All posts by Pete
Below are all of Pete's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
No background hiss in my part of Cheshire on BBC Radio 4 FM, which continues to broadcast evening programmes in STEREO every day, including THE ARCHERS, ANY QUESTIONS, THE FRIDAY PLAY the 7:45pm drama, FRONT ROW and FACE THE FACTS, unlike BBC RADIO 4 DAB which since 2012, despite promises to the contrary from Jenny Abramski (former controller of Radio 4), is in MONO, giving its stereo bits to BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. Madness !!! Even more silly is that TV broadcasts radio in stereo where radio broadcasts radio in mono !! BBC Radio 4 extra has always been in mono on DAB, but always been in stereo on the tele (Freeview/Freesat/Virgin & Sky) and online.
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Richard
Only BBC One SD and BBC One HD National regions are in the 900s on Freesat including 973 (BBC One Scotland), 976 (BBC One Wales) and 978 (BBC One Nothern Ireland) but ITV/STV/UTV HD regions are not so you do have to change your postcode to receive these on Freesat or go to STB mode to get the SD versions of the ITV regions/STV and UTV and ITV+1, STV+1 and UTV+1.
ITV London SD is there on 977 though.
Nedbod
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Phono lead sounds very good, especially now the bit rate on line and even on TV has improved. Can't believe the BBC are now broadcasting the World Service in stereo overnight on Radio 4 DAB and FM (1am - 5:20am UK time) in higher quality than Radio 4 itself after 7pm on DAB, when it always seems to be in mono these days and generally since the Olympics in 2012.
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Well here we are in Sep 2015 and no sign of Channel 5 HD. Another gain for SKY I'm afraid. Well at least I save £10k + every 10 years, by not having SKY and am happy in the knowledge I am not adding to footballer's ever increasing wage bills. N
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Very disappointed to see so many DAB stations going into low quality mono. Absolute / Virgin used to broadcast in high quality stereo with 160kbps now down to 80kbps. Classic FM is down from 160kbps to 128kbps and BBC Radio 4 which used to broadcast in stereo all evening is down to 80kbps mono from 7pm, meaning The Archers, Front Row, Any Questions and The Friday Play can only be heard in stereo on FM. Indeed BBC R4 broadcasts the BBC World Service in stereo after 1pm in higher quality than its own BBC R4 DAB programmes in the evenings. Prior to 2012 this was not the case and prior to 2003 its bit rate and sound quality was even better still.
Smooth on DAB is down from 128kbps to 112kbps in noticeably inferior sound quality and there are many other commercial radio DAB stations in poor quality mono.
The Steve Penk Wind-Up channel (on Multiplex 10B) is now in higher quality than BBC Radio 4 DAB in the evenings from 7pm.
No woner DAB radio sales are falling. Why should people invest in DAB when their FM tuner gives them high quality stereo reception and DAB does not. Only BBC R3 has a reasonably high bit rate of 192kbps and this is one of the BBC's least listened to national networks ? Bizarre !!
Nedbod
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Any idea what bit rate the new DAB+ stations will be operating on. The quality on many DAB stations is now so poor that I can't stand to listen to them. Even Radio 4 is in mono most evenings now from 7pm and broadcasts the World Service on R4 FM & DAB in higher quality than its own network. THis is just before its flagship drama THE ARCHERS which is made in Stereo but can only be heard in Stereo on FM, TV and On-line.
I actually went into the loft last year to bring my FM ROTEL tuner back down to the lounge as it now gives a better sound quality than most DAB stations, with the possible exception of BBC Radio 3 DAB, the BBC's least listened to National FM station :)
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YET AGAIN ANOTHER BBC DAB POP-UP STATION ON BBC MULTIPLEX 12B IS LOWERING THE BIT RATE OF MOST OF THE OTHER BBC NATIONAL CHANNELS MAKING THEM SOUND EVEN WORSE TAHN USUAL (APART FROM BBC RADIO 3). THIS MORNING (Sat 30 Sep) FROM 6AM THE BBC R1 VINTAGE CHANNEL WAS STEALING BITS OFF RADIOS 1, 1 XTRA, 2, 4, 5 LIVE & 6 MUSIC, MAKING THEM SOUND EVEN WORSE (at 112kpbs instead if 128 kbps) WHEN "IT" (the BBC R1 Vintage Channel) WAS BROADCASTING EXACTLY THE SAME PROGRAMMES THAT WERE ON BBC RADIO 1 & BBC RADIO 2 WITH JUST 64 kbps IN "MONO" !!
64kbps IS NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH BITS TO RUN A MUSIC STATION !!
WHY NOT GIVE ALL THE BITS TO BBC RADIO 1 OR 2 FOR 4 HOURS & LET THAT CHANNEL BROADCAST THE VINTAGE PROGRAMMES IN HIGH QUALITY STEREO WITH 160kbps or EVEN 192 kbps !! I NOTE ONCE AGAIN ELITIST SNOBBY BBC RADIO 3 KEEPS ITS MUCH HIGHER BIT RATE OF 192 kbps EVEN THOUGH IT IS ONE OF THE LEAST LISTEN TO NATIONAL STATIONS. CAPITAL FM LOST ITS HIGHISH BIT RATE OF 160 kbps A FEW YEARS AGO AS DID VIRGIN/ABSOLUTE RADIO & MANY COMMERCIAL DAB STATIONS ARE IN VERY POOR QUALITY MONO. EVEN THE STEVE PENK WIND UP CHANNEL WHICH HAD A HIGHER BIT RATE THAN BBC RADIO 5 LIVE IS NOW IN MONO. I LOVE THEFACT THAT 5 LIVE GOES OUT OVERNIGHT IN (((STEREO))) ON BBC RADIO CYMRU FM BUT HAS NEVER BEEN IN STEREO ON ITS OWN PLATFORM DAB OR MW/AM :-) NO WONDER SALES OF DAB RADIO ARE STALLING WHEN BBC RADIOS 1 AND 2 SOUND BRILLIANT ON FM AND BBC RADIO 4 IS ALWAYS IN STEREO ON THAT PLATFORM INCLUDING THE BBC WORLD SERVICE (which is broadcast on BBC r4 DAB in higher quality than BBC R4 itself from 7pm and after 8:30am and between 09:45am and 10am).
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YET AGAIN ANOTHER BBC DAB POP-UP STATION ON BBC MULTIPLEX 12B IS LOWERING THE BIT RATE OF MOST OF THE OTHER BBC DAB NATIONAL CHANNELS MAKING THEM SOUND EVEN WORSE THAN USUAL (APART FROM BBC RADIO 3). THIS MORNING (Sat 30 Sep) FROM 6AM THE BBC R1 VINTAGE CHANNEL WAS STEALING BITS OFF RADIOS 1, 1 XTRA, 2, 4, 5 LIVE & 6 MUSIC, MAKING THEM SOUND EVEN WORSE (at 112kpbs instead if 128 kbps) WHEN "IT" (the BBC R1 Vintage Channel) WAS BROADCASTING EXACTLY THE SAME PROGRAMMES THAT WERE ON BBC RADIO 1 & BBC RADIO 2 WITH JUST 64 kbps IN "MONO" !!
64kbps IS NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH BITS TO RUN A MUSIC STATION !!
WHY NOT GIVE ALL THE BITS TO BBC RADIO 1 OR 2 FOR 4 HOURS & LET THAT CHANNEL BROADCAST THE VINTAGE PROGRAMMES IN HIGH QUALITY STEREO WITH 160kbps or EVEN 192 kbps !! I NOTE ONCE AGAIN ELITIST SNOBBY BBC RADIO 3 KEEPS ITS MUCH HIGHER BIT RATE OF 192 kbps EVEN THOUGH IT IS ONE OF THE LEAST LISTEN TO NATIONAL STATIONS. CAPITAL FM LOST ITS HIGHISH BIT RATE OF 160 kbps (down to 128 kbps) A FEW YEARS AGO AS DID VIRGIN/ABSOLUTE RADIO & MANY COMMERCIAL DAB STATIONS ARE IN VERY POOR QUALITY MONO. EVEN THE STEVE PENK WIND UP CHANNEL WHICH HAD A HIGHER BIT RATE (96 kbs) THAN BBC RADIO 5 LIVE (80 or 64 kbps depending if 5 LIVE SPORTSXTRA is on air) & IS NOW IN MONO. I LOVE THE FACT THAT 5 LIVE GOES OUT OVERNIGHT IN (((STEREO))) ON BBC RADIO CYMRU FM OVERNIGHT BUT HAS NEVER BEEN IN STEREO AT ALL ON ITS OWN PLATFORMS - DAB OR MW/AM :-) NO WONDER SALES OF DAB RADIOS ARE STALLING WHEN BBC RADIOS 1 AND 2 SOUND BRILLIANT ON FM AND BBC RADIO 4 IS ALWAYS IN STEREO ON THAT PLATFORM, INCLUDING THE BBC WORLD SERVICE (which is broadcast on BBC R4 DAB in higher quality than BBC R4 itself from 7pm and between 8:30am & 9am when Yesterday in Parliament is on its own DAB channel) and between 09:45am and 10am when the Daily Service is broadcast). To hear BBC RADIO 4 EXTRA in (((STEREO))) you have to tune into FREEVIEW / FREESAT Ch 708 or SHY or VIRGIN or listen on line as it has NEVER been in stereo on DAB due to capacity problems. Most BBC LOCAL RADIO STATIONS broadcast in higher quality than the National ones these days especially when there is a pop up[ channel on air. HOW CRAZY IS THAT WHEN THEIR AUDIENCE IS SO MUCH SMALLER !!!!
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I cannot believe how many DAB radio stations are now (some 19 years after I bought my first DAB/FM/AM tuner - which is still working fine) in MONO with a very poor quality bit rate indeed. Absolute Radio which took over from Virgin Radio (which now has its own VERY LOW BIT RATE DAB channel again) has three stations in my area all going out in MONO with a low bit rate for a music channel all at 80 kbps !! All with very poor quality squelchy sound that I personally find very hard to listen to. BBC Radio 5 LIVE broadcasts in stereo at great expense to the nation but can only be heard in stereo on BBC Radio Cymru FM & DAB (128 kbps quality) from 01:00am to 05:30am and on most BBC Local Radio Stations (also with 128 kbps quality) from 01:00am to 05:00am most days. On its own Network, even online and on Digital TV it is in MONO for some bizarre reason. How do the BBC and commercial broadcasters expect DAB to really take off, when FM still offers a much higher quality alternative, especially in areas of good FM reception. FM does not lose its signal in remote areas or on the coast even if it is a little hissier, indeed by car radio often retunes to FM when the DAB signal drops out.
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Friday 16 January 2015 7:42PM
Radio via Freeview is actually better than DAB, it broadcasts Radio 4 Extra in stereo at a higher bit rate, as does Freesat which in turn has better recording boxes with great capacity these days. All BBC stations are in better quality on TV with generally higher bit rates and Radio 4 does not go into mono in the evenings on the tele, but it does on DAB.
5 Live is in mono on all platforms but the World Service is in stereo on BBC Radio 4 from 01:00 to 05:20am, except for Election Night / Morning.