Since yesterday I have lost all DAB stations. I have tried retuning but it always goes to Chill or Cyber Radio.
– Robert
Retuning a DAB digital radio can sometimes resolve issues with reception. It is unusual for only these two stations to be received on a digital radio.
Digital radio stations are broadcast on multiplexes. This means that multiple radio stations are transmitted together on the same frequency from the same transmitter. The DAB digital radio receiver then decodes these and adds the separate stations to the A-Z list on the radio.
When you select a station on the radio it will choose the desired service from those which are available on the multiplex.
In the UK there are not currently any multiplexes with one or two single radio stations. Therefore when your digital radio scans for stations during a retune it should find several other stations alongside Chill or Cyber Radio. If you’re in or near London and your digital radio is able to receive Chill you should also receive Absolute Classic Rock and Bloomberg Radio among others.
Station selection problems
Some digital radios offer up to ten presets, but do not have individual buttons for each preset. This means that a preset mode needs to be accessed and then navigated with the up and down buttons. It could be that Chill and Cyber Radio have been stored as presets and are the only stations in the list of presets. The radio may display ‘Preset’ on the display if a mode like this has been activated.
It would be worth trying a factory reset of the radio. This will completely clear the station list and any settings in the radio, such as presets and alarms. This can be accessed through the menu on the radio.
Once a reset is complete the radio will scan for available stations, as it did when you switched it on for the first time. Some radios have two modes for retuning and scanning for digital stations. It’s worth ensuring the radio is doing a ‘full’ scan so that it checks all DAB frequencies.
There could be a problem with the radio itself. We have seen a DAB digital radio which is tuned into the BBC World Service and no other station can be selected. Although the station list shows all of the BBC’s national services, the radio will retune to the World Service every time. Any attempts to reset this particular radio have been unsuccessful. As the radio only cost £20 it is unfortunately more economically viable to replace it with a new one than try to have it repaired.