DAB module suggestions

[Bigchad]

Has anyone fitted a reasonably priced hideaway dab module and if so which one as theres a few about,Thanks

[moffty]

Hi all

I've just invested in a Sonichi S100 DAB adaptor (after reading many reviews saying that more expensive models with seemingly better features e.g. Pure Highway range actually provide worse reception) and it seems like a good unit for the price. The question I have is around aerials. I've searched the forums here and can't find an answer to my exact question, hence posting here.

- I've tried a stick-on DAB-rated aerial on the front windscreen, grounded to the metal of the car via the top trim above the screen. FM reception was fine but DAB reception was poor even high up in town centres where there should be decent signal. However this was a punt as pretty much all forum comments I've seen say that these window aerials are pretty rubbish.

- So now I'm considering an external aerial mounted magnetically to the outside of the boot lid. I don't want to cut a hole in my roof as I would worry about it leaking water and lowering the resale value of the car. So the best option seems to be routing the wire from an external aerial from the DAB box (powered from the cigarette lighter in the central storage box between the front seats, and wired directly into the AUX in there) through the car (hiding under trim where possible) and into the boot via the boot hatch. Then my understanding is that it would need to stick on the external surface of the boot lid with the wire presumably trapped between the boot lid and the chassis.

Two questions with this:

1) I would have thought that opening and closing the boot lid over time would damage and maybe break the aerial wire?

2) Would the wire not create a small gap in the seal of the boot lid, letting water in?

If anyone could answer the above, or maybe has any suggestions that don't involve hacking a hole in the metalwork of my beloved IS-220D, I would be very grateful 

Cheers
Chris

[Zotto]

Being a amateur radio I faced this problem :) Magnetic aerials are a practical way to have an easily removable antenna on a car, but this makes easy also to steal them, so I suggest to choose them only if you are not worried to remove it all the times you leave your car in dangerous places. About water leaking from wires no problems, wires are sufficiently thin. Be sure to have a proper lenght for antenna, the simpler ones are 1/4 lambda, that for DAB frequencies means a total lenght about 13 inches.

[moffty]

Thanks Zotto, that's great information.

Chris