Dab Retrofit Kit Any Good At Signal And Control Interface On Gen3

[Birty]

Main dealer quoted me £254.20 fitted but not much info, so has anyone got one they can comment on? Does it interface/control with existing GEN 3 head unit or has it total separate controls?? And has it a good signal because the new aerial will be mounted inside the window toyata said? Was told by others that a dedicated external aerial is better in this part of uk (south) cos poor reception.

[RobMagpie]

I had DAB fitted in my plug-in and it is integral with the existing head unit. You would think from looking at it that it that it was part and parcel of the head unit. There is an aerial mounted on the front windscreen on the passenger side. I have had no problems with reception.

[Birty]

Ta Rob . Sounds promising! . Wish it wasnt so expensive though!

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Make sure it's upgradeable to DAB+ as the UK is one of only a handful of countries using the old fashioned DAB system. Rumour has it that the UK is going to have to pull the plug on DAB and expand to DAB+ or they won't be able to include all the local stations within the bandwidth (which is crammed already). Also DAB is not backwards compatible, whereas DAB+ is.

And how long has DAB been out? 15 years or more? Yet we get no coverage in my area. Not just a town of 100,000, but the whole area. We bought a DAB back in about 2005 and it's never used other than an annual outing to rescan and see if anything new has happened. Nothing ever does. The area was promised a new DAB mast in 2009 but that never happened. DAB doesn't even sound as good as a good fm reception imho.

Good luck to you though. You're one of the lucky few who can get good local coverage.

[Birty]

Thanks G Cabbie , very good info.. Never even heard of dab + . I bet my dealer ain't a clue!! My local area has poor reception, hence the reason i am not sure about windscreen mounted aerial. Been told that it does work as soon as i leave this village though! At that price i am gonna wait and see any developments in dab first now you have mentioned dab+!!!!!

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Peruse the following;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Broadcasting

or for DAB+

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Audio_Broadcasting#DAB.2B

OK, it's wiki so to be taken with a small pinch of salt, but generally it'll give you a good understanding.