DAB in Ireland: RTE multiplex closed

Foggy43

My knowledge of this is limited but as I understand it, you may end up with MPEG2+AAC DAB radio in Ireland. As it is a trial it is wait and see.

Will the +AAC with allow further compression allowing more channels to be added per mux or do not add anymore channels and give better quality audio.

Here in the UK it is, MPEG2. No one knows if an upgrade will be carried out. Will it mean expense to both provider and consumer? Particularly those who have already paid alot for a DAB receiver.

Most of you probably covered this in third level education. When I left school FM was just taking off in Ireland. Any suggestions on study material to grasp some knowledge on Digital broadcasting?

L1011

DAB is MPEG1 Audio Layer 2 not MPEG2. AAC original is from the MPEG2 standards book, and the kind of AAC used for DABv2 is from MPEG4

L1011

DMC wrote:

No DAB on air at present.

Would probably explain why I got rudely awoken by my mobile, late, this morning.

Never rely on a trial service as an alarm clock :rolleyes:

DMC

You won't find any of this in third level education!

As MYOB said, don't confuse MPEG2 and MP2... It's probably safe to say that MPEG used in terms of video and MP#, audio (though not always so, lines can blur, and I will be corrected on this, no doubt! ) DAB is MPEG1 Audio Layer 2, which is abbreviated to MP2 (like an MP3 file is MPEG1 Audio Layer 3) but confusingly, AAC+ is part of the MPEG-4 Part 3 audio coding standard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HE-AAC#HE-AAC

Also, RTÉ have made it clear, DAB is no longer on trial. They've set their stall out on this one.

DMC

DAB Ireland MUX1 is back on air today, silence on the RTÉ Test channel.

Foggy43

MYOB, DMC

Thank you for the info. Much appreciated!

byrnefm

I noticed that when I turned on my DAB radio this evening, it said that Today FM was 'off air' - so I decided to do a re-tune - and now the station count is up to 12! On the other hand, most of the stations are not on air yet.

This is what I now see:
RTÉ RnaG DAB - 128kbit Stereo (was 112kbit)
RTÉ 2FM DAB - 128kbit Stereo
Today FM DAB - 128kbit Stereo
RTÉ Test - 128kbit Stereo
AM Simulcast - 96kbit Stereo
RTÉ Radio 1 DAB - 128kbit Stereo
RTÉ Lyric DAB - 128kbit Stereo (was 160kbit)
R5 - 48kbit Mono "Static DLS for Musicam 236.0.69.0"
R4 - 32kbit Mono (random ASCII text)
R3 - 64kbit Mono (random ASCII text)
R2 - 64kbit Mono "deafult channel 77"
R1 - 64kbit Mono "default dls frm Sm 236.0.76"

For the new 5 channels above, I've added in what the scrolling text says, which just looks like 'filler' text.

RTÉ Test is not on air at the moment.

DMC

If you do a system reset now, you get 11 channels. There are two place holders for Today FM, one that has audio, and one thats "not available". Reset the radio, and you get 1 Today FM only, so down from 12 to 11.

There's a whole lot of monotone going on there....

L1011

I'm getting a TodayFM and a ?TodayFM here

byrnefm

DMC wrote:

If you do a system reset now, you get 11 channels. There are two place holders for Today FM, one that has audio, and one thats "not available". Reset the radio, and you get 1 Today FM only, so down from 12 to 11.

Hi DMC,

I did a rescan again this morning and still am seeing the same 12 I saw yesterday - I've another DAB radio back at the house, so I'll do a rescan on that one this evening to see if they match my LaGIO.

As you say, there's a lot of channels but not a lot on

[Update 11:45am] R1 and R2 are now broadcasting music .. at 64kbit mono...

DMC

R2 are playing U2's "The Sweetest Thing" in a loop.... R1 are playing Mary J Blige's version of "Hate it or love it" by The Game...

Hi byrnefm... the key here is, I did a reset. When I did the rescan first, I had 12, including 2 Today FM's like you had, one "not available". I then did a system reset, which then cleared the Today FM with no audio, leaving 11 stations here, which means the Today FM with no audio isn't active, and the placeholder wasn't cleared.

byrnefm

Hi DMC,

Yes, I was wondering if I was hearing the same song on R2 at 5pm as I was at 3pm... I hope they don't plan on keeping at it 64kbps - and I dread to think what the 32kbps station will sound like... The only thing is, there isn't much bandwidth left for the remaining five stations, which makes me wonder are they candidates for DAB+? Or else put them on a second DAB network (expensive)?

I didn't get the duplicate Today FM on my LaGIO but I do on my DAB Audio Adapter - until I switched it off and on again. The 12 stations I 'see' are: R1-5, Radio 1, AM Sync, 2FM, RnaG, LyricFM, Today FM and RTÉ Test.

DMC

Ah! There's the maths. My Roberts RD-5 doesn't count AMSimcast as a main channel, its a sub-channel of Radio 1 on mine.

lawhec

I wonder if there is any word of RTÉ rolling out DAB to any more sites? Truskmore or Holywell Hill would be very nice!

DMC

Good question. If its no longer a trial....

byte

Some posts relating to DTT have been moved here as they don't belong in here.

byrnefm

I've missed something here - when did RTÉ say that they were launching new services from March 7? (Just noticed the re-titled thread). I didn't see it on the RTÉ website but I could have missed it.

DMC

March 07 I asked byte to rename the thread, as the January 1st stuff referred to 2006.

And yes, March/April 07, according to the Indo in early January.
(Mentioned in post #360, and here. http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1754224&issue_id=15110 )

Mossy Monk

RTÉ are launching new services? for Dublin and the North East only or are the rest of us going to see DAB soon

DMC

Mossy, I'd e-mail them to find out what their plan is now regarding national DAB coverage. As Mount Leinster is a major site of RTÉ's, it would be part of the rollout.

Mossy Monk

just sent an email to see if they tell me anything. they generally reply quickly so hopefully tomorrow

Antenna

I suspect they do not want to extend DAB until the situation regarding the upgraded "DAB+" (DAB version 2) standard (more efficent AAC+ coding and and stronger error correction coding) becomes clearer.
The current DAB receivers for sale would be incompatible with it.
For a number of reasons it might be better if this country waited until receivers compatible with the new standard go on sale before pushing DAB on the public.

DMC

Antenna, I think that decision has been already made. By virture of RTÉ launching new services, we are going with MP2.

watty

But since the commercials don't beleive in it and RTE management opposed to Any UK channels on it, then there is no problem with enough MP2 bitrate & spectrum for decent quality.

IMO RTE should not be incharge of the Network nor the standards. RTENL should be completely divorced and renamed.

byrnefm

I noticed the following from a news article on the Wohnort web site on DAB news:

In addition, the BBC hopes to extend DAB to the Isle of Man in the summer, subject to planning permission and frequency coordination.

What would the chances be of picking up DAB from the Isle of Man from Dublin, should it come on air?

watty

Depends on Aerial design and location. You can pickup the IOM 145MHz repeater in car in Dublin.

Wait and see. Snafell is high

byrnefm

The testing continues! Current status of the 12C network:

RTÉ RnaG DAB - 128kbit Stereo
RTÉ 2FM DAB - 128kbit Stereo
Today FM DAB - 128kbit Stereo
RTÉ Test - 128kbit Stereo
AM Simulcast - gone!
RTÉ Radio 1 DAB - 128kbit Stereo
RTÉ Lyric DAB - 128kbit Stereo
Service 9 - 64kbit Mono
Service 8 - 96kbit Mono
Service 7 - 128kbit Stereo
Service 5 - 128kbit Stereo

(Note: No 'Service 6')

Service 9 & 8 were playing music until 4:45pm and then just cut off for five minutes before returning.

DMC

Hmm. I wonder whats happening? Silly to drop AMSimcst, unless it appears as Service 8...

lawhec

byrnefm wrote:

I noticed the following from a news article on the Wohnort web site on DAB news:



What would the chances be of picking up DAB from the Isle of Man from Dublin, should it come on air?

There was a trial service there back in 2002/03, it was broadcast on 11C from Carnane Hill outside Douglas. Though I would assume that the BBC Multiplex would be broadcast on 12B like the UK

DMC

"Service 5" is currently playing "Message in a Bottle" by the Gardai, and "Service 7" is playing some contemporary indie stuff. No audio on 9 or 8. RTÉ Test is not there anymore for me.