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Changes on Digital One - Fun Kids and a new test station


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Old 26-06-2009, 00:46
tghe-retford
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I have gone through the radio channels, and my DAB radio has picked up:

Fun Kids UK (which I presume was D1 TestB with a bitrate of 80kbps in mono) has appeared. That's pretty obvious because it launches on June 27.

D1 TestA is now in 48Kbps mono and a new station, D1 Test1 has popped up, also in 48Kbps mono. And you can tell it is too. The sound quality is pretty poor, even on my tinny speaker!

LBC preparing for national DAB? Can't imagine it would be for the other station that broadcasts to my knowledge in 48Kbps mono, Traffic Radio, because of its regional nature.
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Old 26-06-2009, 00:51
DXRulz
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I have gone through the radio channels, and my DAB radio has picked up:

Fun Kids UK (which I presume was D1 TestB with a bitrate of 80kbps in mono) has appeared. That's pretty obvious because it launches on June 27.

D1 TestA is now in 48Kbps mono and a new station, D1 Test1 has popped up, also in 48Kbps mono. And you can tell it is too. The sound quality is pretty poor, even on my tinny speaker!

LBC preparing for national DAB? Can't imagine it would be for the other station that broadcasts to my knowledge in 48Kbps mono, Traffic Radio, because of its regional nature.
I have just noticed D1 TestA and D1 Test1 not doing anything here, both seem to be dead air but i can hear hiss very faintly. Fun Kids UK however seems to be broadcasting "This IS Digital One"
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Old 26-06-2009, 00:53
tghe-retford
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I have just noticed D1 TestA and D1 Test1 not doing anything here, both seem to be dead air but i can hear hiss very faintly. Fun Kids UK however seems to be broadcasting "This IS Digital One"
Both D1 Test channels are playing the same "this is Digital One" loop that they always have, the difference is in the change in bitrate of D1 TestA and the addition of D1 Test1.
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Old 26-06-2009, 00:59
belleville1
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The new test station is part of a technical demonstration at next week's Radio Festival: http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.4887
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Old 26-06-2009, 01:00
Dave FM
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Both D1 Test channels are playing the same "this is Digital One" loop that they always have, the difference is in the change in bitrate of D1 TestA and the addition of D1 Test1.
its just some test for a radiofestival demo
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Old 26-06-2009, 01:06
tghe-retford
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The new test station is part of a technical demonstration at this week's Radio Festival: http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.4887
I did think that, and the date matches. I have done some working out, and there is enough capacity for a 192Kbps audio and data test stream as that article states, plus both D1 Test channels.
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Old 26-06-2009, 12:17
kev
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Another new service has popped up "Data&Audio Test" - 192kbps. That will be the Radio Festival one
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Old 26-06-2009, 12:34
tghe-retford
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Another new service has popped up "Data&Audio Test" - 192kbps. That will be the Radio Festival one
That pretty much confirms what I suspected, the new D1 Test1 isn't connected in any way to the data and audio test for the Radio Festival. So to the original question now this has been cleared up - why has a new 48Kbps mono test channel be added on Digital One?
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Old 26-06-2009, 12:59
hanssolo
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After the Radio Festival test finishes they can then reconfigure the bandwidth, and will have 288kbs (if my sums are correct) to reuse for any new stations.

Seems Premier radio are also raising funds on air for natiional DAB and have reached £425k of the target of £500k.
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Old 26-06-2009, 13:20
dpb
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After the Radio Festival test finishes they can then reconfigure the bandwidth, and will have 288kbs (if my sums are correct) to reuse for any new stations.

Seems Premier radio are also raising funds on air for natiional DAB and have reached £425k of the target of £500k.
On their website they have a donation section and I can't work out whether they are doing to expand (a mention of "calling the nation to Christ" could indicate they are thinking of D1) or they have a £500k deficit and are trying to fill it.
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Old 26-06-2009, 14:03
hanssolo
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From the 2008 annual review
http://www.premier.org.uk/about/annualreview.aspx
This year we have continued to maintain a
strong focus on taking forward our strategy
to gain a national DAB (Digital Audio
Broadcasting) licence. Ofcom has agreed that
getting DAB into cars is an essential part of the
platforms future. The growth of Digital radio has
not yet been as fast as anticipated. This has
been reflected in the uncertainty over Channel 4
Radio and GCap’s digital future. However,
Premier remains committed to reaching a
national audience.
So presume the £500k is for national DAB, but might be wrong in this uncertain financial climate!
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Old 26-06-2009, 15:19
Ray Cathode
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That pretty much confirms what I suspected, the new D1 Test1 isn't connected in any way to the data and audio test for the Radio Festival. So to the original question now this has been cleared up - why has a new 48Kbps mono test channel be added on Digital One?
Additionally, ITIS Holdings are demonstrating their TPEG traffic information service at the Radio Festival. The TEC application is designed to transmit traffic event information which, along with their Traffic Flow TFP application, will assist dynamic guidance systems for routing for navigation devices. This is a permanent service and will continue to broadcast after the Data&Audio Test service ceases, although additional software not yet standard in UK devices is required to view the data.
http://www.ukdigitalradio.com/news/d...=&year=&id=332

I presume that this is in addition to TrafficMaster? Maybe 48kbps is required for everything TPEG can offer, including announcements?

http://www.tpeg.org/en/technologies/
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Old 26-06-2009, 15:46
hanssolo
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http://www.ukdigitalradio.com/news/d...=&year=&id=332

I presume that this is in addition to TrafficMaster? Maybe 48kbps is required for everything TPEG can offer, including announcements?

http://www.tpeg.org/en/technologies/
It does seem to be the same as the Trafficmaster TPEG and BBC TPEG traffic system, it sends codes so only needs to be 8k, the codes relate to words and phrases stored using voice generation on the device to be played as announcements to the driver. This will probably be built into new car sets!
Seems strange that ITIS Holdings will setup thier own system if it is running on D1 and the BBC muxes already!
http://www.trafficmaster.co.uk/__assets/asset436.pdf
This report below if from last year and TPEG is now on D1, maybe an extra Trafficmaster subscription might be required, but the BBC system seems to be free!
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4839213&EDATE=
ALTRINCHAM, England, June 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ITIS Holdings
plc, a UK Market-leader in real-time traffic information today announces the immediate availability of Next Generation Traffic Services over DAB.

Cars and Personal Navigation devices fitted with DAB TPEG Receivers are now able to receive the most up-to-date traffic information in the London area and nationally thereafter.

As Europe's first RDS-TMC broadcaster, today's announcement further extends ITIS' innovative and market-leading reputation.

Stuart Marks, Chief Executive said "TPEG over DAB represents the future of traffic information services. By utilising the higher bandwidth that DAB delivers over TMC, we can ensure drivers get to their destinations as quickly as possibly whilst reducing their fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
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Old 26-06-2009, 16:18
radiosgalore
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Data&Audio actually sounds pretty good to my ears. kinda would do at 192k though
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Old 26-06-2009, 17:53
garypa123
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how bad does the test stations sound at 48kps? even talksport at 64kps sounds decent for a speech service. didn't realise the difference a 16kps would be so much.

These test stations sounds like LW or MW. Such lower quality sound will not exactly help drive DAB like it is trying to.
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Old 27-06-2009, 09:58
hanssolo
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From the 2008 annual review
http://www.premier.org.uk/about/annualreview.aspx

So presume the £500k is for national DAB, but might be wrong in this uncertain financial climate!
http://premier.org.uk/events/premier...20croydon.aspx
Here at Premier we have been so grateful for your support during our Spread the Hope Appeal, and we therefore want to invite you to our Spread the Hope celebration events on the 7th and 8th July.
----
In addition, we hope to be able to make a very special announcement in relation to a brand new national initiative
Maybe the announcement will be about national DAB?
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Old 27-06-2009, 12:56
radiosgalore
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Well i tried ringing Premier but they don't seem to open on Saturday. I'll see if I can get through on email but that could be hit and miss whether anyone gets back to me
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Old 27-06-2009, 13:02
catherine91
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how bad does the test stations sound at 48kps? even talksport at 64kps sounds decent for a speech service. didn't realise the difference a 16kps would be so much.

These test stations sounds like LW or MW. Such lower quality sound will not exactly help drive DAB like it is trying to.
They really do sound totally sh*t!

Data&Audio Test is dead for me though. Edit: No it's not, just checked again. It was dead yesterday.
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Old 27-06-2009, 13:09
tghe-retford
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Data&Audio Test is dead for me though. Edit: No it's not, just checked again. It was dead yesterday.
I'm betting that it will be on air during the times when the demonstrations for the Radio Festival are on. No point broadcasting when there is on-one there to hear or see it (not that you'll experience most of it, because many of the tests cannot be picked up on a standard radio).
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Old 27-06-2009, 14:18
hanssolo
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Well i tried ringing Premier but they don't seem to open on Saturday. I'll see if I can get through on email but that could be hit and miss whether anyone gets back to me
They have not reached the target yet and may not confirm anything untill the 7th July.
Data&Audio Test is dead for me though. Edit: No it's not, just checked again. It was dead yesterday.
Music on now!
Supposed to be surround sound
http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/EN/bf/a...absurround.jsp
DAB Surround combines the new DAB+ HE-AAC v2 audio codec and the existing MPEG Layer 2 audio codec with MPEG Surround and brings multi-channel sound to Digital Audio Broadcasting. It enables a smooth, mono/stereo compatible and cost-efficient introduction of multi-channel sound to digital radio at low bit rates and high audio quality.
edit seems to be BBC archive clips including a bit of tennis!
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Old 27-06-2009, 14:49
Ray Cathode
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The DataTest channel behaves a little differently from others on Digital One. I get maximum signal strength here but the modulation (perceived audio level) seems to be well down at least 10dB I would guess. Also when I put an 18dB attenuator in the aerial lead, the DataTest tech parameters indication went to Mono 192kbps and then the audio went intermittent like an analogue signal. All the other Digital One channels were unaffected. Can anyone explain what is going on here?
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Old 27-06-2009, 15:12
kev
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The DataTest channel behaves a little differently from others on Digital One. I get maximum signal strength here but the modulation (perceived audio level) seems to be well down at least 10dB I would guess. Also when I put an 18dB attenuator in the aerial lead, the DataTest tech parameters indication went to Mono 192kbps and then the audio went intermittent like an analogue signal. All the other Digital One channels were unaffected. Can anyone explain what is going on here?
Possibly PL4 - i.e. less error correction. - IIRC PL4 @ 192kbps uses the same capacity as PL3 @ 160kbps - more services at the expense of signal robustness.
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Old 27-06-2009, 16:39
Ray Cathode
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It does seem to be the same as the Trafficmaster TPEG and BBC TPEG traffic system, it sends codes so only needs to be 8k, the codes relate to words and phrases stored using voice generation on the device to be played as announcements to the driver. This will probably be built into new car sets!
Seems strange that ITIS Holdings will setup thier own system if it is running on D1 and the BBC muxes already!
http://www.trafficmaster.co.uk/__assets/asset436.pdf
This report below if from last year and TPEG is now on D1, maybe an extra Trafficmaster subscription might be required, but the BBC system seems to be free!
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4839213&EDATE=
Wohnort now indicating a new 12 or 16kbps data stream on D1 in relation to this (depending on which page you look).

http://www.wohnort.org/DAB/
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Old 27-06-2009, 17:20
vinnielo
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Wohnort now indicating a new 12 or 16kbps data stream on D1 in relation to this (depending on which page you look).

http://www.wohnort.org/DAB/
ITIS is 16k on my receiver.
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Old 27-06-2009, 17:52
Martin Phillp
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My Acoustic Solutions SP110 tuner is unable to receive the D1 version of Fun Kids despite an autotune. I'm still getting the DRg London version though.

The other DAB radios are showing two Fun Kids when I scroll through the stations.
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