C5 x7 tips

[Paul-R]

Or a glovebox which struggles to hold a thick pair of gloves.

[Richard_C]

Mine had a pair of phono socket inputs in the glovebox, high up so hard to see. Stupid place.

I had a cable permanently plugged in, threaded round edge and out near the hinge, tucked up under the plastic trim into foot well and along centre console on passenger seat side, put a phono to 3.5mm jack on the end and left it tucked in to passenger seat back pocket with length to spare. That way I could reach for it and plug in phone headphone output, and (more regularly) the youthful ones in the back could connect and torture me with their taste in music.

I believe some has 3 phono inputs so you could send movies to the screen.

On the topic of the utterly useless cup holder - I can imagine the final design sign off meeting and some marketing Director screaming "no cup holder - fix it - don't care where you put it - must have it in the brochure" and some hapless junior designer trying to sort it as a last minute addition. Or maybe years before in a post lunch trance someone says "hey guys - I've just thought up the most useless cup holder in the known universe, lets build a car around it....."

[GiveMeABreak]

I know - I did see an article last month on somebody with an X7 and his solution was to 3D print an accessory! He made a cup holder that fits over and hugs the driver / passenger door storage bins. It seemed to do the job - and I did think about whether this is something he could possibly make some money out of - if we threw a few orders his way to make it worth his while!

Just found the link:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:984289

[Stickyfinger]

I have a "Flip-Out" one attached to the side of the (passenger side) of the center tunnel just forward of the seat travel (max forward), for me it is easy to reach (long arms) and it does not get in the way of the passenger as it is wide at that point. I cannot be doing with drinks on doors (spill on shutting) and I think reaching it would be a pain.

[GiveMeABreak]

I think it is really only good for a holder that you would put in a takeaway coffee in that has a sealed lid TBH - but there are plenty of times when you pull-over and have a takeaway coffee where there really is no place to put one - I balance mine right on top of the dash board - but I must say I have eyes on it at all times!!

[jgra1]

yes re cup holder! that 3d one looks good.. I am in, for 2 of them

Rich C, yes mine has the three inputs.. I did once plug my camera in and browsed holiday snaps, but mostly use it for a digital radio (why wasn't DAB available in them?? it was already becoming the future way before 2010)

and once arriving at a campsite I even used the DVD player, to show a few mins of 'the office', much to the delight of passengers (there were only a few kids, and the suspension coped fine)

[Paul-R]

...digital radio ... DAB ...

DAB- the solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

And a pretty poor solution at that.

[jgra1]

I must be odd, love it! Mostly R6, 5L and 5 extra for the sport - occasioning planet rock or kerrrang.

[EDC5]

...digital radio ... DAB ...

DAB- the solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

And a pretty poor solution at that.

Care to expand on this? and does DAB+ solve the problem?

[Michel]

I must be odd, love it! Mostly R6, 5L and 5 extra for the sport - occasioning planet rock or kerrrang.

Nope, I love it too. Especially 5 Extra, Planet Rock and R4 DAB.

[Paul-R]

DAB- the solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

And a pretty poor solution at that.

Care to expand on this? and does DAB+ solve the problem?

Yes, DAB+ does go a long way to make DAB what it should have been all along. Although whether we want DAB at all is a moot point.

The problem is that the UK was an early adopter of the technology. The compression algorithm used is not very efficient and so you can't squeeze as much into a certain space and keep good quality. The "answer" to that is to reduce the quality to pack more content in. In particular to broadcast in mono instead of stereo - Planet Rock for example (unless it's recently changed) is mono whereas the satellite signal is stereo. BBC R4 is mono, stereo is reserved for R3 and R2 and only R3 has a decent chunk of spectrum allocated to it. It's still not quite as good as that which is effectively allocated to the FM transmissions though.

DAB+ has a better compression algorithm and can pack a lot more into the same space. This means that stereo becomes more attainable for one thing. It's also better for reception in cars. When the signal drops on DAB you get a horrible loud squark, DAB+ is firstly more robust and secondly doesn't squark. Modern radios have managed to suppress this squark though.

DAB+ plus is backwards compatible so it can decode DAB signals but not the other way round. A DAB radio is deaf to DAB+.

The problem that doesn't exist? Radio listeners did not clamour for a new incompatible digital system. It's the broadcasters and government that want to pack multiple channels into the ether. This is just to make more money by advertising and taxation. They're more concerned with quantity than quality. AFAIK there are no modern FM channels that are mono (to be honest I can't think of any). The same can't be said for DAB.

DAB radios are much more expensive than FM radios. The Government has said that FM won't be switched off in the UK until the majority of households have a DAB radio. Just think about that. If you have a single DAB radio in the house you are part of the converted. Never mind about all the other FM radios you have that will be useless come switchover. Just think about the expense for replacing all the others.

I have a DAB radio in the house but it's only here because it's also an Internet Radio so I can listen to Radio Caroline. If I were ever to be asked if the household had a DAB radio I would reply No as I still do most of my listening on FM. That's across about two or three radios in different rooms of the house. I couldn't begin to count the cost of replacing all of them (two alarm radios in the bedrooms, a half decent stack system in the front room, a cheapo stack system in the living room, a CD radio in the kitchen).

I haven't mentioned the digital delay yet. This manifests itself in two ways. First, there's always a delay between an FM signal and the DAB equivalent. If you set your clocks by the Six Pips you'll never do that accurately again with DAB - although the most accurate is still 198KHz I believe. Secondly, there is a difference in how long the DAB signal takes to be processed in different radios and if you have three radios switched on in different rooms (as I often do), you will get three slightly different audio outputs. There will be an echo or stutter effect which my wife particularly dislikes.

Finally, the total conversion from FM to DAB in Norway is not going smoothly.

http://www.newsinenglish.no/2016/09/12/ ... evolution/

[Richard_C]

Paul

I'm with you all the way. You missed out the horrible power consumption/battery life which renders true portable DAB radios uneconomic - you either have to tether yourself to a power socket or shell out for an expensive rechargeable battery pack. If you walk around the house you end up with a radio on in each room with the delays you describe - I didn't know why 2 DAB radios were not synchronized and thanks for the explanation.

Add to that the shoddy/non-implementation of DAB traffic reports in the UK, FM wins every time. (except that on the SMEG units in C4 Picassos Citroen have broken the TA system - it gets random Heart FM interrupts but none transmitted via BBC local stations.)

[Paul-R]

I'm with you all the way. You missed out the horrible power consumption/battery life which renders true portable DAB radios uneconomic ...

Yes, I thought about that this morning (it was late when I made the post) so I'm glad you've made the point. It's an example of the hidden cost to digital transmissions which is paid by the recipient. The same thing applies to digital TV compared to analogue and even digital satellite boxes compared to the old analogue ones.

...C4 Picassos Citroen have broken the TA system - it gets random Heart FM interrupts but none transmitted via BBC local stations.)

Not just those cars. The e-Myway fitted to my X7 and the Smeg+ in the 308 behave the same.

[Richard_C]

Assumed all SMEGS were broken, the myway in my older X7 was fine (as is our 2015 C3 and the cheap as chips basic radio in or C1). Interesting that the coming of the 'e' to the e-myway broke it too, have added it to my un-wish list.

[bobins]

I caught a snippet of info on 'You And Yours' on Radio 4 today*, next week on the programme they'll be covering the fact that the Govt. might finally be considering the possibility of working out a theoretical assumed date for the turning off of FM.

*- I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly state that I don't habitually listen to 'You And Yours' on Radio 4.