Afternoon fellow minions!!

 

Has anyone found that their DAB signal is intermittent in certain areas now after the "Big Re-tune"? I normally have my on Planet Rock, but find it's crap in and around Maidstone and some of the surrounding suburbs!! It was fine before the retune everyone had to do.... Not a happy bunny! 

Don't know if you know Richie but theres a Software update in progress. If you give your dealer your reg number he can see if you require the update.

 

If they say theres no update there telling porkies cos I've seen it on the system at my local dealers.

 

My Vrs requires the update when it's ready

I concur, the signal "down there" is way worse than we get on top of The Downs, but virtually no DAB at all going up Detling Hill and the A249. Also towards Bromley/Orpington, the fall-back on the RNS315 seems to happen every couple of minutes or so, also along the A2 a few times. Blue Bell and Wrotham Hills are nice and clear though.....mind you, you can almost touch the transmitters

 

DAB isn't as good as it should be, and it's a pain in the hoop!

Car going in for it's service tomorrow and I've asked for the software update... I'll report back once it's done.

Silly question, has Planet Rock gone from a "National" station to a "Local" station?

 

I listen to Smooth FM a lot which was always a "National" DAB station, worked perfect, I could go from York to Cardiff and never have to retune.... great!!! ... For some reason Smooth FM decided to go from a "National" DB station to a "Local" station, now it is crap.. I have to keep retuning to get the station... Now listen to Smooth Extra which is still on National, maybe Planet Rock is the same.. 

 

What’s happening to Smooth on national DAB radio?

Smooth Radio are re-introducing local shows for breakfast and drivetime. This means that the national feed of Smooth Radio on national digital radio will close, with AM frequencies currently broadcasting Gold switching to Smooth Radio. In areas where there’s already Smooth Radio on FM and Gold on AM (mediumwave), Gold will hang around. That’s London (1548 MW/AM), Manchester (1458 MW/AM) and East Midlands (945/999 MW/AM).

Global Radio have opted to replace Smooth Radio with “A service featuring music from the 70s, 80s and early 90s with particular appeal to audiences aged 35-54“. This may turn out to be a refreshed version of Gold, or a sub-brand of the operator’s Heart or Smooth stations (Ed’s note: Wouldn’t it be great if it were something a bit different like Xfm? Jon Holmes at breakfast, Josh Widdicombe on Saturdays… the UK is missing a new-rock station).

It’s worth checking out Gold radio’s apps on mobile, or grab yourself an internet radio to keep listening, when Gold leaves AM and DAB in many areas. The author has just bought aPure One Flow and it’s a very reliable receiver with the new firmware version 3.2 – look out for our review soon. Scroll down to the bottom of this article to find out how you can check in with Gold on your tv.

How do I continue to get Smooth on  DAB?

If you’ve lost Smooth on your DAB radio, it’s because it has moved to local multiplexes (bundles of stations).

Right.................. According to the garage, the stereo is fine, nowt wrong with it! I've been asked to "monitor" areas where the signal is cr4p.... How will that help? If my stereo is fine, then logic (in my mind) would dictate there's nothing Skoda can do surely?

 

And as far as I can make out, Planet Rock is being slated for poor coverage now after the big retune.... Oh well Absolute Classic Rock from now on then... Mind you, the display reads Absolute C Rock...... Funny that, eh?