Crackly Radio

[SooZ]

hi folks, the last couple weeks i noticed my radio gettin crackly when the engine is running, this only happens on AM

any ideas?

[Jan van de Wouw]

Don't use AM...

AM is really an outdated system and MUCH more prone to bad reception, especially due to wheather influences.

I don't know wthat the wheater is like in the UK, but in The Netherlands it's been getting worse the past few weeks.

Could well be thath THAT's your problem...

[gordonh]

I think they only include AM on radios these days because they have always included AM.

[topsham]

How else can you listen to the best radio station - BBC Five Live?

[SooZ]

How else can you listen to the best radio station - BBC Five Live?

The trouble is, all the best stations are on AM, FM is all music stations and gushing pesky DJ's

5live for me also :)

quote

"Don't use AM...

AM is really an outdated system and MUCH more prone to bad reception, especially due to wheather influences."

actually AM band is the future, it will dump DAB in the bin in the next couple of years, CD Quality radio that wont be affected by buildings, distance, in fact anywhere you can get AM now

lookee here....

http://www.drm.org/

actually, I rate radio much more than the Visual media, TV and its obsession with celebrity leaves me cold, therefore I find radio a much more personal experience,

[PaulWorthing]

So AM's days are numbered then from that article SooZ when it is going to be replaced with another version of Digital Radio - guess that does kind of imply then that you were right in your initial post, AM is not good enough to survive

[SooZ]

So AM's days are numbered then from that article SooZ when it is going to be replaced with another version of Digital Radio - guess that does kind of imply then that you were right in your initial post, AM is not good enough to survive

oh yes, AM will survive ok, but as the carrier for this new technology :)

bbc are testing it, but the rest of the planet will prolly take it up before us, as the UK put all its eggs into the DAB basket, unfortunate, as DAB is quite a fussy signal :(

[gordonh]

The UKs current version of DAB was out of date when it was released in the UK, the sooner they scrap it and move over to a DAB format that is actually works the better for us all.

[weevicky]

I didn't know that AM still existed :P

[Smoothound]

AM? :o

Perhaps give one of these a go?

http://www.buydigitalradio.com/store/en/vi...roduct/14/2702/ B)

[gordonh]

AM? :o

Perhaps give one of these a go?

http://www.buydigitalradio.com/store/en/vi...roduct/14/2702/ B)

Whatever you do ... DO NOT BUY A DAB RADIO !

DAB is on the way out.

[Smoothound]

AM? :o

Perhaps give one of these a go?

http://www.buydigitalradio.com/store/en/vi...roduct/14/2702/ B)

Whatever you do ... DO NOT BUY A DAB RADIO !

DAB is on the way out.

Not true. DAB will be around for many, many, many years yet. I'll grant you, there is a new version called DAB+ which is expected to being rollout some time around 2013, but this will run parallel with the existing DAB network. So existing DAB hardware won't suddenly become obselete anymore than an AM radio will!

The Pure "Highway" received a maximum Five Stars ***** in "What Hi-Fi", so for £70, I think it's a fairly safe (and cheap) investment.

[gordonh]

What Hi-Fi review what equipment is out there right now and it is not in their interest to advise people not to buy a product that advertises in their magazine. By this I don't mean just Pure, I mean DAB as a whole.

DAB can in theory offer great quality sound but it is based on the older MP2 technology which was out of date when the DAB standard came out. So in order to increase the number of stations on the system they have been lowering the bitrates to squeeze more in.

Take a look at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/02/da...aster_analysis/

Personally I think DAB as it stands (or even the proposed DAB+/AAC) are a dead end technology. DAB+ is out now outside the UK now, how far will that have moved on in another 5 years ?

With IP6 coming along and the increases in numbers of wireless networking, mobile broadband solutions and massive increases in speeds available, along with dropping prices, by 2013 we'll probably be using internet radios in our cars instead of regular broadcast radio.

Finally on the 'Pure Highway' what a wonderful idea.

They claim Digital is better than FM, so what they do is take this Digital signal, convert it to an analogue signal and then retransmit it on the FM band to your car radio. Most of these FM transmitter systems have to be very low pover to fit in with the regulations and rarely seem to work well. This one gets 5 stars, it might be the best out there, but still not a good investment.

[Smoothound]

I see what you're saying, and you're right. But in the meantime (we are talking 5 years here) DAB is the best (and only) option to get something better than AM radio.

They claim Digital is better than FM, so what they do is take this Digital signal, convert it to an analogue signal and then retransmit it on the FM band to your car radio. Most of these FM transmitter systems have to be very low pover to fit in with the regulations and rarely seem to work well. This one gets 5 stars, it might be the best out there, but still not a good investment

.

Yes, routing through FM will degrade the signal, but it would be better than AM! In the case of the Aygo, you can use the audio jack to get maximum quality from the DAB signal. What HiFi recon it sounds great, so I'm not going to disagree with them!