Aerial advise needed

[listener]

I currently use both FM and Digital tuners.A Quad 66 FM and a Denon something or other for the DAB.
The FM is fed via a roof mounted outside aerial and the DAB via a short length of co-ax with a short length of solid wire at the end of it that was supplied with the tuner.Looking at it, it is quite surprising that it receives anything but it does,at least most of the time.The problem is the occasional drop-out of the signal which is most annoying.
So here is the question.If I install an outside DAB aerial on the same mast as the FM aerial will I have to run an additional co-ax down lead to the tuner? Can I use the same down lead for both the FM and DAB aerials with a splitter into each tuner without incurring heavy insertion losses? The reason I ask is that if I end up with good results with the DAB then at some time in the future I may dispense with the FM tuner altogether.
Any advise appreciated.
Pete.

[stewartwen]

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/fmanddabradio.html
This is a superb resource!
S

[listener]

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/fmanddabradio.html
This is a superb resource!
S

It certainly is.Many thanks for that.I will go vertical 1/2 wave dipole ,single lead and splitter .A good cheap starting point.
Pete.

[Chumpy]

Good advice probably. Often, anything depending where you are is ok for super FM/less good DAB. Nice specialist antennae should be best for FM. On DAB aerial, it is IMO not worth spending much. DAB is designed to annoy by low-quality/drop-outs/being digitally after the events ... All of the best for resolving what suits you.

[hifinutt]

be interesting if you drop the dab for FM , i just bought a beautiful bel canto fm1 which is a superb tuner and way better than anything from spotify . i guess a separate aeriel for each would be gold standard , i have at least 3 fm aeriels here so can compare the various ones [one being a ron smith galaxie]

[stonehengequad]

Talk to George at Ron Smith aerials

[IanG-UK]

Talk to George at Ron Smith aerials

Yes he is a good guy - lives in Spain now but still operates Ron Smith Aerials from Luton and makes some great kit - I have a Quad 99FM with a Ron Smith Galaxie aerial

[stonehengequad]

George will look at your area on Google maps and advise on the best aerial for you.

[stonehengequad]

I have an Orion 8 on the way. Aerial installers just don't get the need for good FM nowadays. They install digital which works - or doesn't, on or off, 1's or 0's. An analogue FM tuner needs a good amount of signal for it to sing.....

[Chumpy]

Happy radio ... usually as suggested above, FM.

[FiftyPlus]

I currently use both FM and Digital tuners.A Quad 66 FM and a Denon something or other for the DAB.
The FM is fed via a roof mounted outside aerial and the DAB via a short length of co-ax with a short length of solid wire at the end of it that was supplied with the tuner.Looking at it, it is quite surprising that it receives anything but it does,at least most of the time.The problem is the occasional drop-out of the signal which is most annoying.
So here is the question.If I install an outside DAB aerial on the same mast as the FM aerial will I have to run an additional co-ax down lead to the tuner? Can I use the same down lead for both the FM and DAB aerials with a splitter into each tuner without incurring heavy insertion losses? The reason I ask is that if I end up with good results with the DAB then at some time in the future I may dispense with the FM tuner altogether.
Any advise appreciated.
Pete.

I have a decent DAB tuner (Pure 702) but would not dispense with FM. I listen to a lot of Radio 3, and at it's higher bit rate (192kbps) it is not too inferior to FM, but when the bit rate is reduced to 160kbps, which it often is due to sports etc. - it is noticeably inferior to FM. Only Classic FM (at 160kbps) is consistanly better on DAB than FM due to severe compression on FM for car radio listening - but I do not generally listen to CFM. Despite what many people say I regard DAB as a worthwhile addition to my seperates system, and at least on the BBC stations can sound good (128kbps 6 Music for example). Regarding the original query, a DAB dipole mounted vertically in the loft or outside, with a seperate feed, will almost certainly work fine and give decent stable reception (& DAB brushes all other radio technology aside when installed in car with a proper aerial - but that's for another day!!!).

[Sprockens]

Reasonably high bit rate digital is better than stereo FM. It doesn't roll off in the audio band for starters and has a much higher signal to noise ratio.

[chris217]

Best quality at the moment is the BBC Radio 3 AAC live stream, followed by satellite and Freeview.

[earthfield]

A single vertical dipole will give you best all round directionality for reception of F.M. If you can it's best to have a single run of good quality coax direct to the tuner and a very good earth too, don't forget the crystal radio phenomena.

I.M.O. DAB is rubbish.

[Chumpy]

It is interesting every now and then to compare best-quality e.g. aerial reception. So far, I still prefer nice FM antenna into FM tuner/outputted suitably for listening-enjoyment..