the socket and the radio housing
to fit it. Whether running wires up to the other end , to switch in and
out the external will destroy the headphone "clothes-hanger" reception
we will see.
Click to expand...

I have one of these units and I think yours might be underperforming on
DAB - with mine Iv had a play, whereas I need about 2 feet of earphone
lead (rest wrapped tightlu around the unit) to get2 thick bars on FM I
can get full reception on DAB with only about 20 Cm extended. So hence
think your unit may be faulty. With the DAB bars I think it measures
quality rather than power; seems to go straight from 0 thick bars to
full bars in an instant with little inbetween! C+
 
On 30/04/2015 08:35, Charlie+ wrote:
On Wed, 29 Apr 2015 13:55:33 +0100, N_Cook <diverse@tcp.co.uk> wrote as
underneath :

Found space near the speaker to fit an open frame switched 2.5mm chassis
socket. Just a bit of grinding back of the socket and the radio housing
to fit it. Whether running wires up to the other end , to switch in and
out the external will destroy the headphone "clothes-hanger" reception
we will see.

I have one of these units and I think yours might be underperforming on
DAB - with mine Iv had a play, whereas I need about 2 feet of earphone
lead (rest wrapped tightlu around the unit) to get2 thick bars on FM I
can get full reception on DAB with only about 20 Cm extended. So hence
think your unit may be faulty. With the DAB bars I think it measures
quality rather than power; seems to go straight from 0 thick bars to
full bars in an instant with little inbetween! C+
Click to expand...

Similarly 0 or 1 bar or 4 or 5 bars so perhaps decoded quality rather
than rf power. Makes sense I suppose as easier to grab the data without
adding anything to the rf stage and covers multipath interference which
simple rf strength would not.
 
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