Most UK DAB radios don't work on Poland's DAB network

Having finally got round to checking my UK DAB radios here, I see they don't pick up any Polish DAB signals except a vague mention in the text window of Polskie Radio but no audio.

This it seems is because Poland uses DAB Plus or DAB+ and although the transmitters are the same the audio encoding is not, hence silence.

A very few DAB radios allow a firmware upgrade to facilitate DAB. But mine seem to not have that happy option.

Poland's TV is now apparently fully digital (like the UK's) which I think means there is at least hope for my UK TV if I use an encoder box for free-to-air Poland TV. Traditionally, UK TVs would not play Poland TV audio, but with the analogue signal now off they'll play absolutely nothing unless a Poland standard Freeview or similar box is hooked up to the TV.

DAB radios are incopatible with DAB+ system. So throw out your box, buy DAB+ radio here, and use it also in UK ;)

They should play just audio only in Polish DVB-T :) Without the vision. Because the difference is in the standard of video encoding.

But the problem is also with older (although modern, LCD ones) TV bought in Poland. They also had no MPEG4-compatible tuner. And, on the other hand, the newer TVs sold in the UK (at least those which are compatible with HD signal received from a standard aerial, not cable or satellite) should work in Poland without any problem (I am not sure what about EPG and teletext, but they are not necessary for watching TV :) - however, in Poland we don't have so called "digital teletext" like in the UK, there is still the traditional one, which, of course, is digital too - and has always been).

According to national regulations the TVs and TV boxes sold in Poland should be able to decode surround sound in the E-AC3 system (Dolby Digital +), so theoretically TV stations may stop broadcasting standard stereo audio signal and leave E-AC3 surround only. Like it is already with HD - the 2 main channels of the national TV are now broadcast only in HD in the terrestrial TV (from standard aerial) and a receiver incompatible with HD will not give you any picture (in the best situation - sound only), even if you have an old-fashioned CRT TV. You need a TV box that supports HD. MPEG4 is not enough.

And now they are thinking about introducing the next channels in DVB-T2...

Do you mean that a Polish DVB box for Polish digital TV will not send a video signal to a British standard TV set via the scart or any video cable? Oh terrific...

Public radio coverage in Poland:



RadioPolska Blog
radiopolska.pl/blog/category/dab

No. British standard TV set , with any embedded DVB-T tuner, should definitely receive sound. On its own, without any extra boxes. In terms of the picture, it depends on the supported video encoding standards (should be MPEG4 for all the channels and HD for the channels: TVP1 and TVP2).

It depends on the firmware of the TV, it may work so that it doesn't even try to decode sound if the vision isn't received correctly. But generally speaking sound should be working on each TV with DVB-T.

After connecting a TV box you won't have any problems at all. Then the TV works in fact as a monitor. It might be even a TV from the USA, with ATSC instead of DVB-T - and it should work connected by HDMI, Scart, Composite or whatever.

Here are the official requirements for the digital TV receivers in Poland. Receivers fulfilling them must receive Polish DVB-T correctly and without problems. On the other hand, it is illegal to sell in Poland receivers that don't fulfill them unless you inform the buyer on paper about it and get their signature (if it's sold online a form confirmed by pressing a button on a webpage is allowed):

dvbt.pl/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/px_rozp._w_sprawie_wymagan_techn._i_eksploat.pdf

According to them, every external tuner has to have the following outputs:
- digital: HDMI for picture+sound and S/PDIF (electrical or optical) for sound only
- analog: Scart for picture+sound and any stereo audio output (might be minijack, cinch - whatever)
And it has to scale down the HD picture if analog output is used.

Thanks kpc.

I have had a Poland DVB box for 2 years, made by a company beginning with H, and the mains adaptor has packed up after not using it for a year (stored in a dry flat). It's 1.5A and 5V, so not the easiest to replace. When I plugged in a temporary 5V adaptor of 800mA, the box would not work and just gave me a flickering LED light.

It is not strange that it's not working if it's current limit is 800 mA and the box needs 1.5 A. One with higher current and the same voltage would be OK. If the connector to the box doesn't fit, then even cut off the one from the broken power supply and exchange it.

It would be good if you gave the make of this box here, I can't recollect any brand of them that would begin with H. The most popular are: Manta, Wiwa, Ferguson, Cabletech. There were also some called Blow, Strong, Opticum, Signal, Krueger&Matz, Not Only TV. Even something from Thomson. All based on Chinese integrated circuits, especially 2 most popular ones :) But nothing beginning with H.

Hi KPC, it's bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-25813198
(yes they make electronics too, I have an excellent DVD player from their UK distributor, but the Polska TV box adaptor seems to have been made badly)

I can't find a cheap adaptor pushing out 1500mA here and 5V. It's cheaper to buy a whole new box.

Yes, I know, I have a computer monitor from Hyundai.

It seems that they have even a few different models.

As I;ve already written, all the Polish TV boxes are based on a few the same Chinese integrated circuits. The only thing that is usually slightly different is the software. Some companies (for example Wiwa or Ferguson) developed it for some time, they published updates. This way they could eliminate errors. Other companies have firmware in their boxes full of bugs and they aren't even going to change it.

Anyway, in this situation you need a power supply of the voltage of 5 V and current at least 1.5 A. And there should be not a problem to buy one.

I found a big choice here:
sklep.avt.pl/category/systemy-zasilania-zasilacze-stabilizowane
sklep.avt.pl/category/systemy-zasilania-zasilacze-5v

I think it's much cheaper than a new box.

Thank you kpc :)

I went to some shops today. Nobody had a 1500mA 5V, although they had lower spec mA, priced at 75 zl. A new DVBT box (at Neonet) is 99zl.

Were you in a specialistic shop with electronic equipement, or only in some supermarkets like Media Markt or Neonet?