Which 45 masts transmit the 15 new national DAB radio stations?

We ARE going to get BBC Local Radio on Freeview ... today!

OK, only a year after I speculated about it, the service has now started. You can now enjoy 10 BBC Local Radio stations.

26 comments “We re currently getting Norfolk on 719 and Cambridge on 722, both from Sandy Heath on 522MHz.”- MJ Ray

Another government U-Turn - this time on FM local radio?

Broadcasting Minister Ed Vaizey told MPs that FM will be retained for local commercial radio.

45 comments “Quote by Briantist= DAB is intended to provide a choice of listening with reasonable sound quality for mobile and indoor use.That s not the state”- Brian Wright

New! 1000s of new DAB and FM radio coverage maps

One of the most requested feature upgrades here on UK Free TV is for the radio maps to show the transmitter coverage areas, as the Freeview pages do. So, please take a look at the upgrade.

19 comments “I love the new maps, but they re not updating?Lincs FM has gone on air on the LincsMux and Yorks MUX gone, but the maps aren t updated to show the”- Peter Wright

How do the two new national DAB radio bids compare?

We could have another dozen national DAB radio stations transmitting in the next two years. How do the bids from Listen2Digital and Sound Digital stack up?

29 comments “Chris Barker: Ofcom are currently evaluating the two bids for the Digital 2 Multiplex Licence (D2) which is a national licence whose national coverage”- J Peter Wilson

More digital radio stations. Ofcom - finally - proposes DAB+

You can almost hear the sound of "beep, beep, vehicle reversing". After many years of dismissing DAB+ as a UK broadcasting standard, Ofcom have announced that the time of DAB+ is approaching.

175 comments “Nedbod:DAB broadcast with low bit rates is definitely poor compared to standard FM transmissions. To reach anywhere near the same sound quality ov”- MikeP

Network Z - BBC 7 - BBC Radio 7 now becomes BBC Radio 4 Extra, with an 'E'

Still wanting to provide "spoken-word entertainment in a way which will encourage new listeners to speech radio", the station get a fourth name.

47 comments “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 Ser”- Nedbod

Where will the 162 new BBC DAB transmitters be?

The BBC has announced today a two-year plan to bring national BBC DAB to 2 million more people - to bring BBC national DAB coverage to above 97%.

182 comments “Neither Camlough or Newcastle get into Kilkeel Mark, and I ve heard Newry is a black spot as well, so I m quite surprised they weren t included in thi”- PJH

DAB retune on 1st March 2012 for Capital, Heart, Choice, XFM, LBC and Kiss

Due to technical reconfiguration of the digital radio services, on 1st March you may have to do a "retune" on your DAB receiver to continue listing to your local Capital, Heart, Choice, XFM, LBC and Kiss stations.

14 comments “Thank you for the Heads up on this,but can you explain what technical reconfiguration means in practical terms?advantages etc”- Aerialman

Digital radio section

A section on DAB digital radio (with transmitter maps) will be starting in a few weeks. Please discuss here any issues that you would like the new section to discuss.

963 comments “I drove to Cornwall and Wales last year and the BBC National stations were with me for the entire journey, Sadly BBC RADIO 4 is in MONO now in the eve”- Nedbod

Want to see all planned DAB transmitters? Find them on UK Free TV

I have added the 399 DAB transmitters that are not yet operational to the UK Free TV database.

4 comments “andrew sambrook:MXR North West is not coming back. The licence period came to an end, the licence holder handed it back to Ofcom and nobody else ”- Mark

Ofcom DAB switchover coverage planning proposals

Ofcom has recently published some details of how the DAB network can be improved to match the coverage of the current FM network.

124 comments “Interesting stat I came across. Only one in five radios sold in the UK have DAB!. You can lead a horse to water but you can t make him drink.”- Trevor Harris

DAB local radio gaps

Whilst most of the country does have operating local radio digital services, there is now a dispute about who is expected to provide them for the 2015 radio switchover target.

104 comments “I think you will now find the 2015 SWITCHOVER won t be happening until 2020 (AT THE EARLIEST). Quite rightly so with DAB / DAB + in such a mess and FM”- Nedbod

BBC DAB now on air in Kingsbridge, Devon and Helston, Cornwall

Another 26,000 people now have BBC national DAB in Devon and Cornwall

28 comments “As ever, leaving it to the market causes poor service for less well-off areas. No-one s prepared to invest the capital long-term in setting up the tra”- Mike Dimmick

The end is near for analogue radio... Part one, a Medium and Long Wave goodbye

The UK Government has announced that it will shortly consider announcing the dates of the digital radio switchover. I thought it might be an excellent time to consider the history of amplitude- and frequency- modulation - and to wonder why anyone is still using it.

44 comments “Where I live in a rural part of Wiltshire, we get pretty good AM (LW MW) reception, marginal VHF FM reception and very poor DAB reception. If they clo”- MikeP

The end is near for analogue radio... Part 4, the local radio to do list

In this final part, we have a quick look at what is still left to do for local radio to match FM coverage.

159 comments “Agreed - the BBC Radio 4 display on my (wretchedly inadequate) DAB radio shows 80kps Mono .Quite clearly this is NOT an adequate alternative to FM”- nickwilcock

BBC - 60 new DAB transmitters in 2011

The BBC will improve national DAB coverage from the current 87% of the population to 92% in the next twelve months.

143 comments “Celia Leach: This suggests that you are only likely to receive the BBC national stations and the commercial national stations (D1 National):In You”- Dave Lindsay

The end is near for analogue radio... Part 3, satellite Freeview online and DAB

Around the turn of the millennium, radio found new ways to get from studio to listener: satellite, cable, two new forms of terrestrial and over the internet, but the real revolution has been in listening choice.

85 comments “michael:I ve just moved to Trowbridge and find that DAB is very poor downstairs and only reasonable upstairs. It is poor in the back garden and f”- MikeP

The end is near for analogue radio... radio gets very high

Like all technologies, AM radio had advantages and some problems. Today we have a brief look at the 1930s technology we still use today: Frequency Modulation on the Very High Frequency band.

32 comments “Briantist Interesting - but it shows I will still have reception problems where I live! There is an empty space in the triangle formed between Calne,”- MikeP

Four regional DAB multiplexes to close in 2013 to allow for better local DAB

As part of the plan to upgrade DAB system, the operator of four regional radio multiplexes plans to close them next year, to release the frequencies for conventional radio coverage areas.

119 comments “I see that on DAB Ensembles Worldwide | Latest News Updates , one local DAB Ensemble recently changed to a new block frequency and another will change”- Stuart Owens

Delusional DAB arguments page

This is a resting page for boring arguments about DAB.

17 comments “Actually David there is already an unused mutilplex available. This was originaly was bought by Channel 4 but was a commercial failure and so was hand”- Trevor Harris