DAB radio performance?

[A&Rblackline]

 We picked up our latest Skoda yesterday (2016 Yeti L&K) and have been out and about in it trying out its gadgets.  I’ve noticed that the DAB radio really struggles to pick up any radio stations.  The area we live in is rural, but not particularly hilly - and our car immediately prior to the Yeti was a 2016 Octavia, and prior to that one, a 2011 Mk2 Octavia VRS.  Both the Octy’s had DAB and their reception was loads better on the same rural 25 minute commute, with signal only dropping for a few seconds through one village.  

 

The Yeti’s DAB only gets a signal for about 2 or 3 minutes during the whole 25 minute journey, so I’m wondering if there might be a problem with the aerial.  What do folk reckon - is the Yeti DAB particularly c**p, or do you reckon we might have a problem with ours?  FWIW, the car has 3 months of its original 3 year warranty left, so we’re keen to get stuff fixed while it’s still covered by that.

[Urrell]

How are you tuning the stations in?

 

[TruckbusUK]

Re DAB, we have no problems with DAB reception and would certainly defend its performance as installed in the Yeti ..... As Urrell questioned, how are you tuning the stations? and also I believe there may be an issue with some of the antenna being troublesome.

 

Hope it helps.

[Expatman]

DAB reception is excellent in my Yeti from Cornwall to wilds of Scotland, suggests you might have an aerial problem so worth a visit to the supplying dealer to have it checked. If they say "they are all like that" then they are fibbing - ask them to check other Yeti's!

[kenfowler3966]

My 2014 car was fine for 2.5 years then radio reception became terrible.

There is a known issue with the aerial. First thing is to unscrew the aerial and see if it is corroded. If not it could be something more serious needing replacement.

[Fishyhooky]

I had trouble with the reception on my 2016 L&K DAB, as it was still under warranty I took it into my local dealer and they said it needed a

software upgrade which they did, works fine now

Edited 19 March, 2019 by Fishyhooky

[A&Rblackline]

Thanks for the replies.  I’ve been tuning into the DAB stations by just looking them up on the list, and have only put about 6 stations in, including our regular national BBC stations.  Just got back in from a drive and it’s still iffy reception.  Just in case the aerial was loose/corroded, I unscrewed it and checked the thread and it’s like new.  I’ve just been into the advanced part of the settings menu and spotted something called ‘DAB - DAB tracking’, so I’ve ticked the box on that to see whether that makes any difference.  I’m going for another drive in a bit, so will report back.

 

p.s. FM reception is absolutely fine, but Radio 6 is DAB only:(

[Urrell]

See if you can see SmoothEX on the station list, I find that travels better than most local stations.

 

[A&Rblackline]

Ah, thanks Fishyhooky.  If it’s still playing up, I’ll get the car booked in for the fix.