Leon DAB Issues

JordH94

Active Member
Apr 24, 2018
7
0
Hi guys,

Bought a Leon FR a few months ago (65 plate) and have been having trouble with DAB signal since having the car. It has recently been into the dealer regarding the issue and they replaced one of the antennae (I think they said GPS?), but it does not seem to have solved the issue.

It's a strange one because the DAB will not find any stations when the car starts, but after 5-10 minutes of driving it will sometimes pick up the DAB signal and then work fine. This is the case wherever the car is parked though, and I can park the car with DAB working then the next time I start the car it will not be working.

Anyone have similar issues or any ideas as to what could be causing the problem?

Cheers
 

paddy6789

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Aug 31, 2016
1,627
1,079
Preston, Lancs
I had this issue - but mine was related to my dash cam power supply being too close to the antenna. I routed the cables for my dash cam away from the antenna and the problem went away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

JordH94

Active Member
Apr 24, 2018
7
0
I had this issue - but mine was related to my dash cam power supply being too close to the antenna. I routed the cables for my dash cam away from the antenna and the problem went away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ahh that could be it! I will have a look at moving it later - could you tell me where the antenna is so that I can try to avoid the dashcam interfering?
 

paddy6789

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Aug 31, 2016
1,627
1,079
Preston, Lancs
Now you’re testing my memory!

If I recall correctly, the issue disappeared when I no longer used the 12v socket to power my dash cam - I installed a Power Magic Pro at the side of the glove box, rerouted all the power cables to loop around behind glove box (keeping them tidy, invisible and out of the way) and then added a fuse to power the Power Magic Pro.

A quick test will verify if the dash cam power is causing it (it’s how I found out it was my dash cam) - unplug it from the 12v power.

My dash cam cables route through the boot lid, down the left side of the car, across the left floor (under the black floor trim), up the front left pillar, and across the headlining to the rear view mirror housing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

JordH94

Active Member
Apr 24, 2018
7
0
Now you’re testing my memory!

If I recall correctly, the issue disappeared when I no longer used the 12v socket to power my dash cam - I installed a Power Magic Pro at the side of the glove box, rerouted all the power cables to loop around behind glove box (keeping them tidy, invisible and out of the way) and then added a fuse to power the Power Magic Pro.

A quick test will verify if the dash cam power is causing it (it’s how I found out it was my dash cam) - unplug it from the 12v power.

My dash cam cables route through the boot lid, down the left side of the car, across the left floor (under the black floor trim), up the front left pillar, and across the headlining to the rear view mirror housing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok cheers, I will give it a try with the dashcam taken out and see if that solves it.

Thanks for your help
 

RADIOTWO

Active Member
Mar 6, 2018
486
93
North Derbyshire
Hi guys,

Bought a Leon FR a few months ago (65 plate) and have been having trouble with DAB signal since having the car. It has recently been into the dealer regarding the issue and they replaced one of the antennae (I think they said GPS?), but it does not seem to have solved the issue.

It's a strange one because the DAB will not find any stations when the car starts, but after 5-10 minutes of driving it will sometimes pick up the DAB signal and then work fine. This is the case wherever the car is parked though, and I can park the car with DAB working then the next time I start the car it will not be working.

Anyone have similar issues or any ideas as to what could be causing the problem?

Cheers
Hi Jord
replacing a GPS antenna won't do any good it has nothing to do with the radio, and running a power cable near to a GPS or any antenna won't cause a problem.
As far as i know the Dab antenna is in the rear screen and suspect it has a amplifier which I suspect could have a intermittent fault, in fact there could be a fault in the coax from the back to the front .
.
Is the normal FM ok with reception ?
 

JordH94

Active Member
Apr 24, 2018
7
0
Hi Jord
replacing a GPS antenna won't do any good it has nothing to do with the radio, and running a power cable near to a GPS or any antenna won't cause a problem.
As far as i know the Dab antenna is in the rear screen and suspect it has a amplifier which I suspect could have a intermittent fault, in fact there could be a fault in the coax from the back to the front .
.
Is the normal FM ok with reception ?
I did think that when they mentioned the GPS antenna, wasn't sure if this was just a miscommunication at the dealers as to what they had actually replaced.

Yes the FM is fine, not had any issues with it
 

RADIOTWO

Active Member
Mar 6, 2018
486
93
North Derbyshire
I did think that when they mentioned the GPS antenna, wasn't sure if this was just a miscommunication at the dealers as to what they had actually replaced.

Yes the FM is fine, not had any issues with it

Have you tried different stations on Dab ? as certain parts of dab are not good coverage
 

JordH94

Active Member
Apr 24, 2018
7
0
Have you tried different stations on Dab ? as certain parts of dab are not good coverage
Yes this applies for all stations, when it isn't working if I try and update the station list it states no stations found, if it is working it will find all stations and they all work fine
 

RADIOTWO

Active Member
Mar 6, 2018
486
93
North Derbyshire
Yes this applies for all stations, when it isn't working if I try and update the station list it states no stations found, if it is working it will find all stations and they all work fine
Very strange, I must admit when I drive into a poor coverage area the Dab does go off and can take some time to come back on but don't
have the symptoms you say.
Just a mater of interest where are you ?
 

JordH94

Active Member
Apr 24, 2018
7
0
Very strange, I must admit when I drive into a poor coverage area the Dab does go off and can take some time to come back on but don't
have the symptoms you say.
Just a mater of interest where are you ?
I will try removing my dashcam later today to see if that solves it, if not it will have to go back to the dealers.
I live south of Birmingham but cover a lot of the city for work and the same issues seem to appear regardless of where I am
 

RADIOTWO

Active Member
Mar 6, 2018
486
93
North Derbyshire
I will try removing my dashcam later today to see if that solves it, if not it will have to go back to the dealers.
I live south of Birmingham but cover a lot of the city for work and the same issues seem to appear regardless of where I am
Birmingham should be fine for reception, but I can assure you a dash-cam will have no effect on radio reception,
But yes I would go back to the dealer and get them to sort it
 

salsajoe

Active Member
Apr 12, 2017
130
13
Yorkshire
I installed a DAB radio in a 2012 Golf. The antenna was the rear screen wiring but there were two separate cables from the antenna amplifier, one for DAB frequencies and one for FM, that plugged into the rear of the radio so as said above could be poor connections or faulty cable. GPS has nothing to do with radio - that is satnav linked.
 

IbizaNI

Active Member
Mar 23, 2015
157
8
Newtownards, Northern Ireland
I have issues with DAB signal but for me it's because of a dashcam located on the rear screen, I bought loads of ferrite cores to try and solve it but to no avail, I just simply listen to FM now as it's located on the rear window and don't see any way in which it could be avoided seeing as it will be so close to the antenna, better to have evidence than listen to DAB imo.
 
Chris Knott Insurance - Competitive quotes for forum members