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DAB External Antenna ??
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I have just bought a Panasonic DAB radio & it has a plug for an external
antenna. The plug is a threaded device like those found on a Sky digibox. I
currently have an external FM antenna & was wondering if i just change the
end of it, will it work OK with DAB equipment.
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Remember that DAB sounds much worse than FM, so if you're sacrificing an
FM aerial to use on a DAB portable you're sacricifing good audio
quality. If you want to keep good audio quality, and hence keep using
FM, buy a splitter from somewhere like Maplins.
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PS i live in Leeds West Yorks & receive from the Emley Moor mast (i think).
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Why not just buy an adaptor and try it? It might work, and it certainly won't
do any harm.
The screw fitting aerial connector is called an F-connector, and the type
commonly used for TV and FM aerials in the UK is known as Belling-Lee. Maplin
sell a variety of adaptors, including a ready made cable with an F plug on one
end and a Belling Lee socket on the other, Cat No QQ73Q, or you may be able to
find something equivalent in B&Q.
How well this works will depend on where you are, but a Band 2 horizontal
aerial on the roof, even though it is the wrong type of aerial for DAB (which
should really be Band 3 vertical), will probably give better reception that a
telescopic aerial two floors below. In the unlikely event that it doesn't, you
won't have spent much finding out.
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Nope.
You need a DAB aerial.
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But there's no harm in trying. I pull in both national muxes, my
intended local mux, plus the three distant London muxes, and equally
distant S Hants mux, connecting to my external Band II dipole (even via
a splitter to retain the feed for my FM tuner/amp in another room).
On paper it shouldn't work, in practice it does
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Any old bit of metal will work as an aerial. But to get it to work
properly and efficiently it has the be the right size, shape and length
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Yes it will, I use a dipole for 88-108 on DAB and it is fine. All
multiplexes local and more from well outside their designated coverage
areas.
It's plugged into a distribution amp so I have a VHF/UHF outlet in a few
rooms. Each has VHF/DAB and TV. Perfect solution. A DAB aerial did NOT
improve the signal strength from transmitters some 30 miles away. It
improved the signal from one that is 45 miles away but only by 1 bar on the
signl meter. That's nothing!
A knowledge of RF might help you and all the other experts out.
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and the right way up for the transmissions in use.
So yes it will work, but theres no telling how well it'll work!...
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Yes, it will be fine to use as the VHF broadcast band and DAB band are
harmonically related. So a 1/4wave on 100MHz will be a 1/2wave on 200MHz.
A DAB specific aerial will only be better on very marginal signals which
will not be worth listening to anyway as they will be outside your area.
Just don't buy those cheap "FM dipoles" from B&Q. The water goes down the
screw threads and corrodes the connections. So you will get a noticable
loss in performance over time. Get a dipole centre and make your own,
waterproof it and you will be OK.
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Possibly, but it will be a matter of luck. At the frequencies used for
DAB, an antenna designed for FM won't work efficiently. A proper DAB
antenna will work much better. But if your radio is already giving
good reception of all the stations in your area via its built-in
antenna, there is no advantage in using an external one.
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Seems strange that. Do you know what the meter was reading referenced
to?.
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