UPC - Radio reception quality and continuation of the radio service.

Dinarius

Two issues.........

I live in south Dublin and have FM/TV points all over the house. My main diet is BBC Radio 3/4/World Service via coax cables plugged into these points and the wire at the other end connected to the radio's aerial - or in the case of the one radio that has a coax socket, into that.

1. Over the last few months, BBC Radio 4 reception has been in serious decline. It is now very poor. I'm listening to it on both analogue radios and one with digital tuning - 96.3.5 on that one. How are other Radio 4 listeners finding the reception.

2. On a more serious note.........my area, along with others, is being upgraded for digital services. It will permit UPC to offer phone/tv/broadband via the one cable. This isn't complete yet on our road. I've been told that in areas where it has been completed, the analogue radio reception has been discontinued and that if you want radio it will only be via the digital box. In my case, this sits under the TV and that room is the last place I would listen to radio. The thought of not having radio in the bedroom or in the home office, unless I go out a buy a few wi-fi radios, terrifies me. Is anyone else aware of this?

Any comments?

Thanks.

D.

mike65

I used to have NTL and the FM radio was one of the best reasons to pay up the outrageous sub. I've learned to live without FM quality BBC.

Infoanon

Dinarius wrote: »

I've been told that in areas where it has been completed, the analogue radio reception has been discontinued and that if you want radio it will only be via the digital box.

This is not correct - in areas that have been upgraded there is less leakage from the cable - the analogue services are still carried (for the moment..) but you need to plug your radio into the FM port on your UPC connection

Dinarius

Infoanon wrote: »

This is not correct - in areas that have been upgraded there is less leakage from the cable - the analogue services are still carried (for the moment..) but you need to plug your radio into the FM port on your UPC connection

But, that's what I'm doing.

Five years ago, I had the house rewired and had TV/FM sockets put in every room. UPC's cable enters the house at the garage and is then split to each of these points in turn. The digital box uses one of them. Radios in three different rooms use the others.

Up to a few months back, Radio 4 reception was excellent. It has now declined uniformly in each room.

D.

ps. Mike65, so what do you listen to BBC radio on now?

mike65

Old school Long Wave 198, MW 909 (okay in winter) or the interweb iplayer thingy.

Freddie59

mike65 wrote: »

Old school Long Wave 198, MW 909 (okay in winter) or the interweb iplayer thingy.

Ah what the heck. Let's bring back vinyl and B&W 405 Line TV while we're at it.:rolleyes::D

MHP

Dinarius wrote: »

Over the last few months, BBC Radio 4 reception has been in serious decline. It is now very poor. I'm listening to it on both analogue radios and one with digital tuning - 96.3.5 on that one. How are other Radio 4 listeners finding the reception.
D.

Here in D6W radio reception is as good as ever - I listen to BBC4 and BBC5 a lot. I have TV/BB/Phone and there has been no degradation. I would be very displeased if there was.

Ranicand

My guess is when the FM stuff at the head ends break down they are not being replaced.

There are loads of Digital Radio channels on the cable you just plug your box into your sound system.

Dinarius

Ranicand wrote: »

My guess is when the FM stuff at the head ends break down they are not being replaced.

There are loads of Digital Radio channels on the cable you just plug your box into your sound system.

Thanks, but that means listening to radio in the room that the box is in which, as I wrote above, I don't want to do.

I would simply like the analogue FM throughout the house to be as good as it used to be.

I've logged a complaint with UPC and they said they'll look into it. Will let you know how I get on.

D.

Ranicand

Dinarius wrote: »

Thanks, but that means listening to radio in the room that the box is in which, as I wrote above, I don't want to do.

I would simply like the analogue FM throughout the house to be as good as it used to be.

I've logged a complaint with UPC and they said they'll look into it. Will let you know how I get on.

D.

Just one last thing FM or any mention of it can no longer be found on the UPC site.

coylemj

Ranicand wrote: »

Just one last thing FM or any mention of it can no longer be found on the UPC site.

Was it ever? They might have mentioned FM at some stage but as far as I recall they never listed the frequencies.

UPC doesn't give a toss for people listening to the FM frequencies, I asked them for a list recently and what I eventually got had loads of errors. As far as they're concerned the radio service from the digital box is the only game in town.

I have the FM cable running into my receiver/amp, I get the Irish stations with RDS station name but the BBC stations come in with no RDS. I also feed the sound from the digital box to the amp, the radio stations coming out of the digital box are definitely better quality and there's lots more of them. For BBC around the house you'll have no choice eventually but to invest in wi-fi radios.

BrianD

coylemj wrote: »

Was it ever? They might have mentioned FM at some stage but as far as I recall they never listed the frequencies.

UPC doesn't give a toss for people listening to the FM frequencies, I asked them for a list recently and what I eventually got had loads of errors. As far as they're concerned the radio service from the digital box is the only game in town.

I have the FM cable running into my receiver/amp, I get the Irish stations with RDS station name but the BBC stations come in with no RDS. I also feed the sound from the digital box to the amp, the radio stations coming out of the digital box are definitely better quality and there's lots more of them. For BBC around the house you'll have no choice eventually but to invest in wi-fi radios.

I have been told that UPC regard the FM service as a legacy system. They are not adding any stations to it and I would guess that its days are limited. It would be wise to future proof yourself.

It would be good if NTL came out with something like the Sky Gnome, a little gadget that allows portable radio listening through a wireless device linked back to the main box. I'm surprised that there aren't various third party gizmos that allow this on the market.

coylemj

BrianD wrote: »

It would be good if NTL came out with something like the Sky Gnome, a little gadget that allows portable radio listening through a wireless device linked back to the main box. I'm surprised that there aren't various third party gizmos that allow this on the market.

This would be technically illegal as standard radios receive on regulated frequencies and to broadcast any such signal (even with the intention that it only be received inside your own house) is illegal under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1926. The same law forbids the use of FM transmitters used to play the iPod through the car radio though there are probably thousands of them in the country.

Arciphel

coylemj wrote: »

This would be technically illegal as standard radios receive on regulated frequencies and to broadcast any such signal (even with the intention that it only be received inside your own house) is illegal under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1926. The same law forbids the use of FM transmitters used to play the iPod through the car radio though there are probably thousands of them in the country.

The Sky gnome broadcasts at 2.4GHz, same as wireless broadband so there is nothing illegal about it. They are a great little gadget if you have Sky.

Infoanon

coylemj wrote: »

This would be technically illegal as standard radios receive on regulated frequencies and to broadcast any such signal (even with the intention that it only be received inside your own house) is illegal under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1926. The same law forbids the use of FM transmitters used to play the iPod through the car radio though there are probably thousands of them in the country.

The FM ipod transmitters are legal and authorised by COMREG for a number of years now - otherwise retailers would be breaking the law !

Dinarius

BrianD wrote: »

It would be wise to future proof yourself.

Which I've just done by ordering one of these..

http://www.naim-audio.com/products/naimuniti.html

Put one through it paces this morning. BBC Radio3 streamed just through Eircom's 3Mb service was stunning. Really nice piece of kit. Has won a bundle of awards since its launch earlier this year. Now all I've got to do is find suitable speakers! A tough task!

Thanks for all the feedback to my original post.

After calling their service dept. UPC did boost the BBC Radio 4 signal somewhat, but it's still not as good as it used to be. They called me this a.m. to see how it was and they've agreed to send out an engineer next week. Will let you know how I get on.

D.

bloomfield

A couple of months ago BBC Radio 1 completely disappeared from the FM radio service where I live in D8, but after I logged the problem the UPC engineers restored it within a matter of hours.

My guess is that nobody at UPC is monitoring the FM radio signals, but they will examine and resolve problems if reported.

coylemj

I listen to Jack O'Brien playing classical music on RTE1 on Sundays at 11 p.m. and am listening to him now via the digital NTL box, I also have the FM co-ax running into my amp/receiver so can pickup RTE1 via the tuner in the amp. but the digital signal is vastly superior.

There's absolutely no comparison between the quality of the digital radio vs. the analogue signal, looks like NTL are putting the squeeze on the quality of both the analogue TV and radio signals to make everyone go digital.

Dinarius

coylemj wrote: »

There's absolutely no comparison between the quality of the digital radio vs. the analogue signal, looks like NTL are putting the squeeze on the quality of both the analogue TV and radio signals to make everyone go digital.

You're absolutely right.

But, most of us only have one digital box - the one in the tv room.

So, wishing to listen to radio in other rooms around the house requires an analogue/fm socket connection, or wi-fi.

I'd like to be able to use the analogue connection since I've got them throughout the house.

I've got NTL calling here tomorrow to review the situation. I'll let you know how I get on.

D.

coylemj

Dinarius wrote: »

You're absolutely right.

But, most of us only have one digital box - the one in the tv room.

Same here

Dinarius wrote: »

I'd like to be able to use the analogue connection since I've got them throughout the house.

I have brand new UPC boxes in the kitchen and bedroom but in order to use the FM socket at those spots I'd have to install a radio with a co-ax socket and the signal wouldn't do justice to such an expensive device. The only benefit is that I'd have the BBC stations but I don't know of any compact (kitchen) model of radio which has a co-ax connector for the signal.

Dinarius wrote: »

I've got NTL calling here tomorrow to review the situation. I'll let you know how I get on.

I wouldn't hold out much hope, they really don't care about the FM signal as the frequency list hasn't been on their website for years and getting them to e-mail you the list is a hassle. When they do send it to you it's full of errors and omissions.

This is the list they sent me last November, no mention of the BBC stations nor of Newstalk, 98FM or Today FM

Dear Mr Coyle as per our discussion today.Here is a list of the radio frequency.Just to advise that these are the only ones avail on the basic line up

RTE Radio 1 89.4 Mhz
2FM 91.7 Mhz
RnaG 93.9 Mhz
Lyric FM 97.5 Mhz
FM 104 104.6 Mhz
BBC Radio 2 90.1 Mhz
BBC Radio 3 92.3 Mhz
BBC Radio Live 5 95.1 Mhz
BBC World Service 97.1 Mhz
Classic FM 101.9 Mhz
BBC Radio Ulster 94.5 Mhz
World Radio Network 102.7 Mhz

Dinarius

coylemj wrote: »

..... in order to use the FM socket at those spots I'd have to install a radio with a co-ax socket and the signal wouldn't do justice to such an expensive device. The only benefit is that I'd have the BBC stations but I don't know of any compact (kitchen) model of radio which has a co-ax connector for the signal.

Dear Mr Coyle as per our discussion today.Here is a list of the radio frequency.Just to advise that these are the only ones avail on the basic line up

RTE Radio 1 89.4 Mhz
2FM 91.7 Mhz
RnaG 93.9 Mhz
Lyric FM 97.5 Mhz
FM 104 104.6 Mhz
BBC Radio 2 90.1 Mhz
BBC Radio 3 92.3 Mhz
BBC Radio Live 5 95.1 Mhz
BBC World Service 97.1 Mhz
Classic FM 101.9 Mhz
BBC Radio Ulster 94.5 Mhz
World Radio Network 102.7 Mhz

When we moved into this house 5 years ago, I had it completely rewired with FM/TV points throughout, but I only use a wall socket to radio socket connection with one radio.

You don't need a radio with an FM socket (I have 3 radios around the house, only 1 has an FM socket) you only need to connect a bare wire to the aerial on any radio and to the FM socket at the other end. My reception on the one radio with an FM socket is no better than the other two with bare wire connections.

Secondly, whoever emailed you from NTL omitted BBC Radio4 which is 96.35.
I couldn't live without it and BBC Radio3!

D.

Debarra77

Hi
I found the discussion of Jan interesting as I am going through the same difficulty with UPC.
They dropped the BBC radio 4 analogue channel in mid April.
I have contacted them to complain and the count so far is:

• About 10 calls to their 1908 no - general incomprehension what I'm talking about
• 1 visit from a technician who said it was 2 years since he dealt with radio, he called in someone to replace the incoming cable, which was done and made no difference
• a lady from their complaints section who told me it was unlikely that they would reinstate the service. When I asked would she email this - she refused and refrred to the terms and conditions on the UPC website: they can change services any time they like.
• Currently they are to contact me and tell me if there was any chance of reinstatement.

I value the good quality BBC and other stations I connect my tuner into, to the UPC radio signals.

The statement that they will discontinue this in 2 years time because all transmissions will be digital is not valid. they can capture the digital radio signals and pipe it to us as before.

I am interested in being in touch with like minded people who could collectively pressure UPC from their monopoly 'take it or leave it' attitude to customers, to maintain the present FM radio service on cable. Anyone out there?.

Infoanon

BBC Radio 4 is still on UPC in Dublin on 96.35FM.

The over modulated audio on BBC Radio 1 99.7 also remains.....

Debarra77

Thanks for info. I wonder have you checked recently? I am getting no feed on 96.35. The lady on UPC tech support when checking it confirmed that there was no feed of BBC R4 on analogue to me. (I am getting all the other radio channels, save Classic FM which dissapeared nearly a year ago).

If you are still getting BBC Radio 4 on this frequency, I wonder is it a regional/local problem? I live in Rathgar.

watty

I get R4 FM on 88.3MHz in Limerick.
€8 "itrip" type gadget from Hietons on an old 5v Nokia charger plugged into satellite receiver

IMO R4 is the best radio station. It annoys me when I lose it on LW on the car due to "cricket".

The only LW set I ever had any good for R4 in house is Sony ICF-2010D (similar ICF-2001D)

Dinarius

Debarra,

I'm in Dublin 14 (Clonskeagh) and BBC Radio 4 (96.35) is fine here now, though I have had problems in the past - as I wrote about here.

Do you really have no reception or is it just very bad? Having none sounds very odd. Have you tried tuning with other sets? That may sound nuts, but I've found that older analogue radios give better reception than those with digital tuning. No idea why.

I'd be interested to hear what BBC Radio 5 Live is like for others here. For me it's crap, pure and simple. I can only listen to it via wifi. But, my staple diet is BBC3/4/World Service, so that's not too much of a problem.

D.

Ps. Four months on, the Naim Uniti, which I paired with ATC SCM40 spearkers - http://www.atcloudspeakers.co.uk/scm40.php - is simply incredible!

MHP

Debarra,

BBC Radio 4 is still available here (Terenure) though, as you found, Classic FM has gone.

Infoanon

MHP wrote: »

Debarra,

BBC Radio 4 is still available here (Terenure) though, as you found, Classic FM has gone.

Classic FM is not gone - its moved to 101.6 (as Today FM is now on from 3 Rock on 101.8)

btw Newstalk is on 101.1 - appeared in place of Duetsch Welle a while back

MHP

Infoanon wrote: »

Classic FM is not gone - its moved to 101.6 (as Today FM is now on from 3 Rock on 101.8)

btw Newstalk is on 101.1 - appeared in place of Duetsch Welle a while back

So it is! Thanks for that.

Dinarius

UPC/BBC Radio 3.

Anyone noticing BBC Radio 3 being squeezed out by Radio Na Gaeltachta lately on UPC?

This is via an analogue radio.

It really is crap.

D.

Ranicand

Dinarius wrote: »

UPC/BBC Radio 3.

Anyone noticing BBC Radio 3 being squeezed out by Radio Na Gaeltachta lately on UPC?

This is via an analogue radio.

It really is crap.

D.

An extra box is only five euro extra per month.

A decent amp and you have digital Radio with a very nice bit rate.

All the UPC boxes have an L and R jack the Digital Plus boxes have a digital out and the HD boxes have an Optical out along with HDMI.

Infoanon

BBC 3 is on 92.3 - the nearest RnaG is 92.9 - there should be no 'interferance' on the analogue sevice.

Ironically the only interferance to BBC R3 on UPC is from BBC 3 itself !

The FM service from NI is strong especially in North Dublin and during summer conditions is as strong as many local stations.

The UPC BBC R3 is using a SAT feed - thus a 2sec delay - thus leading to inaudible audio when UPC leakage mixes with the FM TX feed.

As an aside since UPC switched to a SAT feed for the BBC services there is little or no difference in the audio quality on the analogue and digital service.

€60 a year to listen to a radio service on an extra box!!! - I would suggest using the internet for free BBC radio.

Dinarius

Hhhhmmmm.... Your point about summer weather & interference is interesting. That could well be the problem - even though I'm on the southside of Dublin This radio is in my office and connected to a coax. I have them throughout the house. Reception on this radio is usually excellent.

On a side note, I'm not a huge Internet radio fan. The dropouts annoy me.

Thanks for the feedback.

D.

zilog_jones

Infoanon wrote: »

As an aside since UPC switched to a SAT feed for the BBC services there is little or no difference in the audio quality on the analogue and digital service.

I would have assumed they always used satellite feeds for the radio stations since whenever they became available, but probably analogue satellite until whenever that stopped.

I tried listening to NewsTalk on UPC's digital radio a while back, it sounded terrible - as if it was just a feed of a low quality web stream. I looked more recently and it wasn't even there, and loads of channels were missing names

Just tried the cable FM radio here in Limerick and most of it seems to be still going. Here's what I got:

88.0 - Silence (not sure if they normally carry something on this)
100.05 - BBC World Service (used to be 100.00)
104.3 - This used to be BBC Radio 2 a few years ago but now I just get 4FM with interference from something, not sure if it's that at all
104.9 - BBC Radio 3
105.2 - BBC Radio 4
105.5 - BBC Radio 1
105.9 - BBC Radio Ulster
106.2 - Classic FM

Most of these can be received with my radio near the cable co-ax, doesn't need to be connected at all

watty

I listen to R4 and other on FM Radio in Limerick.

8 Euro heiton "iTrip" with 5V psu (it has 5V socket) and spare satellite receiver.

puffmullett

Is anyone else experiencing problems with BBC 5Live, it was on 95.10 (Dublin) but seems to have gone/stopped working in the last few days?

MHP

I rang UPC to ask about it. After consulting her 'team leader', the rep told me that there had been two other complaints and the matter was being investigated.

Vunderground

Be good to have it back for the football season!

Aussie Sean

Still missing!!!

I love listening to it before I go asleep. Really hope it comes back


Sean

Dinarius

I'm getting occasional interference on all UPC stations. Listening to R3 or R4, another station suddenly breaks in an takes over. Then it disappears just as suddenly after a short while.

Odd.

D.

puffmullett

I reported 5Live missue to UPC again this morning (after i cancelled Setanta) "we'll pass this on to technical team blah blah"...I need 5Live for the football season!

Koloman

puffmullett wrote: »

Is anyone else experiencing problems with BBC 5Live, it was on 95.10 (Dublin) but seems to have gone/stopped working in the last few days?

Just checked for BBC 5Live and it's missing! Thought it was just me. Gone from 95.10 alright.

Aussie Sean

I spoke to UPC yesterday regarding a customer service issue(one months credit on my account yay!!) and mentioned this to the girl who phoned me back to say their engineers were working on it.

Sean

MHP

It's back!

Koloman

Anyone else noticed that the Today FM reception has constant interference on it on UPC? It has been like this for about the last week or so.

This is on an analogue radio.

Infoanon

Koloman wrote: »

Anyone else noticed that the Today FM reception has constant interference on it on UPC? It has been like this for about the last week or so.

This is on an analogue radio.

Depends on your location and how your radio is connected to UPC.

Assuming that you are in Dublin then Today FM 100.6 UPC is liable to interferance from a Novas high power on 100.3, if you are out saggart way then you will suffer interferance from Novas 100.5.

Only suggestion is to ensure there is no leakage between your radio and UPC cable connection

jack presley

Ever since I upgraded to HD Digital+ I can only get the radio occasionally. Most of the time the button doesn't work.

I never had a problem with the old system

Koloman

Infoanon wrote: »

Depends on your location and how your radio is connected to UPC.

Assuming that you are in Dublin then Today FM 100.6 UPC is liable to interferance from a Novas high power on 100.3, if you are out saggart way then you will suffer interferance from Novas 100.5.

Only suggestion is to ensure there is no leakage between your radio and UPC cable connection

Everything is securely connected so I have all the BBC and Irish stations coming in fine. It seems it's only Today FM that I have interference on.

You're right about it been something to do with Nova. Nova and Today FM seem to be fighting it out on the same frequency on UPC!

Mountjoy Mugger

jack presley wrote: »

Ever since I upgraded to HD Digital+ I can only get the radio occasionally. Most of the time the button doesn't work.

I never had a problem with the old system

Same issue here. I usually hit the button to its right on the remote (at work right now and can't remember what it's named) and navigate to radio from there.