Thread: DAB+ reception interference

Hi all,
Just after I got my D1 mid last year, I immediately removed the crappy old radio cassette and installed a Pioneer DAB+ capable radio.
good unit, came with a steering mounted remote and a Pioneer AN-1(or whatever model) powered DAB glass mount aerial.

Installed it and it worked well enough.
Originally, DAB reception was sometimes hit and miss.
I kind'a worked out that when it rained, or if it was very windy, I'd lost reception in some places.
In my driveway, if I moved the car a meter or two, I lose or acquire reception.

Over the months it seemed to get worse(intermittent reception), and I wasn't all that happy with this DAB system.
I've previously used DAB radio in my old workplace in two of the new trucks. In a word .. brilliant.(trucks were Isuzus).
They never really lost reception, except in one location where there are traffic lights under some HT transmission power lines.
Awesome system, great audio quality, nice features.
ps. I'm not really interested in music as such, more of an ABC talk back listener too .. so iPods and streaming music is not my thing.

Anyhow, back to the anomaly of the intermittent reception I'm getting.
A couple of months ago, I got myself a wireless phone charging setup.
Consists of a wireless charge receiver(on the phone), and a cradle to hold the phone that is the charge station.
I have two charge stations at home, and I also got a suction holder charger doodad for the car.
Basically, you stick your phone on the holder, and not only does it hold the phone,it charges it(slowly) too.
No wires to the phone, I can neatly tuck the wires to the charger/holder nicely too.

BUT!! I just noticed yesterday that I had good DAB reception in my drive as I started the D1, but then as soon as I stuck the phone to the holder, DAB reception stopped.
There's a signal strength meter indicator on the radio to show signal(like a mobile phone).
I know that the DAB system has a little bit of buffering for when reception is iffy, so that you don't lose sound unless reception is lost for a short time.
On most DAB radios I've now experienced, it seems to be about 2-3sec of buffering, as there is always a 2-3 sec delay or time difference between analogue and DAB.
if you switch from analogue to DAB, you hear the last couple of secs that you just heard on analogue.

So, now I noticed that when I pop my phone on the holder and it starts charging, in about 2 sec I lose DAB reception.
I initially thought it may be the proximity of the phone to the radio(about 10cm), but after a bit of mucking about it's not proximity.
it's the wireless charging interference.
No matter where I place the holder charger, driver side door, rear door/cargo area .. etc .. as soon as the charger starts charging the phone DAB reception is lost(zero bars on the signal meter on the radio).

The Pioneer AN-DAB1 antenna is (apparently) powered.
I installed it myself, being very careful to do it as per instructions.
I may have stuffed something, but I'm 99.9% sure I didn't.
I scratched out some paint for it's earthing point and cleaned it good and proper before sticking the earthing pad to the body(interior). glass clean etc, etc ...

So the only thing I can think of as to why the wireless phone charger is causing DAB reception loss, is some kind of active/earthing interference or something.
I also wanted to eliminate the Cheap Chinese generic product syndrome from the equation, so I also tried using one of the chargers I have in the house too, a better quality (supposedly)Samsung holder, but I get the same thing.
it seems that whatever RF interference the wireless charger is radiating, sucks the life out of the fairly weak DAB signal!
Analogue radio is fine(but analogue is so last century now! )

In the next few days(if I get the chance) I'm going to install my new Mobile One DAB antenna and eliminate the Pioneer glass mount AN-DAB1 from the equation.
I got the ground independent SAN206 model and will to try to mount it to the bullbar.

ps. Big shout out to Mobile One too. Awesome service from them.
I ordered it on Monday night, but it didn't appear to go through.
Their ordering system is a little different to what is the norm.
Anyhow, I emailed Tuesday night to confirm my order.
Got a reply, saying with an apology for the ordering webpage, but that my antenna was just made up and will be sent out that day.
Got it a Wed arvo. And it is of a very high quality finish too.

Just have to locate an SMA to SMB adapter to connect to the radio too.
Hopefully this new antenna helps in some way, but more importantly hoping for better DAB coverage further out.

Hopefully this info helps anyone else with DAB reception issues.
ie. it's probably some interference from something obscure.

And hoping that someone with good knowledge of RF interference issues can understand why such a low powered device like a wireless charging system(USB @ ~0.5Amp) can kill what I'd assume to be a much stronger(radio) signal?

sorry for the long post,
Cheers,
Arthur.

Originally Posted by SBD4

... Likely your existing glass mounted antenna would have been fine if you replaced that cable.

That's what I thought too.
But cable is fixed to the Pioneer antenna module, so an entire replacement would be required.