[milton-chat] DAB digital radio reception in Milton

[Tim Steele]

David Chamberlin wrote:
> FM reception in Milton is dreadful (at least at our end of Church Lane 
> it is) - I was wondering if DAB digital radio reception is any better?

An external aerial is certainly a good idea whether you want FM or DAB 
and you're serious about quality, although of course it does limit the 
portability of your receiver. Then again, DAB receivers require so much 
power that they're usually mains only, one advantage of good old FM/AM, 
so users probably don't move their DAB receiver around much anyway.

One of the ironies of digital broadcasting, DAB or DTV (Freeview), is 
that the Government have chosen much lower power levels than many people 
thought wise, with the result that services which were conceived as a 
direct replacement for analogue broadcasting are in most areas of the 
country much more difficult to receive. It's particularly sad with DTV 
as portable TVs will become a thing of the past due to the need for a 
really good roof aerial in most areas.

There is an additional problem in that in our area the DTV channels are 
being broadcast right at the other end of the band from the analogue TV 
channels, which means that existing Group A rooftop aerials do a poor 
job of receiving the digital signals as they're out of band. So you have 
a choice of either replacing it with a Group W (wideband) aerial which 
is more expensive and does a mediocre job of receiving signals across 
the band, or waiting for analogue switchoff in 2011 when the digital 
signals will move down to the Group A channels and be broadcast with 
increased power (using the old transmitters suitably modified) and your 
existing rooftop aerial (with a digital converter box) will work 
reasonably well. Given that it costs around £200 to have your aerial 
replaced and rewired, but only £25 for a box, it wouldn't be too 
surprising if a lot of people waited for switchoff.

One alternative is ntl's TV package which they have decided not to 
charge for provided you have your telephone line with them (a one off 
installation charge may apply). More channels than Freeview and no need 
to change your aerial or buy a box (and replace it when it fails). 
Whether you go for DTV, ntl or satellite, remember that you also get all 
the digital radio channels through your set top box, so you may not need 
a DAB radio at all. I'm not planning on buying one.

Tim