I use FM radios only, digital radio is fine here,UK, by TV settop box, but that has full roof aerial. Little MP3 player size pocket DAB radio, Aigo DAFM001A, will only work by taking the unit outdoors and even then a couple of channels only and audio is fitful, data on other channels is received, but no audio. FM operation of this unit is fine. How do I know if I'm in a bad reception area, neighbours don't use DAB.
I suspect its failure of the DAB transmission system. Reception is "4 to
5 bars" in the room on the transmission side of the building but only 1 in a room on the "wrong" side. Similarly I had gone outdoors yesterday on the leeward side of the building, only 2 bars or so. DAB transmitter 20 miles away, FM one 5 miles away. Any work around for this, no provision for an external aerial, connecting headphone lead or disconnecting it , makes no observable difference to reception?For a snap shut case, quite easy to get inside. No obvious antenna track.
Looks as though just a bad coat-hanger aerial, at least a proper coat hanger retains its shape. The headphone socket ground seems to go to the RF block. So I suppose its a matter of cutting that trace adding a connector to it ( a pair of turned pin sockets is my usual for such cramped situations) and a ground , for an external dipole or rooftop TV aerial feed. May try connecting a dipole to the phones socket ground as it is , and make a ground connection at the far end of the pcb , to retain non-static use. Just taking the core of the TV aerial downlead via a few pF to the USB case, phones socket ground, or general pcb ground points seems to reliably get an extra 2 bars reception.
Found space near the speaker to fit an open frame switched 2.5mm chassis socket. Just a bit of grinding back of the socket and the radio housing to fit it. Whether running wires up to the other end , to switch in and out the external will destroy the headphone "clothes-hanger" reception we will see.
On Wed, 29 Apr 2015 13:55:33 +0100, N_Cook wrote as underneath :
I have one of these units and I think yours might be underperforming on DAB - with mine Iv had a play, whereas I need about 2 feet of earphone lead (rest wrapped tightlu around the unit) to get2 thick bars on FM I can get full reception on DAB with only about 20 Cm extended. So hence think your unit may be faulty. With the DAB bars I think it measures quality rather than power; seems to go straight from 0 thick bars to full bars in an instant with little inbetween! C+
Similarly 0 or 1 bar or 4 or 5 bars so perhaps decoded quality rather than rf power. Makes sense I suppose as easier to grab the data without adding anything to the rf stage and covers multipath interference which simple rf strength would not.
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