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All posts by Mark

Below are all of Mark's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.

M
BBC Tees DAB radio station
Friday 22 November 2013 8:00PM

Kathy Webb:

If, as expected, Ed Vaizey announces (on 16th December) that the Government is in favour of a digital radio switchover this will release funding for the building of further local DAB transmitters for 90% coverage in 2014 & 2015.

Skinningrove is on the list of the transmitters to be built.

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Hi Colin

The Kent multiplex is on Block 11C: 220.352 MHz

If you do an autoscan your DAB radio should pick this up.

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M
Digital radio section | Digital radio
Saturday 14 December 2013 9:37PM

Alvin Pritchard:

If you mean the local DAB transmitters for North West Wales these will be on air by the end of March 2014, according to the multiplex owner.

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MikeP:

The head of Arqiva (the transmission company) said today that the BBC's FM transmitters will need major upgrades in the early 2020s as they will be att the end of their useful life.

At that point the BBC will have to decide if it's worth spending the money on FM transmitters. On that basis I expect switchover to be between 2020 and 2022. Other EU countries are likely to switch over around the same time.

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Hi Briantist:

It's in the Radio Today E-Radio newsletter:

I hope this link works:

eRADIO... with Broadcast Bionics - 18/12/13

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michael:

Radio 5 Live is never going to be on FM, there are no available slots for it. Radios 1, 2, 3 & 4 are never going to be removed from DAB - some people have poor FM reception of these networks.

Switchover hasn't been abandoned, far from it. Vaizey himself said that he expects the switchover to happen around 2020. This is what he actually said:

"I absolutely believe that the future of radio in this country is digital. We cannot go backwards.

"The radio listener will get a much better service, and better functionality. There will be far more choice, with many more stations. The UK is at the forefront of developments in digital radio. This package of measures is intended to cement this and herald in a digital age, as and when the consumer is ready."


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michael: The Voice (North Devon) is on both FM & DAB.

DAB and DAB+ services can be broadcast alongside each other on the same multiplex. "DAB" is the generic term for the technology but the UK broadcasters can use DAB+ on the existing transmitters when enough sets become available.

The Government has announced funding to build out the local DAB transmitter network to FM equivalence by 2017.

There is a large capital cost involved in continuing FM into the 2020s, most of the transmitters will need replacing as they will have reached the end of their useful life.

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Thanks for the clarification Steve.

The rollout of the North Devon DAB multiplex is not a matter for The Voice, but this multiplex will be available in Ilfracombe by the end of 2015.

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Tom:

If the music centre has DAB you need to press autotune (or autoscan) and it should find all the available stations (including Forth 2).

If the music centre has a ribbon DAB aerial attached to the back it's best to hold this up vertically while you perform the autotune.


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Stan:

FM will become a ghetto technology without the five national networks. Very few are going to bother switching to FM if it's only purpose is small-scale and community stations.

Radios 1-4 and Classic FM are keeping FM fashionable. AM radio listening collapsed after Radio 1 & Radio 2 left the band in the early 1990s.

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