Best Car DAB tuner for the aftermarket
Digital radio in cars has been a patchy business with poorly performing stick on window adapters or replacement head units with small add on DAB boxes from JVC, Alpine etc. It seemed that DAB in the UK was dying with only JVC still making decent units, the only alternative solution was the aforementioned inferior stick on jobs. So if you are driving a prestige vehicle and didn’t want to swap out the factory radio, your only choice for DAB was the ugly sticky thing but not anymore, with the introduction of the C-KO DAB2011 hideaway DAB tuner you can enjoy the full range of digital radio stations on your factory radio if it has a screen or it can be installed onto any aftermarket multimedia system with an AV input, finally a proper solution to aftermarket in car DAB.
One vital component often overlooked when trying to get digital radio in a car is the antenna. Were back to sticky things again, if you live in the center of a city with strong wall to wall signal, you might get away with the small windscreen stick on aerials that come with the cheapo DAB tuners but the good (or bad) thing about DAB reception is that it is either brilliant with full stereo separation and depth of modulation giving a rich hi-fi experience or it is deadly silent, no in-between hisses and crackles like FM. So unless you want your listening enjoyment broken like a Norman Collier sketch you should buy the best DAB antenna for your car.
The importance that this information is passed on to customers by salespeople is recognized by the authorities and working in conjunction with specialist associations like the “MESF” (Mobile Electronics and Security Federation) there are moves afoot to regulate or at least appoint accredited vendors, a bit like the “red tick” campaign to roll out Digital TV in the UK. The point being that in order to get the best out of Digital radio is should be installed correctly with proper body mounted aerials etc. This of course is not news to specialists like us but it seems the “bike” shops that also sell these things are not joining the club saying that they do their own in-house training and they are bigger than OFCOM regulations. So when the “expert” at your local bike shop tells you all you need to get DAB in your car is a five bob sticky thing, run away!
When will DAB switchover in UK happen?
The previous government planned to work towards switching over the majority of analogue stations to DAB in 2015, or two years after 50% of listening was via a digital platform, but this is now widely accepted to be an unrealistic target. On Tuesday 18th October 2011 there will be the first Digital Radio In-Vehicle Conference at BBC Broadcasting house in London. The speaker line-up for the conference has now been confirmed and includes executives from leading vehicle manufacturers, digital radio manufacturers, fleet management, franchised dealers and a leading German broadcaster. This is the opportunity for vehicle manufacturers, radio manufacturers, automotive dealers, retailers, installers and broadcasters to hear first hand from the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries about Government plans and timetable for digital radio in the UK; from the BBC about plans to extend digital radio road coverage; and from the vehicle industry about plans for accelerating the introduction of digital radio in-vehicle. It will also cover the opportunities and challenges for the vehicle industry and provide an update on digital radio plans in Germany and across Europe. This will also be the first major event staged at the newly-completed BBC Broadcasting House. I will keep you posted on the outcome.
21/10/2011 As promised the “Drive to Digital in vehicle radio conference was held at BBC headquarters, here is what was said: Speech by Minister Ed Vaizey plus speech by Ford Ennals (.pdf)
In-Car Research from BBC Conference.
Reception is good
- 76% Say digital radio reception is good
- 48% Say digital radio reception is better than FM
- 12% Say digital radio reception is poor
Satisfaction high
- 73% Satisfied
- 13% Content/OK
- 14% Not satisfied
- 77% Would recommend digital radio
Most people wouldn’t buy a car without digital radio
Some sources for more information about DAB
Who wants DAB anyway?
LOCAL RADIO GROUPS QUESTION OFCOM ON DAB SWITCHOVER
A number of local radio groups have questioned the role of the DAB platform at the local level in a response to a consultation from broadcasting regulator Ofcom.
DAB switchover: objectors claim the DAB platform is not suitable for local radio
UKRD, along with Brighton and Hove Radio, has long been a vocal opponent of DAB, but this is the first time other radio groups have joined in the station’s public calls for DAB to be abandoned as a platform for some local radio stations.
Together, the objecting group represents 52 local radio licenses, including the Tindle Radio Group, owner of The Beach in Great Yarmouth; Town and Country Broadcasting, owner of 102.5 Radio Pembrokeshire, and Celador, owner of Jack FM in Bristol.
In a joint response to the consultation, the local radio groups said: “Our opinion is that the FM platform must continue to be an integral part of the mainstream radio ecology.
“At the same time, DAB is clearly not suitable – in terms of transmission costs, robust coverage or consumer take-up – to become the primary broadcast platform for genuinely local radio in many areas.”
Ofcom launched its consultation entitled ‘An Approach to DAB Coverage Planning’ on 22 June and responses had to be submitted by last Wednesday (14 September). All non-confidential responses have now been published on the Ofcom website.
The consultation document asks six specific questions about DAB and FM coverage and frequency, such as “do you agree with our approach of matching DAB to FM within defined editorial areas?”
In the response, credited to UKRD and 14 other commercial radio companies, the radio groups call for an independent cost/benefit analysis using “empirical evidence and verified data” to compare the total costs of DAB transmission to that of analogue.
The radio groups questioned what they referred to as a number of presumptions made by Ofcom, including that the additional rollout of local DAB multiplex transmitters is necessary, and that consumer demand for DAB is not an issue.
The Government is currently in negotiations with the BBC, the commercial radio industry and transmission operators over the build out of local DAB to around 90% of the areas covered by FM, after a row broke out last year.
Earlier this year, the three parties (the BBC, commercial radio industry and the Government) agreed in principle to a three-way sharing of the approximate £25m cost of rolling out local DAB to around 90% of FM coverage.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is believed to be in the process of drawing up a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the subject of local DAB rollout, with a view to it being signed by the end of November.
In their submission, the local radio groups said they would like to be engaged directly in the evaluation process and questioned why the decisions that could follow this consultation would primarily be taken by the multiplex operators and Government, and not wider stakeholders.
William Rogers, chief executive of UKRD said: “DAB is clearly a nonsense for genuinely local commercial radio services, and the growing realisation amongst operators that this is a car crash waiting to happen has now bubbled to the surface.
“We don’t need, want or support this change. Things are tough enough as it is without the Government heaping more costs, uncertainty and damage on the local commercial radio sector. DAB for local commercial radio is inappropriate. It should be dumped.”
In its submission, commercial radio trade body RadioCentre said that in respect of the specific points raised by the consultation, it was “broadly content that Ofcom’s planning assumptions and the technical parameters it is seeking to apply are appropriate”.
However, RadioCentre said it still had “some concerns about the build-out plan itself and how this will be structured and funded”, but understood these matters were not within the scope of this consultation.
Ofcom also received submissions to its consultation from Bauer Media, owner of the Kiss and Magic networks; Orion Media, Midlands-based radio company and owner of BRMB; Ford Motor Company, and a number of individuals
