Free DAB radio

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119026733#Comment_119026733

he's just a hurler on the ditch as they say.

California Dreamer

Is DAB licensed in Ireland? No.

Are they illegally broadcasting? Yes.

So it’s just a pirate.

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119030278#Comment_119030278

not just a pirate, a special pirate.

set up by an Entrepreneur!

Franko87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119030310#Comment_119030310

Special pirate? that is a strange way of putting it! though I don't see how it's particularly special.

It’s an irrelevance just like digital radio in Ireland.

Franko87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119032414#Comment_119032414

One person's opinion is not the voice of all.

Whatever way you cut it DAB is a no goer here, that ship has sailed. The Radio stations here have no interest and that’s not just my opinion!

Dom the chemist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119033769#Comment_119033769

It's not just DAB, radio as a whole apart from some of the legecy big beast current affairs shows is dead in this country. Take the recent developments of the number of weekend 2fm djs who departed without any announcement which attracted less than 5 posts here. If that happened to weekend djs over on BBC radio 1, there'd be a busy 30 page thread going on over on digital spy forums right now. Look at Mike Maloneys recent vanity project internet station, even if it was on FM, it wouldn't have had any listeners. I'm an anorak but I except that radio is dead in this country. Its a little more vibrant in the UK. but that's just because there's more money for vanity projects, a bigger population and a well funded public service broadcaster who know what their purpose is.

kazoo106

So (and I do not disagree) who killed it?

I have my own opinions on that

Franko87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119033769#Comment_119033769

You believe Irish services have no interest in DAB. The commercial services (big boys ) I Agree however what about the smaller operators that are shafted every year by the BAI and allowed only a temp license and expected to cough up balls of cash to do it. What about the around 40 license applications each year submitted to the BAI ..All potential services if given the option to broadcast on DAB. Oh wait...the regulatory framework is not there.. so sorry... But we're looking into it... yeah we are We promise !!! while we're on it's my opinion topic. Here is mine. I do not believe DAB is dead. Late to race yes not dead. DAB here has been suppressed for absolute fear of it destroying the big boys club and it would of if it was given the go-ahead.

look at the UK... DAB is Thriving ..why is this though. partly because Ofcom embraced change and they have a free enterprise policy (sink or swim)

Over here we have a closed shop policy. There lies the problem.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119035036#Comment_119035036

DAB+ will never be really dead, as long as there is an EU law that every new car will have to come with a DAB+ radio. This also applies to Ireland. So the radios are there, there is just no or not much boradcasting going on in Ireland. Also other EU countries have gone very far by now so there won't be any turning back from DAB+.

What I've noticed is that at least in Dublin, some popular FM stations are back on DAB, like Radio Nova, Today FM, Newstalk, Q102 and Spin 103.8, also Radio Sunshine and LMFM I was able to log on DAB.

However the transmitter is only very weak, the signal doesn't travel much outside of Dublin.

kazoo106

And these stations have audio? yes or no?

And where did you hear them, was this in Donnybrook?

Charles Slane

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119071364#Comment_119071364

What frequency is the mux on that's carrying these stations?

Dom the chemist

That's the IBI/RTE trial from a few years ago (that got nowhere) which carried all 25 IBI stations and rte stations on low power on dab+ from the Donnybrook campus. Either someone forgot to fully shut it down or RTE fire it on the odd time to get anorks excited. I know for a fact that after 252 closed in 2002, RTE would fire on the transmitters randomly to see how many excited anoraks would phone up.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119077005#Comment_119077005

I don't know the frequency, but it seems it's the Mux 5B.

However I don't know how accurate the information is. I've read it on the FMSCAN.org website.

kazoo106

Again - lets base fact on what you hear yourselves rather than whats listed on websites

GFrancy4stir

The only glimmer of hope I see is the precedent in the UK where SSDAB is being rolled out. I would imagine if a trial SSDAB covering an Irish City (or portion of a City) was allowed to operate there would be sufficient interest to sustain a low-power MUX.

Factors for success:

A dedicated entity is licenced to build and run the MUX. MUXco could be a conglomeration of broadcasters with no controlling shares. There is precedent for this in the Mobile phone space where facilities are shared between competing operators

Capital cost is amortised and split between stations carried on the MUX.

DAB technology has advanced to DAB+ and more effective codecs enabling better perceived quality at lower bit rates. The technology has evolved from costly bespoke hardware and firmware to the ability to generate ensembles on consumer-grade CPU hardware, costs such as RF equipment, filters, and antennae are reduced in cost due to the lower-power operation and economies of scale as SSDAB takes off.

This would open the platform to existing operators, new operators (hyper-local broadcasting, local information services, niche stations) and others such as Oireachtas radio, traffic, event stations etc.

Dose of reality:

This could happen if we had a half decent regulator worthy of the name who wasn't hopelessly captured by the industry, and so controlling it actually FUNDS the very representative body that should be vocally challenging the comfortable status quo. The regulator balls things up wherever possible with lengthy application processes, massive carriage costs. red tape etc etc

As evidenced by practically every commercially licenced operator having radically changed operationally from their licence undertakings with ZERO consultation with the public (on whose behalf they allegedly operate).

When can anyone remember a new commercial radio licence being advertised in Ireland?

JDxtra

The FreeDAB signal in Dublin has improved greatly over recent weeks.

However there is one issue that needs attention. Even when listening at home, the MUX (all stations) drops every 10 or 15 minutes. It only lasts a few seconds but as a listener it’s annoying. This will prevent service growth.

SPDUB

Evidently not enough given that a fair section of Dublin can't even get a whisper of it

Hurrache

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118816184#Comment_118816184

Late to the party on this but there's large swathes across our national road networks in which data connections are awful or non existent and you're constantly losing your connection.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119135522#Comment_119135522

There is no such thing as "late to the party" as an excuse not to introduce DAB / DAB+ in Ireland.

Remember, many EU countries are just starting their role out. Countries like France for instance, are only gradually planning to role out their Metropolitain 1 and 2 Muxes across the country. Currently only in Paris a few other places, and in the Autoroute down to Marseille, but by 2030 all across France.

The thing is, DAB+ will be the standard in the EU, the endless Irish "too late to the party lamenting" or "internet is the better choice" simply won't work in the long run.

Analogue radio won't survive in the digital world, the cost of transmission is higher, also the customer will expect more and more choice in the future, plus financial pressure on public broadcasters will be part of life for the next 5 to 10 years. RTE is probably worse of financially than the BBC, but overall the situation is similar in many countries.

Hurrache

Late to the party referred to me being late to that particular point of the wider discussion.

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119135522#Comment_119135522

I've found RTÉ Radio 1 to be unlistenable on my evening commute in the last few weeks due to constant rebuffering. So I'm back to a good old FM radio instead, incidentally the same one I used to use for DAB.

stuff.hunter

its a really shame that there is no push for DAB+ in here, its not just about music or talkshows but signal can carry much more like traffic info etc. I love driving up the north as my car radio comes to life, multiple DAB stations plus something called TMC which works in most of European countries but not in Ireland ... we're really in dark ages still

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119145314#Comment_119145314

It's called resistance to change. In all fairness, in Dublin there is quite a bit of choice on FM, way more than similar size UK cities, however, in the Irish countryside FM radio offers very little choice.

It might take a few years longer but I think at some point Ireland will have DAB / DAB+ as well. Things just take longer.

Ireland is not alone at this point. Finland has absolutely no DAB, there was only a trial about 10 years ago, and Austria is the "home of the dark ages of the radio" as the national broadcaster called the ORF is strongly opposed to DAB or DAB+ out of fear of losing market share and audience.

byrnefm

Hi,

I haven't seen any recent postings about DAB.. are there any broadcasts now in the country? I know FreeDAB was about a few years ago but I could never get it in Donegal. I'm aware RTÉ gave up on it...

JDxtra

It has been gone for some time now.

castle2012

I believe it's returning soon

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120450125#Comment_120450125

Just wait for BBC Radio 4 on LW and Talksport and Radio 5 on MW to be gone, and the requirement for more choice on the radio will come up again. DAB will be the answer.

Its quite possible that there will be a Talksport-Ireland at some time in the future.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120454388#Comment_120454388

The service already exists in so far as there's streams, content overlay / playout kit for it etc - but it only gets promoted during the Premier League games that they have Irish rights for. They need to assemble a lot more of the Irish rights for their live content before looking to promote it more heavily.

Handled from Cork, currently anyway

They would not go on a pirate mux though!