FM Radio switch off

[saleen836]

Search seems to be having a funny turn so no idea if this has been mentioned.

http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/fm_switch-of...

I would assume if they want to turn it off by 2020, that would give them enough time to switch all the radio stations etc over to DAB and to give evryone the chance to replace car radios etc?

[Mojooo]

10 years is plenty of time - it all depends on when they announce it though - they will have to give peopel about 5-6 years

will prob be easier than TV though as it should be a much lwoer cost to change for most people

[mph1977]

lower cost to change? i think not ?

set top boxes are about 15 quid, i've not seen a DAB radio for less than about 50

[Mojooo]

mph1977 said:

lower cost to change? i think not ?

set top boxes are about 15 quid, i've not seen a DAB radio for less than about 50

give it time they will come down when people are forced to buy them.

a switch to digital TV can be a significant change in the way they are used - especially for the oldies - hopefully most digital radios work kind of like old style radios.

[b2hbm]

mph1977 said:

lower cost to change? i think not ?

set top boxes are about 15 quid, i've not seen a DAB radio for less than about 50

Very true.

We have 5 DAB radios in the house. One doesn't even pick up the main BBC signals on DAB and is nothing more than a paperweight, two are intermittent and very weather dependent and the last two actually work 100%. All are big brand names (Panasonic, Pure, etc) all getting the same signal, all having similar length aerials but the big difference is price; only those costing over £100 seem to work 100%.

So they're going to have to boost the DAB signal quite a lot more to get nationwide reception and seeing how DAB uses more power than FM anyway, it seems a strange move in times when we are striving to use LESS electricity ?

[s.m.h.]

Whats behind the changeover?
Interesting how the Beeb say it only takes 7% of the power needed to transmit digital over fm. Though the dab radios use far more than an fm...
Sounds like there is no firm switch off date and the ConDems have put off the 2015 date saying consumers will decide by switching when they are ready.
I have dab at the workshop and its part of the reason I listen to 6music- I cant get many other stations worth listening to!
Radio at home is a £25 Tescos dab, fine other than it humms on standby... Work is built into a Sony micro centre that was £100.
Sony is at least stereo!

[tankplanker]

I just wish they'd up the bit rate from the piss poor bit rates that they cut to in '02.

[MiniMan64]

Analoge TV is already switched off down here in the South West and everyone seems to be getting along okay.

[Morningside]

I dont watch analogue TV anymore and have not done so for the last three or so years.
But FM Radio to me is another thing entirely. Far too many items to be changed. Yes, car and home ones, but also mobile phones and even the bedside clock radio gets forgotten.

The real reason for sale? The radio spectrum to be sold off. How much will/can the Government raise from the sale?


See, you can tax the air that you breathe

[williamp]

Not quiteL

the waveband is actually quite narrow. And we are running out of bandwidth. Analogue TV and radio takes a huge amount of bandwidth. By going digital there will be more bandwidth available. These frequencies can then be licenced and sold off...

[Man-At-Arms]

mph1977 said:

lower cost to change? i think not ?

set top boxes are about 15 quid, i've not seen a DAB radio for less than about 50

don't even mention the car radios !

[Flanders.]

I think its bks, I don't want some after market stty Radio in my Car, I also listen to the Radio on my Mobile sometimes, which again I don't want to have to change.


If it aint broke, don't fix it.

[Morningside]

Flanders. said:

I think its bks, I don't want some after market stty Radio in my Car, I also listen to the Radio on my Mobile sometimes, which again I don't want to have to change.


If it aint broke, don't fix it.

What radio do you have in your car? I find that some after market crap is MUCH better than the rubbish they do put in there.

[Flanders.]

Morningside said:

Flanders. said:

I think its bks, I don't want some after market stty Radio in my Car, I also listen to the Radio on my Mobile sometimes, which again I don't want to have to change.


If it aint broke, don't fix it.

What radio do you have in your car? I find that some after market crap is MUCH better than the rubbish they do put in there.

Its just the one the car came with, however its double the size of a aftermarket Radio, so anything else would like silly.

[MiniMan64]

I think car radio would the real problem actually, I'd never really thought of that! Going to be great money maker on DAB radios for Halfords at some point

[s.m.h.]

Biggest issue is where the radios are integrated into the dashboard. My Accord has the A/C controls in the same facia... Saying that there is an imput so MP3 etc can be played. Think I will get an x-car link and then see what comes up.

[davidjpowell]

s.m.h. said:

Biggest issue is where the radios are integrated into the dashboard. My Accord has the A/C controls in the same facia... Saying that there is an imput so MP3 etc can be played. Think I will get an x-car link and then see what comes up.

Most new cars have some kind of integration. My 9 year old saab and 7 year old Merc certainly do. I have tried to go after market in the Saab. It was rather complicated, cost a fortune in adaptor cables because of an amp, and looked rather ste. Ended up back with the OEM.

Surely for this to work digital should be going in OEM at this stage.

[528Sport]

FM switchoff wont happen me thinks.
They have been saying AM will go but its still in use!
Ofcom are still giving out FM community radio licences (round 3 of licences being discussed at the moment)

The questions that need answering are:
If DAB is so good, what's being done about signal issues ? why is the quality so low (bitrate)?
How will all the smaller stations going afford bandwith on this wonderful system?
Why are DAB radio's so expensive?

I think (been in radio for 18 years !) that too much has been spent on this floored system we can't go back (think BBC licence fund). I honestly think that online is the future Iphone apps and so on.
A friend of mine is involved a large media company (think 3 letters) move from london to media city (manchester) and the feeling is that online is the future.

edit to add some countries are scrapping DAB !!!!! see below
"The US radio trade organisation NAB considers FM on-board mobile phones as the most significant method of recruiting new radio listeners. The UK's own RAJAR audience data also demonstrates that mobile listening is by far the fastest growing radio platform in this country—and though this figure is sometimes apocryphally conflated with "digital" listening, there is no mobile handset on sale in the UK market with DAB capability. There is also no plan for one. Looking to the near future it should be noted that in Japan (no DAB there!), marrying FM broadcast with mobile internet for "back channel" interactivity and digital services is gaining traction. FM remains the global standard for radio transmission. In the last seven days, the Canadian Government joined the rest of North and South America in effect abandoning DAB by declaring it "no longer a replacement for analogue AM and FM services".
"

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/...

Edited by 528Sport on Monday 2nd August 15:15

Edited by 528Sport on Monday 2nd August 15:19

Edited by 528Sport on Monday 2nd August 15:20

[s.m.h.]

Looks like the rest of the world aren't quite so enthusiastic about DAB.
The Germans have back-tracked and will stop using it, the Japanese have no DAB transmissions and Roberts the radio people have just released new analogue only radios...
Apparently the biggest growing market is mobile FM and that there are no DAB mobile equiped phones eithe made or in the forseable future.

Maybe with the Germans - who were the first to adopt and tested DAB - have made the UK gov think about the cost if few people switch over. They can hardly force people to buy new radios - especially seeing how expencive they are to buy and run.

[ben_h100]

Surely streaming from the internet is the future? Doesn't DAB use much more b/w than fm?