This article is in today's Saturday Mail and we do not even have the option

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1331493/Millions-motorists-face-250-switch-car-radio-airwaves-digital.html

I would direct all criticism at the likes of the BBC rather than Skoda or the majority of other manufacturers who don't yet offer DAB.

Why replace a perfectly satisfactory analogue system with something that I remain to be convinced is worth doing? DAB coverage even within 20-30 miles of London can be useless whereas I can set the existing FM radio listening to Chris Evans in the morning, drive all day and switch off Simon Mayo when I get home. All without touching the radio, however far I travel.

My DAB walkman rarely works properly unless I'm in the centre of London or sat in my kitchen! Anywhere else it seems totally daft. If I listen to DAB through the HiFi on decent speakers, the sound is compressed and strangled, whereas FM sounds great.

I remain unconvinced that FM will be switched off for years to come. When you think back, it took ages for most BBC stations to leave AM frequencies and some still remain. But perhaps now is the time to make our feelings known - after all we pay for the BBC.

This article is in today's Saturday Mail and we do not even have the option

http://www.dailymail...es-digital.html

Don't worry, DAB-only is not going to happen - wait and see . And in any event I'm not sure that the Mail is a very credible source of information - it's more of a not-the-news paper.

Don't worry, DAB-only is not going to happen - wait and see . And in any event I'm not sure that the Mail is a very credible source of information - it's more of a not-the-news paper.

Spot on - and even getting half decent FM reception is still a challenge here in rural North Yorkshire.

DAB is standard on VW's but not even an option on Skoda - or Seat.

I agree with Prodata, not likely to happen. It would need a quantum leap in performanace for the DAB network to come anywhere near the current AM/FM broadcasts.

I can't see any government pushing ahead with the changeover without that improvement, even with the income they could generate from the sale of the released frequencies.

Fred

Comments based on my 18 months experiences with Pure Highway DAB addon fitted in my Roomster.

DAB is coming sooner than some of you are willing to accept - and it's got nothing to do with the BBC, it's a political decision to sell off the AM wavebands by moving FM over to local radio.

It's also happening across Europe where all cars will be required to have DAB tuners within a few years.

If it's standard in Fords, VWs, Vauxhalls, and optional in SEATs, why are Skoda refusing to accept the inevitable and fit tuners available within VAG? (They've told me they will not be fitting DAB tuners for 2 to 3 years!)

Perhaps they know they can't keep up with demand for their cars already and so are restricting demand by refusing to fit DAB tuners and sunroofs? (I'm interested to hear that they are standard on Yetis in Europe but we are told a flooded factory stops them being offered to us...

Chris

Audi, VW and Seat all have it as standard or at least on the options list. Guess who is the odd one out within the VAG group?

Answers on a postcard please.

Makes no sense at all.

You can tell who the 'Mail' panickers are

The attached list shows that Skoda are by no means the exception and that includes others within VAG :

www.getdigitalradio.com/digital-radios/in-car/manufacturers/

My next door neighbours 6 month old Bentley Continental hasn't got DAB and he's quite happy about the situation. I'm not bothered that my Yeti hasn't got something that I would have no intention of using until the FM signal is finally turned off and if I had only the option of DAB on my new car, with no opportunity to still use FM, I'd be mighty furious.

When (if?) it comes to the crunch, there are readily available DAB converters from the likes of PURE for as little as £50, so I really cannot see what all of the fuss is about.

In all honesty, I reckon DAB will go the same way as the mini disk, the future will probably be streaming music.....

In all honesty, I reckon DAB will go the same way as the mini disk, the future will probably be streaming music.....

Yes - that's my take on it too. I very strongly suspect that the putative 2014/2015 DAB switchover will be delayed till say 2020 (don't forget there's an election in 2015 and an FM switchoff would hardly be a vote-winner), by which time a 4G network will have been been sufficiently built out, even into more rural parts (though, agreed, not with 100.0% coverage) to allow audio reception via Internet data services as standard.

Also both WAG and the Scots Parliament are strongly against the sooner date due to the stated problem of reception in many parts of their countries, and are putting pressure on Westminster to delay it further.

It's also happening across Europe where all cars will be required to have DAB tuners within a few years.

The EU have dumped our outdated DAB technology, trials of a new system thats totally different and based on much newer upgradable technology is ongoing in europe based on AAC encoding called DAB+, so it is kind of happening in europe but the system is incompatible with our 25 year old system but its a far better system than we have.

Whilst it may happen here eventually, I guess the manufacturers are holding back just in case we switch to DAB+ otherwise they could end up spending loads of money developing a dual standard radio when its not needed.

Sales of DAB radios in the UK are actually falling and at the current adoption rate switchover will be a long way off. Dont forget DSG group have not sold analogue only radios for some years now, and even this is not helping the takeup of DAB.

Sales of DAB radios in the UK are actually falling and at the current adoption rate switchover will be a long way off. Dont forget DSG group have not sold analogue only radios for some years now, and even this is not helping the takeup of DAB.

That's because the home market is already saturated because most homes have a DAB radio!

The DAB+ issue is a red herring as car DAB tuners will handle both standards.

Aren't there a lot of ostriches with their heads stuck in the sand around here???

Chris

That's because the home market is already saturated because most homes have a DAB radio!

The DAB+ issue is a red herring as car DAB tuners will handle both standards.

Aren't there a lot of ostriches with their heads stuck in the sand around here???

Chris

Not if they are ostriches living in a desert where mobile phone and FM signals are received occasionally, and of varying intensity and usefulness, and where there are not even asprational dates for DAB coverage.

That's because the home market is already saturated because most homes have a DAB radio!

Chris

Not around here they haven't!

And that probably applies to most of Mid and North Wales, where reception is impoosible and according to the BBC Engineering Dept is not likely to improve without a large expenditure in new transmitters, which is why WAG is trying to push the date of switchover away.

I understand that there is a similar situation over a lot of Scotland.

Not around here they haven't!

And that probably applies to most of Mid and North Wales, where reception is impoosible and according to the BBC Engineering Dept is not likely to improve without a large expenditure in new transmitters, which is why WAG is trying to push the date of switchover away.

I understand that there is a similar situation over a lot of Scotland.

But that's also true for FM!!! When I travel through Mid Wales I rely on my CD player as there are hardly any FM stations to receive, but if Skoda can fit FM radios even when they're not usable in remote locations why shouldn't they OFFER DAB radios?? (I'm sure most Yetis have been sold in the South East anyway where there are plenty of DAB stations to listen to.)

Chris

But that's also true for FM!!! When I travel through Mid Wales I rely on my CD player as there are hardly any FM stations to receive, but if Skoda can fit FM radios even when they're not usable in remote locations why shouldn't they OFFER DAB radios?? (I'm sure most Yetis have been sold in the South East anyway where there are plenty of DAB stations to listen to.)

Chris

Chris,

I can get all the FM stations, other than BBC Radio Wales, that I want in Mid Wales, so that isn't a problem.

And from the members on here I think there are lots of owners in Wales and Yorkshire.

I was listening to an industry expert on BBC Essex, on the good old FM radio in my Yeti, on my way home from work today - didn't catch his name.

He reckoned that if the FM transmitters were ever to be turned off, then it wouldn't be until 2025 at the earliest. Apparently even the Queen has problems listening to DAB at Buckingham Palace due to the thickness of the stone walls. I don't think that she will be 'amused' if she can't listen to Radio 4 on FM any more.

I used to buy the 'Mail' but these days it just winds me up so much with all its whining and moaning that I now don't bother. Sadly quite a few of its readership still believe everything it says and that could be the answer for why this country is in such a supposed mess! The emphasis being on the word 'supposed'.

Picked from another thread, but there was a programme on R4 earlier yesterday with some Government bod on and it was suggested that the 2015 date has slid to 2020 and possibly later!!

That's because the home market is already saturated because most homes have a DAB radio!

Really,

I dont know anyone who owns a DAB radio, the percentage of DAB radios to FM is tiny and not as large as the government would have you believe. One big issue is portable battery DAB radios, they have short battery life and poor reception, whereas an FM one will run for days and have no reception problems. DAB is not working in europe, take up is very low and unless they can do something to improve bitrates and sound quality then its going to fail here.

Unlike TV reception where we put up with macroblocking and other compression artifacts, radio is all about sound quality and listening to DAB on a quality system where you can here these imperfections is truely awful and akin to listening to a low bitrate internet radio station. A good FM receiver gives great sound quality, something which DAB cannot yet offer.

I have tried DAB in the past, before it got compressed to death and even then it was poor, so poor that the car headunit now lives in a box in the shed and I have intention of refitting it and the home tuner is long since gone.

I also wonder how many of these sold DAB radios are used to listen to FM, since they are combo radios and you can only buy DAB/FM radios from Curries for example.

One big issue is portable battery DAB radios, they have short battery life and poor reception, whereas an FM one will run for days and have no reception problems.

Oh yes this is a big issue. My DAB in the kitchen has a rechargeable battery in it. When I take it into the garden the manual says it can work for 8 hours on FM and 3 on DAB. With the battery getting older I'm now lucky to get 45 minutes on DAB. Does the DAB go to the garden anymore? Nope. Do I like the extra stations? Yes. So a bit of a conundrum!