# DAB Digital Radio



## JWJ1

What is the point ?

I have watched the introduction of DAB with a deal of scepticism. I couldn't understand what it's aims were.

I wasn't going to get one but just recently I needed an alarm clock-radio so opted for digital. I bought a Roberts.

No wonder I was sceptical !

Firstly it is one of the most un-friendly pieces of kit I have ever bought. Tuning, setting pre-sets, selecting presets etc etc are all so
awkward. 

The sound quality seems to be ok, certainly compared to the old one I threw out, but what are the benefits ? Well when a music track is playing it can tell you details of the track. Great.

Apart from about 3 stations, Classic, Smooth, Capital, nearly all the other stations available are BBC, and ones you wouldn't normally want.

I ask myself again. Whats the point ? It seems to be promoted all the time by the BBC (with whom I have a love/hate relationship).

Is DAB a serious technologica advance or something of a technological flop ?

Thoughts please.

PS does anyone have any technical info ? ie, frequency, A/D and D/A rates etc.


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## Malky Glaister

Beware of some of them. I have a failed PURE evoke.
Check out the complaints website for that make!!

regards

Malky


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## John Dryden

I,ve got two dabs.the first one I bought about 6 years ago,cost about £30 with a remote and is plugged into my hi fi with coax to a dab ariel on the roof.It,s brilliant and easy to search and save stations.
The other is a Pure chronos radio/clock alarm,cost my mate £100 last year.He had it on his boat and was about to throw it over the side but gave it to me.It,s on my bedside cabinet now stuck on radio 4, as for the life of me I can,t seem to get a grip of it and change stations..so you are not alone there JWJ1.
Sound quality on both is excellent but neither compare to internet radio.Bought a decent sound card and 5.1 speakers for my PC and bingo..can listen to radio in New Zealand,Newfoundland and even Hull with just a click of a mouse button.
Same with TV, threw that out last year and watch online occasionally.
PS sparkie2182 turned me on to a few stations via his posts,cheers sparkie.


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## terence

well have got 40 pre set stations &more not only does it give 
what track who is singing date of cd ect depends what you want it for
would not do with out it this is my 2nd
hey get on magic 99
terry


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## Gareth Jones

I was very interested, and got one as a present when I retired. What a disappointment, the available ensemble where I live are five stations - all unheard of by me and all real rubbish. I particularly wanted the BBC stations but none of them are available.
That radio is presently in the garage awaiting its turn to go out in the rubbish.


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## Gulpers

Gareth Jones said:


> I was very interested, and got one as a present when I retired. What a disappointment, the available ensemble where I live are five stations - all unheard of by me and all real rubbish. I particularly wanted the BBC stations but none of them are available.
> That radio is presently in the garage awaiting its turn to go out in the rubbish.


I must live near you Gareth - we don't get any digital radio signal here! (MAD)
Agree totally with John Dryden - Internet streaming is the way to go. I listen to a favourite radio station from Florida, streamed through my phone and played through my car's speakers. (Applause)


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## Satanic Mechanic

ok folks here is a cracking thing if you are feeling a wee bit flush/geeky

http://www.sonos.com/system

you dont need to kit out the whole house - one of the stand alone units will do and if you have a smart phone you can use that as the controller. 

I have thousands of internet radio stations for free and I subscribe to Napster giving me a jukebox with something in the region of 6 million songs on it.

It is my very favourite gadget ever ever ever


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## Coastie

DAB died before it was born really. For a start the quality was less than an FM broadcast because so many stations tried to join an over burgeoning platform that the streams couldn't handle so had to be slimmed down then the Governments tried to push DAB because they would have control of what gets broadcast. DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale which the BBC World Service and RTL, known to us as Radio Luxembourg use) is/was the way forward for a while, but then things became confused again and, as Ray says, it seems that internet radio is the way forward.

Most of the original DAB radio stations have since left the DAB platform in disgust of the quality.

BTW, I currently have an internet station testing, www.cable962.listen2myradio.com )


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## 5036

You tend to think that new formats are better, we are led by our own belief and expectations. The best mobile music format was 8 track tape for purity albeit bulky but when CD's came out we assumed it was better. Not so. Because it is a digital format and you can only get so much data on a disc the music is essentially sampled and the wide and richness of sound of tape is lost. It is the same with digital radio because the bandwidth is limited down which the data can travel. Again quality is reduced.
For the same reason on certain mp* format players you can set a better recording quality but you do so at the expense of how much you can store. Internet radio allows a better quality as long as you have the download speed and this will improve with technology. At the moment DAB is stuck with its bandwidth and of course reception problems.
FM frequencies are not good at going over hill and down dale so unless you live in a perfect reception area you will get degraded reception as your geography becomes more complicated.
AM was available at much larger distances but was also limited. At night Radio Caroline and Luxembourg were heard in Central Scotland but not in certain areas of Northern England over which it skipped because of aerial setups and skywave effects but during daylight gave reasonable sound reception. FM gives better opportunities for music but DAB throttles it.


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## John Dryden

Just had a fit of nostalgia and searced for LM radio,it,s still there but I,m not in the Indian ocean needing a music fix!


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## BobDixon

Have two DAB capable radios - one Roberts and the other Yamaha. Both also have FM and one also offers Internet streaming. 

Never use the Internet streaming because this radio is used primarily as our alarm clock and is too unreliable when connecting to the WiFi.

Both receive a good range of DAB stations although the majority are duplicates of those which also transmitting on FM. One advantage of DAB is better signal reception of 5 Live and better audio quality of AM music stations such as Clyde 2 as well as H24 reception of BBC World Service (of course, these are only advantages if you want to listen to these stations - but that does give some listener choice!).

If your DAB radio is only receiving a handful of stations, look to adding a small external aerial - you are then likely to notice a dramatic increase in the number of stations available.

Downsides of DAB - because bandwidth has been constrained, audio quality is not as good as FM (although only audio purists are likely to notice !). The existing DAB system is already old hat - DAB+ is sitting in the wings with better quality on offer but which would make older and/or cheaper DAB receivers obsolete. And DRM is still hanging around - proven to give good quality reception on MW and SW as well as having a version for VHF. Then there is the digital radio system on offer in the USA which retains existing FM stations but lets additional digital stations sit on top of the FM transmission.

The existing FM system was pretty well an international standard. At the moment we have diversity in the digital systems being deployed - perhaps this will turn out to be another VHS v Betamax fight (and where are either of these in today's technology!)

At the moment there is little commercial reason for stations to set up solely on DAB, which is why most of the early stations have voted with their feet. That's why the UK government is pushing for closedown of the big broadcasters on FM. The danger is that a closedown of FM could result in the listening public voting with their feet and moving to the greater choice on Internet and Mobile.


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## Varley

Bob, I'm not a purist but I have always had doubts about the fidelity of DAB.

We learned of the relationship between quantising error and sampling rate (ergo Tx fidelity linkage with programme bandwidth) how, on earth can DAB be better?


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## Troppo

In Australia, we are using DAB+, on 200 MHz.


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## Bill Greig

I've got one of those Bose CD/Tuner set ups with a DAB attachment. The Bose is easy to use, the DAB quality is better than the FM reception, but we live in a poor FM area. can get plenty of DAB stations but reception does vary with the weather, strongest signal by far is BBC Radio 2. All in all very pleased with the performance.
Bill


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## Mad Landsman

I have not yet tried DAB, but from the sidelines my own observations are:

More people seem to report being dissatisfied than report being completely happy.

As mentioned - Any digital format involves a degree of 'sampling' and discarding of part of the signal.

When a company, such as BOSE, claims high fidelity sound from an MP3 player then i take that kum grano salis. 

Digital broadcasts all seem to involve a lag, so the time signal is apparently no longer relevant. 

KISS - One can even build your own receiver for AM and even FM Broadcasts (Just think crystal set as a basic concept) - But DAB? I think not. 

From experience with Digital Television one can see that interference or slight signal loss results in complete break up; Analogue Tv just carried on with a slight deterioration maybe. DAB likewise results in either all or nothing.


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## lesbryan

I have a BOSE wave dab very good sound but just six channels,and i still have perfect reception on FM ,which i do not get all the time on dab


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## Varley

ML

I have oten thought about your KISS example.

I built my first radio when I was 7 (not totally without Father's assistance!) I even forced my 30 something nephew to build one. How will we encourage the young once AM is no more?

(I am not saying it worked well as all I seemed to be able to get were telephone calls - maybe my first tuning to maritime mobile R/T?)

David V


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## Londonman

If a reluctant landlubber could be permitted to add his two-penn'orth. I agree with many of the comments on here and you are not alone in your impressions of DAB.

Don't get me wrong..some folk are very happy with their DAB radio and with the choice of stations that they can get and which aren't on FM. This is fine by me. If someone wants to listen to DAB then they can go out and buy a DAB radio. Whether or not they get any signal is another question...as some of you have found.

No, what incenses me is the fact that the Government are hell-bent on forcing DAB on a reluctant public by trying to push through the Switch Off of FM. They have tried every trick in the book - from moving the goalposts to outright lies and hype.

If FM is switched off then many many millions of people - many elderly and for whom the expense of having to buy a new radio is out of the question - will be forced to go out and waste hard-earned money on re-equipping their houses and cars with a new radio. 

So I have created a website www.ten-myths-of-dab.co.uk and I invite you to take a look. There are a few suggestions as to what you can do if you do not want to lose FM and please do mention this to your friends and family. I have the impression that the British public don't quite realise that this might happen.


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## Coastie

A lot of people have internet nowadays and nearly all the "new stations" on DAB can be listened to via that platform anyway.


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## Mad Landsman

Varley said:


> ML
> 
> I have oten thought about your KISS example.
> 
> I built my first radio when I was 7 (not totally without Father's assistance!) I even forced my 30 something nephew to build one. How will we encourage the young once AM is no more?
> 
> (I am not saying it worked well as all I seemed to be able to get were telephone calls - maybe my first tuning to maritime mobile R/T?)
> 
> David V


My first crystal set, scratch built at age 12, from a design in an Eagle annual. 
Shortly afterwards discovered that a baby alarm with a long enough mike cable could pick up Police car radios nearby. 

Which reminds me of another point on digital radio - TETRA, or as the privately owned system in the UK is marketed: 'Airwave'.
An apparently all singing and dancing super system for use (at a cost) by UK emergency services. Super secure comms with data and voice capability, so they say, but owned by an Australian Investment Bank......

So what is the ultimate idea behind DAB? Could it be used as a method of getting revenue in the long term? The basic rationale of digital systems is that they can be controlled is it not?


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## Duncan112

Thanks Londonman - I have recently come to the opinion that the FM signal is being degraded (possibly to show digital in a good light!!) as it is dropping out more and more frequently as I drive across the M62 or up the M6 - anyone else noticing this.

Also the DAB signal is delayed slightly by a varying amount rendering it useless for setting chronometers etc.


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## Plane Sailing

John Dryden said:


> Just had a fit of nostalgia and searced for LM radio,it,s still there but I,m not in the Indian ocean needing a music fix!


I too still listen to it occasionally, John, especially when I've had enough of what passes for music these days. (Gangnam style anyone?)

It's available at http://www.lmradio.net/streaming.html for those who may want to listen.


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## Ron Stringer

Fixed and vehicle-mounted receivers can cope with the power demands of the DAB processors but portable devices are something of a no-no. My wife uses a tiny DAB radio (7.5 x 2.5 x 2.0cm) which only has earphones - no loudspeaker - but it still flattens a pair of AAA cells within 8 _*hours*_. I have to change the used cells for a freshly charged pair every day.

Have to dump the 4 completely knackered batteries about every 6 months.

My little old Sony FM/AM portable with a speaker manages to run with a pair of AA cells for 5 - 6 _weeks _between charges. 

The attraction of DAB for the Government is the improved spectrum use possible by using digital systems. The Government earns revenue from selling the spectrum through licensing arrangements.


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## Coastie

DAB can (and probably will) be for "local use only" (i.e. not available outside the G.B.) whereas DRM will be just like "normal" radio so people from other countries would be able to listen in like the old days. (Me no thinks the Government want that.)


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## trotterdotpom

I was one of the original Beta video losers and it sounds like I've been left behind in the Geek stakes once again. What the hell is DAB? 

I listen to ABC radio on AM, except when the cricket is on, when I change stations. DAB sounds like an unnecessarily high tech alarm clock, Bob - you can get an environmentally friendly clanger that only needs winding up about once a month now (that's what I call progress).

I heard that Jimmy Savile was an early proponent of digital radio.

John T


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## forthbridge

I was given a DAB portable radio as a gift about two years ago and it has always worked well, also have a Sony DAB radio in my car and have never had problems with it.


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## sidsal

DAB radio
Blooming disaster . Useless for old folk.
Typical of modern devices which replace tried and tested things wot work !!


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## Londonman

Coastie said:


> A lot of people have internet nowadays and nearly all the "new stations" on DAB can be listened to via that platform anyway.


There are several reasons why internet radio isn't suitable for everyone.

Lack of portability...radio in the garden. Yes, you probably could configure something but all that technology to provide something that radio already does.....well.

You'd soon hit your download limit.

I'd prefer to hear my Wagner whole rather than in 5 minute chunks between dropouts!

It's too complicated for Grannie !!!


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## Londonman

Mad Landsman said:


> ....
> So what is the ultimate idea behind DAB? Could it be used as a method of getting revenue in the long term? The basic rationale of digital systems is that they can be controlled is it not?


Funny you should say that. This point has been mentioned several times over on for3.org (Friends of Radio 3). Also there was a bit in the Guardian about the BBC doing secret-squirrel DRM stuff with Ofcom's connivance.


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## Londonman

Ron Stringer said:


> ....
> The attraction of DAB for the Government is the improved spectrum use possible by using digital systems. The Government earns revenue from selling the spectrum through licensing arrangements.


When PriceWaterhouseCooper's carried out their Cost Benefit Analysis - other than audio use - they could find no commercial use for the freed up FM spectrum.


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## Coastie

Londonman said:


> There are several reasons why internet radio isn't suitable for everyone.
> 
> *Lack of portability...radio in the garden. Yes, you probably could configure something but all that technology to provide something that radio already does.....well.*
> 
> You'd soon hit your download limit.
> 
> I'd prefer to hear my Wagner whole rather than in 5 minute chunks between dropouts!
> 
> It's too complicated for Grannie !!!


Good point, but I was thinking about receiving i-net radio via the "telling bone" which is how Gulpers listens to it.

Also, the Radio Caroline store (and no doubt others) sell a dongle which you plug into your computer and it transmits the signal over the whole house where you can use a portable VHF (FM) radio.


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## holland25

The only reason I have DAB is to avoid the endless cricket on the ABC.


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## Coastie

It's just been mentioned (on Radio Caroline actually) that either later this year or next year that new cars in the States will be fitted with I-net radios.


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## BobClay

Makes me think of the radio in our house when I was a kid. It was a piped signal from Redifusion and the box had a few bits and pieces and a speaker in it. The tuner was a one knob with about four positions, ABC and D. As I remember it these corresponded to the Light Program, the Home service, the Third program and so on. Reception, not being entrusted to the sky, was excellent. I had an old crystal set I'd built (one of those with a big lumpy crystal and the whisker on an arm with a universal joint) and I found that if I wrapped the antenna around the Reddifusion wires that ran under the gutters of the terraced houses I could get ABC and D for free (sadly, all at the same time.)


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## Coastie

I remember the Redifusion set in my Aunties house in Stoke, it had, not only set radio channels (BBC Radio Stoke being one of them) but also the TV channels too. I remember listening to the Morecambe and Wise show on BBC2 one evening whilst lying in bed.


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## Tmac1720

I have it on good authority from Mr Marconi that radio will never catch on...(Smoke)


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## Ron Stringer

Tmac1720 said:


> I have it on good authority from Mr Marconi that radio will never catch on...(Smoke)


In a biography of Marconi I read that in the 1890s he went to Ireland to try and raise funding for his experiments. One of the people in Cork that he approached, on hearing that Marconi was heading for London to seek investors there, wrote to a friend on the Stock Exchange and advised him "to have nothing to do with a fellow named Marconi, he was a desperate chancer."


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## Coastie

He had an Aunt whos surname was Jameson, part of the Jameson Irish Whiskey Family and it was her and the distillery who backed him.


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## beedeesea

Coastie,

His mother was Annie Jameson, granddaughter of John, the founder of the distillery. The family home was Montrose House in Donnybrook, which is now the site of RTE, the national Radio/TV broadcaster in Ireland.

Brian


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## Coastie

beedeesea said:


> Coastie,
> 
> His mother was Annie Jameson, granddaughter of John, the founder of the distillery. The family home was Montrose House in Donnybrook, which is now the site of RTE, the national Radio/TV broadcaster in Ireland.
> 
> Brian



Hi Brian.

Many thanks for that. Sure, it's a small world! I knew there was a Jameson connection in there somewhere but couldn't quite remember where it was.

Living in Holyhead I am fully aware of RTE! We used to be able to receive it on TV when I lived in my Parents house.(==D)

I remember the adverts for "Toffolux"!


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## trotterdotpom

That explains why so many ROs came from Ireland!

Was "Toffolux" an edible contraceptive?

John T


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## beedeesea

Coastie,

Often wondered how many folk in Wales/Merseyside could get reception from RTE; it would come in handy for certain sporting fixtures that were not being covered by the Beeb or ITV, for instance.
As regards Toffolux.....well I couldn't remember it so had a look on Google, where it appears to be a South African product, and to answer Trotterdot's question, from it's description it would appear to serve the function of blocking every known orifice.

Brian


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## Mad Landsman

Mainly from memory, so don't take it as Gospel: 

Toffolux (not the South African Toff-O-Luxe) - was made by Mackintosh of Halifax (aka the Toffee King).

It was small square chocolate cases with a soft toffee centre, sold in a paper tube. Just like Rolo, only square. 

Mackintosh became a part of the big York Confectionery group in about the 1960s. They were taken over by Nestle, who did not need two identical products and that was the end of Toffolux.


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## John Dryden

I often wondered why a large percentage of R/O's I sailed with were from the Republic..now I know why and a fine historical connection too.
Incidentally, Coastie has a good sweet toothed memory!


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## beedeesea

Mad Landsman,

Thanks for that. Delving further into it on the Net, I see a reference to Mackintosh changing the name to Toffos before the Nestle takeover. Do they look familiar?
http://www.aquarterof.co.uk/toffo-p-268.html

John,

The "fine historical connection" being to whiskey????????

Brian


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## Mad Landsman

beedeesea said:


> Mad Landsman,
> 
> Thanks for that. Delving further into it on the Net, I see a reference to Mackintosh changing the name to Toffos before the Nestle takeover. Do they look familiar?
> http://www.aquarterof.co.uk/toffo-p-268.html
> 
> John,
> 
> The "fine historical connection" being to whiskey????????
> 
> Brian


No, I thought I remembered, but now I'm confused.

Toffo was an individually wrapped semi-soft toffee in a round tube - no chocolate coating. 

So what were those square things that I remember called if they weren't toffolux? 

Never mind, it's got nothing whatsoever to do with the thread (Night)


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## beedeesea

"Never mind, it's got nothing whatsoever to do with the thread"

Agree, but thanks anyway.

Brian


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## trotterdotpom

Mad Lansman, I think you mean "Munchies", not bad but not asgood as Rolos.

The rot started when Rowntrees merged with Macintosh, then bloody Nestles took over and moved the Smartie production to Germany ... An insult to Yorkshire intelligence!

Back to the thread, who remembers "Sherbert Dabs"?

John T


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## Mad Landsman

trotterdotpom said:


> Mad Lansman, I think you mean "Munchies", not bad but not asgood as Rolos.
> 
> The rot started when Rowntrees merged with Macintosh, then bloody Nestles took over and moved the Smartie production to Germany ... An insult to Yorkshire intelligence!
> 
> Back to the thread, who remembers "Sherbert Tabs"?
> 
> John T


YES! That was it, not Toffolux at all, which were the later Toffos.

Sherbet Dabs - yes, probably still about. - You can't beat a couple of 'sherbets' at the end of a long hard day, I think I need one now, in the slang meaning of sherbet that is.....


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## 5036

Mad Landsman said:


> YES! That was it, not Toffolux at all, which were the later Toffos.
> 
> Sherbet Dabs - yes, probably still about. - You can't beat a couple of 'sherbets' at the end of a long hard day, I think I need one now, in the slang meaning of sherbet that is.....


Yellow tube full of sherbet and a stick of liquorice? Yum!

Flying saucers that used to stick to the roof of your mouth, pineapple chunks, gob-stoppers and were there small ones with a spiral of liquorice around them?

Pontefract cakes! Can you still get them?

As for the slang was it not "s**t, shave, shower and a _sherman_?"


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## Cisco

nav said:


> .....Because it is a digital format and you can only get so much data on a disc the music is essentially sampled and the wide and richness of sound of tape is lost. It is the same with digital radio because the bandwidth is limited down which the data can travel. Again quality is reduced........


I think the quality of my hearing is going south at a faster rate than the quality of any transmissions.

Which reminds me of an engineer I once sailed with who used to spend megabux on hifi kit. One fine day the company decided that we all had to have hearing tests..... poor burger's hearing was that stuffed he could only hear the tom-toms.

I don't think we have DAB where I live but I do listen to a bit of RNZI DRM. Its like FM on HF. Their transmissions are mainly targeted at the SW Pacific so I do suffer from drop outs and stuff but when its good its very very good.


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## Coastie

nav said:


> Yellow tube full of sherbet and a stick of liquorice? Yum!


You can still get the sherbet fountains, but nowadays the liquorice has been replaced by a black plastic straw which looks like the liquorice it replaces. (At least with the liquorice you could eat it whereas the plastic goes to landfill!)


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## 5036

Coastie said:


> You can still get the sherbet fountains, but nowadays the liquorice has been replaced by a black plastic straw which looks like the liquorice it replaces. (At least with the liquorice you could eat it whereas the plastic goes to landfill!)


... and do you still have a catapault sticking out yer back pocket?!!


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## trotterdotpom

Just to dredge up a bit of my old tech theory, I wouldn't have thought there were enough Kc/s on HF to accommodate FM, must be something else that has passed me by.

In Australia, Sherbert Fountains still have licorice tubes, I would emigrate if they put plastic straws into my sherbert fountain! When I was a kid, we called Sherbert "kali" (pronounce Kale Eye) and it could easily make you blow snot out of your nose, not like modern sherbert. The kids of today are poofters.

John T


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## trotterdotpom

nav said:


> ... and do you still have a catapault sticking out yer back pocket?!!


(Jester)(Jester)(Applause)


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## Coastie

nav said:


> ... and do you still have a catapault sticking out yer back pocket?!!


The only reason I know this is because my previous Watch Manager brought in a new sherbet fountain to work to show us what he'd found when he'd been shopping the previous day.

No, I never had a catapault, I was never allowed one.


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## Cisco

trotterdotpom said:


> Just to dredge up a bit of my old tech theory, I wouldn't have thought there were enough Kc/s on HF to accommodate FM, must be something else that has passed me by.


OK I'll try again...... DRM 'sounds' like FM on HF.

The thumbnail shows what it looks like compared with AM HF broadcast signals.


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## Graham Glover

Hi JWJ

Welcome to the Digital Revolution - one great step for mankind!

Graham Glover R/O


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## BobDixon

from http://radiotoday.co.uk/2013/01/ofcom-testing-dab-in-the-brighton-area/ 



DAB+ test transmissions going under the name of “Brighton Experimental” along with seagull noises and chilled out music are now on-air.

The service, operated by the Office of Communications appears to be two DAB+ channels from Sussex Heights with a loop of announcements on each one titled BEX6 and BEX7.

The streams are at 88.0kBit/s and are thought to be operated by a local Ofcom engineer and are given a subtitle of DABv2 and DABv2KMx. It is thought they will be on-air till February 4th 2013.

The on-air announcement says: “This is Brighton Experimental; a transmission licensed by the Office of Communications for the testing of new developments in digital radio technology. For any enquiries about this transmission, please call 0207 783 4021″

Ofcom has not announced any plans for DAB+, which is an upgraded version of the currently supported DAB transmission platform.

DAB is not forward compatible with DAB+, which means that DAB-only receivers are not be able to receive DAB+ broadcasts. DAB+ is approximately twice as efficient as DAB due to the adoption of the AAC+ audio codec, and DAB+ can provide high quality and more robust audio with as low as 64 kbit/s.

DAB+ broadcasts have launched in several countries including Switzerland, Malta, Ireland, Italy, Australia and Germany. Malta was the first country to launch DAB+ in Europe.

An announcement on the future of FM and DAB is expected by the UK Government by the end of this year.


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## BobDixon

*Drm In India*



Cisco said:


> OK I'll try again...... DRM 'sounds' like FM on HF.


from http://www.drm.org/?p=1847

*DRM to demonstrate Digital Radio Benefits at India’s BES Expo 2013*

Digital Radio Mondiale is to have its own booth (95B) at this year’s Indian Broadcast Engineering Society’s 19th International Conference and Exhibition. The show will take place in Halls N 12 and 12A, Pragathi Maidan, New Delhi, India from 29th to 31st January 2013.
Very recently Prasar Bharati (All India Radio) awarded an order for 21 additional medium wave AM transmitters and associated equipment from DRM Consortium member, Nautel. The orders for 100 kW and 200 kW transmitters join the earlier-announced order of six 300 kW DRM transmitters from All India Radio making this the world’s largest digital radio deployment to date. All transmitters will be used in 27 locations throughout India.

DRM Chairman, Ruxandra Obreja, hails this developmentas: “the most significant development for digital radio in AM and receiver availability to date. Indian listeners will thus have a chance to hear their favourite channel in their chosen language in crystal clear quality with all the added benefits of the extra services that make digital radio an aggregator of all modern communication platforms”. (Nautel Press Release)

With DRM now so high on the radio digitisation agenda in India, the Consortium intends to give BES participants and visitors a first-hand, live experience of the DRM benefits. In addition, several DRM members are to have their own booths at the event: Ampegon (Booth 59), Digidia (Booth 109), Harris (Booth 97) and Nautel/Comcon (Booth 87). BE, which recently joined the Consortium as a full member, will also demonstrate at booth 91 their new DRM+ capable transmitters, which might be another cost-effective solution for India’s third phase of FM privatization. Their new FM transmitter to be seen at BES broadcasts a DRM+ signal and an analogue FM signal simultaneously through one single transmitter.

DRM experts from Consortium members Analog Devices, Fraunfofer IIS, NXP and RFmondial will also be attending both the BES exhibition and the conference. Representatives from Ampegon, Analog Devices, Digidia and Fraunhofer are also to make presentations at the Digital Radio Broadcasting session on the morning of the 31st Jan. The session will be chaired by the Engineer-In-Chief, All India Radio (AIR) and will also include a presentation on the AIR DRM roll-out plans, now in full swing.

If you want to come and experience digital radio for yourself at the BES Expo 2013 and meet senior DRM experts, come to booth 95B. For more information please write to: [email protected].

*About DRM*
Digital Radio MondialeTM (DRM) is the universal, openly standardised digital broadcasting system for all broadcasting frequencies below and above 30 MHz, including LW, MW, SW, band I, II (FM band) and band III.

DRM provides digital sound quality and the ease-of-use that comes from digital radio, combined with a wealth of enhanced features: Surround Sound, Journaline text information, Slideshow, EPG, and data services.

DRM on short, medium and long wave for broadcasting bands up to 30 MHz (called ‘DRM30′) provides large coverage areas and low power consumption. The enhancement of the DRM standard for broadcast frequencies above 30 MHz (‘DRM+’) uses the same audio coding, data services, multiplexing and signalling schemes as DRM30 but introduces an additional transmission mode optimized for those bands.

For more information and DRM updates please visit www.drm.org or subscribe to DRM news by writing to [email protected]


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## andysk

BobDixon said:


> ..... *About DRM*
> Digital Radio MondialeTM (DRM) is the universal, openly standardised digital broadcasting system for all broadcasting frequencies below and above 30 MHz, including LW, MW, SW, band I, II (FM band) and band III.
> 
> DRM provides digital sound quality and the ease-of-use that comes from digital radio, combined with a wealth of enhanced features: Surround Sound, Journaline text information, Slideshow, EPG, and data services. ....


DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, anti piracy software to stop you copying DVD music and films etc.


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## sparkie2182

I just paid £15 for one of these at my local ASDA...............................was £40 before Xmas.

http://direct.asda.com/Polaroid-DAB-Radio---White/000546238,default,pd.html

Crystal clear radio reception.................lots of channels.

Bargain of 2013 so far.


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## Cisco

andysk said:


> DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, anti piracy software to stop you copying DVD music and films etc.


DRM = Digital Radio Mondiale
http://www.drm.org


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## Troppo

The biggest problem with take up of DRM is the lack of suitable rx'ers....


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## Cisco

Ed Zakery.... I find it strange that while India seems to be investing heavily in DRM Tx they aren't subsidising a local outfit to make cheap receivers. It isn't as if they cant make radios... some Eton/Grundig stuff was coming out of there a few years ago. I think the only consumer one out there just now is the chinese Newstar DR111.


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## andysk

Cisco said:


> DRM = Digital Radio Mondiale
> http://www.drm.org


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management

Confusion he reign !


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## Orbitaman

andysk said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management
> 
> Confusion he reign !


I would think that in the context to which the thread relates, the three letter acronym DRM in this case clearly refers to Digital Radio Mondiale


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## SparksG1714

What is the problem with 5.1 coding on DAB? Is it bandwidth? If so, how come 5.1 can be sucessfully coded onto DVD with movies? And de-coded with ease as earlier poster mentioned with nothing much more than either a DVD player or a PC sound card
and multi-channel amp 
Surely that's what needs sorting for the next Great Leap 
Forward? Why wait for DRM deployment?
Available for a number of years now is AC-3 SP-DIFF: 6 discrete channels all from a 3.5mm mini-jack


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## steve Coombs

Internet Radio is the way to go-Try the Roberts Stream 83I excellent sound and in addition to Internet Radio also has DAB (which is not a patch on Internet radio)
I Listen to LM Radio and also Springbok Radio Digital(repeats of some of the old SBok radio programs from 50s 60s 70s-What memories


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## Farmer John

I had an Internet radio for a bit (died from power-supply probs), it was great. They need to drop in price a bit before I would splodge on one.


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## Troppo

I have a Sonos multi room system - it provides internet radio as well as streaming from your harddrive.

There are hundreds of internet radio stations available.

We often eat dinner in Australia listening to BBC Radio 2's morning show, and laugh at the (inevitable) traffic reports on the M25...


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## SparksG1714

SparksG1714 said:


> What is the problem with 5.1 coding on DAB? Is it bandwidth? If so, how come 5.1 can be sucessfully coded onto DVD with movies? And de-coded with ease as earlier poster mentioned with nothing much more than either a DVD player or a PC sound card
> and multi-channel amp
> Surely that's what needs sorting for the next Great Leap
> Forward? Why wait for DRM deployment?
> Available for a number of years now is AC-3 SP-DIFF: 6 discrete channels all from a 3.5mm mini-jack


Bump. And apologies if I've been a bit too radical! (POP)


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## PAULD

We have a Acustics one , favourite channel is Smooth Radio 70s great only that decade's music and very few adverts, believe you can only receive it with a dab radio.


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