All posts by Briantist
Below are all of Briantist's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Dave Lindsay: ... Or get a new Freeview HD box. They ask you to select a region if there is a choice available.
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Nicholas Willmott: There are no plans to do so, FM is going to be used for community radio low power stations.
You are correct, most DAB radio only look for signals in "Band III"
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Nicholas Willmott:
The propagation of signals in the 800 MHz range makes them very suitable for LTE. They provide a good range of service from the transmitter and also penetrate buildings very well. We have already seen how poor the EE 1800 MHz 4G service performs indoors.
The services in many cities will start by the end of this year.
LTE isn't designed to work at lower then 700MHz - E-UTRA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The plan at the moment is to remove the 700MHz band from DTT as well. This is going to require a wholesale change in the transmitter frequencies over the whole of the UK, in about 2019. More at Ofcom annual plan: 600MHz band for Freeview HD, potential release of 700 MHz | About us | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice .
See Ofcom channel bingo II - introducing the bands | 4G-at-800 | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
The commercial multiplex operators themselves have no desire to transmit from any more masts as this would cause them considerable expense to cover a very small number of extra viewers.
The UK has chosen not to use DAB+ due to the considerable penetration of DAB only devices in use. It might be that DAB+ is used in the future - for a second national multiplex - when there is sufficient market penetration of devices.
The size of the EU as a single market means that the UK has to co-ordinate the use of frequencies so manufacturers can make devices that will work everywhere.
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John : Having so many radios... reminds me of ...
As I recall, the average number of radios in a UK household is 1.9.
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Trevor Harris: Let's see. My article says
"Community radio stations (which are not profit making) will continue on FM. "
The government will announce the switch off DATE when listening on digital reaches a level. It is expected that there will still be a few years to allow people to adjust.
"It will also mean that millions of licence payers would be denied a radio service"
No, it won't. I will mean they have to use a system they already have: Freeview, Sky, online ... or get a £20 DAB radio from Asda. Or £17.97 from Argos ... Buy Argos Value Range DAB/FM Radio - White at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Radios.
To characterise that as "denied a radio service" is extreme. overstatement.
I find it very strange that you are so set on other people not having a choice of stations to listen to, just because you are happy with the few stations you can get on FM.
The only person who is interested in "denying a radio service" are those who try to stop choice being available to everyone.
Your position is somewhat selfish, perhaps...as money saved from FM transmission could be recycled into more content.
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Russ Dring: As I said in the article, since 2001 DAB has been regarded as a platform for choice, rather than exceptional sound quality.
If you want to listen to Radio 3 properly, I would have the "HD" high quality audio stream (320kbps AAC) as this is much better than FM can manage.
BBC - Radio 3 - Help; has details.
HD sound means High Definition sound.
Sound reaches our ears via analogue sound waves. However processing these sound waves electronically tends to distort their original shape. Modern digital processing is much less distorting. The conversion of an analogue signal to a digital signal is achieved by sampling the sound waves. We are now delivering the sampled 'HD' sound at a rate of 320 kb/s (AAC), which delivers more audio information and results in better sound, compared to the previous rate of 192 kb/s.
What is the best way of listening to Radio 3 HD?
If you listen on the small speakers built into a laptop you're unlikely to notice a big difference, but if your computer is connected to a good-quality sound system or high-quality headphones we think you'll appreciate the extra clarity and detail in the sound.
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Remember than FM audio component signal is fixed within just 15kHz :
AAC at 320 kb/s offers a much better dynamic range.
Also, it's not "joint stereo" so the stereo image is not compromised.
There's a good description here -
FM broadcasting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .
Doing a dump on Radio 3, I get
INFO: audiocodecid mp4a
INFO: aacaot 2.00
INFO: audiosamplerate 44100.00
INFO: audiochannels 2.00
Find about about AAC here Advanced Audio Coding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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michael: Let me see
"Local BBC radio and some favourite commercial stations may no longer be received - except on a computer or webradio. "
That's incorrect. The DAB plan will have local radio coverage matching or exceeding FM for local radio from both homes and roads.
"Dropouts may be better - or worse - on the road, depending on the plethora of filler transmitters. "
I'm not sure where you get that from. SFN networks are exceptionally good at avoiding dropouts.
"Audio quality will vary"
But it will always be "acceptable".
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Trevor Harris: "This assumes that the Government will be able to persuade commercial stations to move off FM."
They HAVE already accepted this. They have signed up to the switchover plan and they are very keen to get rid of expensive FM.
I know you don't like it, but the whole of the radio industry is signed up to the plan.
This - http://www.gov.uk/governm….pdf - is the plan and
"The Ministerial Group is chaired by the relevant Government Minister and includes representatives from the BBC, commercial radio broadcasters, community radio broadcasters, transmission providers, Ofcom, manufacturers, the automotive sector, retailers, consumers and Digital Radio UK. "
Just not you...
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Monday 26 August 2013 7:21PM
Mark: and the "t can make a mint flogging off radio spectrum space" isn't right either.
The reason to drop AM/FM/LW for national stations is to save the cost of duplicated terrestrial broadcasting.