DAB digital radio on a motorbike
by Andrew on Jun.23, 2009, under Andrew Dalton, Kit Reviews
Knowing I am going to get merciless stick from m’learned friends for having yet another gizmo on my bike I’ll admit another one – this time a DAB radio. On the RBLR 1000 endurance ride, having the Lions match to listen to whilst flooging up from Edinburgh to Wick was a much needed distraction from my seriously numb backside. Having traffic reports and weather coming in on Absolute Radio was also good.
I used a Pure Highway Radio, wired in to the ignition on car lighter style plug – so far very easy. I placed the additional magnetic aerial on the top of mu top box, routed the cable and job done. 5 minutes maximum. So does it work? Yep, I got Radio 5 live clearly in the middle belt of Scotland, Absolute Radio clear as a bell in Cumbria and what is good about this radio is the if the signal is too weak it just stops, with very little atmospherics, and when the signal is on one bar I can still hear it very well. The Autocom copes very well with the noise output. The little magnetic aerial (an optional extra) is well worth having as before I fitted it I could not get a signal pretty well from Leicester to Leeds on the M1 but with it fitted a decent signal all journey.
So if you are a long distance rider or a regular commuter it can really break up the monotony of a long journey, and the signal seems pretty good across the nation, from the North of Scotland down to the North Devon Coast.
October 28th, 2009 on 6:56 pm
Did you have to put something in between the Pure Highway and the Autocom to reduce the output volume? I see in the manual for the Pure Highway that it says that the volume control doesn’t work when the unit is on external power.
November 2nd, 2009 on 3:46 pm
No, I just plugged it in. With Autocom’s regular headset it was a bit quiet but ith custom made ear plugs it is at a pretty well perfect level. Autocoms mikes pick up and adjust for windnoise, so in short it has not been a problem for me.
November 6th, 2009 on 8:39 am
Hi Andrew,
Fantastic idea. I am thinking of doing the same using the FM bike radio to pick up the FM from the Pure Highway
Regards
Steve
November 9th, 2009 on 10:31 am
That is how it is supposed to work, Steve. The only problem is if you put the dab radio somewhere dry, then you are stuck with one station. Definitely invest in the little aerial though.
December 1st, 2009 on 4:45 pm
Thinking of getting one of these for use on my K1200LT with the mag-mount arial and wondered how easier it would be to waterproof/weatherproof the unit?
December 1st, 2009 on 5:39 pm
Adam, I really don’t fancy your chances of waterproofing the unit. I wouldn’t attempt it. Touratech do a little bag that fits the radio, which can be connected to a ram mount but every time you take it off, you would have to disconnect the mini usb power and the aerial (2.5mm jack) so I would put it onto one station, retune the LT radio to pick up the digital signal and give up on waterproofing, and put it in a box. The touratech bag is where my samsung water resistant phone sits and in pretty torrential rain yesterday, there was obvious water on my phone so I would treat the bag with caution. It is not sold as waterproof.
Andrew
December 10th, 2009 on 4:29 pm
I am also a long-distance rider, I use my motorcycle and are interested in using the Pure Highway Radio, but I do not know how to use it, if you can explain how to use it?
May 26th, 2010 on 11:47 am
Andrew,
Interesting article and an aerial is exactly what I need. I have a Pure carDAB radio with a stick-on-the-windscreen aerial which doesn’t look very good or safe on my R1200RT. What external aerial did you buy and where from – and does it have the little line-in like plug to connect to the DAB?