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Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: martin998877 on 19 August 2019, 20:13

Title: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: martin998877 on 19 August 2019, 20:13
Hi, I've just got a GTi Mk 7.  I've found the radio reception quite a bit worse than my previous car which had a whip antenna.  A relative also has a GTi 7.5 and also has dropouts on DAB and FM.  We live in quite a strong signal area, the midlands, but am coming across black spots that I never have with previous cars.

Do you all get this?  And I wonder if the fin antenna is a bit too small for good radio reception?  I guess there is no solution to this?

Martin
Title: Re: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: itavaltalainen on 19 August 2019, 20:40
I didn't have issues on either of my mk7s.
But we did on the mk6, which had broken aerial leads from the boot that got soaked with washer fluid from a split pipe.

What model year is your GTI?
Title: Re: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: martin998877 on 20 August 2019, 07:34
Thanks, it's October 2016 (mine) and July 2017 (friend's).  They both seem to drop DAB at similar places.

We might be in a poor signal area, and the previous car might just have been good at holding on!
Title: Re: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: Jim_mk7.5 on 20 August 2019, 08:57
Mine drops off a lot on DAB, been listening to Virgin and just makes a weird noise and disappears gradually. Thought DAB was always on or off, no in between. Can't compare it really as my only Golf was a Mk7.5 as well. 
Title: Re: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: r600_clubsport on 20 August 2019, 11:37
Mine seems to be rubbish from day 1. MK 7, i've got the Alpine head unit upgrade in it, but still no better. Not sure how to get around it to be honest.
Title: Re: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: Sootchucker on 20 August 2019, 11:58
My 7.5 seems worse that my old MK7's or indeed my wife's 2016 Polo Blue GT !

On mine, I seem to loose the DAB stations a lot more frequently than it does in her car when driving down the same roads?

Also, don't know if it's related, but when on the INFO screen when listening to the DAB channels, almost every preset I have (except Radio 2), is missing the larger station icons on that screen, but in the wife's for exactly the same stations (almost), her system downloads and displays the full size station icons immediately (even if they are sometimes different to the ones applied for the radio pre-sets logos).
Title: Re: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: Mutley75 on 22 August 2019, 23:22
Interesting this should be brought up. I don’t listen to the radio much now that I have CarPlay but I have noticed DAB reception seems noticeably worse than it was on my A3.

As for radio logos, I too have a wife with a Polo and the logos download automatically. However on the Golf it appears you have to download them yourself - https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/need-help/technology/radio-station-logos which is weird because it’s a newer car with better tech. I’ve done this and it does work, but shouldn’t be necessary in my opinion.
Title: Re: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: Talk-torque on 23 August 2019, 07:26
Logos appeared on mine without manual loading. DAB reception seems OK, and same as previous 7s.

Isn’t there an option, somewhere in the menus, for the unit to revert to FM when DAB is marginal and a sister FM station is available? Maybe this is why some guys aren’t experiencing a problem.
Title: Re: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: Mutley75 on 23 August 2019, 07:31
Logos appeared on mine without manual loading. DAB reception seems OK, and same as previous 7s.

Isn’t there an option, somewhere in the menus, for the unit to revert to FM when DAB is marginal and a sister FM station is available? Maybe this is why some guys aren’t experiencing a problem.

I expect the dealer added them?  Either that or mine has a fault. It certainly didn’t (and doesn’t) apply a logo to newly added stations even with hundreds of them downloaded on the SD card. The option to automatically add station logos is also ticked.
Title: Re: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: mcmaddy on 23 August 2019, 07:36
It won't download them from an SD card it's only if the radio station is broadcasting the right signal. The majority of stations on my nav pro (Dec 16) automatically download but one or two don't and need manually doing. If you live in a poor dab reception area you probably don't have a strong enough signal to tune in and get the radio logo.
Title: Re: Radio DAB / FM reception
Post by: Guzzle on 23 August 2019, 17:37
No issue with dab reception on mine unless i'm driving through a remote area with poor signal, in which place it cuts out completely.

Also all my station logos were already present when I got the car. I didn't need to download them. I have a 7.5 with the standard Discover Nav.