Dab roof aerial

[The The]

Has anybody had his or her roof aerial replaced with a Dab version? I ask because I am fed up with the stick on version, which has an intermittent signal, My Skoda dealer quoted £140 to do the job on top of the price of the aerial, does this seem fair, I would imagine it is a labour intensive job, also is it possible to replace just the external whip with a Dab one and use a splitter? Thanks.

[bryand]

Originally Posted by The The

Has anybody had his or her roof aerial replaced with a Dab version? I ask because I am fed up with the stick on version, which has an intermittent signal, My Skoda dealer quoted £140 to do the job on top of the price of the aerial, does this seem fair, I would imagine it is a labour intensive job, also is it possible to replace just the external whip with a Dab one and use a splitter? Thanks.

The Blaupunkt combi DAB/FM/AM aerial is a different beastie to the standard one. It has flying leads for FM and for DAB, as well as a power supply lead for the built-in aerial amplifier. It fits the standard roof hole, but you need to drop the headlining at the back to gain access (note that the grab handle and seat belt runner had to be removed in order to drop the headlining far enough). It takes two people to tighten the nut: one on the outside to hold the aerial base in place and the other tightening it from the inside. No more than an hour's work, probably less, so your quote for labour seems a bit excessive. Try a car audio specialist rather than a Skoda dealer.

It works well with my Pioneer DAB tuner but like all DAB aerials, it is all-or-nothing and I do find one or two odd spots where the signal turns to a burbly mush. The aerial sits more upright than the standard one.

[The The]

Thanks for that, I was looking at the Jvc Hal 2 at £50 as I have a Jvc stereo but I need to get a quote from somewhere else for the fitting, I don’t trust myself to get the lining back nice and tight.
I have tried a powered splitter, which uses the standard aerial for FM and Dab, but bizarrely I can get about 10 stations perfectly but others not at all! Must be something to do with the bandwidth.

[VRStu]

PM superted, he's done it and may be able to help.

[Superted]

VRStu is correct, I fitted the full kit including the external antenna which when in place is exactly the same as the VAG OEM version (in fact in my opinion looks better as it is not as tapered, just my opinion)

I am thinking of arranging a group buy for two versions of DAB antenna kit. The first will be a roof mounted OEM replacement (very good piece of kit and is tuned to both DAB bands, 224 and 1400MHz, so is suitable for UK and Europe)

The second antenna will be a glass mounted version and is also tuned for both bands and each kit will include everything to get going. I will put everything together this week and post some photo's so you can get an idea of what's potentially on offer.

[The The]

Thanks for the replies, I would be interested for sure, do you think Blaupunkt aerials are a better bet than JVC, The first picture is what i am using now but half the stations are missing, and the other is the JVC roof jobbie.

[johnjohnhealy]

Does anyone know, if/when we will ever get sattelite radio in the UK?

Reason I ask is that where I live we cant get much on the radio, the signal for FM is very weak, and DAB is hopeless, hell we cant even get channel 5 on terrestrial TV! apparently were too close to France and it would interfere with them - like they'd be bothered about us!!

[bryand]

Originally Posted by The The

do you think Blaupunkt aerials are a better bet than JVC, The first picture is what i am using now but half the stations are missing, and the other is the JVC roof jobbie.

The JVC looks identical to the Blaupunkt, so I would go for whichever is cheapest.