Bailey DAB radio problem solved.
A year ago I bought a 2017 Bailey Autograph and had the Media Pack Plus installed during manufacture. Just thought I'd share my experiences.
Two problems, the DAB radio reception was very poor. The second issue was with the sound from the two TVs (one in the bedroom and one in the lounge). Both TVs can be plugged into the Pioneer head unit in the cab, (via internal wiring, leads are next to the TV sockets) then the sound is played through the superior surround sound system rather than the TV speaker. Great for CDs, DVD,s or films on TV. On my system only the rear bedroom TV connection worked, the lounge TV connection did not work and we prefer to watch the lounge TV.
Many contributors on this and other forums suggested fitting a windscreen mounted DAB aerial. So I took the plunge and took my MH along to a vehicle radio specialist in Bradford, InCarEmporium, Idle Road, Bradford. They were great.
Firstly the technician was able to gently remove the Remis blinds on the nearside, pull out the radio head unit and fit the new DAB aerial. The technician found that the original installer, (Bailey), had used the existing FM aerial for the DAB system, not a DAB aerial in sight.
DAB aerial installed and the reception is now Fantastic, just as it should be.
The technician also discovered the lead from lounge TV was just sitting behind the radio unconnected. He said there is only one AUX input which was being used by the rear TV. So he plugged the front TV lead into the AV socket and tested both rear and lounge TV sound leads and both now work.
Good job and I'd recommend ICE at Bradford.
Comments
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Hi DD. I do like the Bailey but it seems a number of manufacturers fail to fit a proper DAB aerial, and they only cost £20. Failing to correctly plug in the TV sound lead is just sloppy and shows it wasn't properly tested before it left the factory. I also think the media pack is overpriced, but that's another issue.
I have had no other faults on the Bailey side, just the 'change oil' warning on the Peugeot cab side. I found an online hack to resolve that and shared the result the other month.
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Hi Apperley,
We bought our Bailey brand new last year and we've suffered with dreadful DAB radio reception. I don't live near Bradford but will try ICE next time we're in Yorkshire. Do you know the name of the technician so I can ask for him when we book our Van in. Also what did he charge?
Thanks
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Hi Fatbelly,
It cost me £55. £20 for the aerial, £35 for fitting, (then another £20 for diagnosing and solving my tv issue).
The technician is an Iranian chap, early 40s they bring in to do these jobs. He knew what he was doing with the pioneer unit, just had to work out how to remove the remis blind away from the A pillar on the near side, which he did carefully. All sorted.
Parking is a bit tricky, best to pull up outside and walk in first, have a look on street view.
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Hi Apperley
I'm a Bailey Autograph owner too, and have suffered with the same issues as you have, Thanks for the update on the DAB situation, I'll try to find somewhere local to home (Pembroke) to get sorted.
on the question around surround sound I too have the Media Plus package and haven't worked out which socket to plug the Jack from the wall into. (a bit of a luddite where technology is concerned).
Also struggled to pair the Otone speaker with the van (got paired easily with phone) have you had any similar issues?
Other than these points we're very happy with the motorhome, this is our second Bailey!!
Hope to her something soon.
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Hi Buttermilker, so the jack plug that pulls out from the tv wall socket plugs into the headphone socket on the side of the TV. Then you need to ensure the AUX & AV inputs on the Pioneer media head unit are activated.
To do this go to the main front screen on the head unit. Press the gear icon, top right of screen, to access the settings. Here you will see where you can select on or off for the AUX & AV. On the home screen you will see they are activated, no longer greyed out. See page 104 in Bailey handbook. You should now hear the TV sound through the cab and lounge speakers, of course you need to have the pioneer head unit switched on. Apologies if you knew this bit.
This was my problem as the lounge jack plug lead was not connected to the back of the Pioneer head unit in the cab.
I am disappointed with the Otone speaker. They retail at about £29 - £39. I have a Bose Soundlink Bluetooth speaker, retails at £129 and it’s great, far superior. My issue is with the price we paid for the media pack plus we should have received a much better speaker.
You can play sound from the TV on the Otone by using the wire supplied with the Otone speaker and plugging into the headphone socket on the TV. We do this when we listen to the radio on the TV or a CD. Once you have linked the TV to the head unit as described sbove you can Bluetooth the head unit to the Otone speaker and hear the sound wirelessly outside in your awning for example.
This is our second Bailey too, this one is the Autograph II 75-4, and overall we are very happy with it. But I do think the media Pack Plus is expensive. A cheap ( in my view) Otone speaker and a Satnav system that requires payment to Pioneer for map updates, my Garmin gives lifetime free updates. Also the Pioneer update downloadable web tool they call Navietools only works on Windows , we are all Apple. but hey ho.
My next upgrade is the fitting of fridge fans at the back of the fridge behind the top vent to aid cooling in hot weather, they came the other day.
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