It appears that my preferred radio station is about to be removed from the local FM band and replaced with a similar station, but can be listened to on DAB. Which is great, if you have DAB in the car. I don't.

I can see that Kenwood offer something of a replacement unit for my Yeti which costs about a grand and features SatNav as well as DAB and the other functions of the unit in there currently. But it's a grand!

Has anyone tried this installation:

http://www.advanced-incar.co.uk/skoda-autodab-digital-dab-radio#

At circa £250 it's a quarter of the cost of the replacement unit, so might be an option. Just wondered if anyone had experience of it and whether it was worth going for?

While I'm not going to fit DAB for the sake of listening to a station I like, if the gov has its way, it'll need to be done at some point for the dreaded "switchover".

TIA!

Only down side i see is the aerial. Dab needs an external aerial, not one you stick on the inside of the window

Only down side i see is the aerial. Dab needs an external aerial, not one you stick on the inside of the window

DAB definitely works with a stick-on internal aerial, just not as well.

I put in a VW RCD310DAB unit. (£150) Separate external stick-on aerial (£20). The aerial was good enough to work, quite well, without the outside bit.....just looks rubbish without it. Mine's mounted on the tailgate with the cable run though the headlining.

There's also the alternative of a Amundsen+ (RNS315). Quite a few of those have DAB, NAV and Bluetooth.

DAB definitely works with a stick-on internal aerial, just not as well.

That was my point chap.

With the dab signal being reduced in most areas (to save £££s) you want the best aerial you can get

Cheers for the feedback. More research needed before diving in, me thinks...

With the dab signal being reduced in most areas

The future is being downgraded already! :( :(

I expect when am/fm is switched off the signal will be upped again

Catch 22 then: no-one will buy DAB whilst the service isn't good and the service won't improve until there's more take-up. Plus DAB H/U's would really need to be a standard fit in cars to help make it take-off.

It's going to be a very long time before am/fm becomes a thing of the past, IMHO.

I agree with you mate, i personaly think they should up the signal strength and people would get into dab more.

I can buy (2nd hand only though) a dab box for my pioneer p77mp but its a waste of money right now

I have the Pure/Alpine add-on, and when that was installed, the existing FM aerial was simply replaced (ok with the assiated wiring) with a dual DAB/FB aerial. Not sure if it was an Alpine one - I think it isn't. This was an improvement IMHO as the aerial is completely removeable for going through the car-wash!

^^^^^^

This

If you can replace the oem aerial with a dab/fm aerial then you're laughing

I have the system you linked to fitted into my Octavia vRS, very good system and was easy to install. Changed the stock aerial to a DAB/FM one and all is well.

Planet Rock all the way to work and back!

Anyone know if AutoDab is compatible with a Columbus

I have the system you linked to fitted into my Octavia vRS, very good system and was easy to install. Changed the stock aerial to a DAB/FM one and all is well.

Planet Rock all the way to work and back!

It appears that my preferred radio station is about to be removed from the local FM band and replaced with a similar station, but can be listened to on DAB. Which is great, if you have DAB in the car. I don't.

I can see that Kenwood offer something of a replacement unit for my Yeti which costs about a grand and features SatNav as well as DAB and the other functions of the unit in there currently. But it's a grand!

Has anyone tried this installation:

http://www.advanced-incar.co.uk/skoda-autodab-digital-dab-radio#

At circa £250 it's a quarter of the cost of the replacement unit, so might be an option. Just wondered if anyone had experience of it and whether it was worth going for?

While I'm not going to fit DAB for the sake of listening to a station I like, if the gov has its way, it'll need to be done at some point for the dreaded "switchover".

TIA!

 

I have this fitted in my car, excellent product but the internal film antenna is not that good, no problem from about Guildford up to and in around London but patchy elsewhere. You really need to fit a good active unit, I had a good 'Bee sting' OEM DAB/AM/FM on my Leon and it was great.

 

Incidentally I have a spare AutoDab unit in the garage!

Hello all.

 

I would be really interested in anyone manages to fit an external combined FM/DAB antenna. I have a Bolero with an Autodab CTDAB2 unit plumbed in in my 2011 Octavia. The supplied active patch antenna was very poor. My previous car had a Pioneer DAB with a dedicated external antenna which was faultless, so I know what I am missing!

 

I have upgraded to the best Celsus internal patch antenna that you can get which is better but not really good enough.

 

I was happy to pay the £100 cost but the auto electricians were really nervous about a combined external DAB / FM antenna like this.

 

http://products.hirschmann-car.com/SepiaPIMWeb/ProductCatalog?treepath=2_362_363_364

 

They had two issues. First the Skoda FM antenna has a phantom 12v power supply via the antenna cable rather than a seperate supply. There was also the issue that the Skoda antenna splits into two supplies to the Bolero (MW and FM?).

 

Has anyone managed to do this without a second roof top roof antenna?

 

Many thanks

 

Garnett

I've copied one of my posts from another thread as this may be of use to you:

 

I've just fitted DAB in my mum's Fabia (VW RCD 310 DAB). But I have used the proper aerial base -this incorporates a GPS receiver, telephone antennae and DAB and FM aerials. so would also be useful for retro fitting Amundsen or Columbus units.

 

The parts I used were:

 

Aerial base 6R0 035 501 D 

Aerial mast 6R0035849A (thread size is different from normal one)

 

I also needed a Fakra cable to connect the aerial base to the head unit -unfortunately I could not get one out of Skoda as the part (5J7035549) was not available to the UK yet. I found a seller on eBay in China who make cables and enquired whether a cable that they had listed could be made but with a longer length (5m instead of 3m), they were very helpful and created a new eBay listing for me with a buy it now and in less than 2 weeks I had my cable for £11 including shipping (probably cheaper than Skoda anyway) I opted for Fakra Z jack to jack as Z is the universal and will plug in to any Fakra (A to K)

to avoid any confusion.

 

Obviously The length of cable required will be different from model to model and one new cable will be required for each new connection -the FM connection is already there and this provides the power for all of the electronics in the aerial base.

Hello all.

 

I would be really interested in anyone manages to fit an external combined FM/DAB antenna. I have a Bolero with an Autodab CTDAB2 unit plumbed in in my 2011 Octavia. The supplied active patch antenna was very poor. My previous car had a Pioneer DAB with a dedicated external antenna which was faultless, so I know what I am missing!

 

I have upgraded to the best Celsus internal patch antenna that you can get which is better but not really good enough.

 

I was happy to pay the £100 cost but the auto electricians were really nervous about a combined external DAB / FM antenna like this.

 

http://products.hirschmann-car.com/SepiaPIMWeb/ProductCatalog?treepath=2_362_363_364

 

They had two issues. First the Skoda FM antenna has a phantom 12v power supply via the antenna cable rather than a seperate supply. There was also the issue that the Skoda antenna splits into two supplies to the Bolero (MW and FM?).

 

Has anyone managed to do this without a second roof top roof antenna?

 

Many thanks

 

Garnett

I have fitted a couple of these in the past, Seat Leon and Octavia VRs with absolutely no issues, remove the OEM antenna and base and fit the aftermarket DAB/AM/FM 'beesting' in it's place. Yes there is a phantom feed but don't concern about that and wrap the DC feed away as you don't need it, however you may need an adapter to go from antenna to AM/FM cable to HU, again no issues. The only other cable feed will be the extra one for DAB, this will need to be fed along the roof lining and directed to the HU, again no issues.

 

All in all I would say about 1-1.5 hrs work and when fitted you won't believe the upgrade in performance.

Thanks All - Greenstripe there is a guy bringing these in with a whip from Czech breakers for £85 per go. I have ordered the cable per your link. Can you remember what colour plug the dab was on the antenna or is it obvious.

 

Thanks all

 

Garnett

DAB is Black, FM with phantom power is white.

 

Here's a look up table for you.

 

 

 

A couple of points to note:

 

1. It wouldn't cost you much more to buy the aerial rod and base new from parts.

2. Is the cable from China going to be long enough for an Octavia -it's bigger than a Fabia

DAB is Black, FM with phantom power is white.

 

Here's a look up table for you.

 

 

 

A couple of points to note:

 

1. It wouldn't cost you much more to buy the aerial rod and base new from parts.

2. Is the cable from China going to be long enough for an Octavia -it's bigger than a Fabia

Hi chaps,

I'm not sure what you are trying to do here but using Fakra connectors and cable to interface a DAB unit looks a bit extreme, most DAB units use SMA so if you buy an external beesting OEM roof antenna it will have everything in place to go. All you have to do is reconnect the aftermarket antenna then feed an extra cable to the DAB unit, that's all I have done in every install, Fabia, Octavia and Seat Leon, all the same, with the exception of the Fabia which did not have CAN.

Hi

 

The cable from China is 5 meters so should be fine.

 

My DAB is SMA but most antennas are SMB like my Pioneer. They would not change the plug when I fitted the patch so I have an smb to sma converter. My understanding is that a fakra is an smb plug with a plastic surround so I am hoping it will plug onto my adaptor.

 

I will be very carefully removing the two week old patch antenna when the new one arrives. It is one of these: http://www.revswest.com/webshop/audio/aerials/an3008dab-glass-mount/

 

If anyone wants it it is your for £10!

 

Thanks

 

Garnett

@Superted: In my post I was outlining how I have successfully fitted an VW RCD 310 DAB stereo using an OEM roof aerial base. The VW units require a separate feed for DAB in addition to the FM. Granted it is not quite the same as installing the AutoDAB (which I understand works via FM injection).However I thought it was relevant as it will preserve the proper function of the powered amplifier in the aerial base (should one not want to use the DAB) and is very quick and easy to fit.

 

I had discussions with dabonwheels.co.uk who do a lot of research on aerial performance and they made a point of how important it was for the amplifier to receive a decent power supply. All of the antennae connectors in the Fabia on the back of the head unit and to the roof aerial were FAKRA already so it was logical to stay with FAKRA connections

@Superted: In my post I was outlining how I have successfully fitted an VW RCD 310 DAB stereo using an OEM roof aerial base. The VW units require a separate feed for DAB in addition to the FM. Granted it is not quite the same as installing the AutoDAB (which I understand works via FM injection).However I thought it was relevant as it will preserve the proper function of the powered amplifier in the aerial base (should one not want to use the DAB) and is very quick and easy to fit.

 

I had discussions with dabonwheels.co.uk who do a lot of research on aerial performance and they made a point of how important it was for the amplifier to receive a decent power supply. All of the antennae connectors in the Fabia on the back of the head unit and to the roof aerial were FAKRA already so it was logical to stay with FAKRA connections

 

 

 

@Superted: In my post I was outlining how I have successfully fitted an VW RCD 310 DAB stereo using an OEM roof aerial base. The VW units require a separate feed for DAB in addition to the FM. Granted it is not quite the same as installing the AutoDAB (which I understand works via FM injection).However I thought it was relevant as it will preserve the proper function of the powered amplifier in the aerial base (should one not want to use the DAB) and is very quick and easy to fit.

 

I had discussions with dabonwheels.co.uk who do a lot of research on aerial performance and they made a point of how important it was for the amplifier to receive a decent power supply. All of the antennae connectors in the Fabia on the back of the head unit and to the roof aerial were FAKRA already so it was logical to stay with FAKRA connections

 

 

 

I pretty much understood what you were getting at in your post and it was not for AUTODAB but it all appeared to confuse as the connections are different. I know that the HU are FAKRA and which is an SMB with an external moulded outer which won't fit in the traditional sense and you would have to fit a standard SMB to say aftermarket Blaupunkt or other.