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Pure Highway In-Car DAB Radio |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 432
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Pure Highway In-Car DAB Radio
Does anyone use one? Are they any good? Thanks.
http://www.globalgps.co.uk//object-5...FaTLtAodSlAANA |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: liverpool
Posts: 972
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Yes I own 2 of these and have had no issues with either unit, the only thing i would recommend is to get an external aerial for better reception.
I actually only use the aerial inside our cars as I don't want to damage the paintwork and the reception is still good. |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 25,462
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Quote:
Yes I own 2 of these and have had no issues with either unit, the only thing i would recommend is to get an external aerial for better reception.
I actually only use the aerial inside our cars as I don't want to damage the paintwork and the reception is still good. My first magnetic mount antenna rotted away (after several years) inside the base so had to replace. I glued it back together and keep in the back of the car as a spare. |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Planet Mongo.
Posts: 19,548
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Had one for six months and it was great. Only reason I no longer use it is that I got a new car with DAB built in.
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,436
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Yes, it's a good, well thought out device. It can also be upgraded to DAB+ which makes it reasonably future proof and handy if you travel abroad. You can also use it as a pocket portable, but rechargables won't last very long and reception via headphone lead will be iffy if you're on the move and not in a strong signal area.
The aerial lead is a bit short if you want to fix it anywhere other than on the windscreen, and that won't be a suitable place if it's heated (e.g. Ford) or athermic. If you can receive several muxes and have lots of favourite stations (yes, I know that's unlikely) the lack of single-keystroke preset buttons can make it slightly fiddly. An external aerial will be much better than a stick-on one. I've installed my Highway in the centre console of my Focus so that absolutely nothing is visible. No problems with having to remove the suction cup and cleaning the ring on the windscreen every time you park ! I've also broken all the rules by using a horizontal dipole on the underneath of the hatchback shelf. It works amazingly well, and again absolutely nothing is visible. I haven't driven a car with a factory fitted external aerial, but I doubt that there would be much improvement, except perhaps on BBC/D1 muxes in seriously remote areas. If you experiment in this way, just remember not to allow any aerial lead to contact the bodywork because the aerial lead is powered and shorting it out will destroy the radio. It can be slightly fiddly if you drive on the fringes of muxes because you'll have to retune e.g. from one flavour of Heart / Capital to another. Overall it's a very good device and once you've sorted out the wiring and achieved a good signal input I think you'll like it a lot. |
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,266
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I've had very good results with an external mag mount antenna. Easy to install and shuffle away the wiring, and no problems with it moving on the roof: http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/Kinetic...ar_aerial.html
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 25,462
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Quote:
I've had very good results with an external mag mount antenna. Easy to install and shuffle away the wiring, and no problems with it moving on the roof: http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/Kinetic...ar_aerial.html
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Gorleston, Norfolk
Posts: 1,313
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Had the same one in my van for about 8 years and wouldn't be without it.
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: England
Posts: 1,218
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This was the first in car DAB radio I got a very good unit I highly recommend you use an external magnetic aerial to get the best reception continuously
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#10 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,266
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Quote:
The only problem with the mag base antenna on the roof is that rain water comes down and drips into the car.
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#11 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Harlington,Bedfordshire
Posts: 1,650
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My Highway has a strange problem at the moment. When tuned into either a national station (eg 5 Live) or a local station the signal fluctuates between maximum of 5 bars signal to maybe as low as 1 or 2. I even tried a new aerial and its the same.
I have just bought it indoors to plug into my PC via USB and try the aerial indoors for a steady signal but its still jumping around. Anyone else got this issue?
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#12 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Southport UK
Posts: 389
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When it's in the car, are you using it with the Pure power supply and external aerial, or trying to use it with just rechargeable batteries? You need to use the power supply to get a full steady signal.
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#13 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Harlington,Bedfordshire
Posts: 1,650
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Yes its powered via the plug in and running a magnetic external aerial. It used to give a solid signal.
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: West London
Posts: 24,303
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It's not the dreaded problem of being overloaded by a more powerful transmitter, is it? I've had that when driving past the Membury mast by the M4, or in the town centre near the Malvern transmitter, and in both cases Digital 1 disappears because the signal from the nearby mast is too powerful for the Pure Highway to handle.
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Harlington,Bedfordshire
Posts: 1,650
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Quote:
It's not the dreaded problem of being overloaded by a more powerful transmitter, is it? I've had that when driving past the Membury mast by the M4, or in the town centre near the Malvern transmitter, and in both cases Digital 1 disappears because the signal from the nearby mast is too powerful for the Pure Highway to handle.
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Harlington,Bedfordshire
Posts: 1,650
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An update and maybe a word of warning to others with a pure DAB highway.
The highway was still playing up so I decided to treat myself to a new DAB unit. I went for a Halfords Sonichi and new aerial which worked lovely- for a few days then started playing up. ![]() To cut a long story short, the reason the new unit started to play up was because I wasnt using the supplied power lead- instead I was running it from a similar lead plugged into a USB in the car. I ran the proper lead (both 5v) but now it works perfectly. I then plugged in my original Pure Highway with the origional power lead that came with it and bingo- it works like a dream. Moral of the story is- use the damn lead it comes with and don't run things like that off car USB's.
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#17 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Buckingham
Posts: 28,537
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How were you able to use a different lead to the one supplied with the Highway as it has a non-standard connector at the unit end?
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Harlington,Bedfordshire
Posts: 1,650
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Quote:
How were you able to use a different lead to the one supplied with the Highway as it has a non-standard connector at the unit end?
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#19 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Somewhere Nice.
Posts: 3,594
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They are excellent and I have upgraded mine for Dab+ use when driving around Europe.
Sadly though, with my current car, I get rain dripping in when using the mag mount. It never happened with previous cars. |
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Harlington,Bedfordshire
Posts: 1,650
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Quote:
They are excellent and I have upgraded mine for Dab+ use when driving around Europe.
Sadly though, with my current car, I get rain dripping in when using the mag mount. It never happened with previous cars. Touch wood its never happened to me yet. My aerial is on the rear and comes in through the boot. |
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#21 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 6,338
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Quote:
It's not the dreaded problem of being overloaded by a more powerful transmitter, is it? I've had that when driving past the Membury mast by the M4, or in the town centre near the Malvern transmitter, and in both cases Digital 1 disappears because the signal from the nearby mast is too powerful for the Pure Highway to handle.
Within a 2-3 mile radius of it, Planet Rock drops out. I am using the external mag mount aerial. |
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#22 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 25,462
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Quote:
It's not the dreaded problem of being overloaded by a more powerful transmitter, is it? I've had that when driving past the Membury mast by the M4, or in the town centre near the Malvern transmitter, and in both cases Digital 1 disappears because the signal from the nearby mast is too powerful for the Pure Highway to handle.
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#23 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: South East England
Posts: 5,714
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Quote:
I have driven past transmitter sites with my Pure Highway and can't remember any problems.
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,436
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Quote:
I have driven past transmitter sites with my Pure Highway and can't remember any problems. The DAB antenna seem to be at the top of the mast so there should not be a particularly high field strength immediately below.
Bit like trying to get RTL 1440 as you go past Brookman's Park pumping out Sunrise on 1458. |
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#25 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Central Scotland
Posts: 717
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sorry for bumping an old thread but my original pure highway packed in tonight, well flashes on with pure highway listed then goes off again. dont know whats up.
any way maybe of resetting it or is it a goner ? |
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