All posts by Michael Rogers
Below are all of Michael Rogers's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
The range of choice is indeed bewildering. Much which at first sight appears attractive turns out to be very expensive, both in terms of equipment and running costs. Wifi on an unlimited broadband subscription is the most justifiable as an add-on to wider internet use, but still requires equipment costing incomparably more than a fistful of mains and battery AM/FM radios. If using 3 or 4G on a download subscription basis, it is illuminating GCSE maths to work out what streaming radio costs. Even a lowly 48kp/s radio stream devours 48 x 60 x 60 =0.173mb/hr. So at nearly 2mb over ten hours many a monthly download-limited subscription is soon gobbled up. And many streams are a multiple of 48kb/s... When affordable 3 and 4G unlimited subscriptions flood the market, they will dovetail ideally with the expectations of the smart world. My DAB/FM/Wifi radio died recently in its youth. £100 write-off. To be fair, one or two of my analog radios only lasted a few decades, but they can be easily repaired or cheaply replaced. Digital is great (I have a BSc in digital technology), but it is not always the best solution to every challenge of progress. Even AM still has substantial merits and FM ain't broke....
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Steve, at 7.44pm, your maths is eerily superior to mine at midnight :-) Message to Salmond : if you want to clinch the referendum, guarantee low-cost unlimited 4G. We'll be huddling just south of Hadrian's Wall. Should Plaid C ever follow suit, I won't even have to move... MikeB, I totally agree with the rationale of your analysis and am sure that the shakers-and-movers focus on the smart-generation. Given a banker's remuneration package and a solid 3/4G signal, I would be with them! Sadly, neither applies. Confession: following the premature demise of my £100 wifi radio, I eventually shook out enough pennies from the piggy bank to acquire a HUDL tablette which I use mostly for nocturnal webradio. It is annoyingly more fiddly than a trusty analog radio, or even the RIP wifi thingy, but, when perched on the wardrobe in router-range, it reluctantly does the business. Broadcasters use their abacus to compute cost-per-listener-hour. They must be dismayed at the range of statistical outcomes available - and probably embrace the statistics best enhancing their remuneration packages... As I type I am watching the More4 documentary on 9/11 as the tower with the mast atop crumbles. May this never happen again, but it should be a reminder that our beautiful planet is vulnerable to solar and human assault. Water, food and health would be primary priorities, but resiliant communication systems would be essential to support these. Any system dependent on a multiplicity of transmitters and their power supply would be highly vulnerable. A system dependent on a few transmitters with independent back-up power would be far more likely to respond to such an eventuality. If retained now as part of the ongoing broadcasting network, emergency implementation at the press of a button (or throw of an even more reliable mechanical switch...) would be incomparably more reliable. Facit : a secure FM and AM network should be the backbone prioritising mainstream services, with all digital modes cost-dependently market-driven.
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Gianna, I have to make-do with free-to-air, so I envy you your Tivu box :-) If, as stated, your dish is correctly aligned to 13°E, your description suggests a problem with your LNB (the frequency converter in front of your dish). Trying your Tivu box at a friend's house is a logical way to exclude the possiblity of a fault in your box. As a first stage the following would be worth checking at your installation:-
Your Tivu box will hopefully include a menu which will display the parameters of transponders received. Check Hot Bird 13B / Hot Bird 13C / Hot Bird 13D (13°E) - All transmissions - frequencies - KingOfSat for the parameters of Italian transponders. The frequency range and the polarisation are set by switching voltages from the box. First check the sat-cable for damage (rodents, weather etc) and that the sat cable connectors at the receiver and at the LNB are intact, clean and not corroded by rain etc. Then, if you only receive V or only H or only higher or only lower frequencies as listed by kingofsat, then the LNB or the cable is defective and needs replacing. If with a new LNB and no evident damage to the sat cable, you are still unable to detect any anomalies, you will need to consult a reliable expert.
Good luck!
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My Pure-One-Flow died a couple of months ago. A £100 ouch! I was not aware that it was capable of DAB+ and DMB. Now I will never know. I mainly used it for webradio, but was not happy with the need to submit url data to receive non-recommended webradio sites. Selected podcasts were curtailed or cancelled after a time - with no user consultation. I would not buy another tethered webradio and now use a HUDL. This is not user-friendly for webradio, but it works well and the user has control over what is received. It is impossible to ascertain how many existing DAB radios are DAB+ compliant, but the majority of earlier purchases will only accept DAB. Mainstream DAB+ is surely as yet over the horizon.
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The planners and bean-counters would doubtless prefer to have everything on one platform. It would provide for all tastes and be more cost-effective. A myriad of DAB+ transmitters and relays might match this thinking, but would not be feasible until the life-span of the existing fleet of DAB radios has expired... The wider choice of stations is the most convincing advantage of DAB. New transmitters might be "upgradable" to DAB+ come the day. It will be interesting to see how far the planned expansion of DAB networks will de facto equal FM coverage. the future offering a Due to propagation characteristics, there are concerns that AM and FM now fill gaps that DAB at higher frequencies will skip over, even if all the planned relays are implemented. Coverage and services in sparsely populated areas face degradation. The advice will then doubtless be : switch to webradio - which however is tethered to a router and expensive equipment. 3/4G would be a technically feasible solution, but only when coverage is far better and affordable flatrates apply. We can expect a two-tier society : those living in major centres and along the motorways who will have good static and mobile DAB coverage - and those who don't meet one or both of these criteria. It is difficult to see the future offering a better, affordable service, sadly.
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I would be greatly relieved if the status quo persisted : a mixture of DAB, FM and AM, but fear costs of duplication will thwart this. Without FM and AM as now, many in outlying and low-lying areas will lose local BBC radio and Radio5, which simply do not "get through" on DAB - despite offical pretense. The iPlayer is great for those with a respectable download speed. Again, in outlying areas far from the BT exchange, the iPlayer is not an option. Broadband subscriptions should be a function of the actual download speed. I pay the same as suscribers with 10x my broadband speed. The bottom line remains : in populated areas and astride motorways, there will be a good service. Further afield services will be patchy and unsatisfactory. Maybe the discriminated masses could be kept quiet with free Kindle thingy downloads instead...
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Claire, the reference to an FM aerial might suggest that this is the issue. If you had TV reception when the aerial was unplugged, you should be able to disconnect the communal aerial and use an indoor TV aerial pointing to the transmitter, perhaps through a window. If this makes sense, buy a cheap indoor aerial and experiment.
If it works well, you are lucky; if it works with some picture break-up, a high-gain indoor aerial might be worth the investment. The housing association may not be happy if your extra aerial is connected to theirs, so be ready to apologise etc etc.
Mounting the 42" TV on the wall should not be an issue, but you might have to return the wall to its former glory when you move one. Sorry I can't pop round in person to help out, but hope you get a good resolution. What you have already paid seems exhorbitant, so be wary of further offers.
As I type, Steve has responded in similar vein. We wish you well, Claire. There are many with similar reception issues who receive woeful neglect from the powers-that-be.
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Claire, it is difficult to give certain advice without seeing your situation and setup first-hand. Your description suggests you have a strong signal and would get an acceptable service with an indoor aerial - or even just with a piece of flexible wire pushed into the centre of the aerial socked on the TV. Wiggle it about and you just might be lucky. Otherwise try a cheap indoor aerial to experiment with. If that works, you could then replace the cheapo with a better and more aesthetic one and place it so as to get a good signal and not to be too intrusive in the room . Of course, the housing association TV wall-socket should provide you with a good TV signal. If there is more than one socket, try the other(s), one would be for TV and another for FM radio and possbly a third for DAB radio. It is unlikely, but conceivable that they were incorrectly wired up and that you would get the TV signal from a socket marked for radio. Perhaps more likely, as suggested, the signal from the communal aerial is so strong that it is overloading your TV. If an indoor aerial or a short piece of wire does not give you a reliable signal, you could try a "variable attentuator" from a TV shop or Maplin and connect it between the communal aerial socket and the TV. Then twiddle the little adjuster for best picture. You may need the help of a friend with some technical knowledge - or an honest professional who will not fleece you. Again, we wish you well!
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Possible future scenario : shut down everything current. Provide all services via 5-6-7G to every nook and cranny in the realm - de facto receivable indoors by all. Until then, we will continue to enjoy the challenges of an inefficient multiplicity of platforms and duplication of services. In the event of an EMP or similar nasty, only the few with a battery-powered analog wireless set will receive anything that might still be transmitted from transmitters unaffected by the event. Communication with the populace would be one of many Government priority concerns.
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Sunday 27 April 2014 8:21PM
Same here, in every point, Mike. Somewhere I read that some are more equal than others...