[premist]

Last week I purchased a Tangent DAB-50 tuner from Richer Sounds for £39.95, thought it was a bargain but I am having trouble getting it working.

Firstly I used the DAB/FM antenna that came with the tuner and did a scan for and stations and came up with ‘0 services found’. The FM radio works without any problems.

Secondly I read that connecting the tuner to the TV aerial may also work so connected to the aerial point in the wall (which is connected to the aerial in the loft) did a scan and again came up with ‘0 services found’.

I then purchased a dipole aerial, wired that up and connected to the tuner and tried it in positions in my bedroom and still it would not pick up any channels, then took the DAB tuner and aerial in the loft to try there and in different places in the loft and still ‘0 services found’.

We have two DAB radios (which use the telescopic aerial and a piece of wire) in the house so I assumed I would be able to pick up DAB without any problem and when checking the coverage on the UK digital radio website it said that I can pick up quite a few DAB stations. I live in the west London area in Hayes, Middlesex.

Can anyone give me any advice on what to do or do you think there is a fault with the tuner?

Thanks

[CJT-80]

Hey there.... 1stly well done for getting a DAB Tuner, I adore the station choices you get... though I do admit so people prefer FM...

I once worked for Richer Sounds, and generally ALL the DAB tuners worked better with a decent aerial, but you say you have 2 others that work fine?

Based on that I have 2 thoughts:

Try the NEW DAB tuner if possible in the same spots the others work...

If that fails take it back, it sounds faulty...

Hope that helps...

out of interest which RS store did you get it from?

[premist]

many thanks for the advice I will try it tomorrow and let you know how it goes.

I bought the DAB-50 from Richer Sounds in Chiswick, London

[premist]

Just an update:

Tried the tuner in the two locations where the other DAB radios are, with both the dipole aerial and DAB/FM antenna that came with the tuner and still comes up with '0 services found'.

Any other ideas before I return it?

[Harryo]

Originally Posted by premist

Firstly I used the DAB/FM antenna that came with the tuner and did a scan for and stations and came up with ‘0 services found’. The FM radio works without any problems.

Just out of interest are there seperate DAB and FM antenna inputs on the rear of the tuner?

Harryo

[premist]

Hi Harryo,

There is only one antenna input for both DAB and FM

[Harryo]

Well as you are already able to receive FM using the single aerial input it would appear that there is a fault with the DAB section of your tuner.

When you scan for DAB stations even with a length of wire you should at least pick up some stations even if it is at a lowish signal strength especially as you have mentioned that you can receive DAB stations on another radio at your location.

I assume that when you select DAB on the tuner it does an auto-scan can you make it scan for a station manually?

You have already tried a decent external aerial so my next step would be to head back to Richer Sounds and ask them to get it working!

I have searched the web for tests on that tuner but have only come across a couple of 'owner reviews' one person was happy with the tuner the other extremely unhappy, check this link:-

Amazon.co.uk: Customer Reviews: Tangent DAB-50 - Silver

You might have a malfunctioning tuner.

Harryo

[premist]

Hi,

Yes, when you select DAB it does a scan automatically which is a quick search, there is an 'international search' which scans more frequencies and there is a manual scan which I have tried to no avail.

I will ring Richer Sounds today and see what they say and hopefully see if I can take it in store tomorrow.

Thanks for your help

[Harryo]

I hope you get it sorted out, if it was me I'd just arrive at the shop and ask them to replace it as it does not work, have found our local Richer Sounds shop pretty helpful.

Out of interest I've just got a new tuner which has an FM aerial and DAB aerial input, and decided to try the bits of aerial wire that was in the box to see how it performed.

At the moment I am listening to our local BBC radio station Radio Merseyside and am getting a very acceptable signal also tried BBC national stations and they are also received fine and this is with a piece of wire.

The DAB supplied aerial I have stuck on the wall in a T-shape with Blue Tac and am receiving a range of stations with a signal strength of between 80 and 100 depending on station.

I do have an FM half wave dipole (for FM and DAB use) which at some stage will have an aerial rigger install, as our TV area (Granada) is going digital next week Wednesday 4th November the good aerial riggers seem to be busy, will wait until they get a bit quieter.

Harryo

[premist]

I rang up Richer Sounds yesterday and told them about it, so they said to bring it in to test etc.

So went today this afternoon and they were unable to test so I asked for a replacement as I noticed on the RS website they had the Tangent DAB-200 for the same price I got the DAB-50 at, so I enquired about that but they said they didn't have any in stock even though the website said there was 2 at the Chiswick store so in the end I got a refund.

Main reason I wanted DAB is to listen to BBC 1xtra, as I do not have access to the internet all the time thought DAB would be a good idea, oh well might just invest in a freeview box

Harryo - Which tuner have you got?

[Harryo]

You will get a better sound from Freeview compared to DAB.

In my hi-fi system I use a Sony ST-SDB900 DAB/FM/AM tuner, for background listening a Pure XT-1 at night-time played through a Travagan headphone amplifier.

I have always wanted an Onkyo T-4555 DAB/AM/FM tuner but could not justify paying the price for one seeing that I had the Sony. On eBay grade B T-4555's are being sold at £299-99 plus £22.68 for delivery.

In addition there are a couple of USB DVB-T tuners connected to my computer and sometimes listen to radio programmes on Freeview.

This week-end I got lucky I came across a hi-fi dealer who had a new T-4555 in an un-opened box in a clearance sale going for £200 which included free delivery, he also had a demonstration Pure XT-1 speaker which I had been looking for going for £19 so snapped that up as well.

The Pure XT-1 will now be used around the house and the Onkyo T-4555 will be used with the Travagan headphone amp.

Harryo

[nedmundo]

I've just got one of these and using a loft dipole, can pick up stations in London 100 miles away:

Teac TR610DAB DAB Tuner, Black on eBay (end time 06-Nov-09 13:57:28 GMT)

[Harryo]

Originally Posted by nedmundo

I've just got one of these and using a loft dipole, can pick up stations in London 100 miles away:

Teac TR610DAB DAB Tuner, Black on eBay (end time 06-Nov-09 13:57:28 GMT)

That is a decent tuner, even at the 'Buy Now' price its a good deal.

What stations are you receiving from London, are you using the DAB or FM band?

Harryo

[nedmundo]

Using the DAB band, I'm getting the BBC local & Essex and London Kiss stations.

This is the 4th tuner I've had and I can't fault it - sound quality (even for DAB) is excellent and it is unbelievably quick at tuning into stations.

[Harryo]

Using the bits of 'aerial wire' that came with the tuner I am receiving 38 DAB stations at the moment, including Kiss100 and LCB which are transmitted from fairly local transmitters.

I found the following websites pretty helpful when trying to ascertain which stations I could possibly receive:-

Radio stations on DAB - Media UK

ukdigitalradio: Stations

When I was looking round for a new tuner TEAC was on my wishlist but the Onkyo came along at the right price.

Harryo