General Stupid Radio - Ducato

[SBQ]

I have a 2013 (UK) Ducato campervan with factory radio, (I don't know the model #) and i'm hoping someone here can help out. Photo below:

https://i.imgur.com/igIMIIK.jpg

My problem is while listening to the radio, every once in a while (maybe 20 or 30 minutes), it goes and changes to another channel ON IT"S OWN. It's very annoying when you're driving along listening to talk radio, then it decides to go off to another radio station and i'm having to re-seek and press buttons to go back to the original channel :bang:. How can I stop this? I've looked in the manual and it makes no mention about this setting or how to stop it. HELP!

 

[varesecrazy]

Possibly related :

https://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/473825-poor-radio-reception.html?473825=#post4482900

 

[SBQ]

@ varesecrazy:

I don't think it's a reception issue as it also happens when i'm parked, listening to the radio. In the RV conversion, we have an additional antenna on the roof which I believe the radio is connected to.


Has anyone else had the same problem?

 

[Anthony489]

Hi SBQ

It's not switched to respond to Traffic Announcements (TA) is it ?.

Not all stations giving out TAs remember to switch off after the announcement.

Alternatively, the DC supply to the radio might be suffering brief dropouts for some reason

 

[SBQ]

@ Anthony489:

I had TA on but I recall in the past it did nothing on or off as the radio station would still change after 30mins or so. This happens when parked or when driving long distance; for which I do not believe it would be a power related issue when the alternator is running.

Keep in mind, this is only the radio station, when using the Media Player for USB connected smartphone = no problems.

 

[Anthony489]

Hi again SBQ

Something else you could try. If the radio is set up for Alternative Frequency (AF) mode, it will automatically switch to another transmitter in the same group if the signal becomes too weak. In theory you get the same programme, but in the UK at least, if you are listening to a local station it can switch to another local station but carrying a different programme. Try turning off the AF mode.

A final thought. If the radio is using an antenna provided by the motorhome converters (e.g. a combined FM radio and TV type) this antenna may well have its own DC powered preamplifier ("booster"). It would be worth checking that the DC supply to this is rock solid. Anything that interrupts the FM signal to the radio (even briefly) can cause it to "think" that reception is too bad and trigger a re-tune or re-scan.

Lastly, some background information. With the factory set-up in a modern Ducato, the Radio/Player is programmed to go off after 20 minutes of the ignition being turned off, as a battery saving measure. Motorhome converters sometimes re-wire the 12 volt supplies to the radio to allow people to listen without interruption, e.g. by using the leisure battery. I don't think this is what's happening in your case, but it's worth being aware of.