Car radio

[donnybob]

I had to do about 6 hours driving yesterday and my car radio just would not tune in if I ever got a station it was just off with loads of background noise it was simpler to turn it ff

I tried at various times after and it would not tune into any station and I became convinced t was the aerial.

then around 7 last night I switched the radio on and radio 2 was as clear as a bell and worked perfectly

Anyone any idea what the problem could be ?

[Davey Dykes]

Depends on where you are. I have a long drive a couple of times a week and lose it in an area with hills around. The times vary as does the area it happens by upto 10 miles so I've put this down to position of the satalite. I'm just presuming digital transmission is provided this way rather than analogue transmitter but I've not looked into it

[dubs]

Depends on where you are. I have a long drive a couple of times a week and lose it in an area with hills around. The times vary as does the area it happens by upto 10 miles so I've put this down to position of the satalite. I'm just presuming digital transmission is provided this way rather than analogue transmitter but I've not looked into it

It’s not from satellite unless you’re in the US.

DAB radio often drops out in valleys, and phone chargers/dashcam adaptors can also affect DAB

If the OP was listening to FM the aerial or cable is probably faulty

[Ghost89]

Static in the air can also affect signal.

[donnybob]

It’s not from satellite unless you’re in the US.

DAB radio often drops out in valleys, and phone chargers/dashcam adaptors can also affect DAB

If the OP was listening to FM the aerial or cable is probably faulty

I was listening to FM, I love my DAB radio in the house and looking on that famous site named after a  river you can get ones that are incredibly small and plug into the cig lighter they are so cheap but how good are they

[Bogof60]

Yes I also noticed  poor reception on a long drive last week on FM. I initially put it down to being in a poor reception area but it continued when back in my home area.
Seems OK now though.
Don't use DAB in the car as I find it irritating and patchy.
In fact i think all digital is not as good as analogue although I do understand why it was done.

[winkywanky]

I had to do about 6 hours driving yesterday and my car radio just would not tune in if I ever got a station it was just off with loads of background noise it was simpler to turn it ff

I tried at various times after and it would not tune into any station and I became convinced t was the aerial.

then around 7 last night I switched the radio on and radio 2 was as clear as a bell and worked perfectly

Anyone any idea what the problem could be ?

I'm assuming you're talking about FM and not DAB: have you inadvertently turned off the RDS on your radio? Or perhaps it's had a glitch and turned itself off?

RDS enables your radio to change transmitters as you move around the country, to pick up the strongest one. So for instance you listen to BBC R2, as you drive up the M1 you move further and further away from the transmitter, so your radio automatically changes to an approaching transmitter with a stronger signal. If it fails to do so then eventually the signal will peter out to nothing.

The reason that R2 (and indeed any other national radio station) isn't just on one frequency all around the UK, is that adjacent transmitters can't transmit on the same frequency, the signals would interfere with each other and ruin reception. So as one signal disappears, your radio latches onto a new R2 signal which is actually a different frequency.

If of course, you tried manually to tune your radio and you couldn't get anything at all, then that's likely to be a problem with your radio or aerial.

[donnybob]

I'm assuming you're talking about FM and not DAB: have you inadvertently turned off the RDS on your radio? Or perhaps it's had a glitch and turned itself off?

RDS enables your radio to change transmitters as you move around the country, to pick up the strongest one. So for instance you listen to BBC R2, as you drive up the M1 you move further and further away from the transmitter, so your radio automatically changes to an approaching transmitter with a stronger signal. If it fails to do so then eventually the signal will peter out to nothing.

The reason that R2 (and indeed any other national radio station) isn't just on one frequency all around the UK, is that adjacent transmitters can't transmit on the same frequency, the signals would interfere with each other and ruin reception. So as one signal disappears, your radio latches onto a new R2 signal which is actually a different frequency.

If of course, you tried manually to tune your radio and you couldn't get anything at all, then that's likely to be a problem with your radio or aerial.

I tried manually tuning two ways, the first just scans all the wavelengths until it finds a signal then locks onto it the second changes the wavelengths by a half degree each time for example on 88 no signal press the button and it goes to 88.5 and once again to 99 etc etc nothing

I think I will just buy a new aerial and see how I get on

[winkywanky]

I tried manually tuning two ways, the first just scans all the wavelengths until it finds a signal then locks onto it the second changes the wavelengths by a half degree each time for example on 88 no signal press the button and it goes to 88.5 and once again to 99 etc etc nothing

I think I will just buy a new aerial and see how I get on

I think you mean scanning frequencies, if you were scanning various wavelengths then you were going between FM, SW, MW and LW, which would indeed involve picking up a lot of shash and not much radio broadcast.

Keep us posted.

[donnybob]

I think you mean scanning frequencies, if you were scanning various wavelengths then you were going between FM, SW, MW and LW, which would indeed involve picking up a lot of shash and not much radio broadcast.

Keep us posted.

Yes sorry, scanning frequencies, although with no luck, I did then go to FM1 FM2 and then AM no luck with any of them, that's all I have on my radio, I did check that RDS was on and tonight it is, but its possible that it had been turned off during the drive on Saturday, the wife even managed to change the time under the principle press anything and everything.
I wonder if the microchip in my arm from my covid vaccination has interfered with it lol
Anyway at the moment everything is working not sure when I am driving 300 miles again but I will know to check the RDS is on

[boardyhell]

have learned something new
many thanks