DAB Aerial

[Sixeighter]

Has anyone come up with a good hidden DAB antenna? I’m reluctant to drill a hole for an exterior aerial. Have a hidden (under dash) FM aerial which is not great!

[RogerH]

Under the dash is not the best place as it will be surrunded by metal so the reception may be awful.

Can DAB use the windscreen tape style aerials.

 

Roger

[PriceLes]

56 minutes ago, RogerH said:

Under the dash is not the best place as it will be surrunded by metal so the reception may be awful.

Can DAB use the windscreen tape style aerials.

 

Roger

The Pioneer CarPlay unit I installed in my GTI has the DAB aerial on the inside of the windscreen, perhaps on a smaller car like the TR it could be placed on the rear window. ( It is a wire loop on a clear decal so not to intrusive visually)

[PriceLes]

Not exactly retro looking but something like this. (Internet picture)

[Paul Hig]

Did a google search and found this on Moss site (not tried it myself, but sounds like an option to try) https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/en-gb/retrosound-dab-antenna-adaptor-230--389?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22000034100&gbraid=0AAAAADquM1xT17es--QuTrhPG9trQeWFE&gclid=CjwKCAjwzLHPBhBTEiwABaLsSlihiGMyUUZyFa0pTFipXY65TZZAvMVHikGln88Clnj6j7xFDm6VkxoC0-sQAvD_BwE

 

[stuart]

Sadly DAB down here is marginal anyway even with expensive indoor units.

Stuart.

[RogerH]

33 minutes ago, stuart said:

Sadly DAB down here is marginal anyway even with expensive indoor units.

Stuart.

Even in London.  Sue bought an expensive Roberts radio a couple of years back and reception is almost zero within our house.
Thats progress for you.

 

Roger

[Steve-B]

1 hour ago, RogerH said:

Even in London.  Sue bought an expensive Roberts radio a couple of years back and reception is almost zero within our house.
Thats progress for you.

Roger

Exactly why our overall radio/TV reception is so abymisably poor in the valley we live in Marlow we sent ours back <24hrs after receiving same. We're lucky to get 23TV and ±40 radio on a good day, yet are forced to pay full whack for the license! I use 4/5G reception apps in the car and stream to a bluetooth speaker instead which works far better!

[PodOne]

I have a stick on DAB Ariel fitted to the screen behind the rear view mirror. Very unobtrusive the wire can be hidden behind the windscreen rubber and then down the pillar trim.

Works very well but a waste of time as the radio is not worth listening to with the top down!

Andy

[RobH]

/ sceptic mode on/

You have to remember that DAB hasn't been introduced for the benefit of the listener.  It is primarily so that more channels can be squeezed into the available bandwidth.  The Government doesn't make money from listeners, it makes it from licences for transmitting.

It is transmitted at higher frequencies which are more line-of-sight, so the coverage is more susceptible to 'shading' from local geography.  Sound quality is generally lower than FM because the signals are highly compressed ( high bit-rate costs more money and they can fit even more low bit-rate channels in ).  If you can receive the signal, the result is usually lots of channels of dross in lower quality sound. 

Digital signal processing is required in the receiver so it is a lot more energy hungry.   An FM radio may run for a month or more on a couple of AA cells but you can't do that with DAB. 

Don't you just love progress?

/sceptic mode off/

 

[PodOne]

Hi Rob

I said it worked 😂 

Have to agree the sound quality is generally poor compared to FM but I didn't want to drill the body plus the centre console had a hole that needs filling. Given the choice I'd have forgone the radio altogether.

Andy

[Trev Good]

My MGB dab aerial is on the windscreen side post, great on a B as it is hidden under the trim! My TR6 one is behind the glovebox and is useless, I'll try the same when I have ironed out all other niggles.

[Kiwifrog]

20 hours ago, Steve-B said:

! I use 4/5G reception apps in the car and stream to a bluetooth speaker instead which works far better!

In the rural part of France I live in DAB reception is next to non existent, where as I can get a 4/5G signal almost everywhere Bluetoothed to the car radio. The best part is I can listen to the stations I used to listen to in New Zealand as a teenager as you can stream from all over the world.

[Steve-B]

2 hours ago, Kiwifrog said:

In the rural part of France I live in DAB reception is next to non existent, where as I can get a 4/5G signal almost everywhere Bluetoothed to the car radio. The best part is I can listen to the stations I used to listen to in New Zealand as a teenager as you can stream from all over the world.

👏 Exactly why I shalln't be installing a full stereo. I may install a hidden Bluetooth amp + speakers but that will be considered this year for possible inclusion onto next winters' list of jobs!

[Mike Morris]

On 4/25/2026 at 10:26 AM, Paul Hig said:

Did a google search and found this on Moss site (not tried it myself, but sounds like an option to try) https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/en-gb/retrosound-dab-antenna-adaptor-230--389?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22000034100&gbraid=0AAAAADquM1xT17es--QuTrhPG9trQeWFE&gclid=CjwKCAjwzLHPBhBTEiwABaLsSlihiGMyUUZyFa0pTFipXY65TZZAvMVHikGln88Clnj6j7xFDm6VkxoC0-sQAvD_BwE

 

tried this, no good for dab reception on mine

[Mike Morris]

On 4/25/2026 at 10:20 AM, PriceLes said:

Not exactly retro looking but something like this. (Internet picture)

this relies on an earth ground. not easy on a TR

[Sixeighter]

Thanks for all the comments. I went with a windscreen mounted antenna. Problem in a TR6 is finding a ground for the ground plane as the A pillar is covered in vinyl. I made a small plate for the ground plane to stick to them soldered a cable to the plate and connected to a ground. Works well but antenna on windscreen is not entirely unobtrusive. 

[Mike Morris]

On 4/26/2026 at 3:55 PM, Sixeighter said:

Thanks for all the comments. I went with a windscreen mounted antenna. Problem in a TR6 is finding a ground for the ground plane as the A pillar is covered in vinyl. I made a small plate for the ground plane to stick to them soldered a cable to the plate and connected to a ground. Works well but antenna on windscreen is not entirely unobtrusive. 

Any photos please?

[JohnC]

Whilst I understand the desire to not molest bodywork that has been lovingly (and expensively) restored, I wonder why a physical external aerial is unacceptable? Does DAB reception need something particularly unsightly? BTW I have no idea; it may. I fitted a Bosch thing with power amplification to my car in ~1986 and have never looked back. Well, except when reversing…

YMMV
JC

[RogerH]

I had the same decision to make and decided I also didn't want a hole in the bodywork.

So I positioned the aerial on the rear bumper.  The little plastic support that comes with the aerial fits into the top light cluster screw hole.

The aerial is a VW camper vam 'A' post fitment

Roger

[wheeler]

I have a Pioneer CA-AN-DAB.001 DAB aerial mounted on the windscreen only about 6 inches long. Aerial connected to a Pioneer DEH-S730 DAB radio. I get pretty good DAB reception only rarely is the signal lost.

Bill

[GreatOldOne]

After discussing it on here, I didn’t bother with DAB, and just use my phone to pick up the radio and it links to a Bluetooth module in my radio. 
 

No need for an ariel, as the radio is streaming over a 4/5G phone signal. Works well.

[CK's TR6]

My aerial was a ground plate then a single wire stick on thing to the windscreen.  I mounted the ground plate to the body up behind the dash, cut the single wire and soldered on a very thin wire that was insulated. Ran that wire out to the door seal, up the inside of the doorseal and back down inside the A post outer seal. Here in the states we have digital FM (aka HD radio). aerial works great. can't be seen unless you look directly down inside the A post outer seal.