Done some logging this morning - starting from home (Rawtenstall), down the M66 on to the M62 Eastbound, off at Milnrow, and up Kingsway to RRG Rochdale. x axis is time in seconds, y axis is % signal quality. To say it is all over the place is an understatment, and there are plenty of BBC Multiplex DAB transmitters in the area to give coverage.

 

 

As can be seen at the beginning, the signal quality was between 60 and 70%

 

A few hours later, I looked at the signal strength for the same BBC DAB station with a O3 hatch with MIB1 Amundsen - it was 98% with the car in the same location (outside my house).

 

 

So it looks like the estate is 30% down on signal quality compared to the hatch - pretty much as I expected.

I'm going to do some logging with the Fabia 3 loaner to see if the same level of signal fluctuation is there.

 

Edit - Fabia 3 graph - same station, same starting point, for fairly obvious reasons stopped logging after a few miles. The only time it dropped below 90% was when I went under a bridge.

 

 

So all I need is a corresponding plot from a O3 MIB1 Columbus Hatchback to prove the point.

Edited 9 February, 201610 yr by andyvee

Anyone with a O3 Hatch and a MIB1 Columbus care to spare me a couple of hours to do some logging on their car so I have a direct comparison? I'll cover your fuel usage

Edited 9 February, 201610 yr by andyvee

Hi Andy - happy to do it. What do you need me to do?

 

I will be travelling between Exmouth and Torquay every day and on Sunday Honiton to Reading. Any help?

 

Garnett

Incidentally my local car audio place has just replaced the Sharkfin on a mib 1 unit with an integrated FM/DAB/GPS antenna but not available with the phone. It completely solved all DAB problems. It cost £300 so that is a last resort!

Incidentally my local car audio place has just replaced the Sharkfin on a mib 1 unit with an integrated FM/DAB/GPS antenna but not available with the phone. It completely solved all DAB problems. It cost £300 so that is a last resort!

Interesting .......

 

Pretty much why the Kenwood MIB retrofits have a DAB/FM aerial amplifier in them - basically the design on the estate is not fit for purpose.

Hi Andy - happy to do it. What do you need me to do?

 

I will be travelling between Exmouth and Torquay every day and on Sunday Honiton to Reading. Any help?

 

Garnett

Is yours a hatch or estate and do you have VCDS and a laptop that will run for an hour or so off of its battery?

 

I really need to do a run from my house on the same route to eliminate environmental factors as much as possible, but if you can get a plot and it is as bad as mine then we know it isn't just my car, and is a design fault.

Edited 9 February, 201610 yr by andyvee

All that needs logging is channel 473 on 5F Columbus as per the below, ignore all the other ones, once I saw how random the plot is it doesn't matter about GPS position etc.

 

 

My original intention was to map out the dead spots, but the signal is all over the place, jumping up and down by as much as 30% for no apparent reason.

 

It is a different channel on the Amundsen, 364

 

Edited 10 February, 201610 yr by andyvee

Yes to both. Have VCDS and a laptop. The car audio place said that MIB 1 units are very sensitive to evidence cameras. Mine has been in since day 1 so I need to try a run with it off I guess.

Interesting - a short run with camera connected and camera (and power supply) disconnected would be interesting to see if it makes any difference.

Interesting - a short run with camera connected and camera (and power supply) disconnected would be interesting to see if it makes any difference.

 

The Mini-0805 I had briefly, completely wiped out DAB reception in all but the strongest signal areas - as soon as it was powered on, the radio dropped out.

The replacement Nextbase cam I bought has no effect on DAB.

I had a Mini-0806 briefly and that didn't seem to have any effect.

 

Doing a bit of googling the main issues seem to be with the BlackVue dual camera setups and a poor quality co-ax lead to the rear camera causing the DAB interference.

 

More graphs to be done I think by myself and Garnett

Edited 10 February, 201610 yr by andyvee

Following this with interest.... I have '63 Estate with Ahmundsen that drops out DAB occasionally.

Investigations are continuing ......... should know more by the end of the week.

 

The Fabia 3 loaner I am in has not dropped Radio Five Live once since I got it, including in the underground car park at Asda where the O3 Estate drops out just before you go in to it.

 

If you have access to VCDS, log some live data on signal quality.

Investigations are continuing ......... should know more by the end of the week.

 

The Fabia 3 loaner I am in has not dropped Radio Five Live once since I got it, including in the underground car park at Asda where the O3 Estate drops out just before you go in to it.

 

If you have access to VCDS, log some live data on signal quality.

Dont have unfortunately, but happy to loan the Octy to someone local who does?

Afternoon All

 

Some good news at last! Skoda have called and said they now acknowledge that there is an issue with MIB 1 units on both hatch and estate models. They have replicated it and confirmed that it is not to do with either the antenna or then wiring. They think it is a software issue. They will be rolling out a software update ASAP to deal with this!

 

That is the difficult bit done. Anyone fancy having a stab at restoring a lasting peace in the Middle East? Probably easier!

 

Garnett

Is that to do with my car being in pieces at the dealers, or from your case?

 

Personally, I don't think this is a software issue, it is a signal strength issue from the antenna. If the gain was increased at the existing aerial amplifiers close to the windows...........

They say that Milton Keynes have taken a MIB1 on hatch to pieces and eliminated everything they can but the problem remains so software.

Interesting, mine has been diagnosed as a dodgy aerial connection.

Can you get a plot of your signal quality Garnett to compare to mine?

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If I may squeeze in here..

 

How do you find out if you have MIB1 or MIB2 Amundsen? My Octy 3 Elegance Estate with ACC and PA was built Jan 15, and has occasional drop outs locally, North London, but suffers far more around the south coast and Midlands. Looked at the manual and the handbook but did not see any model references.

 

Okay guys, carry on with this informative thread.

MY16 got the MIB2 units from June 2015 build onwards. Yours will be a MY15.5.

Got my car back this morning, no difference. Signal strength still all over the place. I'll grab another log and graph it.

Garnett, have you had a chance to grab a log from yours to see if it is as random as mine?

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Edited 13 February, 201610 yr by andyvee

Phone call. Please bring your car into your dealer for a dab service update!

Interesting, PM me any details

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Okay

This was never gong to be easy! The dealer has been told to bring the car in and diagnose it. They don't know why as they have done it twice already. They then raise a technical issue and will be issued instructions. They have asked if they can just do this as they already did this twice but Skoda say no. They will just be plugging it in and sending the information. Skoda say they want to deal with this on a case by case basis.

Booked in in 29 Feb at Exeter so more to follow.