Apart from permission from my TM?
I assume I need a DAB Aerial and Head Unit.
Will the current aerial work with a DAB HU? Truck is an 04 FM12.
Anyone able to recommend a Good Head Unit for DAB?
TIA
Stuart.
I have a Blaupunkt Woodstock 52 head unit. I’d recommend it but for the amount of juice it ■■■■■ and the heat it generates.
Running off the standard dropper in my DAF, once heat built up, the unit would drop both left hand speakers. I rang Blaupunkt about it and they said it needed a steady 15 amps to run ok. So I replaced the standard 10A dropper for a 20A model at great expense. The left channel still drops out occasionally when things get hot but nowhere near as often.
I listen mostly to TalkSport and 5 Live so the unit doesn’t work too hard amplifying voice, put a CD in and crank it up and things start to warm up quick! So I’d say this unit really needs an external amp to operate effectively with the bass and treble turned up.
I bought it from here: bluespot.co.uk/dab.asp
I got a package deal for the head unit and roof mounted ariel for a very sharp price with quick delivery.
If I was buying today I’d look at this: ebuyer.com/customer/products … _uid=87686
I know nothing about the unit but like the price!
Hope that helps!
Forgot to mention ariels.
Yes, you’ll most likely need one - either roof mounted or windscreen mounted (roof is better I’m told). Goodmans do a head unit that can use a standard fm ariel but I don’t know if it holds signal well enough plus the head unit only runs at 20 watts output which is a bit quiet for me!
I’ve been using one for about 12 months now - A ministry of sound portable DAB radio connected to the cassette player with an adapter. The cable works as an aerial and have had very good results. There are a couple of areas that are a bit iffy but on the whole have been very impressed.
Also if you take your headphones you can listen to it on your way home as well.
Have been using recharchable batteries and need a couple of sets per day
Might save a few quid on installation!!
When you say warm up do u mean it gets warm to the touch or it’ll melt the dash?
I just looked at the JVC unit and noticed they were also doing a JVC Window aerial for £30. Not bad.
I take it I just need the Aerial and HU.
Whats the Dropper business you talk about? Sounds significant.
Cheers
Stuart.
The heating up of the unit causes the electronics of the system to shut down one side of the stereo (according to the Blaupunkt guy) as a safety feature. He claimed that the unit was not receiving enough current to power it from the 10A dropper in the truck. Hence the installation of a 20A dropper which has gone some way but not resolved the stereo loss problem. When it happens, turning the set off then back on again sorts things out for a bit which seems odd to me 
A dropper in case your unsure reduces the voltage from 24volts to 12volts which things like head units require. They operate to a certain current output, the fitted factory one in my truck provided 10A max which is insufficient according to Blaupunkt, hence the upgrade to a 20A dropper.
The heat is not dash melting or unsafe but does cause cd reading difficulties as the discs heat up as well as the stereo dropping out. I feel the unit should have a decent copper heatsink on it to function correctly as the vdo unit it replaced had.
I like the Ministry of Sound idea, also, there is a product called “Revo” out which may be worth a look: revo.co.uk
I’m even more confused now
20A 10A 20V means nothing to me.
I take it that a dropper with a 10A feed is low so I would to exchange it for one with a 20A feed?
Where are they usually fitted?
Anyone know what the Factory fitted Dropper in an FM12 is?
Cheers
Stuart.
Does anyone use one in Europe? Do they work any better for talk sport or five live.
I miss James whale when he is on form 
although I can normally hear enough to fall asleep and wake up to the news at 7am
davidj247:
Have been using rechargeable batteries and need a couple of sets per day Might save a few quid on installation!!
Try Ni MH rechargeable’s, I use them on one of my scanners which is very heavy on battery’s & went from a couple of hours, at most, to several days usage on one charge.
Ni MH’s come in different categories & there are longer lasting ones than the ones I use, so getting as much as a weeks use is a possibility.
.
tvradict:
I’m even more confused now20A 10A 20V means nothing to me.
I take it that a dropper with a 10A feed is low so I would to exchange it for one with a 20A feed?
Where are they usually fitted?
Anyone know what the Factory fitted Dropper in an FM12 is?
Cheers
Stuart.
Right, a voltage dropper converts a trucks voltage from 24 volts (V) to 12 volts. If you run a 12v rated device (such as a head unit) on 24v it goes bang - hence the need to reduce the supply voltage. Why do trucks have 24v systems when cars have 12v? Thats because those big engines take a lot of effort to start and a 12v starter motor wouldn’t be up to much.
Now, thats volts out the way, next is current, measured in Ampere’s or Amps (A). Call it “juice” if you like. A 20A supply has twice the “juice” of a 10A supply. So how does this affect the radio? Well the Blaupunkt man said that the unit likes a steady 15A supply to run well. Running on a 10A supply (the standard dropper fitted in the truck) meant it was probably only getting 8A steady (the 10A rating is a peak figure not a steady figure) which meant that when the volume is turned up, there was not enough power to do the business so something has to give and that was one stereo track. Feed it the juice at 20A and its happy.
So why the heat? Well Power (Watts) is volts mulitplied by amps so thats 12v x 15A = 180W of power being used. Now have you ever got hold of a 100W bulb you’ve just turned off? Hot aren’t they!
So, the heat issue with the head unit is because it draws such a big current (15A) which apparently is common for modern head units (according to the Blaupunkt man again). Perhaps another way of working this out is looking at the speaker maximum outputs - the Woodstock will do 4 x 45W which is a total of … 180W max.
Has any of that helped?
Unbelievably, All of that made perfect sense 
So basically I would need to find out how much juice the standard dropper fitted to the truck puts out. If its 20A I’m sorted, if its 10A I can either replace it (not a chance) ot live with what i’ve got!
Cheers.
I am planning a slightly different setup. The truck I will be driving on a regular basis already has a crap radio installed, it gets poor reception on am/fm. I cant put up with this, so I am going to buy a portable DAB radio that will sit on the dash table. It has a connecter for a/c mains power, so how can this be connected to the truck’s power? I imagine I will just need to plug it into the 24v socket, but there has to be something in between to convert the voltage?
Any ideas on this setup please?
thank you in advance.
Allrighty
If all it has is a mains adaptor then it’ll need mains voltage which means an inverter (a device which turns 12v or 24v DC into 240v AC). They can be had from Maplins or the like for around £30.
I have one for using my laptop and I hate it. Its 150W output so plenty for a lappy but after around half an hour it gets VERY hot, buzz’s loudly and generally feels unsafe. Not impressed.
So I’d look at getting a battery powered portable that can be run off a ■■■ lighter if they exist.
Or a Revo
Or a new head unit
My local Asda has a “Portal 1” portable DAB receiver for £39.97. I’ve bought one, and I’m going to hack it apart so that the output from my SatNav will play through the speaker at the same time as the radio. I haven’t tried it for in-cab reception yet, but it seems pretty good at home.
It comes with a mains power adapter, but since the input is actually 9V DC @ 500 mA, a simple DC power adapter should do fine - e.g. maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=37423 for a 12V cigar socket.
Wheel Nut:
Does anyone use one in Europe? Do they work any better for talk sport or five live.I miss James whale when he is on form
Don’t know about europe - I don’t go there.
Talksport & 5 Live are the main reason I went DAB. AM is awful as you already know. DAB is crystal - like a very good FM signal with no hiss.
I would criticise DAB on one count - that is that the BBC seems to broadcast volume levels rather low on DAB. So on 5Live I have to crank volume up to 40 (out of 50 maximum) to hear it. Same for all other BBC stations. Change to Talksport and I turn it down to 30 which is also fine for all FM stations and CD’s (except for Pink Floyd which should be listened to at 50 
)
Whether this is a set thing or a broadcast thing I don’t know as I haven’t come across anyone else with a DAB set in a vehicle.
Thanks for your help Lard, very much appreciated. However, I must correct myself. I have now purchased a portable DAB radio, a Sharp one from ASDA, when i said it was mains A/c powered I was wrong, it is battery powered, but can also be plugged in somewhere using a 9v d/c connector / adapter. Does this mean it will be more straightforward for using in the truck, or is there something else I will need to avoid blowing all the circuitry?
Many thanks again Lard, and anyone else who has any ideas/help.
Allrighty
allrighty:
Thanks for your help Lard, very much appreciated. However, I must correct myself. I have now purchased a portable DAB radio, a Sharp one from ASDA, when i said it was mains A/c powered I was wrong, it is battery powered, but can also be plugged in somewhere using a 9v d/c connector / adapter. Does this mean it will be more straightforward for using in the truck, or is there something else I will need to avoid blowing all the circuitry?
All you need is a DC power adapter. See my post.
You might want to unplug it whilst starting the engine though. I’ve heard stories here of things being blown up by power spikes during starting.
Like Lard I also listen to talk sport and radio 5 so invested in the Blaupunkt Woodstock 52 ( never looked back )
When I bought it from Halfords in early January it came with a free screen aerial very similar to the one’s used for the cab phone
I drive a 52 ECT and just unplugged the factory fitted radio replaced it with the Blaupunkt and had no probs since. But can confirm that they do seem to generate more heat than any other stereo I’ve had
Something has just occurred to me that may have a bearing in why I get so much heat and stero cut-outs with the Woodstock. 
I’m running a 4 speaker setup so putting a lot of demand on the amp (4x45W=180W). If I ran a two speaker setup the that would go down to 90W max output which may reduce the heat…But it would be too quiet for me
Just a thought for anyone reading this who runs a two speaker setup I suppose…
Thanks again Lard and Mr Flibble, now got the DAB working. Bought a converter from those great people at the CB Shack, Lymm Truckstop, thanks for all your help guys. I now have crystal clear DAB Talk Sport plus all the other good stuff like Planet Rock. No need to change frequencies ever again. Yippeeeeee!!!
thanks dudes
Allrighty