Technical Poor Radio reception and DAB radio upgrade

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Technical Poor Radio reception and DAB radio upgrade

NitramA

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I was on a long drive in the Panda and for the first time had a chance to play with the Blue & Me system and the radio in particular.
I have to say I was unimpressed with the ability of the FM radio to find any stations. I seemed to be limited to local stations and couldn't get any of the BBC stations at all!
Is this normal or could I have a faulty unit?

I'd also be interested in hearing from anyone who's installed a DAB upgrade. All the posts I can find seem to be over a year old so I wondered if anyone had found and elegant solution. Ie: not using a FM transmitter and still allowing the steering wheel controls to be used.
I'd considered changing the head unit providing is doesn't mess up the handsfree calling part.

Thx.
 
Got to say that my FM reception fades in & out. Haven't had the car long & not sure if I've set it up properly but I've never had any problems with any of my other cars (non Fiat). I'd also be interested in a DAB upgrade!
 
I borrowed a 500 1.2 courtesy car during a service last year (on a Morgan, not my TA) and couldn't get anything other than local stations on the drive home and then only when the wind was blowing in the right direction. Tried mucking about with the radio settings for REG and LOC etc - only to find that the roof aerial had been nicked! Maybe check it's still there and screwed in fully ;)
 
Thanks R1NGA - I rushed out and checked - yep it's still there :D

So playing around with the radio. You've just got to love Italian logic!!!

There are 3 FM button states. FM1 FM2 & FM AS auto store.
The 6 presets are exclusive to each FM state so you can store 18 stations.
If I manually tune using the up/down arrow buttons I can find all stations including Radio 1 & 4.
I can then load them into one of the presets.

If I try to use the autoscan using the left/right buttons it only picks up local stations and ignores the BBC channels!

So I thought I'd load the presets and use the steering wheel controls to select the preset. Nope, it only does the autoscan, missing most of the stations!!

I haven't even tried the FM AS auto store button so whilst I know what it's supposed to do I dread to think what might happen.
The manual doesn't offer a clue either.

So I can load the stations into presets and manually select them on the radio or I can use the steering wheel controls to scan local stations which sort of defeats the luxury of having controls on the steering wheel.

Have to say it's this sort of lack of attention to detail that really annoys me about Fiat.
They get a good idea and then seem to lose focus. :bang:
 
I've not noticed that problem with mine - I'd get very cheesed off if mine kept defaulting to Radio Norfolk!
 
I haven't noticed any issues with FM stations, though I don't listen many it seems to have picked up all the BBC national stations as well as a couple of local ones.
 
Thanks R1NGA - I rushed out and checked - yep it's still there :D



So playing around with the radio. You've just got to love Italian logic!!!



There are 3 FM button states. FM1 FM2 & FM AS auto store.

The 6 presets are exclusive to each FM state so you can store 18 stations.

If I manually tune using the up/down arrow buttons I can find all stations including Radio 1 & 4.

I can then load them into one of the presets.



If I try to use the autoscan using the left/right buttons it only picks up local stations and ignores the BBC channels!



So I thought I'd load the presets and use the steering wheel controls to select the preset. Nope, it only does the autoscan, missing most of the stations!!



I haven't even tried the FM AS auto store button so whilst I know what it's supposed to do I dread to think what might happen.

The manual doesn't offer a clue either.



So I can load the stations into presets and manually select them on the radio or I can use the steering wheel controls to scan local stations which sort of defeats the luxury of having controls on the steering wheel.



Have to say it's this sort of lack of attention to detail that really annoys me about Fiat.

They get a good idea and then seem to lose focus. :bang:


I don't have any issue with FM reception and I have the more stubby aerial so the panda can fit in the garage with hitting the door.

I have my presets set to the national BBC stations and a few local ones.

You can then change through the presets with the rubber texture control on the steering wheel if that helps.
 
Set Traffic Information to OFF in the set ups and everything works.
Set it to ON and I lose half the stations!!

Is this a fault or a feature? :idea:
 
I don't have any issue with FM reception and I have the more stubby aerial so the panda can fit in the garage with hitting the door.

I have my presets set to the national BBC stations and a few local ones.

You can then change through the presets with the rubber texture control on the steering wheel if that helps.


Sorry, I checked driving home, the steering wheel just searches for the next station not my presets.

I had a look and I have regional set up on and pick up a lot of stations.
 
Set Traffic Information to OFF in the set ups and everything works.

Set it to ON and I lose half the stations!!



Is this a fault or a feature? :idea:


TP will make the radio only lock to stations transmitting traffic programme information. Typically you'll get fewer stations with that on.
 
Whilst what you say makes sense, I can't remember it happening on any other car I've driven. At least not that I've noticed.
I'll take it as a feature then :)
 
Funny. I jump into my Panda, start her up, turn on the mp3 player and my audiobook just plays happily until I get to the end of my drive :rolleyes:

What's this 'radio' thing of which you speak :D

Actually, the few times I've played with the radio, it's driven me nuts but I thought that was just me not being used to the things (haven't regularly used the radio in years).
 
Played around with the radio settings & presets again but still have FM reception drifting in & out. Any further suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks.
 
Dodgy FM reception could well be down to the aerial base being faulty (possibly damp).

There is a thread on the 500 section which my phone won't let me copy, but it's called Radio reception lost. There is a post by Joe Dolce who actually got in and had a look inside and found some dampness which, once resolved, sorted the prob!
 
Check a few things to help the system work for you:

Do you see 'AF' in the radio display?
No, then press 'menu' while the radio is on FM, and use the right hand control, pressing up or down to select 'AF switching', then press left or right to select 'AF Switching ON' -- this ensures that the radio finds the strongest version of a particular channel's frequency (eg, Radio 1 is on several frequencies between 97 and 99 on the FM scale) and automatically (and undetectably) switches to the best available at any point.. If this is 'OFF' (and AF doesn't show at bottom of the display) it will not stay tuned...

REG, or Regional Setting?
Set this to 'off' as otherwise the AF setting will not work correctly. In the UK I don't think any stations use regional info.. and if you want AF to stayed tuned to the national stations (R1, etc) it needs to be off.

TA, Traffic Information, on?
If this is set to ON, (so TA appears in bottom of the display) then only channels that are carrying travel news will be found. Turning TA off should make more stations be available. (flip side is of course you wont get traffic news interruptions -- up to you if that's good or bad thing!). Note this is different to stations showing
TP which means they carry traffic news...

And is DAB better?

Probably not! The FM signal can degrade quite lot but the radio will still let you listen - it may reduce the stereo effect or even auto-switch to mono, and it may get hissy, but you can still hear it. With DAB there is no leeway: if the signal is not good enough it will simply go silent. Or at the very least, make loud 'thrup' noises if the signal drops for a split second. If you're out in the sticks, DAB may well be less good than FM. One reason why its still not too common in cars in the UK

 
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I haven't even tried the FM AS auto store button so whilst I know what it's supposed to do I dread to think what might happen.
The manual doesn't offer a clue either.
This is for when you go on holiday. In the UK, prob not needed, but if you travel further afield, beyond the reach of the channels you already saved on FM1 and FM2 presets, you can choose FM AS and have it auto-store (AS) the six strongest signals it can find on the third set of FM presets (FMA)... Note this will delete any you had saved yourself on the FMa set (as described on page 256 of the car's instruction book :)
 
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Nope, tried everything, all to no avail. When I started it up today the FM (Radio 2) reception was very poor on what I know to be the correct optimum frequency. I can only assume the unit is faulty or it's linked to problem with the ariel. Time to have a chat with the dealer I think!
 
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