DAB in the Disco 2

I've just fitted a Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) converter into the Disco, it went in quite well.
Now, I know that it won't suit everybody, and I don't intend that this post should start a debate or denigration of DAB.
It's just what I have done to "future-proof" the ICE in the Disco while maintaining the existing LR fitted equipment.
The review is fairly long and detailed (I think) so instead of putting it up as a straight post, I've attached it as a .pdf file.

Good write up and a nice looking settup. Just to add I put a Pioneer with DAB and iPod connectivity in mine. Because the aerial in the Disco is powered you cannot use an adapter which allows the existing aerial to receive analogue and digital broadcasts, as an aside I did use one of those in the wife's Jimny when I installed the same unit and the reception is excellent. So I bought a strip type aerial (CT27UV67 - DAB Digital Radio Discreet Glass Mount Patch Antenna Aerial) and mounted it high up behind the internal A pillar trim on the passenger side. Reception is good despite a heated screen.

While I was in the "stick this here and that there" mood, and while I had the 'A' post trim off I ran in the power feed for my DVR rear view mirror.
The one I chose at £32.99 was a bit more expensive than some you can get on the bay, but after careful inspection of all the details, this one has a 4.3 inch screen, a reversing camera and more importantly the lens on the right hand end which means it's designed for right-hand drive vehicles and it came from a UK based supplier.
So far it seems to be doing what it's supposed to.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2016-4-3-FHD-In-Car-Dual-lens-DVR-Dash-Cam-Rear-View-IN-Mirror-Camera-Recorder-/322013305532?hash=item4af97d1abc:g:lA0AAOSwB4NWxuRd

Update on my DAB installation.

The "Autotune" facility indicated that it found 40 channels so it looks like a question of signal strength. It looks like I have the BBC set of channels, but up in the valley the other commercial channels are not strong enough. In fact even the BBC set are low in signal level, the signal strength indicator doesn't show. Having moved to a known reception area the signal did improve slightly but not as much as I would have hoped.
When the weather warms and dries up a bit more I will install the stick-on DAB aerial and try everything out again.

Another update on my DAB installation.

Pleasant weather in the last few days so I gave the installation of the little stick-on-the-window aerial a go.

The actual installing wasn't quite as involved as I thought it might have been. I ran in two coax cables and a single wire, the reason being that if the stick-on aerial wasn't up to the job then I would be looking at option "C", a shark-fin jobby on the roof and I would at least have the required cables in behind the headlining up to the rear tailgate door. To run a wire from under the dashboard to above the rear tailgate comfortably will take about 5 metres.

The aerial was stuck on the inside of the window on the off-side of the vehicle, the MW/LW aerial is built into this window, the VHF/FM aerial is in the nearside window.


The cables I took up the behind the trim on the top half of the "A" post and then it was just a case of poking them up behind the headlining. Had to take off all the 'andles (and the fings wot 'eld the candles) so that I could push the cables above the handle mounts. Didn't have to remove the "B" post trim, just eased it away a bit with a couple of screwdrivers.

The rear "D" post trim casing was almost completely removed, apart from undoing the rear seatbelt mount to allow me access to the metalwork around the window. This is necessary because the aerial cable has a "connection" which has to be stuck to the bodywork. I say that in quotes because there is no physical connection, no scraping of paint or cleaning under bolt heads; it's all done using the magic of capacitive coupling.


Once everything was in place and the excess cabling tied in it was a case of as the Haynes manual says "a reverse of the removal process".

Connecting the FAKRA aerial plug and resetting the aerial source facility on the EZi-DAB to a powered connection provided an immediate improvement in the signal levels received. Even up in the valley it looks like I can receive quite a few 40 DAB channels now. A local test drive did show that the reception dropping out, but that cleared up as I left the valley. The local transmitter at Ogmore Vale is currently only transmitting the 12B multiplex block which is listed as the "BBC national DAB ensemble" so I can't receive a quality signal from the commercial stations like "Smooth" and "Planet Rock".
Currently it's one of the major disadvantages with DAB is the patchy coverage, in this neck of the woods, the main DAB transmitters are at Wenvoe on the west end of Cardiff, St. Hilary near Cowbridge and Kilvey Hill near Swansea, so the main coverage which is very good is aimed at the South Wales coastal plain and the M4 corridor. It's good in Bridgend too but once you get into the valleys there are no repeater transmitters and both coverage and performance drop off dramatically. How DAB will behave where you live you'll have to find out for yourself.

A coverage map. https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/dab

Passing the Wenvoe TV transmitter on the A48 road to Cardiff and the entire system does pick up some interference, but that's nothing new, even old fashioned medium wave steam wireless sets used to succumb to the megawatts from there too.