I have a 2014 Challenger Sport which has the standard tv antenna mounted.
I don't use tv in the 'van and never will, but I do like quality sound, have upgraded the original useless speakers and plan to upgrade the supplied JVC head unit.
The radio aerial is also rubbish, so my question is whether the TV antenna is suitable to receive UHF and DAB transmissions and, if so, can it be wired to a stereo head unit?
------------- Camping Gear expands so as to fill the space available for its transportation.
Ok, lets start with aerial size; TV aerials are designed to be wide bandwidth devices centred at around 577MHz UHF, whereas DAB radio broadcasts at around 222Mhz VHF. It is entirely possible to receive limited DAB transmissions with a TV aerial, but it would be better to use a purpose made device. FM Stereo radio is broadcast at around 100MHz VHF, and generally, would need a slightly larger antenna unless you use a tuning (matching)device. The lower the frequency that you wish to receive, the bigger the antenna (unless you use special tuning devices).
------------- The Sun always shines on TV.(and not on my caravan!)
Given the age of your van, you'll almost certainly have the current Status 570 fitted.
VisionPlus website clearly states the 570 is suitable for both FM and DAB reception - see this link.
Use the 'Radio' output on the amp unit to run a feed from this to the radio you intend to fit.
I have a 2015 sport and the aerial is a 550 with a VP2 amplifier so no radio output. Thinking of changing it to the VP4 which has the radio output and also signal strength indication.
------------- 74,going on 25
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Topic: Caravan Antenna Question
