The death of analogue radio
 

Using a basic FM radio tuned to any BBC station and the pips always came in bang on time.

Tonight I noticed they were 40 seconds behind on my Squeezebox radio vs my clocks, atomic watch, PC & Nexus and the VM box.

I dug out a digital clock I wrote the software for and made in the 90's that I know is spot on to prove my point.

Something I hadn't considered with Internet services like radio.

Promise this is not a case of OCD but more an observation that had me a bit confused until I realised I listen to Internet radio via my Logitech system.

Once we lose the analogue radio then we will all be out a tadge if like me you use it to synchronise clocks etc. I also wouldn't want to be in a siege situation where one had used his Ipod to set his clock for an attack launch :)

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

Rumours of the death of FM have been exaggerated ...

In my house I can tune to BBC radio 4 on my Freesat box, on the computer, on a DAB radio and on an FM radio and get four different opinions on when it's time for the World at One. :D

I LOL at the DAB adverts being run by the BBC at the moment, with the comedy 70s black puppet talking about its "honey sweet sound". DAB is anything but. A good FM signal is vastly superior.

They are never going to be able to get rid of FM. Radio and TV are two completely different media, used in completely different ways. People hang radios in their showers, they keep compact wind-up or solar radios on the windowsill for emergencies, they have them in their car dashboards, in their alarm clocks, their watches, phones, MP3 players ... There are billions of the things, and almost none of them can be adapted with a set-top box cheap enough to be a viable alternative to buying a completely new radio.

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

time to put them in the loft with the betamax player :)

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

Wasn't it the porn industry that kept Betamax alive? That doesn't simply cross to Radio 4.

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

i have no idea what goes on in the porn industry -i just know betamax is dead ;)

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

I wouldn't be without DAB in the car, in fact in-car use is probably the only thing keeping it alive by now. Can't stand listening to Five on mediumwave especially this time of year when the grey line looms in mid afternoon.

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

DAB in my location is very patchy.

Most TV stations have done that here in the states and they are noticing not as many ppl can get them!!!! (Low power stations are still in analogue AND SOUND/LOOK much better (I have one near me that is still ANALOGUE and im quite grateful it is!! (They have a digital side also but i prefer the analogue channel)))

Digital is crap (Audio or Video) -- I hope traditional AM/FM stations dont drop thier analogue side....

I have an internet radio and for the last month i havent had it plugged it,i listen on my traditional AM radio (I love AM) and it sounds much nicer!!

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

Helped to kill it off, as Sony wouldn't let the porn companies use betamax tapes.

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

This is why we have NTP.

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

50 Shades of Grey on Book at Bedtime perhaps? :erm:

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

Analogue radio is far from dead, think about the number of cars alone that have radios, then theres mobiles, stereos etc.

It would required a phased in process over years.

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

They killed analogue TV pretty fast...

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

TV is a different medium. For the most part you have to choose to sit down to watch it; you make use of the full range of services it provides; most of all, the set-top box necessary to convert an analogue TV for DVB-T is a fraction of the cost of an entirely new set.

Radios on the other hand are commodity items. They are cheap, they run on next to no power, they tend to accumulate until you have one in just about every room and most importantly you have them on in the background so the extra data services are next to useless most of the time. What would a set-top box adapter for a shower radio look like? What would it cost for one? More to the point, what would it cost to buy adapters, or new radios, for everywhere in the home we might want them? And how about our cars, where most people are happy with the original integrated radio-CD in the dashboard - how do you do a cost-effective DAB conversion on that?

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

Handheld TVs? In-car TVs? Laptops/desktops with TV tuners? Mobile phones with TV tuners?

Meh, I don't have any TVs or (working) radios, but I suppose I get your point, radios are cheaper so people tend to have more... But then again ten years ago AM, MW, LW and FM radios were common whereas pretty much anything other than FM these days requires a dedicated device...

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

... All of which sets you apart as not typical of the average TV or Radio user in the UK. Remember, the most popular station is BBC Radio 2 ;)

DAB radios are always going to have a constituency. The question is how long it takes for that constituency to be large enough for anyone to be prepared to take the risk and announce a switch-off date for FM. My point is, the upgrade/adaptation path for radio is so steep and rocky, because the benefits of DAB over FM are so slight and the practical disadvantages are so great, that that date is a very, very long way off.

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

Hrmph. I thought Radio 4 was the critical one when it came to blowing up the world.

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

Should be interesting to see if the DRM+ trial the BBC ran last year comes to anything. A cheaper alternative to DAB for smaller, local broadcasters to get on-air but yet more dangly bits to be buying or plugging into existing things if you actually want to listen to it.

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

DAB in principle is a good idea. We were sold it as being far superior quality to FM which it has the potential to be.

However many operators have tried to cram as many stations as possible into a given bandwidth and therefore reducing the bit rate to do so.

You only have to tune into BBC Radio Solent on DAB to realise how bad a radio station can sound. This sticks in mind after a holiday on the IOW.

Planet Rock is another one pushing a bit rate of 128Kb/s and sounds awful.

I'd rather listen to "Stairway to Heaven" on AM or SSB for those who remember what that is.

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

Someone needs to bring back order to the total chaos that is DAB in this country. We have Global pulling the plug on all it's regional MXR multiplexes next year due to "reducing demand". OFCOM have taken the decision not to re-advertise these muxes & create more local ones. On the other hand we have NOW digital, who won the licence for Herts, Beds & Bucks in 2007 & still haven't launched, wanting to annexe Northants in order to "make it viable service". What a joke. Even when DAB mux do launch what do we get? Duplicated services, usually at a poorer quality.

A few months ago the FCC here in the states made it OK for a station to go 100% DIGITAL (No analogue) -- Thankfully no one has done it!!!!

The band is already ruined with this IBOC crap,especially at night...... Do you have have IBOC on the AM band there?

DIGITAL SHOULD NOT EVER HAVE BEEN AUTHORISED OR AN ALREADY ESTABLISHED ANALOGUE BAND!! (Its bad enough on the FM side)

Re: The death of analogue radio
 

https://www.cableforum.uk/images/local/2021/03/6.jpg

those were the days 'sigh'

Still broadcasting, but I can only get it via Internet Radio

info here https://media.info/radio/stations/radio-caroline/listen