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BBC FM switchoff date - guessing game. |
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#26 |
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Join Date: Sep 2009
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My thoughts exactly. Shimano, are you using a proper DAB set with a proper DAB aerial? The aerial is really important for good reception.
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#27 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
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Exactly. And the bold (and laughable) claim that DAB 'works better than FM' (?) is baffling in itself. FM, certainly in this area, is well served and car reception is very good - DAB on the other hand, as already mentioned - is patchy, bubbly and unreliable.
FM seems to win on all levels ![]() |
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#28 |
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Join Date: Jan 2015
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FM....needs numerous frequencies to broadcast nationally.
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#29 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Worcester
Posts: 4,850
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Exactly. And the bold (and laughable) claim that DAB 'works better than FM' (?) is baffling in itself. FM, certainly in this area, is well served and car reception is very good - DAB on the other hand, as already mentioned - is patchy, bubbly and unreliable.
FM seems to win on all levels ![]() The BBC national FM coverage is shocking in some of Midlands' bigger towns and cities, Nottingham, Stoke and where I live in Worcester being three good examples. In-car DAB has been a massive improvement for me. Rock solid reception all around here, including out of area stations from Birmingham. I can listen to Radio 1 without so much as a glitch, whereas on FM it's constantly going fuzzy and endlessly switching between Sutton Coldfield, Wenvoe and Ridge Hill to try and find the least worst signal. |
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#30 |
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Join Date: Jan 2006
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But with such low bitrates used the sound quality is far worse!
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#31 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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This doesn't apply for radio so my *guess*, and it is only a guess, is that we will have a single date when the entire BBC FM network is switched off.
R1 is the obvious candidate to be first for the chop. MPs won't worry about losing any sleep or their seats: few have the time or inclination to listen to it, they regard it as pop 'n' prattle and few constituents will be lobbying them, they'll just listen online or via DAB. If their cars don't have DAB they'll switch to commercial stations, mobile data or use a converter. R2 would be the next candidate, once any fuss about R1 had been forgotten. Local radio could relay it overnight, and perhaps also in the mid evening; some people may switch to Freeview and satellite. R3 and R4 are the big problems. Few listen to R3 but they will have the ears of the Establishment, and they won't be content with Classic FM as a substitute. Nor will their DAB kitchen radios be an acceptable substitute for their hi-fi analogue-only tuners. There are very few DAB hi-fi tuners around so there's aren't many quick and easy fixes where and when online, Freeview and satellite aren't acceptable. Commercial stations will make their own decisions in their own time unless Ofcom is stupid enough to mandate a DSO, so there won't be the fuss that would be caused by a big bang. |
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#32 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
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Except in the car it isn't. The constant drifting...
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#33 |
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Join Date: Dec 2009
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I'm struggling, as Lord Sugar would say.
Places like Ness of Lewis and Daliburgh in the outer Hebrides are the only ones that spring immediately to mind, which is desperate stuff! Fort Augustus, Ballachulish, Kinlochleven, Ardgour, Campbeltown, Bowmore, Glengorm, Mallaig, Penifiler, Strachur, Ullapool, Lethanhill, |
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#34 |
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Join Date: Dec 2009
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Quote:
But with such low bitrates used the sound quality is far worse!
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#35 |
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 25,455
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Exactly. And the bold (and laughable) claim that DAB 'works better than FM' (?) is baffling in itself. FM, certainly in this area, is well served and car reception is very good - DAB on the other hand, as already mentioned - is patchy, bubbly and unreliable.
FM seems to win on all levels ![]() |
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#36 |
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Retford
Posts: 20,449
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My thoughts exactly. Shimano, are you using a proper DAB set with a proper DAB aerial? The aerial is really important for good reception.
The Norwegian digital radio switchover is informing consumers about aerial types and how to improve the reception of DAB. Digital Radio UK should take note. Although in my part of the world, people are starting to take note of the importance of the antenna as I am seeing more dipoles and vertically aligned yagi's going up in recent times. Quote:
Yes. This to me is one of the biggest advantages to DAB for national broadcasting. So whatever happens with local radio, DAB has to be the way to go for national radio.
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#37 |
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Suffolk, UK
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Suffolk is hardly a difficult place to cover!
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#38 |
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Hampshire
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A 'complete' shambles perhaps.
Listening in a car is a hit-and-miss effort - but when you get outside of major cities, the coverage is generally pitiful. |
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#39 |
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 394
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DAB = 'Dead And Buried' - those living in a fantasy world about how brilliant it is are in dire need of a reality check.
DAB is a low quality, poorly implemented and inadequate fudge at the moment. FM will still be with us for the foreseeable future. The proposed "switch-off" probably won't happen in the next 20 or 30 years, and OFCOM will finally realise that it isn't necessary for national stations to monopolise 60% of the band, and that some intelligent VHF/FM band planning will improve coverage for everyone, and allow many more local stations. |
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#40 |
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Hampshire
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Not absolutely sure, just going from memory and the list on the BBC website is not up-to-date but scanning down the list of VHF FM sites.
Fort Augustus, Ballachulish, Kinlochleven, Ardgour, Campbeltown, Bowmore, Glengorm, Mallaig, Penifiler, Strachur, Ullapool, Lethanhill, The other sites still don't, though that's not to say the areas they are in are not served by DAB transmitters on masts that are not used for FM or TV. Quite a few mobile phone masts are used for DAB, |
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#41 |
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Join Date: Jan 2015
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Shimano are you going to answer our questions so we can help you or are you just going to moan?
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#42 |
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 363
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DAB = 'Dead And Buried' - those living in a fantasy world about how brilliant it is are in dire need of a reality check.
DAB is a low quality, poorly implemented and inadequate fudge at the moment. FM will still be with us for the foreseeable future. The proposed "switch-off" probably won't happen in the next 20 or 30 years, and OFCOM will finally realise that it isn't necessary for national stations to monopolise 60% of the band, and that some intelligent VHF/FM band planning will improve coverage for everyone, and allow many more local stations. I think it's likely that over the 20/30 year timescale which you quote, IP delivered audio, if we still call it 'radio' by then, will supersede both FM and DAB. |
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#43 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 9,058
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Quote:
DAB = 'Dead And Buried' - those living in a fantasy world about how brilliant it is are in dire need of a reality check.
DAB is a low quality, poorly implemented and inadequate fudge at the moment. FM will still be with us for the foreseeable future. The proposed "switch-off" probably won't happen in the next 20 or 30 years, and OFCOM will finally realise that it isn't necessary for national stations to monopolise 60% of the band, and that some intelligent VHF/FM band planning will improve coverage for everyone, and allow many more local stations. |
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#44 |
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: London
Posts: 7,513
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Suffolk is hardly a difficult place to cover!
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#45 |
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 8,076
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Except that there is the Netherlands nearby ........
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0mx3qdg786...00.47.jpg?dl=0 It's the only DAB+ you're likely to hear for a long time in that part of the county ! |
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#46 |
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Central Belt
Posts: 12,268
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Let's look at the other BBC analogue services to get a sense of where national FM may fit in:
BBC locals AM - widely reported almost all will go by the end of 2017, barring rural services with poor FM coverage (Eg Cumbria, and Norfolk apparently) R4 Droitwitch 198 - 'When the valves run out' - date depends on how the equipment fares. I would have thought the beeb would use the end of droitwich LW as an opportunity to turn off the various MW sites for R4 too? Then there's the question of whether to keep Burghead & Redmoss, which cover remote parts of Scotland. 5Live - I'm not aware of any set date yet, but surely this would go before the FM nationals? Their drive away from analogue has been evident for a few years now. Bearing in mind you can (shockingly) still walk into a showroom and buy a brand new car with an analogue only radio, I'd say we have at least another 5 years. There's also the question of how long Classic would hang on to FM for (when's their license renewal?) If Classic FM became digital only, Classic DAB would not be a good replacement name for that station. |
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#47 |
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: East Midlands
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R1 is the obvious candidate to be first for the chop. MPs won't worry about losing any sleep or their seats: few have the time or inclination to listen to it, they regard it as pop 'n' prattle and few constituents will be lobbying them, they'll just listen online or via DAB. If their cars don't have DAB they'll switch to commercial stations, mobile data or use a converter.
Maybe booting Radio 1 off FM could be used as a means to shut down radio 5 on Medium wave, where Radio1 follows BBC3 into the online only owrld, freeing up sapce top move Radio 5 to FM and in turn doing away with, or selling off 909&693
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#48 |
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,266
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Quote:
Suffolk is hardly a difficult place to cover!
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#49 |
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Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Stourbridge
Posts: 153
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Quote:
But with such low bitrates used the sound quality is far worse!
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#50 |
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Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Stourbridge
Posts: 153
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What about Radio Scotland, Radio Wales and Radio Ulster. Will AM close down at the same time as?
If Classic FM became digital only, Classic DAB would not be a good replacement name for that station. |
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