DAB Radio advice.

50Twuncle

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

No, but the OP clearly wants access to stations not receivable over DAB!:)

This IS in a car !!

[Deleted User]

50Twuncle wrote: »

This IS in a car !!

The OP doesn't mention a car radio, that discussion came later.

Do try to keep up!;)

GabbaGabbaHey

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

No, but the OP clearly wants access to stations not receivable over DAB!:)

Yes, I understand, but I was wondering the other way around - why not not just buy a (non-DAB) internet radio?

50Twuncle

50Twuncle wrote: »

My new car has a DAB radio and to be honest - I see absolutely no point in having it - the only stations that it picks up are BBC radio 1 to 5 plus a handful of others "Smooth FM" and "Talk Sport"
Why no local BBC stations ?
I can receive all that I want on "normal" radio

Sorry - I hijacked the thread !!

Mr_Toad

50Twuncle wrote: »

Sorry - I hijacked the thread !!

No problem, it all adds to the debate.

I suspect the tinny sound you get in the car is the radio rather than the broadcast, the in car DAB I've heard has been fine.

As for the point, well I suspect mainly for the DAB only stations. I listen to BBC 4+, used to be Radio 7, a lot. I do rather miss not having it available in the car.

Also DAB was going to replace FM radio which was going to be switched off in 2015. This was initially delayed until 2018 but then delayed indefinitely by govt.

I think the current plan is to allow DAB to grow with new DAB only stations to the point where the majority of listeners have DAB sets then allow FM to die naturally rather than impose a deadline. It's a plan certainly but it doesn't take into account the huge numbers of people who only listen a few stations, say Radio 2 and 4 or only Radio 1 for example. Those people will stay with FM until the BBC or other stations stop transmitting on FM and that will be a long time coming, unless it is imposed as per the original plan, as it requires a lot less outlay than simply carrying on as they are. It's a mess.

I haven't, so far, looked at adding DAB to my car as the audio and Navigation system is integral and is also used for the voice commands to do various things so I wouldn't want to replace it.

I suppose I could add a DAB module and run it in via the Aux input but I'll see.

50Twuncle

From what I understand - many stations are still being broadcast at a greatly reduced bit rate - ie 48kbps rather than a standard of 192kbps (some are even in mono) - this would explain the poor sound quality but not the loss of signal that I am experiencing
I have emailed the company responsible for my local transmissions to try to find out what my problem is being caused by....

Mr_Toad

50Twuncle wrote: »

From what I understand - many stations are still being broadcast at a greatly reduced bit rate - ie 48kbps rather than a standard of 192kbps (some are even in mono) - this would explain the poor sound quality but not the loss of signal that I am experiencing
I have emailed the company responsible for my local transmissions to try to find out what my problem is being caused by....

That may well be due to the number of multiplexes.

I think to get DAB off the ground they allocated mux space to get a large number of lower quality stations on air rather than a small number of high quality stations. As more multiplexes come on-line quality should increase.

I'm sure someone who really knows will be able to give the full story.

[Deleted User]

Mr_Toad wrote: »

I think to get DAB off the ground they allocated mux space to get a large number of lower quality stations on air rather than a small number of high quality stations. As more multiplexes come on-line quality should increase.

Interesting article here;
http://www.techradar.com/news/car-tech/why-dab-radio-in-the-uk-is-broken-and-how-to-fix-it-1217586

50Twuncle

I have received a reply to my email sent to the tx company - they tell me that my local BBC station is transmitted at 128kbps rather than a max available of 192kbps - what effect would this reduced bitrate have on "signal strength" - or would a difference in clarity be noticeable ?

Mr_Toad

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

Interesting article here;
http://www.techradar.com/news/car-tech/why-dab-radio-in-the-uk-is-broken-and-how-to-fix-it-1217586

You're right, a good article. I had no idea things were that bad!

I knew rates were dropping as more stations came on-line but that was as far as it went.

It's a tragedy.