I have a 2011 Fabia Greenline II with Swing stereo and the standard stubby aerial.

I was thinking of buying a VW RCD 310 DAB off eBay, Is it just a case of taking one out and putting one in as I understand that they are very similar units?

I'm very happy with the Swing stereo fitted in my Fabia, but I really want DAB and none of the add-on units really work for me and it would work out far more expensive to get a hideaway unit since I don't have steering wheel buttons etc.

I have a Parrot bluetooth kit and MDI unit fitted. I assume that both will just work with the new unit.

Obviously I will need an aerial for the DAB. I want everything to look as discreet and tidy as possible, Is the existing aerial any good for this (since the same aerial is on VW cars) or would it be best to get a new aerial. I'm a little reluctant to replace the roof-mounted aerial as I'm concerned about water ingress. Alternatively I could get an additional dedicated aerial for the DAB -glass mount or similar.

I have taken the plunge and have bought a RCD 310 DAB. I still need to work out what I'm doing for a DAB aerial. I'd rather have just the one on the roof and need to partially remove the headliner to inspect the existing aerial to see if I can connect to that -it does appear to be identical to the ones fitted the VW Polo with DAB and I would be very pleased to find a spare connector on it that I can just attach the appropriate cable to.

If anyone has any tips on how best to get at it or any knowledge of the aerial I'd very much appreciate it

Well I've installed the radio and all works fine. It appears that it is not possible to connect the DAB jack to the roof aerial as there is only 1 wire comming off the aerial which is connected to the FM feed. The FM connectors are white FAKRA plugs -indicating that they provide phantom power to the aerial (presumably there is an amplifier in the aerial base or somewhwere in line).

The DAB connection on the back of the stereo is a black FAKRA plug -no phantom power.

I am going to try one of the film type antennaes that glue on the windscreen -which I should recieve tomorrow

I got one of these for the DAB radio and the reception is excellent. I stuck it on the windscreen and it picked up signals everywhere I go, even in known spots of bad signals. You should have got a aerial splitter if you want to plug it in the roof aerial but I think the roof aerial is boosted so it won't work with the DAB radio.

http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/Kinetic_DEGA-T4002_telescopic_glass_mount_DAB_car_aerial.html

Thanks for that -I'd be curious to see how your setup looks from the outside of the car.

I've been doing a lot of research -apparently the booster is on the cable somewhere and not in the aerial base as I originally thought, however I have had no luck finding it -I expect that it's somewhere behind or under the dash.

From speaking to a VW specialist, apparently it would be possible to replace this with a splitter and FM booster.

Well -spoke to service department at Horton Skoda and they reckon that there is only a booster in the aerial base on the roof -not on the cable somewhere.

I have put a film antennae on the inside of the windscreen and am getting perfect reception at work in London. The acid test will be while driving to and from Lincoln.

In conclusion I am very happy with the result. The JVC J1 aerial was a little tricky to fit and does look a bit odd but works perfectly well and I've had no reception problems with it.

The RCD 310 is a little easier to use than the Swing stereo as it has dedicated buttons for the various features, whereas on the Swing some of the buttons change their function depending on what information you have displaying. It also allows you to mix all of the tracks on the MDI not just tracks within a given folder. The scrolling text display is better as well in my opinion.

The downsides are that it doesn't display the outside temperature like the Swing (I can see it on the dash display by scrolling to it), the red back lighting of the controls does look a bit out of place and the shiny insert in the fascia is not to my taste

Hi Greenstripe, just a quick question as I'm going down the same route as yourself, did you connect the separate 12v supply to the aerial or did you leave it disconnected. Mine appears to work fine with or without it, but it might make a difference when I go into low signal areas.

Thanks

Cymro333 -sorry I don't understand your question -My JVC J1 aerial -for the Dab that is glued to the windscreen isn't a powered aerial so no connection for power supply, the FM is connected to the aerial system already in the car which I have not altered -this is powered by the FM connection on the stereo. On my Fabia there is no way that I can see to connect a separate power supply to the aerial mast on the roof as it only has the one Fakra connection.

Hi Greenstripe. Loved your description of the radio swap. 

I have completed the same swap using the same type of window aerial in my 2011 Mk2 1p Seat Leon but seem to be unable to get the DAB side to work properly. Occasionally it  displays a radio station name but shortly after it displays a graphic which appears to be an aerial with a stroke through it, I presume this indicates the aerial is disconnected but have checked it and its connected correctly. I scratched the paint work on the A pillar before sticking the earth strip down.

In Radio settings Aerial is indicated as being on? Is it just a poor signal or have I done something wrong or not done something in the radio settings?

We live in quite a rural area but close to a Trunk road 25 miles south of Edinburgh and wonder if this could affect it?