All posts by Peter Henderson
Below are all of Peter Henderson's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Jamie: NI has only just got Digital One within the last month or so so you can imagine what DAB was like before this and why so few radio listeners were opting for DAB in the province.
There should be some new stations on the local multiplex soon as well, so things are looking up. 30 plus stations on DAB is far far better than a measly 10 or so on FM, even if a lot of them are in mono.
Personally speaking, I think a good FM signal is much superior to a DAB one Mike B. It's a bit like comparing vinyl to CD. Like vinyl, FM is much warmer and easier to listen to for long periods of time. CD always had a colder and more clinical sound quality. The difference is there, even in portable mono radios.
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Northern Ireland was an interesting case with Radio 3 medium wave.
Up until March 1976 Radio 3 broadcast from a low power transmitter in Belfast, initially on 192 metres but than 464 metres from around 1972 or so (when commercial radio started).
When BBC Radio ulster began in March 1976, this was used for BBC Radio 4 MW, which meant that NI had no MW outlet for Radio 3 for several years until the construction of a new 10 kw transmitter at Lisnagarvey in November 1978.
Strangely reception from the Radio 3 transmitter at Daventry wasn't too bad, even during daylight hours.
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DAB or no DAB, there's a certain magic in receiving a distant AM station for the first time that you've never heard before. .
Listening in digital quality on an internet radio is great, but it's just not the same.
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Actually, in Northern Ireland we have three local stations on Freeview. BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle, and U105.
Likewise, Scotland and Wales have both of their local national services on Freeview so there should be no reason why some local stations couldn't be carried in England.
There are also huge gaps in DAB coverage throughout the country. Before any such move from MW and FM contemplated, this must be addressed.
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U 105 is a local Belfast station Brian but broadcasts province wide on Freeview (even on relay stations).
BBC Radio Foyle broadcasts to Derry/Londonderry but province wide in the same way as U105, so local radio on Freeview can be done, surely ?
The fact that U105 haven't taken up a DAB slot is possibly because they don't want to give up the far greater coverage that can be achieved by being on Freeview.
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My gripe with internet radio is what happens if the internet ever goes down ? Why has no one thought of this scenario ? It could be a long time before the technology is back up and running again.
We need a reliable terrestrial back up, either AM/FM or DAB.
It's a real pity DRM has failed (for now at least) due to a lack of affordable receivers. I think it would have been a great replacement for AM on MW/LW.
Just think, loads of stations in high quality digital sound on MW. It's a crying shame this wasn't done properly.
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There's nothing wrong with DAB when it works Trevor, in my opinion.
Still, if FM had been done properly who needs DAB or Internet radio ?
Go to any European country, especially the likes of Spain, France, and Italy and there are far more stations than there are in the UK. When I was in Salou a couple of years ago I counted 40-50 stations on FM, all playing a wide variety of music. I've often wondered why this is. Is it because Ofcom has far to big a stranglehold on radio in this country ? Maybe the real answer is to deregulate the whole medium and see what happens.
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"There is also Freeview and Satellite for radio backup. DAB is not needed."
Exactly how do you listen to this using either a portable or car radio ??????
Plus, there are stations on DAB that aren't on Freeview or satellite (Classic FM springs to mind) so it's far from useless.
As I say, DAB is great when it works. I'm lucky to be in an area where the DAB signal is excellent.
Now that we have Digital One, 30 odd stations on DAB isn't bad at all, without the worry of an internet connection.
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Tuesday 27 August 2013 7:44PM
MikeB I never said cost was a problem with DAB. My problem is with DRM which would have been brilliant had it happened. The lack of affordable DRM receivers on the high street was the reason for it's demise, sadly.
I think DAB+ is still a possibility, especially with so many stations on Digital One now in mono. DAB+ would surely solve that problem, especially with many brands now adopting it as standard in their models (I'm surprised Roberts haven't done this). So the switch would be relatively painless, in my opinion, especially if they run it alongside standard DAB for a period of time..
My main grip with DAB at the moment are the huge gaps in coverage throughout the country. This needs to be addressed ASAP if any analogue switch off is to be contemplated.
Personally, I think DRM should have been the replacement for AM