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Sat Nav and DAB

raysablade
in Skoda Yeti

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Apologies for a first post that dives straight into a request for advice, I'm trying to save myself some earache and working out what its going to cost me.

My wife is in the process of ordering a Yeti and has decided she wants to add the Columbus Sat Nav to her order. The only problem is that it doesn't come with DAB and that's something she'd particularly like. So I'm planning to advise her to leave the Columbus out of her order and wait.

In doing that I'm presuming that a Columbus or equivalent with DAB will become available in the next few months, maybe even before the due delivery date. I'm also presuming that the cost for the dealer supply and fit a unit with DAB as an after market part wont be too much more than the £1500 it's going cost as on option on the new car. I'm presuming too that combining Park Assist with an after market unit won't be an issue.

An obvious flaws in my plan? I really want to avoid spending over £3000 on 2 boxes that do the same thing as a £150 TomTom. Its bad enough buying one.

Edited by raysablade

Why don't you fit an rns315 to your car , dab radio, bluetooth( I believe ) sat nav and will show park assist on screen, cheap on eBay, and a doodle to fit.

Why don't you fit an rns315 to your car , dab radio, bluetooth( I believe ) sat nav and will show park assist on screen, cheap on eBay, and a doodle to fit.

Pardon my iggorence, but what is an "rns315"?

Skoda's version is called Amundsen. Various models on a theme, I have the rns310 in my seat, updated to 7 digit postcode, really good sat nav unit .

I've not heard of Skoda about to start offering as an option DAB.

This has been discussed at great length by some members of Briskoda who won't order a Skoda until they can have DAB.

The Columbus is a great unit, but unless you are going to use the sat Nav part several times a day, then I would suggest go with Tom Tom and a Brodit mount.

I have a Columbus and it is a great piece of kit, I use it several times a day visiting different clients, rarely going to the same place twice. I beats having to remove the Tom Tom, take it with you, clean the windscreen etc. I think it is a better head unit than the Bolero as well, and it displays the time. :lol:

I had one in my previous Octavia as well.

It is expensive, but I use mine every day. It is the best Sat Nav that VW, Seat & Skoda use in my opinion.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Skoda's version is called Amundsen. Various models on a theme, I have the rns310 in my seat, updated to 7 digit postcode, really good sat nav unit .

You must have a VW one as Skoda don't yet offer DAB. The lights must be VW's colours.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Like I said previously the rns315 is a dab sat nav unit, it may well have a flash vw screen ( which I believe can be swapped to another screen ) but it can be fitted to a yeti, and if you look on e-bay, are very reasonably priced. Of course the better nav unit is the rns510 , which costs more. You pays your money, etc etc.....

Apologies for a first post that dives straight into a request for advice, I'm trying to save myself some earache and working out what its going to cost me.

My wife is in the process of ordering a Yeti and has decided she wants to add the Columbus Sat Nav to her order. The only problem is that it doesn't come with DAB and that's something she'd particularly like. So I'm planning to advise her to leave the Columbus out of her order and wait.

In doing that I'm presuming that a Columbus or equivalent with DAB will become available in the next few months, maybe even before the due delivery date. I'm also presuming that the cost for the dealer supply and fit a unit with DAB as an after market part wont be too much more than the £1500 it's going cost as on option on the new car. I'm presuming too that combining Park Assist with an after market unit won't be an issue.

An obvious flaws in my plan? I really want to avoid spending over £3000 on 2 boxes that do the same thing as a £150 TomTom. Its bad enough buying one.

You might be waiting some time before Skoda include DAB either as an option or standard fit. They have said that they will supply "post fit" units as necessary. However, for approx. £200 you can have a PURE Highway 300Di fitted by Halfords. This unit works with the exiting radio and comes in two parts - one is concealed behind the dash and the small tuner part is installed somewhere convenient. Google it and have a look, it has got very good reviews. A TomTom satnav does everything the built in units do and can easily be updated - or changed - for about £140. £1500 for a Columbus satnav system is a lot amount of money to spend on a satnav. Better spend £500 on the park assist system then the Yeti will parallel park itself in ridiculously small spaces!

  • Author

Thanks for the replies, it is hard to understand why Skoda can't offer DAB at any price.

It will be annoying for my wife because the reason she wants a built in Sat Nav is that she is sick of trailing leads and clipping/unclipping he TomTom. However it seems that the one avenue that isn't worth pursing at is stage is fitting the Columbus unit as an option on the new car. Principally because she is going to want a simple DAB solution that is displayed on the screen with everything else.

I'm fairly certain now that we'll;

  • opt for the standard Bolero unit
  • try a few Brodit mount solutions over the next few weeks in her current car to see if one might work for her in the short term and
  • research the rns 315 whilst the Yeti is being built.

Even then taking a brand new head unit out of a brand new car and replacing it with another VW Group part seems a terrible waste.

Even then taking a brand new head unit out of a brand new car and replacing it with another VW Group part seems a terrible waste.

As you can see on eBay you need not put the old radio in a drawer and forget about! You sell it on! :giggle:

Go to these guys: http://www.oemretrofits.co.uk/

They specialise in retrofitting Columbus units and do all the coding and everything. They will be well versed in how to fit an RNS315 or RNS515 from a VW for you as well so your wife can have the DAB.

You might be waiting some time before Skoda include DAB either as an option or standard fit. They have said that they will supply "post fit" units as necessary. However, for approx. £200 you can have a PURE Highway 300Di fitted by Halfords. This unit works with the exiting radio and comes in two parts - one is concealed behind the dash and the small tuner part is installed somewhere convenient. Google it and have a look, it has got very good reviews. A TomTom satnav does everything the built in units do and can easily be updated - or changed - for about £140. £1500 for a Columbus satnav system is a lot amount of money to spend on a satnav. Better spend £500 on the park assist system then the Yeti will parallel park itself in ridiculously small spaces!

Do you have personal experience of the PURE Highway 300Di? I like the description but have concerns about the fitting. The Halfords price seems reasonable but my experiences of their fitters has been less than impressive. :thumbdown:

Hi,

I am from the dark side - well, the Octavia 2 Forum.

I understand exactly how your wife feels about having to retrofit portable devices on a new car - not really what you want.

For my Octavia, currently fitted with Bolero, (I use a TomTom LIve, much better than a Colombus, but of course not integrated), I have bought a secondhand VW RCD510-DAB which is a head unit to replace the Bolero and it includes DAB. Of course it will have VW start up splash screen and conflicting illunination (red) colour, but solves the DAB problem.

As this unit already exists in VW group, I am at a loss to understand why Skoda are unable to offer their own version.

Anyway,moving on to maybe another posiible solution - Connects2 have produced a DAB solution that integrates very nicely into a standard audio system for compatible cars with steering wheel controls (MFSW). See links below, may be the answer providing your car will have MFSW.

http://www.autodab.com/

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=autodab&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDoQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.carcommunications.co.uk%2Fdab-digital-car-radio-c-3542.html&ei=QWsZT_PpNofc4QT37fjvDQ&usg=AFQjCNHJa1Ui0cwwtZ9C-GqCLJtlQewTzQ&cad=rja

Hope that helps,

John.

Hi,

I am from the dark side - well, the Octavia 2 Forum.

I understand exactly how your wife feels about having to retrofit portable devices on a new car - not really what you want.

For my Octavia, currently fitted with Bolero, (I use a TomTom LIve, much better than a Colombus, but of course not integrated), I have bought a secondhand VW RCD510-DAB which is a head unit to replace the Bolero and it includes DAB. Of course it will have VW start up splash screen and conflicting illunination (red) colour, but solves the DAB problem.

As this unit already exists in VW group, I am at a loss to understand why Skoda are unable to offer their own version.

Anyway,moving on to maybe another posiible solution - Connects2 have produced a DAB solution that integrates very nicely into a standard audio system for compatible cars with steering wheel controls (MFSW). See links below, may be the answer providing your car will have MFSW.

http://www.autodab.com/

http://www.google.co...lQewTzQ&cad=rja

Hope that helps,

John.

That looks a very neat solution John. But at what price?

  • Author

Hi,

I am from the dark side - well, the Octavia 2 Forum.

I understand exactly how your wife feels about having to retrofit portable devices on a new car - not really what you want.

For my Octavia, currently fitted with Bolero, (I use a TomTom LIve, much better than a Colombus, but of course not integrated), I have bought a secondhand VW RCD510-DAB which is a head unit to replace the Bolero and it includes DAB. Of course it will have VW start up splash screen and conflicting illunination (red) colour, but solves the DAB problem.

As this unit already exists in VW group, I am at a loss to understand why Skoda are unable to offer their own version.

Anyway,moving on to maybe another posiible solution - Connects2 have produced a DAB solution that integrates very nicely into a standard audio system for compatible cars with steering wheel controls (MFSW). See links below, may be the answer providing your car will have MFSW.

http://www.autodab.com/

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=autodab&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CDoQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.carcommunications.co.uk%2Fdab-digital-car-radio-c-3542.html&ei=QWsZT_PpNofc4QT37fjvDQ&usg=AFQjCNHJa1Ui0cwwtZ9C-GqCLJtlQewTzQ&cad=rja

Hope that helps,

John.

Thanks

She's taken the Columbus out of her order so we'll interested to see how the AutoDAB solution develops.

It might make the Columbus unit viable but looking at e-bay prices for secondhand ones it seems the best value was never going to be in factory fitting.

Thanks

She's taken the Columbus out of her order so we'll interested to see how the AutoDAB solution develops.

It might make the Columbus unit viable but looking at e-bay prices for secondhand ones it seems the best value was never going to be in factory fitting.

Sorry chaps - I don't know the exact costing on the Autodab solution, but I did include a link to Car Comminication website who have listed it - ask them for a price. I would expect it to be sub £300 but maybe not "much sub"??

The other point that I didn't cover is that you will of course need a DAB antenna as you can't use the existing FM sportflex - the AutoDAB solution, I suspect may come with a magnetic mount antenna (not desirable) or an internal "film" antenna that sticks onb the windscreen.

John.

Edited by JayTee

Do you have personal experience of the PURE Highway 300Di? I like the description but have concerns about the fitting. The Halfords price seems reasonable but my experiences of their fitters has been less than impressive. :thumbdown:

No, I use the Pure Highway (£65) which I have found to be excellent even with the supplied stick on windscreen aerial. Basically you can use the stick on aerial and tuck the lead down the side of the windscreen so it is hidden, run the aerial to the floor then conceal along floor/side of car to underneath the passenger seat then underneath the seat to the jumbo box (you will need an extension - easily available on line) run into the jumbo box through a small hole in the base and attach to the Pure DAB unit in the jumbo box. There is an "Aux in" in the jumbo box which you connect the DAB unit to then all you have to do is to plug in the 12V connector to the outlet in the centre console. Basically I usually keep the DAB radio tuned to Radio 5 because Radio 4 etc are good on the FM radio but being in the jumbo box it is easy to access the DAB unit to change stations if I want to listen to cricket etc.

When you exit the car simply pull out the 12V plug and put into the Jumbo box and noone can see the unit is even fitted.

The Highway 300Di is relatively new but on-line reviews have been good and I have always found Pure products to be excellent, I have 3 Pure DAB radios we use at home!

Like all these things it all depends on how much time and money you want to invest, I briefly (very briefly) considered swapping to a VW DAB unit but frankly it was just not worth it. I might have gone with the £200 Pure 300Di unit if it was available when I wanted it but then again £65 is a lot less than £200!!

Note - currently the unit is fitted to my Octavia but will be switched to my Yeti when Skoda decide to make it - hopefully Week 8!!

No, I use the Pure Highway (£65) which I have found to be excellent even with the supplied stick on windscreen aerial. Basically you can use the stick on aerial and tuck the lead down the side of the windscreen so it is hidden, run the aerial to the floor then conceal along floor/side of car to underneath the passenger seat then underneath the seat to the jumbo box (you will need an extension - easily available on line) run into the jumbo box through a small hole in the base and attach to the Pure DAB unit in the jumbo box. There is an "Aux in" in the jumbo box which you connect the DAB unit to then all you have to do is to plug in the 12V connector to the outlet in the centre console. Basically I usually keep the DAB radio tuned to Radio 5 because Radio 4 etc are good on the FM radio but being in the jumbo box it is easy to access the DAB unit to change stations if I want to listen to cricket etc.

When you exit the car simply pull out the 12V plug and put into the Jumbo box and noone can see the unit is even fitted.

The Highway 300Di is relatively new but on-line reviews have been good and I have always found Pure products to be excellent, I have 3 Pure DAB radios we use at home!

Like all these things it all depends on how much time and money you want to invest, I briefly (very briefly) considered swapping to a VW DAB unit but frankly it was just not worth it. I might have gone with the £200 Pure 300Di unit if it was available when I wanted it but then again £65 is a lot less than £200!!

Note - currently the unit is fitted to my Octavia but will be switched to my Yeti when Skoda decide to make it - hopefully Week 8!!

I've been using one (a refurbed one from Misco for £43) for a couple of years in my previous Roomster and my current Yeti. Performance is quite good but there are places in the UK where reception is non-existent, North Wales for example. I suspect reception would be much better with an external aerial but haven't followed that route yet. When you mention an extension do you mean for the aerial lead? If so where did you get it from?

Fred

I've been using one (a refurbed one from Misco for £43) for a couple of years in my previous Roomster and my current Yeti. Performance is quite good but there are places in the UK where reception is non-existent, North Wales for example. I suspect reception would be much better with an external aerial but haven't followed that route yet. When you mention an extension do you mean for the aerial lead? If so where did you get it from?

Fred

Here:- http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/DAB_aerial_cable_extension_2_metre_low_loss_for_Pure_Highway.asp

Not tried an external aerial but I am sure it would give better reception in difficult areas - mind you, DAB coverage is still patchy even with besy equipment,

Thanks for that, I've ordered one. :thumbup:

Fred

Fred - please let me know how you get on fitting it to your Yeti; particularly concealing the cables and getting aerial lead into jumbo box. I have had a look at a Yeti interior but until I get mine (March hopefully) have not worked out exact details, I am assuming similar to Octavia - how different can it be! Did you buy a new aerial as well?

Also once fitted would welcome your views on reception.

I'm one of the Briskoda Yeti fans who has got fed up with Skoda UK's inability to supply DAB radios to their cars, even when they are fitted to VWs, SEATs, and European Skodas!

I had added a Pure Highway to my Octavia, which ,was fiddly to use and really needed an external aerial to work properly (and then stopped using it when I had to change the windscreen and lost the stick-on aerial!)

So last July I ordered a Golf Plus with the RCD510 DAB radio, 1.6TDI engine and DSG gearbox. It arrived early last month, and I have been delighted to find that DAB reception on my trips around Staffordshire and Cheshire has been perfect so far. The Golf Plus does have a special DAB roof aerial fitted which probably contributes to its performance, and you would need to add this if you try to add a DAB radio yourself.

I am also finding the 1.6TDI DSG to be very economical and with adequate performance - although it hasn't got the power of my old 2.0TDI 140 Octavia of course. It would be interesting to know how a 1.6TDI DSG Yeti would perform, perhaps we'll find out when the larger Yeti 2 comes along (hopefully with a DAB radio by then!)

Chris

I'm one of the Briskoda Yeti fans who has got fed up with Skoda UK's inability to supply DAB radios to their cars, even when they are fitted to VWs, SEATs, and European Skodas!

I had added a Pure Highway to my Octavia, which ,was fiddly to use and really needed an external aerial to work properly (and then stopped using it when I had to change the windscreen and lost the stick-on aerial!)

So last July I ordered a Golf Plus with the RCD510 DAB radio, 1.6TDI engine and DSG gearbox. It arrived early last month, and I have been delighted to find that DAB reception on my trips around Staffordshire and Cheshire has been perfect so far. The Golf Plus does have a special DAB roof aerial fitted which probably contributes to its performance, and you would need to add this if you try to add a DAB radio yourself.

I am also finding the 1.6TDI DSG to be very economical and with adequate performance - although it hasn't got the power of my old 2.0TDI 140 Octavia of course. It would be interesting to know how a 1.6TDI DSG Yeti would perform, perhaps we'll find out when the larger Yeti 2 comes along (hopefully with a DAB radio by then!)

Chris

While I agree Skoda UK are delinquent in not offering a DAB radio, even as an extra, the problem is that a Golf is, well, soooo boring. I currently drive a 2.0 diesel Octavia DSG and thought that a switch to a 1.4 TSi DSG Golf match would be a perfect fit for my retirement driving. I test drove the Golf twice and couldn't fault it except that it didn't excite even a murmur of pleasure or fun, I might be retired but I am not ready to be bored to death! The Yeti 1.2 Tsi Elegance DSG (+ lots of goodies) might not have a DAB radio but it was FUN to drive and put a smile on my face. That is worth more than a DAB radio!! So I will transfer my Pure Highway to my Yeti when it arrives in March and as long as the reception is as good as in the Octavia then it's fine with me. In real terms FM is as good as DAB (some say better) for Radio 4 and all I need DAB for is Radio 5 and cricket so I rarely need to retune it - it just lives in the Jumbo box and when I want to use it I plug in the 12V cord and tune the radio to Aux and listen.

There may be many reasons for preferring one car over another but the presence, or absence, of a built in DAB must surely be way down the priority list!!

I have to agree.

My last two cars have had factory fitted DAB units. Vectra Estate and Current Mondeo. However, whilst I would have selected a DAB option if one was available, the lack of it didn't stop me from ordering one. In fact there are still a number of manufacturers who don't offer DAB as an option on their entire range. Look at Volvo as an example.

If I find I need dab in the future then I'll do as Expatman has done and add an after market unit.

Frankly I don't understand all the fuss in this thread about DAB.

DAB is already out-of-date and DAB+ has been the new standard since February 2007. DAB radios are not forward compatible with DAB+. I think Skoda UK have been doing right by customers and waiting until the broadcasters make final decisions for introduction of DAB+ in the UK. :giggle:

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