"Ford has pledged to make DAB digital radios standard across its range by the end of 2012 – one year earlier than the industry-wide agreement.

The new Ford Focus has been launched with DAB radio as standard, because Ford believes it will tempt buyers who are wary of the mooted 2015 date for all FM broadcasts to be ended. It now plans to extend that policy."

This has just gone up on the What Car website. If Ford are doing this then I would expect others to follow shortly. Note it is standard, not an option. Come on Skoda. (for those in the hills of Wales, Highlands of Scotland etc who always take the hump when DAB is raised please keep calm and don't abuse this thread)

Edited 16 March, 201115 yr by EdmundBlackadder

DAB's dead, it just doesn't know it yet. Also FM's very unlikely to go on the current schedule. DAB wont be the successor when FM does go, it's just a sideline distraction.

If they could transfer MW stations to FM then there would not be a problem as the FM network is pretty damned good but after failing to get a clear reception for the rugby on Sunday whilst going up the A1 I am getting mighty fed with the inadequacies of MW. I'll take anything that can improve on that. Presumably the Ford decision is a cross European one so we can't be the only country going to DAB.

Dab is fine as long as you don`t move!!!! :think:

Fine at home but c-ap at the bottom of my hill.

Edited 16 March, 201115 yr by Maffa

DAB's dead, it just doesn't know it yet. Also FM's very unlikely to go on the current schedule. DAB wont be the successor when FM does go, it's just a sideline distraction.

What's replacing it then Mute??

Anyone pushing for Skoda to offer DAB radios always seems to generate the same old kneejerk reactions!

DAB radio is coming. It already offers stations that you cannot get on FM (and AM reception is useless as far as I am concerned). The radios fitted in VWs, SEATs, Vauxhalls, Fords etc have FM, AM and DAB bands so those who cannot face the future can always leave it tuned to AM or FM. Meanwhile the rest of us want the choice!

Roll on details of the 2012MY cars. If they offer a DAB option that will satisfy me, nevermind as standard. If not I'll be buying elsewhere.

Chris

Had Sirius Satellite Radio in the Ford Escape Hire car in the states last month.

200+ Stations, all crystal clear, track names, etc etc, excellent. Please, bring this out for the Uk and Scrap DAB. - Been there, done that with DAB (Blaupunkt on Previous cars...)

Al.

Had Sirius Satellite Radio in the Ford Escape Hire car in the states last month.

200+ Stations, all crystal clear, track names, etc etc, excellent. Please, bring this out for the Uk

Oh yes, please please fit my next car with an OE radio which requires a £10 per month subscription!

What's replacing it then Mute??

Well, how long until you get "apps" for your car, just like your smartphone. Ford are already running with that idea in the states, Skoda's concept car showed off a similar idea. Internet connectivity for your audio? It'd be attractive for the publishers, and easy way for them to monetise "free" radio. I guess something similar already exists, plenty of people use podcasts in their car already.

That wouldn't solve real time broadcasts, e.g. the news, sport etc. very well though. Although arguably DAB doesn't adequately solve this problem either. The delay from broadcast to what you hear is pretty significant, try tuning two DAB receivers to the same station next to each other and try and make out a word of what's being said

DAB in the UK uses an older, inefficient protocol. Are the newly announced DAB tuners in Fords going to support DAB+ or will they be obsoleted when the DAB signal is turned off?

What's going to replace it? Who knows. Would be willing to stick a wee wager on with you for 2015 that DAB will not replace FM ? :-P

DAB in the UK uses an older, inefficient protocol. Are the newly announced DAB tuners in Fords going to support DAB+ or will they be obsoleted when the DAB signal is turned off?

I understand DAB tuners will be dual-standard (ie DAB & DAB+) so that they will be usable throughout Europe. And I'm not concerned whether DAB replaces FM by 2015 or not - there are already many radio stations I want to hear via DAB already that Skoda won't let me listen to!

Chris

Want to see the future? Look here:

Go past the house bits and you will see the car bits. This looks so seamless that I imagine you will be listening to radio via Wifi on your phone and when you get to your car you will just transfer it from the phone to the car seemlessly.

I live in the Scottish Highlands and why should I be requested to not abuse this thread - I dont intend to. I live here by choice. Fair enough DAB might be the way forward for much of the UK. So long as it is an option. For vast areas of the UK where DAB is not and never will be available should not the FM and AM frequencies be preserved ?. Bet your life if if these are shut down the bandwidths will be sold of to the highest bidder.

I live in the Scottish Highlands and why should I be requested to not abuse this thread - I dont intend to. I live here by choice. Fair enough DAB might be the way forward for much of the UK. So long as it is an option. For vast areas of the UK where DAB is not and never will be available should not the FM and AM frequencies be preserved ?. Bet your life if if these are shut down the bandwidths will be sold of to the highest bidder.

A fair point - and it's not just in the Highlands. Here in the Yorkshire Dales it can be extremely difficult to get an even so-so FM signal and DAB is completely out of the question. There may not be many people living here, but in terms of area - like much of Scotland - it's a major part of the UK!

I live in the Scottish Highlands and why should I be requested to not abuse this thread - I dont intend to. I live here by choice. Fair enough DAB might be the way forward for much of the UK. So long as it is an option. For vast areas of the UK where DAB is not and never will be available should not the FM and AM frequencies be preserved ?. Bet your life if if these are shut down the bandwidths will be sold of to the highest bidder.

You can also be assured that just like when FM was rolled out, or the cellphone network, or ANY new technology, that there will be rolling upgrades all the time until everyone has equal or sufficient DAB coverage over the WHOLE country. Our mobile phone coverage in the UK is certainly not at the same level it was in the 1980s. [imagine if it was!!!!] So why do people think the DAB coverage will stay stagnant at the same level it is today?! :no:

Love the glass future Johann..and .."only"£9.99 from your local currys....

So why do people think the DAB coverage will stay stagnant at the same level it is today?! :no:

Who's going to pay for that rollout of increased coverage though?

Who's going to pay for that rollout of increased coverage though?

Who paid for upgrading the mobile phone network? Who paid for upgrading the country to Broadband? It is for the greater good and someone will be able to make money from upgading the DAB system and thus someone will upgrade it. It is just how life and business work. I would stop fretting about this and just get on with it. It will sort itself out in due course.

I live in the Scottish Highlands and why should I be requested to not abuse this thread - I dont intend to. I live here by choice. Fair enough DAB might be the way forward for much of the UK. So long as it is an option. For vast areas of the UK where DAB is not and never will be available should not the FM and AM frequencies be preserved ?. Bet your life if if these are shut down the bandwidths will be sold of to the highest bidder.

EVERY time DAB is raised the thread tends to get hijacked by people who can't get a decent signal. Half the thread gets wasted and I wanted to avoid that situation happening again. First time, fine, but by the 4th or 5th thread it gets a bit monotonous.

I believe the bandwidths will be sold as a method of raising money. The family silver has already been sold so they are selling bits of the furniture now.

I believe the BBC licence fee will cover a lot of the DAB rollout although I assume commercial radio may have to delve into their pockets as well.

Coverage - Rural areas suffer with poor AM coverage, poor broadband etc. It is part of rural life I'm afraid, in particular where the population is spread very thin or the hills are everywhere. I am not saying it is right, just that commercially rural areas will always get new technology coming to them last of all as they are the most expensive per head to reach. I suspect domestically the way to go is internet radio, I use my daughters ipod and a docking station at home to get fantastically clear radio in the living room. For all the doom mongers go on the roll out of Freeview seems to have gone very well and that had coverage issues as well at the beginning.

EVERY time DAB is raised the thread tends to get hijacked by people who can't get a decent signal. Half the thread gets wasted and I wanted to avoid that situation happening again. First time, fine, but by the 4th or 5th thread it gets a bit monotonous.

Coverage - Rural areas suffer with poor AM coverage, poor broadband etc. It is part of rural life I'm afraid, in particular where the population is spread very thin or the hills are everywhere.

Hear, Hear.

EVERY time DAB is raised the thread tends to get hijacked by people who can't get a decent signal. Half the thread gets wasted and I wanted to avoid that situation happening again. First time, fine, but by the 4th or 5th thread it gets a bit monotonous.

...........

...........

I use my daughters ipod and a docking station at home to get fantastically clear radio in the living room. For all the doom mongers go on the roll out of Freeview seems to have gone very well and that had coverage issues as well at the beginning.

I see no hijack, BlackA, merely contributions from members who wish to be involved, each with legit comments about things... ... ... I think its a bit naive to expect that folks with, to them, an important point to make will abstain just because you said so!!

However - to your second (quoted) point! The only way here that I can listen to my chosen radio stations, and hear the music I enjoy in the evenings is to rig up my iPhone to my hifi, click on a Radio App, and listen that way. I agree that the quality is acceptable, and, actually, just to be able to listen without the TV on and using Sky is a major plus.

FreshA - You are quite right in that this is a forum and so discussion is what we are about. I just wanted to avoid the same posts that always crop up as it gets repetitive. Naive, probably, but you can only try. Anyway, I have failed as we have ended up talking about a lack up coverage up in the hills anyway, sigh!

Hi Guys - new user here, short while lurker.

I've been considering a Yeti, so was looking in.

Saw the DAB thread and thought the following extract of an email from www.getdigitalradio.org might be useful to all. I wrote to them as I got nowhere with answers to some of the points/problems raised by posters above [re coverage / DAB+, etc] , when I wrote to Mercedes / Dept of Culture.

The GetDigitalRadio people were the only ones who bothered to write a proper answer - here it is ...

The change in Government has not resulted in a change of plan for a

digital radio switchover.

There is a proposal for all UK national and most regional/local radio

stations (BBC and commercial) to switch off their analogue signals

(FM/AM) and to only be available via digital radio. Some smaller local

stations and community stations will continue to broadcast via analogue

on FM.

However, there is no definite date yet set for when this will happen -

only an aim of 2015 at this stage. Certain criteria have to be met

before a definite date can be set - including national DAB coverage

matching that of current national FM coverage; local DAB coverage

reaching 90% of the population and all major roads; and 50% of all radio

listening being digital. Only when these criteria are met will a date be

set, giving two years' notice.

Many improvements to the service (including coverage and reception) will

be made before we reach the stage of stations turning off their analogue

signals.

DAB is increasingly popular internationally, now operating on 6 out of 7

continents, and is actually available in more countries than all the

other digital radio standards combined. It is not true that the rest of

the world is using DAB+.

The UK, alongside Germany, China, Denmark and others, uses the DAB

format, while Australia, Italy and Switzerland use DAB+. France is

planning to use a version of DMB that is used in South Korea.

There is no timetable for UK's introduction of DAB+ as a broadcasting

standard. Other countries only adopting digital radio now (e.g.

Australia) are using DAB+. But that does not mean that DAB is outdated.

Digital radio technology is constantly advancing and this is to be

welcomed. It's useful to think about it in PC terms: today's top of the

range PC will quickly be followed by an enhanced model, but this does

not mean that all previous computers are defunct. Similarly, Freeview

does not use the most up to date version of digital TV technology but it

works well, is popular, and has delivered enormous benefits for

consumers.

An international agreement signed last year means that all digital radio

technologies within the DAB family will be receivable by one standard

radio chip, making it easier for both consumers and manufacturers. This

chip, known as 'Profile 1', is now being built into the digital radios

on sale in the UK.

Although there are no current plans in the UK to switch to DAB+, the

Profile 1 chip means that new digital radios are future proof and DAB+

compatible.

DAB+ uses exactly the same transmitters and broadcast technology as DAB,

it simply converts sound to digital in a different way and therefore

requires sets capable of receiving DAB+. The benefits to UK radio

listeners of DAB+ are relatively marginal, while it would have a

significant disadvantage as the vast majority of the UK's 12 million DAB

sets would become obsolete. However, DAB+ is compatible with DAB and

could, in due course, be introduced alongside existing DAB services.

[end quote]

Hope this helps , not confuses further !

P.

Edited 17 March, 201115 yr by philnix

Excellent, thank you. Back on point as well.

Hope this helps , not confuses further !

P.

It sure does! Thanks for that! And back OT again as EdmundB said.

I have failed as we have ended up talking about a lack up coverage up in the hills anyway, sigh!

Unfortunately DAB is even a problem in our part of the World. Fine here in Colchester but if I drive North or East from home, forget it. It's a total waste of time when I can't even get a signal for our local BBC station on DAB

I've heard that all plans to scrap FM have been put indefinitely on hold, probably in part because of reception difficulties in parts of the country that aren't 'up in the hills'. I am all for progress but when FM works brilliantly, at least on all of my travels, then why swap to DAB.

And for all of you who say to just look at the improvements in mobile phone coverage, for me this is just as bad as DAB and seems to have not improved in years. I can get a full strength signal on Vodaphone that disappears on my trip to work and then comes back again in odd places or I can use my work O2 phone and find different gaps in coverage. What then can make me believe that the future coverage of DAB will be any better?