Installed Dash Cam now DAB Radio not working

Soldato
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29 Jul 2010
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My partner got me a front & rear dash cam for Xmas, which I finally got round to having installed yesterday by a garage. The car is a Mazda 6.

Travelling to Nottingham straight after installation and the DAB radio kept dropping out every couple of minutes and just can't keep the reception. On googling, it seems a common thing, that the RF interference from the dash cam interferes with the radio (wish I knew about these things prior to having it installed... :rolleyes::p) . It was mentioned the rear cam can be the worse culprit as the power wire can be routed near the antenna.

So on the way home last night I unplugged the rear camera, and though the radio was slightly better it did still struggle and is still unusable. As soon as I switched the front camera off, had uninterrupted radio all the way home.

Should I call the garage back and see if they can do anything?

I did read that rerouting the power cable to the rear cam can help, but since the radio still doesn't work properly with just the front camera on, I can see that's not going to be a complete solution.

The other thing mentioned were RF chokes, will this work as that would be a simple solution?
 
I've called the garage and they said they have routed the cable the best way to avoid any others. They are the vehicle electrical specialists in the area who were recommended, so I'm trusting it was done well.

I'll try the ferrite cores then take it from there.

I bought a better cable for mine that had those already fitted and it sorted out any reception issues that I had.

Have you got a link to something so I know what I'm looking for?
 
Just to update this, I've put some RF chokes on the leads - 1 on the main lead into the front camera and 1 on each end of the rear camera lead and the radio's working fine now :)
 
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