Fitting a DABMotion radio adapter and antenna

[andyg]

Thought I would pass on my experience of trying various configurations, fitting and antenna options etc, for the DABMotion adapter. (Currently £99 on Amazon.uk) My main aim was to get a working solution that is relatively cheap and also very discrete.

The small DABMotion controller unit can go anywhere in the car, but I hide it inside the sliding armrest cubby (pix 1 & 2). That controller is powered by an easily replaceable button-type battery that seems to last much more than a year. It communicates with the black box DAB radio unit wirelessly. Thus that DAB radio unit can go just about anywhere in the car where there is power and where it is within radio range of the controller. I chose to tuck the radio unit inside the top panel of the boot (pix 3). This has several advantages. It is relatively easy to get an ignition switched feed from behind the rear cabin 12v socket (pix 4). A switched feed is essential if you want to avoid power drain when the car is not running that can throw up low battery voltage messages and also confuse start/stop systems. That position also allows the coax cable from a rear mounted external DAB antenna to be routed in underneath the boot lid rubber seal. The DAB unit is also quite close to the driver's position so has a good wireless signal with the controller unit.

By far the most difficult thing to find was a discrete DAB antenna that actually worked! Modern cars with amplified VHF antennas do not like coax splitters so I did not try them. Internal stick-onto-glass antennas only work in very high DAB signal areas like towns or cities. On the open road they are useless, including those that claim to be amplified. External magnetic mount rods work very well indeed, but you are left with an obvious extra antenna and a coax cable run outside the car that can look untidy. Rods also whistle quite loud at speeds above 50mph so are hardly discrete! In the end I used the Kinetic STIC T DSA 3005 found here.... https://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/produc...dab-car-aerial
On my S80 that antenna fits neatly at the base of the rear window, out of sight when the boot is closed. It gives a strong DAB signal on motorways, A-roads and on cross country runs (pix 5, 6 & 7). Be careful that as the car boot lid closes it does not bear on the central T-piece of the antenna or there could be some expensive damage to the glass! Also, make sure that the 2 antenna rods are well screwed in because they can vibrate loose over time.

With this solution I mainly use DAB for BBC Radio 5, so I have the DAB radio paired to pre-set number 5 on my car VHF radio and everything works fine. The only disadvantage I can think of is that the controller unit buttons are not lit, so at night it is safer to choose what DAB station you want to listen to before driving off.

Hope all that helps some folks!