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   station directory latest radio news air today feedback features  | |  Feedback archive An archived selection of comments and e-mails can be found below. Please be patient while the page loads. |
22nd January 2003 Can't Get Real I recieved an Evoke-1 for Christmas and wondered whether there was any chance that it could be used as a portable (from a portable battery or something) Is this possible? Also, anybody know what has happened to Real Radio on the EMAP Liverpool Multiplex? Mark Real Radio has been taken off Emap's DAB digital radio multiplexes to make way for Smash Hits! and, almost certainly, rock-and-metal station Kerrang! Smash Hits is already broadcasting on some of their multiplexes, including the Liverpool mux. Emap would have cleared it with the RA before dispensing of the Real Radio service to replace it with another type of service. Although Emap do already have a new rock station on their multiplexes, in the form of Xfm, Kerrang! plays more heavy metal music and no dance, so would complement Xfm. In any case, two rock stations can co-exist - the Bristol mux has both The Storm and Xfm. Ed. Real Radio will be on the Yorkshire regional DAB multiplex, launching by June this year. As regards making the Evoke-1 truly portable - not sure there's room for batteries even with a "modification". Can anyone offer help? Ed --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- How not to use our directory Hello, I was just wondering if there are any new stations planned for DAB in nottingham in the next few months. Joe Our Nottingham page is useful in telling you about future local DAB. Ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16th January 2003 Regarding the Perstel DR-101 on a train... When I took the Perstel on a train journey from Peterborough to Leeds, there was no electrical interference of any kind, unlike the buzzes and crackles you get on an analogue radio. Signal quality does vary though, depending on the type of area you are travelling through, but if you stick to the national multiplexes, then it is not too bad. Robert Thanks for the useful info, Robert. Ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isle of Plight We bought our son an Evoke-1 DAB radio for Christmas, however, he cannot pick up the BBC channels at all. We live on the Isle of Wight and want to know how long it will be before the transmitters will allow him to get them? Lesley About the only services you can get on the Isle of Wight at the mo are the national commercial DAB multiplex - stations like Core, Virgin Radio, Classic FM, etc., broadcast on this multiplex. Unfortunately, I can't find specific information on the BBC's plans for future DAB transmitters - they tend to quote increased coverage in percentages, rather than giving geographical locations. Your son *may* be able to pick up the South Hampshire local DAB multiplex when it launches at the end of this month, though an external aerial may well be needed - see our Southampton listings. Ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There's nor way local DAB is coming to Norwich before March I would like to know whether my Evoke-1 is portable or can be made portable. Also, is there going to be any earlier digital transmissions in the Norwich area than March 30th? Are national stations received as soon as the regional coverage is launched? If not, how would you receive the national stations? Craig It's important to check for coverage of DAB before buying. A quick check at the stations finder (postcode checker) at the Digital Radio Now (no relation!) website is useful in telling you what stations (if any) to expect to receive. Unfortunately, it appears national stations cannot yet be received in Norwich. The local multiplex for Norwich will launch by March 30th at the earliest. You will have to be patient for the others, I'm afraid! Ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9th January 2003 Disappearing DAB stations I wonder if you could give me a little information. I received a digital radio as a Christmas present, and think the service is just brilliant. However, since having the radio some station have now disappeared. Ministry of Sound (which I really liked), WLON and The Lounge. I have visited the Ministry Of Sound website and according to them they broadcast 24/7 on the internet and also DAB Digital Radio. Please can you advise me why I no longer receive these stations. It's not as though I'm not in the area, because I received them before. Adrian The quick answer is: They've all stopped broadcasting on DAB digital radio. The Lounge was run by The Wireless Group, who also own talkSPORT. WLON was a Clear Channel production - they're getting out of UK radio for now, ready for a takeover of one of the larger radio groups when ownership rules are relaxed. The demise of MoS Radio on DAB is part of wider cost-cutting measures, I believe. There's more about their replacements on our air today page. Ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MoS Radio in Focus The January 2003 issue of FOCUS magazine features a review of what purports to be the first Portable DAB Tuner. No mention of Perstel here. The new Digital Radio comes from Ministry of Sound. It sounds like an excellent gadget. Although the price tag is a hefty £150, this includes rechargeable batteries and the unit with which to recharge them! This product is yet to be made available from retail outlets and is not intended to be obtainable by mail order. Please review this Radio as soon as possible. I am particularly interested to know whether I will be able to receive Digital broadcasts on my daily railway journey between Southend-on-Sea and Romford. The line is electrified overhead - will this cause interference? David I'd love to review the MoS radio if I get a chance. The MoS radio is due out toward the end of the month, so I'll keep my eyes peeled. As regards interference from overhead power lines, I'm not sure! Can anyone offer any help? Ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6th January 2003 Waving the Perstel about I recently took my pocket DAB with me when visiting family who live between Leeds and Bradford. It managed to pick up both multiplexes but only with specific aerial pointing! The beauty of a portable DAB! Therefore, I agree that a bit of aerial positioning is required to pick up both the Muxes. Is BBC Radio Leeds not going on the Bradford multiplex as well? Robert Hmm, BBC Radio Leeds should also be broadcasting on the Bradford multiplex, but this multiplex hasn't fully launched yet, by all accounts, although Radio Leeds received a carriage deal as a condition of the licence award to TWG Emap Digital. Is the FM aerial also used for the DAB signal or does the headphone cable double up as the DAB aerial? Ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Six of the best I was just reading Robert Winter's review about the Perstel digital radio. The only drawback I find is that the batteries only last 6 hours at a time. Apart from this and the hefty price tag, which I can understand this is a brilliant radio. No longer do I have to put up with the same few radio stations on my bus journey to work anymore. I now have a bigger variety including of course PLANET ROCK (better than Virgin at the moment would you agree?) Mark I'm a Storm/Xfm man myself, Mark. I've often found Virgin lacking in direction - it's issued so many press releases saying "we're no longer gonna play boy bands, pop music" or whatever, I became bored and moved on. Maybe I should take another listen. Robert points out the short life of batteries in his review of the radio - rechargeable batteries may be worth investing in although they may last a shorter time. Ed. Robert adds: Thanks, Robert! Ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5th January 2003 DAB multiplex confusion I have just got a dab digital radio for Christmas. I live in between Leeds and Bradford but can only get the Bradford digital multiplex, which means I can't get Radio Aire and BBC Radio Leeds. Can I buy a better aerial from a shop which will let me get these stations? I don't expect to get stations from down south but was surprised I cannot get the Leeds Emap stations! I also see they are launching a Yorkshire digital programme in June 2003, on which the appalling Galaxy 105 will be. I love Kiss 100 - that's one of the reasons I got the radio. Will that mean I won't be able to get Kiss anymore from then? Or will they just add the new stations to the existing ones? Richard Yes, you may be able to get the Leeds multiplex by buying an external aerial from somewhere like Pure Digital or Maplin (off the top of my head). You need an aerial with an "F-type connector" for DAB. Try searching for digital radio aerial or similar. But it's very much a case of "try it and see". If you buy one, try moving the aerial to the highest point in the house if you need to. As regards the Yorkshire multiplex (operated by MXR Digital) it will use a different frequency and so will in no way affect the Kiss service on the existing Leeds multiplex, operated by Emap. So, don't worry! Ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DAB random jottings I'm impressed with your site - one of the most useful, and amazing to think it's all done by one person. It certainly puts some of the big boys to shame. For what it's worth, here are a few random jottings from a relative newcomer to DAB: -It can be surprisingly hard to find out some of the basics about DAB, e.g:- that there are two national multiplexes and up to three local multiplexes, that they overlap and some BBC stations are carried on commercial multiplexes. Of course, there are several DAB websites but what's not immediately obvious is that they're all quite partisan. For example the Radio Authority conspicuously omits the BBC national multiplex, the incredibly dull BBC site ignores everyone else (and has mistakes and non-functioning links), and the 'official site' is totally biased towards Digital One (but doesn't really make this clear). I suppose the above limitations aren't really surprising if you stop to think about them, but this fragmentation doesn't help Joe Public who will probably stumble across just one site and remain blissfully unaware of the subtleties. Bit like a throwback to the days when the Radio Times and TV Times behaved as though the other's networks didn't exist! The difference is that everyone knew that you needed to look at both publications to get the full picture, but few will realise that DAB publicity is so parochial. The result: DAB stays forever on the sidelines. Gerald Interesting points, Gerald. I think more frequencies for DAB will become available from 2007 (?), in the form of Band L. Currently, only Band III is used for DAB digital radio in this country. When this happends, it may be possible to adjust multiplexes so that some services move across to Band L, leaving more space on Band III multiplexes for higher bitrates. Then the remaining local FM/AM stations make the transition onto DAB. How it pans out is difficult to predict, but I reckon Band L will be used for more (profitable?) data services instead. With regard to your other points, we address many of these in our DAB digital radio FAQs and DAB digital radio guide and, as a result of your comments, have added to these today. Ed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |