DAB Aerial - review/experiences (wow, dull first post!)

Hi,
Seen a few articles and posts on DAB conversions ... thought I'd share my own experience.
I fitted a Pioneer x8700 head unit to my TD5 last year. It was pretty straight forward, head unit bought from Halfords along with harness converter ... all in store along with one of the plastic stick on aerials.
Pro's: Head unit and harness very easy to fit correctly, controls are straight forward, Bluetooth phone microphone and pickup works well (you can make a half decent call from the car, the microphone can be positioned at the top of the door so it's fairly close to you). There is a USB output so you can plug an iPod in very easily via a USB extension cable I have simply routed into one of the dash cubbies. Last but not least, you can change the lighting to a pleasing green which matches in with the dashlighting so it looks a bit more LR .. sad but it's better than the usual bright blue or orange of some units.
Cons: The crappy stick on aerial ... which I fitted to the alpine light and then took ages to carefully run the cable with various bits of the dash apart ... that aerial packed in after 6 months ... not recommended.
The alternative aerial ... go to DABonWHeels and buy one of these for £34.99: http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/Aerial_converter_-_splitter_-_active.html
It's an aerial splitter ... basically it coverts the existing aerial to a DAB and FM/MW aerial. You simply plug the existing aerial lead in one side, plug the two outputs into the head unit and take a 12 volt feed by plugging the female connector with a male spade spliced into the red 12v head unit supply wire (controlled by the ignition) ... hew presto, you are now using the existing aerial .. no need to run cables or take everything apart. It also works considerably better than the stick on job, retains the ability to pick up non-DAB stations and of course looks more 'factory finish'.
Cheers
Andy

Welcome to the asylum Andy.
Just a thought, don't you think that this should be in either 'Anything Goes' or 'General Chat', because you might get some old gimmer telling you off for an unrelated post in a Fenders Forum.

I'd agree with @Oldseadog about getting this thread in the right section, "General Land Rover" would probably be best. Drop a PM to @blue beasty and ask him to move the whole thread, or click on "Report" below and fill in the little box.
Regarding your job on the DAB/FM aerial. While it's OK picking up the power for the splitter from the ignition circuits, it should normally be picked up from the switched 12 volt output on the back of the radio which is designed for the jobs such as this.
The aerial system on the Discovery 2 and later have aerial amplifiers, so this method of using a splitter/combiner might not work as it should.

Thanks .. will do ... will also look at shifting to the switched circuit

I've just fitted one of the sticky DAB aerials on my 90.. it's working ok so far, only time will tell....