All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
alison: Can I stop paying Sky and use my satellite receiver to get Freeview ? | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
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Marie: Yes, you can, but you can only watch Freesat, in the same way you you could only watch Sky, because there is only one cable coming from the dish. If you wanted, you could just use the old Sky box
See here for more info - its the most popular question on the site - Can I stop paying Sky and use my satellite receiver to get Freeview ? | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
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Trevor Harris: Its true that vinyl is making a comeback, and I'm delighted to see it. Disappearing work: how to make a vinyl record | Money | The Guardian
However, that amazing percentage rise is because there were so few vinyl records sold before 2008. As a format, vinyl had largely died. Its revivial is a result of several factors Second spin: the vinyl revival | Culture | theguardian.com , but its still just 1.4% of the market.
I notice you did not also highlight the fact that the number of legal digital downloads has also continued to rise - 189m in 2012, and rising. Half a million downloads every day, contrasts with 12 million vinyl records sold per year. And of course illegal downloads continue. Although they have dropped by half, they were estimated to be about 186m last year. Thats over 360m downloads in one year, and lets not even start on Spotify et al.
Analogue is not dead, but its not looking particularly healthy.
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RAY PATTENDEN: I think everyone knows what I'm going to say - your 7km from the transmitter, which has just had engineering work. Since the power tends to go up after such work, it sounds like too strong a signal. Loft aerial are not always the best, but your so close to the transmitter (can you actually see it on a clear day?), that its more than powerful enough.
Try taking any booster out of the system etc and see here Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | Digital switchover | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
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Briatnist: Looking at where this discussion is going, perhaps all the hipsters are about to start using 8 track cassettes again! Of course all the music will be from about 1973, but I think thats when some seem to think technology should have stopped...
Sharealam: I think PJH was making a joke about cassettes coming back. They really are not - and they sound pretty awful compared with everything else.
PJH: Apparently the last minidisc player was sold in March this year! On the other hand, the MP3 had basically killed it after 1998 (and it wasn't doing all that well before then).
Right, I'm waiting for someone to shout out the benefits of the Edison wax cylinder. Very analogue.
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Briantist: perhaps we should also note the development of lower power chips:
KeyStone Semiconductor Readies New Low-Cost FM/DAB Single-Chip KSW8088CS at USD 4.0
Silicon Labs Introduces the First Single-Chip Digital Radio Receivers for Consumer Electronics (NASDAQ:SLAB)
If these chips work out, then both power requirements and unit cost will fall - which will help with the problem of mobile DAB. There is also likely to be an increase in streaming from the net, both at home and via mobile technology.
Hopefully, the thing that we tend to complain about most - sound quality - will improve due to higher bitrates. I'm more than willing to concede that FM is slightly better at the moment, but there should be no reason we cannot have coverage, choice and quality.
'High-Speed Dubbing' = Really Low quality recording
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Trevor Harris: I can only agree with Briantist and PJH. The market are those people who actually use radio, be it DAB, internet, FM, etc. They clearly have been buying DAB radios, etc. Those that write into Ofcom are not very representative of the whole - as PJH rightly puts it, most people have no idea what bitrate means, and really dont care.
The sound quality of my DAB/FM radio is not so different as to worry about it, and I'm sure thats the case for most people. They do like the increased number of channels, etc, and have voted with their wallets.
I suspect many of those that swore in a survey last year Digital radio sales stall as half of homes without DAB won't buy one this year | Media | theguardian.com that they would never buy a digital radio are going to change their mind, because the vast majority of radios on shop shelves are now DAB anyway. And at less than £20-30 for many, thats a price point that will be attractive (if only as a Christmas present!). Even if they listen via mobile internet, that still means they are listening on digital, not analogue.
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nickwilcock: 'The only reason I have a Sony DAB/DAB+ alarm clock radio is that the price was OK snd my previous Sony packed up'.
I think thats how the digital ball is rolling - pretty much all radios have DAB these days. When one packs up, by default, when you buy a new one, get given one for Christmas, etc, you've got DAB.
Once you get the extra stations, are you going to listen on FM and DAB? No, you just use digital, and when the next set goes, DAB is the automatic choice.
Car radios seem more of a pain, because of the aerial and cost, but better coverage and economies of scale will improve that, and of course as each new car comes with DAB as standard.
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Tuesday 17 September 2013 2:06PM
jon: WE need a postcode to help answer a question like this.