Is there anyway that I can increase the radio coverage on my DAB radio. I have a Ford focus 1.6 TDI 2013 zetec. The coverage at times is awfull. It keeps dropping the signal.  Is there any gadget I can install to prevent it dropping the signal. If you know what I mean. Thanks

DAB and DAB+ are two separate incompatible radio broadcast systems

basically just like digital TV the UK went too early before tech was ready and DAB is now an obsolete joke - germany switched it off in 2016

the UK, ever the idiots now dual broadcast too weak a signal of DAB with a very limited ever dwindling number of stations and the later DAB+ system side by side - this has even weaker signal strength and bit rate but uses a more robust idea for error handling

with joke reception both ideas have never been a success - there have often been issues with dual broadcasts as many tuners suddenly saw a huge number of channels that the software was never expecting to see and this can swamp its ant brain and crashes the tuner and later channel logo broadcasting crashed things again.

Its seldom discussed here correctly

I presume the Focus Mk2 Sony DAB is ONLY DAB ad there's little out there
Focus Mk3, I don't even know if its got both DAB and DAB+ tuners, nor how it handles the dual broadcast channel list bug
Focus Mk4 would crash the tuner due to the logo bug on new cars - till an update eventually came out in 2022

you can check whats available in your area and it also identifies if it the ancient DAB joke broadcasting or the current DAB+ here

https://getdigitalradio.com/post-code-checker/

 

 

 

I had a 2013 Focus.

DAB / DAB+ reception worked really well and was very successful in my experience. Sound quality very good. 

I must be luckier than Botus because mine never crashed despite it having an ant-brain. No issues with station logos nor any 'channel list bug'. I could pick up around 120 stations, but I understand that this was probably due to being fairly close to greater London.

And since you have a 2013 Focus you don't have to worry about what a Focus Mk2 may or may not be able to receive.

But anyway, do you have the original spindly removeable aerial? I currently have a factory fitted shark fin aerial and I blame that for the poorer reception than I used to have on my Focus. Also, do you know if your reception is worse than your local friends?

6 minutes ago, alanfp said:

And since you have a 2013 Focus you don't have to worry about what a Focus Mk2 may or may not be able to receive.

Does a 2013 Focus have a DAB+ radio or just the DAB ?

I see that the OP is in Co. Londonderry, and I've no idea what DAB+ coverage is like in his area.

Here in Co. Durham in the North East of England, DAB+ reception is still very hit and miss. We have quite a lot of hills which block out the signals for a few hundred yards at a time which is very annoying. I often find in parts of Northumberland that I have to switch over to FM as the DAB+ drops out constantly. Until we get more transmitters I can't see the situation improving much 

9 hours ago, unofix said:

I see that the OP is in Co. Londonderry, and I've no idea what DAB+ coverage is like in his area.

I visit that area several times a year, I can confirm, DAB+ coverage is woeful. When there, we usually just listen to good old fashioned FM...

10 hours ago, unofix said:

Does a 2013 Focus have a DAB+ radio or just the DAB ?

I see that the OP is in Co. Londonderry, and I've no idea what DAB+ coverage is like in his area.

Here in Co. Durham in the North East of England, DAB+ reception is still very hit and miss. We have quite a lot of hills which block out the signals for a few hundred yards at a time which is very annoying. I often find in parts of Northumberland that I have to switch over to FM as the DAB+ drops out constantly. Until we get more transmitters I can't see the situation improving much 

usually if you get talkSPORT and can never see (let alone hear) talkSPORT 2 its a DAB only tuner - if you see it listed and hear both its got BOTH tuners

I have three Merc built tuners I can fit on my Merc - if I swap them about I get weird results....
a 2010 facelift tuner is DAB only and has good reception and great sound quality
a have a 2015 tuner that is BOTH DAB and DAB+ but stuck on its on original SW so impacted by the channel list bug - as I'm close to London and get around 140 channels
even more perverse I have an OEM 2006 DAB Tuner and its a freak - it somehow sees ALL broadcasts from DAB and DAB+ transmissions - which I would think impossible as DAB+ hadn't been invented then - so using this one I can find ALL DAB and DAB+ channels - the DAB+ broadcasts all show and I can pretend to tune to them but all DAB+ are completely silent - the DAB side works like the facelift one, but its quality and reception are half what the later one does

if you use the checker above in post #2 it even has a check box to hide the old rubbish from your search