nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

DAB Thread

radioguru02

What’s the situation? Heard this “Eirdab” MUX was testing recently. Is that still on and if not is it coming back? What stations are carried? Is it just RTE outside of that?

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Nokia6230i

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

Hopefully that will continue. I've never been able to listen to premiership games online without a vpn. I get a repeated "We're sorry but for rights reasons..." message on loop.

As of last weekend & this weekend TalkSport isn't geoblocked; the thing is I don't know if it'll last so unsure if to get used to it or not.

Currently listening to Arsenal v Burnley where it's 1-1; it's not Today FM but this is our new normal in Ireland til at least the 2022/2023 season since radio rights're on a 3 year/season basis as per something a presenter said on Off the Ball when they were discussing their Sunday Premier League coverage.

John the anorak

Hamsterchops wrote: »

Met somebody recently who was bitterly disappointed at not being able to receive his beloved BBCs on a DAB radio which had been given to him as a gift, specially for BBC radio (he lives in Dublin)

Oh dear.

A lot of Irish people seem to have the misconception that DAB is the equivalent of sky/cable for radio

Ursus Horribilis

Nokia6230i wrote: »

As of last weekend & this weekend TalkSport isn't geoblocked; the thing is I don't know if it'll last so unsure if to get used to it or not.

Currently listening to Arsenal v Burnley where it's 1-1; it's not Today FM but this is our new normal in Ireland til at least the 2022/2023 season since radio rights're on a 3 year/season basis as per something a presenter said on Off the Ball when they were discussing their Sunday Premier League coverage.

Yep, Arsenal v Burnley is working fine on my phone. I would be amazed if Today FM ever broadcasts a live football match again. The station has dumbed down so much, it's a miracle it lasted as long as it did. They'd scrap The Last Word too if they could.

Charles Babbage

John the anorak wrote: »

A lot of Irish people seem to have the misconception that DAB is the equivalent of sky/cable for radio

But surely even if it were it would have to plugged into a satellite dish or cable, not freestanding on the kitchen worktop?

Hamsterchops

Charles Babbage wrote: »

But surely even if it were it would have to plugged into a satellite dish or cable, not freestanding on the kitchen worktop?

DAB radio is purely terrestrial, in other words it gives you the choice of stations broadcasting on DAB within range.....

If you want BBC radio, or any other station outside the ROI then you really need an internet radio, or just use an app on your phone/tablet.

Ursus Horribilis

A smart speaker does the job too. Sometimes I see the small Google one for sale for €30. They're handy in that they free up your phone and you don't have to be relying on its speakers for the sound. A phone and a bluetooth speaker would work either.

DAB in Ireland is dead. Once we get proper internet connectivity nationwide, that'll be that. Newer cars have apps that integrate nicely with smartphones and make listening to different radio stations painless. Those will trickle down over time as well. If DAB didn't expand before this, it never will.

radioguru02

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

A smart speaker does the job too. Sometimes I see the small Google one for sale for €30. They're handy in that they free up your phone and you don't have to be relying on its speakers for the sound. A phone and a bluetooth speaker would work either.

DAB in Ireland is dead. Once we get proper internet connectivity nationwide, that'll be that. Newer cars have apps that integrate nicely with smartphones and make listening to different radio stations painless. Those will trickle down over time as well. If DAB didn't expand before this, it never will.

Hit the nail on the head there. Even with these FreeDAB muxes in one small area in Cork and now in Louth too afaik the aux cable in the car is already actively used in Ireland and offers the user every streaming service on the net to choose from

Nokia6230i

Before I invest in one, would TalkSport be available over here on DAB?

Getting used to its soccer coverage (unlike BBCs it's not geoblocked) and set up smartphone purely to listen to it about a month ago but would rather an actual radio.

AM/MW's no good to me unless anyone recommends a specific radio but if it's on DAB I'd rather go that way.

end of the road

Nokia6230i wrote: »

Before I invest in one, would TalkSport be available over here on DAB?

Getting used to its soccer coverage (unlike BBCs it's not geoblocked) and set up smartphone purely to listen to it about a month ago but would rather an actual radio.

AM/MW's no good to me unless anyone recommends a specific radio but if it's on DAB I'd rather go that way.

no uk stations are available on dab here in the ROI to the best of my knowledge.

Ursus Horribilis

Nokia6230i wrote: »

Before I invest in one, would TalkSport be available over here on DAB?

Getting used to its soccer coverage (unlike BBCs it's not geoblocked) and set up smartphone purely to listen to it about a month ago but would rather an actual radio.

AM/MW's no good to me unless anyone recommends a specific radio but if it's on DAB I'd rather go that way.

No. DAB's range is more limited than AM/FM. Depending on where you're living, you might not be even able to pick up Irish stations on DAB.

Someone who owns an internet radio might be able to tell you how they fare if a game is geoblocked. I just use a bluetooth speaker and a VPN for geoblocked games. Haven't done so this season yet though - I've been busy when the games have been on.

radioguru02

Is the FreeDAB mux covering all of Cork City yet? In what other areas of the country is it on?

hustlergraham

pirateradiohed wrote: »

Is the FreeDAB mux covering all of Cork City yet? In what other areas of the country is it on?

Yes pretty much. Sligo and Dundalk, and more counties to come I believe.

radioguru02

hustlergraham wrote: »

Yes pretty much. Sligo and Donegal, and more counties to come I believe.

What’s being carried on it do you know?

[Deleted User]

hustlergraham wrote: »

Yes pretty much. Sligo and Dundalk, and more counties to come I believe.

Sligo? Haven’t heard of any dab trial here! Any link to information on it?

Infoanon

Reports that Freedab for Dublin will be on air from this Saturday - Easy,90s Network, Trax, Phever,NRG , RetroNow amongst the stations that will be carried.

(Source Easy Radio )

Dipole Keith

Is this freedab legal or illegal? Apart from anoraks who is going to listen. I have DAB in the car but that’s 182 and I find RTE very patchy in parts of Dublin and that’s from Three rock.

hustlergraham

Dipole Keith wrote: »

Is this freedab legal or illegal? Apart from anoraks who is going to listen. I have DAB in the car but that’s 182 and I find RTE very patchy in parts of Dublin and that’s from Three rock.

Good point. Time will tell I suppose. Legal or not I'd rather more than RTE on DAB. The independent stations don't give a toss about DAB. If this freedab takes off maybe they might. We are miles behind.

overseer

DAB is a very efficient way to broadcast several stations from a single transmitter/mast, so the cost to air should be significantly lower therefore lowering the barriers to niche prospective stations/communities/cultures/artists/formats.

This, of course, doesn't suit the current mainstream FM station owners who have gained expensive licences in the past (although these costs should have been already amortised).
The consolidation of radio groups, increased automation/voicetracking and the tendency to mainstream their formats (remember the so-called Rock and Country licences?) serves the bean counters rather than the discerning listeners who deserve more than the current diet of so-called pop (playlist of 100 songs), 'classics' (same playlist with a smattering of mainstream 80s,90s, 00s) and endless chat shows.

Back to DAB.... the cost and spectrum efficiencies can and should enable niche/community/event operations to flourish, the bitrate flexibility and DAB+ means a range of services from speech to high quality music can be simultaneously broadcast from a single multiplex. This is clearly demonstrated in Northern Ireland and the UK as well as many countries throughout Europe. The legislation already exists to facilitate a regulated DAB sector which could be thriving as is the case in many European jurisdictions.
BAI simply needs to transpose existing regulations where necessary into Irish law, not a big issue if the political will exists to enforce their stated committment: 'We are committed to being an effective regulator, trusted by the public, broadcasters and legislators to serve the viewing and listening needs of the people of Ireland, now and in the future'.

Official Ireland of course manages to block the democratisation of the airwaves with excessive regulation, huge up-front 'administrative' charges without justification and 5-month processing time of paperwork.

The final nail in the coffin is the farcical situation where the representative body for aspirant broadcasters; the body which should be fearlessly campaigning for DAB and general improvements to the community sector is actually FUNDED by the regulator. This is an incredible situation for a regulated sector, crippling the very body which should be engaged in robust dialogue for the benefit of broadcasters and listeners alike.

Does this situation exist in any other regulated industry? No disrespect to community radio stations but the way they're regulated/controlled financially I doubt any of them pay a living wage to anyone, never mind having funds to innovate technologically.

This is the same BAI which now wants to regulate the online sector..... look at how few consultations they engage in and how poor their research compared to other regulators and judge them on present performance....

Rant over

L1011

Dipole Keith wrote: »

Is this freedab legal or illegal? Apart from anoraks who is going to listen. I have DAB in the car but that’s 182 and I find RTE very patchy in parts of Dublin and that’s from Three rock.

Illegal, neither a multiplex licence nor content licences for the stations. May be left mostly alone like other pirates or could also be targetted more due to a single site taking multiple outlets down

ITV2

I noticed the DAB mux at Montrose is off air the past while. Has it finished it's trial?

castle2012

ITV2 wrote: »

I noticed the DAB mux at Montrose is off air the past while. Has it finished it's trial?

I think rte are broke according to the news today , it may have switched off

JDxtra

castle2012 wrote: »

I think rte are broke according to the news today , it may have switched off

This was costing them very little if anything at all (free as proof of concept from supplier maybe?).

Anyways, as usual there was resistance and little interest from the commercial stations, so many of the relays were blank.

overseer

Any update on the Dublin FreeDAB launch?

Genuinely excited to hear a range of services with high quality on a new platform in Dublin

hustlergraham

overseer wrote: »

Any update on the Dublin FreeDAB launch?

Genuinely excited to hear a range of services with high quality on a new platform in Dublin

They are working on it today

castle2012

hustlergraham wrote: »

overseer wrote: »

Any update on the Dublin FreeDAB launch?

Genuinely excited to hear a range of services with high quality on a new platform in Dublin

They are working on it today

I did a scan on dab , nothing yet .I can't wait myself.i have a dab radio in the car , this could do well as alot of cars come with dab

radioguru02

Cork FreeDAB list this afternoon:

Phever
NRGRadio
RetroNow
Trax (no audio)
TrancePulse
Total Country
Easyradio
Zenith Classic Rock
Spektrum Radio (no audio)
CoastDAB (Coast Radio, Canary Islands)

ITV2

Here in West Dublin we have -

Spectrum
Trance Plus
Trax
Zenith
Country
Easy
NRG Radio
Phever
RetroNow

and the usual RTE services.

hustlergraham

ITV2 wrote: »

Here in West Dublin we have -

Spectrum
Trance Plus
Trax
Zenith
Country
Easy
NRG Radio
Phever
RetroNow

and the usual RTE services.

Woohoo!! I'm getting it too. Still testing I'd say as it's on and off.

StreetLight

ITV2 wrote: »

Here in West Dublin we have -

Spectrum
Trance Plus
Trax
Zenith
Country
Easy
NRG Radio
Phever
RetroNow

and the usual RTE services.

Any idea of the block number, please?

hustlergraham

StreetLight wrote: »

Any idea of the block number, please?

5D 180.064 MHz