Discussion
There is no imperative to switch for the consumer. FM is good enough, cheap and many people have radios everywhere in their home. To replace them with what are VERY expensive DAB units where most consumers cannot see an advantage due to the continued messing about of the BBC DAB unit and Government is not going to happen. As it stood Digital TV came along around the same time as Flat Screen's which turned out out be cheaper per inch than CRT televisions. Hence the stampede to Digital was helped by a switch in tech on the TV. Nothing like that is happening with radio. The fact that radio is mainly in vehicles has also been lost on the BBC who as others have said are pushing transmitters in populated areas leaving roads uncovered is something that does not seem to have been noticed.
wildatheart said:
NickGibbs said:
wouldn't a great big chunk of that be better spent putting more 3G/4G masts along major roads?
At some point in the future we will have to deal with the significant health consequences of our ever increased exposure to electro magnetic radiation.
RESONANCE ~ Beings Of Frequency Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6n-fIHGia8
So is DAB a UK-only thing? I've never heard of it. I just started using IHeartRadio on my phone/computer, but my ten year old Focus' (excellent) Blaupunkt doesn't have a jack for connecting a phone. That brings up a good question: what percentage of people drive older cars as opposed to buying a new car every year and what does this mean for people with cars built before the new technology? I live in an affluent area where many people do buy (or more accurately lease) a new car every year, but many people (including my family) buy a car and keep fixing it until it's no longer financially justifiable to do so. All our cars are over ten years old (2003 Focus, 2002 Chrysler Town & Country, 1998 VW Jetta VR6 Turbo). My dad was still driving his 1976 Chevy Nova until 1993, and the 1993 Dodge Intrepid that replaced it lasted until 2002 (barely). Away from the affluent cities on the coasts, in "heartland" America, I'd imagine over 90% of registered cars are over five years old.
I find it very strange that the UK doesn't have satellite radio, considering Europe was way ahead of us in technology like cell phones for a long time. Though we've never had a car with it, we had a rental Mitsubishi Raider pickup that had Sirius (before the merger with XM) and was excellent (and the RWD truck with its torquey V6 and no weight over the rear wheels was eminently driftable!
) Reception would drop out when you went in a tunnel or under an overpass, but I think they've since fixed that problem via buffering. The stations don't have commercials (the trade-off being you have to pay a subscription), and I loved the fact there was a station that only played the Blues. Though I'm only 24 years old, I also feel that there hasn't been any really good music since about 1976. There's even a station that exclusively plays Frank Sinatra 24/7. Same goes for Bob Marley and Elvis, if you're so inclined. I don't remember how many stations were available, but seeing as that was 2007, I'm sure there are many more now.
I find it very strange that the UK doesn't have satellite radio, considering Europe was way ahead of us in technology like cell phones for a long time. Though we've never had a car with it, we had a rental Mitsubishi Raider pickup that had Sirius (before the merger with XM) and was excellent (and the RWD truck with its torquey V6 and no weight over the rear wheels was eminently driftable!
) Reception would drop out when you went in a tunnel or under an overpass, but I think they've since fixed that problem via buffering. The stations don't have commercials (the trade-off being you have to pay a subscription), and I loved the fact there was a station that only played the Blues. Though I'm only 24 years old, I also feel that there hasn't been any really good music since about 1976. There's even a station that exclusively plays Frank Sinatra 24/7. Same goes for Bob Marley and Elvis, if you're so inclined. I don't remember how many stations were available, but seeing as that was 2007, I'm sure there are many more now.CraigyMc said:
wildatheart said:
NickGibbs said:
wouldn't a great big chunk of that be better spent putting more 3G/4G masts along major roads?
At some point in the future we will have to deal with the significant health consequences of our ever increased exposure to electro magnetic radiation.
RESONANCE ~ Beings Of Frequency Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6n-fIHGia8
I was thinking the same. That said, major amounts of EM for sustained periods has been shown to cause things like cancer and other harm, mainly for developing infants/children. That may be why I had pediatric lung cancer, despite the fact that no one in my family smokes and we've never lived in a house with asbestos. The house I lived in until I was three was near a major high-voltage/current powerline.
bobberz said:
Away from the affluent cities on the coasts, in "heartland" America, I'd imagine over 90% of registered cars are over five years old.
Assuming constant registration and scrappage rates, wouldn't that give a median fleet age of 25 years and a median vehicle life of 50 years?irfan1712 said:
i disagree.. Signal issues and the fact that you'd need a smartphone for internet radio makes me doubt it would take over DAB. and the fact it would absoulte rinse an already crap battery life on most smartphones assuming you havent got some sort of charging device in the car.
Agree with this. Internet Radio sems to satisfy a niche for gadget/radio lovers, but for the rest of us that sounds like one big hassle that comes with its own monthly fee baggage.DAB radio is awesome. It should be standard in all cars really, a shame that it isn't. Our Evoque is the first car that has it in and I love the choice and quality. It rarely cuts out in towns and cities too.
DAB is the future, but its been around so long it should really just be the 'current'. Slow-ass manufacturer uptake...
DAB answers a question nobody asked.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/727831.stm
The government just want to free up radio spectrum so they can sell it. So everyone has to buy their own DAB receivers so the government can make money by selling off the vacated radio spectrum.
The greenwash is that our old transistor radios can be shipped to Johnny Foreigner so they have radio even though where they are the lack of copper wire telecoms infrastructure means they're also heavily into mobile phone technology and take up.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/727831.stm
The government just want to free up radio spectrum so they can sell it. So everyone has to buy their own DAB receivers so the government can make money by selling off the vacated radio spectrum.
The greenwash is that our old transistor radios can be shipped to Johnny Foreigner so they have radio even though where they are the lack of copper wire telecoms infrastructure means they're also heavily into mobile phone technology and take up.
Broadcast sound and vision by IP is woefully inefficient. Delivering the same thing to millions of people individually is essentially what is being proposed. It only makes sense for on-demand or pay-per-view media.
DAB is inherently sound as an idea and could work just as well if not better than FM. It is just that it has been incredibly badly implemented here in the UK. In a desperate attempt to get it off the ground it was launched far too early and at a time when it was far too costly. As a result here in the UK we have a obsolete standard, and a monopoly controlling access to the DAB multiplexes and charging rates for the privilege that do not reflect the massive reduction in the cost of the technology since it was launched.
Here's what needs sorted..
- an immediate switch to DAB+. The latest radios are dual standard or can be firmware upgrades. This will cause no more pain than when terrestrial digital telly went from 16 to 64 QAM (only a few very old set-top boxes became obsolete)
- a revocation of Arqiva's licence to run the multiplexes (with no compensation, I'm sure there'll be some get out clause there) and a fresh start using more modern, cheaper transmission technology. This however would require OfCom to become a bit more than the toothless quango it currently is.
DAB is inherently sound as an idea and could work just as well if not better than FM. It is just that it has been incredibly badly implemented here in the UK. In a desperate attempt to get it off the ground it was launched far too early and at a time when it was far too costly. As a result here in the UK we have a obsolete standard, and a monopoly controlling access to the DAB multiplexes and charging rates for the privilege that do not reflect the massive reduction in the cost of the technology since it was launched.
Here's what needs sorted..
- an immediate switch to DAB+. The latest radios are dual standard or can be firmware upgrades. This will cause no more pain than when terrestrial digital telly went from 16 to 64 QAM (only a few very old set-top boxes became obsolete)
- a revocation of Arqiva's licence to run the multiplexes (with no compensation, I'm sure there'll be some get out clause there) and a fresh start using more modern, cheaper transmission technology. This however would require OfCom to become a bit more than the toothless quango it currently is.
Edited by r11co on Thursday 19th December 18:22
Madkat said:
And for those that don't have smart phones?.....Oh yeah you'll end up as a relic of society Seeing as a 'Must have' product now seems to mean an Ipad rather than something truly pivotal to living like heating or cooking food. The want's and needs of modern society seem to be getting blurred. Even the car is regarded as a 'Need' now Not a luxury which it actually is. So this development is trying to turn a 'want' into a 'need' by requiring a 'want' item for something to function.
Excellent post 
The problems of streaming crap music over unreliable and expensive wireless data connections are barely worthy of consideration in the grand scheme of things.Mr2Mike said:
Excellent post The problems of streaming crap music over unreliable and expensive wireless data connections are barely worthy of consideration in the grand scheme of things.
Hear here! This is a case of do not wish too much for something, because you might just get it. IP delivery of media on the go will make AM crystal radio sets seem like luxury. The problems of streaming crap music over unreliable and expensive wireless data connections are barely worthy of consideration in the grand scheme of things.carinaman said:
DAB answers a question nobody asked
Not quite. I asked for a national, non-commercial radio station for someone who isn't a pensioner or a iyoof that played a decent selection of music with little in the way of inane chatter. 6Music was the answer.
My plug-in DAB concealed in the car is never tuned to anything else.
The 'aux' button on the head unit gives me 6Music. The FM button gives me Radio4.
Careful routing of the aerial gives a good reception in most populated areas of England.
ps. In the house we sometimes get nostalgic over "Absolute 90s".
MC Bodge said:
Not quite.
I asked for a national, non-commercial radio station for someone who isn't a pensioner or a iyoof that played a decent selection of music with little in the way of inane chatter. 6Music was the answer.
My plug-in DAB concealed in the car is never tuned to anything else.
The 'aux' button on the head unit gives me 6Music. The FM button gives me Radio4.
Careful routing of the aerial gives a good reception in most populated areas of England.
ps. In the house we sometimes get nostalgic over "Absolute 90s".
6Music is the only reason I like DAB in our cars too. The reception is very good, even out in the sticks on the South Wales border, using a windscreen aerial. I want a DAB unit in my TVR, but am worried that reception won't be as good... I asked for a national, non-commercial radio station for someone who isn't a pensioner or a iyoof that played a decent selection of music with little in the way of inane chatter. 6Music was the answer.
My plug-in DAB concealed in the car is never tuned to anything else.
The 'aux' button on the head unit gives me 6Music. The FM button gives me Radio4.
Careful routing of the aerial gives a good reception in most populated areas of England.
ps. In the house we sometimes get nostalgic over "Absolute 90s".
chris watton said:
6Music is the only reason I like DAB in our cars too.
I've never understood the BBC's strategy for 6Music.It was possibly originally a way to promote DAB, albeit very poorly promoted, then it was threatened with closure (despite being far cheaper/listener than the hardly popular Radio 3, even when it was virtually unknown) and now it is widely regarded as the best music station in the country, with enormous photos of Radcliffe and Maconie located on a wall at Media City, Salford.
They should really give it an FM slot.
Edited by MC Bodge on Thursday 19th December 18:58
MC Bodge said:
chris watton said:
6Music is the only reason I like DAB in our cars too.
I've never understood the BBC's strategy for 6Music.It was possibly originally a way to promote DAB, albeit very poorly promoted, then it was threatened with closure (despite being far cheaper than the hardly popular Radio 3) and now it is widely regarded as the best music station in the country, with enormous photos of Radcliffe and Maconie located on a wall at Media City, Salford.
They should really give it an FM slot.
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