DAB Signal - Poor!

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A4 SJC

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I'm hoping that this is limited to my car and can be fixed with a software flash or similar by Audi

The DAB reception in my car is woeful. It cuts out repeatedly, and I'm talking in town not in isolated or rural areas.

Is this the norm? Or is mine the only one to suffer from this?
 
How old is the car, could be a number of things, dab unit, antenna, antenna cables, etc, needs diagnosing properly.
 
In urban areas it should be fine, but it is pretty sensitive to electromagnetic noise. Mine can cut out if an old car goes past. Dodgy phone chargers can cause problems too.
 
@jdp1962 - based in Glasgow

@NHN - 2014 car. Recognise that it may need proper diagnosis. Was more reaching out to see if it was common
 
A4 SJC said:
I'm hoping that this is limited to my car and can be fixed with a software flash or similar by Audi

The DAB reception in my car is woeful. It cuts out repeatedly, and I'm talking in town not in isolated or rural areas.

Is this the norm? Or is mine the only one to suffer from this?
Click to expand...
@A4 SJC - Yup. I've got the same probs with DAB as well. Only let down on my car TBH but I ain't that bothered. But I would have been if I'd paid for it
I have a May 2015 S4 saloon

Previously, my wife had a R56 MINI JCW which had DAB. The DAB worked without problem wherever I drove in my area. I had even changed the MINI aerial for a stubby aerial & it still worked fine
 
At least you got DAB mine has b&o ant technology pack + and only analogue radio
 
If you have anything plugged in to the 12v sockets, remove them.
If you have a dash cam, unplug it completely.

Test the car

If you still have a problem then you need to have the car scanned, checking for faults.
The car has four antenna boosters around the vehicle, they're not uncommon for them to fail.
Even the FM boosters can fail and cause a back fed fault

Or like posted above, by NHN.
 
As the others have said it would be worth getting things checked over in case there is an issue. However as @Bristle Hound says the DAB reception is not the greatest. I drove around for ages with no problems. Turns out I must be in a pretty good signal area and I only use my car for commuting so am typically on the same roads all the time. Then one day I journeyed futher afield...

Finally experienced some of the famous DAB issues. Got frequent drop outs on the M3 between Basingstoke(J6) and Frimley(J4) junctions.
Click to expand...

Taken from My S4 thread
 
Having recently installed a dashcam and done lots of tests I can confirm that it's quite easy to interfere with the DAB reception and as others have stated, you first need to see how well it works with absolutely no accessories in the car.
 
Thanks for the tips folks.

Not got as far as a dashcam yet - that was going to be my next thread!

I've got a twin USB plugged in the armrest 12v powering my iPhone and works Nokia, plus the kids have a USB in the rear for whatever keeps them quiet. I'll unplug these and see if it makes any difference.
 
My 2015 model S4 DAB seems fine, that's in Devon with lots of hills.
 
Dippy said:
Having recently installed a dashcam and done lots of tests I can confirm that it's quite easy to interfere with the DAB reception and as others have stated, you first need to see how well it works with absolutely no accessories in the car.
Click to expand...
Hi ,ive just noticed your post regarding interfearance from dash cams when using dab radio, my car is avant 63 plate, ive hard wired mine in to see if that made any differance ,but no ,so my question , is there a filter to stop the interfearance that can be bought that fits in line to make it work ,
 
I only really have experience of the S5 sportback but maybe the A4/S4 avant suffers as it has a similar design in terms of a tailgate. Based on my experience and that of other S5 owners, the DAB reception is susceptible to EMI from the cable to a rear dashcam. Those who have Blackvue dashcams have the problem worst and it seems that 'add-on' shielding and filtering make no difference, suggesting that the camera itself might contribute too much. I have the Thinkware F750 and it is much better but not perfect. I did want to use a cable extension with a right-angle plug at the camera to make it look neater but this caused the DAB to cut out. So I had to use the Thinkware cable with the straight plug and in general my DAB reception is good. The only time it drops is when the tailgate is up (hence the cable is raised) in a low reception area (such as my garage). However when driving reception is as good as before I had the dashcam (which was of course still not 100% as we know that Audi DAB isn't perfect).

Let me know what dashcam you have and how you have positioned the rear camera and cable.
 
Hi thanks for the info,i brought the cam from the London Classic Car show early this month,its a mirror cam ,ie it fits over the existing rear view mirror and a seperate rear cam about the size of a cube of ice is mounted on the rear tailgate trim ,the name of the cam on the box just says vehicle BlackBox DVR from icam innovation technoligies ltd ,i have hard wired it to the fuse box ignition supply and hav tried it with constant live but no differance ,,as soon as the camera is switched on then i loose the signal for dab and most fm stations .There is a company in scotland called auto leads who ive used in the past and are quite knowledgeable so i will give them a call soon to see if they can supply anything .
 

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Is there a cable between that unit and the rear cam?
 
There is a cable from the rear camera that has a feed ,which splits from about a foot from the cam that powers up the 4 led's for night vision and the lead contues to the front cam with a plug ,like a earphine plug ,i have tried it pluged in with the power conection for night vision and without and unpluged it from the front cam aswell but it makes no differance ,so it boils down to the front cam power conection ,ive used the 12v plug with the usb conection to the cam and hard wired it to the ignitiin side of the fuse box and tried the constant live feed in the fuse box,but no joy ,looks like il give auto leads a ring on tuesday ,thanks for your input anyway ,il let you know if i cure it ,cheers .
 
DC power cables should not interfere with DAB. It has to be an HF source which is why the camera or camera cable are the likely suspects.
 
audi upgrades
I have a dual USB charger which knocks out my DAB reception but the rest of the time it works great.

Would love to know a high amperage charger that wouldn't interfere.
 
Really? I just bought a plug-in dual USB charger but haven't used it yet. I'll have to try it out.
 
Been having a play with the DAB on my car to see if there's been any improvement
Mysteriously it now works fine, even when I'm parked in my garage!
Earlier on in my ownership the radio refused to work at all on DAB in my garage

Wondering whether it has had anything to do with this -
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/dab-uk-here.263666/
 
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Currently exploring North York Moors and the Dales, DAB virtually non existent for miles around. Might be better if I wasn't running a phone charger, dash cam and 12V fridge at the same time.
 
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jdp1962 said:
Currently exploring North York Moors and the Dales, DAB virtually non existent for miles around. Might be better if I wasn't running a phone charger, dash cam and 12V fridge at the same time.
Click to expand...
Been around that area myself jdp only running dash cam (which never effects my dab) but I got no signal as well. I think some areas still don't.

Sent from my Note 4 using tapatalk
 
I have DAB and when I hardwired my Road Angel up next to my interior mirror I started to get DAB issues (although it took me a few weeks to figure this out!)

Road angel are aware that their "standard" USB / cigarette lighter causes DAB interference, and sent me a replacement unit, however when it arrived it wouldn't sit right in the extra socket I'd wired in, so I continued to use the same dual USB converter I had before.

In the end, I bought two rolls of this copper tape and wrapped it all around the extra socket: Amazon product

I also changed the USB cable running from the socket to the road angel to this double shielded type:
Amazon product

Interference gone :)
 
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