DAB radio - hard reset

Picked up my GX4Hs a couple of days ago.

It seems that the DAB radio experienced a 'glitch' when first tuned (during the PDI?). The channel list is fine until it reached BBC Radio 5, where this channel is not correctly described and the channels that follow (e.g. 5 Live Sports extra, 6Music etc) are not listed. I can select these channels using the scan function, so I am able to listen to them. However, I would like to 'factory reset' the DAB, and try to retune from scratch.

I have tried to retune by doing an 'update' on the menu screen, and I have also tried pulling the radio fuse, but neither worked. I intend asking the dealer for a solution, but thought I'd see whether the collective knowledge on this forum knows the solution.

Thanks,

Paul.

FYIW - I only got mine on Friday and haven't had much chance to play with the radio - but I did do a scan in DAB mode and noticed that I didn't have R5 listed (didn't look for 6 music). I thought maybe it was just elsewhere in the last (e.g. I might have been looking in the wrong place, but I went through it twice and it seemed to stop at R4). I wasn't too bothered at the time as I am still enjoying having an MP3 capable stereo for the first time! I too would be interested in any way to reset / improve the DAB radio.

Hi
Yes I hadn't noticed before, but mine too stops at BBC Radio 4. Interestingly, there appear to be about 15 blank 'spaces' at the bottom of the station list, but you cannot 'select' them.... Anybody else have the same problem? or a solution??

Does it have multiple scan modes? A lot of DAB radios distinguish between scanning just the national network, or scanning every available channel - a national network scan will miss a lot of local stations.

Strange - I just went out to the car and (once in DAB) pressed 'Scan', and now the missing stations are there.... Was only really missing a few (all BBC) - Radio 5Live, 6Music, 4Extra, 1Extra, Asian Network and World Service I think, plus a few 'local' duplicates of (non-BBC) stations I already had. But I'm sure I've done this on a couple of occasions in the past and it hasn't worked..... Anyway, worth experimenting with I think as it doesn't look like a major software glitch....

Interesting! I wonder whether the problem lies with the broadcast signal, rather than the receiver. I'll try a retune tomorrow.

Tyke said:

Interesting! I wonder whether the problem lies with the broadcast signal, rather than the receiver. I'll try a retune tomorrow.

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DAB is notoriously bad in cars, so that may well be the problem depending on where you live. Coverage is ok in most large cities but can be very poor in more rural areas.

Yes it looks that way....the 'extra' stations had all disappeared this morning...except for 5Live which is probably the only one I was missing which I will listen to. Odd that several people seem to be missing the same few stations at the end of the list though....
Actually we've found DAB reception to be pretty good - occasionally it drops out in the centre of town (presumably high-rise buildings), but other than that it has been reliable and the sound quality is pretty impressive.... although it's not the best in-car system I've ever had....used to have a top spec Saab 9-5 (briefly as a company car) which was pretty fine....

jdsx said:

Yes it looks that way....the 'extra' stations had all disappeared this morning...except for 5Live which is probably the only one I was missing which I will listen to. Odd that several people seem to be missing the same few stations at the end of the list though....
Actually we've found DAB reception to be pretty good - occasionally it drops out in the centre of town (presumably high-rise buildings), but other than that it has been reliable and the sound quality is pretty impressive.... although it's not the best in-car system I've ever had....used to have a top spec Saab 9-5 (briefly as a company car) which was pretty fine....

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Don't forget that there are relatively few DAB channels and multiple stations are multiplexed onto each. If a single channel is not receivable, you will lose quite a few stations.

jdsx said:

Strange - I just went out to the car and (once in DAB) pressed 'Scan', and now the missing stations are there.... Was only really missing a few (all BBC) - Radio 5Live, 6Music, 4Extra, 1Extra, Asian Network and World Service I think, plus a few 'local' duplicates of (non-BBC) stations I already had. But I'm sure I've done this on a couple of occasions in the past and it hasn't worked..... Anyway, worth experimenting with I think as it doesn't look like a major software glitch....

Click to expand...

The dealer suggested I try a 'Reset All' on the multimedia control unit. I did this, but it didn't clear the station list. Nevertheless, I tried an update scan, and the full channel list now appears. Not sure whether the 'Reset All' step had any effect, given what jdsx experienced (see above quote); it may still have been an issue with the broadcasting of the ensemble. However, I thought it worth passing on, given that others have experienced this problem.

This all sounds very complicated.

Does it not have an FM radio? or am I showing my age

I usually tune to the local station, for the travel reports & then listen to music from the 'hard drive' on the Prius, but will be SD card in this, I hope!

tarq said:

This all sounds very complicated.

Does it not have an FM radio? or am I showing my age

I usually tune to the local station, for the travel reports & then listen to music from the 'hard drive' on the Prius, but will be SD card in this, I hope!

Click to expand...

Hi Tarq

Yes it has an FM radio and even long wave as well, I believe :lol: . I like having DAB because it tells you what piece is being broadcast (on Radio 3, mostly, although my kids also like it when it is tuned to 'their' stations )
FWIW, I have now stored Radio 5Live into one of the presets (in the brief period it was available on the 'complete' list), and it then stayed available on the preset, even though it subsequently disappeared again from the list of available stations! So my advice would be, if you want to listen to one of the stations at the end of the list, store it in a preset when you can.... :roll:

I was playing with it again yesterday - Radio 5 popped up briefly - but I didn't think to save it as a preset - then when I went to do that, it had gone again... arghhh! I have done numourous scans but it hasn't come back yet - the scan is weird - it plays each channel briefly as it goes through - which means the process takes ages as there so many channels.. I gave up in the end. Maybe I'll catch it another day if it shows up!

radio6 and other bbc channels were initially missing from my list despite multiple rescans but suddenly became available. I saved 6music (which was I was really looking for) as a preset and it has never been out of reception since...

Has anyone worked out yet whether the UK spec radio is DAB or DAB+ . I spend alot of time in France and have discovered that the first generation household DAB radios that I bought in the UK are not compatible with the DAB+ transmissions that most French stations transmit.

don't know about Dab+, but you can change the Dab type in the settings to either mode or auto, so hopefully having auto would allow you to pick up both countires.

Thanks Webbo. That sounds encouraging. I will find out for sure next month when I bring the new beastie home.

I picked up my GX4hs two week ago and have exactly this same issue with the DAB radio - the station list stops at BBC Radio 4 followed by blanks. A SCAN does tune to BBC Radio 5 and I managed to hit a pre-set on it which now works OK, but the pre-set label just says 12B which is the channel number. I also find that all of the pre-set labels frequently don't display correctly, showing channel 5A for ages before reverting back to the station names. Something not right here.

I have raised this with the dealer who has not been very helpful so far.

I have had the same issues as everyone else. If you use the round knob at the top right corner of the radio you can turn that to select the channels you want even if they don't show up in your scanned list. I.e turn clockwise from Radio 4 and you get 5Live, 6Music (which must be the best channel available at the moment if you like new music) Radio 1 extra etc.