Do we need to protect VHF from an old-timer's point of view?
05/21/2021
Norway switched off FM transmitters back in 2018, and Switzerland plans to do the same at the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023. Other countries do not yet have fixed plans, but the better, i.e. DAB+, is probably the enemy of the good.
Classic car drivers, at least those with cars built after the war and up to 1991, will be particularly hard hit by this, but even youngtimers are likely to "only" have an FM radio installed. DAB+ has only been standard for a few years and can only be received in old cars in exceptional cases.
However, there are many technical solutions for receiving DAB+ signals by supplementing or using the existing FM radio, if this is desired. Many of these solutions are not an attack on the originality of the old car and can be installed largely invisibly and reversibly. Even the classic FM antenna can be repurposed for DAB+ reception (with quality compromises at best).
Nevertheless, it would of course be more convenient from an old-timer's point of view if the FM distribution of radio signals simply went on and on. Apparently, however, the radio stations are not so keen on this, as there are additional costs for maintaining transmissions. In Switzerland at least, it is said to have been the radio stations that demanded that FM/FM be abandoned so that they would not have to offer FM/FM, DAB+ and Internet radio at the same time.
For us classic car drivers, who usually only use the old vehicles sparingly and for pure enjoyment, switching off the old stations shouldn't be a huge problem and a nice radio is also an adornment for the classic car, even if it can no longer receive anything. In any case, you don't have to rip it out. And to be honest, it's been a long time since I last switched on the radio in my Roadster ...
