Ten Myths of DAB

[RogerS]

A friend of mine who knows about my stance against any enforced FM Switch Off sent me a link to this website. Not had time to dip into it much but it certainly strikes a chord with me!

www.ten-myths-of-dab.co.uk

 

[doctor Bob]

all this new fangled stuff ....... stick with the old gear Roger..... never let you down

 

[andys wood shed]

I've just had a new car with DAB fitted

It is awsome

 

[dickm]

A friend of mine who knows about my stance against any enforced FM Switch Off sent me a link to this website. Not had time to dip into it much but it certainly strikes a chord with me!

http://www.ten-myths-of-dab.co.uk

Thanks for that, Roger. Sadly, I suspect this is a done deal, for all the reasons given on that website.
In the "what can be done" bit at the end, it suggests writing to MP etc.. I've done this, and she's not interested, although DAB reception up here in the wilds is pretty useless and it will cost her constituents a lot to replace all their AM/FM radios to get a worse service.

One thing that really got up my nose was "Which", supposedly the consumers' friend, who have been publishing pro-DAB stuff for ages now, omitting to mention little problems of coverage and energy use (notice how the battery suppliers include DAB radios in their list of high drain devices). The ultimate Which travesty was when they published a claim that DAB "would avoid the problem of having to re-tune car radios as you travel from one transmitter area to another". Obviously never heard of RDS, which has been around successfully for years.

I'm sure for those who want "choice" and live in well-serviced areas of high population density, it will be ideal. Not so for those who like good sound quality and live in a rural area, drive an older car and generally don't keep up with the latest fads.

 

[Harbo]

Well said ****

We have one car with DAB and one without and have not really noticed any difference.
But you certainly can with my Analogue Troughline tuner receiving FM when compared with the Digital radio signals we receive over our TVs and DAB radio.
The FM sound will take a lot of beating?

Rod

 

[RogerP]

I cannot get decent hiss-free FM without an outdoor aerial but do get DAB at maximum signal strength on just the set's aerial. I never listen to music just Radio 4 and 3 drama and as far as I'm concerned the reception is perfect.

 

[misterfish]

Here in Old Fishbourne near Chichester we get a reasonable DAB signal, probably better than the quality of FM, But this offers us nothing new as we only listen to Radio 2 and 4 to any great extent. My concern is the radio in the car - it is one of the integrated systems and will cost well over £200 to add an integrated module and DAB aerial - plus the cost of fitting - an apparent cost we will have to pay to continue listening to the radio in the car and for no apparent extra benefit.

The one thing that I really dislike is the current creepy 'D Love' puppet used on the adverts - it's really skin creeping!

Misterfish

 

[RogerS]

Bottom line is this.

Why should anyone be forced to waste money buying something that they do not want when they are perfectly happy listening to FM and the radio channels that are available ?

Looking at that site, it seems to me that it is the commercial radio channels who are pushing for this because they do not want to pay for both an FM transmission chain and also a DAB transmission chain. Well, that's tough. They signed up to run both networks when they applied for their licences. If their business models mean that they are failing as a business then let them fail.

 

[dj.]

Looking at that site, it seems to me that it is the commercial radio channels who are pushing for this because they do not want to pay for both an FM transmission chain and also a DAB transmission chain. Well, that's tough. They signed up to run both networks when they applied for their licences.

When they signed up for both was that not with the knowledge that eventually there would only be one?

 

[nev]

Bottom line is this.

Why should anyone be forced to waste money buying something that they do not want when they are perfectly happy listening to FM and the radio channels that are available ?

surelly all those people with wax cylinders said the same when 78's came about. then 78's to 33's, to cd's to mp3's , vcr to dvd , gas lights to electric.

you can choose your preference for one over the other but is this not just technological evolution consistent with the onward march of time?

 

[RogerS]

Looking at that site, it seems to me that it is the commercial radio channels who are pushing for this because they do not want to pay for both an FM transmission chain and also a DAB transmission chain. Well, that's tough. They signed up to run both networks when they applied for their licences.

When they signed up for both was that not with the knowledge that eventually there would only be one?

No, I don't believe so.

....

surelly all those people with wax cylinders said the same when 78's came about. then 78's to 33's, to cd's to mp3's , vcr to dvd , gas lights to electric.

you can choose your preference for one over the other but is this not just technological evolution consistent with the onward march of time?

Whether DAB is a technological advance compared to FM is a debatable point. But leaving that aside, it is about consumer choice. Being forced to buy something that you don't want. Why?

 

[RogerM]

Where we live in S.Devon, about 10 miles out of Plymouth, there is NO DAB reception whatsoever. We borrowed our son's DAB and find it unusable. It's beginning to look like we'll have to go down the internet radio route if we want to listen to the radio at home, and will have to stop listening to the car radio as we approach and leave home. FM reception is fine - such is progress.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Internet radio - wonderful. I am at present listening to a Canadian Beethoven only station - Beethoven's 7th to be exact. Why listen to UK only, when you can listen to the world?

 

[mseries]

DAB is good here. I have not listened to analogue for years.

 

[dj.]

Looking at that site, it seems to me that it is the commercial radio channels who are pushing for this because they do not want to pay for both an FM transmission chain and also a DAB transmission chain. Well, that's tough. They signed up to run both networks when they applied for their licenses.

When they signed up for both was that not with the knowledge that eventually there would only be one?

No, I don't believe so.

Your thread & the fact I`m in no rush to leave the confines of a warm armchair lead me to do a few searches Roger.

Going back to my question above I found one company, Absolute, who have launched 5 digital stations since 2009 when the FM switch off was announced, obviously they launched these stations in the knowledge that they would cease paying for their AM & FM licenses, so as some one who is also in business & is held to contracts I can`t fault Absolute pushing for the government`s agreed switch off.

it is about consumer choice. Being forced to buy something that you don't want. Why?

From the looks of things there has never been so many devices to listen to radio broadcasts on, the vast majority of the populous already owning at least one, though admittedly not suitable for every situation. I was very interested to read that the FM switch off will leave very local radio stations on FM & although their range will be limited, that does sound a good thing for local communities.

On one anti switch off site (though very balanced in their views) they admitted that a DAB radio could be bought for £30 & were saying basically that the switch over would happen only when the coverage of DAB was equal to that of FM now, though I imagine that is by percentage & some will loose out & others gain by the switch off.



Thanks for posting this up it has been most interesting & whilst I don`t completely agree with you I don`t also completely disagree. I do remember having to buy a CD player at far greater expense than £30 so I could continue to buy & listen to albums by my favourite bands of the day on CD as record companies had decided to stop producing vinyl. At the time I was most put out, now I find them so much more advantageous in many ways.

Best wishes.


dj.

 

[RogerS]

Thing is, dj, that Ofcom estimate that the installed base of FM transistor radios in the UK is of the order of 100 million. Many households have more than one FM radio....not to mention all those in cars. Radio broadcasting isn't really a commodity either, surely, and so comparing with CD replacement of vinyl isn't comparing like with like IMO. But even if one does, the sales of CD players was increasing at an exponential rate and so clearly being market driven. This is NOT the case with DAB.

 

[thomvic]

I'm not fully au fait with this digital stuff but I do understand that 3 digital tv's in the house, 2 with 35 year old aerials in the loft and one with a set-top aerial, work perfectly. However, two Roberts digital portable radios only work well when they have a clear line to the front windows of the house. Elsewhere reception is very crackly. One of the radios was a Christmas pressie this year so is well up to date. The other is about 8 years old and used to work just fine everywhere in the house until the TV switchover day - 21st September 2011. Why might that have changed my radio signal? It has to be linked because it was on the same day that I totally lost the digital signal in my workshop which is about 75 yards from the house.

The proprietor of our local electrical shop, himself a radio and TV engineer, agrees that there must be a link with the switchover because he had several customers ask about loss or deterioration of signal on the TV switchover day. He also says that there are digital dead spots in several areas in our small town and in the villages around.

Long live FM I say!

Richard

 

[flying haggis]

Excellent post.
Long live FM.
And I am an ex BBC engineer!
If i wish to listen to digital radio(not dab) i use the sky box as that is not bitrate restricted.
I even have a satellitte feed to the workshop just to listen to the radio!

 

[RogerS]

.....

On one anti switch off site (though very balanced in their views) .....
Best wishes.


dj.

Out of curiosity...which site?

Thanks

Roger

 

[dj.]

Radio broadcasting isn't really a commodity either, surely, and so comparing with CD replacement of vinyl isn't comparing like with like IMO. But even if one does, the sales of CD players was increasing at an exponential rate and so clearly being market driven.

I was more comparing my annoyance at having to buy a new device to listen to the new music I wanted to buy, my purchase wasn`t market driven, it was due to the main music companies deciding they wouldn`t be producing vinyl anymore, which left the smaller companies having to follow or get left behind. It was purely business driven, the large players realising that once CD`s took off, as they had to as the alternative had gone, back catalogues could be re- released on this new format & they`d make millions.


Regards.


dj.