Still no Nationwide DAB Radio

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120933738#Comment_120933738

Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales benefit from the economy of scale of being part of the UK. We cannot.

In the case of Norway, the switchover was mandated by government.

And that's about the only thing that can bring DAB back to the table here, if either the Irish goverment or the EU decides FM must be phased out, but I don't see it happening. It's a technology that nobody is asking for and is only going to become more obsolete.

marno21

In Kerry, we have a fantastic ILR in Radio Kerry

* An excellent morning current affairs show with Jerry O’Sullivan (basically PSB)

* Excellent shows throughout the day with music, talk segments and local information intertwined

* Excellent news and sports throughout the day

* Very dedicated local and national live sports coverage

* Specialist shows in the evenings (agri and business talk shows, country music, jazz music, new Irish music, show as Gaeilge)

Most UK cities don’t even have this type of service anymore, just the BBC Local Radio service which is being strangled atm

I really don’t understand how strangling our local ILRs by allowing commercial Spotify playlists with adverts and voice tracked links intertwined between them really benefits anyone tbh. Heart 70s type services can be self provided using Spotify etc.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120934305#Comment_120934305

the ridiculous amount of regulation and restrictions being removed, radio people rather then unelected civil servants being able to decide how to run their business and what content they think their market would like to listen to would remove costs.

no where did i ever say there would be no costs what soever to operate an terrestrial radio station, in fact i have been clear on a number of occasions that there will be some unavoidable costs.

there is a very simple way to see whether duke box stations will be able to sustain themselves against an FM based station, open up the market and implement the frameworks to allow DAB+ operation and then if it is the case that they, operating on their own business model can't sustain themselves then job done.

but until then, there isn't a shred of evidence to shor or prove what will or won't sustain itself as the current stations operating under the current model prove nothing outside the issues with the current model.

what ever operator would want to open such a station dispite the existence of duke box fm stations would open it, if none so be it, but preventing them from doing so cause reasons has no place in a commercial market in 2023 and i won't be convinced otherwise.

who cares how a station sustains itself as long as it isn't funded by illegal means, it's a private business so whether it sustains itself or not is the problem of the owner, it should most definitely not be the issue or business of unelected civil servants that's for sure.

we don't need to be the UK, but we are not so unique or special that we will be able to continue as we.

AM in an irish context is not comparable as there was no specific and effective bann on using it to my knowledge, stations were able to choose whether they wanted it or not and made their decisions.

in the case of DAB+, the regulator has decided nobody can have or use it because the existing FM based stations that fund it don't want to use it themselves, which is their choice, but that is very, very different to the AM situation.

Andy From Sligo

does anyone have an idea what kind of FM/DAB aerial I would be looking at to get DAB(DAB+) from the Brougher mountain in NI to pick up the DAB UK service? (county Sligo)

I used to pick up (albeit poor grainy signal) all the BBC / UTV / Ch4 from the Brougher mountains by a 24 element Hi gain UHF aerial on the roof of the house with a UHF TV amplifier

would it be possible?

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120934405#Comment_120934405

it gives terrestrial radio listeners choice of content on their radio, rather then the content they are told they are getting by the civil servants.

because whatever about radio kerry and a couple of others, mandates are the only reason that a lot of the speech and minority content exists on many stations and in some cases is just not up to much.

no reason why radio kerry wouldn't survive if their content is good as people will listen and the competition will fail, as it should be in a commercial market.

it is not on a government to be protecting commercial, for profit businesses from competition.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120934708#Comment_120934708

I think any digital signal is even more dependent on good line of sight so I would guess no.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120935988#Comment_120935988

Thats not why they control it, Radio has always been considered an outlet for propaganda and every government has always wanted a tight control on what seditious content is allowed out.

Andy From Sligo

I got a scenario at the moment , OK not everyone will be in the same predicament, but a few years back I bought a decent make DAB/FM/Internet Radio made by PURE (you have most probably heard of them or seen them in shops like Currys etc.)

well all was working fine - but just recently in their wisdom PURE decided to pull their Pure Connect server that supplied the Internet radio stations to the Pure Radio - so they said even though they have ceased the service the older Pure radio's still function as FM/DAB radio's - OK , not happy, I mean you buy a Internet Radio to .... er listen to Internet Radio stations. If you are just interested in FM or DAB radio you just buy a cheaper radio that just receives FM & DAB.

OK , so they pull the server, and since they pulled Pure Connect the Radio no says "Time not Available" on the display so I gets in touch with their Technical support and say that since Pure Connect has gone there is no clock on the display. - get an answer back saying that it will take its time data from a DAB/DAB+ Signal . I write back and say I cannot pick up a DAB service in my area.

They tell me it should be able to be manually set through the radio's menu , but I have been all through it with a fine toothcomb and I cannot find any manual way of setting the time (for the alarm and other uses) - and without DAB I think thats it then

I would have thought it could set the time automatically from the FM RDS signal (I do get the info of the station and the song playing by RDS on the display) ... but no, it seems it gets its time set from a DAB signal, I'm stuffed I suppose.

I thought of taking it up to Enniskillen next time I am up there, searching for DAB stations, and let it set its time , do it that way... but then when I unplug it I bet it will loose its time again and then I am back to square 1

Hotblack Desiato

You won't get a DAB signal (unless in a very strong area) from a UHF TV aerial - it's designed for a much higher frequency. You need a VHF Band III aerial with the correct polarization, and perhaps a booster, but even so I've no idea whether consistent reception in your area would be possible.

Something like this (assuming of course your receiver can accept an external aerial input)

https://freesat.ie/products/triax-band-iii-wideband-aerial-vhf

When the manufacturer of an internet radio drops support you are basically screwed.

Shoog

You are far better off going with a single board computer and run a dedicated media operating system. Such a system has a life expectancy of many years because you can keep upgrading the software. I run all my media through a Hardkernel N2 which has a very good DAC built in.

Commercial dedicated radios with internet radio are going to be a crap shoot.

Antenna

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120937314#Comment_120937314

Correct polarisation is vertical for all DAB transmitters (unlike horizontal shown in that Triax illustration). It will also work better on FM when vertically (though not of course designed/directional for the band)

Andy might be able to get, for free, a former Band III aerial for RTE analogue TV in the area, from someone who no longer wants it, provided in good condition, to experiment with DAB reception from NI.

Regarding RDS time signals, not all FM stations transmit this, leave radio tuned to RTE Radio for a few minutes to see if it picks it up? If not check the menus again for choosing a DAB or FM RDS time selection ? I have seen this on some DAB radios.

Former Former Former

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120935988#Comment_120935988

Like, this is an impassioned right-wing criticism of the evils of state interference in everyday life. It's got very little to do with DAB radio and its viability.

Unfortunately, an unrestricted free-for-all very rarely actually results in greater choice and competition, it usually results in the guys with the deepest pockets burying the little guys, then doing whatever they want once they have the market to themselves.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120938573#Comment_120938573

right wing? definitely not me.

however it's absolutely right to say civil servants should not be interfering in commercial radio.

the actual viability of DAB is unknown due to the prohibition on its use based on the existing stationn's choice rather then all the frameworks being implemented and every other legal thing and nobody taking it up.

the very thing you fear from competition is going to happen eventually, you are naive if you think there won't be attempts by the existing big boys to relax a lot if not all of the requirements currently imposed upon stations, and that they won't get them.

the BAI have rolled over plenty as you already know, so nothing is being protected by not allowing competition.