Why is today fm so hard to tune in?

dulpit

Seriously like, its one of the national broadcasters and i find it quite difficult to tune in... At home if my clock radio is bumped you'd be about 20 mins trying to fix it... At least my main radio lets you chose exact frequency...

Even using my mp3 player around town (live in Cork btw) sometimes i have it perfectly, then others its very fuzzy... Yesterday waiting for bus, if i stood in the bus stop - no reception, if i stand outside it, perfect....


It seems to me that today fm has 1 exact frequency, and if you're slightly off it it's gone... Only problem is that there seems to be other stations that overlap it, esp. by UCC and parts of town...

Anybody else have this problem?

Wertz

My problem is that I can get it too easily and in far too many parts of the spectrum. It also tends to interfere or come in across the top of weaker (usually Dublin) stations.
I'm the other end of the country from you though...

jb91

I'm in Wicklow and my stereo can pick up all the RTEs, most of the Dublin stations and East Coast with no aerial but I need a TV rabbit ears to get Today FM

cee_jay

I always found the reception for Today FM in Cork very hit and miss - would drop out at random places, while other stations were fine! No problems anywhere else - just in Cork!

mike65

Here in Waterford City its on about 4 frequencies thre of which tend to interfere with each other on an analogue receiver. One clear one is enough!

Mike.

Big Tone

Today FM have 3 transmitters in Cork. Spur Hill (Cork city) on 101.0 serving the greater city area, 100.0 (Crosshaven) serving east Cork and the harbour area, 101.8 serving county Cork (and higher parts of the city) from Mullaghanish.

Dulpit, if you're using a digital radio then 101.0 is your best bet around the city centre (though RTE have transmitters at Spur Hill too, they use aditional "fill in" low power transmitters from the Camp Field at the top of Patricks Hill to cover the city centre, Today FM dont have that luxury!)

If you're tuned to 101.8 in the western suburbs you'll get splatter from CUH FM which is on 102.0 which, in all fairness, is too close for comfort for both stations.

Antenna

dulpit wrote:

Even using my mp3 player around town (live in Cork btw) sometimes i have it perfectly, then others its very fuzzy...

FM reception on MP3 player radios often isn't good. I have a Samsung YP-Z5F one here and its circuitry has interference at 1.5 MHz intervals across the band.
Interference appears on 88.5, 90.0, 91.5, 93.0, 94.5, 96.0, 97.5 etc
for example causes a sizzling affect on RTE Radio 1 on 90.0

dulpit wrote:

At home if my clock radio is bumped you'd be about 20 mins trying to fix it

BTW sounds like the tuning on your clock radio is just worn out leading to hit and miss reception, do you get a rumbling sound as you turn the tuning?

dulpit

Big Tone wrote:

Today FM have 3 transmitters in Cork. Spur Hill (Cork city) on 101.0 serving the greater city area, 100.0 (Crosshaven) serving east Cork and the harbour area, 101.8 serving county Cork (and higher parts of the city) from Mullaghanish.

Dulpit, if you're using a digital radio then 101.0 is your best bet around the city centre (though RTE have transmitters at Spur Hill too, they use aditional "fill in" low power transmitters from the Camp Field at the top of Patricks Hill to cover the city centre, Today FM dont have that luxury!)

If you're tuned to 101.8 in the western suburbs you'll get splatter from CUH FM which is on 102.0 which, in all fairness, is too close for comfort for both stations.

Have the 3 of them tuned in, switch between them depending on where i am...

Antenna wrote:

BTW sounds like the tuning on your clock radio is just worn out leading to hit and miss reception, do you get a rumbling sound as you turn the tuning?

No, its just really hard to tune today fm, the other stations are way easier (esp. Red FM, takes up most of the top of band...)

sudzs

It's a bit crackly in Dundalk too.

It's fine upstairs bt downstairs it's too bad to listen to.

Wertz

sudzs wrote:

It's a bit crackly in Dundalk too.

It's fine upstairs bt downstairs it's too bad to listen to.

Funny that. I'm in Dundalk and can get it in at least 3 different points on the dial loud and clear. 105.5 is the strongest. Sounds like you could use a better ariel.

Big Tone

dulpit wrote:

Have the 3 of them tuned in, switch between them depending on where i am...



No, its just really hard to tune today fm, the other stations are way easier (esp. Red FM, takes up most of the top of band...)

I carried out a simple test: I parked the car near Cork city center removed my car aerial and did a scan (the acid test!) for the Spur Hill TXs and right enough the radio stopped at all the RTE TXs but NOT the Today FM one which leads me to the conclusion that they might me running lower power than the RTE ones (all stations multiplexed into same antennae array so height not the issue) Since RTENL look after the Today FM TX you would wonder if this is deliberate (a la Century Radio!) or something Today and RTENL are unaware of.

dulpit

Big Tone wrote:

I carried out a simple test: I parked the car near Cork city center removed my car aerial and did a scan (the acid test!) for the Spur Hill TXs and right enough the radio stopped at all the RTE TXs but NOT the Today FM one which leads me to the conclusion that they might me running lower power than the RTE ones (all stations multiplexed into same antennae array so height not the issue) Since RTENL look after the Today FM TX you would wonder if this is deliberate (a la Century Radio!) or something Today and RTENL are unaware of.

Thats kinda going Woosh over my head... Is it something that should be complained about or is there any point???

Saruman

Whats strange about today FM is that i can get it everywhere in any car, i have been all over the country and can get it.. however getting it in the house is far more difficult

Antenna

dulpit wrote:

. At home if my clock radio is bumped you'd be about 20 mins trying to fix it... At least my main radio lets you chose exact frequency...

Who is the manufacturer of your clock radio?

Is it jWIN by any chance?

I came by (got it free) the jWIN clock radio pictured below very recently and the radio reception is absolute rubbish on it (compared to a Sony clock radio at same location), I'd imagine their other radios are also dodgy. Beware of poor quality radios.

dulpit

It's a sony... Also have a sony radio cd player thing (big thing) that picks it up grand cos it has a digital face thing to pick the stations...