Mountain FM - DAB
Allen Keys
Posts: 52 Forum Member
✭
Hello,
Finally taken the plunge and bought a DAB radio, scanning around I have found a station called Mountain FM, it's the most unprofessional station with tacky jingles - how on earth can this be on DAB?!
Thought it was an expensive medium to broadcast on? These guys would sound rough as a 25W RSL!
Finally taken the plunge and bought a DAB radio, scanning around I have found a station called Mountain FM, it's the most unprofessional station with tacky jingles - how on earth can this be on DAB?!
Thought it was an expensive medium to broadcast on? These guys would sound rough as a 25W RSL!
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Comments
Despite its name it's not on FM.
It is basically a continuation of Valleys radio which UTV closed on AM,
because the AM licences were handed back it uses DAB.
The studio is owned by the church who got a grant to launch the station.
http://www.mountainfm.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=259&Itemid=133 Now depends if they get enough ads to keep it on air when the grant runs out.
I wonder why a few stations are actually still on DAB (to be honest) I have no idea how pop-up radio have lasted as they are just as unprofessional. :rolleyes:
Did you think that there is a test to pass before a mux accepts your cash to broadcast on DAB? Gosh you are fresh to this aren't you??
Anyway as a counter to your point I was was in Wales and listening to Mountain fm during the evenings this past week and I was very surprised at the quality of the music they were playing. It was presenterless (which I believe it is every evening) and it did cross my mind that the paucity of adverts may affect its future but it certainly is not the worst radio station I have heard nor the worst on DAB, you can save that accolade for some of the big money stations that come our way from the Big Smoke many of which are pure crap. Elsewhere on your new DAB radio you would have seen Kiss, Real XS, BBC R1Xtra and XFM, none of which I would say are any better than Mountain fm for when I've listened, these so-called "professional stations" have been absolutely appalling.
Pop Up Radio is run my the multiplex operator and is used to carry various short term broadcasts. Bit useless really as there is no chance of stumbling on something interesting by just scrolling through the listings, but it does save the station list being littered with yet more non-existant stations. If they were to rename it while those broadcasts are on air it would be more useful.
Heard Pop Up Radio when I went to Birmingham on 7 April. Running at 64 kbps it appears to be a slot that could do with not being there at all particularly if not broadcasting anything./
There was a message on there that just said that this was Pop Up Radio. We're not on air at the moment keep checking the website you#ll know when we're back.
Yet the Free 80s stream on there is Mono at 80 kbps - it could go stereo if it wasn't for Pop Up Radio.
Out of curiosity, how often does it actually carry a programme?
I presume you heard it on the Wolverhampton multiplex - there is space on there for Free 80s to go stereo and indeed until a few months ago it was stereo. I presume that Orion have chosen for the station to be mono.