DAB Outdoor Antenna

In an area where DAB signals are weak, it will be necessary to use an outdoor DAB antenna. There are two main types available.

Dipole:

For use in marginal signal areas. This type of antenna is omnidirectional and should increase the strength of all DAB stations being received.

Multi-element antenna:

Also for use in marginal or poor signal areas. This type of antenna is directional and has high gain. This antenna needs to be pointed at the transmitter you want to listen to.

Multi-element antenna

Dipole

<It is possible to use a TV or FM antenna with your DAB tuner as this is normally mounted externally. This may give a stronger signal than a simple internal antenna, however it would not be tuned specifically for DAB reception.

You would need to change the plug on your TV/FM antenna to an F type, and it may also be necessary to use a signal booster to enhance the signal.

About DAB

With this unit you can receive and listen to Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) programmes. DAB uses digital, not analogue signals, resulting in near CD-quality audio with virtually interference-free reception. Along with superior quality audio, DAB can also deliver additional audio channels and text. In the future, computer data and images are also possible.

Digital radio is broadcast as groups of data called ensembles or multiplexes. Each multiplex can contain a number of stations (services) and each station contains a primary service and can contain secondary services as illustrated in the following diagram.

DAB SIGNAL

BBC

 

 

 

National

 

 

MULTIPLEX

DAB

1

 

 

BBC Radio 4 1

 

3+

PRIMARY

 

2

 

SERVICES

Parliament

 

 

SECONDARY

1

2 3 4+

 

SERVICES

Each multiplex is transmitted in a set frequency range and received by this unit for decoding. You can receive multiplexes broadcast in the 174-240 MHz frequency band and store the services in each multiplex for you to access. The number of multiplexes you receive depend on your location. Channels used in the UK are in the range 10A to 12D.

Multiplexes and stations have labels (names) that are used to identify them. Instead of needing to know the particular frequency of your favourite broadcast, you can simply select the station name. Secondary services and additional data such as text or multiplex info are also available.

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