Help with TV/radio stations?
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Monday, 2 July 2012
Nedbod: Yes, I think you are probably correct about that. Still, today's DAB Memorandum of Understanding signed : Radio Today will make BBC Wales on DAB more widespread.
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Sunday, 22 July 2012
R
RichardH10:55 PM
I think DAB is a big disappointment. My car (2008 vintage) has as 'standard equipment' a DAB radio, I live 11 miles from the Salisbury transmitter and 14 from the Crockerton transmitter both of which transmit the BBC and National 1 multiplexes. Driving along the village high street DAB reception is non-existent yet I can still listen to Wave 105 on FM (43 miles). Going further afield its the same story (try driving between Plymouth and Exeter and listen to the BBC on DAB). If FM is shut down there is going to be a lot of very irritated people who suddenly find themselves needing an external aerial for their radio. There is also the issue of providing a reliable service in times of emergency; in the storm of '87 (my power having gone off) I was able to pick up an out-of-area local radio station on my portable radio to find out what was happening, if DAB had been the only option I would not have had any idea what the true situation was.
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Monday, 23 July 2012
M
michel11:57 PM
O ye of little faith : DAB is ex cathedra superior. Don't argue.
Learn from Galileo. Irrelevant if you can't receive it indoors or in the stretched limo. Big (Bonus)Brother knows best. If the nation were compelled to replace the numerous domestic AM/FM radios with DAB beauties, the economic crisis would be no more... In an emergency, you might wistfully wish to listen to local radio. Hoard loads of long-life batteries. You will need 'em. If you can't receive local DAB radio courtesy of those kindly commercial chaps (who will only broadcast their own and BBC local radio output if the profit margin allows), keep an AM shortwave radio and you will be able to receive world updates from the mid and far east - 'cos Auntie's government intends to shut down optimal-coverage AM and reasonable coverage FM.
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Tuesday, 24 July 2012
M
michael8:58 PM
Extract from public-domain minutes of a BBC Southwest audience panel meeting in 2011, which informs the national Audience Council and the BBC Trust :-
Digital Audio Broadcasting
The following represents the discussion at the meeting, plus comments from the members
networks:
1& 2. Seven members and their networks (more than 40 people canvassed) could access
DAB, only a few listened via a radio the majority listened on TV or online.
DAB was not available on the radio (only via TV or online) in the Channel Islands.
3. People were listening across all services, national and local.
Radios 2, 4 and 5 were amongst the most popular services, plus local radio.
4. Five Live really benefits from DAB - it makes a big difference
Reception online and on TV was very good, but unlike a normal radio they are not
portable.
DAB radios running on a battery did not last very long about three football matches
Reception, even within a small village (Yelverton, Devon) can vary from one end of the
village to the other.
In the car, reception comes and goes as you move through the county. (Devon)
5. A few members networks valued this development. However, the majority reported
that their networks were concerned about the future and the cost of having to replace all
their radios, particularly since reception was not reliable.
I need three four radios over the house, but thats impossible with Digital, I cant afford to
buy more Digital Radios.; They are happy with AM and FM;
Why alienate a huge tranche of BBC listeners by pursuing this concept.
I have a radio in my greenhouse cost £10.99 in three years no problems at all just
new batteries. Why would I want to spend around £100 on a digital radio?
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Wednesday, 25 July 2012
M
Mark6:58 PM
BBC National DAB has been available in the Channel Islands since June 2011 (Les Platons) so either those minutes are over a year old or the person that made that comment is misinformed.
Reception comments are largely irrelevant in the context of any switchover, because the BBC will be building another 175 transmitters between now and 2015. Only then can a proper coverage assessment be made.
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Mark: Yes, indeeed, the transmitter has a page here - Les Platons (Channel Islands) DAB transmitter | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice .
Also "DAB" seems to have been conflated with "all digital radio services" too...
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S
Stephen P11:39 PM
"Reception comments are largely irrelevant in the context of any switchover, because the BBC will be building another 175 transmitters between now and 2015. Only then can a proper coverage assessment be made."
So clearly the possibility of removing FM should not even be CONSIDERED before then.
Will building transmitters make DAB radios cheap and frugal on battery usage?
Let alone solve the quesation of all the inbuilt FM stes.
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Thursday, 26 July 2012
B
Betamax_man6:40 PM
I have a Pure One (original) and have 'cobbled' in four acquired Li-ion batteries, these last 24hrs on one charge. These are charged from a solar panel charger, so it doesn't have to cost the earth. On the other hand, if Planet Rock was to replace Capital on FM, I wouldn't need a DAB radio with it's lowering bit rates.
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S
Stephen P8:27 PM
My bathroom FM radio is on several hours a day and runs for well over a year on 4 D cells.
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M
michael8:53 PM
Little new in our comments here:-) DAB reception is and will remain an issue in many areas as propagation at twice the FM frequencies is even more topography-dependent. Also, Local and Regional BBC Radio will not be available on DAB in areas where the commercial operators deem the potential audience insufficiently "remunerative" to warrant investment in a DAB relay. The portable/battery issue is likewise a genuine concern. Even rechargeables cost money and many (like CFLs...) do not to have anything like the life-span claimed. Some DAB radios, like the PURE, require a very expensive rechargeable battery pack. As stated some time back, I might get a cheap headphone DAB that runs relatively efficiently on two AAs and build it into a box with an amplifier module and a speaker and D-cell battery pack. When I find the time! Enough for now - Beethoven's 5th beckons on digital audio from 28°E.
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