Monarch Indoor FM/AM/DAB/DAB+ Aerial, True 60 Mile Range Multidirectional reception radio antenna

DAB indoor aerials are a minefield as some work slightly, some do nothing at all. I have a powered DAB idoor antenna which I thought was good but as soon as atmospheric conditions allowed the signal to be lost. I live in a poor DAB reception area. I listen to a lot of talk radio and got fed up whe the reception became poor. I did my research and decided to purchase this antenna. The magic question is "Does it improve the signal and radio station reception", answer DEFINITELY! found more stations and I have a Denon radio amplifier and the sound quality has improved. Is this antenna worth the money - YES. Don't get me wrong I still have poor reception, statios are at 4 out of 8 but better than the 2 I had before.

It took a few attempts to find the strongest signal but when I found it the aerial was easy to fix in place, the aerial is a little unsightly where it ended up being installed but if it gets a good signal it's worth it. I don't think it will outperform an outside aerial but it is much cheaper and less hassle fitting it.

I was looking for an aerial for FM/DAB radio for a newly purchased Taga system that powers the rest of my hifi. The radio always has a dull hiss behind the reception of my favourite local BBC station. The options provided with the Taga don’t quite do it and other aerials for sale here looked to be around the same size and quality as what I already had. So I spent £20 on the RGTech Monarch and was pleasantly surprised. The instructions suggest mounting the flexible black sheet that comes with it in a window. I can’t do that as the only place to site my hifi system in my house is on a cabinet in an alcove in the centre of the property. However, I plugged the end of the long connecting wire in to the unit, held my breath as I turned the unit turned on… no hiss, no crackle! That changed a little as I experimented with placement but I could always find somewhere that it worked as advertised. I have now sited the black plate behind a picture frame so it’s invisible and allowed the thick black connecting wire to coil down beneath the cabinet, still a bit unsightly but perfectly acceptable and it works. What I haven’t done as yet is to retune to look for additional stations (which I’ll never use) but I’m very happy with a much improved sound quality and, for me, it was £20 well spent!

item claims to Allows you to listen 'DAB / DAB+ / AM / FM radio with unprecedented sound quality - Delivers DAB and DAB+ HD Digital Radio broadcasts to DAB / DAB+ radios - Delivers analogue FM / AM radio broadcasts to analogue radios, True 60-mile reception range - Multidirectional Reception – 2.2 dBi gain - DAB frequency range: 170 - 240 MHz - FM frequency range: 87.5 - 108 MHz' This is clearly not true I could not get clear reception on radio 1 or 2, took ages of readjusting to be able to get Heart on 102.8 with just bearable interference, as we managed to get Heart after hours of messing with this thing we decided to leave it be and not return, adjustment would need to be made for each other station. Really reminded me of the days of watching my Dad messing with the TV aerial stood on a chair on one leg with aerial held aloft ... But to be clear this item does not come close to fulfilling its boasts or claims therefore should be dealt with under the trade description act or should contain the words may or might because it certainly does not.

The product seems well made , but it made absolutely no difference to the signal strenght on my Ruark DAB tuner. In fact as I moved the aerial around, it occasionally registered no signal at all. I had to return it

For years indoor aerials have always been way inferior to having an external mast and aerial, they were almost a joke they were that useless. The only decent one I remember from years ago was the Cobra FM405 indoor aerial that had a built in amplifier for radio signals. I have an external DAB aerial for 2 tuners in the house, but also have a study room downstairs with a flat roof, for which an external aerial is not feasible/appropriate. What I had been using was a home-made device made from about 3 foot of plastic tubing with bits of wire soldered around it forming a loop from top to bottom. It was very good if unsightly. Reading reviews of the Monarch product got me excited enough to buy one, and I really am glad I did. The aerial is more of a flexible strip with a connector at the end to screw into your aerial input on the amp. Using the Monarch I did a new DAB scan and it pulled in so many more stations, as well as improving the signal greatly on previous borderline/temperamental stations where signal was a bit iffy. OK, so it is not as good as an external aerial (I can't pick up Mi Soul for example, but can on the ones feeding off the external aerial), but then it is never going to outperform a dedicated outdoor aerial installation. For the money, this really is the best indoor aerial I have come across in the last 20 years. It's price also is nothing short of outstanding value considering what is does.

Had hoped this would improve the signal to my Denon TU260L tuner. It has a bulky coax cable which made me optimistic. However despite trying numerous positions the signal was no better than my old split wire aerial. I made the mistake of using the supplied sticky pads to fix it to the wall - I realised it needed to move and took the paint off the wall! The only decent signal is on the window but the cable only reaches there in a straight line across the room. I would have returned it but the box is gone missing.

At last I can listen to my radio with good reception! I installed this aerial in my house in Spain – this is significant because radio broadcasting in Spain is in a state of anarchy. New stations pop up overnight apparently without a licence and often close to, or actually sharing, frequencies of existing stations creating major reception problems. They are all quite low power and being in a mountainous area poor reception is the norm. This Monarch indoor aerial is very easy to install. It gives great reception with good signal strength and lets me tune in to my preferred stations without any interference and in stable stereo. With my Bang and Olufsen 6500 system I can now scan and pre-select frequencies – impossible with my previous aerials. And for the first time, the B&O “station locked” light illuminates, I get better reception and I can listen without fading, distortion or interference. Amazingly, it doesn’t seem to matter how this indoor aerial is orientated once you have found the best position. You get great reception and excellent signal strength whether it is installed vertically, horizontally, flat or on its edge. Mine is on top of a tall bookcase on the opposite side of the house from the transmitters. The B&O is unusual having a male aerial connector, so I had to use a male-female adaptor – but it still gave perfect reception. I just wish I had found this indoor aerial years ago. I am about to order my second aerial now!